By LINDA BOYLE, MSN, DM, ALASKA COVID ALLIANCE

During the three-year “pandemic,” our First Amendment rights were terribly violated. The government used fear to control people. We were told to stop living our lives, stop seeing family, stop traveling, and don’t ever visit dying relatives. Information was suppressed; mainstream media was in lockstep with the government on its messaging.  

Freedom of Speech appeared to only exist if you were parroting whatever “information” the government determined to be valid.  Case in point:  Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked Amazon to stop carrying Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s book “Truth about Covid” because it contained “misinformation” about “vaccines and treatment.”

And it came as no surprise when the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals said Warren had not violated Kennedy’s First amendment rights.

With Covid “measures”, people were isolated and the “loneliness epidemic” in the US increased by 5%.  People were hurting.  And worse, people were dying alone.  

More and more information is now coming out concerning how most of the decisions made by the federal government did little to stop the “pandemic”. Those who made these decisions for lock down, “vaccines”, to “stop” you from getting Covid, and the closure of schools are rapidly backpedaling and seem to forget both what they said and the mandates they imposed.  

They are backtracking and are telling us none of this was their doing.  And they have no plans to take any responsibility for those decisions. 

Instead of owning up to their mistakes, it seems these overlords would rather lie or at best stretch the truth or claim amnesia.  They never intended to “follow the science”.

Just watching Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, tell the House Select Committee she was always in favor of reopening schools when in fact, this teacher’s union did its best to keep schools closed.  Incredible demands were made to include massive amounts of additional funding and the suspension of teacher evaluations. The Los Angeles branch of the AFT demanded Medicare for all. 

During her testimony, Weingarten feigned amnesia at one point and used her age of “65” to explain why she couldn’t answer the question. She evaded several questions concerning her interactions with the CDC and the White House. She did finally admit she had the cell phone number of Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC. Iowa Congresswoman Miller-Meeks, a physician, responded that not even she had Dr. Walensky’s cell number.  

This is the same teacher’s union whose members were seen on YouTube dancing. And another member was seen having fun at a Caribbean resort while her students were stuck at home, not being educated.  

Weingarten was in Ukraine discussing that country’s educational needs. How did she plan to help them during the war and especially since we were still in a “pandemic”? Somehow European travel was okay; Caribbean travel was okay; but classroom in-person teaching was not okay. 

Private schools and those charter schools not run by school districts managed to stay open with minimal effect on anyone’s health and children’s overall learning. But those students going to brick-and-mortar schools were shut out of the learning process. This placed our most vulnerable children even further behind having to depend on Zoom to “learn.”

Researchers validated a huge learning decline during Covid lockdowns. Children lost about 35% of knowledge and skills they would have gained had they been in a physical school classroom. Those deficits unfortunately remained constant for the 2.5 years that we lived through Covid lockdowns and mask mandates. 

Online school also impacted social and emotional development. Further studies showed an inequality gap was created between children of different socioeconomic backgrounds.  

The lower income and minority students lost the most. The achievement gap, so strongly touted by the education industry, grew even greater.

Besides the debacle caused by shutting down the schools in most states, we also had the “largest expansion of government power at least since the New Deal”.  Dr Fauci rose to fame during the pandemic and was lauded by the mainstream media as a superstar.  

He’s been clear that mistakes were made he’s also been clear that none of this was his fault. He said he didn’t have the power to shut things down—but people trusted him and then they made their decisions based on the information he gave them.

The Atlantic magazine a few weeks ago published an article that asked for amnesty for those who told us to wear masks, socially isolate, and fear the disease. It said we should kiss and make up with the government leaders who have tortured us for three years with unrealistic mandates. They said we should forgive and move on.  

That’s nearly impossible to do. People who did not bend to the will of the government lost their jobs for not getting the jab. People were pitted against each other with nasty language used to describe those who thought differently. 

Good doctors had their licenses suspended. People who did not agree with the established dialogue were minimalized, doxed, made fun of and kicked off social media.  

No, we don’t plan to forget. We need to push for accountability. If not, the government will be back again with even more control and suppression of our First Amendment rights. It worked well for them the last time.  It’s all a matter of control.  

The real question is what will you do when the next “pandemic” comes? Will you surrender your First Amendment rights?  

Will you obey and not visit your dying loved ones in the hospital?  

Will you separate yourself from your friends and relatives who do not agree with you and bow down to the government?

Or will you stand up for yourself, your family, your neighbors, your friends, and all Americans who disagree with the heavy hand of the government? 

Linda Boyle, DM, MSN, is a member of the Alaska Covid Alliance.