In the final episode of the classic comedy The Young Ones, postman Lennie Henry greets the lads with, “Gut morgen, meine kleine freundelische!”
“Bloody hell,” says Rik. “Give them a uniform and they think they’re Hitler!”
The same might be said for bureaucrats and coppers given a taste of extra power in the midst of the Chinese virus panic.
I’ve already noted some of the more egregious abuses by police – so much so, that even their commissioners are worrying about public backlash. But police are not alone in their Little Hitlerism.
Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s latest executive order deems a number of home-improvement and gardening items — including fruit and vegetable seeds — “non-essential.”
In addition to enforcing social distancing measures and limiting the number of people in the stores that were allowed to remain open — in order to slow the spread of coronavirus — Whitmer’s April 9 order also gave explicit instructions with regard to items that could not be sold as they were considered “non-essential.”
To enforce the order, hardware stores were ludicrously forced to seal off their suddenly illegal garden departments with yellow police tape.
In keeping with the police state mentality of arbitrary abuse of power, the Democrat governor bans Michiganders from planting carrots or tomatoes – but they’re perfectly free to buy weed.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey pointed out that Michiganders could still legally buy marijuana while they were effectively being barred from planting home gardens. “In Michigan today you can buy weed but not seeds,” he said.
Whitmer signed one of the most aggressive “stay-at-home” orders Friday. In addition to banning all public gatherings of any size, the new order — which took effect Saturday — barred residents from traveling between homes even if they owned both properties.
The Michigan governor is reportedly on former Vice President Joe Biden’s short list to be tapped as his vice presidential nominee.
At the other end of the world, here in faraway Tasmania, the arm of the law is having to reach a very long way indeed to nab recalcitrants violating social distancing rules by…distancing themselves as much as possible.
Tasmania Police officers conducting aerial surveillance around the state, including on the North-West Coast located several campsites where people were directed to leave and return home[…]
Around the state, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed near campsites which were viewed from the air, and where they could not land, officers on the ground attended and directed campers to return home.
Commander Blackwood said officers also searched the West Coast from the air for campers, but none were found, despite it being an area typically teeming with holiday makers across the Easter period.
As one Twitter wag observed:
When u social distance so well that the cops have to find u by helicopter.
For all their efforts, the Tassie police were only able to nab a grand total of 17 people in an entire state of 500 000. Most of us are voluntarily abiding by the new rules, whether or not we agree with them. But a lone camper in a tent way up at the arse-end of Cape Grim is hardly going to be a risk to anyone.
Moreover, if police and public officials persist with these arbitrary abuses of power, public patience is soon going to wear very thin. “Nobody is a good boy for nothing,” as H. G. Wells once said. In Italy, they soon stopped singing from their balconies and started rioting.
Little Hitlers everywhere might want to think about backing off just a little bit.
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