Civil Liberties

Dan McKee cuts a ribbon

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Flustering McKee

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2021 |

John and Justin discuss ways in which the controversies of the day illustrate a surprising (and disappointing) tendency of the McKee administration.

A water drop and ripples

The mask narcing shows the media’s alignment.

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2021 |

Maybe it’s a small thing, and at least WJAR has somebody there, but it’s telling that Katie Davis would mix their failure to wear masks with the substance of this story: NOW: Group angry with @RIStatePolice and @GovDanMcKee deliver written complaints alleging brutality during protest outside McKee’s home to State Police HQ. None are masked…

Kari MacRae TikTok video

A Hanover math and business teacher was fired for not adhering to the state religion.

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2021 |

Last week, a post in this space juxtaposed Roger Williams University’s requirement that new hires model woke values in their off-campus lives with a federal ruling that Catholic schools cannot have a similar requirement for their employees and their values.  This week, Jeff Reynolds brings news on Legal Insurrection that a teacher of math and business…

Gavel with a speech bubble

Courts don’t settle science; they settle the law, and they’re settling it against the rights of the people.

By Justin Katz | October 11, 2021 |

This is an ominous development, reported by Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times: A federal judge on Oct. 8 denied a request to block Michigan State University’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on the basis of natural immunity. An employee at the school, Jeanna Norris, filed a lawsuit against the mandate and asked a judge to intervene on…

Arrest of Tyler Bonin

The State Police disparate treatment of anti-mandate protesters; out-of-uniform officer prompts conflict.

By Justin Katz | October 9, 2021 |

From the very beginning of John DePetro’s coverage of last night’s protest at Democrat Governor Dan McKee’s house, it was clear the treatment of healthcare professionals who are protesting the governor’s vaccination mandate was going to be very different from what we’ve witnessed for Black Lives Matter and other progressive groups. Remember when Black Lives…

Norman Rockwell Freedom of Speech

Let’s not pretend the Biden administration’s attack on local parents is out of character.

By Justin Katz | October 8, 2021 |

Whenever we have the opportunity to watch some other country gradually be taken over by left-wing fascists (Venezuela comes first to mind), the headlines always have me shouting at the computer screen — like a movie-watcher might shout at the TV when the hero is ignorant that his friend is the villain and is acting…

A water drop and ripples

A kidney patient and her willing donor are being denied the operation because they aren’t vaccinated.

By Justin Katz | October 7, 2021 |

The world has gone mad.  Disclaimer: I’ve been vaccinated and think other adults should be, too.  But this is ridiculous. This is concerning at the baseline level. This becomes even more concerning when you overlay that both the kidney donor and the transplant patient are unvaccinated and aligned without issue. The hospital is refusing the…

Silhouette over digital background

The Oath Keepers hack is what progressives want for all of us.

By Justin Katz | October 6, 2021 |

One needn’t endorse or repudiate the Oath Keepers organization to observe that the hack and release of its internal communications raises disturbing questions at a time when state and federal government agencies are seeking more of a view into private donor lists and personal bank accounts: The emails were obtained by BuzzFeed News after an…

A water drop and ripples

Garland and school protests show how thoroughly corrupted our government has become.

By Justin Katz | October 6, 2021 |

This is one of those “wait, what?” items: “Attorney General Garland has a conflict of interest in bringing this investigation. Erika Sanzi of Parents Defending Education notes that ‘Parents are concerned over intrusive surveys and ‘screeners’ that ask 12-year-olds if they are pansexual or gender fluid. The surveys are often created/administered by’ Panorama Education. ‘Merrick…

Washington Crosses the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze

The healthcare worker lawsuit is more significant than many people realize.

By Justin Katz | October 5, 2021 |

The U.S. District Court for our area has refused to stop the state from enforcing its vaccine mandate as the affected healthcare workers’ lawsuit proceeds.  In practical terms, this means that the burden of the disagreement will fall on those workers forced out of their jobs during that time, rather than on the government. A…