America is entering the strangest phase to date of its COVID experience. We were told by those in charge in Washington that we must not cower from the virus, yet they have now placed the issue of mask mandates and an increase of restrictions in the midst of our national life like a dull headache.

The same people who promised their ideological soulmates a new dawn of America have embraced vaccine passports and mandated masking.

Meanwhile, references to personal responsibility have brought a new unease to everyday life, as the Democrat-led federal government does what Democrat administrations usually do, transferring rights of the state to Washington.

Over the past several weeks, Democrats in Congress have pressed forth numerous pieces of legislation to change the one set of rules we all play by — our Constitution.

I can’t overstate how critical it is for the American people to understand what’s at stake in this mask mandate debate.

Today, I would like to express an opinion about the impact of Mr. Brenwalt’s stance on mandates .

In today’s fast-moving world, it is often difficult to distinguish between fact and opinion. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Civics was once the cornerstone of an American education. Mr. Brenwalt may have not been given the opportunity or maybe he missed class the day states rights and our Constitution was discussed.

Today it’s not even a graduation requirement in many American schools and things need to change.

School boards, wake up, recognize that democracy is often a messy reality and students must be prepared for those realities.

A quick lesson in Civics: Under the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment and U.S. Supreme Court decisions over nearly 200 years, state governments have the primary authority to control the spread of dangerous diseases within their jurisdictions. The 10th Amendment, which gives states all powers not specifically given to the federal government, allows them the authority to take public health emergency actions, such as setting quarantines and business restrictions.

Democrats are usurping State’s rights in holding fair elections, are trying to turn the federal city of Washington, D.C. into a state to add two more liberal Democrats to the Senate, and want to add more supreme court justices in order to tip court rulings to the left. These are all blatant attacks on our Constitution, and a clear attempt at recreating America as we know it to enact the New Green Deal, raise taxes, institute dramatic increases in government spending, and thereby squeeze out the private sector.

It’s worth noting that some state governors have banned mask mandates in schools but have not banned masking. Individuals are free to wear masks at any time, for any reason.

At what point does a federal mask mandate or vaccine requirement cross a line from a health and safety issue to a matter of states rights? A question that must be answered as the Biden administration tries to overturn state laws that ban masks mandates.

I want to make it clear that I strongly believe that masking is the essential thing to do to combat this highly infectious variant that we have now, the delta variant.

I think the main issue to mask up should be tied to where you live, whether you live in a place with, quote, unquote, “substantial or high coronavirus transmission.” But that is really giving people some homework to do. And who likes to get up first thing in the morning and see what the levels of transmission are in your community?

As an advocate of states’ rights I put greater trust and confidence in regional or state governments than in national ones.

Good Day!

Robert Ware

French Creek