[FrankWakefield]

Representative Republic... I don't think so.

Constitutional rights... no Sir. Read the Constitution. It doesn't give you freedom of speech, for example. That's what we were taught in school, what we hear... but take a couple of minutes and read it.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment does not give you freedom of speech. The Constitution doesn't give citizens any rights. It is not a right-giving document. It is a power-limiting document. It limits the power of Congress / the federal government / the Union. Founding Fathers came from 13 colonies, they wanted to create a 14th entity, the Union of States. It was to give a united front in international affairs, keep the states from setting up tariffs on commerce between the states, protect us from enemies... and the idea was that everything else would remain in each state's hands. The document says that the Union will maintain a navy, and raise an army when necessary (being a Navy football fan I like the unequal footing that affords). The Constitution was a document designed to limit the power of this new govenment / Union.

The US government fast tracked and paid for the vaccine. And they can distribute it to states. Once in the hand of the states, the feds can't totally control how some states are ready to vaccinate everyone, and some still have age restrictions.

States have differing license requirements for driving, doctoring, selling insurance, and such... The states held onto a lot of power.

So... that first amendment... Congress shall make no law... It doesn't say I have freedom of speech, it says Congress can't mess with my freedom of speech (whatever that might be).

Baseball... I like fans being at games. 100% seems nuts. Masks seem sensible. The opening up's around the world (including here) are followed by more outbreaks and an occasional mutation variant. If people could hunker down and stay safe, then the spreading and mutating would diminish, and we'd get this behind us.

Baseball... in another thread I saw an Art Girabaldi Zeenut and read that he'd played for the Cardinals. I didn't have his card among my Zeenuts. But now I have one!