I think it's past time to revisit the loud and sometimes violent complaints from the Right on how pandemic public health mediation TRULY affected freedom and liberty in this country.
Right-wingers were out in force, protesting lockdowns and and even the wearing of simple masks in public.
They even attacked state capitols and planned to kidnap and possibly murder a governor for her "tyrannical" seizure of their freedom and liberty.
The conservative premise is that one the government takes away your rights, that's it, you'll never get them back, and it's usually a sign of more significant oppression to come.
"They've imprisoned is in our houses, and made it so they can arrest us for failing to cover our mouths with a piece of paper! We can't let them take our freedom like this or we'll never get it back!"
Ummm... They got it all back.
It turns out that it all went down just like public health officials said, the lockdowns and mask-wearing was temporary. And nobody was ever arrested for not wearing a mask, although some were probably arrested at mask-burning demonstrations for provoking violence with people who wore masks, something that they found strangely intolerable even though it was someone else wearing them.
"Your mask offends me!" And they accuse leftists of being snowflakes.
Even though these measures are in the past, no one is locked down, and no one is being asked to wear a mask, these people have gotten into the habit seemingly of complaining about how they've lost their "freedom", and now it includes freedom of speech.
People got tired of their childish complaining about simple measures to protect human health, so they responded and expressed a counter -opinion of, "You're making something out of nothing! Grow up and SHUT UP!"
Anyone who opposes a conservative opinion is to them necessarily a state actor violating the First Amendment.
Or agents of the dreaded Left, which somehow carry the power of government enough to be violating civil rights simply by speaking.
They expect even private tech companies to carry any stupid or dangerous thing they want to say, even when it's clearly in violation of existing Terms of Service that everyone must abide by.
They expect everyone to accept anything they have to say and not respond at all, because that constitutes limiting their "freedom".
It's gotten so bad that they complain they can't even express their backward and often racist ideas in public, because other people will react badly, and that's not fair.
"When i say i support Trump people just laugh and move away, and THAT'S NOT FAIR!", as if everyone has to like you no matter what you say.
They've so twisted all these concepts that many people just can't understand anymore.
But as things stand today, no one on either side has lost any freedom or liberty as a consequence of pandemic public health measures, and this needs to be communicated clearly.
The anti-maskers and others protesting pandemic measures were wrong, they have all the freedom they've ever had, and they should be made to acknowledge it publicly.