Tyrants come in all forms, and at all levels of government. For many years, I have warned that the only way to fight the big tyrannies -- the federal government -- is to start with the small tyrannies -- local government. You can't beat the former if you don't squash the latter like the bug it is.
I'm willing to bet that many Twitchy readers don't know this, but back when COVID started, the U.K. government briefly considered the mass euthanizing of pet cats. To flatten the curve and for our 'safety', of course. Fluffy would have to make the ultimate sacrifice so the guy at 10 Downing Street could tell the world he's doing something. Never mind that that something was horrifying, unscientific, and cruel (how would euthanizing hundreds of thousands of house cats stop COVID?) -- it was something and that's all that matters to tyrants.
Stateside, the heartless bureaucrats who populate the New York State government decided a seven-year-old squirrel, rescued by a citizen and famous thanks to social media was a problem. To the point where they invaded the man's home, interrogated him and his wife, and seized Peanut the Squirrel and a racoon named Fred.
They then killed Peanut and the racoon citing 'rabies concerns.'
Orphaned squirrel who became social media star was euthanized after being seized from home https://t.co/CeKLOZjbPB
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 2, 2024
More from the AP:
Recommended
An orphaned squirrel that became a social media star called Peanut was euthanized after state authorities seized the beloved pet during a raid on his caretaker’s home, authorities said Friday.
After anonymous complaints, officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation took the squirrel and a raccoon named Fred from Mark Longo’s home near the Pennsylvania border in rural Pine City on Wednesday, Longo said.
On Friday, the DEC and Chemung County Department of Health confirmed both animals’ fate.
An 'anonymous' complaint led authorities to raid a home where these animals were living peacefully with their humans. They were euthanized after biting one of the authorities who took them, because animals removed from their home are often on edge and defensive.
What purpose did this serve?
None.
Who did this protect?
Not a single person.
What common good was preserved?
Again, none.
What it did do was make people very, very angry.
Government overreach kidnapped an orphan squirrel and executed him … https://t.co/YKoOCJWLMv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2024
That's exactly what they did. There was no reason for government to go into the Longo home and no reason to take Peanut and Fred.
There were some power hungry loons in New York state government who had to find a way to justify their undoubtedly bloated salaries and to demonstrate to the Longos -- and the rest of us -- they can come into our homes for any reason, take our beloved pets, and kill them.
That they have the power, and only their benevolence is stopping them from using it on us in horrifying ways.
These monsters know they've done wrong.
Let’s name names, shall we?
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) November 2, 2024
Here’s the commissioner of the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, @SeanMaharIC, who has locked down his account. He makes $220,000 a year to murder pet squirrels https://t.co/cxnvDTg6VF pic.twitter.com/jDfoSyZS9T
The people mentioned in this thread have locked down their social media accounts. Heaven forbid they face backlash for their malice.
Heaven forbid the great unwashed masses reach out and let them know they're the worst kind of bureaucrat.
The names, phone numbers and email addresses of everyone involved in kidnapping and killing Peanut are here: https://t.co/B3gQAmXmIY
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) November 2, 2024
It'd be a shame if they got told exactly what we think of them.
A total shame.
I don't know of a better illustration of government's abject cruelty and overreach. There is nothing that is stopping some government agency from getting a judge to sign off on removing your pet from your home. And it won't stop there.
Imagine a world where Kamala Harris gets her gas stove ban, and an 'anonymous' complaint to authorities leads to a raid in your home that takes away the appliance you use to feed your family. Or your fridge (the environmental Lefties are thinking that's a problem, too). Or maybe your Playstation 5 (video games causes violence!). Or your guns (because guns)
Peanut is just the tip of the tyrannical iceberg. They won't stop with domesticated squirrels and racoons. They think there isn't a facet of your life they don't think they shouldn't have total control over. And they'll stop at nothing to obtain it.
I also think of this C.S. Lewis quote, explaining tyranny:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
So when you go vote, think of Peanut, and elect the kind of government that would have let him live, and not the omnipotent moral busybodies who killed him.
