New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy deserves to be drummed out of office, if for no other reason than he lacks the foresight of even a child.
The governor failed this week during an appearance on Fox News to defend his COVID-19 orders barring mass religious gatherings, admitting at one point that he “wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights” when he issued his social distancing directives.
Murphy has had weeks to prepare a half-coherent legal defense for his coronavirus orders, and the best he can think to say is that he “wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights”?
“[Fifteen] congregants at a synagogue in New Jersey were arrested and charged for being in a synagogue together,” Fox host Tucker Carlson noted Wednesday evening as he interviewed Murphy. “Now, the Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans … enshrines their right to practice their religion as they see fit and congregate together to assemble peacefully.”
Carlson added, “By what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that?”
“That’s above my pay grade, Tucker,” Murphy responded.
No, understanding good governance and its relation to the protection of individual liberties is pretty much a prerequisite for living in the governor’s mansion. But what do I know? I am not a governor.
Murphy added, “I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this.”
“We went to all — first of all, we looked at the data and the science, and it says people have to stay away from each other,” he added. “That’s the best thing we can do to break the back of the curve of this virus, that leads to lower hospitalization and ultimately fatalities.”
Carlson then rephrased the original question, stating more clearly this time that he believes that the governor’s directive is unconstitutional.
“How do you have the authority to order something that so clearly contravenes the Bill of Rights of the United States? The U.S. Constitution, where do you get the authority to do that?” the Fox host asked.
“Well, here’s the thing,” said Murphy. “We know we need to stay away from each other, number one. Number two, we do have broad authority within the state” to impose ordinances on religious groups.
He added, “Number three, we would never do that without coordinating, discussing, and hashing it out with the leaders, the variety of the leaders of the faiths of New Jersey.”
Murphy reiterated that his orders do not deny anyone the right to worship, adding further that “we have to find a different way to worship.”
“I think that’s the point,” the governor said. “God bless America, willingly, but let’s do it in a different way.”
A good executive knows that responsible governance requires a difficult balancing act between the desire to be safe and the need to be free. If Murphy cannot see or explain even that much and chooses instead to claim that such things are above his pay grade, then he has no business being governor.
