Brew pub owner pushes back on Maine Governor Mills’ power trip, she strips him of licenses to operate

Americans across the nation are rising up against the petty tyrants who have risen up against them. And if this CCP virus is all about science and data, then why are the Democrat governors gripping the reigns most tightly?

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Elon Musk sounded the clarion call when he recently told Real Clear Politics he felt some governors’ lockdown orders were “fascist.” He summed up his argument with, “Give people back their God damned freedom.” Can I get an amen?

I’m sure Rick Savage, a brew pub owner in Bethel, Maine, agrees with Musk’s perspective wholeheartedly. Savage, who owns the Sunday River Brewing Company restaurant, says he’s had enough of Maine Governor Janet Mills’ stay-at-home order. He intended to open at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 1^st, which he did. More on that in a bit.

Savage, during an interview on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” said he plans to run his restaurant according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protocols. He also acknowledged that people can come to his restaurant or not. No one’s being forced to do anything except by the state.

The restaurant owner says he could open while easily complying with social distancing and disinfecting as necessary between customers. He told Carlson his restaurant can normally hold 250 people inside and 100 people on his deck outside. “I could fit people in a six-foot space everywhere and open back up for business. If…people feel comfortable coming in, come in. If they don’t feel comfortable, call us and we’ll deliver it to your car. If you want to sit on the deck, sit on the deck.”

Savage said he challenges the Democrat governor to take him to court. Although, he emphasized, he doesn’t believe Governor Mills will because she has isolated herself to the point Republican and even Democrat state representatives can’t even get through to her.

“She’s doing this all on her own,” Savage said. He believes Governor Mills’ motive is to “break our state…to get federal money to bail her out.” He explained Governor Mills “spent our rainy day fund in her first two months in office.” Whether this is true or not, I do not know (I’m not from Maine). However, his position rings reasonable.

Savage also has the statistics on his side: Maine is one of the states least hit by the CCP virus. Fox News reported, “As of Thursday night, Maine had 1,095 confirmed corona virus cases and 53 deaths from COVID-19.” This is out of a population of 1.3 million people. Of course, each death is tragic for the victim’s family and friends. Sadly, two elderly men I knew have succumbed to the infection. But couldn’t we say the same about all those poor folks who’ve already died this year from pneumonia and the seasonal flu?

Where is the science and data, something Democrat politicians cite but rarely explain, to back up Governor Mills’ recent extension of the state’s stay-at-home order to May 31? Several states hit harder are planning to start opening sooner than Governor Mills plans for Maine. All the while, people’s life’s work is waning. Political leaders, paychecks still coming in, seem to be having a difficult time understanding what some people are facing during this partially self-inflicted economic devastation.

And while we’re on the subject, why is it the Democrat-led states are the most vociferous in resisting reopening their states? Compare Governors Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Brian Kemp (R-GA) with Governors Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Janet Mills (D-ME), and the story becomes clear.

Two of these political leaders trust the government, and the other two trust their fellow Americans. In fact, South Dakotans, appreciative Governor Kristi Noem didn’t shut down the state, just threw her a parade! To be fair, some business owners are having difficulties in Republican-led states, too. But it doesn’t seem to be to the same degree.

And back to the Sunday River Brewing Company in Bethel, Maine. Mr. Savage did reopen at the date and time he’d announced, but he was wrong about the governor. She had Health and Liquor Board inspectors standing by who revoked the restaurant’s licenses.

It seems Governor Mills has “won.” At least, for now. Though Savage wanted to stay open, the state held all the cards. With no licenses, the restaurateur had to have considered the dilemma that one day this will be over, and he will still need state licensing to operate.

He posted on Facebook, “We will be closed for the weekend as our state permits have been taken away. Monday we are going [to] check on our Federal Permits before we make decisions on re-opening. Thank you for your continued support.”

I can picture Governor Mills all puffed up at her glorious “victory.” But at what cost? The people of Maine deserve a governor who respects them, not one who tramples on their rights. Comparing the state’s CCP virus low statistics with other states, like South Dakota, we can only hope that the cost to her will be her office. I can’t imagine even most true, civil rights-loving Democrats appreciate the governor’s overreach and abuse of a state resident and American citizen any more than Republicans do.

Also, according to many constitutional law sources, it seems since the 1960s or so, the states have sidestepped the Constitution. They’ve enacted “states of emergency” laws that are somehow allowed to supersede the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps not in reality but in effect. From what I understand, over the years, some of these state-of- emergency edicts have been challenged in state and federal courts. This is also happening in various states as I write this.

However, courts seem to have agreed: if the state acts “reasonably,” meaning they don’t go far beyond what other states are doing or have done in an emergency, the courts are allowing the “temporary” abridgment of constitutional rights. Still, I don’t remember any asterisks indicating caveats to the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech…” *except for when the Chinese Communists lie about a coronavirus that then becomes a worldwide pandemic and U.S. governors decide to shut down the economy.

It seems the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to address these suspensions of Americans’ constitutional rights. Whether you agree or disagree with the reason for the suspension, there is no argument that, right now, Americans’ supposedly “unalienable rights” are being violated even if only temporarily.

The fact the folks imposing the strictest of these restrictions have lost their moral authority because of the arbitrary nature of their imposition does not help matters. Government picking winners and losers never goes over big, especially with those the government decides will be the losers.

There is a woman in Texas who, like Rick Savage in Maine, refused to close down her business, a hair salon. Now she’s also mired in a legal morass while pet groomers go on happily making money to pay their rents and feed their families.

The same goes for my state of Washington. Construction companies working for the government on state contracts busily continue to work while construction companies working on private contracts sit at home waiting for government checks, applying for unemployment, and to have their “unalienable” rights restored by a governor who had no true right to take them away in the first place. Only God can bestow or revoke natural rights.

At least, that’s what I thought until about six weeks ago when the Chinese communists unleashed this hell on the world, including an American brew pub owner in Maine.