We can understand public health precautions during this time. We can also comprehend how a state like Illinois, fourth in the nation in infections, may be nervous about large gatherings.

Though its naked attempt to get money out of the feds to close a non-virus budget shortfall brought on by leftist spending habits more than somewhat loses Illinois officials credibility on virus subjects.

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What we fail to get is overplaying the restrictions to such a degree that everyday normal citizens are threatened with police arrest by the mayor of Chicago for having only several people over to their homes. That is well under the guideline limit of ten people gathered in one place promulgated by state and the federal regs.

But that didn’t stop Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot from taking it to an extreme and enforcing the perception that she and other Democrats are gleefully trying to institute a surveillance state more onerous than the numerous surveillance tactics already employed by governments at all levels nationwide.

Said Lightfoot about small gatherings, “We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you and we will take you to jail,” she said at a Saturday presser.

She then tried to backtrack and rationalize, “This frankly doesn’t come as a surprise, given the warm weather. We’ve all been cooped up. We all miss our friends, and we all want to go outside and gather in groups. However, those aspirations simply cannot become a reality in the middle of a pandemic.” Outside? But doesn’t sunlight/UV rays kill the virus after a short time?

Then she doubled down, “If you host a party, promote a party, or go to a party, we are not playing games. We mean business, and we will shut this down one way or another,” she said, according to NBC Chicago. “The time for educating people into compliance is over. Don’t be stupid. We’re watching you, and we’re going to take decisive action.”

“We’re watching you…” Always wonderful to hear that from an elected official in a republic, eh?