During a question-and-answer session on Wednesday at Hillsdale College, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said that the lockdowns Americans across the country are - "other than slavery" - "the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history."
"You know, putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest," Barr said, according to POLITCO. "It’s — you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history."
In response to Barr's comment, CNN interviewed Rep. Jim Clyburn, who called the remarks "the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful thing I've ever heard."
"It is incredible, as chief law enforcement officer in this country, to equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives," Clyburn told "New Day" host John Berman. "Slavery was not about saving lives. It was about devaluing lives."
First of all, like a typical leftist Clyburn didn't pay attention to the context someone he's tasked to disagree with used. Barr said "other than slavery," which means he wasn't equating anything.
Plus, is Clyburn discounting the impact the lockdowns are having on people? Of course it's not equivalent to slavery. Everyone knows that, even Clyburn. But with so many businesses either having to stay closed because of restrictions, or having to give up their business because of the same restrictions, there's a definite strain on the public that the politicians who have lived in a bubble before lockdowns were even a thing don't seem to understand.
Barr's comment came after a speech he was giving during Hillsdale's Constitution Day event, which included some interesting - in the make-you-think sense of the word - comments.
Here's an example (You can read Barr's full prepared comments by clicking here):
When many people think about the virtues of our Constitution, they first mention the Bill of Rights. That makes sense. The great guarantees of the Bill of Rights —freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms, just to name the first few— are critical safeguards of liberty. But as President Reagan used to remind people, the Soviet Union had a constitution too, and it even included some lofty-sounding rights. Ultimately, however, those promises were just empty words, because there was no rule of law to enforce them.