it's rare i see a politician speak and think "wow, that sounds like a leader" but keith pekau, mayor of orland park, bucks the trend

he's articulate, uses data, questions the capricious diktat of pritzker, and flat out says he will not enforce it.

hero.

the case positivity rate in IL to re-open was dropped to 8%.

OP is not even at 8%. yet they are being closed.

now it's "days of positivity increases" an absurd, junk figure.

there is no science here nor even any sense.

he asks "what's the basis for these metrics?"

he then starts to use (gasp) actual data to question the claims of their lockdown happy governor and points out that even with the newly moved goalposts, they are still not in the risk zone.

if this chart from cook county says "you better lock down" then i suspect there is no ink blot on earth that does not look that way to you.

hospitals have above avg availability even for a normal year.

why must one size fit all?

there is no data for shutting restaurants for inside dining. they were opened on june 24 and disease stayed low for 4 full months afterwards.

1.4% of cases were from restaurants. 77% are from long term care.

so where is the risk?

he then asks "why is this data being ignored and hidden?"

why is it not on the IL site?

why is pritzker allowing video gambling in restaurants but not food?

might it be the 30% tax on gaming that provides so much revenue?

he then calls out the heavy handed use of the "commerce and opportunity" department and the liquor board to go after restaurants.

this is what happens when you allow the state to make running your business a "privilege" not a right.

licensing requirements make you into a serf.

the best part starts at 5.13. pritzger is threatening to send the state police as enforcers.

looting and rioting = OK.

sitting down to get a burger = lawlessness! send in the staties!

he then speaks about enforcement:

"local officials do not have the power or the responsibility to enforce this"

he then cites the statute.

and then makes it clear he will not, cannot, and should not enforce this.

now THAT is what a leader looks like.

he makes it clear that, under the emergency act, the state police lack jurisdiction on this issue as well and that if pritzger wants to enforce this, he needs to use the specific agencies enumerated, not whatever armed goons happen to be handy.

he's siding with the people. he's protecting them and their rights.

in a year when most mayors could not wait to wield the whip hand against their people, this stands as a real act of courage and principle.

well done sir.

i wish we had more like you.

i'd like to point out here that lockdowns have done NOTHING for illinois except hurt them.

they had the same curve as sweden but with more deaths. https://twitter.com/boriquagato/status/1306948908850049031?s=20

now, they get the rebound leg from having used the "hammer" (hard lockdown)

ultimate herd immunity threshold is path dependent. if you fail to flip your low risk superspread nodes to resistors early, you increase HIT and overall death.

lockdowns kill. https://twitter.com/boriquagato/status/1315669937269202944?s=20

illinois deaths are now on the rise again while sweden remains near zero.

7day moving avg deaths per million is 0.25 in sweden and 3.2 in illinois (despite sweden using more inclusive counting)

this is BECAUSE IL locked down and because they mask.

had they not, they too would be over this.

as it is, they are just making it worse and inflicting needless economic and health damage.

again.