There are situations that defy our ability to maintain the constitutional order we treasure.  A nuclear attack.  Terrorists who use our freedoms as cover for their war against us.  A pandemic may be such a circumstance.  Our executive branch -- federal and state -- must be empowered to act decisively in an emergency.  Throughout the Cold War it was assumed that the president had the power to order a cataclysmic nuclear strike against our enemies without consulting Congress or a court.  The launch window might be only a few minutes; please God, let us be strong enough that no rational power ever places us in this horrifying scenario. But where are the limits in a crisis where potentially substantial loss of life is spread out across the population and over time?  Our Constitution was written in an age when epidemics were frequent and deadly yet it includes no clause for coping with widespread sickness.  The coronavirus is not Ebola or...(Read Full Post)