Abusive Relationships

I saw this posted on Instapundit today: 15 Signs of an abusive relationship.  Let's check them out!

1. Stop you from seeing friends and family.  Yes, state and local government have been putting a lot of effort into this one.

2. Won't let you go out without permission.  This one has been worse in some places.  California sent police to arrest a man who was surfing at a deserted beach.

3. Tell you what to wear.  Yes, masks are the new government-mandated fashion accessory.

4. Monitor you phone or emails.  Well, this one is an old one as we learned thanks to Edward Snowden.  That abuse is old hat.

5. Control the finances or won't let you work.  Ha!  That unemployment rate sure did skyrocket.  In some states, the refusal to allow businesses to open persists.  Some states are more abusive than others.

6. Control what you read, watch and say.  As with the infamous rendition regarding terrorists, the government has outsourced this one to the 'private' sector.  First it was Alex Jones, then Milo Yiannopoulos, and now the sitting president.  Even competitors to the government sanctioned monopolies have been banned (i.e. Parler).  Say the wrong thing and you get canceled.  YouTube channels with the wrong views have been removed.  

7. Monitor everything you do.  If you have a cell phone, the government or their 'private' lieutenants know where you are and probably what you are doing.

8. Punish you for breaking the rules, but the rules keep changing.  All last year, it was fine to riot and government crackdowns were stomping on 'mostly peaceful protests.'  Now riots are sedition and government crackdowns mandatory.

9. Tell you it is for your own good, and that they know better.  The government is locking us up for our own safety.  Really, we're too irresponsible to make an informed decision.

10. Don't allow you to question it.  You know, the recent election seemed a little fishy.  When Hillary complained about Russian interference, we had a 2 year investigation.  How about...  Hello?  Huh, the line went dead.  Huh, I just got banned from Twitter.  That's odd.

11. Tell you you're crazy and no one agrees with you.  Yeah, if you don't agree with the mainstream narrative, you're some sort of loon.  See, there is only one way of seeing things and alternate viewpoints are just a sign of insanity.

12. Call you names or shame you for being stupid or selfish.  Yes, the fun arguments where one person says a country needs borders and the other person says 'racist!'  Hey, the US government should consider the interests of American citizens before foreign citizens.  'Fascist!'  Good times.

13. Gaslight you, challenge your memory of events, make you doubt yourself.  Just look at how many people believe things that didn't happen.  Drink bleach?  Never happened.  Nazis are fine people?  Never happened.  Russian collusion?  Never happened.  Nonetheless, half the population believes them.

14. Dismiss your opinions.  If only it was merely dismissing.  Banning is the current tactic.  There are calls to blacklist people with the wrong opinions.

15. Play the victim.  If things go wrong, it's all your fault.  I've talked about this one before.  If the government shuts down when a Republican is president and Democrats control Congress, it is the president's fault.  However, if a Democrat is president and the Republicans control Congress, then it would be the Congress's fault.  And the Democrats are always victim of Republican partisanship.  At least, that's how the press reliably reports it.

Stop the abuse!