When I wrote earlier this week about the potential for Republican lawmakers to be blocked from the Statehouse if they’re not vaccinated or don’t want to be tested for COVID-19, I thought something would happen to make them back down.

After all, this is the United States of America and the idea of armed men standing at the entrance to a place that should be the center of representative government, blocking the people we elected to represent us, is shocking and smacks of tyranny.

The assembly Democrats, after their stunning and embarrassing losses on Election Day, decided to show the GOP who is boss and refused to allow them to enter the assembly chamber for their meeting yesterday if they wouldn’t submit to a medical test or receive a medical “treatment.”

It’s not even symbolic anymore. The fight against government control is no longer theoretical. It’s actually us against them—a tyrannical state government that flexes its muscles against the people.

The republic is lost when the government says the people no longer have a say. Picture the representatives you voted for crowding around an entrance to the Statehouse and being told that they are prohibited from entering because of a spurious government mandate. This is what happened yesterday.

It’s no longer just a fear. Now it’s a reality.

We’ve actually seen this happen in newsreels from Cuba and from many European countries in World War II. But no one ever really thought it could happen here. Lawmakers called into our show yesterday to describe the scene.

First, they were blocked from entering. Then, when they were told they would not be physically restrained, they entered the statehouse chamber for the meeting that we elected them for the express purpose of attending. Once they were seated, they were threatened with summonses, lectured on their selfishness and told that they had to leave immediately.

God bless these brave men and women for standing their ground.

If you were as appalled as I am that this was allowed to occur in the United States of America in 2021, it’s your responsibility to contact your local legislators and the offices of Assembly Speaker Coughlin and Senate President Sweeney and let them know how you feel about representatives of the people being blocked from participation in the government process.

If this unconstitutional approach continues unchecked, the Republic is lost. If that’s not totalitarianism, I don’t know what is.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.

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