"The freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins." — Old proverb
"The freedom to swing my fist ends where my money and I say it does." — Paraphrase of the eight-year tenure of Pete Ricketts, Nebraska governor
June, 2022
Lincoln — When it comes to freedoms, Governor Pete Ricketts has bloodied many noses. His years of mis-rule have rolled back Nebraskans' very freedoms to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Nebraska has lost all resemblance to what we once called The Good Life.
• In spreading Covid by refusing to shut down infected packinghouses, then coddling the Typhoid Marys among us over the use of masks, Ricketts endangered Nebraskans' health and welfare. He refused take the advice of University Medical Center professionals, who had to work around him to try to stop the pandemic. As many as one-third of Nebraska's Covid deaths were avoidable. This is the ultimate loss of freedom.
• In refusing to acknowledge that at least some pregnancies should be terminated for moral, ethical, and medical reasons, a position supported by a wide majority of Nebraskans, Ricketts condemns many families to needless despair. Government control over such decisions is not countenanced by the Constitution and represents a profound loss of individual freedom, including the freedom to make deeply personal choices in accordance with one's own faith and conscience.
• In adopting the mistaken and extreme view that the Second Amendment prohibits the regulation of weapons of war, Ricketts promotes a vision of Nebraska as a fearful, armed camp. As this view gains currency — it was anathema not long ago, especially among those of us with military experience — it diminishes Nebraskans' freedom from fear.
• In aligning himself with those who covet Nebraska's lands and natural resources, Ricketts proposes to curtail landowners' freedom to protect their properties through conservation easements. While taking away property rights from some, he would use the power of the state to exercise eminent domain over others, including takings for private interests.
• In attempting to dictate what can and cannot be taught in the public schools, and what public health measures can and cannot be implemented by county and city health departments, Ricketts limits speech and rolls back the freedoms associated with local self-government in matters of education and health.
• By refusing to accept federal funds for needy Nebraskans, Ricketts denies thousands the chance for freedom from want, in perilous times. These funds were intended by Congress to help struggling families with rent and food.
• By neglecting his duties to administer state agencies in a manner to protect public safety, public welfare, and natural resources, Ricketts has presided over a long and dismal list of procurement scandals (St. Francis), penitentiary mismanagement (all sites), drug-evidence thefts (at the State Patrol), privatization failures (state foster care system), financial audits (rebukes from the State Auditor), and an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions (Alt-En at Mead). Rather than facing the state's problems squarely, Ricketts has established a pay-to-play approach in state government by accepting political contributions from state contractors and regulated industries. This was perhaps to be expected from a man who had no previous experience in government or the military, but who personally knew the power of money and wealth.
• In making large, unprecedented political contributions himself to candidates for the state legislature, which under Nebraska law is to be nonpartisan and exercise oversight over the executive branch, Ricketts has interfered with the checks and balances that Nebraskans depend on to protect their freedoms.
Everywhere one looks in Nebraska state government, freedoms are being lost. It's time to bring back the old proverb and to defend freedoms from those who would swing their fists into our faces. It's time to look again at the Declaration of Independence and to the Four Freedoms enunciated by President Roosevelt — freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Palpable loss of freedoms must be a central issue in all upcoming 2022 elections, but especially in the race for Nebraska governor.
