For power-hungry opportunists around the country, the ongoing COVID-19 scare continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. On June 23, for example, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee apparently saw the need for the emergency powers he assumed back in March evaporating, so he ordered the state’s Department of Health to create a mandatory mask requirement . The following week, King Inslee doubled down by requiring businesses to refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask. As if it wasn’t bad enough when Inslee four months ago exercised powers, he doesn’t have to impose an arbitrary stay-at-home order that killed dozens—if not hundreds— of private businesses while his allies in state government continued to draw a regular paycheck. But his latest edict, requiring masks for every large and small public gathering, was even more irresponsible and will almost certainly set neighbors against one another through selective enforcement. If inciting violence is a criminal act, wh...

By Matthew Hayward Will Washington State's Governor Jay Inslee's announcement of businesses being required to refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask be the breaking point? After months of limited sales and fear of economic uncertainty, Inslee is now threatening financial ruin to any business that will not comply. Business owners of Washington State will be getting their brown shirts in the mail over the weekend. Will they join the Stasi, be an informant, or join the resistance? We are coming much closer to a revolution than most realize. Businesses have been deputized as the enforcement arm of the state. Business owners are literally on the frontline. They must either be willing to stand up and risk everything or comply and be the enforcing arm of the state. If business owners are going to make a stand, they need to know we will be there to back them up. To be successful, they will have to keep their doors open and persist as long as they can c...