If the Public Had More Say, Could We Have Avoided COVID Lockdowns? (Guest: Hugh McTavish)

Hugh McTavish, gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota of the Independence Alliance Party, is an outspoken critic of COVID-19 lockdown measures. These lockdowns prompted him to make a bid to be Minnesota’s next governor, unseating Gov. Tim Walz (D). McTavish, a Ph.D. immunologist, biochemist, patent attorney, entrepreneur, and author, is proposing an innovative “jury democracy” system. Before McTavish signs any important or controversial bill into law, he will submit it to a statistically significant citizen jury of at least 500 people. “If the jury approves the bill, I will sign it into law; if it rejects the bill, I will veto it. Effectively, I will not be governor—WE ALL WILL BE! I will give the power to you!”  McTavish’s inspiration to empower regular Americans comes from Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln said that government should be “of the people, by the people, for the people.” McTavish discusses how “jury democracy” would work and how it could produce better policy outcomes. Juries would be selected in a similar fashion to juries in a court case. He envisions every registered voter would have a chance to weigh in on bills every four years.  McTavish considers himself an out of the box thinker, in line with Jesse Ventura, Minnesota’s governor from 1999 – 2003. Both men are part of the Independence Alliance Party. Incumbent Governor Tim Walz is seeking reelection on the Democrat ticket. There are also a number of candidates seeking the Republican nomination.  McTavish has written several books. His latest, “Covid Lockdown Insanity” was published in June 2021 and makes the case from a scientific point of view why the lockdowns are failures in trying to stop a virus like COVID-19.