“This is going to be remembered as a catastrophic moral crime.” Bari Weiss, on RealTime with Bill Maher.

By March 12, 2020, most of America was in lockdown: schools closed; workplaces closed — unless the government determined you were “essential” — churches, mosques and synagogues closed. In the days and weeks following, they closed playgrounds and ordered us to wear masks, and some governors tragically ordered sick senior citizens to go to nursing homes.

But unlike my earlier anniversary columns, on this fifth anniversary, my focus is on the heroes — the voices crying out in the wilderness.

Alex Berenson. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and the doctors of the Great Barrington Declaration. Jennifer Sey. And Bari Weiss.

Some leaders spoke out that March. Others joined the cause that summer, or in 2021 or 2022. Let us never forget that even in early 2022, there still were mask mandates and vaccine card-checks and some schools were either still virtual or switched to virtual at the first sneeze. Our youngest attended her first semester of college in the fall 2019. After then, she never had a semester with the majority of classes being in-person — though they played football with sell-out crowds.

But there were leaders speaking out in public, offering science-based analysis, and raising common-sense questions. There were parents speaking up at school board meetings. They knew that locking people indoors indefinitely, creating a two-class society and prohibiting children from being with children or hugging their grandparents violated medical and commonsense guidance.

Some speaking out lost their jobs, or were shunned by family and friends. Some quit their jobs to speak out — including a Chamber CEO. Some eventually returned to normal life. Some are still talking about the lingering issues surrounding health — mental and physical, and medications. Others have become leaders in the even bigger issue of the First Amendment. 

Protecting and promoting free expression allows us to speak out and challenge harmful allegations like the Covid-era thought-police term “misinformation,” and to keep government officials accountable to us. They work for us, never the other way around.

Bari Weiss is a liberal who wrote for the New York Times. She began to question that status quo when she noticed that the Times wasn’t focused on a debate of ideas. Eventually, she resigned. She began to question Covid orthodoxy: everybody must comply and no one may question any of the rules, mandates or lockdowns. On January 21, 2022, she had her “radical” commonsense outburst on TV. Government — and its allies in the media and medicine — were mandating guidelines that were not only wrong but, two years later, obviously wrong. And they were still shutting down debate and refusing to apologize, or roll back mandates. Madness!

Like Weiss, Alex Berenson had been a Times reporter. He often wrote about healthcare — especially relating to the misuse of marijuana. Berenson was one of the first to write that the lockdowns were unnecessary, especially for those who were young and healthy. His merit badge comes from being among the first prominent Covid critics to be kicked off of Twitter/X. (He was later reinstated under the new ownership.) 

He’s been especially focused on the vaccine, mandates, and the blurred lines between government officials monitoring vaccinations and the executives at major pharmaceutical companies. He now monitors the effects of the vaccine, especially on otherwise healthy younger Americans. Regardless of one’s opinion of his conclusions, the facts that he’s uncovered, the insights that he’s shared and, most of all, his willingness to raise thoughtful skepticism makes him a must-read.

Leading the medical charge against mandates, lockdowns and a two-tiered economy (“essential” versus “non-essential”) with gravitas, science and passion was Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. Yes, he’s now the newly appointed Director of the National Institute for Health. He, too, was eventually banned on social media. But his words and thought leadership were heard and drew others to his clause. Today, nearly a million doctors and scientists have signed on to the Great Barrington Declaration he helped to start, in which the signatories rejected lockdowns and thoughtfully promoted “herd immunity.” They raised insightful, commonsense analysis focused on Americans’ physical and mental health, and how lockdowns and masks were actually more harmful — worse even than Covid. 

Not a writer, scientist or doctor, Jennifer Sey’s impact beyond the Covid debate may be her most impactful legacy. And she’s not done as a business or thought leader. She walked away from her role as President of the Levi’s jeans brand. Why? Because her role as mom — an adult with common sense — compelled her to speak out against school lockouts. And as a corporate executive her words carried great weight — and attention. Levi’s didn’t like that kind of attention.

But she keeps writing and speaking out on issues she cares about, —especially when she’s told to sit down and be quiet. She recognized that it wasn’t just about Covid and health, but the rise of the self-appointed “experts” who not only wanted to rule but, more concerning, want to silence anyone challenging their dictates.

Her passion is still about speaking commonsense truths, now about women’s sports. (As Ricky Gervais jokes: “women, you know, the old fashioned ones…with wombs.”) Sey is not joking about women’s sports or Title IX. This corporate fashion leader combined her passion for speaking truths to create a clothes-brand to protect women’s sports: XX-XY Athletics.

The enduring effects of Covid policies are still felt in our economy, our children, and our distrust of “experts.” Yet we should be heartened that there were leaders who have the courage to speak out, offering liberty-focused, common sense. 

Let freedom ring!

Guy Ciarrocchi—the former CEO of the Chester County Chamber and member of the US Chamber’s Committee of 100 — is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation. He writes for Broad + Liberty and RealClear Pennsylvania. Follow Guy at @PaSuburbsGuy.