Always Winter, Never Christmas in Covidland

 

Our house is decorated, the Christmas tree is up, and all the presents have been bought. Well, almost all; I’m sure we’ll find some last-minute must-haves. Our holiday season is normal, outside of inflated prices and a deflated Santa that blew into our yard last night.

But New York City, Washington DC, and other blue cities are observing Covidmas again this year. The dreary winter weather matches their residents’ dreary mood. “Fifteen days to slow the spread” has dragged to 21 months with no end in sight. Politicians shame the unvaccinated, teachers’ unions threaten more school closures, and progressives tut-tut Christmas revelers.

BuzzFeed hosted a staff holiday party in Manhattan that turned into a super-spreader event among the 100-percent vaccinated and boosted attendees. Other Gotham CEOs canceled their soirées and opted for yuletide classics like online yoga and meal delivery.

The Atlantic published a piece, “I’m Starting to Give Up on Post-pandemic Life,” with the subhead “Despair is not a mild symptom.” CNN’s Chris Cillizza wrote about his “long December” and how his “Covid anxiety is spiking.” Neurotic journalists keep using their day jobs as free therapy and insult readers for not being as miserable as they are.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom stopped attacking Ron DeSantis long enough to announce yet another state mask mandate. Politico noted that “many Californians have already reconciled themselves to a perpetually masked lifestyle.”

In the Beltway, politicians rue the day candidate Joe Biden promised to “shut down the virus,” especially since there have been more Covid deaths under his presidency than his predecessor’s. Six months ago, Biden heralded a post-vaccine “summer of freedom. A summer of joy. A summer of reunions and celebrations.” His message today is quite different.

And you thought Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech was bleak.

On Friday, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients repeated this grim prognosis. “For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm.” By the way, Christmas is a week away. Ho, ho, ho.

Or is it? Dr. Anthony “I Am Science” Fauci canceled the holiday for his family. “For the first time in more than 30 years,” he said, “I’m not spending the Christmas holidays with my daughters.” He claimed everyone doesn’t have to cancel get-togethers, as long as they “ask and maybe require that people show evidence that they are vaccinated.”

You’re a mean one, Dr. Fauci.

In the C.S. Lewis classic The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Mr. Tumnus describes the White Witch’s evil rule over Narnia. “She makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas.”

Always winter, never Christmas, only Covidmas.

The shrieking reports from coastal media bewilder those of us in free states. Outside of doctor’s appointments and air travel, I haven’t worn a mask since … I don’t know … May 2020? A handful of my neighbors wear masks while shopping, perhaps 5 percent and nearly all elderly. The rest? We moved on a year and a half ago.

A NYC-based journalist friend was dumbfounded when I told him this, and more than a little envious. The national media is stuck in a different world, and a different time. It’s like the White Witch’s Narnia, but with the additional horror of online yoga.

I wish a Merry Christmas to the vast majority of the country and a Dreary Covidmas to those unquestioning minds trapped in locked-down cities. If these New Yorkers, Angelenos, and Washingtonians happen to own an old wardrobe, perhaps they could step through it to celebrate Christmas with the rest of us.

Published in Culture, Politics, Religion & Philosophy
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  1. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Glad I am in GA. 

    And it was 70 today

    • #1
  2. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    The big thaw from COVIDmas has begun in my neck of the woods. 

    • #2
  3. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Or is it? Dr. Anthony “I Am Science” Fauci canceled the holiday for his family. “For the first time in more than 30 years,” he said, “I’m not spending the Christmas holidays with my daughters.”

    They’re as fed up with him as everybody else? They had a head start on most of us.

    He claimed everyone doesn’t have to cancel get-togethers, as long as they “ask and maybe require that people show evidence that they are vaccinated.”

    Maybe his daughters are demanding proof of paternity.

    • #3
  4. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Great post.  I’ll have more to say, particularly on the first half, you know, someday.  

    • #4
  5. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Just a data point.  Went into the Imperial Capital yesterday.  Few masks and ZERO demands that my buddy and I mask up.  
    The mandate is dead in public life.  Which might help explain the deep state’s focus on regulation, legal or uh otherwise. 

    • #5
  6. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Percival (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Or is it? Dr. Anthony “I Am Science” Fauci canceled the holiday for his family. “For the first time in more than 30 years,” he said, “I’m not spending the Christmas holidays with my daughters.”

    They’re as fed up with him as everybody else? They had a head start on most of us.

    I can’t stand that jug-eared garden gnome.

    • #6
  7. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):
    I can’t stand that jug-eared garden gnome.

    Best description I’ve heard of him yet!

    • #7
  8. Charles Mark Member
    Charles Mark
    @CharlesMark

    It could be worse-you could live in Ireland. We have been forced to wear masks indoors since the very beginning. Even kids of 9 upwards now have to wear them all day. Meanwhile, having been told for the second year running to be well-behaved ( you’d better watch out, you’d better not sneeze) so that we could have a “normal Christmas”, we are going into partial lockdown. Pubs and restaurants have to close at 8pm. Only 5,000 people can attend outdoor sporting events- there goes one of the highlights of my Christmas! 

    The way it works here is that we have a public health advisory group (NPHET) which makes radical proposals, in this case 5pm closing for bars and restaurants. 24 hours later the Government imposes lesser – but still ludicrous- restrictions, and expects everyone to be thrilled to bits. 

     Most depressing of all, the majority of citizens love restrictions. These are people who mostly work in the public service, or otherwise are fully protected from any financial hit due to lockdowns- who often benefit from them. 

     

    • #8
  9. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Charles Mark (View Comment):
    Pubs and restaurants have to close at 8pm.

    Because the virus keeps strict hours.

    • #9
  10. BillJackson Inactive
    BillJackson
    @BillJackson

    It sounds like Illinois and Ireland have a lot in common. And I love being able to come here for a dose of sanity after reading our local media say this Christmas will be the End Times of Horror unto Man. The public health officials are going on with such dire predictions, part of me wants to think they know something we don’t and this is serious … but then I remember I thought the same thing last year. 

    And the issue I face now — and I wonder how many have the same issue — is that I have a wonderful job at a great company that will not ever have a remote policy. They have made that very clear. So I can’t leave my Blue State. I guess I don’t know if it’s any better to be a questioning mind trapped in a lockdown city or not. 

    • #10
  11. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Outside of doctor’s appointments and air travel, I haven’t worn a mask since … I don’t know … May 2020? A handful of my neighbors wear masks while shopping, perhaps 5 percent and nearly all elderly. The rest? We moved on a year and a half ago.

    If more people would refuse to participate in collective insanity this would all be over for everyone. Stop getting tested, refuse the injections, and for crying out loud take off the d***** masks. 

    • #11
  12. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Charles Mark (View Comment):
    Only 5,000 people can attend outdoor sporting events- there goes one of the highlights of my Christmas! 

    One wonders where they come up with those numbers (and business operating hours) that are considered safe from Covid transmission. Is there a think tank somewhere that has done clinical studies on those things? Just wondering.

    • #12
  13. Charles Mark Member
    Charles Mark
    @CharlesMark

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    Charles Mark (View Comment):
    Only 5,000 people can attend outdoor sporting events- there goes one of the highlights of my Christmas!

    One wonders where they come up with those numbers (and business operating hours) that are considered safe from Covid transmission. Is there a think tank somewhere that has done clinical studies on those things? Just wondering.

    One can wonder but never understand. It’s actually 50% of capacity or 5000, whichever is lower. In Summer 2020, one could have a drink in a pub only but also having a meal that cost at least €9. There was such a run on chicken- wings, the supply chain could barely keep up! 

    I read a very good comment somewhere today, to the effect that the comfortable people, who glide through lockdowns without a care, still expect the low-paid grunts, who keep the food-stores and the garbage collection and the drains going, to turn up for work every day. 

     

    • #13
  14. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Charles Mark (View Comment):

    Hang in there!  Miserable to hear about this actually being WORSE in the Biden-free parts of the Anglosphere.

    • #14
  15. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Charles Mark (View Comment):
    I read a very good comment somewhere today, to the effect that the comfortable people, who glide through lockdowns without a care, still expect the low-paid grunts, who keep the food-stores and the garbage collection and the drains going, to turn up for work every day. 

    I comment here simply to give people another chance to LIKE your comment.  

    • #15
  16. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: A NYC-based journalist friend was dumbfounded when I told him this, and more than a little envious. The national media is stuck in a different world, and a different time.

    Leave them stuck in their world. Don’t let them come out to visit to visit the rest of us. Tell them that with covid, it’s too dangerous to get out and see how the rest of us live. They will believe you.

     

    • #16
  17. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Outside of doctor’s appointments and air travel, I haven’t worn a mask since … I don’t know … May 2020? A handful of my neighbors wear masks while shopping, perhaps 5 percent and nearly all elderly. The rest? We moved on a year and a half ago.

    If more people would refuse to participate in collective insanity this would all be over for everyone. Stop getting tested, refuse the injections, and for crying out loud take off the d***** masks.

    Thank you.

    • #17
  18. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Merry Christmas from the Slave State of Washington.  Mask mandates everywhere, vax mandates for all government and healthcare employees statewide, and for most retail customers and workers in Seattle and King County (restaurants are required to check vaccination papers of all customers).  There have been some small protests against the vax mandates, and many resignations from police departments and hospitals of employees who refuse vaccination.  Just this week, Boeing dropped its employee mandate, as they encountered a significant number of employees who issued credible threats to quit rather than comply.  However, most places I go, the vast majority of people dutifully wear their masks.  I do not, and am never challenged.  Last week, I even saw an unmasked customer at Trader Joe’s, which had a forceful mandate over the summer, with an employee at the door checking that your mask covered both your nose and mouth!  Almost all Costco customers are masked, but even their employees are showing their fatigue, with numerous masks over mouth only with nose exposed.  I really hope to see mass non-compliance suddenly appear, but I’m not holding my breath.

    • #18
  19. OmegaPaladin Moderator
    OmegaPaladin
    @OmegaPaladin

    In Chicago, where I live, there is a growing lack of patience with masks, but still a lot of fear. Once you leave the Chicago metro area, it is pretty wide open in Illinois – especially in small towns.

    Given that my folks live in rural Wisconsin, you would figure it would be a nice break from COVIDmania.  Not a chance!  My parents devoutly watch CNN and my stepmom is becoming more woke.   They don’t want to hear any pushback, despite me working in safety and biomedical research.   They are outraged that people do not wear masks in church and only attend remotely.   They apparently are ruling out family reunions because my aunt and uncle sound a bit like some of you around here.

    I’m going to visit my girlfriend later this month, out in the American sector.  While I will have to mask on the Amtrak train, I will be mostly mask free for a few days.

    • #19
  20. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    OmegaPaladin (View Comment):
    My parents devoutly watch CNN …

    They’re the ones!

     

    • #20
  21. Buckpasser Member
    Buckpasser
    @Buckpasser

    So glad that I moved from Covidland (California) to America (Florida) a year + ago.

    • #21
  22. BillJackson Inactive
    BillJackson
    @BillJackson

    OmegaPaladin (View Comment):

    In Chicago, where I live, there is a growing lack of patience with masks, but still a lot of fear. Once you leave the Chicago metro area, it is pretty wide open in Illinois – especially in small towns.

    Given that my folks live in rural Wisconsin, you would figure it would be a nice break from COVIDmania. Not a chance! My parents devoutly watch CNN and my stepmom is becoming more woke. They don’t want to hear any pushback, despite me working in safety and biomedical research. They are outraged that people do not wear masks in church and only attend remotely. They apparently are ruling out family reunions because my aunt and uncle sound a bit like some of you around here.

    I’m going to visit my girlfriend later this month, out in the American sector. While I will have to mask on the Amtrak train, I will be mostly mask free for a few days.

    Enjoy your holiday free of the Illinois Mask Mandate! (I’m heading to see my Dad in a Free State and it will be wonderful.) It’d be great to know what the Amtrak compliance is as well. I live near a Metra station and I see people boarding the train with masks, but I don’t know if they keep them on for the duration of their trip.

    • #22
  23. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Every bus in Washington has a rotating sign above the windshield that alternates with the route, and “masks mandatory”, even when it is out of service.   Needless to say, I don’t ride buses. 

    • #23
  24. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    I just read that in the Netherlands, they’ve restricted how many visitors one may have in private homes:

    In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte.

    • #24
  25. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    I just read that in the Netherlands, they’ve restricted how many visitors one may have in private homes:

    In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte.

    I want to see how they intend to enforce that.  If I lived there, I would invite my whole family to my home, and dare them to send everyone home.  Will they have police checking every single dwelling and count all the people?

    • #25
  26. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    I just read that in the Netherlands, they’ve restricted how many visitors one may have in private homes:

    In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte.

    I want to see how they intend to enforce that. If I lived there, I would invite my whole family to my home, and dare them to send everyone home. Will they have police checking every single dwelling and count all the people?

    They’ll depend on your neighbors ratting you out.  And they probably will.

    • #26
  27. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    I just read that in the Netherlands, they’ve restricted how many visitors one may have in private homes:

    In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte.

    I want to see how they intend to enforce that. If I lived there, I would invite my whole family to my home, and dare them to send everyone home. Will they have police checking every single dwelling and count all the people?

    They’ll depend on your neighbors ratting you out. And they probably will.

    That’s how it works in Canada, isn’t it? 

    • #27
  28. James Salerno Inactive
    James Salerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    I just read that in the Netherlands, they’ve restricted how many visitors one may have in private homes:

    In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte.

    I want to see how they intend to enforce that. If I lived there, I would invite my whole family to my home, and dare them to send everyone home. Will they have police checking every single dwelling and count all the people?

    They’ll depend on your neighbors ratting you out. And they probably will.

    I’ve been thinking about this a lot.

    There are a handful of counties that have elected to not enforce reinstatement of mask mandates in New York state. But they’re not doing it out of principled reasons, for example, Madison County has stated they want everyone masked and vaccinated, but they do not have the police resources to enforce it, and do not want excessive police calls. Other counties are asking probation officers to work overtime to help enforce these dictatorial edicts. So it’s a logistics stance, not a principled one. Unfortunate, but I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.

    Regardless, the Soviets did not have the police resources to turn Russia into the USSR. They relied on neighbors doing the policing for them, reporting on other neighbors. I’m already seeing that here.

    • #28
  29. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: It’s like the White Witch’s Narnia, but with the additional horror of online yoga.

    Love that line, Jon.

    OmegaPaladin (View Comment):
    Given that my folks live in rural Wisconsin, you would figure it would be a nice break from COVIDmania.  Not a chance!  My parents devoutly watch CNN and my stepmom is becoming more woke.   They don’t want to hear any pushback, despite me working in safety and biomedical research.

    Yeah, it’s weird, the connection between Covid panic and politics.  I have a relative who for decades has been absolutely apolitical.  Voted for the first time in his life in 2020.  His number one issue is Covid and he has embraced Democrats all the way.

    Joseph Stanko (View Comment):

    I just read that in the Netherlands, they’ve restricted how many visitors one may have in private homes:

    In what is surely to prove a major disappointment, the lockdown terms also rein in private holiday celebrations. Residents only will be permitted two visitors except for Christmas and New Year’s, when four will be allowed, according to Rutte.

    This is heart-breaking.  I can easily picture such restrictions in a communist or other authoritarian country, but The Netherlands has historically been one of the freer countries in the world.  That is very disappointing.

    • #29
  30. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Dr. Anthony “I Am Science” Fauci canceled the holiday for his family. “For the first time in more than 30 years,” he said, “I’m not spending the Christmas holidays with my daughters.”

    So if this is the “first time” in 30 years, rather than the second time, then even last year when he told everyone to cancel Christmas get-togethers (and many of us did) sounds like he didn’t follow his own rules. More of the “rules don’t apply to me” nonsense we’ve come to expect from this class of technocrats.

     

    • #30
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