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Shall We Wake the President?
Our governor, Ron DeSantis, has lifted all governmentally directed Corona-related restrictions, effective immediately.
This analysis in Forbes magazine is one of the fairest I could find, as a number of those appearing this morning are so full of snark and sniffery it is difficult to get through them. My, how they do hate our governor—they must see him as an existential threat on the order of President Trump, only more threatening at age 42 with a long and vigorous and energetic future before him.
By this most enlightened action, the most effective governor in the Union, bar none, has assured that petty little tyrants, like some City Councils of which we are aware, will no longer be able to impose their virtue-signaling edicts on their constituents, joining a number of other states of whom the “President” seems blissfully unaware (so what’s new?):
KEY BACKGROUND
DeSantis follows other GOP governors and state legislatures that have taken similar action to curb local governments’ abilities to impose their own restrictions. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a law banning local mask mandates on Friday, though the law won’t take effect until early July, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order last week that takes away local governments’ authority to issue mask mandates and requires local health departments to lift restrictions by the end of May. Kansas has also passed a law that empowers residents to file civil lawsuits against local governments over Covid-19 restrictions, which has led to many localities dropping their restrictions as a result, and Wyoming enacted a law limiting local orders to no more than 10 days despite the Republican governor calling the legislation “premature.” The restrictions on local orders come after many Republican governors have moved in recent months to completely lift statewide restrictions and mask mandates in response to falling cases and rising vaccinations, despite public health officials urging them not to do so.
Here in our newly adopted state of Florida, we have been enjoying so many freedoms for so long a period of time it is hard to imagine what citizens of some of those “Blue fiefdoms” must be going through in their masked, distanced, incarcerated lives.
And when we see the “President” as the only “Head of State” at an international conference — on Zoom, at that!— with a mask (maybe two?) on, it is, of course, painfully embarrassing, but much more important, it is incalculably dangerous when one imagines what Putin and Xi and the little Rocket Man must be thinking these days of the formerly proud and upright and powerful United States of America.
I saw a title recently which really puts all this in sad perspective: “What’s The Matter With Biden?”
Where to start?
God Bless America!
Published in General
Those who were not blinded with Trump Derangement Syndrome rage knew long before this election what was wrong with Biden. We always knew.
I had to think a moment about the import of a governor over-ruling local councils. Would we want the governor to over-rule the municipality on other issues? Sometimes yes – sometimes no, I suppose. What if there were a red community in a blue state that lifted mask restrictions? Would we be pleased if the governor enforced those restrictions? If I were writing the law giving the governor the power to override a municipal ordinance, how would I want it crafted?
One of the more encouraging things about the last 12 months is how the citizen class out in the hinterlands increasingly ignores the edicts from on high.
So many places — even in blue states — feel back to normal, because (as I expected to happen) the citizens just refuse to play this game. Either they’re fleeing the lockdown-happy cities, or moving out of the lockdown-happy states altogether.
The more they tighten their grip, the more citizens will slip through their fingers.
It’s tricky, but the early days of Covid revealed a lot of local governments (including the county and city where I live) easily moved into tyrant mode — like the governors of CA, MI, NM — and decided they would regulate our lives down to the details. Until our governor intervened, I could have been fined for just getting in the car and going out for a drive alone.
Our county continues our stupid governor’s overruled statewide mask mandate. At least the option was thrown to the counties. But I live in a Blue County. But . . . I am not complying. And I’m not alone.
Consider that the requirements at issue stem from state-level emergency powers affecting an individual citizen’s constitutionally protected liberty. Such power does not exist at the municipal level without the authority of the governor and/or legislature.
Along the Alabama-Florida state line, public life seemed fairly back to normal. But even if grocery customers generally don’t wear masks anymore, employees are still apparently required to wear masks by their corporate employers.
Lawsuits and PR might preserve such requirements indefinitely without legislative intervention. But that’s a risky game. Any law that forbids a thing despite local objections assumes authority to require it as well. Ideally, customers and partners will object often enough and forcefully enough to overshadow other concerns.
I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but I guess BLM has a new set of ‘demands’ every so often, and two were that Trump is never again allowed to run for office (I guess any office?) and that he be banned from all social media – haha !! Those idiots!
Until they build the Biden Star…
How many shall I order?
My wife and I took a road trip through rural Arizona last week, from Texas. Other than chain establishments, almost nobody paid any attention to masking. It was refreshing.
We did mostly avoid New Mexico rules by driving straight through without stopping except for one gas fill-up, so I can’t speak for their Governor’s tyranny.
Referring to her as Governess seems more appropriate under the circumstances.
I’d vote to make America Florida in a heartbeat. I’d finally be able to go snook fishing in the Midwest.
Nah, he’s woke enough already.
Or at least, he claims/pretends to be. Or others claim/pretend it FOR him. My guess is that he doesn’t really understand what it means. Or much of anything else, for that matter.