Posted on 04/25/2022 4:26:55 AM PDT by lightman
The federal travel mask mandate, the last gasp of an overreaching, tyrannical, nonsensical response to the Covid-19 pandemic from our feckless federal government, thankfully bit the dust earlier this month on the lawful orders of a district court judge appointed by none other than former President Donald Trump on his way out of office in 2020.
Notwithstanding the beautiful irony of Trump poking his nose in President Biden’s eye from the political grave, the decision from U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, that found the CDC’s mandate “arbitrary” and “capricious” and outside the scope of the agency’s authority, was based on sound legal reasoning that would easily withstand appellate scrutiny if our legal system had any intellectual integrity left.
Sadly, however, given the bizarro, upside-down world we live in now, these decisions aren’t slam-dunks anymore. Far from it. We did, after all, come a mere two Supreme Court justices away from the ‘unvaccinated’ being forced to wear moist, bacteria-laden, useless pieces of cloth over our faces at our jobs for no discernible reason or effect other than the fact that control-freak, hypochondriac mask-cultists are the ones in charge and want to actively punish those who disagree with their pseudo version of ‘science.’
With the TSA controlling airports and airplanes, implementing and enforcing a mask mandate - however ridiculous and unscientific - at these places was well within the realm of possibility. Consequently, the absurdity kept getting extended and would have likely been indefinitely kept in some form or other because these people worship masks and, since Covid isn’t ever entirely going away, the virus will always exist as a pretext.
But Mizelle put a merciful dent in those plans. In fact, outside of a head of state, it’s hard to imagine a single person with the stroke of a pen making such an instantaneous positive impact on the lives of millions of people, as evidenced by the celebrations and immediate mask removals across airports and airplanes nationwide. That’s how it’s supposed to work, and it was refreshing. Judges are supposed to protect the liberties of citizens from overzealous portions of the other branches of government, not constrain them, and this was among the dumbest of many, many dumb pandemic rules.
But now the Biden administration is appealing the decision, not so much with the intention of bringing back the mandate immediately, but, in the words of White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha, in order to “make sure the CDC has the authority” to impose such mandates in the future. You can almost smell the hubris. Discussing the issue in a media appearance, Dr. Anthony Fauci insisted the CDC's decisions "should not be a court issue," strongly implying that a small group of unelected bureaucrats should be able to rule the populace without accountability to anyone. There are a few words for that, and not a single one of them is "democracy.
Too bad. For now at least, we live in a nation of laws and even the would-be totalitarians are forced to follow the Constitution to some degree. But yeah, this appeal is important. It would be great to win it at the Supreme Court level and put an eternal stake in the notion that bureaucratic entities like the CDC can arbitrarily run our lives. But as stated above, it’s a toss-up. Which means, at least on our end for the foreseeable future, the mask wars must continue, albeit in a different form from when actual mandates were in effect. I know. I know. It seems silly to spend time reliving the awful past when you’re able to get on a plane or walk in a Target and breathe freely, but as long as our overlords have the ability to reinstate their nonsense on a whim, it’s never really over.
What should Team Reality do going forward? Let's start with the following three things:
First, we must constantly attack the notion that masks are an intervention that ever worked in the first place. When you hear of mandates being lifted, the reason typically cited is because the virus is subsiding and with the caveat that they could be reinstated if cases rise. That’s not freedom, that’s a temporary reprieve. No, this fight isn't over until every last shred of credibility forced masking ever had is utterly destroyed. The assumption that “masks work” to stop or even slightly curb Covid-19 is one of the most destructive lies in all of human history, and we must take every possible opportunity to expose it to the light of truth. This, obviously, is a fight we've been waging more or less successfully for two years. Minds are changing and have been changed. Unfortunately, it's a fight we must continue until we reach critical mass.
Second, where a politician stands on forced masking should ALWAYS be an issue. Ask the question, even if there is no Covid in your area and even if there isn’t the remotest threat of a mask mandate being put in place anytime soon. Ask your would-be city council member or county commissioner or state representative this: “If Covid or another virus rises and hospitals are threatened to be overrun, would you support or oppose the imposition of a mask mandate to counter it?” For example, I asked exactly that of someone who came to my door campaigning for county commission, and I got the answer I was looking for and I got it with extreme prejudice. Suffice it to say I WILL be voting for this lady next month. Let’s make sure anyone elected to office going forward is firmly against Covid restrictions or mandates of any kind, full stop.
Third, continue to fight them in the courts. There’s a reason why lawfare has typically been a tactic of the left - because it WORKS. Obviously, our side has been doing it to a moderate degree here, but we should continue and ramp things up anywhere and in any situation where masks or vaccines are required. Let the tyrants know they’ll pay a price in court and in legal fees anytime they want to impose their insane hypochondria on normal people.
As is always the case when protecting liberty, eternal vigilance is the key. The time when the enemy seems to be defeated isn’t a time to rest, but to regroup and be ready to fight them on the next front and the next after that. Because when the next Covid wave comes - and it will - you can rest assured these lunatics will be back with a whole new round of tyranny to inflict.
Yup. And now Deep State has a choice to make, if it hasn’t already done so.
Does it settle for a four-year loot-and-run on the public treasury, or does it go for broke and try to ensure our former republic stays former...?
If it’s the latter, the draconian CoupFlu policies will seem mild in comparison to what’s coming.
It awakened my inner pirate.
Fourth, demand the trials, convictions, and sentencing for Fauci and other DeepStaters who approved and authorized the gain-of-function research at the Wuhan laboratory and in other countries.
I asked a cashier, yesterday, if she missed her mask. She said she did. I told her that that was a bad sign. It was a good sign that she wasn’t wearing one, though.
Fifth: Publicly ridicule any retard wearing a mask for facilitating the hoax that has destroyed the lives of millions of people.
I like telling them my hat is as effective as their mask at stopping a virus.
A better standard might be for people like you to just MYOFB. Publicly ridiculing someone might get you shot in the face. If you haven't noticed people are walking around on a hair trigger.
I know I’m pushing it by doing so, but I will pass people with masks on and simply say while goi g by them “Masks don’t work, never did” or something similar. Dunno if it loosens the delusional grub on them but it’s an attempt.
At least it helps helps identify who the few CNN and MSNBC watchers are ;-)
Richard, a really nice man, had sunk his life savings into a Philly Pretzel Company franchise that opened by my house.
Since warm, soft pretzels were a special treat I would get the kids when they were young (we would have to go to a major mall a half hour away to get them), I was thrilled that these yummy delights were just down the road.
It was not uncommon for me to text my oldest son, who worked across the street, to use my spare debit card and pick up a bag of them as a weekly treat. During the summer, I would throw in frozen smoothies, too.
They were always fresh and delicious.
Richard knew my son, my husband, and I by sight. We would ask how things were going, told friends about his store, brag about them in lines at the supermarket. He started to get big orders weekly from nearby churches and businesses.
The pandemic killed his business.
Paula had finished beauty school and got the money together to start a salon. She opened her doors in January, 2020, with 6 months in reserves to carry her while she looked to build her business. She had friends who were going to rent chairs in her shop.
Then Fauci shut the world down.
Friends backed out, leaving her to carry everything on her own.
Even after Texas opened up, it was too little, too late.
Thanks, Fauci, for crushing at least two hardworking black entrepreneurs that I know of. I’m sure there are more.
And for those who closed schools and implemented lockdowns and mask mandates, and stricter sentences for those who rigorously enforced them.
Guys guys mask or no mask be sweet to the stewardess.
“It awakened my inner pirate.”
Perfect!
“Guys guys mask or no mask be sweet to the stewardess.”
Nazi death camp guards too? These masks things do not get any traction of those enforcing the mandates don’t.
you do it your way, I’ll do it mine ...It is my business ... it got shut down by these retards and I lost a big piece of my retirement funds ...
And this is why everyone should have been opposed to the mask mandates, and all of the other "mandates" (a.k.a. "mitigation measures") from the moment they began. It was an obvious slippery slope, it was obviously a usurpation of our rights, it was obviously a lie (plexiglas floating in mid-air at the checkout counter? How stupid do you have to be?). Unfortunately, the vast majority of the population (or at least 60%+), are too stupid, too fearful, too feckless, and too servile, to have recognized it, much less to have done anything about it.
Harsh, but probably necessary. Until those fools are made aware of what fools and morons they are, they'll keep clinging to their stupidity as if it were a virtue.
You should pre-write your obituary. It will save your family some grief.
She missed it because it was likely she had one of those ridiculous $29.95 designer masks with matching scarf, shoes, and face paint.
Anyway, I told her that I hope this silly mask mandate is discontinued soon so I would see that professional, reassuring, beautiful smile of yours. She thought about that comment for a second or two then took her mask off and gave me a wonderful smile. Maybe that approach made her day and gave her some food for thought.
Oh by the way, I was right on about the eye candy.
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