The Governor complained yesterday about people going to the beach.
According to the AP “The Democratic governor targeted beachgoers in Orange and Ventura counties, calling them an example of “what not to do” if the state wants to continue its progress fighting the coronavirus.” Beachgoers as criminals? Oh come on, man.
Of course, he doesn’t want to have to get mean about making people do what he says (at least according to him). Once again, in the AP story: “As he works on a reopening plan, Newsom said he does not want to step up enforcement against people who don’t follow the rules. But he urged local governments to reconsider their directives and said the California Highway Patrol is considering more ‘aggressive enforcement’ measures.”
Oh gee whiz, thanks Governor. You’re all heart.
The evidence is mounting daily about how this Governor completely overreacted to the health issues caused by COVID-19. We were told in March that we needed to completely destroy California’s economy to prevent an “untenable influx of new cases” the virus was expected to create. We were told hospitals were not equipped to handle the rush the disease would cause in our ICUs and emergency rooms.
Oops. Never happened. This rush was supposed to have happened by now. On March 19, Governor Newsom, in a letter to Trump, claimed that 22 million Californians would have the disease within 8 weeks of his letter (we are now at 6 weeks and 45,000 people after the letter). A lot of people will have to get sick in the next two weeks to meet his projections. It is evident now, more than ever, that Newsom overreacted.
He says his order was based on science, it was necessary. The science was wrong, but now Newsom won’t back down. He staked his Governorship on this “aggressive” approach to the disease, and now he can’t back down. Now he says if you don’t do what you are told, you will face “aggressive enforcement measures” from the “stadtpolizei.” You’ll get arrested for going to the church, or to the beach or to the parks, or to work. This guy has real political ambition, he’s thinking he’s going to be President someday. If his order, and the massive economic damage he has caused with it, turn out to be wrong, he’ll end up as the parking supervisor in San Francisco County. This situation was to be his “leadership moment.” He cannot afford to be seen as weak.
He is the classic Arrogant Lazy Authoritarian (ALA). An ALA asserts his or her authority under color of “public necessity” and then pursues his or her order no matter what the consequences, and anyone who challenges him or her are treated as a threat to the body politic. In this case, Newsom says “do what I tell you to do, or I will continue this order” for a lot longer no matter how the evidence against the wisdom of the order mounts up.
Want to challenge this ALA? Go to church. The First Amendment clearly protects the “free exercise of religion.” Enforcing the order against churches will prove to be impossible, and it will allow the evidence against the order to accumulate. It will show this order was more a function of Newsom’s ego, and less about public health and necessity. There were dozens of other ways the impact of this virus could have been lessened without a complete shut down of the entire state. The time has come to recognize this order is no longer necessary. It is time for the government to allow things to return to the “old normal.”
That means no “lessening” of the restrictions on business, churches, parks and recreational facilities. It means removing those restrictions. We are watching the virus slow down now. Hospitals around the state are empty. About 1/10th of 1% of the people have been identified as infected with the virus (not 50% as we were told by the “scientists” in March would happen). It’s time to admit the “scientists” were wrong, and let people start to live their lives again, so they can work and feed their family, worship where and how they please, and recreate how they wish.
Go to church, go to your favorite restaurant, sit where you want, reopen your business. Ignore the Governor. That is the only way this egregious intrusion on individual liberty will go away. Make the cops arrest you and your pastor for worshiping God or feeding you family. That will expose this ALA for who he really is.