For the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been different rules for different states. In this case, I’m not talking about varying mitigation measures, with some having mask mandates, some having lockdowns, some having vaccine passports, and some having none of the above. While I’m against essentially all policies that crush individual liberty, you can at least respect the federalist principles at play in allowing states to make those calls.

Rather, what I’m talking about is the federal government’s response to various outbreaks depending on where they happen. That inconsistency is, of course, echoed by a compliant media that obsesses over Florida while ignoring New York despite the latter doing far worse during the pandemic. Under this complete lack of any real standard, Gretchen Whitmer is a hero while Greg Abbott is a villain.

That brings us back to the summer of 2021, where red states were not only maligned as being the continuing cause of the pandemic but were essentially left to rot by the federal government under oppressively dumb national guidelines. All of that has suddenly changed, though.

As RedState reported, Dr. Anthony Fauci actually admitted that the CDC’s latest move to limit isolation periods and stop the administering of PCR tests was to “keep society moving.”

Dr. Fauci: "There is the danger that there will be so many people who are being isolated who are asymptomatic for the full ten days, that you could have a major negative impact on our ability to keep society running. So the decision was made of saying let's get that cut in half." pic.twitter.com/RWykc6A2Ge

— The Hill (@thehill) December 29, 2021

That realistic, conciliatory tone was nowhere to be found from Fauci and other administration officials when the South had its summer wave. In fact, the federal government appeared overly hostile, unwilling to budge on anything, and even going so far as to cut the supply of monoclonal antibodies to states like Florida.

But things are different now because it’s the “good states” that are getting slammed.

What we are seeing is the naked contempt of an administration that is openly discriminatory towards its own citizens. When it was some rube from Pensacola getting COVID, the federal government treated it as a moral failing, unworthy of invoking a review of current policies. Yet, when it is elites testing positive from Georgetown, the administration is suddenly very flexible and is willing to do what’s necessary to keep society moving.

But society doesn’t just exist in and around the Acela Corridor. It includes Memphis, Jackson, Dallas, Miami, and a slew of other cities in red states that were given none of that same courtesy. The Northeastern, beltway-dwelling apparatchiks that run our government see two Americas. To them, those that live outside the trappings of far-left state governments are deserving of scorn and never worthy of fairness.

This is why governors like Ron DeSantis telling Biden to pound sand have been so important. It’s not just about owning the libs. It’s about putting a marker down that we won’t be bullied and we won’t abide by double standards. The current administration is openly discriminating against Americans based on their political leanings, and they are willing to use all the force and might of the federal government to do so, including formerly apolitical organizations like the CDC.

In short, no one should buy this recent flip-flop on case numbers and COVID guidelines as anything other than blatant opportunism. Democrats want to protect their own while shifting blame away from themselves. Don’t let them get away with it. Make them own their tyranny.