On Thursday, Gavin Newsom rolled out a new COVID plan that isn’t new at all. It’s more like a ’78 Dodge Omni with a new paint job. It’s still an Omni, but with new blue paint.

His Coms team invented an acronym for the “plan”. S.M.A.R.T.E.R.

NEW: The next phase of California’s COVID-19 response is here. 

The SMARTER Plan focuses on what works, based on lessons learned from the last 2 years – 

Shots
Masks
Awareness
Readiness
Testing
Education
Rx treatments

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 17, 2022

Yeah, it’s as stupid as it looks.

Newsom’s handling of the pandemic has been less than optimal from the start and largely political, and he’s handling the endemic in the same political fashion. While he and other politicians and celebrities can appear indoors without masks, our children remain masked. In 2020, he closed everything — churches, schools, stores — and everyone was ordered to wear a mask. I recall a man, alone, on a beach was chased by cops. LA County bulldozed 20 tons of sand into a skate park – can’t have people having fun. All in the open air. We are at the end of this regardless of what acronym Newsom wants to invent. Our children remain masked because teacher unions control the schools.

Newsom could drop all mandates and follow the lead of other states. He could take the right road to freedom. He won’t. He won’t because of politics.

If you want a comprehensive read on Newsom’s  “SMARTER” plan, read Jennifer Oliver O’Connell’s take.