Few states were hit harder by draconian COVID rules than California. The reasons should be obvious (hint: commies).
Some of the most insane COVID restrictions were levied here in the Golden State. Things were so nonsensical for so long that California soon became a symbol of the American pandemic era. All the most ridiculous restrictions here inspired all the most ridiculous restrictions everywhere else.
In year two of the pandemic, when the government allowed us to go the beaches again (we’ll get to that), I recall taking my own family to the beach and chuckling to myself at some of the people I witnessed riding bikes along the beach paths, wearing masks. People were wearing masks while walking alone, in the outdoors, with no one else nearby. It seemed insane but by that time I didn’t care what anyone else did. I was just happy to be out and about and moving back towards some kind of normalcy. Then I noticed a family swimming in the ocean together – mom, dad, two children…bobbing around in the waves, enjoying this lovely beach day, wearing masks. That’s right, they were all wearing surgical masks in the water. In the ocean.
That was the day I realized that I was no longer in a place of being able to simply mind my own business. Government had wielded that pandemic to actively make people stupid. The restrictions and constitutional violations had become so heavy and merciless, they had trained the most weak-minded among us to completely ignore reality and accept wholesale the government’s pronouncements about health and safety. People had become so compliant they would risk water-boarding themselves to death in the ocean on the off chance they might catch a virus with a 99.7% survival rate in that same ocean. To my mind, they had more of a chance of making themselves sick by swallowing the ocean water soaked up by their useless masks than from getting COVID from a wave.
But hey, I’m no EXPERT SCIENTIST™.
I knew that day I was no longer going to be “live and let live” about the whole thing. We are still suffering the consequences of that concentrated “dumbing down” of America. Acquiescing so much corporate critical thinking to the government has put us in a position to now be having arguments over whether or not men can have periods.
Pro tip: Men cannot have periods.
Today, Twitter reminded me of one of the most ridiculous examples of COVID-era nonsense, one that marked a turning point for a lot of people (at least the thinking ones) in how they viewed the government’s responses. It seems like a good day to remind everyone about some of the most ridiculous responses. The COVID cultists want “amnesty,” but I say NEVER FORGET. We should extol this anniversary every year, and use it to remind people of the absurdity that is thrust upon law-abiding citizens when they hand over all personal decisions to a power-hungry government.
1.The Pits
It is fitting to start this list in California, in the town of San Clemente, just seven miles from where I live. San Clemente is a sleepy, working class -middle class beach town in south Orange County. When the government ordered everyone to stay home, residents took advantage of the weather, sun and fresh air that others were envying in the winter/spring of 2020. Government didn’t like that one bit, and the city of San Clemente (which has been plagued by progressive leadership) decided to spite the free-thinkers with the most childish move possible. They filled in a popular skate park with sand so the kids had one less place to find joy. It was the height of pettiness, one that was rooted in control, not health or safety. Of course, it has long since been proven that fresh air and physical activity are two huge factors in escaping COVID infection. At the time, California and the city of San Clemente found it better to trap our children indoors with no sun, no education and no friends.
Folks in this part of California don’t take kindly to being told what do, however. The new sand pit just gave the dirt bikers a new place to play and that’s exactly what they did.
Never forget.
Happy 3 year anniversary, Science. pic.twitter.com/6aGVOnyd1O
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) April 17, 2023
Six feet of space! That random number of “social distance” became a mantra during the earliest days of COVID. Over and over again we were told the key to slowing the spread was to stay apart, stay alone, stay in our bubbles. What our governments really meant, however, was stay in your place. One California man obeyed the social distance orders while also finding a way to enjoy nature alone, and was rewarded with a police expert back to shore and an arrest.
Obviously it was much safer for him to come into contact with 4-6 people dragging him out of the open ocean and then dozens of people at the police station rather than to be breathing alone, bothering no one on the open ocean.
Never forget.
3.COVID Doesn’t Want a Seat at the Table
When our betters in government realized that shutting down every small business in society was a bad idea, they graciously allowed us back in restaurants. Thankfully, the EXPERT SCIENTISTS™ figured out that COVID doesn’t make a great dinner guest. The “new normal” guidelines told us that we had to wear our masks to walk to our tables, or get up and walk anywhere else, but we could remove our masks to sit at the table. As long as you were seated, you were safe…or something. It was all an exercise in absurdity. Everything we learned about germs and viruses in science classes growing up was shoved aside as masks became a symbol of control and virtue.
Never Forget.
4.Freedom For Me But Not For Thee
When California Governor Gavin Newsom shut down family businesses and restaurants and ordered Californians to “stay home, stay safe,” he didn’t mean for everyone to stay home. If and when Newsom ends up running for President, his opponents will be sure to run attack ads reminding everyone how he violated his own mask mandates, social distancing guidelines, and stay-at-home orders when he was caught dining with a large group of friends at the $20-thousand-dollar-a-plate Napa Valley restaurant The French Laundry.
It wouldn’t be the only time a major political leader was caught being a COVID hypocrite. Newsom was snapped enjoying a packed, mask-free Super Bowl game next to Magic Johnson and other unmasked, wealthy guests. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer scolded residents for making a break for their boat slips in the spring of 2020, warning them that it was better to stay home and isolated over the Memorial Day Weekend. Then came word the First Gentleman was dropping her name at the dock that houses their yacht, in hopes that he could quietly and quickly get his own boat in the water.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Congressional Queen Nancy Pelosi were both caught sneaking out for special hair appointments while the cosmetology industry had been shut down for COVID. Other business owners lost everything, but the elites who knew COVID wasn’t nearly as dangerous as they were purporting it to be enjoyed their privileges as usual.
Never forget.
In what has to be one of the pettiest moves of the pandemic, Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all gardening centers closed and banned the sale of gardening items at stores. When petty politicians realized they did not have the power to force millions of people to sit completely still for two years, they turned to cutting off avenues of entertainment and self-sufficiency. Whitmer was outraged that people would buy supplies to keep themselves busy and productive at home. It was pathetic and petulant, not to mention completely unnecessary. The only reason for such a move was pure pettiness that the people of Michigan were not heeding Whitmer’s power plays. It will stand out as one of the most childish government moves of the pandemic.
Never forget.
6.List Every Voice and Shhhhh…
California closed their churches, and when the state allowed (I shiver to even write it) churches to reopen, they banned singing. They banned singing…in church. The state made it illegal to express faith through corporate song.
Never forget.
Of course there were so many other utterly insane responses to COVID, ones that went well beyond the notion of public health. List your “favorite” crazy restrictions in the comments. And never forget.
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