Rebellion and freedom are on the rise in Pennsylvania.

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor and Gauleiter wannabe Tom Wolf announced a plan for allowing Pennsylvanians to get on with their lives. Since mid-March, Pennsylvania has been under a “stay at home” order. Not content to merely screw with everyone, he established a Rube-Goldberg system of color coding counties by what activities the serfs would be allowed to partake in.

Earlier today, I announced the first Pennsylvania counties that will move from the red to yellow phase of reopening.

These counties were selected because the data is promising, and experts feel comfortable that they can safely loosen some restrictions. pic.twitter.com/8iSvMgijsI

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) May 1, 2020

Last week, he deigned to allow 24 counties in the Pennsyltucky heartland

On May 8, 24 counties will reopen — moving from the red phase of #COVID19 response to the yellow phase.
 
✅ More businesses can open with safety guidance in place
🏡 Telework must continue where possible
😷 Residents should social distance + wear masks to avoid an outbreak pic.twitter.com/J5zMLExati

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) May 1, 2020

(Let me give a shoutout to my good friend Mike riding out the storm at his 38-acre ‘shooting preserve’ in Potter County, swilling Russian Imperial Stout and watching the Amish guys say f***-you to social distancing orders.)

While granting limited human rights to those counties, Wolf could resist reminding everyone who was actually running their lives.  In a most Marie Antoinette kind of way, Wolf kept Western Pennsylvania under lockdown because f*** it he could.

SOURCES: Despite low Covid19 numbers here, Governor Wolf will postpone lifting stay-at-home restrictions in Southwestern PA. Will reopen 24 northern counties first. #KDKA

— Andy Sheehan (@AndySheehankdka) May 1, 2020

As hard as it is to believe, the state has not only not set at timeline to move to Green, it hasn’t even defined what could possibly trigger than move heavily implying the answer is nothing can ever move the state to Green.

Yesterday, the Governor extended his beneficence to Western Pennsylvania

Most of Southwestern Pa. moving to yellow reopen phase, Beaver County excluded.https://t.co/tLxVUjBFSD

— Pittsburgh City Paper (@PGHCityPaper) May 9, 2020

Whoops…except Beaver County. Why would that be? An aversion to risque names (my own ancestors owned land in the mid-1700s along a strangely named waterway in Lunenburg County, VA, now called Modesty Creek? Nope. Beaver County’s stats were skewed by some nursing home deaths and because of that the entire county was declared unfit to resume life. And maybe a bit of raw politics:

Just realized why Beaver County has been singled out to remain CLOSED @SeanParnellUSA is running for Congress in that county

Yinz need to work for Sean and have a monster Election Day turnout for him

To learn who he is go to his web site AND READ ..
OUTLAW PLATOON

— Locke&Rand (@proDOcERs) May 9, 2020

The county leadership, fortunately, is composed of sturdier stock that the people who rant on Twitter about the value of that strongly and deeply held conservative principle of just shutting up and doing whatever the hell your betters tell you to and decided to not play.

#NOW Beaver Co. Commissioner Jack Manning says how does it make sense that everyone else in the region can open, but not Beaver County? He says his job is to protect the welfare of businesses and residents, which is why he is not backing the @GovernorTomWolf decision. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/Nx4AlzYv6C

— Nicole Ford (@NicoleFordTV) May 8, 2020

The county announced that it was moving itself to “Yellow” category and the County Attorney has announced that he will not prosecute anyone for violating the order.

#BREAKING Beaver Co. District Attorney’s Office will not prosecute potential business closure violations at this time. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/FkL0B57P3D

— Nicole Ford (@NicoleFordTV) May 8, 2020

In short order, two other counties joined the revolt, Dauphin (humiliatingly, the home of Pennsylvania’s bankrupt state capital)

Wow. Looks like a chunk of central Pennsylvania, including Dauphim County (pop. 280,000, home of the state capital) decided last night to reopen, defying @GovernorTomWolf’s order extending lockdowns to June 5. This letter is worth reading in its entirety. pic.twitter.com/6XqvUvRglo

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) May 9, 2020

and Lebanon

Lebanon County plans to defy governor's order and allow businesses to reopen https://t.co/0FSZF38L77

— The Reading Eagle (@ReadingEagle) May 9, 2020

And then others joined in:

Yikes. At least six #COVID19 code-red counties in #Pennsylvania are now in open rebellion against @GovernorTomWolf's order. Lebanon, Dauphin, Perry, Cumberland, York, and Beaver (black). Schuylkill (blue) has merely asked to be moved to yellow. #StaySafe #ReOpenPA pic.twitter.com/MufC4kAHYb

— Swithin Chandler IV (@SwithinIV) May 9, 2020

The governor is counselling caution but if the county authorities refuse to enforce this stupidity, then Wolf and his health expert politburo are pretty much without options short of declaring an insurrection and calling out the National Guard. And if he doesn’t have the political clout to make his order stick, it isn’t hard to see the entire silly color-coded and cookie-cutter regime totally disintegrate.

This is what needs to happen nationwide. This asinine strategy of shutting down and staying hid does absolutely nothing to mitigate the virus (as about 90% of the people getting it don’t get symptoms, you can reasonably ask what in the hell are we doing this for?), it is causing extra deaths from heart attacks and strokes and the delay of surgery, and dialysis, and chemotherapy by people who have been terrorized by the sensationalist and irresponsible reporting on the crisis. It needs to happen within states that have a system like Pennsylvania that doesn’t seem to be based on anything that could be remotely called sane

Today in Montgomery County 150% of new cases were in nursing homes.

You may ask, how can the total percent exceed 100%? That's a very good question.

— Brandon Yates (@BrandonMYates) May 7, 2020

And it needs to happen at state level by governors with the stones (like FL, GA, and TX) to stand up and say enough is enough, we’re done playing this silly game.