There was something surprising about a photo of the still-unelected “governor” of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, appearing at a Decatur, Georgia, elementary school.
No, it wasn’t the hypocrisy of Abrams, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, sitting maskless among a group of fully masked-up youngsters – just another illustration that adults, especially liberals, value themselves more than children, and don’t put much faith in masks.
And it was not surprising that Abrams’ campaign cried racism on Monday when critics on social media ragged her about the maskless appearance.
What was surprising was that as Abrams was taking heat for her hypocrisy, four legitimately elected governors were saying enough’s enough for masking children.
And these were all blue states.
Chief executives in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and Oregon all called for an end to masking by the end of next month.
It’s not like COVID-19 is fading in those states. In all four states combined, every county except one still faces a “high” virus transmission rate, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The exception: Wheeler County, Oregon.
Yet New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, for one, called the move in his state “a huge step back to normalcy for our kids.”
Not so long ago, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was accused of wanting to kill children and teachers for arguing that kids don’t need to be masked.
Now, a blue-stater says it’s a step toward normalcy – and the left mostly accepts it.
What changed? According to Newsmax, politics.
The pronouncements in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and Oregon “come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it.”
Newsmax added, “it was noted by some observers that blue-state leaders were moving to act in favor of relaxing COVID restrictions ahead of a midterm election cycle in which several polls suggest Dems may incur heavy losses, perhaps losing control of one or both chambers of Congress.”
“One reason Republicans are gaining traction: concern over overly restrictive and protracted pandemic mandates,” said Newsmax.
Murphy understands that.
Last November, he won re-election by 0.8 percent over his Republican challenger – in a state that has 1.6 million more Democrats than Republicans.
“We are not — and I’ve said this many times — going to manage COVID to zero,” Murphy said, according to Newsmax. “We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus.”
That’s a point, it seems, that even “Gov.” Abrams, who still has not conceded her 2018 loss to Republican Brian Kemp, understands.
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