OK – I think we’ve hit the top (or bottom depending on how you look at it) of preposterous government over-reach when it comes to Covid-19 “regulations.” I submit to you California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Thanksgiving Guidelines:”
– No More Than 3 Households Present
– “Parties” To Last No Longer Than 2 hours
– Guests Must Stay Outside
– Avoid Singing, Chanting & Shouting
I am not kidding – this is not some “Babylon Bee” parody article. These are REAL guidelines offered by a real (well, in the sense that he holds the office) Governor of State.
Seriously.
Let us go one by one . . .
– 3 Households?? Is there “Science” behind this? Or does it just seem like a good idea to Gavin? What if one household represents 3 people and another 23? What if I am just a family friend stopping in for a visit? Am I still a “household?” Will my family or theirs be charged with a crime? Maybe kinda, oughta, woulda, shoulda thought this one through a little better Guvna.
– So the “party” (in lieu of family gathering) needs to be called after 1 hour and 59 minutes. Again, is there “Science” involved here? Can I now assume that if I get out in that amount of time nothing “viral” will happen and all will be well? This is right up there with our own intrepid Governor Northam’s edict that stipulates bars and restaurants must stop serving alcohol at 10 PM. Is going out from 7-10 PM somehow different than going out from 9-12? Will consuming one’s holiday libation(s) quicker ward off the dreaded virus? Are shots of a different kind now in order?
Anything’s worth a try I guess.
– It’s Thanksgiving so heavy weather in the form of rain, snow, wind and/or blazing sun will certainly be present in various parts of the state but your “party guests” or family members (if you still have any after you tell them the rules) will need to STAY OUTSIDE. Yup, that’s going to work – just serve up the old Thanksgiving dinner in the backyard. Never mind if dear Aunt Edna or little Johnny needs to pee. The bushes should be just fine for a 3 household gathering, meeting for 2 hours . . . outside. Don’t forget the biodegradable TP.
– Finally, we have been told by the Governor, under penalty of arrest, to: “avoid singing, chanting and shouting. . .” Imagine crickets chirping here . . . Seriously, because I’m not at all sure what I could say that would add to the complete preposterousness of it. (Yes, that’s actually a word.) Such an “order” is just so far beyond the pale of the pale – whatever that is.
Suffice to say, many of our government “leaders” are now showing their true colors – wherein draconian population control now appears to supersede the common sense / logical measures needed to combat the virus. It’s an extremism that is harder to reconcile in some places more than others.
Oregon – that interesting state just to north – has now given poor California a nice bit of contrast, having recently legalized any and ALL drugs for personal consumption. Yep, crack cocaine, methamphetamines, psilocybin mushrooms, heroin – you name it – are now fully approved and condoned as perfectly acceptable in the “Left of Left Anything Goes” state.
Yet, Oregon’s new Thanksgiving rules under Governor Kate Brown?
“A 2 household limit with a maximum of 6 people.”
“Mandatory mask wearing in your own home.” (Only removing it when eating.)
“In home 2 week quarantine after Thanksgiving.”
All punishable by a $1250 Fine and a month in jail.
But hang on – there’s an out! If you have a protest to lodge with a few hundred of your closest friends you may do so by violently rioting and destroying your neighbor’s business or property (while shooting up some smack). The “defunded police” are required to stand down.
You seriously cannot make this stuff up.
When my dear, long departed 92-year-old former WWII Fighter Pilot friend Lonnie was confronted with such modern societal absurdities he always had the same response: “Oh, What the Hell.” Given our recent new “standards” I’m sure a few other words would have come to mind as well.
Because much of our leadership and culture have clearly lost not only the basic core values that made this country the great experiment in freedom it is, but in places, their very sanity as well. My prayer is that when the inevitable kickback arrives, that it comes hard, fast and to the point and is able to restore us to a right relationship with God and one another.
– Stuart Revercomb
[For] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14
