The Patriot Post® · Believe 'The Science'?

In Pennsylvania, Demo Governor Tom Wolf is competing with New York’s Andrew Cuomo and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer for the title of most guilty of government overreach and malfeasance in response to the CV19 medical and economic disaster.

Last week, Wolf declared his contempt for those who want to go back to work, insisting they “have decided to surrender to this enemy.” According to Wolf, “These are politicians who were elected to serve their fellow citizens. Others are business owners who have chosen to serve their customers by putting them in harm’s way. These folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy.” That’s some tough military rhetoric for a wealthy leftist who avoided military service as a Peace Corp beatnik and then student deferments.

Like Cuomo and Whitmer, Wolf is taking some much-deserved heat, particularly as it relates to the fact that he and his secretary of health, Dr. Rachel Levine, have not adequately demonstrated the scientific data backing up their extreme measures. In a recent editorial, Matthew Brouillette laments: “[Governor Wolf] assures us his decisions are ‘data driven’ and that we need to ‘believe the science.’ … Believe the science means you can specify the science driving full-scale economic shutdown. Where is it?”

There is a coming debate over “the science,” as our analyst Arnold Ahlert hinted today in “Lies, Damned Lies, and COVID-19 Statistics.” The price of Liberty and a functioning Republic during a viral epidemic will include increased illness and death, despite the safety measures.

Dr. Levine, who is also a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine, is likewise taking fire for the state’s extreme measures. Levine insists, “We’re very confident in our data,” but says, “the science takes time.” But that “data” increasingly points to malfeasance and negligence.

Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano has called for Levine’s resignation, noting, “Both the Governor and the Secretary of Health continue to move the goal posts regarding the COVID-19 health crisis, while thinking of new and creative ways of violating the civil liberties of our citizens.” State Representative Russ Diamond has also called for Levine’s resignation, citing “the horrific results of the department’s COVID-19 policy,” particularly nursing-home deaths.

The great irony of charges against Levine for not producing the “data” based on “the science” is that Levine can’t provide a shred of evidence refuting another matter that is supported by the most well-established science in the history of science. Rachel Levine was born Richard Levine. He divorced his wife and family years ago and now insists he is a so-called “transgendered” person. But where is the science supporting Levine’s claim he has transitioned genders? There is no such thing as “transgender.”

Levine is a celebrity among homosexual advocacy groups and was featured recently by the Washington Blade, which bills itself “America’s top LGBT news source.” The Blade asserts: “As Pennsylvania health secretary, she’s the highest ranking openly transgender health official — in health or other areas — in the United States.” The Blade would like to see Levine have “a future in the Biden administration, potentially as secretary of health and human services.” Based on Levine’s record in Pennsylvania, that would be a disaster.

In a recent health briefing, after being referenced (correctly) by a Pittsburg reporter as “sir,” Levine protested, “Please don’t misgender me,” insisting it was “really insulting.” Of course, that reporter, who apologized twice, is now paying a price for using the right pronoun.

For the record, I have no contempt, only compassion, for Levine’s gender disorientation. And he can refer to himself in whatever way he prefers, but expecting the rest of the world to comport with his altered state of reality, and the errant notion that he is “transgendered,” is contemptuous. Compliance with that absurdity is now the Leftmedia standard and daring to suggest otherwise will subject this column to ridicule. But my point is, if Levine can’t produce “the science” to show he has transitioned genders, that tends to undermine his credibility when dictating what Pennsylvanians can and can’t do without likewise producing the science.