The Patriot Post® · Newsom vs. DeSantis

California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom is a piece of work. Let’s take a walk down memory lane to illustrate.

Newsom was one of the strictest governors in the country when it came to stay-at-home orders, even shutting down churches. He made a shady $1 billion deal with China to provide masks and mandated them for the state’s residents — even “in between bites” of food. But Newsom is like most Democrats in his hypocrisy, infamously being caught at a high-dollar restaurant dining maskless.

Just last month, Newsom blasted Texas for pulling back on its mask mandate, claiming the decision was “absolutely reckless.” That’s odd criticism coming from a state with the nation’s most COVID deaths, even if its death rate sits in the middle of the pack.

So pardon us as we marvel at Newsom’s announcement this week that his state will open up entirely, with the exception of the mask mandate, come June 15. Why isn’t that reckless?

Perhaps because it comes with a great big caveat: “if we continue the good work.” He explained the reopening will happen “in anticipation and expectation” that residents will keep wearing masks and getting vaccinated, and that the state will be “continuing to administer vaccines in an equitable framework.” It’s all so very contingent. “If we keep the pace,” he said, “we are now moving beyond the [reopening tiered] blueprint.”

Welcome to the club, and not a moment too soon as Newsom faces a recall over his COVID tyranny.

Meanwhile, Newsom’s counterpart in Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, has been roundly criticized for his handling of the pandemic, despite the fact that he “got it right.”

As Kelly Sadler of The Washington Times explained in February, “Florida has lower per-capita COVID-19 mortality than the national average and lower than 27 other states … despite having more senior citizens. Its unemployment rate is lower than the national average. Florida offers more in-person education than any other state, and it leads the nation in vaccinating those older than 65 years old. And its budget remains in good shape, with Mr. DeSantis declaring he hasn’t had to use a penny in Florida’s rainy-day fund to cover for pandemic-related expenses.”

Oddly enough, it’s DeSantis, not Newsom, who finds himself beset by YouTube’s censors. Video of a discussion DeSantis had with four medical experts was removed from the Google-owned video giant because the experts — experts, mind you — had the temerity to question the efficacy of masks for children. If only DeSantis had been joined by a couple of World Health Organization experts to explain why the WHO advises that children under five shouldn’t wear masks, and for those up to age 11, it depends on the circumstances.

Or if only DeSantis had removed his own mask while dining with the experts.

Strangely, YouTube appealed to the “consensus” of the experts, when the video itself by definition disproved that there is such a consensus. And isn’t debate over perhaps the defining issue of our day worth airing in public, especially when it features a public official explaining his rationale to constituents?

Nope, not where Big Tech censorship is concerned. The real trouble is that, when paired with the tyranny of Democrat governors, Liberty itself is at stake.