Patriots: For over 26 years, your generosity has made it possible to offer The Patriot Post without a subscription fee to military personnel, students, and those with limited means. Please support the 2024 Year-End Campaign today.

February 18, 2022

Masks Determined by SOTU, er, Science

White House officials have reportedly pressured the CDC to change its guidance before Biden’s March 1 speech.

It’s amazing how quickly The Science™ can change when the polling does.

When Mark Alexander predicted Joe Biden’s big COVID pivot, the only thing he slightly underestimated was just how quickly that would happen. The bet was that Democrats would pivot in plenty of time to help stave off defeat in the midterm elections, but the latest DC scuttlebutt is that Biden is trying to pivot in time for his March 1 State of the Union Address.

Specifically, White House officials are reportedly pressuring the CDC to ease up on its masking guidelines as early as next week, which of course would give Biden’s speechwriters plenty of time to work that “sign of victory” and “proof of Biden’s leadership” into the president’s address.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky insisted this week that masking guidelines would change only “based on the data and the science.” Sure thing. What that really means is that political science is driving decisions, but that the CDC will need to find some data-based justification for the change. Hospitalization rates? Vaccination rates? Something to deflect from the idea that mask mandates never made much sense.

Multiple Democrats softened the beaches for this pivot by lifting their own mandates in recent days. Leftmedia scribes have likewise written think pieces arguing that after two weeks years to flatten the curve, it probably is time to start opening back up.

But most importantly, polls are consistently and increasingly showing that Americans are tired of all the mandates and lockdowns and are ready to get back to normal life.

So, back to the CDC. We’ll know that actual science might possibly be playing a small role in the decision if the CDC removes its recommendation for masking kids in school. If it doesn’t, we’ll know the teachers unions are still running things at the CDC.

Unfortunately, that no change is coming for schools is exactly what Walensky insinuated. When challenged that the U.S. is an outlier in requiring schoolchildren to wear masks, Walensky simply repeated the status quo. “Our guidance currently is that masking should happen in all schools right now,” all while she claimed the CDC is, of course, only issuing “guidance” and “we have deferred our guidance to the local jurisdictions.”

How many school districts out there defer to the CDC, not the other way around?

As for the rest of us, what happens with the next variant and inevitable surge in cases? Mask up again? Most likely, that’s exactly where the CDC will go. “We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better,” Walensky said, “and have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.”

That ambiguity is partly because the CDC currently uses metrics from early 2020 to determine its mask guidance. People should mask up, it says, if cases exceed 50 cases per 100,000. The nation as a whole is still at roughly 310 cases per 100,000. Until the CDC bases its recommendations on the science behind the efficacy (or lack thereof) of masking, it’s just a numbers game.

Come to think of it, another surge would also give Democrats cover for insisting that their bulk-mail ballot fraud is a necessary feature in the election. You know, to keep everyone safe.

(Updated.)

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.