// API callback
related_results_labels_thumbs({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-12-15T04:04:36.239-05:00"},"category":[{"term":"Important Posts"},{"term":"Islam"},{"term":"Satire"},{"term":"Democrats"},{"term":"Parsha"},{"term":"Left"},{"term":"recent"},{"term":"Coronavirus"},{"term":"Israel"},{"term":"Race"},{"term":"socialism"},{"term":"resistobama"},{"term":"Terrorism"},{"term":"politics"},{"term":"US Election"},{"term":"Media Bias"},{"term":"future of the west"},{"term":"Investigations"},{"term":"Liberalism"},{"term":"California"},{"term":"Jewish"},{"term":"New York"},{"term":"Bernie Sanders"},{"term":"Black Lives Matter"},{"term":"immigration"},{"term":"Biden"},{"term":"War on Terror"},{"term":"Anti-Semitism"},{"term":"Antisemitism"},{"term":"Big Tech"},{"term":"America"},{"term":"Europe"},{"term":"Pro-Crime"},{"term":"culture war"},{"term":"environmentalism"},{"term":"corruption"},{"term":"riots"},{"term":"videos"},{"term":"Crime"},{"term":"Hollywood"},{"term":"urban model"},{"term":"Arabs"},{"term":"China"},{"term":"Culture"},{"term":"Islamization"},{"term":"Jewish Matters"},{"term":"Kamala Harris"},{"term":"global warming"},{"term":"New Jersey"},{"term":"black nationalism"},{"term":"entertainment industry"},{"term":"history"},{"term":"investigative"},{"term":"Los Angeles"},{"term":"UK"},{"term":"homeless"},{"term":"Corporate America"},{"term":"Coup"},{"term":"Holocaust"},{"term":"Murphy"},{"term":"big government"},{"term":"Cuomo"},{"term":"Elizabeth Warren"},{"term":"Hillary Clinton"},{"term":"Obama"},{"term":"Russia"},{"term":"Tech"},{"term":"Venezuela"},{"term":"humor"},{"term":"iran"},{"term":"political correctness"},{"term":"rape culture"},{"term":"9\/11"},{"term":"De Blasio"},{"term":"International"},{"term":"Islamic terrorism"},{"term":"Jamal Khashoggi"},{"term":"Racism"},{"term":"San Francisco"},{"term":"Trump Derangement Syndrome"},{"term":"radicals"},{"term":"sexism"},{"term":"Alexandria Ocasio Cortez"},{"term":"Baltimore"},{"term":"Beto O'Rourke"},{"term":"Buttigieg"},{"term":"Chicago"},{"term":"Cory Booker"},{"term":"Fake Hate Crimes"},{"term":"Gillibrand"},{"term":"Minneapolis"},{"term":"Minnesota"},{"term":"Newsom"},{"term":"Palestinians"},{"term":"Philosophy"},{"term":"Portland"},{"term":"Social Issues"},{"term":"Sweden"},{"term":"Texas"},{"term":"drugs"},{"term":"green energy"},{"term":"grooming gangs"},{"term":"nursing homes"},{"term":"olmert"},{"term":"unions"},{"term":"ADL"},{"term":"Abortion"},{"term":"Austria"},{"term":"Bangladesh"},{"term":"Barry Chamish"},{"term":"Bend the Arc"},{"term":"Bill Gates"},{"term":"Cincinnati"},{"term":"Communism"},{"term":"DOJ"},{"term":"DeBlasio"},{"term":"Ethics"},{"term":"Fake News"},{"term":"Florida"},{"term":"France"},{"term":"GOP"},{"term":"Georgia"},{"term":"Hamas"},{"term":"Iraq"},{"term":"Islamophobia"},{"term":"Lincoln"},{"term":"Marxism"},{"term":"Massachusetts"},{"term":"Michigan"},{"term":"Middle East"},{"term":"Mueller"},{"term":"Muslim Brotherhood"},{"term":"Ohio"},{"term":"Pelosi"},{"term":"Pennsylvania"},{"term":"Personal"},{"term":"Pierre Omidyar"},{"term":"Scam"},{"term":"Soros"},{"term":"Sports"},{"term":"Star Trek"},{"term":"Steele"},{"term":"Supreme Court"},{"term":"Trump"},{"term":"USSR"},{"term":"VA"},{"term":"Virginia"},{"term":"Washington D.C."},{"term":"Whitmer"},{"term":"Zero Hussein"},{"term":"aboutme"},{"term":"amona"},{"term":"cancel culture"},{"term":"cities"},{"term":"class warfare"},{"term":"education"},{"term":"foreign policy"},{"term":"gang violence"},{"term":"gender"},{"term":"gun control"},{"term":"illegal aliens"},{"term":"israeli police brutality"},{"term":"judicial activism"},{"term":"photoshops"},{"term":"social justice"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Daniel Greenfield \/ Sultan Knish articles"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"Daniel Greenfield's articles and writings on the Sultan Knish blog"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/-\/Coronavirus?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=5"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/search\/label\/Coronavirus"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/-\/Coronavirus\/-\/Coronavirus?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=6\u0026max-results=5"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Daniel Greenfield"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13575285186581875356"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"20","height":"32","src":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-ywx0Wkms-cU\/Vm75eobzYVI\/AAAAAAAAPg0\/kAlR7rDxOIc\/s113\/picture%2Bnewspapery%2Bsmall.jpg"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"39"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"5"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-207892181509095129"},"published":{"$t":"2020-12-14T02:50:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-12-14T02:50:00.648-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"California"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Coronavirus"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"recent"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"California Dems Shut Down State Over Lack of ICU Beds, After Adding Only 7% More ICU Beds in 8 Months"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Governor Newsom's latest shutdown order closes down small businesses and warns residents to stay at home if their area's number of available beds in intensive care units drops below 15%.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“By invoking a Stay at Home Order for regions where ICU capacity falls below 15 percent, we can flatten the curve as we’ve done before and reduce stress on our health care system,\" Governor Newsom, fresh from partying at the French Laundry, declared.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESpring had given way to summer and then to autumn and winter, and California Democrats are still using the pretext of preserving “ICU capacity” and “flattening the curve”. The rationale of shutting down an entire state, not so much for the sake of stopping the virus, but for keeping enough beds open in intensive care units, never made much sense even back then.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt’s insane now.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat did Governor Newsom and California Democrats do to increase ICU capacity?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn April, California \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/jrreport.wordandbrown.com\/2020\/04\/07\/newsom-is-confident-about-the-states-supply-of-ventilators-hospital-beds\/\"\u003Ehad\u003C\/a\u003E 7,345 ICU beds. Now, in December, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/covidactnow.org\/us\/ca\/?s=1401377\"\u003Eit has\u003C\/a\u003E 7,881.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn under eight months, the wealthiest state only managed to add 536 ICU beds. Or 7%.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn April, Newsom was bragging that California was so prepared\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2020\/04\/06\/coronavirus-california-donates-hundreds-of-ventilators-to-national-stockpile\/\"\u003E that it began\u003C\/a\u003E donating hundreds of ventilators to other states.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“Let me just make this clear, we are preparing for a scenario where we need 50,000 beds,\" he boasted.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DS2gO5I4LRk\/X9QGVMNPpXI\/AAAAAAAASoY\/G3oW1d1c4EITg8zS7WPn7BhN4G2Wqd-JACNcBGAsYHQ\/s616\/newsom%2Bad.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"453\" data-original-width=\"616\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DS2gO5I4LRk\/X9QGVMNPpXI\/AAAAAAAASoY\/G3oW1d1c4EITg8zS7WPn7BhN4G2Wqd-JACNcBGAsYHQ\/s320\/newsom%2Bad.png\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EFast forward to December and the entire state has to be shut down (except for certain privileged industries, like Hollywood) because Newsom only managed to increase ICU capacity by 7%.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn June, the Democrat State Senate proposed a $200 billion budget. By the summer, California had received \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/news\/california-news\/auditor-californias-coronavirus-spending-at-high-risk\/2418566\/\"\u003E$71 billion\u003C\/a\u003E from the federal government. So much federal money poured into the corrupt Democrat machine that the state’s auditor warned it was at\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/news\/california-news\/auditor-californias-coronavirus-spending-at-high-risk\/2418566\/\"\u003E high risk for fraud and waste\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn March, Newsom\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/2020\/03\/17\/governor-newsom-signs-emergency-legislation-to-fight-covid-19\/\"\u003E had announced\u003C\/a\u003E that $500 million would be spent to do everything from increasing bed capacity to buying medical equipment to protecting nursing home residents.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd, of course, the top priority in California, care for the homeless.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELater, $600 million in federal funding would be spent on yet more housing for the homeless.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBy the spring, California hospitals were claiming $14 billion in losses because they had to clear out the hospitals and postpone elective surgeries to maintain enough beds. Some of those elective surgeries were actually urgent and the death toll from postponing them is unknown.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat same policy led to Governor Newsom signing an order, which was described by nursing home advocates as \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/2020\/05\/bring-grandma-killing-governors-justice-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003Ea “death sentence”\u003C\/a\u003E, forcing skilled nursing facilities to accept infected patients. So far, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/projects\/california-coronavirus-cases-tracking-outbreak\/nursing-homes\/\"\u003E6,709 coronavirus deaths\u003C\/a\u003E have taken place at California nursing homes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENursing home patients have accounted for 34% of coronavirus deaths in California.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd, after all that, Governor Newsom has done next to nothing to increase ICU bed capacity while imposing another series of lockdowns, businesses going out of business, and people who can’t feed their families, while Newsom lectures them like children about washing their hands.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDemocrats keep claiming that the shutdowns are happening because people don’t follow the rules. But their own metric, ICU capacity, makes it abundantly clear that they failed miserably.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernor Newsom and the Democrats based everything around ICU capacity, and gifted with incomprehensible amounts of money and the better part of a year, they only raised it by 7%.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt’s almost as if they wanted a pretext for another shutdown. Or they’re corrupt and incompetent.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis is after all the same Democrat government that was spending \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/point\/2020\/09\/la-apartments-homeless-cost-746000-each-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003E$746,000 per unit\u003C\/a\u003E on housing for the homeless after\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/archives.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/homeless-hole-ate-los-angeles-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003E raking in billions\u003C\/a\u003E to solve the problem of housing the homeless. It’s also the same government that does nothing to increase water capacity, but regularly declares a drought, reduces power capacity to save the planet, and then lets the blackouts roll.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut, unlike California’s refusal to do anything about the water and power situation, there’s no environmental pretext for doing so little to increase ICU capacity. Not a public one anyway.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENor has the media found the time to actually cover that obscenely absurd 7% number.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut it has plenty of time to cover every single viral video of a person walking into a store without a mask, and every sanctimonious politician’s speech about the importance of masks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen Governor Newsom and local Democrats claim that businesses have to shut down and children can’t play on playgrounds because of ICU capacity, no one in the media asks why, after all those billions of dollars, the state only added an average of 67 ICU beds a month.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEvery California government agency tells the public to wear a mask more times a day than that.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe same Democrat politicians who kept warning that California would have to shut down if it hit ICU capacity did little to actually boost that capacity. It’s almost as if they wanted the shutdown.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECalifornia Democrats would rather pay out billions in unemployment than actually have thriving small businesses employing workers. That’s not a conspiracy theory: it’s a policy choice.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJust like letting \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/2020\/12\/democrat-lockdowns-exempt-hollywood-destroy-small-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003EHollywood film crews\u003C\/a\u003E eat outdoors while shutting down local restaurants, or keeping playgrounds closed and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2020-12-03\/covid-19-la-parents-anger-closed-playgrounds\"\u003Etennis courts open\u003C\/a\u003E, or closing churches and synagogues while keeping pot dispensaries open, and keeping schools closed while BLM riots get a pass.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd these are policy choices that they should be held accountable for.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnce California Democrats made ICU capacity into the metric for a shutdown, they had the responsibility to increase that capacity. Instead they spent eight months shaking their fingers in the faces of the public, while partying at the French Laundry behind their backs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMeanwhile they blew through the equivalent of Turkey’s national budget with little to show for it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECalifornians, like people living under blue state rule around the country, were told that they had to flatten the curve to be free. Thousands of nursing home residents became human sacrifices to free up hospital beds for infected patients and maintain the metrics of ICU capacity.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut it wasn’t the public that failed to protect ICU capacity: it was Newsom and the Democrats.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernor Newsom and Democrats keep trying to blame the lockdowns on the “irresponsible behavior” of the public. They were the ones who had month after month to prepare for a surge that they knew was coming, and all they have to show for it is a 7% increase in ICU beds.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow they’re shutting down the state because it’s not meeting an artificial metric that they put into place and then did next to nothing to address while blowing through billions in cash.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt’s the old fable of the grasshopper and the ant. Except the grasshopper is bankrupting the ant.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe ICU capacity metric was built to fail. Just like California’s water and power, the ruling Democrats create disasters, and respond with rationing and misery, while blaming the public.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen there is a dry winter, as this one is likely to be, they don’t take the blame for failing to build dams, instead they blame the public for using too much water. When blackouts take down power across entire neighborhoods, they don’t take the blame for reducing reliable power sources and replacing them with worthless solar and wind boondoggles, instead they blame the public for not caring about the planet by running air conditioners in 110 degree weather.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow, after almost a year of this circus, the same gang of corrupt clowns who did next to nothing to increase ICU capacity are blaming the shutdown on Californians not wearing enough masks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECalifornia Democrats have stolen and squandered the natural wealth of an incredible state, and whenever a disaster happens, they scold the public for not being willing enough to live in misery.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe latest lockdowns may be flattening another curve: tolerance for these corrupt lying scolds.\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003EDaniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/feeds\/207892181509095129\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/12\/california-dems-shut-down-state-over.html#comment-form","title":"5 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/207892181509095129"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/207892181509095129"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/12\/california-dems-shut-down-state-over.html","title":"California Dems Shut Down State Over Lack of ICU Beds, After Adding Only 7% More ICU Beds in 8 Months"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Daniel Greenfield"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13575285186581875356"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"20","height":"32","src":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-ywx0Wkms-cU\/Vm75eobzYVI\/AAAAAAAAPg0\/kAlR7rDxOIc\/s113\/picture%2Bnewspapery%2Bsmall.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DS2gO5I4LRk\/X9QGVMNPpXI\/AAAAAAAASoY\/G3oW1d1c4EITg8zS7WPn7BhN4G2Wqd-JACNcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/newsom%2Bad.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"5"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-3996452607071760697"},"published":{"$t":"2020-12-03T18:46:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-12-03T18:46:52.995-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"California"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Coronavirus"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"entertainment industry"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Los Angeles"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"New York"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"recent"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Democrat Lockdowns Exempt Hollywood, Destroy Small Businesses"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Before Thanksgiving, Los Angeles imposed a curfew and, in a shocking oversight, asked Hollywood to follow it. While the entertainment industry isn't as big a part of the local economy as it would like you to think, its producers, directors, and stars provide a disproportionate share of the capital that the Democrats politicians who run the place use to get elected to higher office.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-C4373i5zcTQ\/X8l4xZbpYLI\/AAAAAAAASm0\/KEux4IvHyTIRwfJbFvoLEW62zii4mrs6gCNcBGAsYHQ\/s759\/hollywood%2Bmovie%2Bframe.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"439\" data-original-width=\"759\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-C4373i5zcTQ\/X8l4xZbpYLI\/AAAAAAAASm0\/KEux4IvHyTIRwfJbFvoLEW62zii4mrs6gCNcBGAsYHQ\/s320\/hollywood%2Bmovie%2Bframe.png\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EAfter ordering Hollywood to restrict filming to the same curfew as other businesses, a few hours later the order was withdrawn followed by a final plea to film shoots to “to voluntarily limit and\/or avoid activities likely to invite a negative community response\" which could \"jeopardize community confidence in our ability to operate safely.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs if allowing movie studios to shoot around the clock while shutting down small businesses might \"invite a negative community response\" or raise questions about the corrupt system.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe film permit office now claims that “the State of California has viewed workers supporting the film, television and commercial production industry… as essential for the state’s critical infrastructure.”\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat role does shooting movies play in the “critical infrastructure” of California? Money.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENot for the economy. In that regard, the entertainment industry is much less crucial than many of the industries that had been shut down by the lockdowns. With unemployment claims topping 8 million and California Democrat leaders fighting to eliminate freelance workers, that’s a drop in the bucket. If the crews in question were working in restaurants, they wouldn’t matter.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the critical infrastructure that Hollywood funds is the political ambitions of the Democrats.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDuring the gubernatorial race, Hollywood poured millions into Newsom’s campaign, and celebrity fundraising \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/news\/local\/hollywood-los-angeles-mayor-election-garcetti-greuel-perry-james\/2058946\/\"\u003Ehelped put\u003C\/a\u003E Garcetti into the mayor’s office. The Democrat with the biggest haul of industry cash usually wins. Your local pizza shop isn’t going to compete with that.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf only there were some sort of industry dedicated to exposing social injustice using art.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhile restaurants spent a fortune prepping to meet the new regulations, only to be shut down anyway, the entertainment industry goes into a new lockdown with nothing to worry about.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAll of this is happening under the watch of Muntu Davis, LA’s top health officer who was picked in the wake of the Black Lives Matter race riots to implement “equity”. Equity is now the top value at LA County's Department of Public Health which declares that it seeks to \"ensure just systems, policies and practices\". That means giving Disney a pass, but shutting down cafes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis is what social justice lockdowns look like. Not just in LA, but across the country.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"New York City's economy is in a downturn, but film production has been a bright spot,\" a New York Times article chirps. Even while Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio targeted Chassidic Jews, ranting about weddings and synagogues, the entertainment industry and its allied media were exempted, and the accompanying rules were bent and broken.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven while Democrat leaders were lecturing about the dangers of church and synagogue services, the Video Music Awards went on and celebrities were allowed to dodge curfew.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESince no election could go forward without Saturday Night Live, the high school talent show staffed by unfunny social justice activists, with occasional celebrity cameos, went forward, along with a live studio audience. Cuomo and De Blasio, not to mention the media, decided not to notice that SNL was flouting the rules by paying audience members so they counted as crew.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHaving a live audience of Manhattanites to laugh when you howl insults at President Trump is an essential activity in New York. Unlike irresponsible, non-essential stuff like religious services.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs the New York Times \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/11\/24\/world\/new-york-citys-economy-is-in-a-downturn-but-film-production-has-been-a-bright-spot.html\"\u003Enotes\u003C\/a\u003E, \"The major studios... all report that they are full.\" 559 permits have been granted and 35 series are already filming in the city even though, as one studio boss notes, “one person every week or two test positive somewhere on the lot.”  Unlike churches or synagogues, or weddings, these shoots are never described as superspreader events.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn a truly surreal scene, New Amsterdam, a TV drama, was caught filming outside Bellevue Hospital, blocking the path of real doctors and nurses, a population prone to infections. Even while Democrat leaders complain that there aren’t enough hospital beds, the NBC medical drama takes up space in and around hospitals while getting a free pass from the authorities.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Times story noted that, “the large crew found it impossible to perfectly socially distance” and leaves it at that, while photos \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/11\/24\/nyregion\/film-crews-nyc-coronavirus.html\"\u003Eshow\u003C\/a\u003E no actual social distancing by the crews.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the New York Times has its own Hollywood studio deals involving the 1619 Project.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernor Cuomo is so dependent on entertainment industry cash that he flew out to California for fundraisers, including one organized in Beverly Hills by the MPAA featuring major studio heads with tickets going for as much as $50,000. This year, Cuomo held a fundraiser for his birthday featuring movie stars who praised him for protecting Hollywood's tax credits.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThose $420 million in tax credits are \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/cbcny.org\/newsroom\/cuomos-hollywood-fundraising-raises-eyebrows-regarding-nys-film-tax-credit\"\u003Ea net loss\u003C\/a\u003E for the state, but a gain for Cuomo. That tops California’s film tax credit total of $330 million.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECuomo had been insisting that the “state has no money”, and was threatening to cut first responders. He even\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/2020\/05\/blue-states-take-cops-and-firefighters-hostage-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003E tried to tax\u003C\/a\u003E volunteers who came to help during the pandemic.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"We're not in a position to provide any subsidies right now,\" Cuomo falsely \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/2020\/05\/blue-states-take-cops-and-firefighters-hostage-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003Eclaimed\u003C\/a\u003E. Then he called for maintaining the same insane level of Hollywood subsidies, and went further by making sure that only the big studios who fund his corrupt ambitions cash in on the $420 million.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter claiming that there would be no money to pay police, no money for anything, New York State kept the $420 million in subsidies but\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/filmmakermagazine.com\/109543-new-york-state-film-tax-incentive-trimmed-many-lower-budget-independent-films-will-no-longer-be-eligible\/\"\u003E limited it to\u003C\/a\u003E studios spending over $1 million.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe “state has no money” for cops and firefighters, but has $420 million for Hollywood.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJust to bring the corruption up to Chicago levels, Cuomo's proposal made sure that Saturday Night Live, but no new productions, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.newsday.com\/news\/region-state\/cuomo-tax-credit-film-television-1.41284944?_ga=2.45306407.285376310.1606625375-377173766.1606410802\"\u003Ewould get access\u003C\/a\u003E to the $420 million subsidy. If only there were some talented political satirists with a weekend show who could mock this crookedness.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBack in California, Disney's Captain Marvel \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/film.ca.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2.0-CFC-Approved-Projects-List-12.16.19.pdf\"\u003Egot\u003C\/a\u003E $20 million in tax credits in California. Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, which has been blamed for encouraging teenage suicide, vacuumed up over $40 million. You can’t expect one of the wealthiest companies in America to set off a spike in teenage suicides and promote pedophilia without some serious taxpayer subsidies.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen California and New York dole out $750 million in tax breaks to some of the wealthiest donors in a powerful industry who fund the political ambitions of top Democrats like Newsom and Cuomo, there’s no reason to expect their projects to be subjected to everyone else’s rules.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat’s why the order to limit film shoots to the 7 AM to 10 PM curfew was quickly pulled in LA. The county may be banning public gatherings, and destroying the last surviving small businesses who were on their last legs, but film shoots are back at half of pre-pandemic levels.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd that’s not just in America.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe UK has some of the most onerous lockdowns around, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november\"\u003Eits order\u003C\/a\u003E shut down clothing stores, mobile phone shops, cafes, hotels, museums and “places of worship”, but left open \"professional film and TV filming\". Religion is non-essential, but television must go on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere has been a great deal of discussion about the harm caused by the lockdowns to the livelihoods of tens of millions of people, but there’s been little discussion about who has been exempted from lockdown restrictions and their corrupt political and economic rationales.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe best leverage against lockdown self-righteousness is the exposure of the hypocritical and discriminatory treatment that closes small businesses while leaving giants like Amazon and Target, Disney and Netflix, wealthier than ever because of the lockdowns that benefit them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe LA Film Office warned productions about a “negative community response”. It’s about time.\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003EDaniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/feeds\/3996452607071760697\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/12\/democrat-lockdowns-exempt-hollywood.html#comment-form","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/3996452607071760697"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/3996452607071760697"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/12\/democrat-lockdowns-exempt-hollywood.html","title":"Democrat Lockdowns Exempt Hollywood, Destroy Small Businesses"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Daniel Greenfield"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13575285186581875356"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"20","height":"32","src":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-ywx0Wkms-cU\/Vm75eobzYVI\/AAAAAAAAPg0\/kAlR7rDxOIc\/s113\/picture%2Bnewspapery%2Bsmall.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-C4373i5zcTQ\/X8l4xZbpYLI\/AAAAAAAASm0\/KEux4IvHyTIRwfJbFvoLEW62zii4mrs6gCNcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/hollywood%2Bmovie%2Bframe.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"3"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-2807219900866418610"},"published":{"$t":"2020-11-28T23:21:00.006-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-11-28T23:22:21.082-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Coronavirus"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"recent"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Cops Refuse to be the Thanksgiving Police"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"After failing to deal with months of violent riots in Portland, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced that she instead wants the police to go after families celebrating Thanksgiving.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-dDBUAfHojAs\/X8MhmY2c_ZI\/AAAAAAAASmc\/7jp_Kmewna8iHllJ76ooByhviTQq0GChgCNcBGAsYHQ\/s604\/biden%2Boffice%2Bframe.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"403\" data-original-width=\"604\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-dDBUAfHojAs\/X8MhmY2c_ZI\/AAAAAAAASmc\/7jp_Kmewna8iHllJ76ooByhviTQq0GChgCNcBGAsYHQ\/s320\/biden%2Boffice%2Bframe.png\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EWhen asked whether Oregonians should call the police on their neighbors if they have more than 6 people in their homes for Thanksgiving, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.kgw.com\/article\/news\/politics\/oregon-covid-freeze-call-police-neighbors-kate-brown\/283-d25ae28a-f177-4b68-a5a6-882004da1862\"\u003Eshe replied\u003C\/a\u003E, “This is no different than what happens if there's a party down the street... they call law enforcement.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EExcept law enforcement has no interest in replying.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Marion County Sheriff’s office, whose jurisdiction includes the state capital, declined, stating, \"We cannot arrest or enforce our way out of the pandemic.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen Governor Cuomo of New York, whose order \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/2020\/05\/bring-grandma-killing-governors-justice-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003Eforcing nursing homes\u003C\/a\u003E to accept infected coronavirus patients may have killed as many as 11,000 senior citizens, tried to enlist law enforcement in his crackdown on Thanksgiving, the sheriffs of New York also wouldn’t do it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Steuben County Sheriff's Office assured that \"the men and women of the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office will not be peeking in your window or attempting to enter your property to count the number of persons at your table on Thanksgiving.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I can't see how devoting our resources to counting cars in our citizens' driveways or investigating how much turkey or dressing they've purchased is for the public good,” the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office objected.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“This national holiday has created longstanding family traditions that are at the heart of America, and these traditions should not be stopped or interrupted by Governor Cuomo’s mandates,” the Erie County Sheriff's Office declared.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"With regard to the Thanksgiving Executive Order, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office will NOT be enforcing it,\" another office stated, \"So don't feel a need to hide cars, cover with leaves or walk 3 blocks so your house doesn't become a target of the Governors EO.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDemocrats and their media have blamed this rebellion on Republican sheriffs in conservative areas, but Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr is a black Democrat and his office still \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/dailyvoice.com\/new-york\/suffolk\/police-fire\/covid-19-suffolk-sheriffs-office-says-it-wont-enforce-10-person-limit-for-gatherings\/798325\/\"\u003Eopted out\u003C\/a\u003E of the \"enforcement of Thanksgiving gatherings\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhile Governor Cuomo fumed that this Irish Democracy was, \"frightening to democracy\", a Buffalo print shop \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnewyork.com\/news\/local\/ny-company-makes-cuomo-window-stickers-to-keep-eye-on-thanksgiving\/2736532\/\"\u003Ebegan selling\u003C\/a\u003E stickers of Cuomo's giant head peering into windows.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENext door in New Jersey, Governor Murphy threatened to be, “as all over it as we can be.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThen he was caught on a viral video dining out with his family. Meanwhile, the Howell Township police chief \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/police-chief-says-he-wont-enforce-new-jerseys-coronavirus-orders-to-limit-thanksgiving-gatherings\"\u003Estated\u003C\/a\u003E, “I wasn’t going to have my police officers going knocking on doors and ruining somebody’s holiday just to check how many people are inside their house.”\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe law enforcement rebellion wasn’t new in California. It had been going on for some time.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter Governor Newsom issued his latest curfew, the sheriffs of Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, Sacramento County, Tulare County, Fresno County, El Dorado County, and others announced that they would not be enforcing it with either tickets or arrests.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd no one would be tampering with Thanksgiving.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office will not be determining—including entering any home or business—compliance with, or enforcing compliance of, any health or emergency orders related to curfews, staying at home, Thanksgiving or other social gatherings,\" the Sacramento County Sheriff \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/some-california-sheriffs-wont-enforce-newsom-curfew-la-focus-voluntary-compliance-1548900\"\u003Estated\u003C\/a\u003E. “We will not dispatch officers for these purposes.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“From the very beginning, we have not enforced these orders. We are not going to make criminals out of normally law-abiding citizens,\" Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.visaliatimesdelta.com\/story\/news\/2020\/11\/20\/local-law-enforcement-not-expected-enforce-newsoms-covid-19-curfew\/6350403002\/\"\u003Esaid\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E.In Ohio, some sheriffs \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/local12.com\/news\/local\/not-all-law-enforcement-agencies-will-enforce-ohios-curfew-cincinnati\"\u003Ewere willing to be\u003C\/a\u003E the Thanksgiving police, while others weren’t.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It's not knocking on people's doors on Thanksgiving and saying, 'You've had more than eight or 10 people,' and it's not to make criminals out of everyday working people,\" Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe law enforcement uprisings in New York, California, Oregon, and Ohio are part of a larger trend with local police departments indicating that they don’t want to be the mask police.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA study in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Online found \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/thecrimereport.org\/2020\/11\/23\/law-enforcement-played-minimal-role-in-covid-19-enforcement-study\/\"\u003Ethat only\u003C\/a\u003E 10% of police departments surveyed were acting as the mask police while 70% encouraged following the rules. This attitude by law enforcement forced some of the biggest cities in the country to bypass the police and utilize other means of enforcing their lockdowns and arbitrary decrees.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn Los Angeles, violators were threatened with having their water and power shut off. In New York City, a legion of city inspectors were pulled away from other duties to swarm Orthodox Jewish areas in Brooklyn after Governor Cuomo announced a crackdown on religious Jews.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe use of inspectors rather than police has become a widespread and illegal tactic for targeting small businesses, but has reached its limit as most businesses can’t survive if they close down.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe early months in the pandemic saw a boom in surveillance technologies, including drone flybys and infrared remote scans, but most police departments didn’t want anything to do with them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA small number of police departments adopted the drones and made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Not only did most people hate them, but they also proved to be useless. Police departments that tried using the drones to break up large gatherings found that people wouldn’t listen. And the surveillance capabilities of the drones had been vastly overhyped.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs the Black Lives Matter riots broke out, police departments shifted away from coronavirus enforcement to cope with the violence and avoid being caught up in viral videos. It was around this time that the increased crime rate brought on by the riots and the mass jailbreak of prison inmates to protect them from the virus tied up the resources of underfunded departments.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECoronavirus enforcement, something most departments and officers didn’t want to do anyway, was the first casualty of the new dangerous environment brought on by the BLM riots.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaw enforcement had only been able to commit the spare resources to coronavirus enforcement because of a drop in crime rates early in the lockdowns, but once crime rates soared and cities and counties hit highs that hadn’t been seen in decades or generations, all of that ended. The budget cuts brought on by the collapse of small businesses and police defunding also left local law enforcement without enough resources to even answer calls, let alone play mask police.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd most law enforcement personnel are resentful of having been hung out to dry, robbed of resources and political support by Democrat governors and mayors, and then told to enforce widely unpopular shutdowns and mask fines by those same politicians.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDemocrat politicians can’t defund the police and expect them to shut down Thanksgiving.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“It’s ironic on the heel of these cries to 'defund the police' and limit their response to what some perceive as non-emergency calls that the police department is now being asked to police family gatherings during the holiday season,” the president of Akron’s police union objected.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENot all law enforcement personnel have opted out of coronavirus enforcement. Elected sheriffs have the easiest time shrugging crackdowns away. Urban police chiefs appointed by mayors can’t put out dismissive press releases as easily, but they have made it a very low priority.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe struggle to enforce coronavirus lockdowns and codes without much support from police departments is a sign of just how challenging the post-police vision of the Democrats will be.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDemocrats have turned to inspectors to fine small businesses and pull their licenses, but the inspectors are running into angry small business owners and patriotic crowds.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Anne Arundel County Health Department was forced to cancel evening enforcement and daytime enforcement in rowdier bars. It also had to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.capitalgazette.com\/coronavirus\/ac-cn-enforcement-hostility-20201117-20201118-vsyfeduxmvgvrplqtmqllr7u6q-story.html\"\u003Estop sending\u003C\/a\u003E female inspectors. After Democrat Milwaukee health inspectors faced a backlash for harassing a pro-Trump rally, they no longer go anywhere without a police escort. That defeats the purpose of police defunding.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe bigger purpose of police defunding is to fundamentally shift enforcement priorities from fighting crime to pursuing social agendas, and while police departments dutifully rack up hate crime citations and participate in community policing events, their mission hasn’t changed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe coronavirus lockdowns succeeded in dividing the country and destroying small businesses on an unprecedented scale, but they failed to turn America into East Germany. Instead the fault lines of the pandemic revealed that much of the country would not go along with the crackdown.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd the men and women of law enforcement, for the most part, did the right thing.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven in difficult times, that ought to give us hope for the future of our country. And this Thanksgiving, it is another thing about this great nation to be thankful for.\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDaniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.\u003C\/i\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/feeds\/2807219900866418610\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/11\/cops-refuse-to-be-thanksgiving-police.html#comment-form","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/2807219900866418610"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/2807219900866418610"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/11\/cops-refuse-to-be-thanksgiving-police.html","title":"Cops Refuse to be the Thanksgiving Police"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Daniel Greenfield"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13575285186581875356"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"20","height":"32","src":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-ywx0Wkms-cU\/Vm75eobzYVI\/AAAAAAAAPg0\/kAlR7rDxOIc\/s113\/picture%2Bnewspapery%2Bsmall.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-dDBUAfHojAs\/X8MhmY2c_ZI\/AAAAAAAASmc\/7jp_Kmewna8iHllJ76ooByhviTQq0GChgCNcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/biden%2Boffice%2Bframe.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"3"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-2013087420762037953"},"published":{"$t":"2020-11-23T14:15:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-11-23T14:15:00.277-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"California"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Coronavirus"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Democrats"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Democrat Governors are Suicidal -- or They Don’t Believe in Their Own Lockdowns"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"A week before issuing a statewide mask mandate and a few weeks after trying to ban Thanksgiving, Governor Newsom \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/news\/fox-11-obtains-exclusive-photos-of-gov-newsom-at-french-restaurant-allegedly-not-following-covid-19-protocols\"\u003Eattended a dinner party\u003C\/a\u003E, maskless, for a lobbyist.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe size of the party, a dozen people, contravened, Newsom’s own Thanksgiving crackdown limiting gathering sizes and urging members of different households not to mingle. The photos also contravened Newsom’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/point\/2020\/11\/imposing-masks-gov-newsom-was-packed-maskless-daniel-greenfield\/#disqus_thread\"\u003E93\u003C\/a\u003E to wear a mask at dinner between bites.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DfvfC60DtIw\/X7q5IBc4FgI\/AAAAAAAASls\/R8TAOKmvkHYgB2Ktw0ajiCWIHFRyzlxEQCNcBGAsYHQ\/s616\/newsom%2Bad.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"453\" data-original-width=\"616\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DfvfC60DtIw\/X7q5IBc4FgI\/AAAAAAAASls\/R8TAOKmvkHYgB2Ktw0ajiCWIHFRyzlxEQCNcBGAsYHQ\/s320\/newsom%2Bad.png\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\"COVID-19 has NOT gone away. Take the new case rates seriously. We cannot let our guard down,\" Newsom had urged on Twitter. \"Wear a mask, limit mixing with those you don't live with, and physically distance.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPhotos of the dinner party showed no social distancing, no mask wearing, and no precautions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThose attending the party included not only Newsom, but top California Medical Association officials. The CMA had lobbied to suspend “non-urgent” and “non-essential” procedures. It had also cheered Newsom’s mask mandate warning that “anti-science extremists” were “putting public health at risk” in an ad campaign released earlier this summer by the association.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe anti-science extremists apparently include the CEO of the California Medical Association.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENewsom’s dinner party comes after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser violated \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/ktrh.iheart.com\/featured\/michael-berry\/content\/2020-11-10-dc-dem-mayor-refuses-to-follow-her-own-quarantine-order\/\"\u003Eher own quarantine\u003C\/a\u003E, traveling to Delaware for Biden’s election party, one of the “high-risk” states, while partying with Democrat political operatives, before returning home and then refusing to quarantine.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBowser claimed that she didn’t have to follow her own rules because it was “official business”.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe coronavirus is presumably obliging enough not to infect politicians who are traveling on official business to party with fellow Democrats, but knows to infect people at Trump rallies.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot told residents to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans”, after joining a massive crowd celebrating Biden’s claim to have won the 2020 presidentia election.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“There are times when we actually do need to have relief and come together, and I felt like that was one of those times. That crowd was gathered whether I was there or not,” Lightfoot argued.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOf course all of this isn’t really news.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernor Whitmer’s husband was already\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/point\/2020\/05\/we-are-not-all-together-whitmer-edition-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003E caught demanding\u003C\/a\u003E his boat, Governor Pritzker’s family was caught \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/fpm\/2020\/06\/were-not-all-together-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003Etraveling around the country\u003C\/a\u003E, Governor Murphy \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.shorenewsnetwork.com\/2020\/08\/27\/murphy-caught-dining-at-his-favorite-local-restaurant-serving-patrons-indoors\/\"\u003Ewas caught\u003C\/a\u003E dining indoors, Governor Cuomo didn’t bother social distancing or \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/point\/2020\/10\/lesson-social-distancing-and-masking-cuomo-and-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003Ewearing a mask \u003C\/a\u003Eat a Sharpton event, Mayor Lightfoot was caught getting a haircut, and Speaker Pelosi was \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontpagemag.com\/point\/2020\/09\/were-not-all-together-pelosi-edition-daniel-greenfield\/\"\u003Ecaught \u003C\/a\u003Eat a hair salon.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESenator Dianne Feinstein \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2020\/11\/18\/sen-dianne-feinstein-who-pushed-for-nationwide-mask-mandate-seen-maskless-in-public\/\"\u003Ewas caught \u003C\/a\u003Erepeatedly not using a mask, and Senator Kamala Harris had no problem piling into an elevator with her entire staff. All this is just business as usual.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven without listing the numerous Black Lives Matter marches and Biden victory parties, or the Women’s March in D.C., it’s all too obvious that Democrat leaders don’t follow the rules.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd that leads to one of two inevitable conclusions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEither Democrat leaders are suicidal or the mask and lockdown regimen doesn’t work.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut what absolutely cannot be true is the media narrative that Democrats are following science and should be trusted to lead us through the pandemic using a regime of lockdowns and masks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe same Democrat leadership lecturing us that masks save lives goes maskless whenever it can. And that might be forgivable if they weren’t constantly pretending that the only people not wearing masks are Republican scofflaws who are endangering all of us with their selfishness.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe only thing more unforgivable than corruption is hypocrisy.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the fundamental question is why Governor Newsom, Governor Cuomo, Mayor Bowser, Mayor Lightfoot, and so many others are casually violating their own restrictions and guidelines.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf Governor Newsom truly believed, as he tweeted, “Wear your mask. Physically distance. Do not let your guard down. Your actions could literally save lives”, would he have joined a crowded party at the French Laundry for a lobbyist and adviser, without doing any of these things?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe only two rational conclusions are that Governor Newsom has no regard for his own life (we already know that he, like most Democrat governors on this list, has no regard for human life when he ordered skilled nursing facilities to accept coronavirus patients in a cruel act that one geriatric doctor compared to, “premeditated murder”) or he doesn’t believe his own guidance.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAre Democrat leaders particularly suicidal? That seems unlikely.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENewsom, Cuomo, Murphy, Whitmer, and Pritzker, not to mention Pelosi, Feinstein, Bowser, and Lightfoot, can be accused of many things, but a wilful disregard for their lives isn’t one of them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat leaves us with the cold hard reality that they don’t believe the things that they’re telling us.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESome of the violations of guidance meant to stop the spread of the virus can be dismissed as selfishness that doesn’t directly put Whitmer or Pritzker at risk. But when Newsom and Cuomo, among others, casually hang out in close proximity without masks, there’s only one conclusion.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThey don’t practice this stuff because they don’t think it works.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat do they know that we don’t? Mostly, that nothing they’re doing will really make a difference, but that they need to be seen to be doing something. This is a common problem in politics. President Trump suffered from poor ratings on the coronavirus because, while his administration did practical things behind the scenes, it didn’t impose abusive mandates.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELike the kind that Biden ran on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeople expect medicine that really works to taste bitter and any real approach to a crisis to cause pain. That’s why we have to take off our shoes and belts when we fly even though the TSA has not stopped a single terrorist attack after all these years of airport shoelessness.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut the TSA was never meant to stop terrorism. It was there to show that the government was taking the problem seriously. And the more miserable flying became, the tighter the security.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere’s a term for that sort of thing: security theater. And there’s a term for what we’re doing now: medical theater. All of these are subsidiaries of political theater in which governments and politicians pretend to be doing things even though they know none of it really matters.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECongress spends a lot of its time holding entirely useless hearings that only exist so that its members can tweet about how seriously they’re taking the thing that the hearing is about.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernor Cuomo mismanaged the coronavirus in the worst way possible, lying to the public, sending thousands of infected patients into nursing homes, imposing lockdowns and bragging his way through innumerable press conferences, before illegally scapegoating Orthodox Jews for the virus ahead of the second wave, but never missed a press opportunity or book deal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat’s why his coronavirus leadership book hit the bestseller lists ahead of the morgues.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDemocrat politicians know exactly how to navigate the pandemic, not to save lives, but to maximize their approval ratings, book sales, and potential presidential runs down the road. It doesn’t matter how many people die. Arguably more people dying in your state is better.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJust ask Cuomo who still holds down a nationwide championship in coronavirus corpses.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat is really important in any crisis is to be seen taking it very seriously by holding constant press conferences and imposing pain, lockdowns, restrictions, mandates, on the public. The more people suffer, the more a politician must get credit for doing everything to fight the virus.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe governors know that what they’re doing isn’t working and they don’t know what does. Their strategy isn’t to protect the people in their states, but to protect their political careers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETo find out what people really believe, don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGovernor Newsom knew, before imposing his statewide mask mandate, that masks don’t work. If he thought they did, he would have been wearing one while hanging out with his pals. But to a lot of people, masks provide a sense of control and so politicians happily mandate masks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENewsom, Cuomo, Whitmer, Murphy, and the rest of the gubernatorial gang don’t have a plan to deal with the virus. Their only plan is to wait it out and come out looking good. That’s why they wear masks in front of the camera and then take them off the first chance they get.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThey’re not leaders, they’re politicians, with no clue what to do in a real crisis. Except lie.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs winter is upon us, there are only two possible explanations why so many governors repeatedly violate the rules that they tell us mean the difference between life and death.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEither they’re suicidal or they’re lying to us.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESince none of them have yet grasped a noose, put shotguns in their ears, or plunged needles filled with uncut heroin in their veins, they’re not suicidal. They are corrupt and incompetent. And while they destroy the lives and livelihoods of millions, they go on partying behind closed doors. \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003EDaniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/feeds\/2013087420762037953\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/11\/democrat-governors-are-suicidal-or-they.html#comment-form","title":"7 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/2013087420762037953"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/2013087420762037953"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/11\/democrat-governors-are-suicidal-or-they.html","title":"Democrat Governors are Suicidal -- or They Don’t Believe in Their Own Lockdowns"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Daniel Greenfield"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13575285186581875356"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"20","height":"32","src":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-ywx0Wkms-cU\/Vm75eobzYVI\/AAAAAAAAPg0\/kAlR7rDxOIc\/s113\/picture%2Bnewspapery%2Bsmall.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-DfvfC60DtIw\/X7q5IBc4FgI\/AAAAAAAASls\/R8TAOKmvkHYgB2Ktw0ajiCWIHFRyzlxEQCNcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/newsom%2Bad.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"7"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-7491334104784854599"},"published":{"$t":"2020-11-11T22:51:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-11-11T22:51:52.177-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Biden"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Coronavirus"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Europe"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"recent"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Most Masked European Countries Have the Biggest Coronavirus Surges"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"“If we just wore these masks,” Joe Biden said, at the final presidential debate, holding up a mask like a totem, “we can save 100,000 lives.”\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Democrat nominee’s plan for fighting the coronavirus was all about wearing masks. And indeed the only notable element of Biden’s plan has been a national mask mandate.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut would that actually work? Would it even save one life, never mind 100,000?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFew European countries have been more mask-obsessed than France.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-kfWLcHSWEC8\/X6n0-GTUgSI\/AAAAAAAASj8\/uYqGMg5QNGQRilZ4XamPVGtHXcY5qEXxACNcBGAsYHQ\/s514\/image_2020-11-09_180330.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"300\" data-original-width=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-kfWLcHSWEC8\/X6n0-GTUgSI\/AAAAAAAASj8\/uYqGMg5QNGQRilZ4XamPVGtHXcY5qEXxACNcBGAsYHQ\/s320\/image_2020-11-09_180330.png\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EIn July, France issued a national mask mandate compelling everyone to wear masks indoors in public spaces. Anyone caught not wearing a mask would face a fine of around $150. In August, Paris and a number of other regions imposed mask rules for anyone leaving the house.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EForget the stereotype of the Parisian nonchalantly dangling a gauloise between two yellowing fingers. \"You're not allowed to smoke on the street without a mask; you can't take it off, so you must find another way,\"  Deputy Mayor Anne Souyris snapped.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHow were Parisians to smoke without taking off their masks, cutting holes in them, or setting them on fire?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn a nod to another French obsession, cyclists \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-53934952\"\u003Ewere\u003C\/a\u003E temporarily exempted, but AI was deployed on the metro to automatically detect which passengers weren’t covering their faces.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESome cynics suspected that this had something to do with France’s mask surplus. After buying a billion masks from China, the worldwide hub of the fashion industry ramped up its own mask production, but the demand wasn’t there leaving manufacturers with a 40 million mask surplus.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe initial drive to produce 5 million masks a day had left \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.manufacturing.net\/supply-chain\/news\/21137274\/france-has-millions-of-unsold-face-masks\"\u003Ea lot of masks\u003C\/a\u003E, many of them fashionable fabric masks, useless but pretty, sitting in warehouses with nowhere to go.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs the summer heat wore on, inspectors marched through French workplaces to check that everyone was masked. In a nod to class privileges, bosses were allowed to unmask in their private offices, but workers were forced to keep masks on unless they had 13 feet of space.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStill, 78% of French people \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/graphic-detail\/2020\/07\/08\/face-off-over-face-masks-europes-latest-north-south-split\"\u003Epolled\u003C\/a\u003E claimed that they studiously wore their masks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHow well did that work out?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFrance recently passed 1.1 million confirmed cases and hit a record of over 52,000 cases in one day. While the media has been warning that the numbers are spinning out of control in the United States after this country passed 80,000 cases in a day, France’s numbers are far worse.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAmerica, after all, has a much larger population than France.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDespite its strenuous mask regime, France became the country with the fifth largest number of cases, falling behind larger countries like America and Russia.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd it’s not alone.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn Spain, where 86% of people wear masks, the government has declared a six month state of emergency with nightly curfews and gatherings limited to 6 people. The only legal reason to leave your house after 11 PM or before 6 AM is to go to work or deal with an emergency.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESpain hit the 1 million mark even before France did.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd that's despite a nationwide mask mandate back in May, along with a ban on public smoking, making it one of the first European countries to go all in on masks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEven though masks became more widespread in Spain than most of the rest of the continent, and the country whose totalitarian past lies close to the surface, has unleashed some of the toughest lockdown measures, this is now Spain's third coronavirus resurgence.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EItaly, where 81% wear masks, responded to yet another spike with a fourth set of lockdown restrictions, shutting down gyms and theaters, while forcing restaurants and bars to close by 6 PM. No one is allowed to watch soccer games in person or go to wedding receptions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDespite all the masks, Italy still holds the record for the second-highest death toll in Europe.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMeanwhile in Sweden, only 5% wear masks. The authorities have never recommended them believing that they are a waste of time. Sweden has used a soft lockdown that avoided fines and mandates. And the media in lockdown countries has spent the months lambasting Sweden and warning the rest of the world not to use it as a model.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut Sweden isn’t alone. In Denmark hardly anyone wears masks. And in Norway, less than a sixth do.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the UK, where less than a third of Britons wear masks, the death rate is only a little higher than Italy, and it still hasn’t hit the 1 million mark despite a larger population.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn Europe, as in America, masks are a cultural, not medical, practice. The people likeliest and unlikeliest to wear them have cultural similarities. And they wear them for the same reason that the Biden campaign embraced wearing masks, not as a plan, but as a cultural symbol.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWearing masks is not a plan to stop the virus, but it is a fetish of conformity. That is why so many politicians use the language of “respect” rather than medicine to encourage the practice.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedical practices don’t need to be respected. Cultural beliefs, especially irrational ones, do.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe discomfort of wearing masks, especially in the hot southern countries like France, Spain, and Italy, perversely seem to affirm their effectiveness in the same way that some mouthwash manufacturers make their brands taste astringent to seem more medicinal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeople are trained to think that what is medically effective is also physically uncomfortable.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen the Black Death arrived, medieval Europeans resorted to a variety of practices and cures, some useful and many useless, some that had roots in a legitimate concept of illness, others that were little more than voodoo, to deal with a pandemic that had no easy answers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe obsession with masks, an actual useful medical tool transformed into a cargo cult fetish, has echoes of the medieval misuse of legitimate medical practices during the Black Death.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn some medical environments masks may offer potential benefits, but mandating that entire populations wear them accomplishes nothing except keeping the French textile industry employed. That and the assorted unhealthy consequences of constantly wearing a mask.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut whether it’s using a severed snake to try and draw out the Black Death or wearing a mask, people in an outbreak feel the need to grasp at some means of controlling the threat. And they become angry at anyone who doesn’t appear to respect their chosen control mechanism.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWearing a mask is meant to prevent the spread of the virus, not to protect the wearer. A CDC study\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/californiaglobe.com\/section-2\/new-cdc-study-finds-majority-of-those-infected-with-covid-19-always-wore-masks\/\"\u003E showed that\u003C\/a\u003E 88% of those infected wore masks. But the medieval logic of masks falsely assumes that wearing a mask protects you from the virus and that the virus only spreads due to those who don’t wear masks. And that creates natural scapegoats for the pandemic.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Biden campaign and the Democrats are cynically cashing in on these pandemic fears.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"We’re in a circumstance where the president thus far and still has no plan, no comprehensive plan,\" Biden ranted at the debate. \"What I would do is make sure we have everyone encouraged to wear a mask all the time.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFrance, Italy, and Spain tried that. It didn’t work.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe European countries most obsessed with masks are doing the worst. Nearly universal mask wearing in those countries has done little to prevent a surge. Democrats have a weakness for wanting to be like the Europeans. But the only thing the Biden mask mandate would do is turn us into France. The French wore masks through the summer heat only to have three times the cases per capita and per day as the Americans who never adopted a mask mandate.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMaybe, instead of Americans adopting the Biden mask mandate and becoming more like France, it’s time the French tried a little bit of freedom and being more like Americans.\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003EDaniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/feeds\/7491334104784854599\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/11\/the-most-masked-european-countries-have.html#comment-form","title":"16 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/7491334104784854599"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11368628\/posts\/default\/7491334104784854599"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.danielgreenfield.org\/2020\/11\/the-most-masked-european-countries-have.html","title":"The Most Masked European Countries Have the Biggest Coronavirus Surges"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Daniel Greenfield"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/13575285186581875356"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"20","height":"32","src":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-ywx0Wkms-cU\/Vm75eobzYVI\/AAAAAAAAPg0\/kAlR7rDxOIc\/s113\/picture%2Bnewspapery%2Bsmall.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-kfWLcHSWEC8\/X6n0-GTUgSI\/AAAAAAAASj8\/uYqGMg5QNGQRilZ4XamPVGtHXcY5qEXxACNcBGAsYHQ\/s72-c\/image_2020-11-09_180330.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"16"}}]}});