It would be easier to believe that the lockdowns and mask mandates that Joe Biden and his allies are pushing are truly good-faith public health measures if the politicians pushing them weren’t such self-righteous hypocrites.
It has become difficult to keep track of how many times major Democrat politicians have flouted the rules that they’d like you arrested for violating. But let’s try.
Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer has instituted some of the harshest lockdown policies in the country, even prohibiting stores from selling certain “non-essential items.” After she lifted part of her lockdown, she warned citizens not to travel to some of the nicer parts of the state for Memorial Day. But then her husband pressured a docking company to get his boat ready to sail before that weekend.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)has constantly shamed Americans to wear masks. But then she got caught on camera, totally mask-less, getting her hair done at a salon.
California’s governor Gavin Newsom has also pushed aggressive lockdowns, including restaurant regulations that have put many establishments out of business. But then he was caught on camera having an extremely fancy, non-socially distanced dinner party at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed took such aggressive lockdown measures that the liberals in that city even started calling Kamala Harris to complain. But then the night after Gavin Newsom, she too attended a dinner party at the French Laundry restaurant.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted last week to support a ban on outdoor dining – a measure not supported by science, but one that’s guaranteed to kill more small businesses. But then right after casting her vote, she drove off to dine outdoors at a fancy restaurant.
California’s politicians approved a travel advisory warning citizens not to travel out of state for “non-essential” business. But then a group of them flew to Hawaii to schmooze it up with lobbyists.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock warned the citizens of his city that they must avoid travel for Thanksgiving. “Pass the potatoes, not COVID,’ he said. “Host virtual gatherings instead of in-person dinners.” But then, less than a half-hour later, Hancock boarded a flight to Mississippi to meet his wife and daughter.
There are plenty of other examples: Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot getting her hair done even though a state order closed most Illinois barber shops; New York City governor Andrew Cuomo threatening to clamp down hard on Thanksgiving gatherings while planning to host his elderly mother at his house (he later canceled); Washington D.C.’s mayor Muriel Bowser refusing to quarantine after her “essential” travel to Biden’s victory party. I’m sure I’m missing some. And you can be sure that there are plenty of others that we haven’t learned about yet.
Hypocrisy, of course, is nothing new from politicians. But what’s going on here is much different – and much more troubling. Politicians – predominantly Democrat ones – are restricting our freedoms and destroying American businesses because, they insist, moving around freely will kill people. Then they move around freer than ever before.
Are these politicians sociopaths who think that they’re entitled to kill people? Does someone like Gavin Newsom think that it’s fine for Californians to die in order to satisfy his desire for fancy French food? Or does he not really believe that his lockdown measures are helpful, so he’s not really doing anything wrong by violating them?
I’ve never met the man, so I can’t tell you. And I also can’t tell you whether Nancy Pelosi really believes that masks protect others and just doesn’t mind potentially killing her hair dresser.
What I can tell you is that many of our politicians – mostly Democrats, mind you – are proving themselves to be either sociopaths with no regard for human life, or total hypocrites who don’t actually believe that the lockdowns and mask mandates they’re forcing on the American people are actually necessary for public health.
Either way, people should have a major problem with it. But apparently many Americans don’t. Apparently many Americans vote for these types of people. And if that’s how they want to live, that’s their business.
But the media and politicians shouldn’t be surprised when they face a tremendous populist backlash to any national mask mandate or lockdown initiative spearheaded by our hypocritical or sociopathic political ruling class.
Andrew Pollack is the President of the Crime Prevention Research Center.