'I'm Not Sure We Know What We're Doing,' Says a Newly Skeptical California Lockdown Advocate

San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow, who supported last spring's stay-at-home orders, airs his misgivings about reviving that policy.

San Mateo County, California, was one of the first jurisdictions in the United States to fight the COVID-19 epidemic with sweeping restrictions on social and economic activity. It joined five other San Francisco Bay Area counties in issuing "shelter in place" orders on March 16, three days before Gov. Gavin Newsom made California the first state to impose a COVID-19 lockdown. San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow's misgivings about reviving that policy are therefore especially striking. "I'm not sure we know what we're doing," Morrow confesses in a remarkable statement he posted on the San Mateo County health department's website this week.

"During the first Shelter in Place order, which I wholeheartedly endorsed, the virus was brand new and had the capability of spreading exponentially due to zero immunity and people's complete lack of awareness," Morrow says. The order "was very much consistent with my long-held views about the judicious use of power.…However, I very quickly rescinded my initial orders shuttering society and focused my new orders on the personal behaviors that are driving the pandemic, mainly limiting gatherings, using masks, social distancing, and adopting the State's framework on business capacity restrictions. Just because one has the legal authority to do something, doesn't mean one has to use it, or that using it is the best course of action. What I believed back in May, and what I believe now, is the power and authority to control this pandemic lies primarily in your hands, not mine."

For Morrow, the question is whether broad legal mandates are the best way to encourage compliance with the precautions that help curtail virus transmission. "I look at surrounding counties [that] have been much more restrictive than I have been, and wonder what it's bought them," he says. "Now, some of them are in a worse spot than we are. Does an unbalanced approach on restrictions make things worse?"

While Morrow is not sure about that, he believes the recently imposed local and statewide restrictions make little sense. "A hard, enforced [stay-at-home] order will certainly drive down transmission rates," he writes. "But what we have before us [a proposed county order] is a symbolic gesture [that] appears to be style over substance, without any hint of enforcement, and I simply don't believe it will do much good. I think people should stay at home, avoid all non-essential activities, wear masks, and not gather with anyone outside their households. I've been saying this for about 10 months now. If you didn't listen to my (and many others') entreaties before, I don't think you'll likely change your behavior based on a new order."

Morrow, a physician with a public health degree who has been San Mateo County's health officer since 1992, also has doubts about the new restrictions imposed by Newsom. "I am aware of no data that some of the business activities on which even greater restrictions are being put into place with this new order are the major drivers of transmission," he says. "In fact, I think these greater restrictions are likely to drive more activity indoors, a much riskier [environment]….I also believe these greater restrictions will result in more job loss, more hunger, more despair and desperation …and more death from causes other than COVID. And I wonder, are these premature deaths any less worrisome than COVID deaths?"

Morrow says restrictions on supermarkets and schools are especially worrisome. "I have grave concerns about the unintended consequences of reducing our grocery store capacity to 20%," he writes. "The [stay-at-home] order will make it more difficult for schools to open or to stay open….I continue to strongly believe our schools need to be open. The adverse effects for some of our kids will likely last for generations. Schools have procedures to open safely even during a surge as evidenced by data."

More generally, Morrow says, "the new State framework is rife with inexplicable inconsistencies of logic." He does not elaborate, but a look at Newsom's latest restrictions, which apply in regions with less than 15 percent unused ICU capacity, suggests several possible examples.

The new rules, which as of today have been triggered in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, "prohibit private gatherings of any size, close sector operations except for critical infrastructure and retail, and require 100% masking and physical distancing in all others." Newsom's order "instructs Californians to stay at home as much as possible and to stop mixing between households."

The order closes down "hair salons and barbershops," other "personal care services," museums, zoos, aquariums, movie theaters (except for drive-ins), wineries, bars, breweries, distilleries, family entertainment centers, amusement parks, cardrooms and satellite wagering, and sporting events with live audiences. Retailers and shopping centers may admit no more than 20 percent of their capacity. Outdoor dining is banned at restaurants, which are limited to takeout and delivery, but outdoor gatherings for religious or political purposes are permitted. All offices are closed "except for critical infrastructure sectors where remote working is not possible," but "entertainment production" is allowed.

Outdoor recreational facilities can continue to operate, but "only for the purpose of facilitating physically distanced personal health and wellness through outdoor exercise." Overnight stays in campgrounds are prohibited, presumably on the same theory that motivated Newsom's earlier ban on "non-essential activities" between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. The governor seems to think the COVID-19 virus is especially aggressive at night.

Law enforcement officials across the state have rebelled at enforcing Newsom's lockdown, especially as it relates to private gatherings and individual movement. Morrow is therefore on solid ground in suggesting that the new stay-at-home orders are largely "a symbolic gesture" that elevates "style over substance."

Comments

[Don't look at me!]

The Biden effect.

[Roberta]

More like Admiral Stockton. Or was it Stockwell? Perot's running mate.

[Roberta]

Stockdale.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Who was he? What was he doing there?

[MP]

+?

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[Árboles de la Barranca]

I don't know what I'm doing but I'm here to fix your problem.

[shortviking]

Dean Stockwell?

[Jerryskids]

"I'm not sure we know what we're doing,"

So close to enlightenment! Now take that phrase and apply it universally to government action and you'll have the beginnings of wisdom and humility and an understanding of the limits of human knowledge.

[Jerryskids]

Not that I expect this guy Morrow to be capable of this much introspection, I'm sure he's convinced that it's just this one thing he should have doubts about but in a larger sense it's unthinkable to question the abilities of Top Men and their infinite wisdom to deal with the universe of humanity's problems.

[CE]

at least Morrow is asking the follow-up questions: does this work? does it make sense?

[Overt]

If you look at his actual statements, it is clear that "humility" is still not one of his virtues. He had no problem with pretty much every restriction- masks, no major gatherings, limited business capacity- right up to the point of complete lockdown.

[Brandybuck]

Don't forget to apply to government action via Trump as well. The color of one's team does not confer mystical wisdom. He's a different flavor of government badness, but still government badness.

[sarcasmic]

Yeah, no shit. We're taught that when fallible men join government that they become infallible angels. Even if we don't believe that, the people inside government do. Might makes right, and they've got might. So they're right, especially when they're wrong.

[Brandybuck]

When Newsom got caught dining at a five star restaurant with some of the healthy industry heads, at the same time it wsa banned for everyone else, my extremely leftist-to-the-point-of-aktual-socialist friend was angry with fury. Righteous anger at the governor.

He was so close, soooo close, to achieving enlightenment.

Did Newsom just accidentally fuck up? Or did he knowingly violate his own orders? It doesn't matter. What does matter is he did not shutdown the French Laundry when he caught himself dining there.

Politicians are not only not angels, they can sometimes be barely distinguishable from demons.

[Compelled Speechless]

People are learning the wrong lesson from Newsom, Lightfoot, Pelosi, et all.... getting caught flouting their own rules. The problem isn't that they're behaving hypocritically (they're politicians, to say that explicitly is redundant), the important lesson is that they clearly don't believe any of this themselves. What information do they have that the rest of the corporate news-digesting public doesn't?

[JesseAz]

Says the guy who says to trust institutions not making errors on a vote count. Do you even realize your hypocrisy?

[MatthewSlyfield]

If you don't know what you are doing, the best course of action is almost always to do nothing.

[aldousd666]

agreed! especially when you're doing it to a lot of people you'll never see and who might as well just be numbers on a polling chart.

[Entelechy]

Thank you for reminding us of the limits of human ignorance:

NYT: U.S. Breaks Daily Record for Virus Deaths 2 Weeks in a Row
More than 3,000 new fatalities were reported on Wednesday as a brutal surge gathered speed across the country.
Last week’s record — 2,760 deaths reported in a single day — was the first time since April that so many deaths had been reported.

[MT-Man]

There's always a new number....

[Eric (the OC tanker)]

Let us not forget that on average, over 7700 Americans die every single day. So, if this were an average year, more than 2.5 million will have died in the US of all causes. But, there seems to be a odd "anomaly" buried in the provisional death data for 2020 (see the Johns Hopkins study of the data.) You really must see for your self. I know that the study was taken down, but, the internet is forever.

Remember: "The TRUTH IS out there.

[Ride 'Em]

It is like when my mom died the attending physician wrote down heart failure on her death certificate even though she had kidney failure. COVID is the standard now for death certificates. There have been days where New York City only had deaths from COVID-19.

[jimc5499]

A friend's son was killed in a motorcycle accident last July. The Death Certificate listed the cause as "Traumatic Head Injury with COVID". That pretty much does it for me. I saw the actual certificate.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

"I'm not sure we know what we're doing,"

I'm quite sure you don't know what you're doing.

[Idle Hands]

Never forget who these people are and what they did.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Weed got legalized somewhere, so the complete evisceration of our economy and people's livelihood is tempered by that.

[Brandybuck]

Weed is the only thing that gets some people through the lockdowns.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

From where I'm sitting it's mostly meth and heroin getting people through the lockdown.

[Earth Skeptic]

When do we get Soma?

[Fat Mike's Drug Habit]

“I’m not sure we know what we’re doing,”

Well that makes one of us, I'm positive you don't know what you're doing.

[Idle Hands]

independent thought from a bureaucrat? Say it isn't so.

[Idle Hands]

throwing all these people into gitmo is the moderate position.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

I'll need to rethink my stance on waterboarding then.

[Idle Hands]

I mean it might be justified by the nap in this case. They are drowning business's and people in debt to death or near death so waterboarding sounds fair.

[Eric (the OC tanker)]

It's not waterboarding if you don't use water!

[Brandybuck]

The lockdowns are no longer about public health. They haven't been for months. Even people who think politicians can are literal angelic beings are starting to doubt their wisdom. There is next to zero oversight for any of these rules.

I blame the politicians for exercising arbitrary rule. But I blame the media (both mainstream and alternate) for inducing panic in the public to allow the politicians to exercise arbitrary rule.

The private press and media have clearly failed. But putting the government in charge of the press and media would be even worse. Sometimes the only solution is simple mistrust. Don't let the media panic you, don't spend all your time with media porn.

[Idle Hands]

there is oversight it's just applied unevenly and unjustly.

[Compelled Speechless]

Whether or not the application is just is a matter of perspective. To the media elite and their power-player handlers (or is that the other way around?) anything that keeps the masses from dusting off the guillotines is just.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The biggest issue here is that these people have never had to deal with a problem that didn't knuckle under to whatever law or public statement they've issued. Public health officials in particular are completely useless in this regard, because their offices simply aren't equipped to function in controlling the behavior of millions of people during a pandemic. The most they usually deal with is issuing citations for roach infestations in restaurants.

They're just arrogant and inept enough to think that being in their position makes them infallible, and that's what makes them incapable of governing in any manner other than the most ham-fisted way when they're caught flat-footed by something unexpected. They literally do not have the mental agility to adapt in the face of changing circumstances, and so they end up defaulting to "experts" who aren't any more equipped to handle the situation than they are.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I'm beginning to realize I liked it better when they were focusing on sugar, salt and menu calorie counts.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The irony is that if we didn't have so many obese motherfuckers in this country, the pandemic wouldn't have been nearly as bad as it has been.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

The lockdowns are no longer about public health.

Hey, Einstein, how the fuck could you think they ever were? Some of us have been screaming about the appropriate role of government from day one.

I told you so just doesn't get me there. I still want to punch you in the face.

[mpercy]

It never was...

Just as reminder, I had to imagine that the mayor of Champaign IL *had* to have had her maniacal plan at the ready, probably in a special red folder in the center drawer of her desk, just waiting for the chance to unleash her dream of ultimate power. This was her set of orders on *March 13th*...how many of these orders ever had any possibility of being helpful against COVID?

After the declaration of an emergency, the Mayor may in the interest of public safety and welfare make any or all of the following orders and provide the following direction:

(1) Issue such other orders as are imminently necessary for the protection of life and property.
(2) Order a general curfew applicable to such geographical areas of the City or to the City as a whole, as the Mayor deems advisable, and applicable during such hours of the day or night as the Mayor deems necessary in the interest of public safety and welfare.
(3) Order the closing of all retail liquor stores, including taverns and private clubs or portions thereof wherein the consumption of intoxicating liquor and beer is permitted;
(4) Order the discontinuance of the sale of alcoholic liquor by any wholesaler or retailer;
(5) Order the discontinuance of selling, distributing, or giving away gasoline or other liquid flammable or combustible products in any container other than a gasoline tank properly affixed to a motor vehicle;
(6) Order the discontinuance of selling, distributing, dispensing or giving away of explosives or explosive agents, firearms or ammunition of any character whatsoever;
(7) Order the control, restriction and regulation within the City by rationing, issuing quotas, fixing or freezing prices, allocating the use, sale or distribution of food, fuel, clothing and other commodities, materials, goods or services or the necessities of life;
(8) (a) Order City employees or agents, on behalf of the City, to take possession of any real or personal property of any person, or to acquire full title or such lesser interest as may be necessary to deal with a disaster or emergency, and to take possession of and for a limited time, occupy and use any real estate to accomplish alleviation of the disaster, or the effects thereof; (b) In the event any real or personal property is utilized by the City, the City shall be liable to the owner thereof for the reasonable value of the use or for just compensation as the case may be.
(9) Order restrictions on ingress or egress to parts of the City to limit the occupancy of any premises;
(10) To make provision for the availability and use of temporary emergency housing;
(11) Temporarily suspend, limit, cancel, convene, reschedule, postpone, continue, or relocate all meetings of the City Council, and any City committee, commission, board, 6 authority, or other City body as deemed appropriate by the Mayor.
(12) Require closing of business establishments.
(13) Prohibit the sale or distribution within the City of any products which could be employed in a manner which would constitute a danger to public safety.
(14) Temporarily close any and all streets, alleys, sidewalks, bike paths, public parks or public ways.
(15) Temporarily suspend or modify, for not more than sixty (60) days, any regulation or ordinance of the City, including, but not limited to, those regarding health, safety, and zoning. This period may be extended upon approval of the City Council.
(16) Suspend or limit the use of the water resources or other infrastructure.
(17) Control, restrict, allocate, or regulate the use, sale, production, or distribution of food, water, fuel, clothing, and/or other commodities, materials, goods, services and resources.
(18) Suspend or limit burning of any items or property with the City limits and up to two (2) miles outside the corporate limits.
(19) Direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from any stricken or threatened areas within the City if the mayor deems this action is necessary for the preservation of life, property, or other disaster or emergency mitigation, response or recovery and to prescribe routes, modes of transportation and destination in connection with an evacuation.
[sic, 20 omitted in original]
(21) Approve application for local, state, or federal assistance.
(22) Establish and control routes of transportation, ingress or egress.
(23) Control ingress and egress from any designated disaster or emergency area or home, building or structures located therein.
(24) Approve the transfer the direction, personnel, or functions of City departments and agencies for the purpose of performing or facilitating emergency or disaster services.
(25) Accept services, gifts, grants, loans, equipment, supplies, and/or materials whether from private, nonprofit, or governmental sources.
(26) Require the continuation, termination, disconnection, or suspension of natural gas, electrical power, water, sewer, communication or other public utilities or infrastructure.
(27) Close or cancel the use of any municipally owned or operated building or other public facility.
(28) Declare, issue, enforce, modify and terminate orders for quarantine and isolation of 7 persons or animals posing a threat to the public, not conflicting with the directions of the Health Officer of the community.
(29) Exercise such powers and functions in light of the exigencies of emergency or disaster including the waiving of compliance with any time consuming procedures and formalities, including notices, as may be prescribed by law.
(30) Issue any and all such other orders or undertake such other functions and activities as the Mayor reasonably believes is required to protect the health, safety, and welfare of persons or property within the City or otherwise preserve the public peace or abate, clean up, or mitigate the effects of any emergency or disaster.

Notice how if the City Council were to start to question her orders, she could suspend meetings of the City Council.

[MVP]

Well, you obviously didn't get the memo that she had ascended to Queen of Champaign...

[Mother's Lament]

Whichever one of you beautiful bastards donated as Xi Jinping, thank you.

Seeing "REASON IS SUPPORTED BY: XI JINPING" in the ticker made me laugh so hard I almost cried.

[Sometimes Bad Is Bad]

Wasn’t me but I’m happy to hear it. Now that we know the name can be anything let’s all have some fun.

[Don't look at me!]

Dibs on F. Castro.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Way to stick it to those suckers, pay them your hard earned cash, just to call them a name. Brilliant!

Here's some suggestions:
By: AOC
By: The Squad
By: Pravda
By: Walter Duranty
By: Democratic Socialists of America
By: Cucks (my favorite)

[Formerly Cynical Asshole]

Seeing “REASON IS SUPPORTED BY: XI JINPING” in the ticker made me laugh so hard I almost cried.

I missed that, but now I kind of wish I had wasted more time here the last few days. "That's gold, Jerry, gold!"

[MVP]

Now THAT is funny...

I just hope the donation was as small as possible - fuck the Kochs.

[Sometimes Bad Is Bad]

Yeah basically we’ve been saying this since the beginning. Democrats fucked it up so they could win an election. Media didn’t report it as such. Gave mafia don Cuomo a fucking award. Sleepy dementia Joe Biteme is a puppet president and the real hardcore neo marxists are going to be in charge.

[sarcasmic]

Meanwhile Republicans have been right about everything and never got anything wrong.

[Squirrelloid]

Careful Sarcasmic, you've got Poe's Law saddled up and out for a ride.

[MVP]

No of course they haven't.

But that is irrelevant to what he points out. The democrats are willing to have people die, lose their jobs and homes, and starve, so they can play politics. Now they are willing to work on half of Pelosi's "half a loaf." I'd say fuck them, but it's more accurately fuck everyone who is not in the political or donor class.

And no, republicans are no better - notice how now after 4 years they are rediscovering "fiscal responsibility". Fucking hypocrites.

But in the end, they used the pandemic to make $4 trillion to the richest motherfuckers in the country, while tossing the plebes $1,200 in STFU money.

I'm against handouts, but if these sociopaths are going to close businesses and not even let people work, costing many their entire livelihood and life's work and savings, then they should be giving them something to hold them over.

Or better, not shut them down in the first place.

Funny how a small florist or local sporting goods store or restaurant with no more than 4 people in it at a time is a disease vector, but a giant Amazon warehouse or Walmart store with hundreds to thousands of people working in close quarters is not.

This country is nothing but a shithole.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Our leadership quality is definitely getting worse, not better, as the Boomers try hold on to whatever power they can before they finally die. It won't improve any further as Gen-Xers take over, because as the generation of latch-key kids and single mothers, they didn't have much in the way of steady father figures to teach them basic life skills and adaptability in a crisis, and they're ultimately joiners who will job out to whomever can manipulate the media narrative. Finally, the Millennials are entitled little shits who think the world owes them Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism just for existing. I won't be shocked at all if the country fully crumbles once they finally get their mitts on total political power, because they've shown they can't actually build anything meaningful or sustainable. They can only destroy.

[Eeyore]

I'm sure. You don't.

[I, Woodchipper]

'I'm Not Sure We Know What We're Doing,'

This should be the honest motto of every single public official.

[Minadin]

"It shall be emblazoned upon the Seal of Government, and they shall wear it as a giant pendant about their necks on a golden chain, in honor of the people, and Flav-A-Flav."

[Bill Godshall]

Although PA now has six times more new covid cases daily than we had in March/April (when Gov Wolf imposed an economically disastrous statewide lockdown, and then allowed counties to gradually reopen if/when new cases were lowered), Wolf hasn't reimposed the lockdowns (in any county).

It appears Wolf no longer has enough Democrat votes in the PA General Assembly to sustain his vetoes, as increasingly more PA Democrat Senators and Reps oppose reimposing the lockdowns.

Looks like Wolf cried Wolf too many times.

[Bill Godshall]

What timing

https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-tom-wolf-tests-positive-for-covid/

[Agammamon]

So . . . Do we listen to this expert or not?

I thought we were supposed to do what the experts tell us. Or is it we are supposed to listen to those who are experts in deciding which experts are experts and which ones are not?

THE SCIENCE!

[Squirrelloid]

If they're truly experts, we shouldn't have to take their word for it. They should be able to convince us with evidence.

[Bill Godshall]

If lockdowns reduced new covid infections and deaths, the US covid death rate wouldn't have grown 3+ times faster than Sweden's since July 1st (476 vs 165 deaths per million).

And the US covid case rate wouldn't have increased far more than Sweden (37,736 vs 22,687 cases per million) since July 1.

While Sweden has been experiencing an increase in covid cases and deaths (similar to rates in the US) since the beginning of November, Sweden has had a much lower covid death rate (which is the most important criteria) than the US without imposing economically disastrous lockdowns (and I think Sweden still doesn't mandate masks).

A year ago, nobody thought Sweden would emerge as the most libertarian nation in 2020.

[rbike]

I look at the Sweden statistics and it looks like they are trying to make the deaths appear greater than the net results end up per day. Today they claim 19 deaths but I think they did yesterday also and the total ended up being only 8 .Very fishy stats of course as it appears to be worse than actual.

[ElvisIsReal]

Sweden sorts their deaths by date, so it might have been 19 deaths spread throughout the curve, with 8 that day?

[Formerly Cynical Asshole]

'I'm Not Sure We Know What We're Doing,'

Gee, there's a newsflash.

[Formerly Cynical Asshole]

"entertainment production" is allowed.

Gotta keep Hollywood going. After all, they're the leading producer of propaganda, and that's absolutely crucial.

[D-Pizzle]

It's also the one industry in California that is inextricably tethered to the state and a provider of those sweet sweet tax revenues.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

I wonder what their big plan is about all these kids getting screwed by online learning and teachers refusing to do their jobs?

[Fat Mike's Drug Habit]

Poorly educated children is a feature, not a bug.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

I'd modify that by saying that propagandized children is really the goal, but it's been that way for a long time, even long before the New Left started taking over the education complex in the late 60s.

[Justin]

I live in San Mateo County, and have been following this since it all started in March.

Let's not give Dr. Morrow too much credit here. Our restrictions were some of the harshest in the nation. Nearly everything was closed. The streets were empty.

Morrow closed county parks. County parks here are vast open space preserves. I've hiked at Edgewood park for years. This is a 500 acre park, with over 8 miles of trails, and a parking lot that holds fewer than 30 cars. 1000s of acres of parks like this were closed on his order.

I still can't take a reusable bag into a grocery store, not even if I'm going to pack it myself. I've had staff tell me to leave the store because I was wearing a backpack. This continues to this day.

Almost all work was stopped. My gardener ignored the orders for awhile, but eventually got in trouble, and had to stop working. A gardener! Someone working outside, alone.

And, it's just not true that Morrow "very quickly rescinded" his initial orders. These restrictions were in place for 3 months. For 3 months, we weren't permitted to hike alone in 1000s of acres of wilderness.

And even then, after 3 months it's not like the restrictions were lifted. The parks opened, but I still couldn't get a hair cut for another couple of months, and dining at a restaurant was still shutdown until some time in the summer. Playgrounds only reopened a couple of months ago.

Schools, despite whatever he may say about it being appropriate for them to reopen, are closed. Because my wife is an ER doctor, an essential worker, we were able to get our kids into programs that basically fill the purpose of schools, but at huge personal cost, $50,000/yr.

He also used his position as County Health Officer to blame the spread of covid on the US economic system:
https://www.smchealth.org/health-officer-updates/july-20-2020-health-officer-statement

It's great that he kind of maybe now admits that everything he did actually had no impact. This was clear in the data before the lockdowns ever went into place. The data they shared to show the success of their measures showed the curve had gone flat, and social interaction was already on a very steep downslope before the stay at home order went into effect.

His kind of coming around now should not absolve him, and the rest of the County Health Officers, of their culpability here. And I, for one, will have no respect for him at all until he says no to further mandates, and refuses to go along with the state mandates when they kick in, in a couple of weeks.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Please note, your seemingly innocuous get togethers are driving the spread and are a major reason why you can’t go to a restaurant, why you can’t go to the gym, why you can’t go get your hair cut, why kids can’t go to school.

Yeah, fuck that guy too.

[Fat Mike's Drug Habit]

Like with most crimes, an admission of guilt does not absolve you of your crime. It may get you more lenient sentencing, but you're still guilty and still deserve punishment.

So for this example, maybe room temperature tar is called for as opposed to boiling tar.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

The most notable thing about this is the sheer number of people who were more than happy to take 2020 up the ass and ask for seconds. These are the people who actually get a dopamine rush off of the idea that the government will tell them to wear a mask for several more months, if not years, and that they'll be required to carry a vaccine card around to be let in anywhere while those Filthy Science Deniers will be reduced to being Morlocks. It's a sober reminder of how the Soviets were able to maintain a police state for so long, and why the French Revolution devolved into a bloody terror--it wasn't due to the KGB or the Committee for Public Safety, it was due to ordinary people tattling on their neighbors out of the sheer sadistic delight of watching them get decapitated and jailed.

Americans are becoming an increasingly emasculated society, and the last 20 years is living proof of that. Normally, such places are taken over by a foreign military power after they've gotten too soft and decadent, or they simply fall apart because the social bonds that kept people bound finally snap. We have too many nukes to make the former possible, so the latter is more likely.

[Archibald Baal]

THIS

One relative in particular in my social media feeds is positively gleeful about the distancing and masks and has blamed the resurgence on, I kid you not, "those kids in elementary school who had no respect for authority figures and ended up getting us all collectively punished".

It's easy (and proper) to take the government and the press to task for this stuff, but there's a significant Karen population which is cheering on the whole process because they really, really like to see people under controls of some sort to show them they can't just do whatever they want to do like some kind of... anarchist!

It's vile.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

has blamed the resurgence on, I kid you not, “those kids in elementary school who had no respect for authority figures and ended up getting us all collectively punished”.

And then when you ask them for the data showing this is correct, they immediately deflect.

It's rather ironic that the Maskthulians and the government agents issuing these mandates are hitting all the markers for one to recognize when you're in an abusive relationship.

[Archibald Baal]

To be clear, she's not blaming it on the kids of today, she's blaming it on the kids she grew up with who allegedly were anti-authority and are now clearly bad adults to blame for the massive swaths of (sub-1%) death which rage across our once-golden lands.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Which is hilarious, because all the "anti-authority" people I grew up or am acquainted with are the ones begging the government to fuck them some more.

[Archibald Baal]

Yep. With only one exception, all the anti-authority "fuck da police" folks I grew up with are now full-on statists (the exception being the dude who is actually in jail for B&E... he may be a statist, too... it's not a conversation I'm likely to have with him any time soon).

[Earth Skeptic]

Letting women vote--a bad idea since 1920!

[Claptrap]

those Filthy Science Deniers will be reduced to being Morlocks

Reduced? Morlocks ran shit.

[De Oppresso Liber]

Thanks for this very informative addition.

[Irishman12]

'Thanks for this very informative addition.'

well, to be fair, this fooking hysteria is being driven by a super abundance of estrogen...

[jimc5499]

Nicely said Justin.
Does anybody remember what the original 15 day shutdown was for? It was just to slow things down to give medical services a chance to get ready. That's it. Plain and simple. There is no way that shutting everything down is going to prevent this. Not a chance in hell. If they would have done what they originally said that they were going to do, we would have had the current situation back in a May, June time frame. We would be out of it now. There was NEVER a chance of COVID going away because of a shutdown, it was just postponed.

[Carter Mitchell]

Memo to Scott Morrow: I am VERY sure that you don't know what you're doing, just as I am sure that many people in high places know exactly what they're doing, are aware that what they are doing is wrong, but will do it anyway for personal gain. I can't say if you are one of those or not, but either way, if you stand against the usurpation of liberty, you will be vilified and crucified, just as Drs. Atlas, Bhattacharya, and other dissenters have been.

If the establishment starts attacking you, you know you're now on the side of the good guys.

[Liberty Lover]

"'I'm Not Sure We Know What We're Doing,' Says a Newly Skeptical California Lockdown Advocate"
Ya think?
I am sure, you don't know what you are doing, yet you are doing it.

[Jeff Mason]

He will be cancelled and margins for speaking the truth.

[MVP]

"'I'm Not Sure We Know What We're Doing"

Gee, ya think?

By now the virus has societal penetration - lockdowns are ineffective at this point. It's just lazy politics, locking the door after the fox is in the henhouse. The virus will do what it does. Very short-sighted.

Prediction: the democrats are going to get their asses handed to them in the 2022 mid-term elections.

[Kungpowderfinger]

San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow, who supported last spring's stay-at-home orders, airs his misgivings about reviving that policy

Champagne brunch is going to be so awkward at the French Laundry this weekend.

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[8b28cac]

Five other counties in the Bay Area, including the one in which I reside, instituted California's more restrictive rules on Sunday night, even though ICU capacity was - and still is - greater than 15% for this region. I didn't know that San Mateo was holding out until I read this article and the actual statement on San Mateo County's website. Happy to see any public health official admitting that the capricious restrictions are not supported by any data and appreciate that this one is using his office to provide guidance, not mandates.

[Foo_dd]

lock downs and government overreach were always a bad idea. people rebel against them, they breed distrust, they create false senses of security, they remove even the thought of personal responsibility....... you treat people like children and they act like children.

[Rufus The Monocled]

It’s hysteria. And public officials are acting with malice now. It’s evil what’s going on.

[Echospinner]

Most of what people are doing is voluntary and sensible. They are not doing it because the government told them to. Shutting all of these businesses down is a terrible idea.

[Irishman12]

'They are not doing it because the government told them to.'

nonsense; grocery stores are telling me I must wear a filthy diaper over my mouth and nose, and when I ask them why I should do such a nonsensical thing, to a man they all tell me 'because the governor says so...'

[Echospinner]

I said most people. Some people just don’t care.

[Echospinner]

Those people are literally putting their lives at risk to provide you with food. Whether you agree with it or not don’t be a schmuck.

[Echospinner]

At the start nobody knew what they were doing which is understandable. Should have learned by now.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Oh they knew exactly what they were doing: deliberately wrecking a robust economy to help democrats, and getting started on implementing their decades in the making totalitarianism plan called Agenda 21.

[Echospinner]

Be more like Sweden!

Stockholm is reporting that ICU beds are now at 99% capacity.

[Echospinner]

There are 5-7 beds left for the entire region.

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[Truthteller1]

Americans already know this, but it's great this guy is just now figuring it out.

[JoeB]

CA needs small businesses to fail and for schools to remain closed. Small business population votes more Republican. Small business resist property tax law changes. Small businesses allow individuals to compete with larger Democrat-owned corporations. Small business failure is a good excuse to get Federal bailout funds under a Biden administration. Schools cannot be allowed to reopen before changing their mandate from teaching kids to managing systemic racism. Schools cannot be allowed to reopen before teachers' unions are given complete control of all teaching environments in the state, including private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling environments.

[JustaFarmer]

Ah, I see. Symbolically ruining peoples lives but, luckily, none that Newsome knows!
You go to a pandemic with the governor you've got so people should choose wisely which, in this case they, obviously, did not.

[Grooveman]

If the first lock down worked, why are we locking down again? If the first lock down did not work, why are we locking down again?

[videomasti]

Our position is literally “show me the evidence.”

Yet we are labeled conspiracy theorists and murderers..