TV news and the internet have been full of a video featuring restaurant owner Angela Marsden. She’s the owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill. In this video, Marsden is frustrated to the point of tears and she is questioning the lockdown policy.
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It is gut-wrenching because there are so many businesses in the same position.
Her business is closed while 50 feet away a production catering set-up for a Hollywood shoot has been built. Same business, same facilities, one forced to close the other open and authorized. Does covid know it is only allowed at one of these facilities? Really? Fair is fair, right?
How does such government action make sense to anyone as anything other than simple political repression? It is obvious there is no reasoning going on here. There isn’t even a pretense of any attempt at using reason. This is about power and control. They got it… We don’t.
Marsden says, “Everything I own is being taken away from me, and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio.” L.A. is rubbing it in her face publicly. She goes on to add that she has spent approximately $80,000 complying with Los Angeles County requirements. Yet, it is all only to see her business shut down completely. When her money runs out: she’s broke, the business closes, she’s out of work and in debt. All for what?
There is no scientific information justifying Los Angeles County’s outdoor dining shutdown. In a Board of Supervisors meeting, a community member asked the county health officer, Dr. Muntu Davis, about the evidence to support such a ban. Muntu provided no such evidence. Why not? Well, likely because there is none.
What is going on here? Responsible people who want to run their businesses in a safe and secure fashion are being targeted. The targeting is being done by a political class. Their incentive is the pursuit of tyranny rather than rational policy. It is the exercise of power and control. They are forcing compliance with the police power of the government. And they are doing it from L.A. to N.Y.C.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is one of the mayors who told police to stand down as rioters tore through his city during a pandemic. He had the balls to say his “heart goes out to Ms. Marsden.” That is standing and looking in your eye and lying through his teeth. Understand it for what it is… hypocritical bull sheet.
Garcetti hit the talking point. “We must stop this virus before it kills thousands of more Angelenos.” Wonderful but then riddle me this Batman: Why, if outdoor dining was so dangerous, is Hollywood still allowed to engage in it? The answer is the law is for thee but not for me… and that dog don’t hunt.
Throughout the pandemic, one set of rules has applied to America’s most ardent lockdown advocates. There is a whole different set of rules applied to everyone else. We know Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted to ban outdoor dining. Then she immediately went to an outdoor restaurant later that same evening. Do as I say not as I do.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is currently locking down some 33 million residents. However, he had no problem eating indoors with political donors at the French Laundry restaurant. Mayor London Breed of San Francisco ate at that same posh restaurant the next day. These Democrats are not with the people. They are with power, control, and Big Tech/Big Money. It is time to grasp what we are looking at.
Just so we are clear, this isn’t happening only in California. Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler told his constituents to “stay home… if you can” in a Facebook video. The video was filmed from his vacation timeshare in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He had traveled there with seven others after a wedding in Austin. Surely all necessary safety precautions were observed… you believe that… don’t you?
And then there’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago. She got her hair cut and called it an “essential” business activity. She was apparently taking an afternoon off from promoting lockdowns. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo not to be outdone told everybody to stay home for Thanksgiving. Then announced he would be getting together with his daughters and his 89-year-old mother. Oopsie, time to reverse himself…what his actions turned out to be remain unknown.
Our intellectual and moral betters. Our politicians and the media are free to make their own rational calculations on covid risk. The rest of us must be locked in our homes until further notice. This is complete incontrovertible crap. These political actors keep suggesting we must act out of an abundance of caution. They are lying. What they mean is they ought to enjoy abundance while benefiting from our fear.
You and your family are capable of making the same decisions Cuomo, Garcetti, Newsom, Lightfoot, and Adler do. You should be careful. You should engage in social distancing. Maybe you mask up when in close proximity with others. It is good advice to avoid social gatherings involving those with preexisting conditions. But you can do all of these things and still live in a free society. Yes, that is possible.
Our politicians don’t believe that. Can you hear me Excellency? Our politicians have seen how easily many Americans were willing to indefinitely suspend their freedoms. They trust you. They act out of trust in your authority.
But know this, until the incentive structures change, our freedoms will continue to be throttled. The suppression of our freedoms is being done by people who have no problem exercising their own. Whether or not you are a covid skeptic you are likely beginning to question whether the enthusiastic authoritarian streak revealed by our politicians can be; will be curbed.
The longer we tolerate these behaviors the more our politicians normalize their power grabs. Just think about it. A lot of people died protecting our freedoms. When leadership forgets that… do they really deserve to retain their position of leadership? We were born with our rights. Government did not give them to us. Government exists to protect our rights… and right now it isn’t doing a very good job.