The Court Has Ruled

Mask Mandate Struck Down!

Not so fast. The Center for Disease Control and the Biden administration won’t let their mandate go down without a fight. The Health Freedom Defense Fund, Inc. filed suit in the Middle Florida Federal court claiming the federal mask mandate issued by the CDC to be unlawful. Judge Kathern Mizelle agreed ruling the policy exceeded the CDC’s authority. The reaction was immediate. Airline passengers celebrated as airlines began lifting mask requirements for the flying public. Dr. Fauci thought it unbelievable that a federal court should question his authority, and the Biden administration vowed to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court if necessary. The national media responded like school yard bullies by throwing verbal rocks at the judge.

The liberal media had two objections to the ruling. First many progressive journalists, including an editorial in Sunday’s Spokesman Review, offered the opinion that no judge should have the authority to overturn a policy pertaining to public health. I interpret this to mean that no judge should strike down anything the columnists disagree with. Gun control is a case in point. Judges who feel the Constitution means what is says in the second amendment are generally lambasted by the left leaning press. I seem to remember being taught in high school civics class that our court system was designed to make sure everyone, including federal agencies work within the Constitution. The major objection to Judge Mizelle’s ruling, however, is that she is a Trump appointee. I Googled, “Mask mandate struck down”, and came up with several pages of articles. There were eight on the first page that referred to Judge Mizelle; all eight had “Trump Appointee” as part of her title. Get over it. Trump appointed her, but he has no impact on how she rules.

A brief soundbite on the six o’clock news the other night quoted survey results claiming 55% of all Americans wanted the mask mandate to remain in effect, 25% wanted it lifted and the remaining 20% could care less one way or the other. I find that data hard to believe. No details were provided about who or when the survey was conducted. The news did, however, show several airports celebrating the ruling making wearing of masks optional. I didn’t see any passengers wearing masks. If 55% of all Americans were in favor of the mask mandate, why weren’t at least half the public wearing masks?

I realize it approaches blasphemy to question the official rhetoric that masks were-are essential to get us through the pandemic, but I just haven’t seen any proof. We live close to the state line and frequently shop in Idaho where wearing masks was always optional. The infection rates on either side of the border were essentially the same. My wife and I are Mariners fans and watch almost all of their televised games. The coaches and players in the dugout wore masks for all home games as did the fans who were not actively eating hot dogs or drinking beer. It was the same for most away games, but I did notice that no masks were worn in Texas. Again, the rate of infection was not significantly different. I still wonder how eating or drinking made us immune to the virus. I went to a live play this week where face coverings were strictly enforced unless actively partaking of something from the concession stand. I suffer from spring time allergies, but I still complied despite my nose dripping into my mask. Yuck! The Smart theater goers, however, bought a bottle of water.

Biden’s nation-wide mandate was due to expire this week anyway, but he intends to proceed with his appeal of the court ruling. The administration spokesperson said the ruling jeopardizes CDC management of future pandemics. As bad as they have mismanaged this one, I don’t see how Judge Mizelle’s ruling will hurt.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free-lance columnist for over 20 years.