by Kerry Dougherty
Hang in there’re kids. Just eight more school days until you can see the smiles of your classmates again and breathe freely.
On Tuesday, the Virginia State Senate approved Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s emergency clause to the mask-optional bill that will make the law go live on March 1.
Three Democrats joined the GOP in approving the governor’s request: state Senators Chap Petersen, Joe Morrissey and Lynwood Lewis. Well done, gents.
All that remains for the measure to become law is for the House of Delegates to vote. It will easily pass the House with its GOP majority.
Remember, kids. It’s Democrats who want you to keep wearing masks indefinitely. They know that cloth masks don’t stop viruses. They do not care. Masks are a sign of obedience. They want to get you accustomed to authoritarian government measures while you’re young.
Stay strong.
Shoot, it’s the ultra-left wing ACLU of Virginia that filed papers in federal court to effectively keep you in face diapers forever, to protect your immunocompromised classmates. You know where this is headed, COVID or seasonal flu, it would make no difference. Mask up!
Pray this outlandish legal quest is dismissed quickly.
With student mask mandates disappearing around the country, it’s time to turn our attention to the skies.
In one of his first ridiculous acts as president, Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring masks for everyone ages 2 and up on planes, trains, buses and ferries.
No legislature has ever voted on this. It is one man’s edict. A man with a history of atrocious decisions and declining mental faculties.
While Biden’s order is widely ignored on buses and subways it is strictly enforced on commercial aircraft, which have some of the most high-tech air purifying systems in the world.
Guess what happened as a result of Biden’s order? Reports of unruly passengers soared. In fact, CNN reports that 2021 saw a record number of incidents involving out-of-control air travelers with a total of 5,981. Of those, 4,290 or 72% were mask-related.
Some of those reports involved tots. Anyone who’s ever had a two-year-old can imagine how hard it would be to keep a mask on someone that young. But airlines will toss families off an aircraft for an uncooperative toddler.
Look, air travel has been unpleasant for decades. Airlines shrank seat size, reduced leg room, downsized “meals” to microscopic bags of pretzels, and began charging for “extras” like assigned seats and any bag bigger than a toaster.
Putting up with these indignities while wearing a mask — or worse, trying to keep one on a toddler — was the breaking point for some.
The federal transportation mask mandate has been extended three times and is set to expire in a little more than four weeks, on March 18.
Let it die, President Biden. Make flying fun again. Or simply less awful.
