Live At Your Own Discretion…
People have such a unique ability to achieve comfort in even the most f*cked situations. The last year has been nothing but proof of that. Our government has demanded and imposed restriction after restriction, mandate after mandate, in an ironic attempt to save the people that comprise the land of the free. The restrictions imposed on us by the pandemic were never intended to be permanent. In fact, we are now celebrating our one year anniversary with the mask mandates that were originally supposed two last a few weeks and “flatten the curve”. Even though we’ve been in this relationship with our masks for about a year now, it’s just not working. It feels like it’s time to have that awkward, “we need to talk” discussion. It’s no secret that break-ups are never easy, but in regard to breaking up with mask mandates, I think we can all take a lesson from the playbooks of the governors of Texas and Mississippi.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) of Texas had had enough of these bizarre and inordinately lengthy mask mandates. And on the morning of March 2, 2021, he ripped the proverbial band aid off of his state and informed the people of Texas that they could once again open mouth kiss one another, eat BBQ, and sing “Amarillo By Morning” in the same establishment without the restriction of a mask. That very same day, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) of Mississippi said, “God Bless Texas” and followed suit with his fellow republican governor. However, these decisions did not occur without severe backlash.
The left side of our media threw these two governors under the bus faster than you can say “hysteria”. The fingers were being pointed and the accusations flew. But for what reason? The rates of new COVID cases in both states have dropped since the spike that occurred in the late months of 2020. And let’s be honest, most of the southerners in the US put up a stiff middle finger toward mask mandates a long time ago. So, before Gov. Abbott and Gov. Reeves are drug off to the gallows for letting the residents of their states get trashed in an Applebee’s together just as God himself intended, let’s remember that neither of these governors have abolished or criminalized masks. If someone feels the need to mask up in Texas or Mississippi, then that option is still on the table for them.
It turns out that in the land of the free, the presence of freedom has become divisive. The representatives from Texas and Mississippi aren’t doing anything that is deserving of controversy. All they have done is put some of the decision making abilities back into the hands of the people that rightfully deserve them. The government is in place to serve the people, not live their lives for them. Regardless of which of the fifty states you find yourself blessed to be living in, go ahead and live at your own discretion.
