Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Northam Orders Masks on Faces of Virginia Students

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by

James A. Bacon
in , , ,

by Kerry Dougherty

They say an advertisement is successful if you can recall the name of the product long after you’ve seen the ad.

If that’s true, the 2013 Staples Back-To-School spot has to be one of the greats. I thought it was hilarious when I saw it eight years ago and I think of it every year around this time.

See for yourself:

Unfortunately, after yesterday’s edict by Gov. Ralph Northam, there will be lots of long faces on students in the coming weeks – although we won’t be able to see them – as Virginia’s school children trudge back to class wearing face masks.

Again.

This is NOT what the governor promised just a few weeks ago when he pledged that decisions about masks and other measures would be left up to the local school boards.

By this week, several cities and counties — including Chesapeake — had already voted to make masks optional.

Clearly, once Northam got a taste of one-man rule it was hard to let it go. He was not happy that some school divisions were prepared to let parents decide if their offspring should wear masks.

So he pretended that SB1303, a new law that was intended to get schools open five days a week, gave him no choice but to issue a sweeping mask mandate for all kids, grades K-12.

The authors of the bipartisan bill were furious.

A scathing joint statement by the law’s co-patrons, Democratic State Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, and Republican State Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, a physician , was published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch and clarified the intent of their law:

State Sens. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, and Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, issued a statement taking issue with the “characterization” of Senate Bill 1303, which they co-sponsored, as a mask mandate.

“His unpredictable and erratic decrees have created conflict and anxiety where school boards had mostly worked out the best approach for their communities,” Dunnavant stated, referring to Northam.

“CDC guidance changes frequently and parents and schools are perfectly capable of following and adapting without threats and reversals by the Governor.”

“The entire purpose of the bill was to give local School Boards flexibility in adopting mitigation strategies,” Petersen added. “This simply compounds the culture of Executive overreach which dates back to March 2020, when the Governor ordered the schools to close in violation of the State Constitution.”

Take that, Northam. From a fellow Dem.

The most galling part of Northam’s statewide mandate is that many teens and their teachers are vaccinated. Masks make no sense for them.

Those teenagers who dutifully ran out and got vaccinated, hoping for some semblance of a normal school year, just got played.

On the upside, they learned a valuable lesson: Never trust a politician. Especially a Democrat.

This column has been republished with permission from Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.

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43 responses to “Northam Orders Masks on Faces of Virginia Students”

  1. Publius Avatar
    Publius

    Civil disobedience time.
    Don’t wear the face diaper.
    That’s milder than tar and feathers…

    1. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      You’ve got it.

      It’s on.

      As I wrote yesterday, the January 6th uprising at the Capitol will be seen (in future years) like John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. An early indication of what’s to come.

      I don’t support violence but I can see which way the wind is blowing.

      Arm yourself.

    2. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      Just a few days ago Kaiser Family Foundation issued an extensive poll. Did the poll trigger this action by the Guv? It shows the clear partisan divide you’d expect, but the key was the “independent” voters who favor masks in school by 2 to 1. In an election year, that is a big deal. Once again, the Republicans are digging in with a river to their back. Brilliant.

      https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-parents-and-the-pandemic/?utm_campaign=KFF-2021-polling-surveys&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ggHe6zke5wo-uUPWyJLZJISvgPqdTbVzqZ2DXG9Fcrdrd1_XhpKWgwceicb4bQscoEQHOmSaqIAV5HvwF5JyHr1D8Bw&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        I’m gonna guess this had more to do with it.

        “It is scary, especially for kids who don’t fully understand what’s going on. They’re air hungry, struggling for breath, and it’s just scary,” said Dr. Kelechi Iheagwara, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at the Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana”

        Somebody explain to Kerry that the feeling of suffocation from a mask is nothing compared to the real thing. If ever someone needed water boarding…

        1. Publius Avatar
          Publius

          To quote the great Dr. St. Fau(x)ci – that’s merely anecdotal…
          I bet dying isn’t fun for anybody. My business partner’s very old parents recently died and the slide started with Covid. One thing led to another, but they did not die of Covid or with Covid…but it did hasten the exit.
          Kids don’t die from Covid. RSV is currently going around. If a kid dies from Covid, there have been LESS THAN 500 in 18 months, it is extremely rare – 500/4.2 million is less than seasonal flu.
          Meanwhile, the masks don’t work. Maybe an N95, properly done, etc, has some utility. But the cloth masks do not prevent viral spread – wear a cloth mask and blow out a candle – and they have counterproductive effects, besides lots of social and socialization issues…
          The cloth masks can have some useful effect in certain circumstances and properly used – operating rooms for instance. But this is child abuse.
          Seriously, do you prefer tyranny? I know Northam is your team, but…at some point your team will come for you if you don’t check the abuses. This should be an easy one.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I’ll believe the CDC before I believe you or folks like you simply because I don’t think you have the background to know.

            THe CDC is not one person, like Fauci. It’s a large group of scientists including non- government scientists who do have more background and knowledge in the field.

            You guys simply do not know. I doubt seriously if you have even rudimentary knowledge of epidemiology, but even if you did, I’d not believe you alone – I’d want to see if other scientists with comparable background and knowledge concured.

            .

          2. Publius Avatar
            Publius

            You know there are studies showing the ineffectiveness of the masks?
            A suppressed Danish one first, and then one with Marines. The masked, social distant group had higher prevalence. It’s a virus. Viruses virus. It’s what they do. So I don’t have to be a weatherman to know somebody’s pi$$ing on my leg. And, let’s ignore the science and talk on a macro level, I do not consent to being ruled by nameless, faceless, bureaucratic hacks. I don’t even like the ones in office! But at least they were elected…somehow.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Yes but again, not just one or two or even more studies but all of them considered by experts with requisite backgrounds.

            That’s how “guidance” is done.

            You basically have little or no actual academic background and you’re picking and choosing what to believe based on what you want to believe.

            I’ll take the advice of large group of appropriately credentialed professionals who are looking at ALL the studies and giving their considered view.

            I’m not into conspiracy theories, anti-govt thinking or the like.

            I prefer governance that relies on appropriately educated people to provide guidance that then is then adopted and can change and evolve as the science does.

            To not do that is just Alice in Wonderland… wacadoodle world.

          4. kls Avatar
            kls

            I want the experts to tell us WHICH mask! THE VT expert states a very specific kind of mask is needed…… which VERY FEW people buy and wear. Not all masks are created equal. Science is specific — our political hacks need to be as well.

          5. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I was looking at the CDC words on masks and they are not near as specific as one might like. I too would like to see a Consumers Reports style of guidance.

            And I though these visors might have some utility depending on the style and whether in combination with a mask but no love there either.

            Finally, if some research group, an authoritative one with appropriate credentials, produced more specificity and perhaps rankings… I’d pay attention to it and put even more stock in it if other researchers replicated .

            If the schools are going to have to use them, I’d favor the schools actually buying ones that are certified for kids and pass them out , give them out for free. If parents wanted different ones so be it.

          6. kls Avatar
            kls

            Fauci wrote back in 2020 on Feb. 5, “The typical mask you buy in the
            drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small
            enough to pass through the material.”

          7. Publius Avatar
            Publius

            And when they come for you Larry, you’ll be wondering why…
            SCIENCE! is a process, not a religion, and your high priests of worthless government agencies are not scientists – they are bureaucrats who want to keep getting paid. Produce some science rather than an edict from the government. Maybe they are lying? Maybe they are wrong? You know they are continuing to revise the Indian study they relied on? Clown show.
            Are you masked currently? Your breaths could be escaping into the atmosphere. Murderer! You don’t care about people!

          8. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            The only ones coming for me that I really worry about are the ignorati who unfortunately are running amok these days!

            I’ll take Science ANY DAY over what-about-ism..

            I do not , never did, think that Science is infallible or absolute and yes, they change their views/guidance as more evidence is gathered because that is essentially fundamental to science.

            And I think this way no matter the field of science. I don’t have different views depending on whether it’s epidemiology, or cancer, or DNA or climate.

          9. kls Avatar
            kls

            Fauci wrote back in a Feb. 5, 2020 message. “The typical mask you buy in the
            drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small
            enough to pass through the material.”

          10. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            he did. one guy. what do the majority of others say and did all the others influence the CDC guidance?

            put another way – is CDC guidance based solely on what Fauci tells them?

            So.. we reject CDC guidance because Fauci “lied”?

            Do you think Fauci (and others) MIGHT have changed their views as more data and evidence became available?

            You guys KILL me!

        2. Stephen Haner Avatar
          Stephen Haner

          No, I’m going with the politics…You are smart enough to know how little use these masks really are.

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            It is certain to do two things. Reduce the viral load, and the aerosol life time of the virus. They did find early that paper, cloth too, I would guess, kills the virus quickly. Sucks it dry.

            Turns out all of the early freak out over mail and delivered packages was debunked back in April 2020 at the “shove a UV light up your…” presser.

          2. kls Avatar
            kls

            I’m just glad C-19 droplets don’t move around in the cafeteria or at the student’s desks while eating and drinking

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            You can take you mask off while playing your guitar too.

            Hell, I know I’m not completely, or even nearly, correct, but this path is paved with fewer kids.

          4. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            A huge number of public health scientists and epidemiologists and health care professionals believe that masks CAN HELP – and then others without such background just conclude they do not?

            If masks don’t really work would you mind if the folks that operated on you didn’t wear them?

          5. Stephen Haner Avatar
            Stephen Haner

            They wear real ones and properly fitted. But they are for bacteria, not viruses. I want those people AWAY from me if they have a virus.

          6. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Isn’t the reality that it’s not a binary thing and that depending on the mask , how it’ worn, how long it’s worn, etc… that there can be SOME mitigation even if not 100%

            re: ” for bacteria, not viruses. I want those people AWAY from me if they have a virus.”

            and if folks with viruses are out and about and around you – and you don’t know?

            I just think the masks are prudent even if they are not bullet-proof or even if we don’t know with real precision their effectiveness.

            It’s sorta like when someone sneezes, whether turning away really is better than not… or washing your hands for 30 seconds is better than a quick rinse… etc…

            If you DON’T know for sure, isn’t a safe but sorry approach a more prudent approach?

            I wear a mask in a meeting even though I’m vaccinated because I know others might not know for sure and have concerns and it’s not a political thing at all, more like not coughing or sneezing without covering face, etc.. respect for others.

      2. Matt Adams Avatar
        Matt Adams

        Since none of the Gov’s actions were triggered by empirical data to this point, I highly doubt he’s turned over a new leaf.

      3. Publius Avatar
        Publius

        I’d be curious about the poll innards particularly. Not a believer in polls. I am tired of the top down. If Henrico School Board says mask up, I know who to complain to… We have to put the genie back in the bottle of rule by decree!

  2. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Congress passes Child Tax Credits lifting children out of poverty.

    Kerry wants to put ’em back.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kids-sick-covid-are-filling-children-s-hospitals-areas-seeing-n1276238

  3. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Clearly, Northam went from local decision to statewide mandate and clearly and fully expected, reactions are largely partisan with the GOP thinking it’s a winning campaign issue for them even though poll numbers show only their base is really with them.

    I’m not sure for any given school system – once they reject CDC guidance, how they then will then go forward with subsequent decisions. Seems like if they actually came up with their own, even arbitrary criteria and plan that would at least show they, and parents would then have some idea of how things would proceed, good, bad or ugly as events transpired.

    Instead, it feels like a totally Ad Hoc approach that is preferred – that’s they’ll decide as they go along based on however they think at that time and what science or public health guidance they use or not, on a per vote basis – as opposed to some general path they would follow.

    I think that’s what forced Northam’s action and yes it’s right into the political fire but I think the GOP may be wrong to think it will benefit them politically and I think Chap Peterson himself might be on shaky ground given the political leanings of many his constituents. It’s more playing footsie with the GOP than it is really bipartisan in my view.

    I truly don’t think many Dems and most independents see this as a political issue – they just believe in institutions like the CDC for guidance and they want some constancy in governance beyond Ad Hoc decision-making.

    THe GOP on the other hand is all in on this from a political perspective and playing it for all it’s worth.

    It will please their base, but I don’t think it’s going to win them independent votes.

    1. tmtfairfax Avatar
      tmtfairfax

      What about Roe v Wade? Why should a parent with a fully vaccinated child be obligated by the force of law to mask his child? I have no problem with people deciding to do this. I would probably mask my kids as a precaution. But, damn it all, what about constitutional rights to make health care decisions without the interference from the government?

      1. Stephen Haner Avatar
        Stephen Haner

        Wearing a mask is a clothing decision! Not meaning to be flippant, but I do think the vaccine issue is more relevant to that point, not masks.

        1. tmtfairfax Avatar
          tmtfairfax

          Respectfully disagree.

      2. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        wait. You oppose requiring disclosure of whether you’re vaccinated or not, but then you ALSO oppose a mask requirement because they are not allowed to know your vaccination status?

        Catch 22 ?

        Isn’t this a problem when SOME vehemently opposed the idea of disclosing vaccination status AND others oppose universal masking as a response to not being able to know vaccination status?

        1. tmtfairfax Avatar
          tmtfairfax

          HIPAA protections are still there. I don’t know what HIPAA permits in terms of disclosure of health care records to employers. If disclosure is permitted, then disclose. If not, any mandatory disclosure violates the law.

          And Roe v. Wade and its progeny protect the right of a person to make most health care decisions without interference from the state.

          Just follow the law.

    2. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      Weren’t you the guy lauding Coonman for allowing the individual school boards to make their own decisions about in-person education? How is it now a good idea to issue a statewide mandate?

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        I was and not a fan of statewide mandates – GOP or Dem.

        Northam felt like he got pushed to that point and had to do it even though he knows full well the political consequences.

        He thought (wrongly) that if he suggested that schools follow CDC guidance, each school would figure out their preferred way but when some decided to NOT follow CDC guidance, it became a question of how they would decide policy if not listening to CDC.

        It’s a no win for Northam and it could cost Dems politically but I’m not convinced it will cost the Dems in their traditional strongholds… just the typical GOP counties.

        But yes, I like delegating to locals.

        THe government closest to the people, etc.

        1. WayneS Avatar
          WayneS

          Northam felt like he got pushed to that point…

          The poor little guy. If only all those bullies would stop picking on him…

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            perhaps. but he’s pretty much history come November … OBE…

            Youngkin can promise to “undo”.

  4. killerhertz Avatar
    killerhertz

    I hope he gets into a fatal car crash.

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Wow. Not cool.

      I despise the man but I don’t wish him dead.

  5. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    I turned down a 7th grade teaching job across the street at Warrenton Middle. I did not even apply for the job. Somehow the boss across the street knew I was a retired school teacher. He did make a good sales pitch along the lines of helping the community. I told the principal I anticipated a state mask order and the future is certain for another lock up. I found wearing a mask all day long is just too hard. I was right! Taking that job would have been a 35K pay cut too. There are still 67 unfilled teaching positions in Fauquier as we roll into week 2 of in person learning. Most who have been hired are going to provisionally licensed.

    I had a thought about that 7th grade job. Those seventh graders have not had an uninterrupted school year since the 4th grade. The damage that was been done is staggering.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      Just FYI and you may already know this , and I don’t know your age, but if you are receiving Social Security benefits and go back to work, even just part-time – they may well tax some of your social security benefits and if the part-time job does not collect FICA, you may end up owing.

      I have a friend who did what you were contemplating , retired from teaching, moved, signed up part-time at local school, made a few extra bucks and didn’t know until tax time that he owed 10K.

      maybe you already know this.

      1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
        James Wyatt Whitehead

        Mr. Larry. Today is my birthday. But I am only 51. Working at the Bowman Center over in your neck of the woods. Mr. Larry between the teacher pension, which is small, and my new salary. I will crack 6 figures for the first time ever. If you had told me that 30 years ago when I finished college I wouldn’t believe it.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          Happy Birthday James. You must
          have started teaching really young!

          May I ask what kind of work at Bowman?

          I used to be over that way when I was doing food pantry work.

          1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
            James Wyatt Whitehead

            Thank you Mr. Larry. Managing a lighting warehouse old school style. No computers or bar codes. Interesting work. Receive goods and then ship them back out. Day rolls fast and the Flintstone whistle blows at 4. I all the way down by the smokestack at Bowman. The trains still deliver freight by rail here. Pretty neat watching the engine back in a number box cars the other day. Old boxcars too! Still had Southern Railways markings painted on the outside.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            That used to be the Sylvania Cellophane Plant (Avisco) – THE major employer in Fburg back in the day – I’m sure you know this.

            My first father-in-law worked there his whole life.

            They had trains, barges and trucks!

            A man of history is a good match for trains!

            😉

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