by Kerry Dougherty
Ever wonder what would happen if feminists, man buns and smoked salmon socialists crafted federal policy?
You’d get moronic rules like this one from the Biden administration:
One of Joe’s latest executive orders requires all commercial fishermen to wear face masks – including while asleep in their cramped berths – and the Coast Guard is charged with enforcing the regulation.
The U.S. Coast Guard is requiring masks be worn on commercial fishing boats and other vessels as part of President Joe Biden’s executive orders mandating face coverings on federally regulated transportation vehicles, reports Herald Mail Media.
Biden’s national mask mandates also apply to airports, airplanes, transit and railroad stations and aim to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Now, they are also going to be enforced on watermen and those working on fishing boats, according to the Coast Guard.
I first became aware of this latest bizarre example of Biden’s bedrock belief in the magical powers of masks from a caller to the “Kerry and Mike Show.” This disgusted scallop fisherman said he was thinking about what it would be like to have a soggy mask frozen to his face while plying icy waters in order to satisfy the epicurean tastes of Biden’s army of idiots.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.-1st, said mandating the mask on watermen and fishermen working outdoors is burdensome, goes against the science of how and where COVID is spread and could require masks to be worn at all times on boats — including while sleeping.
Harris — who represents the Eastern Shore and areas north of Baltimore — also does not want the Coast Guard being made into the “mask police.”
“While appropriate on some modes of transportation where social distancing with strangers cannot be maintained, this mandate is overly broad and leading to unforeseen frustration. The Coast Guard has issued guidance that all commercial fishing vessel occupants will be required to wear masks, and that they will enforce this mandate,” Harris said in a statement.
“Our watermen are completely outdoors, often numbering no more than three per vessel, and have been working together without interruption since the beginning of this pandemic – they are at extremely low-risk by the nature of their work.
I urge the CDC to come forward and clarify that this mandate, which includes while sleeping onboard, lacks legitimate scientific backing for small craft fishing vessels with minimal persons working onboard in an outdoor environment. Rather than being the Biden mask police for a low-transmission industry, the Coast Guard should be spending their valuable time doing their core duties, especially drug enforcement,” said Harris.
Like any good lawyer, my radio co-host Mike Imprevento immediately thought of the juicy lawsuits this order would spawn. He wondered if Biden and his squad of impractical eggheads had heard of the Jones Act?
Officially known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, this federal law protects those who go to sea, giving them broad latitude to collect damages from their employers when they’re injured on the job.
“Wait till the first fisherman slips and falls on a mask,” Imprevento predicted, shaking his head.
I hesitate to point this out to Washington’s latest crop of desk jockeys who have never worked with their hands, but commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country.
Fishermen have a fatality rate that is 23 times higher than any other profession. Many refuse to wear life vests while fishing on the high seas because protective equipment interferes with their mobility.
Do Biden’s boys and girls really think these weather-beaten fishermen will comply with this latest arbitrary mask order?
A better question might be, will the Coast Guard really waste its time boarding fishing vessels in search of barefaced fishermen?
This column was published with permission from Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.
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