OPINION:
Have you heard the latest ploy of Democrats in the state of Texas who think they’ve found the workaround to Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order against forced face-masking of public school students?
They put the face mask in the school dress code.
That’s right; the Paris Independent School District put out a press release that said, in part, the “Board of Trustees is concerned about the health and safety of its students and employees” and as such, has “amended the PISD dress code to protect our students and employees.”
This — after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that counties trying to defy Abbott’s executive order were in the wrong.
“Texas State Supreme Court Upholds Texas’ Mask Mandate Ban,” The New York Times wrote in a headline.
So there’s the executive order barring schools from forcing kids to wear face masks.
There’s the state’s highest court ruling in favor of the governor who issued that executive order.
There’s the fact the executive order doesn’t prevent anyone who wants to wear a face mask from wearing a face mask — in school, outside of school, wherever.
But some leftists in some left-leaning school districts are digging in regardless, putting the screws to individual rights, parental authorities and, at this point in time, the rule of both law (meaning: The executive order was lawfully issued) and court (meaning: The judicial system found the executive order was lawful).
You can almost hear the sneer in the crowing words of the Paris school district as board members announce their win.
“Nothing in the Governor’s Executive Order 38 states he has suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code,” the district wrote, “and therefore the Board has elected to amend its dress code consistent with its statutory authority.”
Who died and gave these silly tyrants the crowns of power?
What part of the definition of “choice” do they not understand?
The governor’s executive order, backed by the court, does not ban face masks from being worn. It bans the schools from mandating the wearing of face masks. There’s a big difference there. And the school officials know this. They choose, though, to pretend their face mask mandates are all about health and safety and security, instead of control and power.
They hope to distract from their power quests by turning the conversation on face masks toward the “science” — and by science, it’s meant only the pseudoscience that bolsters their arguments about health and safety and security.
This is getting outright ridiculous.
As a matter of fact, it’s beyond ridiculous.
Democrats and leftists will do whatever it takes to use this coronavirus for control and political advantage, even if it means hunkering in huddles behind closed doors to come up with any creative idea — any ol’ idea will do! — to defy a Republican leader, to rebel against conservative ideology, to put the stop to individualism.
Even if it means fleeing the state to avoid a vote.
Even if it means facing off against angry parents who want their kids to taste liberty, not feel muzzled.
Even if it means pressing for the ousting of governors who do nothing more than protect civil, individual, God-given-not-government-granted freedoms for citizens.
Even if it means being slapped in the face with labels of hypocrisy while face mask-less masses surge across the border and plant their unvaccinated selves in towns near you.
So long as Republicans are stymied — so long as individualism is squashed — so long as groupthink and collectivism is advanced — so long as chaos continues and Democrat political ambitions kept alive — so long as all those wheels are rolled along, leftists feel righteously justified.
It’s not about the face mask.
It’s not about the coronavirus.
It’s about power and control and dominance and control. And by gosh, Democrats will do it dress code by dress code if they have to.
Now if only they could be that tough on the Taliban. Maybe Afghanistan wouldn’t be in such turmoil.
The truth is, Democrats have an easier time attacking American conservatives than they do Taliban terrorists. Why? Cut through the clutter of outraged arguments over that statement and it’s obvious: The Taliban and Democrats, deep down, share a similar lust for power and control. Neither understand individual liberty. Neither grasps the concept of God-given rights, not government-granted.
That’s why leftists in a small Texas school district are jubilant today at what they see as their crowning win over a governor and a court. They’ve stopped liberty in its tracks. Now they’re basking in the glories of their own clever minds.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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