OPINION:
President Biden told America on the campaign trail, in the early days of his administration and over the course of his first 100 days in the White House that on the coronavirus, he would follow the science and issue executive guidance based solely on the science.
He lied.
He meant he would select which science to follow, which science to ignore.
On face masks, for instance, Biden has disregarded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that says face masks aren’t necessary outdoors for those who’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s not exactly earth-shattering news; common sense says that it’s ridiculous to wear face masks outdoors when nobody is around anyway. But now America has the CDC stamp of approval to take off the mask after vaccination, while outdoors, and even while around others who’ve been similarly vaccinated.
Thanks, CDC. America is so grateful for the permission slip. (Insert snarky expression here.)
But for those who’ve been hanging on the CDC’s every last word waiting for the latest scientific advisement, this “allowance” comes as good news. Because after all, as Biden has been saying for some time, on the coronavirus, it’s the science that counts, it’s the science that matters, and when it comes to the science, it’s the CDC that knows best.
“Once Biden and [Kamala] Harris are in office,” Nature reported in November of 2020, “the CDC will be in charge of announcing recommendations for when it is safe to open or close restaurants, schools and businesses.”
And from Politico, that same month: “Biden to spotlight CDC officials shunned by [President Donald] Trump.” The story went on to state how Biden was preparing to put “scientists in charge and back on the stage to restore trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
In February, it was this: “Biden Says CDC Guidance on Reopening Schools Is Solid Science,” Reuters wrote.
But in April, it was this: A vaccinated Biden opts to wear his face mask in public, outdoors, even while socially distanced.
Selective science.
Selectively selected science that the American people, ostensibly, are not supposed to notice. Or question.
“You know, we do take some extra precautions for [Biden] because he is the president of the United States,” said senior Biden adviser Anita Dunn, on CNN’s “State of the Union” when questioned about the president’s failure to follow the CDC’s newly released mask guidance. “I think the president takes the CDC guidelines very seriously, and he’s always taken his role as sending a signal to follow the science very seriously as well.”
Not true.
That’s a lie.
Biden follows the science when he wants to follow the science, and he follows the science he wants to follow — not the science that counters his personal view, his personal agenda, his political ambition.
Biden wears a face mask because he wants to push onto America that doing so is patriotic.
He campaigned on the notion of making face masks mandatory for all Americans — until someone obviously whispered in his ear that America has this thing called the Constitution that might not allow him to blithely order everyone to cover their faces. So he changed the message a bit.
Biden then campaigned on having everyone in America wear face masks for 100 days.
The CDC changed its guidance. Biden didn’t. Biden changed his messaging.
“It’s a patriotic responsibility, for God’s sake,” for Americans to continue to wear face masks, he just said in a “Today” show interview.
That’s a strange view of patriotism — almost as strange as Biden’s view of science. Think about it.
What Biden is saying is that good American citizens obey — even when facts, even when logic, even when common sense tell that the thing to obey is ridiculous.
America is a nation built on a concept of rights coming from God, not government. America is a nation of individualists — not collectivists; of free thinkers — not blind sheep.
That means patriotism is rooted in the right of the individual to choose — not the power of the government to rule.
If Biden wants to wear a face mask forever, he can. He’s a U.S. citizen, vested with the individual right to choose.
But we the people simply want the same choice. And that right there is true patriotism, the American way.
• 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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