1 Week After Boarding Crowded Plane to Flee State Unmasked, Texas Dem Calls for Return of Mandates
Over a year after the outbreak of COVID-19, Democrats are still showing their preference for governing with a “rules for thee, but not for me” attitude.
A Democratic Texas state representative, Donna Howard, recently tweeted a message in support of universal mask mandates. Howard represents Texas’ 48th state House district, which covers a portion of the city of Austin, according to the Texas Redistricting website.
Howard provided her comments in retweeting a post from Austin’s NPR station Twitter account reporting that as part of its new guidelines for schools, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that staff and children older than 2 should wear face masks — even if they have received a COVID-19 vaccination.
Howard wrote, “We need to follow the science here. Texas needs to change course and allow for universal mask-wearing to prevent spread of the highly contagious delta variant, esp as children under 12 cannot get vaccinated yet.”
We need to follow the science here. Texas needs to change course and allow for universal mask-wearing to prevent spread of the highly contagious delta variant, esp as children under 12 cannot get vaccinated yet. #txlege @AmerAcadPeds https://t.co/szexnJ4yl3
— Donna Howard (@DonnaHowardTX) July 21, 2021
It was not too long ago that Democratic lawmakers from Texas left for Washington, D.C., in order to break quorum, essentially halting the voting bill put forth by Texas Republicans, according to NBCDFW.
The Democrats fled a special legislative session that was called in order to pass the new voting legislation, The Texas Tribune reported. Since then, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has said that the lawmakers will be arrested and brought back to the Capitol to resume business, once they are back in Texas.
Photos shared on social media showed none of the Texas Democratic legislators wearing masks and all of them being within close proximity to one another.
ON PLANE TO DC: Texas Democratic lawmakers are leaving state to break quorum to stop Republican voting bill. Veteran Capitol observers say this is unchartered territory. Photo from Democrat on the plane. https://t.co/YOuOMb0A2m pic.twitter.com/abWoARvFIC
— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) July 12, 2021
But Kassy Dillon, the founder of Lone Conservative, was quick to point out the hypocrisy of Howard encouraging a mask mandate.
Isn’t this you? https://t.co/23nhZnbqUN pic.twitter.com/t3s9LPrStW
— Kassy Dillon (@KassyDillon) July 21, 2021
The photo does seem to show Howard near fellow Democrats, none of whom are “socially distancing” and none of whom are wearing masks.
In fact, the photo itself was even posted by fellow Democratic state Rep. Julie Johnson a little more than a week ago.
When it comes to protecting our right to vote, all cards are on the table. We broke #quorum again today because the Gov & #txlege Repubs chose to bully Texans out of our constitutional rights instead of finding solutions to problems that really exist. #SuppressionSession #DemsOut https://t.co/muMdHLSy9F pic.twitter.com/9UbJnB8ehW
— Julie Johnson (@juliejohnsonTX) July 12, 2021
Democrats love blaming COVID cases on conservatives. Search any opinion column from a left-leaning news site and you will find an abundance of articles explaining how the right-wing politicians and media figures are to blame for putting the entire country at risk, as one MSNBC article put it.
The fact of the matter is that the left has zero credibility when it comes to telling people how they should protect themselves from COVID. There is simply an abundance of evidence showing off the left’s hypocrisy when it comes to COVID guidelines.
The most glaring bit of evidence in this case is the fact that six fully vaccinated Texas Democrats who fled Texas tested positive for the virus after their flight. While these lawmakers shout phrases like “trust the science” and “masks save lives,” they never seem to lead by example.
So what is it for Howard and these other politicians? Are they suggesting this guidance only now that some of “their own” have COVID, or is it that they want to put more restrictions on the populace while they do whatever they please?
If you’ve followed the news even scarcely over the past year and a half, you know the answer.
[firefly_poll]
Throughout the entire pandemic, Democrats have been skirting their own COVID guidelines, whether it was California Gov. Gavin Newsom enjoying a multi-household gathering at an upscale restaurant, or Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi getting their hair done against guidelines, or Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam not wearing a mask at the beach.
Or, to add just one more to the mix, I should note that I have had the “pleasure” of living in Michigan the past couple of years. Don’t even get me started on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Let’s go down the “rule for thee, but not for me” checklist.
Force nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients, thereby causing more deaths? Check.
Your husband tries to use his proximity to authority to get his boat into the water before others? Check.
Break your own guidance over how many people are allowed to gather in restaurants? Check.
Discourage out-of-state travel then travel out of state? Check.
All this to say, some of us have been living with this blatant hypocrisy for quite some time now, and it is no surprise that yet another Democrat, this time Howard, wants to increase regulations that she can’t even keep.
If Democrats want people to buy into their COVID restrictions and updated guidelines, they need to start leading by example.
Until that happens — and it does not seem likely that it will — people are going to see through their words and view them for what they are: hollow and untrustworthy at best, hypocritical and elitist at worst.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
