As the long, dark, winter in the Pacific Northwest to a close, we are reminded by sunny skies and singing birds that we can roam free without mask mandates as of today.

Everyone is excited to take off the mask. Dare I say, perhaps even some liberals. Take a look at the residents of the People’s Republic of Portland:

Hey, man. I would have thrown salsa on my mask a long time ago if it meant ending these draconian lockdowns and ridiculous mask mandates any sooner. And, well, as far as the Wallflower Coffee shop owners go, (their name suits them so much, by the by), they can keep their masks and their overpriced soy lattes in the pit that known as Portlandia. Rock on with your bad selves. Really. I hope all your staff quits.

But it didn’t take long for the masks to be stripped off and Governor Kate Brown and the State of Oregon to come out with post-pandemic guidance for Oregonians. Of course, they crafted the guidance into a cute little acronym. Enter RISE (Resilience in Support of Equity). Equity. Had to throw that one in there. Read on, read on….

Like a wildfire, the pandemic has left a stark and smoldering aftermath for communities trying to recover.

● To date, the virus has taken the lives of nearly 7,000 people in Oregon, leaving many more grieving the heart-breaking loss of their loved ones.
● The pandemic has disrupted the livelihoods provided by many businesses.
● COVID-19 has disrupted in-class learning in schools.
● It has left people shaken and traumatized, caused an increase in substance use disorders and behavioral health diagnoses, and exacerbated a crisis in mental health issues among youth.
● It has not only laid bare, but intensified long-standing and unacceptable health inequities.
● Finally, the pandemic has tested our understanding of what responsibilities bind us together in thriving,
cohesive communities.-Oregon Health Authority

Like a wildfire. Was that a wildfire because of poorly managed forestry services, perhaps? Or was it like a riot fire in the CHOP/CHAZ-whatever? Or like the huge dumpster fire that consisted of what was the last two years?

If I sound snarky and angry regarding the left coast’s decision to lift these mask mandates now, you know exactly why. The irony of all of this theatre is that the very bullet points listed in Oregon Health Authority’s BS “Equity” gobbledegook are the very creation of the politicians who have imposed this misery for two whole years.

The virus did not do this. They did this. Kate Brown. Jay Inslee. Gavin Newsom. And there are more of them. Nancy Pelosi. Jenny Durkan. Ted Wheeler. Kamala Harris. Joe Biden. The list goes on. Say their names. Do it with your mask off.

They created this heartbreak. They, so driven by political ideology, created these lockdowns. They shuttered the businesses that subsequently shattered lifelong dreams of business owners. They closed off workplaces causing massive rounds of layoffs and families of all walks of life wondering where their next month’s rent will come from. Sure, they suspended rent during the pandemic, which allowed individuals who would not pay rent anyway to take advantage of landlords. Again, lifelong retirement dreams of the middle-class landlord down the drain.

They disrupted classroom learning. They, driven by teachers’ unions, sought two weeks to “slow the spread” that turned into two months, two quarters, and, in some cases, more than a year. They, caused these so-called “inequities” to become magnified when they forced at least one parent of a two-income household to stay home to make sure their Kindergartener gets on a ZOOM call for classroom instruction. They are responsible for kids being over a year behind on their academic performance.

They have left people traumatized. They have left the elderly to the news channels piping through their homes, scaring them into hunkering down and depriving them of seeing their children, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren. They started the great vaccine, booster and mask debates. They have created rifts in family circles, some of these rifts irreparable beyond measure. While telling us that we would “kill grandma“, they encouraged addicts to abuse substances together on our city streets, offering them clean needles and booty-bumping kits. And as far as the mental health crisis among our youth? They did a number on this, too. Hey geniuses, what do you think happens when kids who already have no home structure are stripped of, sometimes, the only structure and mentorship they get from being at school for a full day?

As we pull up the mask and set it to a blazing bonfire today, we must remember them. Telling us to eat outside in the dead of winter. Telling us that it was dangerous for our teachers to teach and our kids to go to school while encouraging violent protests in our city streets. Telling us that holiday get-togethers over a certain amount of people were forbidden while dining on $400 a-plate dinners in Wine Country with their cronies. Telling us that we are risking our lives to cover the grey hair on our heads they have caused while they slip in undercover to get a much-needed touch up and Botox injections with a treat of $25-a-pint ice cream from a $25,000 freezer afterwards. Where was their so-called “equity” here?

We mourn those we lost both physically and relationally. Mask mandates have been lifted. The left expects us to be grateful for giving us back the freedoms we already have. As we take our breaths today minus the stench of this morning’s coffee wafting back in our faces, let’s reflect on where the responsibility for this cluster truly lies. Don’t blame COVID as the virus does not discriminate and dictate. They did. Never forget.

Photo Credit: Olgierd/FlickR/Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)/Cropped