LA County Relaxes Church Restrictions; Pols Send Newsom A Message
The Los Angeles County Health Officer Order will be modified today to align with recent Supreme Court rulings for places of worship. Places of worship are permitted to offer faith-based services both indoors and outdoors with mandatory physical distancing and face coverings over both the nose and mouth that must be worn at all times while on site. Places of worship must also assure that attendance does not exceed the number of people who can be accommodated while maintaining a physical distance of six feet between separate households.
LA County's has been among the most stubborn lockdown regimes, but it's becoming plain that the US Supreme Court's Diocese of Brooklyn order is forcing civil authorities to pull back. The wording in yesterday's modification is vague, saying that churches "must also assure that attendance does not exceed the number of people" who can social distance indoors. I'm assuming that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will be developing policies to implement the revised order, maybe even by Christmas.Luckily, the weather so far has been mild. Our parish installed propane heaters on its patio for outdoor masses, but it hasn't always had to use then.
Meanwhille, two California political veterans, Democrat Willie Brown and Republicn Darrell Issa, have warned Gov Newsom that a recall petition will succeed, and he'll be removed from office, unless he finds a solution to the COVID crisis. Brown said,
Right now, Newsom’s chances of survival are tied to the pandemic. If California can get the coronavirus under some semblance of control and counties can lift economic restrictions — and here’s the big if, if Newsom can lean on teachers unions and school districts to reopen classrooms — he’ll survive any recall and all but guarantee his re-election.
If not, Newsom will be in a fight for his political life.
Brown has been pretty accurate in calling elections over the past couple of decades. Certainly schools are a big issue, as Brown says, but right now, bars and resturants are closed, and you can't get a haircut. Churches will now let you inside out of the rain, but you still can't sing or exchange the peace. As with the Viet Nam war, the only viable strategy to end it is to declare victory and get out. Since the COVID crisis is essentially a moral panic manufactured by moral entrepreneurs like Dr Fauci and maintained for the benefit ot media and politicians, Newsom's path is fairly clear.He basically needs to announce, "The science, the data, and the models say we've beaten this thing, thanks to my foresight and leadership" and declare an end to the lockdowns. The media will then find much encouragement in the bending curves and declining case mortality.
