California Gov. Gavin Newsom once promised that his coronavirus policy decisions would be driven by data shared with the public to provide maximum transparency.
However, now he is keeping secret the data his administration is using to drive state-implemented lockdowns.
On May 28, the Center for American Liberty (CAL) filed a public records request to the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency seeking the science and data that Newsom used to drive lockdown decisions from Oct. 1, 2019 until that day. CAL executive director Mark Trammell said the state had pointed the CAL back to the state website, and withheld other data under a “deliberative process” exception, used to exempt the state from its duty to release public records.Under Newsom’s lockdown order, indoor religious services are strictly forbidden. Trammell said they had, for example, requested data explaining why such services were forbidden while other retailers remained open. “If it’s safe enough to go to a marijuana dispensary or Macy’s or Costco that same standard should apply to parishioners in our congregation they should be able to sep in pews and wear a mask,” Trammell told Fox News in an interview.On Friday, The Associated Press released a report detailing the secrecy shrouding one of the longest and most stringent lockdowns in the country.State health officials have said releasing the data would confuse the public.
Furthermore, the coronavirus vaccine rollout in the Golden State is clearly lagging behind most of the nation.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that California has received 4.7 million doses of the vaccine – but it has only administered 1.8 million doses.The data show it is doling out doses at a rate of roughly 4,565 per 100,000 people, which is slower than Texas, New York, Florida, Connecticut, Michigan, Georgia, and many others.Data from Bloomberg ranks California dead-last among all 50 U.S. states in terms of the percentage of shots utilized (37.3%)….About 3.4% of the state’s roughly 40 million residents have received a dose, according to The Los Angeles Times, ranking it 51 out of 59 states and U.S. territories. The publication’s data shows California behind just Missouri, Nevada and Alabama in terms of the number of first doses distributed.
We reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom was facing a surging recall effort, in the wake of his violating his own social distancing rules at a swanky restaurant over a meal with supporters. There are now 1.2 million residents who have signed the petition, very close to the nearly 1.5 million required for a formal recall vote.
The unexpected success clearly has the governor and his media supporters worried, as they are now tying the recall to “QAnon” and “right-wing extremists”.
[A Los Angeles] Times investigation found that recall campaign leaders, seeking to capitalize on the darkening public mood, allied with radical and extreme elements early on to help collect signatures. Those included groups promoting distrust of government, science and medicine; peddlers of QAnon doomsday conspiracies; “patriots” readying for battle and one organization allied with the far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys.The recall gave those fringe factions a higher profile and a shared villain. They helped energize the campaign with large and often inflammatory rallies over masks, in support of Trump and against the election they falsely say was stolen from the former president — ripe venues to harvest petition signatures.
Now, many Legal Insurrection readers may be wondering exactly how many “right-wing extremists” actually reside in California. Few…which is why the article went on to state “Many supporters of the recall are not extremists and may not be aware of the far-right groups involved with the effort.”
It seems that, according to the new playbook, if one petition signer is an extremist, everyone who signs it is an extremist.
I hesitated to sign the recall, as I was part of the past effort to recall Grey Davis to replace him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The effort really didn’t work out as I had hoped.
Now, I feel obliged to sign the recall petition and will do so at some point this week.
Thanks, LA Times!
The rant against the recall effort also targeted “anti-vaxxers” as well. Smears of this magnitude suggest that Team Newsom is worried that he will have to face the will of the people far sooner than he anticipated. A successful effort to get the recall on the ballot, even if it doesn’t remove Newsom on office, will at least have the added benefit of putting a dent in any presidential aspirations he may have.
The tactic of smearing petition signers smells of desperation and is likely to backfire.
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