On mask-mandate, VTGOP calls for personal choice as Dems demand statewide coercion

Michael Bielawski/TNR

THE GREAT MASK DEBATE: Vermont Democrats are continuing to call for a statewide mask mandate again as polls show that Americans across the nation are shifting against such requirements.

As cases of COVID-19 rise in Vermont, the Republican Party wants people to have choice in whether to wear masks, even as top Democrats call for new mandates.

Over the past week Democtrats have increased their calls for a mask mandate on the public, including for young children in schools.

“The first thing that came to mind when I saw today’s case count of 591 was, ‘Why?” Vermont Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said in a statement. “Why is more action not being taken to protect Vermonters and keep our communities safe? Why don’t we implement the strategies we know work, like a mask mandate, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19?’”

Paul Dame, chairman of the Vermont GOP

But Paul Dame, the new chairman of the Vermont GOP, told True North that Republicans are advocating personal choice on health issues.

“Vermont Republicans are backing our governor on the issue of opposing a statewide mask mandate,” he said in an email. “While we support the right of every Vermonter to decide for themselves when it is appropriate to mask, we trust the people of Vermont to do the right thing according to their individual circumstances. Other states who have imposed mask mandates do not have demonstrably better results than states that don’t.”

Dame said that a mask mandate is inconsistent with other COVID-related policies.

“Last year we were told that masks need to be worn when in close personal contact for over 15 minutes within 6 feet. Requiring masks in settings with incidental exposure like grocery stores and gas stations that never meet this requirement are inconsistent with the data presented then,” he said.

On Monday, Gov. Phil Scott said he would call lawmakers back into session to debate and pass a measure opening the possibility for municipalities to enact time-bound local mandates.

The calls on the left for more mask-wearing come even after last week’s Republican gains in the November elections have been credited in part due to overbearing COVID restrictions. A recent memo by major Democrat Party donor Priorities USA shows that the party’s financial supporters are getting cold feet with COVID-related mandates, among other issues.

“Voters are frustrated, skeptical, and tired — of Covid, of economic hardship, of school closings, of higher prices and stagnant wages, of unaffordable prescription drugs and health care and more,” their statement reads.

Krowinski argues that Vermonters are worried about Covid again and are “looking for the Governor and his administration to take steps to support them in their day to day lives.”

Of the 591 COVID-19 cases reported last week, it is not yet clear how many of these people had symptoms of illness. Around the world, scientists have questioned the extensive use of PCR tests for COVID-19, a popular COVID test used in Vermont, arguing that asymptomatic positive results are too frequent.

“Why do we offer a PCR test for Covid to anyone who has a cold?” said the University of Birmingham Microbiology Professor Alan McNally. “We have never done this with any other infectious disease.”

On a recent Fox News segment “Breakfast with Friends,” a reporter enters a New Jersey diner to ask patrons which issues are driving them to the polls. The answers showed that COVID-related mandates are wearing on voters.

“I believe it was education, taxes, lockdowns, mandates for vaccines, control of the people, losing our independence, and that’s just for start,” said one diner.

The New York Times reported that the New Jersey gubernatorial race “puts mask and vaccine mandates to a political test.”

Despite these national trends, Vermont Democrats are doubling down on mask mandates.

“Vermonters are absolutely burned out and cannot understand why more is not being done to mitigate the spread in our communities,” Krowinski said in her statement.

Several studies indicate that the virus does not spread among asymptomatic carriers, including a new study last week detailing how school closings in Japan had no measurable impact on the spread of COVID-19.

Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.

Image courtesy of Michael Bielawski/TNR

29 thoughts on “On mask-mandate, VTGOP calls for personal choice as Dems demand statewide coercion

  1. I’ll get the jab when you require vaccines for every illegal immigrant who comes across our southern border and every Congressman/woman and their staffers. If this is really about health, then why are there certain groups who aren’t required to be vaccinated… while everyday Americans are losing their jobs over the jab?

  2. It perpetually confounds me that the Progressives call the Conservatives Fascists while striving to regiment and control all aspects of the people and the society. Do they not know the meaning of the word Fascist? How can they deny that they do not fit every definition of it? Control is the Goal!

  3. The baseless ‘mask mandate’ is perfect foil for foisting communism on Vermonters using the ‘useful idiots’ who are its tools.
    Making Vermont a communist State was so easy (you think its still ahead? look again: coup accomplished) and for the most part, met with silence if not enablers.
    Chinermont.

  4. Oh, that incorrigible Krowinski.

    You know, they say never judge a book by it’s cover. But in Krowinski’s case, you can go ahead and judge.

    The first time I saw her pic, the words “smug, arrogant, self-satisfied, overeducated prick with a tenuous grasp on reality” came to mind immediately. Then I looked up her resume and found out that she fits the profile of a smug, arrogant, self-satisfied, overeducated prick.

    Then there’s Balint. Who is pretty much Krowinski in 30 years. I’m not a particularly religious character but Good Lord, those two are the worst. And Phil “Blubbering Tower of Jello” Scott will let those brain donors walk all over him.

  5. These guys still don’t get it!

    As we speak Scott & Lavine are ramping up the campaign to inject our 5 to 11 yr old children with a possible Bio Weapon!

    Don’t you think it’s about time we realize this is not about political parties or posturing anymore?

    Someone should tell the new chair of the GOP, that personal choice on healthcare issues won’t save all the children that haven’t taken it already.

    I guess some things never change!

    Doesn’t anyone have the courage to just stand and say no, given what is at stake?

  6. How are people going to know when going from town to town? When they change, back and forth? Masks no masks?

    And sadly nobody on either party is talking about the cure that is inexpensive and effective.

    THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF UNIPARTY GAMES!

    Uniparty left says wear your mask or no entry.
    Uniparty right says no mask mandate!

    They get everybody fighting arguing about this and nobody is talking about the Math+ protocol developed in Houston Texas, adopted by a state in India, that is saving 90% of those who are severely ill in the hospital and has made a state in India with 231 million people declare the stat covid free.

    This is yet another example of how the uniparty works in conjunction with the propagandist press to subvert our country. These NWO pimps want our country and state to be a colony of the United nations.

    We can just say No more uniparty games!

    Grammie and grampie could come home for thanksgiving rather than stayin in ICU. Very sad and criminal what is going on.

  7. Sorry, but I’ve moved into the ‘Not Going To Comply’ category. Not accepting any more restrictions. You’re going to have to arrest me and drag me to prison – but you can’t keep me there forever.

    • For just a few reasons, add me to the Will NOT Comply list.
      *Big Government Socialism will not solve the SARS-CoV-2 “pandemic”. If it could, it would have. Balint, Krowinski and their legion of fearful followers will only ADD to the case rates by their actions.
      *Early treatment options Exist! And are effective. These options are ignored and refuted, because of politics and profits. There is extensive material on efficacy available, find it and make your own decision- fauci, balint and krowinski, Scott and Levine might just be wrong.
      * The “Vaccine” really isn’t. Sold to us as a panacea, it isn’t. Those that blindly follow government diktat are wandering down a dangerous path, especially if they have children and clamor to “vaccinate” them.
      Find out what Marek’s disease is. The best intentions of man?
      * On children and SARS-CoV-2, how did mankind make it thru chicken pox?
      The risk to children of death from this SARS-CoV-2 is zero in Vermont. Because fauci says natural immunity is ineffective isn’t a reason to subject children to the unknown long term risk of the “Vaccine”. I’d stick with natural immunity. God knows what he’s doing. We don’t.
      * The profit motive, crony capitalism, whatever you’d prefer to call it- it exists and is running rampant under the current political machine. The dollars being printed and spent on this disease is making a whole lot of billionaires.
      It has been reported that Vax manufacturers are making 93 million per day. If even half that amount is accurate, that’s 46 million reasons to keep the fear going. Every Day.
      Get informed and choose the sources of that information carefully.

  8. The zero-case COVID goal that seems to be what some are looking for is absolutely unachievable by any reasonable standard. It’s time to face the stark reality that no amount of masking or jabbing is going to completely eliminate COVID. No one has sufficiently explained why “fully vaccinated” individuals still need to wear masks. The “experts” have totally ignored the time-proven truths of natural immunity and suppressed the use of inexpensive treatments. It’s not about public health, folks. It’s about control and submission of every facet of our lives. How did we get here? It’s on us. We allowed it to happen and now we must wake up and stand firm to change it…and it’s not going to be easy.

    • I’ve posted the question before: are we being hypnotized into a state of anxiety/release over a disease that’s nowhere close to being the new smallpox? https://thomascasey.wordpress.com/2021/08/28/mass-formation-by-dr-mattias-desmet-professor-of-psychology-university-of-ghent/

      Consider that maybe not so much in Vermont, but around the country and the world people have gotten hysterical whenever they see someone without a mask. This is bizarre but it happens. Not in Vermont, but elsewhere the police might go ballistic over those who disobey medical mandates.

      Luckily we still have an ideal of tolerance in Vermont. The local post office says masks are required. A small but significant minority ignores this, and no one says anything.

      Liberty and tolerance go hand-in-hand. Those who are intolerant always want to take the liberty of those who don’t think and do exactly as they wish.

      Is it time to wake up … from mass hypnosis/psychosis? The people doing this aren’t stupid. That’s why Fauci is up there spouting his soothing messages: do what I say and your fears will go away. But, they haven’t.

  9. Consider this ‘announcement’.

    Statement from Speaker Krowinski/Pro Tem Balint
    Leslie Goldman • State Representative, Windham-3
    Announcement

    STATEMENT FROM SPEAKER KROWINSKI, PRESIDENT PRO TEM BALINT ON GOVERNOR SCOTT’S CALL FOR A SPECIAL SESSION

    Montpelier, VT. – Today, House Speaker Jill Krowinski and Senate President Pro Tem issued the following statement:

    “We appreciated meeting with the Governor and discussing ways to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and the differences of opinion in the ways that we believe we should move forward. In our meeting today, the Governor told us that he would support the passage of legislation, similar to a proposal made by the League of Cities and Towns last week, granting limited authority to municipalities to mandate masks in their communities. While we appreciate this step toward giving Vermonters more tools to promote public health, we are deeply disappointed that there is not a broader approach to keeping Vermonters safe and our health care system afloat.”

    Lots of wiggle room here. ‘Limited Authority’ remains undefined. But the movement is clear. When local municipalities are allowed to impose vaccination mandates, anything goes.

    • What we have from Speaker Krowinski and President Pro Ten Balint is a panicked call to act, do something, do anything……Just do something!

      Speaker Krowinski’s statement: “Why don’t we implement the strategies we know work, like a mask mandate, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19?” is without a sound basis and is contradicted by actual experience in Texas……A State that Gov. Scott said Vermont should emulate.

      I’m in Texas at this moment…..No masks and very little Covid anywhere in the state……Last Saturday 95,202 non-masked fans jammed Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium, sitting and standing shoulder to shoulder, for a Longhorn football game…..An occurrence that has been taking place around the Texas this fall amounting to hundreds of thousands of fans each week jammed together with no increase in Covid.

      The Covid panic is the same sort of reaction we witnessed with Krowinski and Balint charging ahead with the Global Warming Solutions Act…..Do something, do anything…..Just do something!……And the Climate Council will accommodate them with proposals to cost billions and do nothing to mitigate climate change.

      We really need better, more experienced and calmer leadership in Montpelier…….Krowinski and Balint, while well intended, appear to be over their heads.

      • Indeed – ‘Do something, do anything’…. appear relevant, as though you know what you’re doing… even though you don’t have a clue.

      • Peter has an interesting account comparing Texas to Vermont in Guy Page’s VT Chronicle.
        https://vermontdailychronicle.com/2021/11/16/10-icu-beds-unstaffed-small-schools-may-close-vt-should-emulate-texas-florida-scott-says/comment-page-1/#comment-11034

        After reviewing Peter’s assessment, anecdotal as it is, I came to the following conclusions.

        _________

        Excellent report, albeit anecdotal. And the TX ‘dashboard’ is interesting too. 53.9% of Texans have been vaccinated compared to 81% of Vermonters.

        So, consider that, for this year, while unvaccinated Texas residents made up the vast majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths, vaccination rates in Texas were very low. “The majority of Texans ages 16 and up didn’t become eligible for the vaccine until late March [2021].”

        Vermont, on the other hand, had the highest vaccination rates in the country early on.

        Curiously, however, over the last two months (September and October), vaccinated Vermonters accounted for 65% of the State’s Covid deaths. I’ve not been able to find a Texas report for the last two months or so.

        It seems the vaccines do lose their efficacy over a short period of time (six months or so), and wearing masks has little, if any, effect. And if Vermont’s experience is any guide, proportional deaths among vaccinated Texans are going to increase.

        • Jay……The Covid Dashboard for Taylor County Texas, which is essentially the city of Austin, going back to the beginning of 2020 shows that the daily number of new cases of Covid recur and peak in six month cycles. If this past experience continues, you’re correct Texas will see an increase in proportional deaths, beginning shortly. It will be based on Texas data, which occurs in the same six month cycles you cite for Vermont…….With, as you say, masks having no apparent impact.

          https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/39e4f8d4acb0433baae6d15a931fa984

          • I pose the following challenge, then, to the Vermont officials and legislators who are not only proposing our healthcare policies but our the healthcare treatments… treatments that have, until recently, been determined by individuals and their doctors.

            Come on this forum and address some of our specific concerns.

  10. https://truthbasedmedia.com/2021/11/15/why-mask-mandates-should-be-immediately-banned/

    Is this about safety or politics? Will the state or town authorities shut down the ski industry, Restaurants, bars, holiday gatherings with people from other states, ruin the economy a little more, what else? What science are they following, read the article above? What if we don’t comply? Will we have the Covid-19 goon squad out arresting people like Australia?

    How much more of this can we take?

  11. Note to Krowinski: if you really want to stay safe from Covid-19 and do everything you can to stop this, then get your head out of the bubble and do some real research: https://covid19criticalcare.com/ It’s right there in black and white, plain as day. Something must be in the water that keeps you from understanding.

    Vermonters who aren’t hypnotized by the left are fed up, alright. They’re fed up with being lied to by the authorities. Early treatment is real. Ivermectin is real. Fauci is the illusion and the deception and the misinformation.

  12. Whining Democrats want to dictate medical measures to the population. They’re clamoring for medical tyranny.

    Let’s never forget one key fact about this pandemic: the brutal, deliberate, continuing suppression of early treatment for Covid-19 set in motion all the other supposedly “necessary” actions, including mask mandates and including vaccine mandates and including continuing lockdowns.

    The Democrats should take a good, hard look at a country where the vast majority of the population doesn’t wear masks. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/ Daily deaths from Covid -19 aren’t that far above little Vermont’s yet the population there is order of magnitudes larger.

    Those hypnotized by Fauci don’t care about facts, science, data, evidence, or anything except what they’re told to do by the authorities. They’re focused on Fauci and the CDC as if those completely corrupt entities are the lifeline to sanity and reality.

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