By Sherman Frederick/Battle Born Media

On Oct. 7, Gov. Steve Sisolak said  “I’m hopeful that the worst is behind us. But you never know with variants that are coming forward. I’m not anticipating any more mandates.”

That didn’t age well because along came Omicron and inside 60 days the governor who ruled like a tyrant in 2020 decreed mandatory mask wearing for all Nevadans in indoor settings in 2022.

There are a couple of points to make at this juncture in our life during the Dark Ages of coronavirus rule.

First is to note that on Oct. 7, Gov. Sisolak said he could see more variants coming. But on Dec. 18, Vice President Kamala Harris said: “We didn’t see Delta coming. We didn’t see Omicron coming.”

If you like Team Biden, I supposed you could torture logic and somehow make Kamala’s statement fit with Sisolak’s. But if you’re of sound mind and leery that the Biden Administration is conducting the “war on COVID” with the same competency it ended the war in Afghanistan, you’re probably alarmed. Just a little.

How did the Great and Powerful Wizard of Carson City see variants coming on Oct. 7, but the president and all the king’s doctors did not?

Secondarily, I will draw your attention to the Associated Press story last week that reports Democratic governors who embraced harsh rules in 2020 now avoid mask mandates with Omicron.

“(Governors) are displaying little appetite for widespread public orders or shutdowns,” the AP reports. “Even Democratic governors who passed strict mandates early on are now relying more on persuasion than dictates. They largely are leaving it up to local officials to make the tough calls on decisions such as whether to limit capacity in restaurants and theaters or keep schools open.”

This, of course, is a pivot for these virus tyrants — and I think you can put Gov. Sisolak in the box —  to salvage some kind of electiblity before the mid-terms.

Consider California. Californians must wear masks indoors through Valentine’s Day, with no mechanism to enforce the mandate.

“I think a lot of people will self-enforce and do the right thing,” King Gavin Newsom said. How uncharacteristically generous of King Newsom.

Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan put a finer point on what’s really happening, saying, “I’m not sure the people that are refusing to wear a mask are going to wear one anyway, and we don’t have the ability to enforce it. So we’re just strongly encouraging people to wear the damn mask.”

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy took business shutdowns and draconian mask enforcement off the table and said: “Here is what we need everyone to really take to heart — the need to mask up, to get boosted, and to just practice common sense.”

Imagine that. Give the people the facts and expect them to practice common sense. What a turnaround.

Look, Americans have had enough of the tyrant approach to the “war on COVID.” Most of it made little sense (remember when you were allowed to stroll the beach during the daytime, but you couldn’t bring a chair because that meant you’d sit a while). Unfortunately for Nevadans, Gov. Sisolak fell in line with that kind approach, much to his shame.

Early on he closed churches, treated White Pine County like it was Clark County, prohibited free assembly and expected Nevadans to obey him like Nevada was China.

Now in our third year of the pandemic, the numbers are very clear on which approach was right. As Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte points out in the AP story: “There were little differences in case counts between states run by Republicans that tended to take fewer precautions and those run by Democrats, which generally took stronger actions.”

And now, ladies and gentle readers of a Battle Born Media newspaper, the tyrants now face election. Choose wisely. It makes a difference.

ONE MORE THING

— This year I want to be more like Jesus and take naps on boats.

— Feb. 2 this year falls on a Tuesday. So, 2/2/22 will, indeed, be a 2s day.

— Never in the history of calm down has anyone calmed down after being told to calm down.

— Why buy it for $7 when you can make it yourself with $28 of craft supplies.

Until next week Battle Born Media readers, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.

Sherman Frederick is a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.