Good news! Local tyrant Sisolak finally lifted his mask mandate - restoring free choice to Nevadans on the basic freedom to breathe unobstructed. Thinking back to just a few years ago, It's incredible to imagine how insane it would have sounded to describe this situation to libertarians.

From the beginning, our position has been that requiring masks is an exercise in public health security theater. It has been a way for politicians to “do something”, while psychologically reinforcing the ambient sense of emergency. This psychological ploy empowers the government to extend their power - by insisting that we all play along, it creates the feeling that we must live in abnormal times which require drastic measures.

By now, there is substantial and compelling evidence that these mandates have had no demonstrable impact on regional health outcomes.  A good resource on this is Ian Miller, whose recent book Unmasked compiles a wealth of data and graphs documenting the stunning lack of a relationship.

Perhaps the cruelest mandate was that placed upon our children, institutionalized in the public school system. Forcing these kids to strap cloth diapers on their confused and often crying faces was not only pointless, it was harmful. The damage done to their development, social skills, and education is incalculable – not to mention their trust in adults. What have we done?

For all of these reasons, the lifting of the mandates are worth celebrating.  

At the same time, it is worth noting that Sisolak’s decision does not appear to be based on “The Science”. He cited falling case counts as the justification for the decision, which appears disingenuous when you consider that current daily cases still appear higher than our off peak average. The establishment (our overlords) have been ignoring the value of natural immunity to disease for the last two years while drastically overstating the efficacy of masks and their rushed-to-market-profit vaccines. By their own previous standards, this decision would not make sense. Something is motivating the policy change, but it isn’t what we are being told.

It may be possible that the unique features of the Omicron surge - highly contagious, vaccine resistant, and incredibly mild - may have broken the flimsy media narratives. Those politicians that pushed the lockdowns and mandates (both mask and vax) must see the writing on the wall, politically. Many Americans are furious at what has been done to them.

Politicians and bureaucrats are chronically unable to admit error - instead they double down, deny and deflect. When that is no longer tenable, they will try to stealthily abandon the policy and gaslight the rest of us into forgetting they ever supported it. 

Let’s not let that happen here. Stay vigilant and clear headed! We must never forget who pushed for these restrictions, who enforced them, and who celebrated them. While merely being voted out of office may not be justice enough for those responsible, it is a bare minimum.