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The troubling dictates of Gov. Gavin Newsom

December 6, 2020
T. Keith Gurnee

T. Keith Gurnee

OPINION by T. KEITH GURNEE

What’s Gov. Gavin Newsom been thinking? He’s been doing some strange things lately, but his latest executive action calling for a coronavirus stay-at-home and lockdown order based on a hastily conceived and unvetted map of newly formed “regions” in California takes the cake.

Coming off the heels of his attendance at a controversial dinner party at the French Laundry, one of the swankiest restaurants in California that caters primarily to plutocrats, does he really expect Californians to follow his “do as I say and not as I do” edicts?

After previously ordering Californians (1) not to gather in groups, (2) not to dine indoors, (3) to wear a mask, and (4) to practice social distancing, Newsom violated all four of his admonitions. With 22 guests dining indoors, none with masks, and no one practicing social distancing, Gavin and his wife whooped it up with their friends over a $15,000 wine tab, enough to draw complaints from other diners. If that isn’t the essence of hypocrisy, what is?

Now he expects us to obey his top-down, stay-at-home orders based on a nonsensical map of five regions. If the reason for these sanctions was Newsom’s concern about overwhelming the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in each region’s hospitals, why not do it on a county-by-county basis? Instead, he cooks up a map that throws San Luis Obispo County into a Los Angeles centric “Southern California” region that bears no resemblance to the ICU capacities of individual counties. His “Southern California” map also includes Inyo County east of the Sierra Nevada range that’s at the same latitude as the northern California city of San Francisco.

How does this make sense?

The answer: it doesn’t. San Luis Obispo County presently has only one ICU patient and has plenty of ICU capacity. If Newsom’s new orders were done on a county-by-county basis, our county would be exempted from his draconian measures.

Yet, by placing our county in a region with Los Angeles where only 13.1% of its ICU beds remain available, we get punished for it. By closing down outside dining and severely restricting retail businesses right at Christmas time, Gov. Newsom has given our county a lump of coal for Christmas.

Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham was right in calling Newsom’s edict “a joke,” and a bad one at that! Newsom should either pull his latest dictate and deal with his coronavirus measures on a county-by-county basis or create a “Central Coast” region that isn’t attached to Los Angeles.

Our county and its cities should work with Cunningham and other aggrieved jurisdictions in an effort to make this happen. It’s the right thing to do and as 2020 approaches its troubled end, it can’t come soon enough.


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Kev yes Trump got it but he hasn’t told everyone to close doors stay in and loose your business,Apol you shouldn’t of voted for them in 1st place,Scott when our leaders party and spend thousands on booze while the working people loose there jobs and businesses not cool,Moderator Newsom is the one setting policy so they go hand in hand. And China gave this to the world and the world hasn’t held them to task on it which is insane didn’t matter how many people we had in China keeping eyes out as China lets you know what they want you to know only and you ever think they let the virus out on purpose to do exactly what is happening getting us to fight ea other. Get a grip China is our #1 threat to our freedoms.


19

What I find intriguing in the comments is that it reminds me of what my dear old Dad would say about a recurring theme in government: “They will shove a policy down people’s throats and then bitterly complain that those people react by are choking on it”.


The Governor and the Chief Medical Officer have made clear that the threat is the projected lack of Intensive Care Unit beds in certain areas of the State. As for the virus, it is not going away, and we will have to learn to live with it, just as our ancestors lived with other deadly diseases.


As for the French Laundry, I must disagree that it is one of the “swankiest restaurants in California”. From what I have read it is one of the greatest restaurants in the WORLD.


0

Gavin messed up, but Trump had covid first. Let us not forget, at least one person preached but didnt practice, the thought counts right?. Who is the lesser evil, about the same to me.


-81

Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham really needs to keep his mouth shut on this subject, his recent family vacation to Maui, that’s what it really was, puts him in the same group as our Govenor.


-66

What they have in common, is neither one is afraid of living normal life due to the very slight fractional % chance of death by covid as evidenced by their behavior . The difference between the two is, Newscum is a hypocrite .


13

You missed the point KNut! Cunningham isn’t the one telling us what to do, where to go, and how to live our lives!


2

If the elected officials of this county do not issue a statement refusing enforcement and putting the minds of the business owner’s at ease, then I will not vote for them again. They know who they are. I have worked on their campaigns.


47

Really? What does it matter if the governor has or had a 15000 wine tab? What if he had a 50000 wine tab? This article seems slanted and it appears to me wanting to provoke a reaction out of less educated or those with less money the lower classes…should the governor limit himself to a 100 wine tab?


Of what importance is it reporting numbers dealing with money? Who else is California had their dinner or wine tab reported by any news article?


The governor in my opinion is kinda of one of the “leaders” of the state he makes up or decides rules especially about the health pandemic because it’s a health pandemic and it’s relevant to the “leaders”.


Why all this scrutiny?


Anyone for the most part is free to run for office and if they want to they can this is California.


I realize this is an opinion piece but it’s just like alot of mud slinging and innuendos and not alot of constructive criticism or idea provoking or possibility provoking ideas generated from the article at least for me personally.


Possibly their could have been at least one suggestion for governor newsom or possibly a suggestion for the health orders on how to best proceed during the health pandemic like maybe are suggestions possible in the next opinion piece?


While rather small in size compared to say the new york Times every article published even online has the potential to be seen and influence government even if not a mainstream publication it is possible it might be seen or read or mentioned to people it discusses.


It seems this opinion piece to me anyways is meant to influence the public’s opinion more so than any governments opinions almost like the possibility of influencing the government’s opinion wasn’t even considered before it was written or published.


It is your article and opinion piece so you can write it anyway you want but you might consider having a more thoughtful influence is all I thought.


One criticism are you the author lower class or poverty level trying to raise awareness for your class level? If not it’s kinda rude to write with a lower class slant especially directed at the governor.


Just one criticism

And opinion!

Good day


-149

Please address the Policies, events and arguments, not the person.


-56

Why the hell did this get downvoted, oy vey………..


-5

Keith, your feelings dont beat AI algorithms, they built the Csu Poly field hospital as spill over, and the opening of the campus. Soon, we might be having out of county and state patients housed here due to ICU capacity, this is happening World Wide and Nation Wide. Stop blaming a single person for a pandemic, I’m not going to just Blame Trump for cutting 1 billion from the CDC this year am I? This isnt one person’s fault for all this loss Keith. And unless you have a degree in medicine or biology, virology etc, maybe stop the Rhtetoric adding to confusion and conspiracy the Right Wing believe in just for self indulgence?


Sincerely, a med student.

Get a vaccine and wear a mask, this isnt a conspiracy, this isnt to steal a vote or smear a con man even more than hes done himself.


-153

The author isn’t blaming the CA governor for the pandemic, he is pointing out the unnecessary measures being taken in SLO that will significantly disrupt local economic recovery. One does not need a degree in medicine to shudder at a politician shutting down his business because of what is happening 300 miles away.


111

I’m not blaming Newsom for the coronavirus. China is to blame for that. I do blame Newsom for creating a cure that’s worse than the disease.


107

How is China to blame, you mean poverty and wet markets, or what, a conspiracy debunked by your government? What are you insinuating by China? I hunt and eat meat, what does that say?


-61

And until you get sick, which you will soon due to math, you will not understand the words you speak, and will soon speak out the same as Gavin, I Promise. If you’re a good person, this will be the outcome. Gavin made a huge mistake for being a rich jerk, but that’s every politician, including locally. We all know who lobbies for quarries around here.


-50

Embarrassing, Keith.


-42

Sadly, Trump cut the CDC staff in China by 2/3rds in 2018 and 2019, our medical early warning system.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-cdc-exclusiv/exclusive-u-s-slashed-cdc-staff-inside-china-prior-to-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN21C3N5

The die was cast, a decision has been made that cannot be changed. Newsome and the rest of us have to deal with the problem as best we can.


-23

I guess your facts and data go against the new Christ, or Adolf. Dear lord, the day someone believes Trump; a convicted criminal, over Oxford, MIT, Yale has come. Stop the steal, how about stop murdering your neighbors Qanon nut jobs carrying around ar15s spreading covid calling it a voting Hoax, dear lord.


-9

And to TKG, I get you, but this is the first world with quantum computers, moon landings, falcon rockets, milky way imaging, CRIPSPR technology, Your Fed gov has and has Dipshit leadership, but many Noble Scholars, who are attempting to set tones during a time on conspiracy theories with a new global virus, and conspiracy not seen Next to killing people in mass Genocide propoganda times past. And yeah, china has internment camps, we did too. I dont like throwing stones in glass houses built by the innocent. China is corrupt, we all follow Tibet and Hongkong, but it came from a wet market said 60 seconds, Yale, Oxford, poor people scraping a living in a biologic hotbed of virus known as a FARMERS MARKET. Anthrax comes from animal poop, coincidental, no TKG. Ebola is the same story, HIV is too. From Animals. Not a lab.


-3

“And unless you have a degree in medicine or biology, virology etc, maybe stop the Rhtetoric adding to confusion and conspiracy the Right Wing believe in just for self indulgence?”


Well Kevin, I do have a degree in medicine. Our county should not be in the group that it is. This is not a partisan comment. The decision to place us in the Southern California group is not only unfair, it is lazy. There are multiple other models we could have followed which would allow us plenty of time to react if need be.


Since you brought up degrees Kevin, do you have a degree in medicine? Have you worked in the local hospitals on med surg/DOU/ICU? If not, now would be a good time for you to slow your roll and quit showing your ignorance.


69

Yes Slodoc, I have worked locally with first responders, fire, EMS INCLUDING Twins ER. And slowing the roll “covid” is the whole point. I have friends with local business, I’m currently suffering financially. But this county including John Hammon, The DA and others are lumping covid into Voting Conspiracies, Vaxxine conspiracies.how many are you going to kill with rhetoric that does not focus on a global pandemic and finger pointing and diverting people from being rational and wearing masks, taking precautions etc, yes , you are destroying science and democracy with your rhetoric and risking lives. You are fanning flames that will surely Kill your audience. And slodoc, before missrepresenting science and medicine, maybe dont bite the hand that feeds? And being stuck in north county, what has excessive precautions got me, ding ding, covid. Thanks John Hammon for killing your constituents and causing mass harm, having folks loose all smell and taste for months, lingering colds, pneumonia. Just wait folks, your turn is soon, statistics and math dont lie. It’s an odd ride being sick with covid, so good luck, it’s scary! Dont kill your community, stay at home as soon as you loose your smell and

tatse. You have covid.


-53

Wait…you got covid despite your excessive precautions?……hmmm


6

Yes, yes I did, and as a medical personnel with a kid and grandparents, I went above and beyond

My kid has suffered, I’ve suffered, my neighbors suffer. And let me tell you, no mask or sanitizer is 100%, if you go into public, you will get covid, and your odds of a tragic death are real, I’m exceedingly lucky to have genealogy that somehow helped me. But apparently, 300k Americans, our family, especially indigenous do not. This county, Bornstein, and local conspiracy not jobs have screwed this county and killed too many. Only people out in mass now are Stop The Steal anti vaxxing conspiracy nut jobs who believe in Trump as if he was Jesus or Muhammad, but hes a Golden God, a false idol. A failure.


-10

Thank you. That about sums it up. Crush the already struggling small businesses in SLO county and heap more stress on those trying to do the right thing.

I’m glad the sole proprietor who does one haircut at a time and keeps their place cleaner than most Dr’s offices has to shut down. I feel safer already. They can do better


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