The days of poorly thought out mandates and restrictions in the name of public health are probably over. It’s been a hard two years for the free society that is Nevada.

Lockdowns, mask mandates, and social distancing morphed into silly rules and outright oppression. No visiting mom in the rest home. No touching dying loved ones in the hospital. No church. We still flirt with vaccine passports and stupid school rules. I’m not sure we’ll ever know how much harm remote learning has done to the next generation.

This came to pass after Democrats swept virtually all statewide offices.

Gov. Steve Sisolak presided over the dark times. Not one statewide elected Democrat uttered an intellectually grounded peep in opposition to the ensuing oppression.

For example, no one spoke up for the right of Nevadans to peacefully assemble until the Black Lives Matter issue roared onto the scene. Then, Democrats saw the core issue at hand and sang a different tune.

Look, this may sound like I’m blaming Democrats as a species for this. I’m not. Nevada has elected plenty of Democrats to statewide office with backbone enough to stand up for what is right. Just not lately.

I hope Nevadans will look back on 2020-21 and come to the realization that our current dull political class, aided by a politicized bureaucratic medical class, issued cascading extreme decisions without proper reflection on what it is to be a free society.

This is the year to hold their feet to the fire.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

I caught two movies I can recommend.

“The Tender Bar” with Ben Affleck is a nicely done feel-good flick. I enjoyed it.

I also saw “Don’t Worry – He Won’t Get Far On Foot.” That’s a story that centers around the AA’s 12-Step Program based on the memoir by John Callahan. Well worth the time.

ONE MORE THING

  • President Biden addressed White House reporters Wednesday and vowed to name a Black woman to replace Ben Roethlisberger. (H/T Argus Hamilton)
  • Someone posted on Facebook that they had just baked “some synonym buns.” I replied “just like the ones grammar made?” I’ve been blocked.
  • What time does a duck wake up? At the quack of dawn.

Thanks for reading, everybody. Until next week, dear 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.)