The riots’ other cause and other commentary
For months, observes The Orange County Register’s Steve Greenhut, California Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed he was basing his coronavirus response on “science,” meaning “lockdowns must continue” — until last week, when he suddenly “announced a much broader reopening.” Yet the science hadn’t changed, merely “the standard by which the state evaluates the science.” Why? Newsom knows he will never get “the $1 trillion bailout” he has requested from the federal government. He is facing a huge deficit. Without reopening, then, he and other Democrats “will have to give up their big-spending dreams” and cut state pensions even while most Californians are “largely ignoring the restriction.” That’s “excellent news,” as it shows “the governor is finally looking at costs and benefits” — but it has nothing to do with “science.”
