NJ governor admits COVID-19 double standard, says recent protests are different from business owners' complaints

Two sets of rules

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy embraced a clear double standard in his enforcement of COVID-19 precautions, saying the peaceful protests of the George Floyd's killing are different from business owners protesting their inability to earn a living.

These protests, which aren't always peaceful, include crowds of hundreds or thousands of people gathering and marching, with not everyone wearing masks, and people often seen hugging each other and certainly standing closer than the recommended six feet apart. They violate COVID-19 rules in every way.

"It's one thing to protest what day nail salons are opening and it's another to come out and peaceful protest about somebody who was murdered right before our eyes," Murphy reportedly said, according to reporter Shlomo Schorr.

Restaurants in New Jersey won't be allowed to open for outdoor dining until June 15. Salons and barbershops won't be allowed to take customers until June 22, and even then they will be required to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Protests, Murphy claims, are subject to different rules for no other reason than he believes one cause to be more valid than the other.

While Murphy may have referred to nail salons dismissively, as if the primary concern is about people who haven't been able to get their nails done, he fails to acknowledge that nail salons are businesses owned and operated by people who depend on them for essential income.

One might reasonably argue that, as important as the right to peacefully assemble in protest is, it is even more important that someone be allowed to earn a living. At the very least, it seems that the two concerns should be subject to the same rules.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made a comment similar to Murphy's recently, saying concerns from religious people who wanted to gather for services weren't the same as protesting in the context of "400 years of American racism."

The rhetoric around reopening states last month was legitimately apocalyptic, with detractors warning of spikes in deaths and overwhelmed hospitals if people were allowed to go to restaurants or stores. Now, some public health experts support mass gatherings, simply encouraging participants to be careful and social distance, if possible.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/nj-governor-coronavirus-protests-business

NYPD chief ‘outraged’ at Gov. Cuomo for ‘sitting in his office' criticizing police officers while they are out there ‘giving their blood’​

'I'm extremely outraged'

NYPD Chief Terence Monahan shot back at New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday after the governor criticized the city's mayor and police department for failing to defend the city amid the protests and riots following George Floyd's death.

Cuomo had called the city's inability to stop looters and rioters from running rampant in the city over the last two nights "a disgrace," and threatened to work around New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and bring in the National Guard.

The governor's comments didn't sit well with Monahan, who noted that NYPD officers are "giving their blood" to protect the city against violence.

"Our guys are tired, they're bleeding," the city's top uniformed cop told the New York Post. "I think everyone you're going to see is walking around cut up. But they're out there again tonight. They're out there giving their blood to keep this city safe.

"I'm extremely outraged at the governor's comments," Monahan added. "I'm watching my men and women out there dealing with stuff that no cop should ever have to deal with — bricks, bottles, rocks, hit in the face with bottles — and continuing to go forward to make an arrest.

"The leadership from every angle of this department is out on the streets, working side by side with their men," he continued. "For a governor to be sitting in his office saying that we're not doing a good job — I'm outraged."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/nypd-chief-outraged-at-cuomo

Pompeo Tweets Pic Hosting 'Wanted' Chinese Dissidents & Tiananmen Survivors

Ironically as George Floyd unrest still rages across multiple American cities, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again lashed out at China a day ahead of the deeply sensitive issue for Beijing of the 31st anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

“It starts; so soon,” Pompeo tweeted. “For the first time in 30 years, Hong Kong authorities denied permission to hold the Tiananmen Vigil. If there is any doubt about Beijing’s intent, it is to deny Hong Kongers a voice and a choice, making them the same as mainlanders. So much for two systems.”

Perhaps even more provocatively Pompeo further tweeted out images of himself meeting with Tiananmen Square survivors and pro-Democracy activists on Tuesday.

"Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo was honored to meet yesterday with Wang Dan, Su Xiaokang, Liane Lee, and Henry Li – four of the thousands of brave participants in the heroic protests for democracy that were brutally put down by the Chinese Communist Party on June 4, 1989," a State Dept. official readout said.

Despite in recent years the semi-autonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macau being able to openly hold annual vigils to mark what Western leaders commonly dub the 'Tiananmen Square Massacre', Hong Kong authorities this year have denied permission under the guise of preventing the spread of coronavirus.

A number of observers have noticed that anytime the administration is seemingly paralyzed in domestic-related crises decision making, with no good options, a major foreign policy conflict or "distraction" arises, whether it be Venezuela or Iran.

But the admin's focus is now on Hong Kong amid the mainland's security law, which Pompeo has said marks the end of HK autonomy as we know it.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pompeo-tweets-pic-himself-wanted-chinese-dissidents-tiananmen-survivors