Dem Houston Mayor Bans GOP Convention in Same City That Hosted Floyd Funeral
The office of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner posted a series of tweets Wednesday announcing the cancellation of the Texas GOP convention because of the coronavirus threat.
The decision to cancel the GOP convention is to protect the health of the people of Houston.
— Houston Mayor’s Office (@houmayor) July 8, 2020
But when another group of people held a large gathering in his city in the midst of coronavirus, Turner felt a little differently.
Just a month ago, Turner seemed to have no problem with mass gatherings. After all, he joined a crowd of 60,000 people protesting the death of George Floyd, KTVT-TV reported. Apparently, predominantly left-wing protesters have a special immunity protecting them from coronavirus that conservatives lack.
Let’s not forget that an indoor memorial service for George Floyd in Houston drew “thousands of mourners,” according to CNN. Yet, a similar indoor event, namely the Texas GOP convention, represents a threat to “the health of the people of Houston.”
While the mayor’s office tried to make the case that “no one wanted to politicize the decision to cancel the convention,” the actions of Turner and other liberal leaders in the past month and a half have made it clear that politics is a huge factor when deciding whether or not to ban certain gatherings.
No one wanted to politicize the decision to cancel the convention. The medical association, Greater Houston Partnership, and their sponsors wrote letters asking the party to cancel their in-person convention and make it virtual.
— Houston Mayor’s Office (@houmayor) July 8, 2020
For example, the liberal politicians running the state and city of New York have allowed protests to go on throughout both New York City and the state while religious services have been banned or restricted.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell excoriated this double standard during a speech on the Senate floor last month:
.@senatemajldr Mitch McConnell calls out the double standard on public officials’ attitudes toward protests and religious gatherings:
“While protests are still permissible, prayer is still too dangerous” pic.twitter.com/45gPOt0jhP
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 9, 2020
Fortunately, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio from enforcing restrictions on outdoor and indoor gatherings of religious groups are stricter than businesses and and other types of gatherings.
It looks like the judge disagreed with the fallacy summed up by McConnell, that “while protests are still permissible, prayer is still too dangerous.”
Florida Rep. Val Demings, a Democratic vice presidential hopeful, also played a role in inadvertently exposing the blatant double standard of the left when it comes to protest in the age of COVID-19.
Just four days after attending a “Healing and Hope” rally in the wake of Floyd’s death, Demings slammed President Donald Trump’s “selfish” desire to hold a campaign rally:
The president’s plan to hold mass rallies in Florida and elsewhere as we experience a resurgence in COVID cases is irresponsible and selfish. https://t.co/G6tdqua70c
— Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) June 11, 2020
Liberals must think the American people are incredibly stupid. Even before their support for the Floyd protests exposed the left’s hypocrisy on mass gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, liberal politicians embraced double standards when it came to enforcement of restrictions.
In the early stages of the pandemic, Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told the people of her city that “getting your roots done is not essential!” But for Lightfoot, getting a haircut apparently was “essential.” In 2020, only a fool would expect politicians to play by the same rules they make everyone else obey with an iron fist.
If anything positive came out of this coronavirus disaster, it’s that the American people have finally had the opportunity to see how hypocritical, corrupt and incompetent their leaders are.
At the same time, this could also be a negative. In the next major disaster that the nation faces, Americans will be a lot less likely to take those in power seriously.
If state and local leaders do want to be taken seriously, then they must have one set of standards for behavior during coronavirus. If they want to allow protests and gatherings, then they must permit all people to assemble, not just those whose ideology they agree with.
Otherwise, the American people will see them for what they are: political hacks.
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