TRENTON, NJ – Today is Groundhog Day, and while across the Delaware River, Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog saw his shadow, bringing us 60 more days of winter, Trenton Phil, scared of his own shadow has promised 60 more days of pandemic emergency powers.
For New Jerseyans, we have been reliving the movie Groundhog Day for the past 691 days…including the 15 days to “flatten the curve” back in March of 2020.
Murphy, after being ignored by the Democrat-controlled Senate in an obviously orchestrated political maneuver by the Democrat party allowed Murphy to grant himself another 90 days of executive emergency powers on January 10th. That order isn’t going to be rescinded any time soon.
New Jersey remains in an indefinite state of a pandemic emergency and even as nations across Europe begin removing their COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Governor Murphy isn’t budging.
Even after most of the members of the National Governor’s Association, an association which Murphy is vice chairman of requested this week that President Biden end pandemic restrictions immediately, Murphy broke ranks with his peers. Even NGA Chairman Asa Hutchinson called for Biden to stop the pandemic madness that has deprived Americans of their freedoms.
Yet Phil Murphy stands alone with governors such as New York’s Kathy Hochul and California’s Gavin Newsom who are banking on the pandemic being a permanent fixture in the lives of residents in those states. Even as the omicron wave is on the far side of its peak in cases, hospitalization, deaths, ICU patients, and incubator patients, Murphy isn’t budging.
Children will remain masked in school and healthcare professionals will continue to lose their jobs for defying the governor. Businesses will continue to be punished and the executive mandates will keep coming.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Punxsutawney Phil has only been right about 40% of the time with his weather predictions, so spring might be here sooner than you think. Governor Phil Murphy thinks he’s right 100% of the time, but in reality, he has been wrong on just about everything when it comes to dealing with the pandemic.
He was wrong about sending COVID-19 infected senior citizens to nursing homes. He was wrong about locking down the economy and forcing thousands of businesses into bankruptcy. He was wrong about helping out of work New Jerseyans get quick relief through a broken unemployment benefits system. He was wrong about wearing cloth facemasks to prevent the spread of the virus. He was wrong about telling people that the COVID-19 vaccines will prevent the spread of the virus. He was wrong to take his family on a Central American Christmas vacation and worse, he was completely shocked to find out shortly after returning that the First Lady contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, boosted, and following all of his rules that were aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
As for Trenton Phil and his shadow, we can be assured that the end of the New Jersey COVID-19 pandemic emergency powers granted to Governor Phil Murphy, by himself will never come, as long as he has a say in the matter.
Until then it will be groundhog day for New Jersey every single morning when the alarm clock goes off. Murphy’s existing state of emergency lasts for 30 days. In January, he asked the legislature for a 90-day extension, but we can almost guarantee at this point, the governor will continue to extend 30 days at a time indefinitely and get his original 90-day emergency powers.
Thanks a lot, Jack.