COVID cases are on the rise, and Gavin Newsom has identified the culprit: You.

“Don’t be selfish,” he tweeted, as his own winery remains open for business.

Lashing out at the people of California not only betrays a misanthropic bent, but ignores the heroic sacrifices Californians made for weeks on end to successfully “flatten the curve.”

Coming from Governor Newsom, it’s an obvious alibi for his botched pandemic response.

“It is our behaviors that are leading to these numbers,” the Governor lectured. “Some have developed a little amnesia. Others have just, frankly, taken down their guard.”

California now has nearly the highest unemployment in the country as well as the most COIVD cases. As we debated Health vs. the Economy, Gov. Newsom somehow found a way to choose neither.

One reason why is his zealous enforcement of AB 5, which put countless people out of work, forced others outside the home, took healthcare workers off the frontlines, bankrupted small businesses, and diverted EDD personnel from unemployment claims – all as a rich reward for his biggest campaign benefactors.

 “We cannot continue to do what we have done over the past few weeks,” Gov. Newsom scolded. “The reality is people are mixing, and that is increasing the spread of this virus.”

Aside from pleasing special interests, the Governor’s other main priority has been press coverage. Veteran political analyst David McCuan told Politico that when the pandemic hit Newsom was “interested in being on national network shows, on having a national profile, on building that sizzle.”

As one example where sizzle turned to fizzle, he landed a segment on Rachel Maddow to celebrate a $1 billion mask deal with China’s disreputable BYD company, when he could have paid an American manufacturer a fraction the price and gotten the PPE months earlier.

“Not everybody is practicing common sense,” the Governor observed.

Across the country and around the world, good COVID leadership has fostered a spirit of togetherness in meeting a shared challenge. Bad COVID leadership has consisted of scolding, shaming, virtue-signaling, barking commands ad nauseum – and now, blaming.

“If you cannot practice physical distancing, then are you practicing love?”

Californians don’t need Gavin Newsom’s advice on love. What they need is a leader who takes responsibility.

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