Stopping the Ding, Dong Party : Will The Biden Administration Appeal the Mask Ruling? JONATHAN TURLEY
When U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority to ordering masks for mass transportation, many of us expected an immediate announcement of an appeal. Instead, there were crickets from the CDC and cheers from passengers.
It was a telling moment. The hesitancy of the Administration at that moment may have had more to do with scenes on airlines of passengers celebrating the decision. One pilot came out to tell the passengers: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. This is the most important announcement I ve ever made. The federal mask mandate is over. Take off your mask if you choose. Whole planes erupted in spontaneous celebrations at 40,000 feet.
The problem is that these scenes had the feeling of a ding dong, the Witch is dead party. It is far easier to ban than stop a party. The Administration will now fight to tell those same passengers to say that the witch is very much alive so re-mask.