What was the most endearing image of the inauguration?
You might think Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who recited her wonderful poem that day. I wouldn’t quarrel with you on that.
But, if you are going for sheer volume of humor as the measure, it has to be the picture of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders social distancing in the crowd wearing oversized mittens and a frumpy brown coat.
For whatever reason, that image caught fire on the Internet and it’s been photoshopped into thousands of pictures. All of them, I think, have crossed my computer since Jan. 20.
Let me get you caught up. Here’s the original photo:
Now, here are a few of my fave Bernie memes:
GOT SCIENCE?
The headline in the San Francisco Chronicle touched on it.
It read: “Newsom’s abrupt shift on stay-home order angers legislators.” His decision to lift the stay-at-home order for all California based on what most saw and suspicious science numbers brought criticism from his friends and his enemies.
“If you think state legislators were blindsided by, and confused about, the shifting & confusing public health directives, you’d be correct,” tweeted Assembly Member Laura Friedman, D-Glendale. (A friend, I think.)
Sen. Steve Glazer said constant back-and-forth on health directives undermines residents’ willingness to follow health rules. “If the public doesn’t have confidence in how the decisions are being made, it erodes any directive on individual behavior. Part of the reason that the soon-to-be-expired health order wasn’t as effective as it could have been was because people stopped listening.” (Another friend, I think.)
The GOP (a foe, I am sure) called the governor’s move politically — not scientifically — motivated as a recall bears down on the governor.
Even a discouraging word from his home County of Marin was heard. At the Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting the day after the governor lifted the order, chief health officer Matt Willis said he was “surprised” to see the governor lift the order on Marin.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t, I guess.
WHY MARIN?
Chief Marin’s native name was Huicmuse. Marin was his baptised name — the name given him by his “oppressors.” So why aren’t the woke name changers in Marin County not pushing to change the name of the county to Huicumse?
ONE MORE THING
— Just when you think you’ve seen the best Bernie memes, along comes this late entry.
I’m sensing a disturbance in the force, so I’ll pick up my knitting and let myself out. Until we meet again, be safe, be kind and mask-up.
(Sherman R. Frederick is the founder of Battle Born Media, a newspaper company dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/sherm.frederick/. He may be reached at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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