Rules for Thee, but not for Me: Mecklenburg County Manager Tells Public Not to Travel/Gather for Christmas, ‘Most Dangerous Places You Can Be,’ Before Admitting She’s Traveling for Christmas

CHARLOTTE – Oh, but she has thought about it, assessed the risk, and made a personal decision. You? You citizens subjects should just follow orders; you have been afforded no such personal agency in the era of Pandemic Panic.

Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio participated in a virtual press conference to provide county updates on — what else — COVID updates and mandates. Consistent with other government officials in North Carolina and around the country, Diorio told the public to not gather, and especially not to travel to gather, for the holidays.

Specifically, Diorio said, “For this holiday season, we ask that you stay home and only be around those who you live with.” In context, she issued the ‘hard ask’ after explaining that holiday gatherings are some of “the most dangerous places to be” in terms of catching and spreading COVID.

You don’t want to kill your grandma, do you? Of course not! That’s what you’re risking in visiting family for Christmas, they insist. Government officials have deemed it too risky, in fact, and are prohibiting you from do it.

While they do.

Again, consistent with government officials around the country, Diorio responded to a question about her plans for Christmas celebrations:

“I will be traveling by car to Durham, North Carolina, to see some close family. Small group.”

Rules for thee, but not for me.

Luckily there was at least one reporter that thought it wise to inquire about this massive and blatant hypocrisy. WBT reporter Brett Jensen tries to get more clarification on this below. Watch the tortured answers  Jensen’s good questions starting at the 30 minute mark.

County Manager Dena R. Diorio and Public Health Director Gibbie Harris provide an update on COVID-19 in Meck County. https://t.co/yrnHmetfcM

— Mecklenburg County (@MeckCounty) December 21, 2020

After Jensen points out that Diorio is doing exactly what she is telling everyone else NOT to do, he offers her a chance to clear it up…or dig her hole deeper. Diorio expounds:

“I know who the family is. I know where they spend their time, so I feel comfortable making that trip. It’s two people in a household, it’s not a group. It’s a very small number of people and I feel very confident about their safety. So if I did not feel comfortable, I would not go.”

Wow. Why, that almost seems like something you might remember as a staple of the American way of life called ‘taking personal responsibility.’

Gone are the days that we common people can enjoy such a privileged liberty, but the luxury has been evidently retained by government officials.

Jensen pressed further, asking if she would recommend such decision process for everyone, being that she just advised everyone to not travel or gather.

Diorio digs more:

“[…] I’m making a personal decision based on information that I have, and so that’s the decision that I’ve made and I think everybody needs to do the same.”

Isn’t that nice? Taking the information available to you, weighing risks and noting tolerances, and then deciding for yourself what you’d like to do with other consenting adults.

Diorio says she thinks everyone “needs to do the same,” but she is also partially responsible for issuing and enforcing the myriad COVID restrictions that would shut down your business, or even arrest you, for making a personal decision that did not comply with said orders.

Consider the true costs of ceding such ‘personal decisions’ — decisions on how to live our lives and navigate risks — to government. In the name of ‘public health’ or ‘collective safety,’ too many have forfeited their agency to the managers. The rest of us suffer the loss, and government officials are above it all because they know better.