BUT WHAT’S NEXT? “Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing Sunday, ending a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.”

UPDATE: From the comments: “This was the most polite and least damaging things the truckers can do to the government.” Yeah, if they don’t like the truckers coming out, wait until they stay home.

SUPERBOWL COMMENTARY FROM A FRIEND: “DR DRE: The most believable doctor we’ve seen on TV in two years.”

Heh. Indeed.

RAMS DEFEAT BENGALS TO WIN SUPER BOWL 56.

Related:

Here’s the video of every celebrity without a mask during the Super Bowl. But every kid in California will have to be wearing them tomorrow in school. They must all be holding their breaths the entire game. pic.twitter.com/Dc9yVd7RPf

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 14, 2022

RIP: Ivan Reitman, producer, Ghostbusters director, dies at 75.

RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: VIDEO: Not a Single Celebrity Is Wearing a Mask at Super Bowl Including Hypocrite Mayor Eric Garcetti.

OPEN THREAD: Watch this space: I’m open to fall from grace.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: A new Chinese rocket company has raised more than $100 million.

ANTHONY FAUCI’S SECRET: The Einstein Effect: People Trust Nonsense More if They Think a Scientist Said It.

WAS IT OVER WHEN THE RUSSIANS BOMBED SANTA MONICA?

I DON’T TRUST THEIR PRIORITIES: This is the Army’s plan to battle climate change—and still fight wars.

IT’S GOOD THAT AFTER BEING PUT IN CHARGE OF THE BORDER CRISIS AND THE UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS, SHE STILL HAS TIME FOR THIS: V.P. Kamala Harris highlights lead water pipe replacement in N.J. visit.

MARK JUDGE: The Unknown Hoya and the Shadow Projection of the Left: Our underground newspaper and America’s split psyche.

DISPATCHES FROM THE POTEMKIN FOOTBALL VILLAGE: Los Angeles Accused Of Hiding Homeless Crisis For Super Bowl Weekend.

Related: The Coming Covid Apocalypse. “Something is going to break this weekend and it is not going to be pretty. LA County health officialdom has no credibility left to lose, so if they try to actually enforce anything the most likely outcome will be more than simply ignoring it. I dare them to go into a pub and start writing tickets when the crowd is three beers into the game. Or imagine you are an usher in the stadium, charged by some official, and you have to ask someone to leave because they finished their popcorn ten minutes ago and their mask is still down. That’ll make for interesting television between the plays. For certain they are going to look extremely foolish on global television.”

UPDATE: Here we go again: LeBron James, Magic Johnson and other celebrities spotted maskless at the Super Bowl.

(Updated and bumped.)

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

Shot: How to Choose the Right Face Mask.

—Bloomberg News, January 16th.

Chaser: Mask Mandates Didn’t Make Much of a Difference Anyway.

—Bloomberg Opinion, Friday.

Hangover: Twitter removes tweet from top Trump Covid-19 adviser saying masks don’t work.

—NBC News, October 18th, 2020.

The D.T.s: YouTube suspends Rand Paul after misleading video on masks.

—PBS, August 11th, 2021.

SO THERE, TRUDEAU: GiveSendGo: Ontario Court Order Won’t Stop Us Processing Freedom Convoy Donations.

FLASHBACK: Prince Performs “Purple Rain” During Downpour during the Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show (video).

Exit quote from Bruce Rodgers, the halftime show’s production designer:

The morning of the game, I opened the curtains in my hotel room, and I was like, “Oh my god, it was like a scene from Moby Dick.” It was, like, the winds were blowing, the palm trees, and the rain was one of those Miami rainstorms that just would not relent.

We’re in this truck, sitting behind Don Mischer [the halftime show’s producer]. And I remember Don said, um, “Put me on the phone with Prince.” Don says, “Now, I want you know it’s raining,” and Prince [was] like, “Yes, it’s raining.” [Don continued] “And are you okay?” And Prince is like, “Can you make it rain harder?”

And I was like, “…Right on.”

Heh, indeed. ™

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NN3gsSf-Ys

IT’S A WOMAN’S PREROGATIVE TO CHANGE HER MIND, EVEN ABOUT BEING A MAN: Woman, 26, who came out as a trans man at age 19 reveals she is now ‘DE-transitioning’ back to female – six years after starting testosterone and having her breasts surgically removed.

GET IN SHAPE: New Balance Men’s 481 V3 Trail Running Shoes. #CommissionEarned

56% OF AMERICANS SAY: WE WANT MASK MANDATES.

The people have spoken.

…but check back with them in a month and they might be speaking differently.

For now, one glance at this result from YouGov will show you why Joe Biden was scrupulously noncommittal when asked by Lester Holt a few days ago whether it’s time for mask mandates to go away. Democratic politicians know they need to roll back restrictions as we transition to endemic COVID. They learned the hard way in Virginia what can happen at the polls when they drag their feet on getting back to normal.

But their base really, really doesn’t want to.

* * * * * * * *

Having spent two years convincing themselves that maximum COVID precautions at all times is the ne plus ultra of civic virtue, Democrats will now have to somehow accept that abandoning that view doesn’t amount to sinking into right-wing vice. Essentially, they’ll need to be deprogrammed. Biden and his party’s establishment have less than nine months to do it.

“Deprogrammed,” huh? But pay no attention to all of that “mass formation psychosis” talk.