MARK PULLIAM: Unmasking the Nanny State. “On February 16, a Texas congresswoman, Beth Van Duyne (R-Irving), and the State of Texas filed a federal court lawsuit challenging the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to enforce mask mandates for passengers using public transportation and hubs in the U.S., including air travel and at airports. (The CDC’s mask mandate also includes rail travel, buses, ships, subways, taxicabs, and rideshares.) The lawsuit, similar in concept to the pending legal challenge to employer vaccine mandates by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in which the vaccine mandate was stayed, alleges that the CDC lacks statutory authority to make or enforce regulations that amount to a blanket preventative measure.”