The Los Angeles County Health Department has slammed residents with a new mask edict for public transportation within the county, requiring masks on all forms of transport including buses, trains, ride-hailing service vehicles, and sigh… airports.

Just when you thought things were looking up.

Public Health Continues to Require Masks in All Public Transit and Indoor Transportation Hubs Within LA County – Public Health Reports 2,123 New Positive Cases and 13 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. View: https://t.co/yMTgxXnp8p pic.twitter.com/Phr5jgE1WA

— LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) April 21, 2022

LA County is the most populous in the nation, counting more than 10 million residents in the 2020 census. Which of them are going to be affected most by this latest order? You guessed it. The lower and middle classes, working people, and minorities. You won’t find most residents of Beverly Hills and Brentwood riding a Los Angeles bus or subway. Yes, even those folks will have to mask up at the airport like everyone else. But I’m guessing no one’s going to hassle the private jet crowd.

Who holds dominion over these 10 million people? None other than Dr. Barbara Ferrer, who’s held LA residents hostage for two years now. Ferrer, whom radio talk show host John Philips of KABC likes to call the “fake doctor” because she doesn’t hold an actual MD, has earned a Ph.D. in Social Welfare, a Master of Arts in Public Health, a Master of Arts in Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies.

Phew. That’s a lot of schooling. It’s all very impressive, but you don’t want her in the operating room. RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar reported back in 2020 that local health officials were deeply concerned about her lack of qualifications for the Director job.

ABC7 Eyewitness News reports:

Ferrer said she feels “really, really sorry” that the new county order will likely create confusion among residents feeling a sense of “whiplash” due to rapidly changing rules. But she noted that the CDC never changed its recommendations regarding mask-wearing on public transit, and said the Florida court ruling was made by “a federal judge with little experience in public health” who questioned the CDC’s authority.

She feels really, really sorry! Puh-lease. She always seems to take a perverse joy in these announcements, if you ask me.

Speaking of whiplash, the entire country has it at this point. L.A. is imposing this new requirement just as Philadelphia is dropping their indoor one – mere days after announcing it. No wonder people’s heads are spinning.

Ferrer was just surprisingly grilled pretty hard today on CNN. The audio can be found here.

As I reported on Tuesday, opinions on masks for public transportation vary widely nationally by party affiliation, with fully 80 percent of Democrats supporting mask mandates on airplanes, while only 33 percent of Republicans do.

The New York Times made a stunning admission today in its “The Morning” newsletter:

The most glaring example (of the partisan opinion divide) in the U.S. is that liberal communities, where masks are a cherished symbol of solidarity, have experienced nearly as much Covid spread as conservative communities, where masks are a hated symbol of oppression.

Oh. My. Gosh. They just admitted that masks are a cherished liberal symbol of solidarity.  I have no words.

One thing is for sure — those who have had a taste of power do not want to give it back, and any time they see an opportunity to impose new edicts, mandates or requirements, they will snatch it.