Clackamas County, Oregon, Commission Chair-elect Tootie Smith is cooking a Thanksgiving feast this year and inviting family and friends. This traditional gesture of generosity has turned into a revolutionary act.
On November 14th, Smith posted on her Facebook page that she vehemently disagreed with Governor Kate Brown’s latest COVID-19 lockdown in Oregon. The order instructed people to celebrate Thanksgiving with only six people or else face jail and/or fines. Smith thought that was dumb and claimed she wouldn’t obey.
Here was her Patrick Henry moment.
My family will celebrate Thanksgiving with as many family and friends as I can find. Gov Brown is WRONG to order otherwise.
Going against the grain in Oregon’s political monoculture is proving too much for the Left in the state and beyond, and now Smith, who’s been around state and local politics for decades, is reaping the woke-crowd whirlwind. When she appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday, the hate – and many accolades – went supernova.
Smith told Carlson that people know to stay home when they’re sick, wash their hands, and mask-up when they need to, so why order them apart at the holidays?
We have been browbeat [sic] over the head with wearing masks in public, which I do, by the way – with social distancing, to stay home when you’re sick and be clean. I think people have the intelligence, the education, and the independence to make their own decisions. We are adults and we do not need to be treated as second rate slaves in our own homes.
Here comes the hate-fest.
Oregon official vows to defy Thanksgiving COVID-19 restrictions | https://t.co/AbOjPTlgJZ— Victoria Taft – Parler, Minds, Facebook, 5VTShow (@VictoriaTaft) November 18, 2020
In an online interview, Smith said, “She [Gov. Brown] wants to arrest law-abiding citizens in their homes for eating dinner. That is the most ridiculous public policy I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been in politics since 1988.”
But Smith is being labeled a stone-cold assassin who commits her wet work with a carving knife and giblet gravy.
You’ll “cost lives,” you killer.
I just read your quite wordy “Thanksgiving Reboot.” I’m struck by the hypocrisy. As a CC biz owner & resident, I am concerned with your cavalier attitude about these necessary steps. At least keep your personal plans T’giving to yourself. Your attitude will no doubt cost lives.
— Denise McKinney (@DeniseMc68) November 17, 2020
Lightfoot Makes No Bones About It: She’s Canceling ‘Traditional Thanksgiving’ for Chicago
Killer part deux. Empty chairs at Thanksgiving and it’s all your fault, Tootie.
Enjoying your new found fame, Cootie? Did you gain some Twitter friends? Maybe now you can fill some of those empty seats at your thanksgiving table.
Thanks for putting yourself 1st and making this even harder for your constituents. Recall begins 6 mos from you taking office.
— Deborah (@Debbieotenburg) November 18, 2020
And Tootie killed somebody’s grandmother or something.
— Anne McCarthy (@AM_McCarthy) November 18, 2020
Sure, but Tootie’s the crazy one here for wanting to have a meal that was perfectly “legal” a week and a half ago.
Many, many people rallied around Smith’s common-sense plan to conduct a safe Thanksgiving without the governor sticking her nose in it.
The Portland media reaction was predictable. “News” anchorman KGW-TV’s Dan Hagerty told his viewers that no one in Oregon knew who the longtime politician was before this, but he was going to tell them what to feel about her.
Hagerty smugly announced that Tootie Smith was simply not smart enough to figure out how to have a safe Thanksgiving. He literally growled and pulled a face after showing a segment of the Carlson appearance when Smith claimed she was capable of washing hands and masking up, thank you very much. The growl was so loud and intentional I thought for a second that it would show up on the closed-captioning framed right below his grimace.
Media Meta: 'We're so much smarter than those ppl who can juggle dinner, clean hands & mask up.'
Actual: "It is astounding to me that there are people in power, in our community, who apparently haven't learned at the same rate as the rest of us have here."@SmithTootie #KGW pic.twitter.com/z09XzvzoQl— Victoria Taft – Parler, Minds, Facebook, 5VTShow (@VictoriaTaft) November 18, 2020
The “news” anchorman huffed:
It is astounding to me that there are people in power, in our community, who apparently haven’t learned at the same rate as the rest of us have here. Now we told you yesterday about Tootie Smith, the future chair of the Clackamas board of county comissioners, who’s having a big old Thanksgiving bash – invitin’ everybody over – in direct violation with Governor Brown’s two-week statewide freeze that starts tomorrow [November 18]. Now, I don’t think that many people, you know, statewide, really knew who Tootie was before yesterday, but I have a feeling that has changed this morning.
[Shows a clip of NBC’s “Today Show” that juxtaposes Smith’s comment with video of a hospital patient, the “reporter” intoning, “that declaration against a portrait of pain.”]
Hagerty continued, saying he would have asked Smith tougher questions than Tucker Carlson.
Tootie’s now “Today Show” famous. We still haven’t heard back from her, by the way, because I have a lot of questions that I want to ask her. Questions I was hoping that she might be asked tonight on Fox where Tootie appears tonight on Tucker Carlson’s opinion show. Tucker didn’t ask any of the questions I typically would have asked, but Tootie Smith did have a lot to say about the governor’s order.
Look, like it or not, the governor’s order, they do [sic] come with enforcement this time around, at least she says so. She says civil citations could cost $500. A criminal charge could mean 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,250 bucks.
You’ll forgive us if we’re a little skeptical of the threats that some defunded Oregon police, who busily release violent antifa and BLM rioters with no bail, will suddenly come with a battering ram and flashbangs to break up Thanksgiving at Aunt Tootie’s. But, never underestimate Oregon’s ability to play politics with law and order.
The county commissioner isn’t telling people to go riot in the streets, lick a toilet seat or spit in someone else’s coffee. She says be careful and be happy. Wash your hands. Watch out for grandma. Wear a mask if it makes you and others feel better. If you’re sick, stay home.
Clackamas County could tolerate a little more togetherness and joy after the devastating fires of the late summer.
COVID is selective, we’ve discovered. It won’t affect Governor Gavin Newsom, lobbyists, and politicos at The French Laundry. It won’t touch his Aunt Nancy Pelosi or Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot at the hairdressers. It can’t affect the “essential” Governor Andrew Cuomo, or his equally COVID-resistant NYC Bill de Blasio on a non-essential walk or at the gym. Politicians can go to a Maui junket where they’ll be COVID-free. They’re smarter than you. They know how to mask up, wash hands, and stay home if they’re sick. That’s too science-y for you. Ask the “news” anchorman.
The woke crowd is telling you not to trust yourself because they know better than you. Head pat. Now, run along and obey.
Victoria Taft is the host of “The Adult in the Room Podcast With Victoria Taft” where you can hear her series on “Antifa Versus Mike Strickland.” Find it at your favorite podcast outlets. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, MeWe, Minds @VictoriaTaft
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