In yet another in a long string of embarrassingly out-of-touch press conferences, Gov. Murphy announced Monday he is allowing us to go places without a mask over our faces.

A mask that did very little in most cases to stop virus particles from going anywhere. A properly fitted, medical grade mask with a shield, which is what most people in healthcare were wearing, could have had some minimal effect.

Yet due to our political leaders and an absolutely corrupt and lazy media, people were and, in many cases, still are scared out of their wits, literally. So, they complied with the moronic, dictatorial, useless rules set forth by the current emperor and his ilk. Many governors in other states dropped the mask theatre and mandates months ago or never implemented them in the first place. Yet this diabolical, politically opportunistic shark kept the people of New Jersey scared out of their minds, literally, for control and votes.

In his tri-weekly dog-and-pony show on Monday he warned businesses not to hassle those who still feel the need to wear a mask in stores and businesses. This is how ABSOLUTELY out of touch this man is. No business would hassle any customer for wearing a mask. They only pressured people TO wear a mask because they were threatened and pressured by this administration to do so under penalty of the executive orders. He never issued a threat against hassling people who knew it was a useless farce to wear a mask.

Governor Murphy doesn't care about or encourage independent minded, self-reliant people. He has no use for them. Murphy knows he can control the ignorant and afraid to believe that he is somehow "saving" them from the virus.

Almost all of his actions have been political calculations and absolutely counter to everything this country is based on. But he is counting on enough weak, frightened, medically, and politically ignorant people to re-elect him this November.

I used to have more faith in the electorate that they couldn't possibly do that, given his record, but sadly, according to recent polls, that's the likely outcome. To quote a recent former President, "sad, very sad."

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.

NJ's most and least COVID vaccinated towns, by county

New Jersey reported just short of 4 million people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 statewide, heading into the last week of May. So how does that break down across all 21 counties?

And, how can some communities show a vaccination rate of more than 100%, according to state data? Reasons include people who have moved, those who are traveling and not residing at home where the census counted them, students who may select their school residence for vaccination data and people in long-term care (or other facility-based housing) among other reasons, as explained in a footnote on the state COVID dashboard.

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