How to tell Gov. Murphy that closing our NJ parks is wrong (Opinion)

If you want to call this COVID-19 mess a war, then we have to identify the collateral damage: common sense. It’s gone. Deceased. It’s been unilaterally thrown out the window by the panicked and the power-giddy. And it’s starting to bring diminishing returns. Case in point: Gov. Phil Murphy’s latest “close the parks”order.

I have a feeling even HE knows he went too far with this one. I mentioned on Wednesday’s Dennis & Judi show that this would only serve to further herd people together. It’s seems so obvious that the more outdoor places you take away from people, the more crowded the ever-shrinking bits of allowable open air are going to be. Supply and demand, anyone?

Of course this was obvious to the always on-point Paul Mulshine in his Sunday column on NJ.com. But what’s even better than Mulshine recognizing the obtuseness of this order is that the average Joe is realizing it too. And some of those Joes have apparently complained enough to their lawmakers that, according to Mulshine, a petition has been established to rid the public of these nuisance measures that only serve to annoy an already frustrated and angry public.

Mulshine spoke to a Republican assemblyman from Morris county named Jay Webber who has posted an online petition that urges the Governor to back down on the park order. Not only that, but the article goes on to say that Webber will put in a resolution to rescind it at Monday’s assembly session citing the “lack of rational basis” for the closure.

Ya think?

So I urge you to sign the petition to re-open New Jersey’s beautiful state parks. So we can all breathe. And exercise. And yes, we’ll follow all protocols, won’t we?

I’ve already railed against the golfing ban. I’ve expostulated about prohibiting short-term rentals. I’ve waxed poetic over the inanity of taping off a boardwalk like some kind of eerie postcard-beautiful crime scene. But it’s time to identify the REALLY scary epidemic: That of poor decision-making and sloppy knee-jerk mandates that have become so pervasive. And no amount of hand washing is gonna get rid of that.

More from New Jersey 101.5:

​