Gavin Newsom is finally apologizing for COVID. Let me help him finish

Gov.Gavin Newsom recently made a surprising admission: He has regrets about how he handled COVID.

How touching.Since the governor has finally started apologizing, I thought I’d help him finish.

I drafted some remarks for him to deliver.—My fellow Californians:I recently told Jake Tapper of CNN that I have some regrets about the way I handled COVID.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story I know.This came as a surprise to me, too.Standing in a river in Montana, which is traditionally where California governors go to discover their mistakes, I acknowledged that closing the beaches was “insane in hindsight.” I also admitted that some of our largest school districts stayed closed too long.Apparently, once you start contemplating a run for president, hindsight gets considerably better reception.So today I want to offer Californians the COVID apology I probably should have given years ago.First, to California’s children: I’m sorry.We kept you out of school.

We put you in front of computer screens and called it education.At the urging of some of my most generous political supporters, including the California Teachers Association, we imposed rules that kept classrooms closed and helped some of the state’s largest school districts stay closed far too long.You lost classroom instruction, friendships and experiences you will never get back.On the bright side, your teachers learned how to use Zoom.To California’s parents: I’m sorry.You became teachers, IT technicians and full-time child-care providers while simultaneously being expected to keep doing your actual jobs.Government officials who had never met your children nevertheless decided we knew what was best for them.This may sound presumptuous now.

At the time, however, we had charts.Really cool charts.I...