Lt. Gov and wannabe U.S. Representative Molly Gray proudly tweeted out the above photo, writing that she was meeting “with the Central VT Chamber of Commerce on this moment of tremendous opportunity and how we can work in partnership to recover stronger from COVID-19.”

Lovely. Leadership and collaboration in action to tackle a tough issue.

See anything wrong with that photo?

Well, it’s an indoor space, and nobody seems to be wearing masks. Maybe they’re skating by on the technicality that it’s a lunch meeting, but I don’t see anybody eating or drinking. Gray certainly isn’t.

This isn’t the end of the world or anything, and I wasn’t going to write about it until I realized that this meeting was in the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Montpelier.

That would be the city with the mask mandate for indoor public spaces.

Such as this conference room.

I believe this is the same Molly Gray who’s called for indoor masking. Oh wait, here it is, from an interview with WAMC Radio: “…we need to continue to encourage Vermonters and Americans to get vaccinated, to get their boosters, and to wear a mask when they’re inside.”

Except when you’re talking to important people, I guess? Potential campaign donors, hmm? Is it harder to make your pitch if they can’t see the anodyne expression on your face?

And here’s another one that’s a bit more specific.

…her spokesperson, Andrew Gillespie, wrote in a brief email that Gray “continues to support all measures necessary to keep Vermonters safe and to decrease community spread, including a statewide masking policy, expanded access to testing with rapid results, as well as vaccinations and boosters for all eligible Vermonters.”

That’s from a November story by VTDigger’s Lola Duffort about a call for a mask mandate from top Democratic leaders. Gillespie clearly states that Gray favors “a statewide masking policy.” Admittedly, he doesn’t specify what kind of policy. Maybe she’d like a policy of mandating masks in indoor public spaces except when it’s inconvenient.

I should mention that House Speaker Jill Krowinski and Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint both gave interviews to Duffort. Gray did not, and all her office produced was “a brief email.”

Well, maybe she was busy. Doing lieutenant-governy stuff, whatever that is.

Molly Gray isn’t the first politician who proves to be a hypocrite. She’s not the first one to actually boast about it on her social media feed. But c’mon, Gray’s Achilles heel is her almost complete lack of policy positions. She rarely takes a stand. And in this case, when she has taken a stand, she can’t even follow her own advice.