First we hear Republicans say, ‘All Lives Matter’ because they cannot bring themselves to say, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Then we hear Republicans say that ‘all life is sacred’ But, that only applies to fetuses and a means to control a woman’s body. Where have they been throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic? In denial and protecting the almighty dollar; that’s where.
Political opinion columnist, Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post, penned an article exposing the Republican governors who placed their residents at risk by not fully closing down their states and re-opening them too quickly with very few safety, precautionary measures.
Unsurprisingly, they include: Texas, Florida and Arizona whose states have seen huge increases of COVID-19 cases in just the last few weeks.
“Local officials in states with surging coronavirus cases issued dire warnings Sunday about the spread of infections, blaming outbreaks in their communities on early reopenings and saying the virus was rapidly outpacing containment efforts.” As bad as the situation in states such as Texas, Florida and Arizona are right now, a true catastrophe may be in store for states if hospitals are overrun and intensive care beds must be rationed.
Trump deserves a good deal of the blame for playing down the pandemic and goading governors to reopen. However, it was these states’ governors who arrogantly defied expert advice and replete warnings about closing down too late and opening too soon. They ultimately made the decision to follow Trump’s horrendously dangerous advice.
- Texas Governor Abbott pushed for businesses, such as tattoo parlors, to to reopen early despite the fact that social distancing could not logistically occur.
- “Gov. Greg Abbott allowed his stay-at-home order to lapse on April 30, a move that gave Texas, the nation’s second-largest state, one of the shortest such orders in the country.” The New York Times:
- Abbott has finally implemented a mask mandate.
- “Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, began gradually reopening businesses in early May. After his stay-at-home order expired May 15, Arizona saw cases soar,” the Times reported.
- Ducey has since scaled back reopening Arizona and now “prohibits large gatherings, cease the issuance of new special event licenses and pause the operations of bars, gyms, movie theaters, waterparks and tubing rentals.” AZ Governor:
- Trump sycophant Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “dragged his feet after receiving warnings to issue a stay-at-home order and then rushed to reopen despite advice from health experts, blames the media and protesters for the frightful increase in cases.”
- The GOP convention (hatefest) will be held in Jacksonville, Florida, next month.
The recklessness and incompetence of these governors should outrage not only residents of their own states but Americans everywhere. One thing we have learned is that a runaway pandemic in one or more states imperils all of us. They can hardly claim to be surprised by the predictable result of their arrogant, anti-science approach. Governors who wanted to rev up their economies and chose to ignore warnings about the consequences of their actions are responsible for thousands falling ill and dying. Their economies closed down anyway. Resigning is the least they should do.
