Tag: GOP proud to be anti-science

Hold these Republicans accountable for deaths caused by recklessness

Washington Post logoPresident Trump tweeted a series of all-caps messages Friday that Virginia, Michigan and Minnesota—states with responsible stay-at-home orders — should “LIBERATE” themselves. It’s not clear whether this was a suggestion for armed insurrection, as his Virginia tweet referenced the Second Amendment, or simply a grossly irresponsible call for Americans to congregate in protests at a time when large gatherings risk infection spread and possibly more deaths. Either way, by encouraging violation of state measures to fight the pandemic, Trump abandoned his position of a day earlier, when he declared that governors should call their own shots. Trump was already morally responsible for the lost lives that could have been saved by prompt action to combat the coronavirus. He has no national plan to ramp up testing, which is critical to safe reopening. He should be held accountable for endangering those people encouraged by his irresponsible tweets.

Trump is not the only Republican who must be held accountable. Without ample testing, governors do not know how widely the virus has spread, the true infection rate or the risks posed by relaxing stay-at-home orders. None of that appears to bother Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who initially delayed closing beaches statewide. “Florida’s governor on Friday gave the green light for some beaches and parks to reopen if it can be done safely,” the Associated Press reports, “and north Florida beaches became among the first to allow people to return since closures because of the coronavirus. [Jacksonville] Mayor Lenny Curry said Duval County beaches were reopening Friday afternoon with restricted hours, and they can only be used for walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, taking care of pets and surfing.” Continue reading “Hold these Republicans accountable for deaths caused by recklessness”

Presidential historian: Trump is ‘the worst president you can imagine’ for the COVID-19 crisis

AlterNet logoA presidential historian on Thursday said he couldn’t imagine any other president responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as poorly as President Donald Trump has so far.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rice University history professor Douglas Brinkley said that the United States has been getting hit hard by the coronavirus in part because Trump completely distrusts scientists.

“With Donald Trump, we’ve had a president who has been denouncing scientific experts since day one,” he said. “Total climate denial, saying 99 percent of the scientists are wrong about climate change, treating it as if it is some kind of hoax. So this is a president that’s been having a war against science his entire administration. He gutted CDC, got rid of the experts in the White House, so he was caught deeply flat-footed.” Continue reading.

Right-wingers launch anti-lockdown movement in defiance of public safety and health

AlterNet logoAs reporting Wednesday revealed an internal government document warning of “a significant risk of resurgence” of the coronavirus even in a phased reopening scenario, right-wing activists in Michigan staged protests outside the state capitol to boldly defy Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s extended stay-at-home order designed to protect public health.

Dubbed “Operation Gridlock,” the event was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Freedom Fund. The groups called on people to circle their vehicles around the state capitol building in Lansing in order to create a traffic jam.

That Facebook event call-to-action asks participants to stay in their cars, but videos and photos shared on social media show many people standing outside the building. Those protesters appear to be participating in a simultaneous protest launched by the newly created Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine. Those protesters, many standing on the steps of the capitol, are seen not adhering to social distancing guidelines, openly carrying weapons, holding pro-President Donald Trump flags, and singing chants including “Recall Whitmer.” Continue reading.

Florida’s GOP governor intervenes to label WWE an ‘essential business’ during coronavirus outbreak

AlterNet logoRepublican Gov. Ron DeSantis intervened to carve out an exemption for professional wrestling in Florida’s “stay at home” order, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings revealed Monday.

DeSantis, a close ally of President Donald Trump, came under criticism for weeks as he refused calls to issue “stay at home” restrictions in spite of a growing number of coronavirus cases in the Sunshine State. DeSantis ultimately caved and issued such an order on April 3, though he included an exemption for religious services.

World Wrestling Entertainment has been airing events from the empty WWE Performance Center near Orlando. Demings told reporters on Monday that the WWE was not labeled an “essential business” that can continue to operate when the order was first issued, but DeSantis intervened. Continue reading.

Furious Nebraskans blame GOP governor for surge in COVID-19 cases after he refused to issue stay at home order

AlterNet logoAccording to a report from the Daily Beast, Nebraska health officials and the public are frightened about the sudden surge of coronavirus cases in the state and are furious with Republican Gov. Peter Ricketts for being one of the few governors in the country to refuse to issue stay at home orders.

The report notes that Grand Island in Hall County has, for some reason, been hit hard with COVID-19 cases which have alarmed not only residents in the area but health officials who have been asking for additional restrictions beyond shutting down schools and banning gatherings of more than 10 people.

While noting that Nebraska is in the bottom ten of states hit with coronavirus infections, health officials in the state are worried about an increase of cases if Grand Island is any indication. Continue reading.

Fauci at center of conservative storm

The Hill logoCriticism of Anthony Fauci from the right has picked up in recent days, with some conservatives calling for President Trump to dump the infectious disease expert after he made comments about how imposing social distancing rules earlier could have slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States. 

Fauci has become a national name with his regular presence at the daily coronavirus task force briefings and in other media appearances, and poll numbers show he’s trusted by a majority of Americans. It would set off a political storm if Trump were to sideline him in the middle of a pandemic.

Yet the criticism of Fauci by two conservative lawmakers in a Saturday op-ed and Trump’s retweet of a conservative’s call to “#FireFauci” were unmistakable signs that the public health official is coming under pressure from some on the right to be loyal to the president. Continue reading.

Gov. DeSantis Falsely Says Nobody Under 25 Infected By Virus

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is under fire this week for making a false claim that the coronavirus does not affect young people.

It’s the latest blowback for DeSantis, who has been roundly criticized for his refusal to close the state’s beaches, even as spring breakers flocked there amid a growing outbreak.

“This particular pandemic is one where I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25. For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem to threaten, you know, kids,” he told a group of educators on Thursday. Continue reading.

Foot-dragging GOP governors are imperiling the whole country

Washington Post logoPRESIDENT TRUMP likens the struggle against the pandemic to a war that will yield a colossal toll in human lives, but refuses to urge states uniformly to issue stay-at-home orders. The president’s equivocations have produced an uncoordinated jumble of policy subverted by foot-dragging governors who treat the coronavirus less as a national emergency and more as a political annoyance. They are guilty of an abdication of leadership whose consequences will be measured in body bags.

Messaging is critical in this crisis. By telling people in the strongest terms to stay at home, even with certain exceptions, most governors have conveyed the gravity of the spreading threat; that is likely to save many lives. By failing to do that, and treating a plague as one interest to be balanced among many, other governors treat the peril with a nod and a wink. Their message, sotto voce, is: Let’s not all get our knickers in a twist.

The nod-and-a-wink governors — in the Dakotas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas and elsewhere — pose as powerless to order a lockdown, or note they have already closed schools, restaurants, gyms and other establishments, but won’t order blanket edicts to individuals. They point at other states’ exceptions that allow people to carry on with essential work, or get groceries and pharmaceuticals. In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson says staying at home is a matter of “individual responsibilities”; in Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson scoffs there is nothing “magical” about stay-at-home directives; in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds protests that “I can’t lock everybody in their home.” Continue reading.