A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

AuthorLueders, Bill
PositionFURTHER COMMENT - COVID-19, mask mandates, and politics

In August, a group of parents in Buncombe County, North Carolina, flocked to a local school board meeting to demand that it stop trying to protect children. Dozens of people turned out to ask the board to repeal its approval of a school mask mandate.

Among those who spoke was North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn, who called school mask mandates "psychological child abuse."

"The greatest threat to our children today does not come from COVID-19," Cawthorn, a rising star in the Republican Party, lectured the board. "It comes from woke, liberal government officials like you who think they are all-knowing and all-wise."

After the meeting, some parents refused to leave, saying they had "overthrown" the board and planned to elect new members on the spot. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

COVID-19 has killed more than 650,000 people in the United States, of all ages, including hundreds of children. The new Delta variant is spreading more rapidly to kids; the largest demographic of the unvaccinated in the United States are children under twelve. We know that wearing masks reduces transmission of the virus. The less mask-wearing there is, the more children will get sick and die.

Yet for Cawthorn and some other Republicans, the pandemic is just another opportunity to raise their profile and score culture-war points, even if it means taking stances that are actively pro-COVID-19.

"It is very important that we say, unequivocally, no to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, and no to mandates," declared Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as hospitalizations and deaths soared in his state.

"There will not be any government-imposed shutdowns or mask mandates," echoed Texas Governor Greg Abbott, even as new cases of COVID-19 overwhelmed his state's health care facilities.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem pledged to "take every action available under the law to protect South Dakotans from the federal government." This was after she praised and took part in this year's super-spreader event known as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

What rot and nonsense has been allowed to fester! There is nothing nefarious or even new in asking people to receive vaccinations. All fifty states require children to be vaccinated against such ills as measles, mumps, whooping cough, diphtheria, and polio.

Yet, thanks in large part to Republican demagogu-ery, much of the populace is refusing to treat COVID-19 with...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT