A few weeks before joining the swelling ranks of South Dakotans who have fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic that Governor Kristi Noem has let run rampant, Speaker Steven Haugaard wrote the following:
The pandemic has taught us that we need to respect and care for our fellow man.
Some say that you cannot legislate morality. If this was true, then we wouldn’t have any laws. It would simply be survival of the fittest, but that isn’t who we are. We do make laws for the public good. South Dakotans care for one another.
This isn’t a liberty issue or a revenue issue, this is a life issue [Speaker Steven Haugaard, Con Statement to Amendment B, Secretary of State’s Official Ballot Question Pamphlet, 2020].
Speaker Haugaard was writing about sports betting. But his statements apply equally to how we ought to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
We need to respect and care for our fellow man by wearing masks and avoiding crowds to prevent spreading covid-19.
We care for each other by making laws for the public good. Amidst this pandemic, such caring laws include mask mandates, restrictions on bar and restaurant capacity, and emergency funding for schools to support increased K-12 staff and robust online learning.
The liberty and revenue we give up wearing a mask is minimal. The liberty and revenue we give up in social distancing are a significant sacrifice, but we lose much more liberty and revenue if we lazily surrender to “herd immunity” and if we let the pandemic make everyone sick, disable or kill millions, and bring the economy and civic life and normal hospital operations to a halt. Coronavirus is a life issue; preventing the spread of coronavirus saves lives and provides the only safe path toward resuming our enjoyment of liberty and economic prosperity.
If Speaker Haugaard would make the same speech about coronavirus that he makes about sports betting, we could trust that his cry of “Life!” is a true statement of principle, not just a convenient rallying slogan for one ballot question campaign.
“The pandemic has taught us that we need to respect and care for our fellow man.”
One needs a pandemic to learn this?
From SC Journal….
Local news
Nearly 1,900 people tested positive for COVID in Woodbury County in last 30 days
8 hrs ago
The county’s death toll jumped by 33 during the last 30 days, to a total of 96, meaning that nearly 1 out of 3 COVID-19 deaths in the county occurred in the last month.
Youse guys better do something fast. The “Big Muddy” and the Big Sioux rivers aren’t much of a preventive barrier between you and Woodbury county.
I keep wondering if there is anyone in SD whose own illness would make Kristi reconsider Trump’s insane policies. And I can’t think of anyone. It feels like this place is an empty livestock sale barn after the bidding is over. We are her “herd”, and now comes immunity or slaughter.
Chris, the analogy is apt. We are her herd, her livestock, her natural resource to consume as she desires, to feed her appetite for attention and power.
SX, yes, you’d think Haugaard and the rest of us would have figured that lesson out prior to the pandemic. But the pandemic seems to be reversing that learning for some Republicans.
The same is true of their “liberty!” cries. They’re focused on what’s most comfortable and pleasing for themselves. Members of a real “pro life” party would be other focused and willing to make some sacrifices of personal comfort and ease.
The GOP, its leadership and much of its followership is a shameful sham.
George Conway Retweeted
@Politics_Polls
11h
#Latest
@TheEconomist
Forecast:
Chance of winning the electoral college:
Biden 95%
Trump 5%
Chance of winning the most votes:
Biden >99%
Trump <1%
Estimated electoral college votes:
Biden 350
Trump 188
So what world are Republicans living in?
@Slate
1h
On the night Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed, [as newest Justice, second newest Justice] Kavanaugh wrote an opinion questioning if the votes should even be counted.
drumpf can’t win without cheating, but, never put anything past him. I consider the race neck and neck or slightly in favor of drumpf since wingnuts have gamed the system and the courts sharply in their favor.
I hope Biden wins a landslide and Dems get a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.
Everything Mike said.
Election is over…
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/523013-white-house-science-office-says-trump-ended-covid-pandemic-as-us-hits
No moar masks or distancing. It is so over.
I’d like to amend what I said earlier and ask for a furnace that works everyday, all day and night. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!1