Joe Biden has gone on the record now opposing the moves announced yesterday by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves of reopening everything and ending the mask mandate.
But Biden doesn’t just call it a bad idea. He insults both governors, suggesting that they are ‘neanderthals’ or something:
NEW: President Biden calls Texas and Mississippi decisions to end mask mandates “a big mistake" and criticizes what he views as “Neanderthal thinking” after CDC warned against complacency in the face of emerging coronavirus variants on Monday. pic.twitter.com/Mmdln3gNG6
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 3, 2021
Since both governors are white Republicans, no one in the media will care enough to make a big deal about it.
But even more so, these governors didn’t just make these decisions willy nilly. In both states their COVID numbers are down and the whole reason for the lockdowns, mask mandates and social distancing in the first place were to protect our emergency health resources. If hospitalizations and cases are down dramatically, then why not make the attempt back to normalcy. People who believe in wearing masks can still choose to wear masks and no one is going to stop them. And people who like to use hand sanitizer when they are out and about can continue to do that to protect themselves and no one will care.
If the critics are right and the numbers start to spike again, the governor can reissue a mask mandate and encourage social distancing. But for the sake of ending this pandemic it’s time for someone to take the lead, especially in places where springtime temps are already beginning to set in. Winter is almost over, which is the worst time for COVID.
In related news…
CNN pundit suggest the lesson from COVID might be that we should mask up and social distance ourselves every winter so fewer people get the flu:
pic.twitter.com/hRGpfIOvZx— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) March 3, 2021