Ready to bite some ankles (crazybastardscross.blogspot.com).
by Steve Timmer
Mar 26, 2020, 1:30 PM

Republicans stand ready

As everyone — I hope — knows, Governor Walz issued a “shelter at home” order yesterday. And the existing Republican river of bile went from knee deep to hip deep. A couple of examples:

Gazelka also remarked that it was his job to explain the economy to the governor.

The insurance agent from East Gull Lake stands ready to lecture the governor, Myron Frans, Dr. Laura Kalambokidis, the state’s economist, the rest of MMB, Jan Malcolm, the Commissioner of the Department of Health, the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, DEED, and undoubtedly others, on the economy.

It’s a good thing you’re there, Paul, I am sure that economic considerations would have never crossed these people’s minds.

Jennifer Carnahan and Paul Gazelka don’t have an alternate plan, either. They’re just ankle biting. But some people have plans. There’s Trump’s plan for Easter virus communion. And there’s Jason Lewis’s plan.

Jason’s plan is, one hardly needs to say, as ill-informed at Donald Trump’s.

Paul Gazelka isn’t just standing by to bite some ankles, though; he’s helping the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, hospital association and insurance federation to prevent workers compensation claims for workers who get sick.

According to Paul Gazelka, I guess, if first responders, nurses, and doctors, and grocery store employees get COVID-19, there is no proof they got it at work.

This is all stunningly immoral and anti-science. It runs contrary to the advice of the nation’s best epidemiologists. And it won’t work, either. The economy isn’t going to recover until we recover from the contagion, and people recover some confidence. Trump and Lewis’ plans won’t do that. Places that have been the most successful have a period of quarantine or shelter in place.

 

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