It is time for these Reckless and Moronic Know Nothing Republicans to Stop Playing COVID 19 Roulette with Children’s Lives

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There is no shortage of the reckless and the moronic in the present incarnation of the Arizona Republican Party.

Earlier this month, you had Wendy No Flight Mask at High Altitude Rogers equating getting the COVID 19 vaccine with the Mark of the Beast.

 

Just when most readers thought that tweet was moronic, reckless, and a new low, now there is  Know-Nothing  Party Chairperson Kelli I did steal that election Ward agreeing that people being required to have a vaccine passport is the same as Jews having to wear the Star of David during the Holocaust.

Is she for real? This is absurd that you would compare supplying proof of being vaccinated (like most public schools require) to the mass murder of approximately six million people (12 million if you count the non-Jews as well.)

Of course, these two comments pale in comparison to the concerted effort by certain Republican state legislators led by Jake from Troll Farm Hoffman and others like the aforementioned Wendy Rogers to get Governor Doug Ducey to financially penalize certain public schools because they adopted measures like mandating mask-wearing to save children from becoming ill or dying from the Coronavirus.

Fortunately, the politically cowardly Mr. Ducey, who is enabling his base by not allowing all schools to institute mask and/or vaccine mandates, is not yet following the threats of fellow Republican Governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Texas’s Greg Abbott in threatening to defund the schools that require the mask-wearing.

The Republicans that signed that letter also want, like some of their colleagues across the country, want Mr. Ducey to provide emergency Empowerment Scholarship vouchers for families whose students go to districts that require masks.

Maybe Ducey could do that and make it a requirement that these new voucher recipients go to Brophy College Prep. That is where Ducey’s children went and that school requires both mask-wearing and proof of vaccination.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, a consistent supporter of mask-wearing in schools and COVID 19 vaccines released another appeal for common sense in a social media post on August 12, stating:

“No parent should have to fear for the safety of their child at school. That’s why universal masking is critical in helping protect all students, especially our most vulnerable, who are just as deserving of safe learning environments.”

Commenting on the Republican death wish for their constituents and Ducey’s lame-mixed response, Arizona Legislative District 18 Representative Mitzi Epstein relayed:

“Governor Ducey and Republican Legislative leaders chose to protect their Republican-only budget instead of protecting the lives and health of children. They allowed extremists in their political party and extremists elected to the legislature to add the mask ban to the budget bill.

On the one hand, their lack of compassion for children is appalling. On the other hand, Governor Ducey did say that he opposed punitive measures against teachers. When his party flew a badly-written bill up the flag pole it included a $5,000 fine on teachers. Gov. Ducey spoke up against penalizing teachers, and then the wording was changed to charge $5,000 to the school.

I do not think that the entire Republican Caucus wants to penalize schools. Only 26 of 47 legislators signed that letter to the governor. I believe there are Republican legislators who recognize that keeping children safe is paramount. In the budget bills, the early language from Republican Leaders about masks merely dictated that mask mandates were the purview of local schools, and it disallowed a statewide mandate. That makes sense because local rates of spread should be considered when taking precautions for public health.

The ban on mask mandates in K12 schools does not make any sense, and it is dangerous to the lives of our children. Schools that instituted mask mandates at the local level took action to protect children.”

Moving Forward with Protecting Children.

This week, there have been other developments in the school mask-wearing saga.

A judge heard arguments yesterday (August 13, 2021) on the case involving the  Phoenix Union High School mask-wearing requirement. According to reporting from NPR, the judge, Randall Warner, seemed to agree that the law doing away with mask-wearing requirements does not go into effect until September 29, 2021. A ruling will be probably be issued next week.

All three of Arizona’s major public universities (ASU, U of A, NAU) have mandated mask-wearing in classrooms and large indoor gatherings.

Please click here to see which districts require the wearing of masks.

It is time for these reckless and moronic Know Nothing Republicans to stop playing COVID 19 roulette with children’s lives.

They should also stop encouraging those savages that are spending their time harassing heroic educators and medical professionals at school board meetings like the recent one in Tennessee. These educators and medical professionals are only committed to doing what is best for children. They do not deserve to be harassed or threatened for that.

No one should claim they have the freedom to not wear a mask or not receive a vaccination and spread the potentially deadly Coronavirus to either children or adults.

These people have to think about the safety of others.

Wear a mask.

Get the vaccine if you have not already done so.