Linked List: July 16, 2020

Thursday, 16 July 2020

‘The Science Should Not Stand in the Way of This.’ ★

The New York Times:

Several large school districts — including in Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco — said this week that they would open the academic year with online classes, bucking pressure from President Trump and his administration to get students back into classrooms.

Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said Thursday that Mr. Trump still wants to see schools reopen. “When he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school,” she said. “The science should not stand in the way of this.”

Ms. McEnany then referenced data published in JAMA Pediatrics, a respected medical journal published by the American Medical Association, that indicated the risk of children contracting the coronavirus was low compared with seasonal influenza.

Trump and McEnany are really stupid. Trump says “Put your children at risk to make me look good”; voters think “Screw this guy, and screw his party, too.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Sues Atlanta Mayor Over City’s Face Mask Mandate ★

NBC News:

Georgia’s governor on Thursday sued Atlanta’s mayor over that city’s mask law, a day after the governor banned local governments from requiring the coverings that health experts say help to stop the spread of COVID-19. […]

Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, and members of Atlanta’s City Council. The lawsuit argues that Bottoms exceeded her authority in issuing coronavirus-related orders that are more restrictive than the state’s orders.

Kemp issued his executive order, which banned more than a dozen local governments from mandating that masks be worn in public, on Wednesday. A spokesman for Atlanta’s mayor had said that the mayor’s order remained in effect, that the city would be guided by data and science, and that “masks save lives.”

Brian Kemp is really stupid, and let’s not mince words, evil.

In Separate Rallies, Utahns Protest Mask Mandate and Demand in-Person Classes ★

Courtney Tanner, reporting for the Salt Lake Tribune:

As she walked up to the podium to speak, one of the moms grabbed a face mask and spit her gum out into it. “It’s garbage,” she shrugged, wadding it up. “It doesn’t work anyway. Not for me and not for my kids.”

A dad who spoke after her said he, too, doesn’t think the masks are effective, and said he’s pulling his kids out of school this fall if the state doesn’t lift its mandate requiring all K-12 students to wear a face covering. Another mother carried her 4-year-old son in her arms, noting there’s no way he would keep one on in his kindergarten class — but she thinks they’re stupid anyway, regardless of age.

Parent after parent followed at the Utah County commission meeting Wednesday afternoon, objecting for more than two hours to having their kids in masks even as counts of the virus continue to climb across the state, where there are more than 30,000 confirmed cases.

The first photo — a meeting of well over 100 people packed elbow to elbow in a room — is startling. These people are incoherently angry, and that’s striking. But the most salient fact — which straight news reporting won’t just come out and state — is that they are really, really stupid.