Sunday, May 31, 2020

Bill Crawford: Common Sense Needed

As the COVID-19 virus and behavior restrictions linger, frustrations grow, spawning irresponsible reactions by some.

An angry man spewed a glob of spit onto the mask of a Presbyterian minister out shopping in Jackson. In Michigan a man wiped his nose and mouth on a store clerk's shirt when he was told to wear a mask. Also in Michigan a security guard was killed after telling a woman to leave a store because she was not wearing a mask. In Washington a customer and employee had an altercation when the customer insisted, “I'm not doing it because I woke up in a free country.”


Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, Ronald Reagan speechwriter, and weekly columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan has called for better behavior. “A mask isn’t a sign of submission as some idiots claim,” she wrote. “It’s a sign of respect, responsibility and economic encouragement. It says, ‘I’ll do my small part.’

Gov. Tate Reeves has called on Mississippians to wear face masks in public. “Use common sense,” he said. “Let's do the little things for the next few days and weeks and it will go a long ways to help ourselves and our fellow Mississippians."

Dr. David Aronoff, director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine, offers this. “We're all hopeful that this pandemic disappears. Then we can stop doing as much risk mitigation. But for now, we really depend on the trust and kindness of others to protect our wellbeing. And that's part of being an American."

Hmmm.

Many seem willing to use common sense and do their part. But that trust and kindness thing seems beyond those who see the whole pandemic thing as a hoax and those who resent that their “freedoms” are being infringed upon.

Thomas Friedman is another Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. In a New York Times column he lamented that “we’ve let ourselves be dumb-as-we-wanna-be for so many years” that we struggle in a crisis requiring dutiful behavior. He quoted a 75-year-old retiree from Minnesota, who said, “And what are we now? We’re mean. We’re selfish. We’re stubborn and sometimes even incompetent.”

Friedman sees President Donald Trump egging on this dissidence. “At a time when we need high social trust in order to have a coordinated response at home, Trump’s political strategy of dividing us and playing everything both ways — even telling people both to rise up against their governors and to lock down according to his guidelines — is the opposite of the ‘all in this together’ approach we need to win this battle,” wrote Friedman.

A friend reading Jon Meacham’s “Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship” commented on the two leaders’ inspiring and uplifting discourse during their worldwide crisis and lamented Trump’s inability (unwillingness?) to do the same.

Gov. Reeves said Mississippians “still believe in personal responsibility” which aligns with Noonan’s call for respect and responsibility.

“People need hope,” said Noonan, what Roosevelt and Churchill provided, not confusion, contradiction, and dissension.

“Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” – Hebrews 3:13.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being American means you have the right to "Just Not Give A Damn". Time will tell if this is some God Given Right or a fatal flaw which will ultimately spell the demise of this country. I think this pandemic is a warning. Will we pay heed?

Anonymous said...

The dumbing down of this country has gone about as far as it can. Now we'll see where everything shakes out. I'm afraid there will have to be bloodshed before it's over.

Barry Goldwater said...

The liberals hiding in conservative clothes, also known as RINOS and never Trumpers, continue to rant, slander, and shake their heads at isolated incidents while associating and attributing this behavior to Trump. They never fail to point out the shortcomings of Trump, or those they see as his followers, all the while turning a blind eye to the double standard of the leaders, and followers, of the other party. If Crawford, likewise the RINOS and never Trumpers, were as intellectually endowed, as they would like for others to believe, they would ask the question as to how a man with all of Trump's shortcomings came to be in his position.

Anonymous said...

Covidiots

Anonymous said...

I'm not as worried about Covid as I am the riots and demonstrations going on. In my feeble mind, Covid is something, as an individual, you have some form of control over.....angry rioters burning your town down not so much.

Anonymous said...

More formulaic Crawford garbage.

Anonymous said...

I really think Crawford-19 is much worse than the Chinese virus.

Anonymous said...

Is it really that tyrannical to ask the public to wear a mask for a while? It helps and could cut the transmission rate down close to zero.

Anonymous said...

How long before masks are like driving while cell phoning in this state? $25 ticket. And Tater alone will decide where that pool of money goes.

Anonymous said...

Barry Goldwater, I didn't have to ask how we came to be here. I feared this day would come when, after 9/11 a brief shining moment of unity and silence from those who make a living or who seek power by fermenting anger, fear and distrust, started taking to the airways and social media again.

Some of us saw where the Lee Atwaters and Carl Roves would inevitably take us.

Some of us conservatives saw where politicizing the judicial system would take us. Some of us understood that capitalism is about government level playing field for competition, not creating monopolies, artificial demands, deliberate limiting of supplies,gutting competition and unfair advantages. Capitalism requires that inferior or antiquated businesses fail and be replaced.

None of the above is consistent with conservatism. And, some of us have enough faith in the principles of conservatism not to resort to lying and fearmongering and hate.

The latter is a power grab and that you believe it's by those who will somehow turn into benevolent leaders is foolish to the extreme.

YOU have brought us to this terrible place. YOU with your inability to think about what good government is or isn't. Government, by definition is a group endeavor...not every man for himself. And, without a functioning government , all you get is chaos.

You aren't a student of history. Our Revolution ended unusually well because it was lead by those with vision of what good government would be. In France, they got Napoleon after " every man for himself didn't go well. In Russia, they got Stalin after those with no ability to govern couldn't govern. Spain got Franco. In China, they had no clue what Mao would do until they all " obeyed".

And, you should know the Civil War didn't get anyone what they thought they were fighting for if it's brought us to this place in time.

And, while it's true our soldiers that died believed in " freedom", they also believed in their personal obligation to something bigger than themselves. They didn't expect you to abuse free speech with lies or use guns to intimidate and frighten rather than protect or that those serving would forget service and remember only self-interest.
Your notion of freedom is impossible because it includes the freedom to harm others with your ignorance and irresponsibility.



Anonymous said...

6:54 pm Congratulations !That may be the dumbest attempt at a play on words I've ever read.

Crawford can't literally kill you or maim you or cause others to die. Indeed, he's trying to knock some sense into you with words. I think YOU need a two by four.



Barry Goldwater said...

So, at 9:44, you are a liberal or a hypocrite, both one and the same. Projection is your strongest psychosis. You know nothing about me, especially my level of knowledge, or education. You automatically assume that I participate in, or support, the actions, or deeds that you demonized. Once again, you don't know me. I get it, you feel the need to come to the defense of Crawford, good for you. That means that you are as out of touch with reality as he is. Both of you are too ignorant to ask the question. The simple question of how Trump came to be in the position he is in. You had a laundry list of deeds and actions, more the incoherent ramblings of a demented mind, that you somehow feel caused the current events. In your zeal to put me in my place, whatever place that is, you ranged from the founding of the U.S. to Mao Zedong. Hitting almost every despot in between, leaving only Hitler out. The fact you associate Trump with all those despot leaders, reveals your liberal leanings. You are quick with a list of wrong actions and deeds, but nowhere in your ramblings did I see you with any solutions. It's a tired saying, but a true one, if you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem. The solution is intertwined with the question, that you aren't intelligent to ask. Wise up.

Anonymous said...

@Barry Goldwater,

You're a pawn in the game. We all are pawns of the 1% until we topple the powers that be. You left and right wing idiots continue to do what those at the top want you to do. We six and seven figure earners are simply the sergeants and lieutenants that command the armies of poor and working poor to keep them from revolting against the elite. F*ck Democrats and Republicans, because neither one is for the American people. The controllers of those parties are for their fortunes and their friends' fortunes.

Yes, I'm a conspiracy theorist, and I play one on tv, too.

Anonymous said...

Regardless of whether or not a particular column makes any sense, Bill seems to think the thugs or troublemakers are reading it. But I think the only folks reading are those who want to make fun of him (which is EASY), or other nonworking (I don't mean unemployed; I mean not producing a good or service in demand in a free economy) liberals who want to cite his inexperienced opinion as support for their own inexperienced opinions.

Barry Goldwater said...

Once again, you don't know me. Not where I have been, the things I have done, the people I have known, even the information I have. I have no desire to impress you, but it seems you seek to impress me. You use the weakest or least of possessions to make your boast, money. Money doesn't make anyone anything. For the record, I was earning the money you mentioned probably before you were born. Carry on in your delusion, please pardon my intrusion. Carry on in your fight, don't let me dampen your delight. Our conversation I must end, too bad you couldn't hear my friend. The question still remains. How did Trump get to where he is at?

Anonymous said...

It's not a conspiracy to believe the wealthy are powerful and want to stay that way. Democrats and Republicans serve the same master - and it ain't us. They play fight to keep us occupied. They'll switch sides soon and Democrats will take control and guess what? Income disparity will continue to rise, as it has since the 70s. When the tried and true D vs. R fight doesn't distract your attention enough, they will blame minorities, or immigrants, or racists, or rural American, or big city dwellers, or gays, or white men, or foreign governments, or different religions, or different forms of government, etc., etc. for all your problems, and the vast majority of Americans will eat it up. And nothing will change. If you want to radically transform America, ignore all of the above - change the tax code.



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