Gov. Tate Reeves bemoaned
the politicization of COVID-19 coronavirus last week, reported Mississippi
Today. He complained that there are “certain groups that want to politicize
everything.”
Hmmm. To whom was the
governor addressing his concern?
The “certain group” most
politicizing the pandemic is led by his political hero, President Donald Trump.
News reports aplenty, starting back in March, attest to that. Here are some.
“Since imploring his
opponents not to politicize coronavirus, Trump has repeatedly politicized it” –
Washington Post on March 3.
“Trump Is Politicizing the
Pandemic. Governors Can Fight Back.” – NY Times on April 2.
“Experts Worry About
Dangerous Trend Of Trump Politicizing Scientific Results In Midst Of Pandemic” –
Kaiser Health News (a publication of the Kaiser Family Foundation) on May 22.
“How President Trump
Politicized School Reopenings” – Time on July 9.
“Experts Warn Trump
Administration is 'Politicizing' Pandemic Data,” – HealthLeaders.com on July 15.
“After politicizing
pandemic, Trump says Biden 'playing politics' on COVID-19” – NBCNews on August
13.
“CDC was pressured 'from
the top down' to change coronavirus testing guidance, official says” – CNN on August
27.
If by some chance the
governor was addressing his remarks to the president, Trump would do well to
listen.
“We are in the middle of a
pandemic,” Reeves continued. “And what we are trying to do is encourage
Mississippians to do the right things based on data, based on evidence, based
on the best advice we get from our experts.”
Unlike Trump, who has now
distanced himself from his top health experts, Reeves has consistently stayed
closed to his. While not as fast or comprehensive as state health officer Dr.
Thomas Dobbs might have wished, Reeves has implemented his recommendations for
a statewide mask mandate, social distancing, targeted shutdowns, and other
protective provisions to slow down virus contagion.
Consequently, Mississippi
has recently seen a much better and faster improvement in case numbers and
related deaths than the U.S. as a whole. Monday Sept. 7, the state reported no
coronavirus deaths for the first time since late March.
Meanwhile, Dobbs felt the
need to take issue with another Trump virus-related politicization.
In May, Business Insider
and other news outlets reported that Trump and members of the White House's
coronavirus task force were putting pressure on the CDC to alter how it counts
virus deaths. Then, two weeks ago the CDC issued updated guidance on virus
related deaths, stating coronavirus was the sole cause of death on only 6% of
virus-related death certificates.
Dobbs and several coroners
told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal the CDC numbers misrepresented
actual virus death rates.
They pointed out that very
few death certificates ever list a “sole” death cause. Instead, they show a
primary cause of death plus one or more underlying contributing conditions such
as hypertension, diabetes, or pneumonia.
“I have never filled out a
death certificate – and I’ve done it for years until recently – where I just put
one thing,” Dobbs said. Lee County coroner Carolyn Green and Monroe County
coroner Alan Gurley agreed.
Former top Trump health
expert Dr. Andrew Fauci agreed too, saying so on Good Morning America.
“Keep your mouth free of perversity” – Proverbs
4: 24
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson
30 comments:
Wow just when I have Hope Bill Crawford may be actually getting it. He writes this gibberish.
Of course President Trump politicizes everything. He has an election coming up, and because everything is always about him, everything is currently about his re-election. It's as predictable as night following day. I don't think we could reasonably expect anything else.
I've been pleasantly surprised by Governor Reeves so far, although to my knowledge we don't have mail-in voting beyond our normal absentee system. When it comes to down either taking a stand or kissing his party's ass, it seems that Reeve's will pucker-up every time.
What an idiot. democrats are saying Trump killed 200,000 people. But this moron says Trump is politicizing it. then he backs that up with the nyt, the washington post, cnn and nbc, etc., all known for their unbiased reporting.
We need much tighter controls on voting, not fewer controls. Not only showing voter ID but also machine reading the ID cards as requiring validation PINs. The real election fraud is a basic tactic of the Democrat party.
12:39 - Putting Reeves and mail in voting together in the same comment, and claiming that Reeves (by the way, no apostrophe) is puckering up as to that issue is pure bullcrap. Mail in voting is a concept of the Nancy Pelosi and AOC Democrats and you are correct - we in Mississippi have been smart enough to keep our voting system with some integrity. Since you preference your comment about mail-in voting with "to my knowledge" I would bet you have very little knowledge of exactly what mail-in voting is, what it entails, and its propensity to fraud. Thankfully nobody yet has even proposed the idea of mail-in voting for Mississippi including even the most liberal of the members of the legislature (Bryan, Blount, and none of the caucus.)
Excusing elected officials for "politicizing everything" is awful.
We elected people to act in our best interests especially in a crisis or disaster EVEN while running for office! They are to LEAD not give in to ridiculous demands.
I never elected anyone in hopes that they lie to me or play me for a fool or coddle me like a two year old having a tantrum.
Reeves has probably split the difference as best he could given Mississippi's love for all things Trump, but frankly, I think that's at best Quixotic and could prove to be a cowardly history come fall and winter. Appeasement is what we used to call it.
I think sometimes you have to risk the disapproval of others to do the right thing especially when lives are at stake.
When did truth and facts and the best available information stop being the basis of good decision making?
When did popularity become more important than duty, honor and integrity?
Yeah the liberal governors and mayors of America are not politizing the disease. Nor do they ever smear people they don't like. Does the left Ever have a damn clue about the real world. They march to Coumo and Lumumbas cadence.
What a crock. Accuse someone of politicizing something with quotes from the Washington Post, the NY Times and CNN?
R-i-g-h-t . . . because they're SOOO objective and never politicize ANYTHING
How will you guys react when Trump loses and his failure on the Coronavirus is cited as the number one reason he loses.
Of course Donald Trump has politicized the virus crisis, the post office, sports, hamburgers, hotdogs...everything. So does Pelosi,so does Sanders, so does Biden, so does McConnell etc. Neither party will allow anything to fall to the benefit of the other party or the other candidate. They will also not allow the other party to escape blame for anything bad. Anything. It's non-stop and it's bi-partisan. Acting as if one side doesn't do it means you are blind as a bat or an unpaid staffer.
12:39 sez: "It's as predictable as night following day. I don't think we could reasonably expect anything else."
Leave it to a damned liberal! Anybody with walkin' around sense knows DAY follows NIGHT!
Good work, Bill! Now do one on the Senate Democrats voting against the pandemic relief bill last week. No politics there I’m sure.
Never let a good crisis go to waste!
To "no apostrophe" at 1:06 p.m.: As you wrote "you preference your comment," I assume you are no stranger to typographical errors. But, since you were a smart-ass about it, I figured I'd point out yours.
FYI, I prefaced my comment with "to my knowledge" to indicate that I don't presume to have all the answers, though at this point in time I don't believe Mississippi has broadened it system for voting by mail (absentee voting). I've never done it, but I believe it requires a sworn statement that one will be out of town on election day.
12:39
Wishy washy Tater SQUAT, he'll keep Mississippi last again!
I would rather scan Sid's weekly essays for any relevant observations than Crawford's drivel.
12:38 hit the target.
" Wow just when I have Hope Bill Crawford may be actually getting it. He writes this gibberish."
I agree 100 %.
He lost me when every source he quoted is extremely liberal. They are just as much at fault for politicizing the situation. WP, NYT, MSNBC, and CNN are just about as far from unbiased journalism as Fox News is. I think Mr. Crawford's confirmation bias is showing through.
KF, please replace this blithering idiot with Bloom County!
RAGE
"How will you guys react when Trump loses and his failure on the Coronavirus is cited as the number one reason he loses."
Of course we won't have that to deal with, but, it's interesting that you use the word 'cited'. Reminds me of the times you guys 'cited' reasons for Al and Hillary's losses.
If you tell a lie enough times, people will believe it’s the truth. Goebbels would be proud.
4:58: Trump is going down because he knowingly lied to the American people because he wanted to keep the pre-C-19 economy as long as possible to get re-elected and then berated the Northeast Governors who shut down to deal with the virus. Thank God most people in this nation still follow the virtues of honor, duty, country, unlike the JJ commenters here who are ready to follow the Trump cult into the final bunker. See the movie Downfalll.
Bill Crawford, this is a really dumb take, even for you. Tate was most likely referring to Robert Foster, who has been calling out Tate for months regarding the mask mandates and other restrictions. But far be it from you to actually think before you write.
To say Mississippi and “voting integrity” in the same sentence is laughable at best.
A previous commenter wrote: "The real election fraud is a basic tactic of the Democrat party."
You are so correct on this, especially southern democrats throughout the history of this state and the rest of the southeast. Those laws and intimidation tactics through the state's history were only some of the earlier forms of election fraud.
1:06 pm Sunday
I hate to break the news but we have mail in voting and for other than the " absentee" excuse.
Mail in voting is neither a liberal or a conservative idea. Both parties have ( until Trump) supported it in various forms.
All mail-in voters everywhere must be REGISTERED voters already on the rolls.
Only 6 States have " no excuse" mail in voting and their fraud rate is .00001%.
Of all our Constitutional Rights, the right to vote is by far the most important and it astounds me that any conservative would want to weaken that right and make it harder not easier for a CITIZEN to vote!
Of all the cockamamie issues counting on ignorance, this is definitely in the top 5.
READ the voting LAWS and regulations of States. And, pray that we don't, like Russia have central government controlling our right to vote!
In response to the incorrect information posted at 11:35 a.m., below is an excerpt from the Mississippi Secretary of State Voter Information Guide, with a link. This is currently the only way to vote by mail in Mississippi.
"Some registered voters are eligible to vote by an absentee ballot because of age, health, work demands, temporary relocation for educational purposes, or their affiliation with the U.S. Armed Forces. Please check with your Circuit or
Municipal Clerk to determine if you are entitled to vote by an absentee ballot and to learn the procedures for doing so."
https://www.sos.ms.gov/elections-voting/documents/voterinformationguide.pdf
Do any of you think a notary really cares, they sign anything for a few bucks.
2:07: This is not 11:35 am, but please note that in MS anyone age 65 or older can get an absentee ballot, no questions other than that asked. Also, it it should be the right of every Mississippian to ask for a mail-in ballot and will be once this State turns purple (which will make some red in the face).
I am going to the clerk's office as soon as absentee ballots are available, no one is even going to question my reason for voting absentee.
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