LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Local noise-makers set to fight culture war

I see that some local noisemakers are going to put on their MAGA hats and make some culture war noise.

They will try to urge the City Council to put out some sort of MAGA proclamation urging premature opening so COIVD-19 can spread more widely. I wish to use this space to urge the Council to “stick to its knitting” and not try to undermine the State of California distancing orders.

President Trump held MAGA rallies and golfed and claimed the cases of COVID-19 would “soon go to zero.” Then he tried to claim he had the authority to substitute his bad judgement for that of the States and their Governors. He tweeted, “For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect .... . It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!” Nothing happened, of course.

The U.S. Constitution is not a mutual suicide pact. Economics researchers at the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and University of Alabama found that areas without any of 4 common social distancing policies had 35 times more cases of COVID-19 infections (https://bit. ly/2tet6ou).

So it is on this basis that I am grateful for meaningful action to distance from the State of California. I contrast this with the denialism of the Trump Administration that has been well documented elsewhere. I urge our local Council to focus on fixing streets and providing emergency response services in the challenging times to come rather to get sucked into the culture war noise of a failed President. Len Andrews Porterville