Gov. Lee’s hope isn’t a substitute for leadership
Criticism is a snap. Sitting up here in the cheap seats telling the folks in the arena how to act. It’s like watching my wife play tennis. Suddenly, I’m John Mcenroe.
So I’ll begin by saying I thought Gov. Bill Lee made a pretty good speech in his State of the State Address earlier this month. And that the state of our state is surprisingly good, given this damnable virus. But I’m also going to point out what wasn’t in the speech but should have been if we’re to have any sort of happy ending to this American story.
Credit for fiscal responsibility and civics education
First, the positives. I like how the governor is keeping us on a responsible fiscal path. Former governors Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam started it, but Lee has continued to keep our state in the black. How many other states can boast of a $2 billion fund balance during a pandemic? And on the single most important issue facing any state government — education — the governor has finally stopped talking about things that don’t work (vouchers) and focusing on things that will (phonics, career-technical education, higher teacher pay). As a former superintendent, I can tell you that it’s not that our brightest kids can’t get into Harvard. They can. It’s that half of the rest can’t read.
Bravo, too, for the emphasis on civics education. We’ve been so worried about catching kids up in reading and math that we neglected to teach them how to live together across our vast political, racial and religious differences. To explain that America isn’t just a bunch of competing tribes but a “people” united by a common commitment to the principles and ideals set forth in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Boy, did we need some of that on Jan. 6.
Which leads me to the big stuff. The things that didn’t make it onto the governor’s radar screen but should have.
Mask mandate needed
The governor deserves praise for doubling down on COVID-19 testing and purchasing enough masks for everybody in the state, but buying masks without ordering their use is like putting seatbelts in cars and simply hoping that people will buckle up. Or changing all the speed limits to advisory only. THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS! When that happens, you tell people what to do.
Failure to stand up to Trump inexcusable
Big issue #2: our democracy. Not only did Lee fail to call out our former president on his attempt to steal the 2020 election, he allowed his attorney general to drag our state into a bogus lawsuit at the Supreme Court challenging the results of that election in four sovereign states. States where Lee did not like the result. Read, where Donald Trump lost.
Can you imagine if New York had challenged the results of the 2020 election here in Tennessee? We’d have declared war on them. I’m sorry, but failing to stand up to the most serious assault on American democracy since the Civil War dwarfs everything else this governor has accomplished.
But how about the future? Lee says we should be “hopeful.” I like hope. I’m full of it. But hope is no substitute for leadership. And hoping you’ll win the lottery won’t earn you a dime.
Climate change
The single biggest challenge facing our state, our nation and our world is that our planet is getting hotter at an alarming rate. Faster than even scientists feared. The average annual temperature in Nashville during the 1960s was 69 degrees. Today it is more than 71. Two more degrees could be catastrophic. More fires, stronger storms, deeper floods, longer droughts. The Earth is on fire, and our dear governor — good Christian that he is — did not say a word about it in his address. Not a single idea about how to mitigate the gathering apocalypse.
Do you know what the world’s scientists are talking about today? Blocking the sun. BLOCKING the sun! Turning that beautiful blue sky a dull shade of gray. While Lee brags about introducing legislation to let Tennesseans carry more guns into more places.
Our Buddhist friends tell us that when the moment arrives, a leader will arise. The rest of us better start praying that they’re right.
Buzz Thomas is a retired minister, attorney and a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors.