Gov. Lee chooses politics over leadership in COVID-19 response
So, the angry rabble of anti-maskers screamed loudly at Williamson County’s board of education in that Franklin meeting room. Even so, the majority hung tough and wisely chose common sense over nonsense.
By Monday, though, it was Gov. Bill Lee who blinked.
That executive order he issued on Monday – allowing Tennessee families to “opt out” of any local requirements for students to wear protective face-coverings in schools – doubtless pleased some, but not me.
“Gutting” was the word The New York Times used on Tuesday morning. Clearly, the tasks of school leaders and local health authorities just got tougher.
That job was already tough enough, given the inordinate fear of both face-covering (it’s just a mask, folks) and all the alleged government conspiracies that have been floating among the gullible.
School board members should be thanked, not threatened
A dozen local school boards across Tennessee had kept their wits about them, choosing medical advice and common-sense, to protect the health of children too young to be vaccinated against the ravages of a killing virus.
Local school board members have not had an easy go of it these past weeks, considering the taunts, threats and intimidation hurled at them. As harsh as the scene was inside the Franklin board room, the recorded images outside were frightening.
As cars exited the parking lot, the main takeaway quote was, “We know where you live!”
But those board members – and the public health authorities they have relied upon – should be thanked, not threatened. Their authority should be respected not gutted by a governor with too narrow a definition of freedom.
What motivates a governor to “gut” the guidance of local school leaders?
Some of this acrobatic over-reaching at the state capitol is clearly political. Lee’s re-election advisers have spotted a useful “wedge issue” over masks among voters ahead of his 2022 reelection.
Governor worries about primary challenge from the right wing
By last weekend, Lee had collected a coveted prize among such Republicans – Donald Trump’s personal endorsement. This is doubly valuable, as far as it goes, considering how Lee watches what other GOP governors are doing, especially Ron Desantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas. Both issued comparable opt-out order just this month.
Also, word at the capitol is that Lee’s advisors especially worry that the conservative Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles may challenge their boss in a Republican primary here. In this oddball environment, a primary challenge might also come from the legislature.
Good for them all. But all this political posturing has left Tennessee school parents trodding a dark road, and it’s not about anything so far away as an election in 2022 or 2024. It’s about the stakes of survival right now in a pandemic.
Worried parents of vulnerable kids are left scratching their heads over how the virus may spread in classrooms with fewer masks, and what’s best for any of them to do about that: The dynamics of the virus haven’t changed, only the endless roiling of politics.
Citizens should remember this week when they vote in 2022
I have written before in this space, and I’ll say it again: Next year, when Tennessee elections come around again, and the rest of us get to have our say, we should all vote with a clear memory of what went down last week and why.
We are being reminded, in these anxious days ofanger and wrong-headed nonsense, what public health requires of everybody, and of what competent leaders actually do under pressure.
It’s hard work and takes courage. The job of a real leader is not just to kiss babies, cut ribbons, and look good. It’s to make well-informed, factbased choices for citizens across your jurisdiction – not the fearful, defensive, narrow-gauged path that Lee took us down on Monday.
Whether sitting incumbents remember or not, the best kind of politics is to do the right thing for the most people, not merely to get safely past your next election.
Keel Hunt is a columnist and author of three books on Tennessee politics and culture. Read more at www.keelhunt.com