(11-21-2020, 10:40 AM)Goose Wrote: (11-21-2020, 10:19 AM)Farm93 Wrote: They hope the curfews and closures work because the only step left is SIP. More or less a warning shot to the liberty crowds. Get behind these measures because you will really hate the next set of SIP mandates if this doesn't work.
The problem I have with all this is that the current thinking (at least that we see on this board) is that "house parties" are the major contributor to the current spread problem. These parties aren't the political statement type. They are you and your kids/grandkids having dinner together. While the "liberty" folks exist, they are not the problem at the moment, at least so it would seem. Certainly in SCC and SMC these folks aren't common. So anything regarding them does not apply. Yet we certainly have our problems here too.
There may be people who die claiming there is no COVID-19. I suspect those people are so few and far between (even in North Dakota) that they couldn't sustain an epidemic on their own. It is the other 99% of the population who simply aren't doing what is required to slow down spread. If it is true that we as a nation have allowed our respect for the law to erode to the point that say 35% of the people would simply ignore legally issued public health directives, we are indeed in serious, serious trouble. If you think such a directive is invalid, challenge it in court. Until it is overturned, obey it. It is not like there is any question of an "immoral action" required.
My personal belief is that the vast majority of the public WILL follow a public health directive if the jurisdiction that issues it shows they mean it by enforcing it. We have far too many laws (let alone public health orders) that are simply not enforced. The public gets the idea that "they don't mean it" and just does what they want. This becomes a (literally) fatal problem if the jurisdiction doesn't have the stomach to actually enforce a public health order.
This must be an all of the above approach, but we live with a large crew that believes in whataboutisms and therefore none of the above.
Governors then are left implementing things they can do without hitting too many legal hurdles. Curfews are implemented all of the time for different emergency reasons, so that is well within a Governor's set of powers. Telling people what they can and can't do in their own homes is much more problematic. Best to do all of the above, but any governor needs to do things that will withstand the inevitable howling from that COVID denier crew.
Curfews, restaurant capacity restrictions and the dreaded school closures are in the domain of local and state officials, so we will get those. We SHOULD get no church gatherings, no weddings and no house parties, but those each have problems politically and constitutionally. So we won't see them, but it shouldn't stop top officials from begging for those things not to happen.
With everything implemented at city, county or state levels there is always an available whatabout or cries about inconclusive efficacy relative to some other approach that is also not going to be accepted by some subset of the population. Governors shouldn't worry about those that inevitably will object to any restriction. Focus on doing something, ramp up your approval ratings, and be confident that a 60+ approval rating shows the majority understand you have been given a raw deal made worse by the complete lack of leadership at the Federal level.
How problematic is the whataboutism Goose? Just sort that worldometers list by cases per million like I mentioned and you will see the problem is real. The COVID deniers in the ICU just exemplifies how deep the faith is at the moment, but they are the tip of a massive iceberg in those states. There are a lot of other COVID deniers roaming those lands.
FWIW - SIP won't work either, but it is the next step and it is coming soon. So plan ahead, stay safe, and do the right thing even if some percentage of your neighbors insist on doing dumb whataboutism stuff.