There are certain facts of life that are just so true, it almost seems ridiculous to say them out loud.
Water is wet. What goes up must come down. Nothing’s sure but death and taxes.
The ever-increasing polarization of politics is another. We almost have no right to be shocked when an important issue breaks down into camps separated by ideology deeper than the Grand Canyon. It’s an outcome as predictable as sunrise.
And yet, somehow, the blatantness of it can still be a surprise.
Let’s take the recent escalation of covid-19 numbers, for example.
In 2020, before the first cases of the pandemic showed up in Pennsylvania, the battle lines were drawn. Then, when the coronavirus did arrive, whatever one party wanted to do regarding it, the other said was wrong. The Republican-controlled state Legislature took issue with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s mandates and shutdowns. Wolf, for his part, took sweeping steps that sometimes seemed motivated by an almost magnetic push against the Trump administration’s lead.
It hasn’t stopped in 2021. Vaccine pushes. Mandates for state employees to get the shot. Masks in public. Masks in schools. Faceoffs in court that have been more about winning and posturing and power than they have been about the issues in question.
The most recent of those was the school mask mandate that was repealed by the Commonwealth Court in November. Wolf appealed that even though he already had decided to lift the mandate in January. The reason? The precedent of eroding authority. The state Supreme Court ruled against him last week.
Naturally, that isn’t the end of anything. GOP leaders have contacted the governor pushing to reconvene the pandemic task force in light of escalating numbers and overextended hospitals.
”The information-sharing capabilities established through the development of the task force helped Pennsylvania lead the nation in vaccine improvements and could once again be used to help bridge the information gap between hospital systems to better serve patients,” said Erica Clayton Wright, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R- Hempfield).
That’s a great idea. Problem? Wolf says the task force hasn’t stopped meeting since it was first put together almost two years ago.
This is what happens when appearances are more important than substance. Has Wolf made giant missteps over the course of the pandemic? Absolutely. Supervision of nursing homes. Consistency with businesses. Data collection and communication.
But the legislators’ letter makes it seem like they are unaware the administration is still following covid-19.
The constant politicization is depressingly habitual. That has to stop, because 650 Pennsylvanians died of covid last week alone. They were Democrats and Republicans and other parties and no parties. They were people who needed to have their leaders working toward solutions instead of positioning for a win.
— The Tribune-Review (TNS)
