Politics First, Health Second: Heed Virginia's Example On Electing 'Moderate Republicans'

[appalachiablue]

- Va. state Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax), above, seems to have worked to create Va.'s new anti-mask law with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
_______
- Daily Kos, Feb. 11, 2022. Ed.

I've spent the past two years working in the emergency room on the front line of this pandemic, where I have lost count of how many people have been intubated, brought back to life, were told they will never see a loved one again, or learned they have life-altering conditions due to COVID-19. So to say I'm disappointed about Wednesday's passage of an anti-masking bill in the Virginia Senate is an understatement.

For those of you who aren’t keeping up with Virginia politics, we’re finding out in excruciating detail what happens when the media mindlessly sells someone as a “moderate Republican,” a “six-foot-seven mystery date,” and as “charting a new path forward for the Republican Party.” Am I surprised? No. Newly elected Gov. Glenn Youngkin is like a toddler with a shotgun: enormous power, nowhere near competent enough to wield it, prone to fits of petulance, and unable to care about the damage he causes.

Nor am I surprised that Youngkin seems to have coordinated his rabid anti-mask agenda with Dem. state Sen. Chap Petersen, a person who has demonstrated time and again he cares more about seeing his name in the news than protecting health care workers and families. Nobody here should be surprised about Sen. Petersen. He made it clear his crusade against masking has everything to do with how he feels, and nothing to do with facts. I guess after the 2020 fiasco where he *casually observed that segregation wasn't great but at least the schools were open (except, ahh, they weren't!), we should have seen this coming.

The tantrum Petersen had, though, where he made it seem like we were back in April 2020 is just ... bizarre. I mean, I get it, cynically. You make a strawman argument with no bearing in reality so it makes your own argument seem reasonable in comparison. (Although it's hard to take anyone wearing a bow tie seriously. I know a couple of friends of mine who'll read this and go "Awwww," but sorry guys, it's true.) As for Petersen, telling people that you have "a doctorate in common sense" is one of the most hilarious and tone-deaf things I've ever heard uttered and, man, I have heard some pretty hilariously tone-deaf things.

Because the masking rules in public schools were the only measure the Commonwealth still had in place to support our emergency services system from the COVID surge. The rest of them have been gone for months, at least. Well ...

- Read More + Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/11/2079877/-Politics-first-health-second-heed-Virginia-s-example-on-electing-moderate-Republicans
_________
*Chap Peterson Called Out For Praising Jim Crow Schools,
https://www.blueview.org/2020/06/13/chap-petersen-called-out-for-praising-jim-crow-schools/

- Feb. 2, 2022. Youngkin’s school mask policy sparks backlash among Va. parents.