By Dustin Rowles | Politics | April 13, 2020 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | April 13, 2020 |
Earlier today, our feckless leader tweeted:
….It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
Uh, yeah. No. That’s not how the Constitution works. The federal government could not implement a nationwide lockdown, nor can it lift lockdowns in individual states. Yes, the President can influence and pressure governors, but ultimately, the governors are going to do what is best for their individual states, and each individual state has different needs and different situations.
That Trump tweet is completely meaningless. In fact, to illustrate just how meaningless it is, a number of states are already coordinating their own re-opening plans together.
Disputing Trump that HE has the power to reopen states - NY CT and NJ just announced a regional reopening plan and @JayInslee says on @MSNBC that three West Coast states are in talks to do the same. Coordination amid crisis. Imagine that.
— Chris Jansing (@ChrisJansing) April 13, 2020
It looks like Delaware, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania may also join the three in coordinating together. Listen up, New Hampshire and Vermont. You guys want to work together with us in Maine to come up with a plan of our own? Since around half of the outbreaks in our states seem to be limited to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, let’s figure that out first! You folks in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota can get together; Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, you can play in the same ballfield; those Plain states with 10 cases between them can coordinate, and then the South, I assume, will all work together and coordinate with Florida and the President. Good luck!
Seriously, though: If you are on the West Coast, or in the New York region, isn’t it 47,000 times more comforting to know that your governors will work together when this is the alternative?
jesus christ lmao pic.twitter.com/2zvgVl5Att
— 👠(@lib_crusher) April 13, 2020
Yikes. Just drop a nuke on us. It’d be quicker and less painful.
France is a little further along than we are but also much closer to being able to test their entire country. They are now planning to start slowly re-opening on May 11th.
Partial reopening of schools next month, provided universal testing pans out. Mandatory masks in public and no large gatherings until at least July.
— Nolan Hicks (@ndhapple) April 13, 2020
Spain is also starting to reopen this week, as construction and factory workers slowly start to return to work. There is some light at the end of the tunnel; what we don’t know, yet, is if there’s another tunnel beyond the light.