Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

That and the availability and distribution of vaccines. Small detail she omitted.

 

Meanwhile . . .

 

There were a ton of big city school districts that were online only for a year or more, totally against the “science.”

 

How much of that was about protecting kids and how much of that was about the work environment for the staff? After all, most indoor smoking bans were not enacted on the grounds of protecting public health but on the grounds that secondhand smoke created an unsafe work environment.

 

Reopening schools was (and still is) an insanely Red/Blue state issue. Red states pushed to open them — schools in mine were back in session by August 2020, although many did have an online option — and every Republican politician in those states was branded a villain who wanted to murder children.
Democrats in Blue states, meanwhile, kept claiming they were doing saintly work by keeping schools closed or online only. This was not a minor talking point, it has been a persistent theme and a Democratic talking point for two years. Some Democrat-run states are STILL dragging their feet on reopening, or requiring masks, or shutting down at the slightest hint of COVID.
Now the Democrats want to take the credit for reopening schools? Do they think people haven't been paying attention this whole time?

 

Trump was still president in 2020. If you recall, he offered no guidance

 

It was left up to the individual states. The red ones mostly pushed to reopen as soon as possible and have been raked across the coals for it for two years. Now the rakers are taking a victory lap for getting schools reopened.

 

I don't care. The GOP has been lying non-stop for six years about EVERYTHING.

 

That's a great point of view. The actual merit of a an opinion is moot because of some belief about the other party.

 

Pretty much. Why should the Dems take the high road right now when the other party is trying to fling us headlong into fascism?

 

I fully believe kids need to be in schools. It’s better for the kids, and it’s better for the economy, short term and long term.

I also fully understand the argument against opening schools, at least back in August 2020. I do think local governments and school systems could have done more — maintain their ground on masks, improvements in ventilation systems, more ability to maintain social distancing. These infrastructure improvements were, at best, hit and miss.

I guess the best way for me to put it is that I was uncomfortable with opening schools, but I was equally uncomfortable with keeping them closed. I don’t give a fuck who gets credit for it, and I do think it’s well within the bounds of current discourse for Democratic politicians to make forceful statements, even if they’re a bit oversimplified.

 

The uptake of vaccines seemed directly proportional — not inversely — to how long school districts stuck with virtual learning.

Granted, a vaccine was still a few months away, but Texas was open for business in August 2020 while New York and other high-vax states were still in basements. Just an observation.