It is embarrassing to be a Tennessean today – after our GOP-controlled General Assembly members made fools of themselves in a special session to mandate that no one can mandate but them.
Unless of course we are talking about big business – as in Ford or Volkswagen – with plenty of money. Or private schools. Money talks, you know.
Apparently, our Republican supermajority state lawmakers think being politically red talks, too. So they pander to their red-meat base and now, with their Saturday vote, they have almost entirely forbade city or county leaders, government agencies and public schools from requiring masks for residents, employees or students. The original bill also would have restricted mask mandates at private schools and private businesses, too, but those rules were cut after Ford Motor Company and other influential businesses objected.
But what really is embarrassing is that being politically red is so much more important to the majority of our politicians than lives, health and well-being. Being publicly red is more important than public health. Than whether another 16,350 Tennesseans die from the dangerous but preventable COVID-19 and another nearly 1.3 million are sickened with it.
Our lawmakers’ foolhardy votes restricting mask and vaccine mandates have essentially transformed school and government mandates from preventive measures to a last resort. If Gov. Bill Lee signs this into law, governments and public schools can enact a temporary mandate for masks only if they are in a county with at least 1,000 new infections for every 100,000 residents over a 14-day period.