It Is NOT Just Trump Failing With COVID-19. Republican Governors Are Trump Mini-Mees.

Rick Wilson is correct that “Everything Trump touches dies,” but Trump has little helpers — call them Trump Mini-Mees — who assist him in dealing out death to Americans with COVID-19.  And those Trump Mini-Mees are commonly referred to as “Republican Governors.”  They really are a rouges gallery, and it is truly difficult to say, “This Republican governor is the WORST!”  They keep outdoing one another when it comes to failing at fighting the coronavirus pandemic.  And it is why I think that even if we defeat Trump this fall, we will still have to deal with the Trump Mini-Mes redoubt for years to come.

Let’s look at some of the winners for this week:

• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has turned his state into a coronavirus hotspot, but he is insisting on “not going backwards” and opening the public schools in August.  When it comes to sending kids to school:

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis says it’s perfectly safe to send kids back to school this fall despite rapidly rising numbers of coronavirus cases in the Sunshine State — arguing that if Walmart was open, schools should be too.

“I’m confident if you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools,” he said Thursday during an appearance in Jacksonville with US Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia.

“I want our kids to be able to minimize this education gap that I think has developed.”

But he also noted that not all parents may agree with him.

“Different parents have different calculations. If a parent wants to opt for virtual education, they should absolutely be able to do that. We shouldn’t be forcing them to do any types of decisions,” he added.

DeSantis claimed that data showed the risk of the virus in children was low, and that the risk of hospitalization from the virus for those under 18 was “substantially less” than for the flu.

Dr. Deborah Birx of the Coronavirus Task Force said earlier this week that cases appeared low among children because so few had been tested.

The stupidity and callousness burns.

• Texas Governor Greg Abbot has turned his state into a coronavirus hotspot, and Abbot is now pleading with Texans to not fight his mask mandate because he may have to order another lockdown.

With Texas continuing to break records for new coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations this week, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Friday afternoon that things will continue to get worse. And if people keep flouting his new statewide mask mandate, he said, the next step could be another economic lockdown.

“Things will get worse, and let me explain why,” he told KLBK TV in Lubbock. “The deaths that we’re seeing announced today and yesterday — which are now over 100 — those are people who likely contracted COVID-19 in late May.

“The worst is yet to come as we work our way through that massive increase in people testing positive.”

Texans will also likely see an increase in cases next week, Abbott said, and people abiding by his face mask requirement might be the only thing standing between businesses remaining open and another shutdown.

“The public needs to understand this was a very tough decision for me to make,” Abbott told KLBK of his face mask mandate. “I made clear that I made this tough decision for one reason: It was our last best effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. If we do not slow the spread of COVID-19 … the next step would have to be a lockdown.”

Emboldened is mine.  Making people wear a mask was “a very tough decision.”  It should not be a tough decision.  It’s a public health matter.  But Trump made it a political issue, and Abbot doesn’t have the balls to defy Trump or as Beto O’Rourke says, “The Dan Patrick Death Cult in Texas.”

• Speaking of not issuing a statewide mandate for wearing masks, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is fighting mayors and other local leaders who are mandating masks be worn in public.  

Georgia's governor and the mayor of the state's capital and largest city are at odds over COVID-19 restrictions, with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announcing a return to tough measures to control a spike in coronavirus infections and Gov. Brian Kemp insisting that her order is “non-binding and legally unenforceable.”

Bottoms, a Democrat, announced Friday that she was bringing Atlanta back to Phase 1 reopening — the most restrictive post-lockdown measures that require all residents to stay home except for essential trips.

The mayor's order came on the same day that Georgia announced a record-breaking one-day spike in coronavirus, logging 4,400 new confirmed cases. Health authorities in Atlanta's Fulton County says about half of the new cases in Georgia in the past two weeks have occurred in the city….

But Kemp, a Republican, quickly dismissed the mayor's directive, saying on Friday that it didn't supersede his own, more relaxed, statewide order issued at the end of June.

“Mayor Bottoms' action today is merely guidance — both non-binding and legally unenforceable,” Kemp said in a statement.

“As clearly stated in the Governor's executive order, no local action can be more or less restrictive, and that rule applies statewide,” the governor said.

“Once again, if the Mayor actually wants to flatten the curve in Atlanta, she should start enforcing state restrictions, which she has failed to do,” he said. “We ask citizens and businesses alike to comply with the terms of the Governor's order, which was crafted in conjunction with state public health officials. These common-sense measures will help protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.”

Kemp rushed to open up Georgia.  He flouted the CDC guidelines in order to please Trump.  Because the coronavirus cases didn’t grow exponentially at the end of the first two weeks in Georgia, some in the Media were saying that Kemp had “avoided a disaster.”  It just took a little longer for the virus to take off in Georgia.  Kemp thinks that voluntary mask wearing will save his ass.  It is very obvious by now that people do not want to wear masks unless they are forced to.  

• South Carolina is also becoming another coronavirus hotspot, and guess what Governor McMaster has decided to do to fight this scourge?  Wait for it.  Here it is:

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced on Friday that all bars and restaurants in the state must stop serving alcohol by 11 each night to try to stem a statewide rise in coronavirus cases.

This week, South Carolina is averaging 1,570 new cases of the virus per day. That's more than twice the rate of new cases compared with three weeks ago.

McMaster's order will go into effect on Saturday night. The governor said it targets young people, who are driving the surge in cases of the virus in many hot spots around the country.

“We know that young adults who are rapidly contracting the virus and spreading it into our communities frequently congregate in late-night atmospheres which simply are not conducive to stopping its continued transmission,” McMaster said in a statement. “This measured, carefully tailored approach will lessen the opportunity for South Carolinians to put themselves and their loved ones in harm's way.”

As of Friday, the state's health department says people ages 21 to 30 account for 22% of its confirmed cases. That's 6% higher than any other age group.

The order will affect about 8,000 restaurants and bars in the state permitted to sell alcohol on-site. It does not apply to grocery stores, liquor stores or any retail business.

“This is an order that a state can enforce,” McMaster said, adding that he believed it would not be possible to enforce another common safety protocol.

“Other things like masks … the state has a very difficult (time) trying to enforce a statewide mask order because one size does not fit all,” he said, according to The State newspaper.

By the way, I have seen TV ads for several weeks now to visit Myrtle Beach.  Every time I see that ad I can’t help but think, “Come to South Carolina and get the coronavirus!”

• Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchison of no lockdown fame and targeted approach to COVID-19 has discovered something startling about the virus:

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday urged caution as the state logged another high number of new coronavirus cases.

Officials reported 751 new cases, bringing the total to 26,803. Four more people died from the virus. The state's death toll is up to 313.

Hutchinson said Arkansas is “fighting a trend that we see across the South and the Southwest.” Texas, Louisiana, Florida and other states have reported record numbers of new cases in recent weeks. Some states have walked back plans to reopen, closing or reducing the capacity of bars and restaurants.

“We see our cases elevated in Arkansas and the simple lesson is … this virus does not give up,” Hutchinson said, speaking at a news conference in De Queen. “We have to continue to be very diligent. We have to be disciplined in this and continue with our strategy. If we let up for one second, it will come back and it will accelerate once again.”

Your strategy failed Hutchinson.  And yeah dumbass, the virus does NOT give up!  It spreads with people having to report back to work, which you were hell bent on making people do.  You were running around claiming that your strategy of not locking down was working.  Fucking bullshitter.

• Arizona Governor Steve Ducey.  What can you say?  He still refuses to really do anything about the shit shape that Arizona is in.  He opened the state up prematurely to please Trump.  Now, the mayors of Arizona are pleading with this asshole to do more to fight the coronavirus.  And guess what?  Wait for it again.  Here it is:

Gov. Doug Ducey says Arizona seeing signs coronavirus is flattening

I seem to recall that testing in Arizona is shit.  And calling it shit is being kind.  There is not enough testing going on and people are having to wait days for their results.  So I am more than skeptical that the coronavirus case curves is flattening in Arizona.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.  Republican governors are killing people with their criminal negligence.