“You can’t have a healthy economy without healthy people.” That’s what Maine Governor Janet Mills recently told us at the New England Council. She cited the devastating economic consequences of a closed Canadian border and depressed tourism resulting from COVID-19.
The fact that so many people choose to deny a pandemic, refute irrefutable science, and refuse to comply with proven and essential public health protections boggles the mind and withers the soul. It has also severely deepened and lengthened the disease in Maine and all over this country.
If that proverbial alien ever came down to Earth, she might exclaim, “Are you kidding me? Are you really that determined to hurt yourselves? Was I wrong to think that you are a more advanced species?”
It’s not difficult at all to imagine how future historians will treat the colossally bungled U.S. response to COVID-19, among the most painful chapters in American history. It’s been a complete abdication of responsibility made far worse by cult-like devotion to lies about masks, social distancing, and the disease itself. It’s this dangerous and deadly nonsense that leaders such as Mills must deal with every day.
The Governor invoked retired hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky in describing her approach to leadership and decision making, especially during a pandemic. She underscored what should be the obvious importance of anticipating events and preparing for them across multiple scenarios. As Gretzky famously said, he “skates to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.” This seems mighty wise in dealing with the exponentiality of viruses.
Mills rejoined the National Governors’ Association (NGA) after her predecessor departed in an ill-considered fit of pique. Sure, organizations such as the NGA always leaves something to be desired, but it is very useful for governors and gubernatorial staffs that are intelligent and collaborative. The NGA has proven to be critically important during this pandemic, too, in which regional coordination and communication are essential, especially in the absence of national leadership and since viruses don't respect state broders. I mean, it’s not as if the United States followed suit nationally and abruptly left the World Health Organization (WHO) during a pandemic, right? Oh, never mind.
Just wait for the predictable vaccination wars with endless lies that, for example, vaccines will inject into Americans tracking devices created by Bill Gates. George Soros will undoubtedly be rolled into these exotic fictions, too. I think that alien just got on her ship and returned home.
