UPFRONT “AT OUR PEAK SURGE WE MAY be as high as 6,000 to 8,000 new cases a day,” Dr. Amy Acton said on March 26th during the state’s thendaily coronavirus press conference. This was a shocking prediction to many at the time — Ohio had only 867 total cases as of that day — but the former Ohio Department of Public Health Director said that stunning reality wasn’t a matter of if, “but when.” “We will surge,” she said. And here we are. More than 8,000 new cases Friday. Pilloried by Twitter epidemiologists and sports bloggersturned-infections disease experts (including Kyle Lamb, the Covid truther who claimed masks don’t work and that the pandemic was a Chinese biowar who was hired this week by the governor of Florida to help with coronavirus data in that sad state), railed against and mocked by the Jack Windsors, Jim Jordans and Mike Trivisonnos of the world, insulted by the ‘masks are tyranny’ crowd and the subject of anti-Semitic, gun-toting protests on her front lawn that spurred her June resignation from the position, it turns out the good doctor was, in a real shocking development, right and the fabulist grifters were wrong. Record-setting infection rates across the country. Record-setting new infections across Ohio. Record-setting infections in the city of Cleveland. Hospitalizations skyrocketing. Even the fabulists are, perhaps at last, coming to grips with the truth. This train doesn’t stop on a dime, of course. The disciples of Jack Windsor, faced with reality, won’t abruptly decamp from conspiracy land much like the MAGA “Stop the Steal!” sect won’t acknowledge the true and factual results of the election once the performance art of the country’s Republicans comes to a close. And, by all accounts, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who struggled to find a suitable replacement for Dr. Acton and settled on an attorney from the state’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation department in lieu of an actual physician, will use his fireside, statewide chat this evening to politely admonish Buckeye land without taking any steps himself to stop the spread of the virus. On the plus side, President-Elect
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OF COURSE DR. AMY ACTON WAS RIGHT
Joe Biden has already identified experts for a Covid task force and promises to act urgently once he’s officially in office, using this lead time to further spread the message that masks and social distancing save lives. Which is exactly what Dr. Acton said he should do. “We cannot wait two and a half months to start leading a messaging,” she told the New Yorker last week. “...Crisis leadership and communication is every bit as science based and crucial.” -Vince Grzegorek
Mike DeWine Draws Ire of Trump for Mortal Sin of Acknowledging Reality President Donald Trump was watching Fox News on his otherwise eventless Monday morning and likely saw the recent clip of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine telling Jake Tapper on CNN that former Vice President Joe Biden should be considered the President-elect. For this grave indiscretion, (i.e. acknowledging the results of the 2020 election, what has been called the most secure election in American history by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), DeWine drew criticism from the
President. “Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio?” Trump Tweeted, half an hour after the clip aired on Fox. “Will be hotly contested!” This is just your garden variety Trump petulance, but it should nevertheless be frustrating for DeWine, who has bent over backwards to appease the President over the past several months. He has rarely criticized him during statewide press conferences and even peppered the administration with compliments while taking umbrage at the Federal coronavirus response. But DeWine’s conciliatory efforts, up to and including the “antilockdown” stance in accord with the Republican party line, has now proven to be insufficient protection. Loyalty to the supreme leader must be unconditional, and the appropriate response to the 2020 election is to follow Trump’s lead; that is, to keep screaming “I WON” in all-caps like a lunatic and shouting words like “fraud” and “rigged” with no evidence attached. Those who follow this path stand to do very well in an Ohio gubernatorial primary against DeWine, who has made enemies in the flaming clown car that passes for the state’s general assembly. This summer, a faction of the right wing’s
dimmest bulbs attempted to impeach DeWine for his coronavirus response. Meantime, they’ve managed not to overturn HB6, the FirstEnergy nuclear bailout passed as a result of a $60 million racketeering scheme. In Ohio, riling up gerrymandered bases with culture-war nonsense is the main preoccupation of the legislature. Cleveland.com noted that Jim Renacci, who unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2018, has been amassing funds and “laying the groundwork” for a campaign of one kind or another. Scene has also heard that energy on the rightmost fringes has been coalescing around Congressman and Trump lapdog Jim Jordan, who has made headlines for his sycophancy. His name recognition is off the charts in the Trump-sphere and he will be a dangerous candidate for whatever office he seeks next. -Sam Allard
City of Cleveland to Intensify Mask Enforcement, Adjust Staffing Plan, in Light of Covid Surge In a Friday press conference occasioned by the statewide surge in Covid-19 cases, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson reaffirmed the city’s commitment to enforcing its mask mandate at bars and restaurants and | clevescene.com | November 18-24, 2020
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