Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

In after Baud. Damn.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

… gradually, and then suddenly.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

People are weird.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson Does Not Seem To Understand What a Public Health Emergency Is

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson Does Not Seem To Understand What a Public Health Emergency Is

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Earlier today and faced with not having a single free ICU bed available in Arkansas as a result of the delta variant sweeping through unvaccinated Arkansas like me at an all you can eat standing rib roast buffet, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson declared a public health emergency.

Governor Hutchison is not running for reelection. Any presidential hopes he might have had died with the emergence of Trump. He is unlikely to have a senate seat open up to run for. Basically, other than a sinecure at a think tank or research institute, this is it for him in Republican politics. And yet, with all of that providing him a significantly large amount of political freedom, he is still unable to do the right thing for the citizens of Arkansas. There are only three ways to stop the delta variant wave: vaccination, enforceable mask mandates, and/or mandatory, enforceable social distancing. We’d all prefer every do the easy thing and just get vaccinated. But given that in Arkansas, and dozens of other states, that’s just not going to happen, then the only other ways to defeat the delta wave are enforceable mask mandates and mandatory, enforced social distancing.

Governor Hutchinson’s public health emergency declaration is not worth the paper that it is printed on because it doesn’t do a damn thing, other than announcing that something has been done, that will have any positive effects in regard to the delta variant wave sweeping through Arkansas.

Given that he was Secretary of Homeland Security, I’m surprised he didn’t change the color coding or Arkansas to tangerine or something to show he was really serious.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson Does Not Seem To Understand What a Public Health Emergency Is

 

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Reader Interactions

71Comments

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Tonight on the O’Donnell show there was a clip of an Arkansas woman who didn’t get a vaccination for herself or her thirteen daughter, who is now on a ventilator. She blames “misinformation” but says she thought Covid was just… and I really would have liked to hear the end of that sentence

    To her credit, she allowed cameras into her daughter’s hospital room and maybe the sight of that young girl on a ventilator will get through to some Bubbas.

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    an all you can eat standing rib roast buffet

    Sounds good. I’d even overlook the resaurant’s boneheaded decision to not buy any chairs.

  5. 5.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It will not. If you dive into the cross tabs for the most recent polling on this, from YouGov commissioned by Axios, what you see is that the will never get the shot category is overwhelmingly white and (evangelical) Christian. Of white Christian’s, and I’m working from memory here, it was something like 43% – might have been 46% – responded with will never get the shot. When you look at the other groups that are also lumped in under vaccine hesitant, Black and Latino Americans, the percentage of respondents who will never get the shot was under 10% for each. What we have is a group of vaccine hesitant Americans largely made up of Black and Latino Americans, who have some good historical reasons to be skeptical and then you have a huge chunk of white Christians who are not hesitant, they’re resistant and opposed to ever getting the shot. The hesitant can be persuaded. The resistant and opposed cannot.

  7. 7.

    Martin

    This is the kind of stuff that I get into trouble at work. I’m the asshole that speaks up in the meeting and says ‘I’m reading through your declaration of a state of emergency, but there’s nothing here about actually doing anything. Is that in a supplemental document?’

  8. 8.

    mrmoshpotato

    BREAKING: Arkansas Governor Hutchinson declares public health emergency, says masks will not be required and “we’re going to be wide open”

    A public health emergency of mask wearing and being closed? ?‍♂️

    The murderous stupidity in parts of this country sometimes…

  9. 9.

    Hunter Gathers

    My cat leaves more useful shit in her litter box than this replacement level hack.

    Variant Omega in 2031 is going to be fucking awesome.

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    The pace of vaccinations in Arkansas, while still anemic, has roughly doubled over the last few weeks. I guess that’s something, though it’s have been nice if the locals had embraced the jab before this latest wave.

  11. 11.

    Yutsano

    @Adam L Silverman:  BTW this:

    as a result of the delta variant sweeping through unvaccinated Arkansas like me at an all you can eat standing rib roast buffet

    It may be the single greatest sentence you have ever devised. It’s probably good your academic career fizzled.

  12. 12.

    The Dangerman

    Society only works if we agree on certain rules. Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means different things depending if you are in Los Angeles as compared to Little Rock.

    That there is a debate about vaccines and masks is insane.

  13. 13.

    The Moar You Know

    America’s unacknowledged oppositional defiant disorder epidemic (no other word for it) combined with the COVID epidemic are not going to end well for anybody.

    Yeah, you see the same shit in Europe but their systems of governance won’t and aren’t tolerating the malicious, hateful disobedience we’re seeing here.

  15. 15.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    hmm Florida back up at the new infection rate it was last January.

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Martin: Oh, you actually expect some sort of preventative action to be taken?  I think I see the error of your ways.

  17. 17.

    TaMara (HFG)

    what you see is that the will never get the shot category is overwhelmingly white and (evangelical) Christian. Of white Christian’s, and I’m working from memory here, it was something like 43% – might have been 46% – responded with will never get the shot.

    Not sure I’m seeing the problem here…

    (yes, I’m going to hell, but I was going anyway)

  19. 19.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Adam L Silverman: Yep, it’s their weird ass religion beliefs driving this.  In fact all these stories of “I was COVID denier until the ventilator” fits that thinking.  They’re repenting.

  21. 21.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Yutsano: I’m glad you liked it. I was undecided between the all you can eat standing rib roast buffet, the all you can eat BBQ ribs buffet, or the all you can eat bacon at the breakfast buffet.

    Frankly, if given the choice of which one to chose my answer is always: yes. I’ll take them!

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Dangerman: I’ve lived in Little Rock, yellow means go faster.

    Okay, I lived about 35 minutes outside of Little Rock in Conway when I taught at University of Central Arkansas.

  24. 24.

    Another Scott

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: One of the really bad thing about news coverage of this pandemic is the lack of images and video of hospitals.

    There are several documentaries of the early days in Wuhan.  E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU9FVqwO4TM (33:14). And MTV’s “76 Days”.
    AFAIK, there haven’t been widely available similar documentaries in the USA, and it’s too easy to ignore what people can’t see.

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  29. 29.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    The Senior (!) Senator from the state that represents, IIANM, 20% of new infections (and 6% of the population) for the last week

    Marco Rubio @marcorubio
    Our @SecDef is vaccinated But he arrives in the Philippines wearing a mask AND a face shield Embarrassing COVID theatre

    O, Marco. You strutting bantam capon. Also:

    Idrees Ali @idreesali114
    Quite an amazing tweet from @marcorubio. Everyone in the delegation was given a shield and face mask prior to arriving, including the press, since the Philippines, which is facing a surge in covid cases, requires both to be worn.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax:

    “What does it preventate?” 

    All of them, Katie.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to boil some water using some inflammable gas.

  38. 38.

    Dave

    @Hunter Gathers: I’m forever struck by the complete absence of even the smallest portion of courage from people who would assuredly be comfortable no matter what.

    Can’t even remember the last time I was pleasantly surprised by this collective of sub-par humans

  40. 40.

    Kent

    There are so many potentially decent places in this country that are utterly ruined by statewide GOP politics.   My daughter attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and graduated in May 2020 into the heart of the pandemic.  Fayetteville is an utterly charming town in a very pretty part of the country.  There are endless bike trails, good restaurants, decent museums, beautiful state parks, and all kinds of interesting things happening in that corner of the world.  But unfortunately it is in Arkansas so you have to deal with this utter criminal stupidity in the rest of the state.  And the Fayetteville area is just not tolerable long-term because it is in Arkansas where the utter dumbfuckery of the evangelical right will always be in control.

    Asheville is another city I would put into that category.  Although there is more hope for NC than AR frankly.

  44. 44.

    NotMax

    @Anne Laurie

    Read in passing somewhere that the gallivanting gov made a thing of “presenting challenge coins” to Marines stationed at the U.S. embassy there.

    Pace Mr. Rogers: “Can you say photo-op? I knew that you could.”

  46. 46.

    Redshift

    @Another Scott:

    One of the really bad thing about news coverage of this pandemic is the lack of images and video of hospitals. 

    I remember reading that TFG lackeys issued HIPAA guidance intended to make that kind of coverage impossible. Yet another way they sacrificed people’s lives for their political benefit.

  48. 48.

    Redshift

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Just remember, they’re not reporting the numbers every day. And they’re not reporting deaths as frequently as they were. 

    I’m pretty sure the new numbers that put them on top are seven-day averages, which are a good idea in general with the added benefit of counteracting Florida data shenanigans.

  49. 49.

    Frankensteinbeck

    He’s an asshole.  It’s why he was elected. Thinking elected Republicans do awful shit for personal gain is ‘economic anxiety’ mark II.

    @Quinerly:

    I based a mad scientist superhero off of Popeil.  I mean, it’s obvious, right?

  51. 51.

    Dan B

    Not much new to say here except that neo-conservative leaders are not leading.  They are cowards.  They are afraid of the mob mentality.  It encourages that mob.

     

    I find myself imagining the rage I will express to people who resist vaccines because they hate liberals.  They are causing the deaths and serious physical damage of children and vulnerable.  They too are cowards who surrender the health of the old, young, and medically vulnerable to feed their spite filled cohort.  They accept a certain level of death and debilitation since they feel they are at war, or at least they like to believe they are bold warriors.  Nothing is further from the truth.

  52. 52.

    Dan B

    @opiejeanne: “Flu” is just one option that fits.  My father came close to dying of the Spanish Flu.  Flu was never “just the flu” in our house.  I had Hong Kong Flu and recall the pain as like Appendicitis but in every cell.

    Just the flu.  There are no words!

  56. 56.

    Quinerly

    @JPL: was this over Sec of Defense wearing mask and face shield? That seems to be a big deal right now in RWNJ circles. Never mind whatever country he was in (Philippines???) was requiring it.

    My spirits are very low this week. Been unable to sleep tonight.

  57. 57.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Florida man woman on CNN, in early 40s, nearly died after refusing to take vaccine, now believes it should be mandatory.

    She said she didn’t take it because it was no worse than flu and because “just that it had not been around long. And honestly, I think I listened I think I’ll let people influence me. Like saying, oh, you know, this is the government just trying to fill our bodies with stuff.” She undoubtedly meant microchips in the vaccine.

    Dump and Fox News have killed more americans than the Wehrmacht, the Viet Cong, and bin Laden (combined).

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    From a recent news story about Atkansas

    The governor noted that his legal counsel has informed him that he cannot change the ban on a mask mandate under the new public emergency declaration.

    But they are going to try to get additional hospital resources from other states and the federal government, and try to increase vaccinations.

    Vaccinations continue to climb in Arkansas, with 1,053,989 people in the state fully immunized, an increase of 2,855. Another 297,266 Arkansans are partially immunized.

    In Arkansas, Covid hospitalizations and deaths hit the unvaccinated.

    State records show that since January first, unvaccinated patients make up 96.39 percent of new COVID-19 cases, 95.35 percent of hospitalizations and 97.4 percent of deaths.

    Conservatives who claim to have an alternative strategy for dealing with the pandemic and bringing the numbers down need to prove it or STFU.

  62. 62.

    Patricia Kayden

    If Trump was indeed “elected to the office of president” both in 2016 and in 2020, as he insists he was, then he’s ineligible to run in 2024 under the 22nd Amendment. He can’t have it both ways. So, Donald, which is it?— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) July 28, 2021

  63. 63.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: But they are going to try to get additional hospital resources from other states

    Five of Arkansas’ neighbors – Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee – are also on track to run out of ICU beds, if they haven’t already.  Not sure about Texas.

  65. 65.

    SFAW

    @TaMara (HFG):

    (yes, I’m going to hell, but I was going anyway)

    Since I’ll likely get there before you, I’ll try to get it prepped for a B-J meetup.

  68. 68.

    Mrearl

    @mrmoshpotato: Since this thread began with Arkansas, I suppose I am obliged to mention that venerable Herman’s Ribhouse in Fayetteville does in fact garnish your filet mignon–for which they are deservedly famous–with a barbecued rib.  As we all here say, “Forget it Jake, it’s Arkansas.”

  70. 70.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @The Dangerman:

    Society only works if we agree on certain rules. Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means different things depending if you are in Los Angeles as compared to Little Rock.

    Clearly you’ve never been to Boston.
    Green means you should’ve already been into the intersection.
    Yellow means speed up.
    Red is strictly advisory.

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