They should be in prison over this

Instead, we're locked up

I live in New York City, which has become one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic — an inevitability, given the city’s size and centrality to American life. But I’m not all that worried about my own health, because I’m following all the rules laid out by our local leaders; yes, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are displaying their respective trademark bully bluster (Cuomo) and oafish indecision (de Blasio), but at least they’re working hard and doing something about this national emergency.

Well, doing something other than lying and enriching themselves while putting millions of American lives in danger, that is. As I wrote last Sunday, we need to politicize this disaster, because it’s Republicans that initially put us in danger and then created the conditions for thousands of American deaths. The revelation that a whole bunch of Republicans ran to make money off the virus instead of prepping citizens for the outbreak only underlines this gross reality.

We live in a country far too eager to prosecute and imprison people, but in a just world, Republicans would be in jail over this. Instead, we need to vote them out of office this November.

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As hapless as the Democratic Party’s national leadership has been, state leaders are stepping up. California is on lockdown and in constant contact with its residents. Non-essential businesses are shutting down in New Jersey. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has halted prison admissions. Kansas’s Democratic Governor shut down schools, despite Republicans’ protests. And check out what’s happened in Kentucky, where Democrat Andy Barr ousted anti-vax Republican Gov. Matt Bevin by 5,000 votes last fall:

Matt Jones @KySportsRadio

Look at the difference between how the Kentucky Governor and Tennessee Governor handled the Coronavirus And look at the results of those policies

GOP-controlled Texas, meanwhile, has had a disastrous response to the coronavirus, maintaining what the Texas Tribune called a “patchwork system” that allowed municipalities to keep schools and bars open for much longer than advisable.

Florida’s GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, let spring breakers run wild on open beaches and bring the disease back to every state in the nation. And Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp dragged his heels on reacting properly to the outbreak, citing concern about “government overreach.” Unsurprisingly, members of the Georgia State House have tested positive for coronavirus.

Right now, it’s hard to ask anyone to donate money to political campaigns — so many of us have already lost jobs (myself included) and the economy keeps on tanking. Unfortunately, we’ve seen time and again that Republican control of state and national government leads to catastrophes like these, with no indication that it will ever change. Instead, Republicans are still trying to take food stamps away from poor people and rescue CEOs who spent their companies’ money on stock buybacks.

With even elections this fall now in question, Democrats need all the help they can get to fight legal battles, get the message out, and activate voters stuck at home.

So I’m asking you to do one of the following:

• Donate to Democrats running for Senate in 2020

• Donate to a fund for workers put out by COVID-19

Any amount helps. Just look what happens when we let Republicans keep power:

Matt Rogers 🎙 @Politidope

Every American should see this ad.

And if you need even more motivation, remember that these two Republican senators made millions of dollars on coronavirus instead of helping Americans prepare for an epidemic that would waylay or wreck the lives of millions:

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