Wear a Mask!

Masks Work

For the safety of vulnerable adults and the rest of us, please wear a mask. SC DHEC officials say data shows COVID-19 case numbers are going down in places where masks are mandated. “This new data shows us what we already knew, wearing face masks works,” said Dr. Linda Bell, S.C. State Epidemiologist. “We’re strongly supportive of these local leaders’ initiatives that are centered on protecting the health and wellbeing of their communities.”

“We are deeply concerned about the situation that we are seeing in nursing homes,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said yesterday. “The situation nationally has escalated.” She added that the rise is related to the surging spread across the country.

“Even if you have one to two cases, I cannot emphasize enough that that situation can turn into very very quickly,” she said. “In a matter of hours, you can go from having two or three cases to having half of your nursing home impacted, which is what we’ve seen in some areas. Those nursing homes that don’t have any cases I would not be complacent in that.”

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) released a study that confirmed safe staffing saves lives. The study found that those facilities with better staffing had fewer COVID-19 cases than in homes with short-staffing. The JAMA report acknowledged the importance of infection control practices. But concluded that safe and adequate staffing support “may be more effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19.”

Real Leadership

Joe Biden is asking everyone to wear a mask. “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum,” Biden said. “Every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing. The estimates by the experts are it will save over 40,000 lives.”  

His comments came after a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic with public health experts. More than 170,000 Americans have died because of the Trump Virus COVID-19. President Trump has resisted them and has rarely worn a mask himself. Polls show that a large majority of Americans support mask mandates.

Biden called for nationwide mask wearing for the next three months to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “It’s not about your rights, It’s about your responsibilities as an American.”

“Wearing a mask will give the life of a clerk in your local store or your letter carrier, your child’s teacher, it will increase their prospects of not contracting the virus,” Biden said. “Even though it’s uncomfortable, and we’re not used to it, wearing a mask is going to get our kids back to school sooner and safer. Every American wearing a mask outdoors is going to get our businesses back and to full strength.”

“Open Question”

Trump responded to Biden by attacking Kamala Harris. Trump falsely suggested that Harris, who was born in California and is eligible for the vice presidency or presidency, was not eligible because her parents were immigrants. Constitutional scholars called the claim false and irresponsible.

Incredibly, he revived the racist “birther” conspiracy theory he promoted against President Barack Obama towards Harris. Trump and his henchmen argue it is an “open question” whether she is constitutionally eligible to be president. This is a lie. It is not remotely an open question. It is a ridiculous legal attack.

Trump supporters are ignorantly claiming that Harris is ineligible for the presidency. Trump supporters claim she is not a natural-born citizen because her parents were not citizens yet when she was born in California. Wrong.  There is no question that Harris is a natural-born citizen; she was born in California. If you are born here, you are an American citizen. Period.

The Fourteenth Amendment’s first clause, which says that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The Supreme Court answered this question definitively in the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark decision. The justices decided the clause established that anyone born on U.S. soil is an American citizen regardless of the nationality of their parents.

Trump then confirmed to the Washington Post that he will violate ethics and norms by giving a political speech for the Republican Convention from the White House lawn.  This also raises legal questions over the use of federal property for a campaign event. Everyone agrees that it is widely inappropriate to politicize the White House.