Masks, randomly
Editorial: March 3, 2022
We read your comments on our Facebook and allotsego.com pages, we really do. After we posted the news on February 27 that Governor Kathy Hochul would lift the state’s indoor mask mandate for students and teachers in schools, one reader opined, “That mid-term variant.”
Laughs come hard these days, what with masks and Ukraine and the unending number of days in February, but that one got a hearty chuckle.
Cynical? You bet; in our opinion, not unduly so. Sunday’s mid-afternoon announcement was not unexpected, but its timing quizzical given the fact that just two weeks ago, the Governor set a timetable that would see kids returning from winter break on February 28 and enduring a couple of COVID tests during the week so the state could, on March 4, look at the numbers and decide then what to do about masks.
Along came the CDC on Friday, February 25 with its new three-tiered low/medium/high risk calculation, throwing a giant wrench into the governor’s purported schedule. Well done for rush-releasing an active response to those new guidelines, arbitrary as they might be. Points deducted, though, for her absurdly passive-aggressive decision to eliminate the state mandate but leave it up to county governments to render the final decision as to whether they will require schools to keep the masks on indoors. That is not high-minded recognition of local control, it’s an abrogation of executive responsibility.
Political consideration seems to be grabbing the COVID wheel as we enter New York’s heavily-political season. Governor Hochul made the no-mask announcement just one day before the state’s Republicans convened to nominate Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin as their party’s backed candidate for governor. Agree with them or not, New York Republicans have been clamoring for an end to COVID-related mandates for months now; Governor Hochul’s Sunday announcement looks like a clear effort to short-circuit at least one of the GOP’s talking points in the months to come.
Everyone in or aspiring to be in Albany is keeping a careful eye on the calendar now, what with primary elections on both sides of the aisle coming in late June and multiple candidates lining up to run for governor. Governor Hochul looks strongest among the three Democrats currently chasing the office, but – longshot as it might seem today – Republicans see a once-in-a-generation chance to wrestle this office away from the Democrats – not to mention control of the United States House of Representatives and more than a few state legislative seats in this mid-term election year.
We don’t put a lot of stock in political polling results shared with the public, particularly when public sentiment on any given topic or candidate can change quicker than you can say “Now on TMZ.com.” When sudden sea change in public policy comes along, though, we suspect heavily-guarded internal polling results are telling consultants to tell their clients that a public fed up with all things COVID want to see things change pronto.
Regarding Ukraine: Far be it from a weekly newspaper out of upstate New York to think it has the soapbox tall enough to render a definitive opinion for all to hear on this horrible situation. We nonetheless are horrified by Putin’s madman invasion of its neighbor and cannot deny cheering loudly for the president, soldiers, and people of Ukraine for their remarkable courage as they fight hard against unbelievable odds.
We salute Governor Hochul for her decision to halt New York State’s business dealings with Russia and with Russian state-sponsored entities and for taking all the steps she can to support Ukraine and the world in this untenable battle. In Cooperstown, hats off to Rudy’s Liquor Store for removing Russian vodka from their shelves. It’s more than symbolic – it’s affirmative support that genuinely puts the Ukrainian people before commerce. Well done.
And like all of our readers, we hope for a quick end to this terrible war.
In regards to the lifting of the mask mandates….Oh, what a miraculous change of policy! No longer following the science? You mean we are permitted to come out from the darkness into the light? People can actually visit Cooperstown without fearing heavy fines for being caught (gasp) being maskless? Nothing like the shrewd power of political science! Our citizens, particular our poor children thank you for this new “gift” of our new found freedom!