Hands Remain Bloodless
Everyone’s suddenly an epidemiologist. But some, like former journalist turned PR man Ron Fournier, are not particularly gifted in their new specialist medical-expert roles.
Everyone’s suddenly an epidemiologist. But some, like former journalist turned PR man Ron Fournier, are not particularly gifted in their new specialist medical-expert roles.
Three weeks ago, after Georgia state governor Brian Kemp announced an easing of business restrictions, Fournier predicted doom:
Mark this day. Because two and three weeks from now, the Georgia death toll is blood on his hands.
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) April 20, 2020
And as Georgians move around the country, they’ll spread more death and economic destruction https://t.co/nlpmD9uiOp
Fournier is plainly in the lockdown eternalist camp. Happily, his prediction did not come true. Quite the opposite, in fact:
Georgia has become an example for states considering whether to reopen, and more than two weeks after Kemp allowed a range of stores to restart, the rate of new cases has slowed while the number of hospitalized patients is on the decline …
Kemp has taken some of the nation’s most aggressive steps to jump-start sectors of business devastated by the pandemic, and he’s cast his approach as crucial to resurrecting Georgia’s slumping economy.
“I’m focused on two battles,” he said. “One to stop the spread of COVID-19, and the other is the battle to bring our economy back.”
It is possible to do both. NSW, in a tentative way, is now trying the same thing. As for “marking the day”, Kurt Schlichter took up Fournier’s challenge:
OK, I marked that day and nothing happened. Not a thing. You must feel really stupid right about now. I haven’t noticed that you’ve come back and said gosh I was super stupid and now I know better and I’m wondering if you realize you were super stupid and if you now know better? https://t.co/yKN8uerrrf
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) May 13, 2020