Sense & Nonsense
And the leadership that’s missing in this scary moment
‘No. There aren’t two sides. There is science and there is misinformation.‘ Michelle Fiscus MD, on Friday
Is the madness winning?
It might seem so, particularly in Tennessee right now, judging by the national headlines of the past week rising from Williamson County’s school board meeting. The bad behavior from that Franklin board room audience, and outside in the parking lot afterward, is not how we normally understand our state’s wealthiest county to be.
But underneath even those headlines have been flashes of good, even courageous leadership - notably in that instance from that county’s elected school board - and the rest of us should thank them for it. At the end of a long evening of anger and mean threats, Williamson’s school board members voted to require protective face-masks for children.
Elected board members in a dozen school districts across Tennessee have lately triumphed over nonsense. They have held fast to the common sense of mask requirements, consistently recommended by health-care professionals. They have done the right thing.
They deserve no one’s ridicule but, instead, our respect and gratitude. We should all thank them taking a stand for common sense over nonsense. Chiefly for two reasons:
The science, the facts, and all the common sense are on the side of requiring masks in this moment. Many students are too young to receive the Covid-fighting vaccine; it’s frankly nonsense and certainly bad policy to deprive school populations of the Covid-shielding protective face-coverings.
State government is largely failing to provide any uniformly helpful leadership to local communities that could cut through the unhelpful confusion and loud defiance over life-saving vaccines and masks. They say they are - and may even believe what they claim to the contrary - but they’re not.
It’s no mystery why some frightened politicians do this: They worry they may lose the next election. Actually, this kind of difficult moment is precisely why we elect governors, mayors, and school board members in the first place.
A time comes when it’s clear that the task of a leader is not just to kiss babies, cut ribbons, and look good in a suit. The real job of an elected leader is to make hard, fact-based choices that benefit citizens across your jurisdiction. That job is often a hard one. It’s supposed to be hard.
Times of great stress can show us what good leadership is. They can also reveal weakness.
What is most galling is elected officials who use this as an opportunity to enhance their political careers, without regard for what is best for the public.
Embarrassing. Watching the video of the infamous meeting both inside and outside the building reminded me of a miniature January 6. Otherwise good and reasonable people completely losing it. Although their opinion is out numbered 2-1 here they think they hold the majority view. It is unbelievable and very sad.