COVID Update November 13: Regrets, I’ve had a few....but I did it the wrong way....

I will introduce you to someone you must meet. @paulgazelka. 1/

A governor uttered the famous pandemic words today: “I wish I had _____ earlier.” 2/

The blank in this case was “a mask mandate.” But it could have been a lot of things— “closed the bars,” “taken this seriously,” “limited gatherings.”

Pandemics are full of regrets.
3/

No one is going to get it right every time. A pandemic is hard to best every time. But as March become May become July and September, it becomes increasingly difficult to pretend you didn’t know. 4/

You saw it in Wuhan, in Lombardi, in New York, in Detroit, in New Orleans , in Phoenix, in Houston...
What did you think?? Did you really think it couldn’t happen on Grand Forks or Duluth?? 5/

One regret is that governors have no support from Washington— no payments from McConnell for bar owners if they close, no help from the ex-Trump Administration (they quit May 1), no coordination from CDC. 6/

Governors— you have known these realities. But they’re not going to improve until noon on Jan 20. 7/

Jan 20– you know that’s the day Trump will declare he’s running for president in 2024 during the inauguration at a competing rally. He will run on a record of wrecking a perfectly good economy and allowing more people to die. Good times again. 8/

Lawmakers should be required to take a rudimentary class in high school math— particularly the part when you learn exponential math. Maybe also the part of high school science where they show delayed reactions. 9/

Then there’s this guy: @paulgazelka

Paul, is the GOPAnon leader of the Minnesota Senate. Yesterday he told us he has ALWAYS said COVID was serious. Well Paul, sorry to take the gloves off, but you’ve been about the best friend COVID has ever had. 10/ https://twitter.com/paulgazelka/status/1326973100077051904

Your understanding of exponential math led you astray. 11/

Who could have foreseen this could have happened??

Besides high school math & science students. 12/ https://twitter.com/paulgazelka/status/1326973100077051904

So @paulgazelka proposed an idea before the election. He called it the “Contract to open up Minnesota.” 13/

Paul’s promise was to loosen all public health restrictions & take all emergency powers from @GovTimWalz. 14/ https://www.startribune.com/republicans-offer-contract-to-open-up-minnesota-in-pandemic/572798992/

Paul saw COVID. But Paul thought this was a problem restricted to the “blue parts of the state.” He thought it was outrageous that people in his rural part of the state wear masks. So he defied this frequently and publicly.

But then something happened. COVID came to his town.15/ https://twitter.com/somuchweirdness/status/1327267013572628480

Paul did it his way all right. But I started thinking. No one is this friendly to a virus unless something is going on. I wondered what it was. Who is this friendly to a virus. And then photos were slipped under my door...16/

Some compromising photos of Paul alone with the virus told me the whole story. Of course, I thought. Virus love.

It never occurred to me. 17/

Some of the pictures were touching. (Some were just gross.)

This is a happy man. The virus always looks a little trapped TBH. 18/

I have a suggestion for a first dance. 19/

But I think I’ll pass on the wedding. I hear it’s indoors with lots of people and of course no masks. 20/

To @paulgazelka, we all have regrets. More than a few. /end

P.S. It turns out the prompting this tweet are facts we are discovering now. Members of the GOPAnon ( @mnsrc) Qaucus have tested positive for COVID.

They have been coming to the Senate floor with masks. Did not notify Democrats or non-partisan staff. https://twitter.com/scottdibble/status/1327436072721104897