{"id":18553,"date":"2020-05-01T12:40:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T17:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nebraskadem.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=18553"},"modified":"2020-05-01T16:38:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T21:38:52","slug":"no-mask-madness-and-more-nebdems-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nebraskademocrats.org\/vi\/blog\/no-mask-madness-and-more-nebdems-news\/","title":{"rendered":"No-Mask Madness v\u00e0 h\u01a1n th\u1ebf n\u1eefa - #NebDems News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Let\u2019s cut right to the chase. Vice President Mike Pence — in a jaw-dropping, foolish move — did not wear a protective mask this week when he visited Mayo Clinic, despite the facility’s strict policy mandating them because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

One health care worker described Pence\u2019s sans-mask visit as “dangerous and disrespectful.\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Esquire\u2019s\u00a0Charles Pierce<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0was not as kind:<\/p>\n

Mike Pence\u2019s inexcusable stroll, unmasked, through the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday. (Why the clinic let him through the door without a mask is another question entirely.) When asked about this grotesque breach of protocol, the head of the White House\u2019s coronavirus task force replied, according to The Week:<\/em><\/p>\n

“As Vice President of the United States, I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus,” Pence said later Tuesday, citing CDC guidance that says masks help stop people who have the coronavirus from spreading it. “I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you.<\/strong>“<\/em>
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\n<\/em>Yes, that is the vice president* of the United States, and the White House point man on the greatest public-health crisis in a century, admitting that he doesn\u2019t know the difference between a mask and a blindfold. It makes a public mockery of everything Pence and his task force allegedly are doing. It makes a mockery of all the people who have upended their lives on his advice.<\/em>
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\n<\/em>OK, so Mike Pence is a bag of hammers. We\u2019ve known that for years. But it\u2019s hard not to conclude that his boneheaded recklessness on Tuesday was prompted by Pence\u2019s desire to prove to the president*, who\u2019s already said he won\u2019t wear a mask because it poses a danger to his perpetually threatened manhood, that Pence is on the team. In other words, Pence didn\u2019t have the simple decency to appear masked in a hospital clinic in the middle of a pandemic because, in this administration*, simple decency is an act of courage beyond Mike Pence\u2019s capabilities. He has the gallows in one eye and Nikki Haley in the other.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just 186 days until the November election, folks. Tick tock.<\/p>\n

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The New Yorker\u2019s Bill McKibben \u201cPassed the Mic\u201d to NDP Chair Jane Kleeb in an article this week headlined \u201cHow to Combat Climate Depression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: You\u2019re in charge of the Nebraska Democratic Party. What\u2019s the mood among activists out on the prairies, as you head into the state\u2019s primary, especially after looking north to Wisconsin\u2019s election earlier this month?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We are nervous, scared, and worried that no one is looking out for us. Governor [Pete] Ricketts is keeping the polls open here on May 12th, and we never had a stay-at-home order. In one of our communities with a larger meatpacking plant, around 50 percent of the people who have been tested are confirmed to have COVID-19. But, because the Democratic Party has largely ignored rural communities for the last 30 years, we do not have enough Democrats elected at the state and federal level to give voice to the issues that affect rural communities.<\/p>\n

READ MORE HERE.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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The dates have been set for Democratic county conventions across Nebraska from May 17 through the 31st. See when yours is\u00a0here<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n

The county conventions, where we elect local leaders and delegates to the state convention, will be done via phone due to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n