May 1, 2020 3 min read

Become part of the solution

There is a simple truth during this current crisis that none of us wants to be stuck at home, restricted from doing all those things we are accustomed to doing.

There is another simple truth, though, that becomes more obvious every day as I read the paper and see opinions of leaders from both political parties. It has become painfully clear to me that the Republican Party has put its trust in big business at the expense of the common person. Reading Dave Ball’s opinion pieces are painful in their lack of accurate data, misinformation, and his obvious disdain for the current administration. He tries to instill fear into the people, that they are being taken advantage of by the current administration. He argues against practical things like mail-in voting, and constantly knocks Gov. Wolf for the efforts he’s taken to keep Pennsylvanians safe. I can’t imagine the Herculean task facing the governor and his staff in making the decisions he must to help flatten the curve, keep our health care system from being overwhelmed, and to protect those who are on the front lines fighting this battle. There’s no question in my mind that the governor has done exactly that.

As much as I disagree with Ball’s pieces, along came Rep. Josh Kail and his op-ed criticizing Wolf’s stay-at-home order. Instead of spending so much time fighting the order, how about becoming part of the solution? Instead of supporting the governor, the Republicans have spent weeks looking for ways to undermine him and protect their big-business donors and supporters. The Trump administration has proven its inability to manage a crisis, so it has fallen to the governors to protect their residents. The Legislature should be looking for ways to help Wolf protect us instead of fighting him. Relaxing the restrictions too quickly could prove disastrous.

Kail believes the people will do the right thing and continue to follow the rules if we relax the restrictions. He suggests that Wolf needs to do the same and trust the people of Western Pennsylvania. The irony in that is that just below that op-ed piece is a photograph of protesters in Pittsburgh from just a few days ago. In that photo are over a dozen people who are not practicing social distancing and only one is wearing a facial covering. Yet people are going to do the right thing if we open everything back up?

Now is not the time to relax the rules. We are all eager to get back to our normal lives. Yes, unemployment is at an all-time high. However, it’s more important that we adhere to the rules that have been put in place to protect us. Quit the political grandstanding, quit politicizing this crisis, and become part of the solution.

Richard Ward

McDonald