Gov. Roy Cooper saw his shadow today and ordered five more weeks of shutdown.
The original reason Cooper gave for shutting down the economy of the state, forcing businesses to close and people to stay at home was so COVID-19 cases wouldn’t overwhelm the hospitals, but that has long been forgotten. The idea that the numbers of COVID-19 cases had to stabilize has been pushed to the side, because the numbers have not only stabilized, most are trending down.
If there was any doubt that the COVID-19 shutdown is political, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Mandy Cohen erased that by starting what was supposed to be a nonpartisan report on the facts and data that prevented the state from opening with a statement it was time for North Carolina to expand Medicaid.
Cohen said, “Before I begin with data, I just want to give a shout out to the state of Missouri for voting yesterday to expand Medicaid. We in North Carolina are now one of only 12 states that have not said yes to providing North Carolinians with affordable access to health coverage and bringing billions of dollars into our economy. It is time to expand Medicaid here in North Carolina.”
There is no more partisan issue in Raleigh than expanding Medicaid. The state doesn’t have a budget this year because Cooper refused to negotiate any portion of the budget until the Republican leadership in the legislature agreed to expand Medicaid. In the state Senate, the Republicans were unable to get one Democratic senator to cross over and vote for a budget because it did not include Medicaid expansion.
After her highly partisan spiel on Medicaid expansion, Cohen went through the numbers that look like what the people of North Carolina had been told repeatedly was necessary to move to Phase 3, but the numbers were not deemed good enough. Except for the percentage of those testing positive, which Cohen now says needs to be at 5 percent, she didn’t inform the people of North Carolina how low the numbers had to go in order for Cooper to allow people to get back to work and businesses to go back to a more normal operation.
All the charts showed the numbers either down or stabilized, but evidently not down or stabilized enough to reopen the economy.
During the period where Cooper answered screened questions from the media, with no chance of a follow-up question, he was asked several times about bars being closed when restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries are all allowed to serve alcoholic beverages. He said bars were areas of high transmission and gave some anecdotal evidence but no science, facts or data to support that statement.
He also didn’t explain why someone served a drink at a restaurant at 10:59 p.m. was less likely to transmit COVID-19 to someone else, than the same person served a drink at 11:01.
Dr. Mandy Cohen is a purely political wonk. She began her career interning for the murderous and lecherous Ted Kennedy. Then worked for years in extremely partisan appointments including working for a struggling VA and the failed ACA. Cooper brought her and her very high salary primarily to implement the Democrat dream of expansion of all spending specifically the hyperpartisan Medicaid expansion. The lack of real scientific scrutiny is really inexcusable and criminal.
I’m surprised at how much of a wuss Roy Boy is. If he had any guts, he’d just say we’ll be closed for as long as he sees fit, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. That way, the bars, gyms, and sporting organizations can just close and be done stressing about it.
The funniest part is his party running ads saying they’re going to fix the economy when they shut down all these businesses, and don’t want them to open again. Laughing beats screaming, and it’s better on my blood pressure.
roy cooper is a typical partisan liberal demorat and needs voted out along with the attorney general. he could care less about the freedom and economic condition of the people in this state.
It’s all political Cooper is going to keep us shut down
Until the election to push the mail in vote junk. Mr Cooper and Ms Cohen do the citizens of North Carolina a favor Resign! You don’t have our best interest. People need to realize this is a political stunt and Ms Cohens remarks about Medicaid clearly shows that for the good of North Carolina both need to go
Sorry, John, but I feel much more comfortable with continuing the Phase 2 restrictions, especially given all the school and college reopenings. If we see a spike in cases in the next two weeks, we’ll know that Phase 2 was the thing to do. If not, then we can consider Phase 3. Forty people in North Carolina died yesterday from the virus. That’s forty too many and full reopening would likely have increased that number.
Need a drink? Head to your ABC store or get beer and wine at the grocery, drug store, service station. Besides, it’s cheaper there anyway. I can wait a few more weeks to bend an elbow at a bar.
Uh-uh. I decide where and when to shop, not the Gov. No prob with your opinion, you can do as you wish. I’m fine with it, just don’t mess with me.
Its about more than having a drink which you can get at home. Its about businesses trying to survive. States all around NC have bars and gyms open and the numbers have not skyrocketed any worse than NC have. Its all about control. And Cooper is controlling the state with an iron fist. With schools and colleges opening up whats the problem with gyms and bars. If they follow the guidelines like all the rest of the businesses are required to follow, they should be allowed to open. If you don’t want to go, then don’t. Everyone makes their own choices. Masks are mandated but still people choose whether to wear or not. So stay home for 5 weeks but let the gyms and bars open with the guidelines. If not, they are going to wind up having to close their doors.
Then you should stay inside your own home and don’t come out for five weeks, how about that?
People like you are what’s wrong with society these days. You have no right to tell someone else to buy their drinks at the store, and just stay home. If an adult wants to go to a bar, and have someone else pour a drink for them, that should be up to them – not you, not Roy Cooper, not anyone else.
People like you have no right to force your fears on to everyone else. If you’re so scared and concerned, then you should stay home, and worry about yourself. No one appointed you to be their decision maker.
Let adults be adults, making their own decisions about their lives. BUTT OUT!
AMEN TOM! What we decide to do should be a CHOICE. Allow businesses to open, again, leaving that decision up to each individual business. If something is open, I can then choose to go or not to go there, based on the level of risk I am willing to accept. Taking away our CHOICE is wrong.
AMEN right back at you, brother!
&John Twobad, spoken like a man with compassion and sense.
And John I respect your desire to not have even one person to die from Covid, because I want the same. But when you say 44 people died yesterday from Covid , almost 10 million didn’t . NC needs to reopen , and just like the flu, we fight this virus , fight this virus and FIGHT THIS VIRUS while we continue to live, laugh , cry and help one another. Its called LIFE. Stay safe
Master Cooper is not ready to all his surfs and peons to resume their normal lives yet. He’s still waiting on instructions from HIS Masters as to when they will get around to forcing us to accept voting by mail so they can lock up the election process in their favor.
Roy’s Motto;
Do as I say, Not as I do.
These restrictions will continue until November, at least. Even after if da Coop remains duh-Gov. All this is to make the President, and Republican party look as bad as possible. No matter what the President does, it will be wrong. All the LEFT really has to offer is divisiveness and hate.
This coming election is the most important in my memory. And I remember President Truman. Where is he when we need him?
Gov, I knew President Truman, and you are no President Truman.
It’s all a goddamned lie.
All this for a virus with a better survivability rate than the common flu.
If the governor of our great state truly cared about our health, he would take a look at the numbers relating to deaths caused by the used of tobacco, alcohol, and vehicles. I’m not saying they should outlaw those things, I’m just making a point that this is 100% about politics, power, and control.
Government is only supposed to have as much power as the people grant them. These days, it seems like the population is content with having the government make all their decisions for them. What really woke me up to this reality was the NC indoor smoking ban that was enacted about 13 or 14 years ago. The government has no right to tell a business that they can’t allow smoking inside their building. I don’t smoke, I don’t like to smell smoke, and I don’t like to eat next to someone who is smoking, but it’s my choice – my responsibility – to decide for myself if I want to eat in a restaurant where smoking is allowed.
Government should not be able to tell one business they can stay open while telling another one they have to stay closed.
The governor should not be able to tell me that I have to wear a useless face mask, and then turn around and stand shoulder to shoulder in the street with a bunch of protestors without one.
The government shouldn’t be able to tell a business they have to require masks on their customers. That should be up to each business owner. If a business wants to tell their customers they have to wear masks, that should be their choice, for their own reasons. If I choose to enter that establishment without a mask, and an employee asks me to put one on or leave, I’ll leave. Otherwise I would be trespassing. Their store, their requirements, their right.
If a store wants to let customers come in without a face diaper, that’s their right. If a face-masked Karen doesn’t like it, they should shop somewhere else that does require masks – that’s their right.
All this lockdown BS is just that – BS. There were no lockdowns, no face masks, no draconian overreach of power several years ago when H1N1 hit us. Hmmm, I wonder what was different then?
I’m tired of hearing phrases like “new normal” and “social distancing”. This should never happen again – NEVER!
I WILL NOT COMPLY!
I totally, 100% agree with you. Thank you!!!!
John Twobad – Yes, NC had 40 deaths yesterday. 28 of those deaths were from nursing homes. To date we have had 2092 deaths and 1092 of them were from Congregate Living. If the state would focus just a little attention to helping out the nursing homes we would see a massive reduction in our numbers. We have averaged 52% to 63% of our deaths daily in these facilities. From what I know they are taking very strict measures to control the virus. Maybe Mandy Cohen can suggest something that would help them. You can’t lock them down. They already are. You can’t make them wear masks. They already are. You can’t make them take temperatures at the door. They already are. My point being, if you think any of these draconian measures are going to stop this virus, you are wrong.
“Seeing his shadow,” what a crock of nonsense, John Hammer! Gov. Cooper made a difficult call and he really had no other choice in light of the rising number of Covid-19 cases. He was damned if he did and would be damned if he didn’t.
For years, I have enjoyed reading the Rhino Times, albeit a more conservative publication than I usually read. Nevertheless, you have often triggered healthy debate and discussions on many of the articles you’ve written.
This pandemic doesn’t have any winners. It is a situation that our country hasn’t witnessed in more than one hundred years. It appears that many people are indignant when asked to wear masks and socially distant. Hopefully, a vaccine is on the horizon with possible manufacturing and distributing by the end of the year. Four pharmaceutical companies are engaged in clinical trials and from many news outlets (CNN, MSNBC, and FOX), and print media, there is much hope.
To conclude, Gov. Cooper has maintained a steady hand dealing with this catastrophic pandemic. While many have tried to politicize it (on both sides of the aisle), I feel that here in North Carolina, we are tackling it by listening to the science.
Seeing his shadow would be more “scientific” than what he’s doing now. Why is NC dead last is reporting data to the CDC? Kim Jong Cooper has been asleep at the wheel for his whole life as AG and now as Gov. What are his accomplishments as governor? More vetos that all previous governors combined? Letting DOT overspend billions and rob the hwy trust fund? How about ranking dead last in paying out unemployment claims? Or how about being ranked 45th among states with the most onerous lock down restrictions? Or maybe vetoing the most raises for teachers Get? Get back to me and let me know…
“Kim Jong Cooper”? Best one I’ve seen yet….
We’re not “tackling” anything here except for our freedoms. Sweden took the right approach – they recommended protective measures for those vulnerable to the virus, and everyone else was allowed to live their lives as normal. Thus, those not vulnerable were allowed to contract it, and developed their immunities, resulting in the desired herd immunity.
Locking everyone down, enforcing face diapers, etc., is doing way more harm than good. We would have already been on the other side of this had we not been locked down and isolated.
Roy Cooper is no scientist – he is a hack politician.
Give me a personal f’ing break.
Mandy lost me in May when she said”as of today covid 19 is the single largest killer in America” what happened to cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes???!!! She belongs with Roy boy, out in November
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. One person dies every 37 seconds in the United States from cardiovascular disease. About 647,000 Americans die from heart disease each year—that’s 1 in every 4 deaths.Jun 22, 2020
I love the title of this article. I said the same thing on SM… the day before this went up.
The Coop’s shadow has been growing since early Spring, & will continue to grow until/after the election.
The Coop needs a shave in November…..