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Opinion
Smoky Mountain News
In a crisis, ordinary people turn heroic
Frontline heroes deserve our thanks To the Editor: The “front line” people who risk their lives and health (both mental and physical) to help safeguard us deserve our thanks and our praise, especially in light of the current pandemic. They are all heroes and I hope that they will be publicly rewarded whenever it becomes possible to do that. Meanwhile I want to give a special shoutout for Dr. Mark Jaben, the medical director for the Haywood County Health Department. What a precious asset he has been! I don’t know where or how he developed such amazing communications skills, but I am in awe that he is able to address issues head-on in a way that should not alienate people who disagree with him. Haywood is indeed fortunate to have competent leaders and Dr. Jaben is an outstanding example. Heartfelt thanks to all who are doing their best to keep us safe through this ordeal. Joanne Strop Waynesville
Not enough lipstick to cover this pig To the Editor: Trump’s attack on the WHO (World Health Organization) is classic Trump. Make bad decisions and then blame someone else for the consequences. The reality is that the WHO issued warnings about COVID-19 long before Trump took any action whatsoever to do anything about it. WHO issued its first warning on Jan. 9. On
will help us through this. Even that one friend with a weird sense of humor. Or the obnoxious character we tolerate in person or on Facebook. We are in this together. These are the people who are the true heroes in all of this. You get the idea. It is the regular folks who live down the street from you who are the real stalwarts in the midst of this fog of pandemic. This is a challenging time. A time when it will be well to dust off the great man theory. That is a 19th century idea according to which history can Guest Columnist be largely explained by the impact of great men/women, or heroes: how ordinary people rise up to face great events. This is a time when we notice that the most important people during this mess are not the well paid, the narcissistic, or vain celebrities among us. The real heroes are the ones stepping up. The average Joe or Josephine. If this pandemic shows us one thing, it is the inequality of wealth has been laid bare. It is ugly. Money, not leadership, decides who now gets elected and have power over our everyday lives. The wrath of
Bob Scott
At 5:30 this morning I was staring at the ceiling. I doubt that I was alone. Many of us are awake worrying about the present, unprecedented situation. During these extraordinary times we are seeing the fortitude and resilience of ordinary folks among us. I see it every day. Our emergency services folks, the men and women who are facing uncertain financial times but are holding up. The people who cut our hair and are now having to watch helplessly as we become shaggy. The women and men behind the cash registers at the check out lines in our grocery stores. Our restaurant people who are not going to see us go hungry so they bring our order out to our cars with curbside service. The women who dust off sewing machines and make masks for their neighbors and our front-line medical forces. The people who call to check on the elderly. Those delivering meals via automobile or school bus. The public works people who keep the lights on. The water flowing. The streets open. The plight of our children whose education has been interrupted. The folks who show up with a casserole to cheer us up when the chips are down. These are our neighbors. Our ministers who lift up the Word via the internet, phone, or computer. Mental health and social workers who
LETTERS Jan. 18, Health Secretary Alex Azar tried to brief Trump on the virus, but Trump ignored him. On Jan. 22, Trump said the U.S. had the pandemic “totally under control.” On Jan. 23, WHO updated warnings regarding human-tohuman transmission. On the previous day, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arizona) urged the White House to issue a China travel ban. Jan. 30, WHO declares COVID-19 a “public health emergency” but the same day Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary, says the virus in China will be good for the US economy. On Feb. 2, Trump finally restricts travel from China — almost a month after the first WHO warning. Why is Trump attacking WHO when it is he who delayed? One reason is because Trump wants credit for everything good and the responsibility for nothing bad. The other reason might be that new WHO guidelines consisting of five prerequisites for opening up the economy are far from where the U.S. currently is. We fail even the first guideline, which is containing the spread. The second is widespread testing. Meeting these two alone will take at least a month — if ever, given that some Republican governors following Trump’s lead regarding an open economy are doing nothing. On the topic of testing, Trump rejected the WHO offer for tests and insisted that tests had to be developed in the U.S. That first effort resulted in faulty tests that delayed any testing for weeks. It soon became clear that producing and distributing testing for COVID-19 was beyond the capability of the lackeys at the head of the Trump administration. So, Trump declared that testing had to be the responsibility of the states via the governors.
the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling had horrible unintended consequences that money can legally control politics. “There are no extraordinary men … just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with,” Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr. (Bull) World War II. I would add women to his quote. “These are times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” That is not what some politician said during this COVID-19 time. It was Thomas Paine in 1776. But it is so true today. Yes, I am angry. I am angry at Washington. It’s past time our politicians stop acting as though they are in an adult Disney World and realize we are hurting. For Pete’s sake! Start listening to reason and not political expediency. So, what if you don’t get reelected? Office holding is service to your fellow man. It is not a profession. Read up on what greatness truly is. And by the way, check out humility and empathy. In between your fundraising. (Bob Scott was formerly a journalist and is currently the mayor of Franklin.)
Trump is great at exercising magical thinking whereby whatever he says suddenly becomes real. Fortunately, Mother Nature cannot be gaslighted. COVID-19 does not follow daily rallies disguised as briefings. Trump and company can make all kinds of pronouncements and brag about what they are doing, but then reality rears its ugly head. People have died for lack of ventilators. People will die due to lack of testing. There are locals with a lack of medical equipment and tests. The fault for this is a failure of national leadership. Pence and others can butter up Trump about his great leadership, but there is not enough lipstick to put on this pig to make it anything else. Norman Hoffmann Waynesville
Be careful what you wish for To the Editor: How strange is it that some of you are becoming the thing you hate the most? In 2019, you were afraid to walk by a person that lives on the street. You said you’d never be that person. In 2020, you are afraid you’ll be that person. Oh, the irony. You protest the “stay home stay safe” orders. You blame your government for your fear of losing your house. You don’t care if elderly and immune-compromised people die,
you want your life back the way it was before you saw your mounting debt and empty cupboard.
In 2019 we wanted healthcare for all. Mental illness is a big factor in losing your home and being unable to work or be stable. We wanted easy and free access to doctors, prescriptions, and supportive programs that manage mental illness and addiction. We blamed the government and voters for this lack of a cure. After all, it is their fault so many go without. Did you care back then when people needed help? Did you care back then about really finding a solution to people without shelter, and people suffering addiction? Did you just want them gone and out of sight? Now that you are scared and wondering how you will survive during this shut down, should I pack your bags for you when they take your home? Irene Tyli Haywood County
