There are lots of moments when federalism just seems to bog down. I remember watching former governor Rick Perry fumble around during hurricane relief when he was tasked as being a go between with the federal government and local government. Bill White (the mayor) got so exasperated that he told him to just stand in the corner while he worked directly with the federal relief people.

When it comes to a response to COVID, we are rapidly getting to that level of gross incompetence. The fact that the state actors are the ones again in the crosshairs shouldn’t be lost on anyone. The state level is dominated by Republicans while the local level has been dominated by Democrats. That alone is a good explanation for why things have gone awry.

In a time when it would be great to have one unified voice of how to proceed we have voices on four different levels. We have the national government making rules and recommendations. State governments have virtually punted any response or responsibility. This is especially true for those that have possible 2024 aspirations. So, that leaves local authorities and or private businesses to pick up the slack.

My daughter had a volleyball tournament this past weekend. Except, they weren’t allowed to go. One member of the team had been exposed to COVID. So, the whole team was barred from coming. I think the tournament organizers really don’t understand what they were doing here. See, there wasn’t one player on the team that was exposed. There were multiple players exposed.

Kids on these sorts of teams go to multiple schools. Those multiple schools have multiple rules in terms of COVID and exposure. Some tell you if you have been exposed and some don’t. Some advise you to get tested when exposed and some don’t. Obviously, a lot of people know these rules and will be less than honest about their exposure. That’s especially true when you consider the consequences of reporting that exposure.

I’d have to imagine that if every team were following the rules to the letter there would be no tournament. So, in a roundabout way they were actually guaranteeing more exposure and not less. Obviously, the situation caused a lot of frustration for the girls and for their parents. Frustration leads to less cooperation and less following of the rules. I imagine that is not what we are after.

That’s just one isolated situation. Multiply that numerous times and you’ll get what we currently have. You get a situation where national, state, and local entities say three different things. Public and private entities say two different things. Multiply that by the number of private entities we deal with on a daily basis and the number of public entities we may deal with and you get a recipe for frustration and confusion. That’s for the people who are inclined to follow rules and recommendations in good faith. As we know, many people are not that way.

In that world, it shouldn’t be surprising that some people won’t follow the rules and instead may resort to drinking their urine to fight back the virus. This is federalism problem, but it really is a problem where some people are not invested in finding solutions. Some people are more invested in making sure others fail. They want frustration. Frustration is a path to their electoral success. At least we are all on the same page as far as that is concerned.

I’m adding a little to El Jefe’s theme this morning.

It seems that in the Czech Republic a woman has been punished for spreading false information about The Covid.

She posted false information online about some people who died in a nursing home after receiving the vaccine. It was untrue. She was the first Czech citizen to be convicted under a new law that you can’t do that.  And if you think about it, it is kinda like yelling fire in a crowded theater when you spread lies to encourage people not to get the vaccine.

“Jana Peterková is obliged to public official apologies on her social networks and website. She also needs to pay financial compensation in the amount of CZK 250,000 crowns and cover the costs of the proceedings.”

I looked it up and CZK 250,000 is $11,684.17 at today’s exchange rate. That is still a hefty sting.

But, what ready got my attention is the picture of Jana Peterková.

Y’all, it’s KAREN!

All I can figure is that the Czech version of Karen is Jana.

You’ve probably already met Jenna Ryan, a 51 year old Texas realtor who attended the January 6th attempted overthrow of the United States government.

Bless her heart, she never learned that there’s a difference between guts and gall.  And she has parlayed herownself into a little ole 60 day stunt in prison, where she intends to do a lot of yoga and lose 30 pounds. I am hoping it’s 30 pounds of gall.

Jenna took the trip to the capitol on a private jet where she had been invited by “a cute guy” on Twitter or TikTok or Instagram or some damn place you meet other nice people.  She marched into the capitol tweeting on her cell phone, promoting her business, and trying to make a name for herself on rightwing radio.  Seriously. Oh yeah, and she also wanted a book deal.

She then decided that she’s a victim. Yeah, y’all are suppressing her.

She went so far as to assert that the backlash she has received is akin to the experience of “the Jews in Germany.”

“They’re making fun of my skin color. They’re calling me an ‘insurrection Barbie,’” she said.

I dunno, Jenna, but it seems to me they’re making fun of everything about you.  I mean, you weren’t born with that stoopid hat on. And women didn’t die for your right to vote so you could push your business while overthrowing democracy.

“You guys, will you believe this?” Ryan said on Facebook Live while inside the Capitol, according to the sentencing memo. “I am not messing around. When I come to sell your house, this is what I will do. I will f—ing sell your house.”

So, anyway, Jenna went to prison last month and I hope she’s shedding some of her privilege.

Meanwhile, some really mean people set up a political PAC for her to enjoy while she’s doing yoga. It’s called Stop the Persecution of MAGA Blondies.  It claims she filed it but she’s in prison right now so I kinda doubt that. Cue the whine machine – they’re making fun of Jenna again.

Amidst all of the shenanigans between Rand Paul and Dr. Fauci, more statistics seem to be bandied about. Some of them are actually thought provoking and deserve some exploration. Paul has taken it upon himself to be the fly in Fauci’s ointment. At every step of the way he has been there to question his findings and disagree with his conclusions. After all, he’s a doctor. Despite popular belief, he is still licensed to practice as an ophthalmologist. I guess he has that going for him.

This is where we get bogged down into the small details of pitting one expert against another. See, Rand Paul did go to medical school. I’m sure he did take classes in immunology. He probably knows more than the average bear. Yet, when compared with a medical doctor that has spent the past four plus decades studying immunology exclusively there can be no real comparison.

The numbers I saw last night would allow you to question all of this. In 2018, the world death rate was 0.76 percent. That was the same death rate as 2019 and the same as 2020. That nugget of information would lead one to believe that COVID hasn’t impacted the world population at all. I suppose if we looked at this through a vacuum we’d close the book and move on.

Sadly though, we don’t live in the world. We live in the United States. In the United States, death rates have not been level. When one looks at the world rates for just COVID we see something else entirely. Sure, there are disputes about how deaths should be counted, but these deaths are counted the same way around the world and they have yielded very clear results.

So, two things are clear based on the data we do see. First, the overall mortality rate IN THE UNITED STATES has gone up since COVID has been a thing. So, releasing world data is nice, but that demonstrates that most of the world has gotten this thing under control. That’s because when health experts in those countries have proposed ways to get the virus under control, the people in those countries actually listened.

There are nearly eight billion people in the world. The U.S. population represents around four percent of that total. Basic math tells us that the mortality rate would really need to spike in the U.S. for it to have a dent in the overall world mortality rate. This is especially true when we consider that things like masking and heightened hygiene have decreased the amount of flu deaths we normally have and probably improved health on the other end.

Fauci already has earned his keep and faith in his expertise. In addition to all of the potential disasters he has helped prevent in the intervening decades, he had to listen to Trump prattle on with his nonsense for over a year. One can forgive him if he loses his cool even this one time.

So, we can debate whether we should count people who die because of COVID or whether people die with COVID. We can argue as if those verbs, pronouns, and adjectives even matter. The point is that an expert that has been doing this for going on 50 years tells us it matters. Sure, he could be wrong I guess. Science continually improves itself throughout time. If you are prepared to take the word of an eye doctor over him then you take your life into your own hands. Good luck.

There’s a guy named Don Huffines who is a former Texas State Senator running to the right of Greg Abbott in the Republican primary for Governor.

Huffines is a crazy Republican with a plan to eliminate property taxes, but do it in stages so people won’t feel it all it once, you know – kinda like cooking a lobster.

Sneaky Republicans with links to the Huffines campaign that would pretty much fit the category of cahoots, found some guy named Rick Perry who ain’t the real Rick Perry and got him to run for Governor hoping to take votes away from Abbott. They are hoping the ignorant Republican voters will get snookered by the fake Rick Perry.

Well, Darlin’, it’s working like a fifty dollar hammer on a greased nail. The local newspaper says it’s the former Governor who is running for Governor.

It’s a pay per view newspaper so I just screen-shot the article. Click here to see the whole article. Last paragraph.

Odd it came out at a Huffines events, right? And, it’s odd that it came out at a very Republican newspaper. Wait, wait, let me correct that – a very Republican newspaper with egg on their face.

Yeah, and the real Allen B West who is running is the former Florida congressman but he was too damn wacky for Florida and that right there is saying something.

Oh, this is gonna be fun.

You couldn’t have set up the punchline any better. Our parish priest announced that the bishop was lifting the dispensation on attending mass virtually. So, no more live streaming of mass. No more simulcasts over the radio. Of course, that came with the usual caveats about health and what not. The punchline? Half of the choir was out with COVID and the high school confirmation night had been cancelled due to COVID. I guess irony isn’t lost on the church.

It was that moment that hit me like a ton of bricks. All of us desperately want to be back to normal. No one likes quarantine. No one likes masks. No one likes getting two rounds of shots and then a third. No one likes rapid tests or blood tests or antibody tests or any other kind of test. Some don’t like it and so they don’t do it. So, he we are.

A friend posted on Facebook about the unemployment rate and it created quite the stir. Unemployment rates are based on the number of people actively seeking employment. If I stop looking for whatever reason then I no longer count. That is a stark contrast with counting the number of people actually working. In 2019, 157.54 million people were working. In 2021, that number dropped to 152.72 million. If you click on the link you’ll notice that 2020 was even lower.

When you have competing numbers it becomes important to talk about context. Clearly, there is a gap between the number of people seeking jobs (which is historically low) and the number of people actually working. Understanding the gap is the key to understanding everything. I really can only speak intelligently about my industry. There is a huge teacher shortage throughout the state of Texas and nationwide. COVID plays a role in that, but it isn’t necessarily the only thing.

It would be more accurate to say there are a variety of factors that have come together to create this situation. COVID simply was a catalyst in bringing these factors all together. Suddenly, hundreds if not thousands of teachers realized they were being asked to do the impossible. Student to teacher ratios were increasing, more pressure was coming from on high about test scores, and support from the central office and from the average home was dwindling. Add that to a pandemic and the need to somehow socially distance 30 children while teaching an interactive lesson without people interacting and it was enough for thousands to throw in the towel.

This is just education. Those in other industries could tell their own tales. Working for a living involves trade offs. We all work for an income and that income allows us to afford certain things. Yet, we exchange some risk in return. That risk takes the form of stress, aggravation, and certainly our time. When those costs become too high then workers will decline the paycheck and live with the consequences of that decision.

Meanwhile, many on the employer side are waiting with bated breath like the bishop. They are waiting for that special day when everything will go back to the way it had always been. Like the bishop, they fail to see the irony of that belief system. We can certainly choose to believe what we want to believe about whether this change is a good or bad thing. If we want, we can call workers lazy and ungrateful for the opportunities they have. We can call employers greedy and unwilling to change with the changing times. Maybe it took COVID to create this new reality, but it doesn’t change what is. Somehow we will have to manage.