How to Treat an Anti-Masker
Alaska state senator Lora Reinbold is one of those: loud-mouthed, science denier, and anti-vaxxer. She steadfastly refuses to follow COVID protocols, even refusing to wear an appropriate mask at the state capitol in Juneau and railing about “mask tyranny”. Being a falsehood-spouting Republican, Reinbold is an active member of the Stupid Caucus of the GOP. Her behavior has been so egregious (even to her fellow Republicans) that she was removed as chair of the state senate judiciary committee and banned from certain parts of the capitol for her repeated violations of COVID protocols and berating other senators. She was even fined for refusing to follow protocols.
Reinbold’s behavior has now come with really serious consequences, and it’s hilarious. Alaska Airlines is the only airline that flies between Reinhold’s home in Anchorage and the state capital of Juneau, and she has clashed with airline employees over federal mask mandates and COVID protocols in place to protect travelers, and publicly complained about the restrictions. Exasperated, the airline finally banned her this weekend from flying on the airline, period. Announcing the ban to the media, the airline’s spokesman said,
“We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy. This suspension is effective immediately, pending further review. Federal law requires all guests to wear a mask over their nose and mouth at all times during travel, including throughout the flight, during boarding and deplaning, and while traveling through an airport.”
She now has to take a 14 hour drive, complete with a ferry ride to get to Juneau for legislative sessions. Last night, in a Trump-like response to the ban on Facebook, Reinbold threatened the airline with an investigation into its “monopoly”, and complained that she was publicly named after the ban, despite her regular public ranting about the airline. Seems to me that turnabout is fair play.
Alaska Airlines not only did the right thing here and were forced to do so. Reinbold is a danger to the public especially since she is an elected official who has used her position to flout the law and common sense. She got exactly what she deserved.
And you left out one thing. She has to drive through Canada, because Alaska is split in two parts with a section of Canada dividing Southeastern from the northern part. Canada currently has closed boarders with the U.S.. Even if they let her through, she had better show up wearing a mask, and if they know in advance what a pain she is, they probably won’t. They won’t be putting up with any loud, obnoxious, anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers.
1Also, too, she is required to wear a mask to ride the ferry.
2Nobody is ever sent to Hell: he or she insists on going there.
~ W. H. Auden
3She probably has a picture of her inspiration, Sarah Palin, pasted over her bed.
4Sounds like her perfect excuse for AK taxpayers to fly her around on private aircraft.
5Sarah Palin and family has had COVID.
6She encourages everyone to wear a mask now.
There are a lot of private pilots in Alaska, and some are devout Republicans. I am sure she will be getting offers for rides from some of them.
It would cost a bit more than a commercial ticket, but she really isn’t completely excised from the legislature.
7Good for Alaska Airlines! I hope “further review” leaves the ban solidly in place. She has it coming, unless and until she changes her mind and wears a mask when she is required to.
8Next I hope facebook and twitter ban her…
9She’s lucky this happened at this time of year. During the winter, you can’t even drive to Juneau. Flying is the only way in or out.
10We’ve been debating this at home. No, we both agree that the mask deniers are stupid, but we are debating about who is primarily responsible. My wife primarily blames baby boomers while I’m not seeing a generational breakdown.
What I think is telling is about how different we are from the WW2 generation. They accepted rations and other limitations during the war and obviously worked through shortages and limitations during the depression. Whether its boomers, Gen X, Y, Z, or Why that just wouldn’t happen today.
I don’t understand it. It’s just a piece of cloth.
11Nobody can sue an airline over where it flies. The airlines have been deregulated. Republicans usually like deregulation.
She can thank Jimmy Carter.
12She and other idiots like her don’t believe in science? Fine. Don’t go to a medical professional for anything EVER again in this life. For ANYTHING. Get a bad sinus infection? A cut gets infected and starts running red streaks? Develop a preventable disease like mumps, measles or chickenpox? Develop cancer? Etc., etc., etc. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Just suck it up and deal. Especially if she/they get/s Covid. We don’t need anymore useless burdens on the medical system.
Yeah, it sounds cold hearted. Well, it’s what I would *like* to say to these idiots. If pressed hard enough I might. I’m so very tired of willful ignorance.
13Alaska Airlines, my absolute favorite way to fly, is respecting the company policy, their customers and their employees by banning this nut job. Good on them. As for the representative, her actions had logical consequences. She needs to learn from them (like any two year old).
14It’s time for a good ol Alaskan spring snowstorm while she’s driving to-from there. If anyone deserves Covid, it would be her. Where is karma when we need it?
15I am embarrassed — no, I am mortified — to admit that Reinbold was elected by slipstream’s district. And now her asinine behavior means that the person who was elected to represent my district in the Alaska state senate probably won’t be there at all, won’t speak on the floor, won’t vote.
Which is certainly an improvement.
16I hear Trump has a slightly used Boeing 757, grounded due to its need for deferred repairs. Maybe she can make him a lowball offer.
17My brother lives in Canada. I am fully vaccinated. I cannot go visit him. How the hell was she allowed to enter Canada and I cannot???
18It seems that every time there is an opportunity for citizens to join together for the common good some republican steps forth to object.
19It is really a sad commentary on our society. So much for “American Exceptionalism”
@Yellowstone – It is American Exceptionalism: Exceptionally Ignorant.
20John mentions private aircraft. I’m picturing the team plane from “Major League.”
21Hopes dashed. Reinbold got back to Juneau on the ferry.
Wonder if she wore the required mask? She has a vote on the annual funding of the ferry system — which is in a deep financial hole, and has ferries out of service. It might be easy for a ferry employee to overlook a mask refusal.
22what she, and all the other morons like her, deserve is:
1. as RA noted above, to be denied all the benefits of modern medicine, period. you don’t believe in evolutionary biology (which all of modern medicine is based on)? no problem, call a witch doctor, the next time you get an infection, no antibiotics for you!
2. denied all the benefits of modern science/technology, period. need to get to Juneau for a meeting? walk/ride a horse/sleddog it there.
we’ll see how long those “deeply held personal beliefs” last.
23I too lived in her district before we moved from Alaska. I am hoping Canada denied her passage to meet her ferry ride in Haines or Skagway.
24Let’s see … How is this a problem?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new order effective February 2nd, 2021, requiring all passengers across all forms of public transportation into, within, or outside of the United States to wear face masks. This order extends to FAR Part 135 charter flights, and while passing through transportation hubs, including private terminals and FBOs.
Exemptions in place for passengers during the following: when passengers are eating/drinking, communicating with hearing impaired passengers, children under the age of 2, and passengers with disabilities preventing them from safely wearing a mask.
I keep forgetting that we’ve gone past the era when Republicans were all in favor of “law and order.” Or, more recently, when they insisted that “elections have consequences” and there was no basis for objecting to an order putting some people on the “no fly” list.
25I suspect Alaska Airlines has been too nice. too Interfering with a flight crew in the performance of their flight duties is a federal crime. This includes such things as refusing to turn off devices before landing, &c, and the FAA can get a bit grumpy about these procedures not being followed: the airline has to file their procedures, and is on the hook for ensuring they’re followed during operations.
26I’ve seen ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ jerks on at least two occasions refusing to do such things looking much paler when met by federal marshals at the arrival gate.
fenway fran @ 14
Except Flight 261. Alaska should have has its flight certificate pulled after that.
It does have a reputation for very good service and no deliberate crashes for 20 years.
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