One Small Voice: Governor is reactive, not proactive

Yesterday, March 31, 2020, at 5 p.m., should have been a date and time to celebrate in Arizona.

It was the date and time when Arizona’s governor Doug Ducey issued, at long last, the executive order that declared a stay-at-home order for residents of the state.

But it wasn’t time to celebrate.

The order didn’t change a thing that wasn’t already being done voluntarily by a majority of Arizona’s citizens.

See, the governor specifically exempted golf courses and salons of all kinds (hair, nail, eyebrow and lash, body waxing, etc.) from the list of non-essential businesses.  Can you imagine a place where such a huge number of people come into closer physical proximity than salons?  Really, Gov. Ducey.  Have you any brain matter in your head?

It must have been late last week, maybe Thursday, when Ducey went on TV and said he was a proactive governor in the fight against COVID-19.  He said he was proactive because he was continuing to follow the guidelines set forth by the CDC (Center for Disease Control).

I laughed and laughed.  Along with lots of other ‘zonies.

See, I always thought the definition of proactive was looking forward at a situation and acting in anticipation of the consequences in order to avoid the downsides.  In anticipation of.

All Ducey had been doing, and was continuing to do, was being reactive.  He was sitting back and waiting for someone else to do the difficult task of being proactive, of leading the nation ahead of the consequences of an out-of-control virus.

Alas, that wasn’t being done very well either.  So all Ducey was doing was lamely following another stunted leader, despite the stellar advice of scientists and physicians who were well-versed in how we ought to proceed to get ahead and stay ahead of this stinking virus.

I still follow the national statistics for Michigan, as well as anything printed in this publication about Allegan County in particular, about the spread of the corona virus, because we lived in Wayland for 35 years, and there are people there whom we care about deeply.  And I know that you are fortunate to have a governor who weighed in early to declare an order for Michiganders to venture forth only for essential services.

I don’t expect you to even register the numbers for Arizona unless you have family here.  But here the statistics are still low.  But they are artificially low, because there has been no outcry from the governor’s office for more testing kits, thus no statistics to indicate the scope of our exposure to the virus, much less to indicate the actual cases requiring extraordinary emergency care.

It is very likely that we have exposure in the hundreds, even thousands, because of late-to-the-party exposure prohibitions.  We are beginning, though, to get rising numbers in the news of confirmed cases and deaths, and the trend seems to be following what we have seen in other states.

In the beginning of this health crisis I bemoaned our lack of uncompromised leadership at the federal level, specifically of the president.

But I began to see evidence of very good leadership at the state level by governors who were closer to the people and, therefore, quicker to hear their voices, their fears, and their desires for guidance.  I put my hope there instead of in Washington D.C.

Some governors were quicker and more forceful than others.  Take New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been much in the news for quite a while now, attempting to navigate the minefield of being first proactive, and now, sorrowfully, reactive to the deficiencies of Washington D.C.  He is admirable for his squeaky-wheel approach to saving the epicenter of this pandemic from apocalyptic doom and destruction.  He is no wuss.

Some governors have been Johnny-come-latelys, like my governor, who would rather not stir the pot since nothing is sticking so far.

There is a lesson in leadership coming from our elected officials, not so much at the federal level, but closer to home in our state capitols.  Some governors are showing by example how it should be done.  Some governors are showing by example how it should not be done.

Arizona’s is a lesson in the latter.  Michigan’s is a lesson in the former.

Of those who run for president in November, we should be looking for one who is proactive, not in rhetoric, but in fact.  We should be asking for a leader who does, honestly, lead for the people and not for himself.

Above all, we must vote.

Peace, and, above all, health to everyone.