“And wear your darn mask when it makes sense.”
With that simple comment, U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds sets himself apart from Gov. Kristi Noem in leadership style on fighting the spread of COVID-19.
It’s not the only way he sets himself apart from Noem in style and rhetoric. I don’t think so far he has called the presidential election “rigged.” Nor has he put his name on any lawsuits seeking to overturn the election.
He is not inclined to throw around the term “fake news” whenever he doesn’t like a news story. And he’s not afraid to say that those of us in the American news media, while imperfect, are not enemies of America.
That’s just not the way Mike Rounds tends to think or act. He’s moderately progressive in the way he lives his conservative Republican doctrine as an elected official and tends to treat others — including those who disagree with him — with respect.
And things like following science? Well, the guy who was so instrumental in bringing one of the most important scientific-research institutions — the Sanford Lab — to South Dakota also tends to believe in science, and scientists, including the medical community.
That’s all good stuff, regardless of your political persuasion.
Has Rounds stood up enough against Donald Trump’s harmful, hurtful, make-believe rhetoric? I don’t think so. Neither has Sen. John Thune and Congressman Dusty Johnson.
But then, it’s easy for me to say. I’m a semi-retired, currently reclusive, Republican-In-Name-Only raconteur of centrist inclinations with nothing to lose politically as I speak out courageously against Trump from my comfortable chair in my comfortable den, 1,600 miles from the White House.
It’s more complicated for the congressional boys. Confronting Trump also means confronting the Trump backlash and the Trump supporters.
And that is no small thing for a Republican who might want to run again for elected office, or simply might prefer to avoid a relentless onslaught by angry, Trump-worshipping zealots. Which could ruin a fella’s day.
So I understand the keep-your-head-down avoidance. But I also warn the members of our three-white-male congressional delegation that sometime in the coming weeks or months, they’ll almost certainly have to man up on Trump, regardless of what it means to their careers and the quality of their daily lives.
He won’t give them any other choice, with his behavior.
To paraphrase the popular Edmund Burke quote, evil prevails when good men do nothing. Sooner or later these good men will have to do something more than they have done so far to protect this union from the increasingly un-American behavior of Donald Trump and his most feverish advocates.
Good men and good women across the United States Congress will have to do something meaningful. And something difficult. And probably something more than once.
Donald Trump must be the most ignorant president in U.S. history, but he is not stupid. And he has a sort of genius when it comes to manipulating media, promoting his own interests, seeking revenge against his enemies (real or perceived), and saving face, if only in the distorted mirror of his own mind.
And at that he is relentlessly committed, regardless of the damage, he does to his party, this nation, and its people.
Donald Trump owns the Republican Party. And he certainly has a passionate acolyte in our current governor, who follows the Trump script as perfectly and passionately as any prominent politician in America. Which brings me back to masks and Mike.
It might seem like a simple thing for a state leader to do: promoting the wearing of masks during a pandemic that has killed 300,000 people in this country in less than a year. So you’d think Noem might have done a bit of it.
Just a bit, here and there. Maybe by wearing a mask herself from time to time, when it’s not required for some reason.
Or just simply by saying as part of her COVID message: “Please wear a mask when it’s appropriate. You’re adults. So I leave the choice to you. But in some situations, I think it’s the right choice. It just makes sense.”
She might have even let the state Department of Health public-service TV ad that gets so much use to encourage the wearing of masks when it’s impossible to social distance. Instead, there’s no mention of masks in the ad. There are masks seen on the cartoon-like characters in parts of the ad, but no actual mention of masks and their value.
Seems like a mention wouldn’t have hurt.
Just a mention. No mandates. No lectures. No guilt placing. Just a mask mention, in keeping with the recommendations of the overwhelming majority of medical professionals.
That’s just good old South Dakota common sense and courtesy, and a bit of leadership. Which is what Mike Rounds showed in his column last week.
The column was actually about COVID-19 vaccines. In it, Rounds promotes vaccine use by pledging to get vaccinated himself, as other responsible leaders have pledged to do. He said he trusts the vaccine as he trusts the science and scientists behind it.
Rounds also mentioned his wife, Jean, her battle against sarcoma and how important the vaccine could be in protecting her from COVID. Rounds said that as it protects those in high-risk situations like his wife, the vaccine could get us back near normal after a year that has been anything but that.
But relying on the coming vaccine alone isn’t enough. Adult decisions are needed, too. And Rounds made that clear in his column.
“I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating: While we wait for the vaccine, it’s important to continue using common sense to fight this virus,” he wrote. “Use hand sanitizer, wash your hands, keep your distance, and wear your darn mask when it makes sense.”
Wear your darn mask when it makes sense.
It’s not quite “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
But it’s just as essential. And it will probably save more lives.
