I was disturbed to hear Congressman Thomas Massie (4th District) deliver dangerous misinformation about COVID-19, during joint interviews with his challenger, Alexandra Owensby.
Massie says he believes in science and thus promotes the use of N95 masks but not the use of cloth masks, and calls the CDC’s recommendations “untrustworthy.”
Massie would vote NO on coronavirus stimulus, believing stimulus would come from opening the economy. I wonder how our economy would function with massive absenteeism due to illness and, well, death. He proffered Norway as a model, where mask-wearing is infrequent but hand-washing stations abound. A better model would have been Taiwan, where the per capita case rate is dramatically lower than the U.S. and Norway – because of universal mask-wearing, which in turn makes countries ABLE to safely open up.
Massie feels that we should protect the elderly and vulnerable and “let young people get on with their lives” to achieve “herd immunity.” What’s Massie’s plan to keep them from spreading it to the vulnerable? Experts have rebuked herd immunity as a strategy, not only because of the enormous death toll but also because a large percentage of patients will experience long-term and sometimes permanent, debilitating health effects.
Take my friend’s daughter, Olivia, a healthy, recent college grad who contracted COVID-19 in March. Since then, she has repeatedly visited doctors, specialists, and the ER. She has experienced a roller-coaster ride of symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness, irregular body temperature, palpitations, weakness, chronic fatigue. Olivia reports that everything smells like chemicals or spoiled meat. Then there’s the cost of not just the medical visits but also the medications and supplements.
I hear the heartbreak in my friend’s voice: “It is real. It is not a joke. It is not the flu, not easily recovered from. It is frustrating and has life-long neurological and psychological effects.”
Coronavirus has proven to be unpredictable, thus we don’t know who will be vulnerable. So, how many of you parents, by a show of hands, are willing to play Russian Roulette with your 20- or 30-year-old for herd immunity, instead of waiting for a vaccine to help with that?
I question Massie’s wisdom – and his conscience. As for his record, it’s a mixed bag: You never know where he’s going to land. He voted for Trump’s tax cuts but against Hurricane Harvey relief. He voted to remove taxation of social-security benefits but also to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act. He is one of the least productive members of congress, introducing 8 bills last year, none of which made it out of committee
Conversely, Owensby is a hard-working, moderate, medical professional who brings a wealth of real-life experiences and challenges to the role. Her common-sense, collaborative approach to issues is refreshing. She listens to the needs of ALL of the 400,000 district citizens and won’t dismiss them because of party affiliation. Northern Kentucky, we DO have a choice in this election: Alexandra Owensby, an intelligent, moderate woman for this culturally divided moment.
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