I am a fan of the author, but the headline is far stronger than the piece itself, which is weak and weakly argued. Behavior at the federal level on COVID overa

I am a fan of the author, but the headline is far stronger than the piece itself, which is weak and weakly argued. Behavior at the federal level on COVID overall- * refusal to engage * denial of reality * hiding of data * propagation of false information and fraudulent non-solutions * obstruction of useful state and city-level plans plus indications of misappropriation for financial gain are plainly criminal. That criminal acts are carried out by elected officials at the time of pandemic is a level of sociopathic abuse that cannot be tolerated in democratic society. Actions in the context of schools derive from the sociopathy. Only one district- the largest, NYC, operating in the context of NYC's largely self-governing citystate bubble- has been able to even get into a position to have a rational, non-politicized conversation about reopening. As a parent in NYC following the conversation very closely I am engaging with the school system to continue the discussion about return and can see best case circumstances that permit me to feel comfortable with my kids attending in person- which IMO is much, much better from social/emotional and intellectual perspectives than remote. But given the chaos and worse orchestrated at the federal level, I expect the in-person program to not last even to the end of the first quarter, and as winter sets in, expect a grim, difficult lockdown. I find behavior and reports eg. from Georgia so saddening, and so utterly astonishing. Even theories like Stockholm Syndrome fail to explain to me the degree to which families are willingly marching to their own needless, often permanent harm. The bottom line is that the most important interests a community and society serve are those of its children. A democratic society expects elected officials not only to act in accordance with those interests but to possess the attributes that allow them to hear and listen and respond in a balanced way across the range of views of their constituents. That's not what we are seeing. Many officials presently in power at the federal level- and many of a particular party at the state and municipal levels- are not fit for that level of public service, should resign or be expelled, and should face the consequences of their criminal actions, including forfeiture of their private assets, which many have grown through graft, misappropriation, and corruption. Whether or not one thinks these consequences can actually be brought to bear is a different question. One has to identify the right answer first, then fight to achieve it. Best wishes.