Coronavirus

By the way, I'm going to piss some people off here, but these mask mandate bans are dumb. As I've said before, a big part of the problem with our politics is the inability of people to live and let live and respect the federalist system and local control. It's not enough to get our way within our own jurisdiction, we start feeling righteous and self-important and decide we have a duty to force our way on others. Obviously the Left does this on abortion, education, sexuality and gender, and lots of other issues. However, sometimes the Right does it, and it's just as toxic.

These mask mandate bans are such an issue. I think mask mandates in schools are stupid, especially in elementary schools where the kids mostly just drool all over their masks and generally don't have the maturity to manage a mask. However, there is no reason for this decision not to be made locally. If I live in (for example) Georgetown, it is not my business if AISD wants its students to wear masks, and it sure as hell isn't the business of the governor who has no legislative power.
 
Mr. Deez said:
By the way, I'm going to piss some people off here, but these mask mandate bans are dumb. As I've said before, a big part of the problem with our politics is the inability of people to live and let live and respect the federalist system and local control. It's not enough to get our way within our own jurisdiction, we start feeling righteous and self-important and decide we have a duty to force our way on others. Obviously the Left does this on abortion, education, sexuality and gender, and lots of other issues. However, sometimes the Right does it, and it's just as toxic.

These mask mandate bans are such an issue. I think mask mandates in schools are stupid, especially in elementary schools where the kids mostly just drool all over their masks and generally don't have the maturity to manage a mask. However, there is no reason for this decision not to be made locally. If I live in (for example) Georgetown, it is not my business if AISD wants its students to wear masks, and it sure as hell isn't the business of the governor who has no legislative power.
Click to expand...
All decisions in Texas regarding covid should be made by the county judges.
 
mchammer said:
All decisions in Texas regarding covid should be made by the county judges.
Click to expand...
In theory, but the reality is that too many of them won't follow the science and only take their marching orders from DC.

There HAS to be controls in place to prevent idiots like Lina Quarantina from screwing up places like Harris County more than they already have been...
 
mchammer said:
All decisions in Texas regarding covid should be made by the county judges.
Click to expand...

In most areas, yes. However, schools are within the authority and jurisdiction of school board trustees. No reason why they can't run their own institutions. Also, some school districts cross county lines.
 
mb227 said:
In theory, but the reality is that too many of them won't follow the science and only take their marching orders from DC.

There HAS to be controls in place to prevent idiots like Lina Quarantina from screwing up places like Harris County more than they already have been...
Click to expand...

The controls should be codified by the Legislature. The governor shouldn't be legislating by edict.
 
Mr. Deez said:
The controls should be codified by the Legislature. The governor shouldn't be legislating by edict.
Click to expand...
And meanwhile, we have a legislature in this State where the group with a D next to their name believe they can just filibuster with a field trip. That doesn't leave Abbott many options...

So, we roll along with the Executive Order.
 
mb227 said:
And meanwhile, we have a legislature in this State where the group with a D next to their name believe they can just filibuster with a field trip. That doesn't leave Abbott many options...

So, we roll along with the Executive Order.
Click to expand...

That's the same argument Obama made for DACA. I understand the frustration, but that doesn't make the EO appropriate.
 
Recently in Plano ISD, a parents poll was 2-1 against a mask mandate but the School Board voted 6-1 for a mask mandate. I see this as a lack of representation and is why I welcome governors stepping in to restrict the power of bureaucrats below them to force behavior. Authoritarianism at a local scale is just as bad at a larger scale for the people affected.

I am against mask bans, but for mask mandate bans. This should be up to parents and students.
 
Monahorns said:
Recently in Plano ISD, a parents poll was 2-1 against a mask mandate but the School Board voted 6-1 for a mask mandate. I see this as a lack of representation and is why I welcome governors stepping in to restrict the power of bureaucrats below them to force behavior. Authoritarianism at a local scale is just as bad at a larger scale for the people affected.

I am against mask bans, but for mask mandate bans. This should be up to parents and students.
Click to expand...

Wait...did you think Representative Democracy means the representative must make decisions by polling? Rather than vote them out you prefer authoritarianism?

Isn't it possible the School Board feels it has more information than the majority of the parents to make an informed decision?
 
Monahorns said:
Deez, are you just against mask mandate bans by EO or by law too?
Click to expand...

Against the bans in both respects. I think local governments should be deciding this based on their own judgments. There shouldn't be a top-down approach just like there shouldn't be mandates at the federal level. That's why we have school boards. However, it at least has some legitimacy if it's coming from the Legislature. An EO from the Governor is just a tyrant trolling to attract attention for when he runs for president. (At the school board level, I don't think the boards should adopt mask mandates.)

Monahorns said:
Recently in Plano ISD, a parents poll was 2-1 against a mask mandate but the School Board voted 6-1 for a mask mandate. I see this as a lack of representation and is why I welcome governors stepping in to restrict the power of bureaucrats below them to force behavior.
Click to expand...

They aren't bureaucrats. They are elected officials, and there is representation. The reason they voted as they did is that they have different view of who their constituents are. To you, their constituents are the parents. To them, their constituents are those who vote. For the most part, that isn't parents. It's teachers and other school district employees. We have a pretty good idea of where they're going to stand.
 
Mr. Deez said:
That's the same argument Obama made for DACA. I understand the frustration, but that doesn't make the EO appropriate.
Click to expand...
Obummer had a quorum to work with...Abbott doesn't. Or at least had not had one until just recently...

The DACA analogy is an apples to bruised bananas analogy...
 
Mr. Deez said:
They aren't bureaucrats. They are elected officials, and there is representation. The reason they voted as they did is that they have different view of who their constituents are. To you, their constituents are the parents. To them, their constituents are those who vote. For the most part, that isn't parents. It's teachers and other school district employees. We have a pretty good idea of where they're going to stand.
Click to expand...


I was with you until you said the Board represented the teachers. Yes, they are a constituent but in most cases the School Board has a pretty adversarial relationship with the teachers but maybe our local school districts (my wife is a teacher) aren't representative of what they are like in Texas.
 
Seattle Husker said:
Wait...did you think Representative Democracy means the representative must make decisions by polling? Rather than vote them out you prefer authoritarianism?

Isn't it possible the School Board feels it has more information than the majority of the parents to make an informed decision?
Click to expand...
School board members are often the same sort of Karens that you find on an HOA Board...they just got tired of the little pond so they want to go elsewhere and find even more people to ignore while simultaneously puffing up a resume.

The parents are who make up the school...without their kids, there is nobody for the School Board to be tyrants in the name of...and by being tyrants, they are in the midst of creating an exodus to home schooling or other private educational opportunities. They will ALSO quickly find themselves out on their *** come the next election cycle.

The irony is that you are supporting the creation of the very flight people like you decry.

Masks SHOULD be the option of a parent. If they want their kid wearing the vector for viral/bacterial infections, then it is THEIR decision. It is abundantly clear you never watched how much kids and even adults fiddle with their masks in a eight to ten hour window of time.
 
Seattle Husker said:
Wait...did you think Representative Democracy means the representative must make decisions by polling? Rather than vote them out you prefer authoritarianism?

Isn't it possible the School Board feels it has more information than the majority of the parents to make an informed decision?
Click to expand...

I don't think that school boards must vote based on polling. But it does give you a sense of how aligned representative is from the populace.

Is it really authoritarianism for a governor to ban mandates? They are restricting government power over citizens which is the opposite of authoritarianism.

Of course they feel they have more information. They are full of hubris. They can't possibility know what is better for a student than the parents.
 
Mr. Deez said:
Against the bans in both respects. I think local governments should be deciding this based on their own judgments. There shouldn't be a top-down approach just like there shouldn't be mandates at the federal level. That's why we have school boards. However, it at least has some legitimacy if it's coming from the Legislature. An EO from the Governor is just a tyrant trolling to attract attention for when he runs for president. (At the school board level, I don't think the boards should adopt mask mandates.)
Click to expand...

I can agree that more local decision making is better in general. You are even probably right here. But don't describe a governor as a tyrant who restricts the power of a government agency.

Let's be clear mask mandates are tyranny. Banning mask mandates protect freedom.

Mr. Deez said:
They aren't bureaucrats. They are elected officials, and there is representation. The reason they voted as they did is that they have different view of who their constituents are. To you, their constituents are the parents. To them, their constituents are those who vote. For the most part, that isn't parents. It's teachers and other school district employees. We have a pretty good idea of where they're going to stand.
Click to expand...

You are right. They are elected officials. My bad.

You just described a corrupt system which is why I can't be upset at governor mask mandate bans. They aren't there to serve students and parents so I question their legtimacy.

Also, I recently voted in a school board election. I looked and looked for information about the candidates. I wanted to understand what these people wanted to implement and how they saw mask mandates and other things. There was nothing, anywhere. Voters have no chance to vote their conscience for school board members. The more I look into it the more I see it is a racket. I picked candidates based on about a paragraph written by each of the campaigns which said very little. I had the sense I was screwed either way.
 
Seattle Husker said:
I was with you until you said the Board represented the teachers. Yes, they are a constituent but in most cases the School Board has a pretty adversarial relationship with the teachers but maybe our local school districts (my wife is a teacher) aren't representative of what they are like in Texas.
Click to expand...

They represent who votes for them. It's not entirely teachers. It's teachers, school district employees, and employees of businesses and interests that are in the sack with the school district. Your average parent doesn't vote and usually has no idea what the hell is going on. They can't even name a trustee. Keep in mind that Plano is a city of about 287,000 people. The people who win usually get between about 10,000 and 20,000 votes. I'm sure some of them are parents, but they're largely people with personal interests in the schools. For some perspective, the district hires about 4,000 teachers and about 3,000 staff. That's a huge amount of clout. The reason it happens is that the school board isn't elected on the normal election day in November of even-numbered years. It's elected in May of odd-numbered years without primary elections when nobody is thinking about politics.

When I was a kid, people used to joke that Plano would elect Sam Johnson (R) to Congress, and he was almost as conservative as Louis Gohmert but let the Berkeley City Council run its school board. Obviously, that was an exaggeration, but you get the point. Well, the reason why is that the constituency that actually voted for Congress looked nothing like the constituency that elected the school board.
 
mb227 said:
Obummer had a quorum to work with...Abbott doesn't. Or at least had not had one until just recently...

The DACA analogy is an apples to bruised bananas analogy...
Click to expand...

The problem with DACA wasn't that Congress filibustered instead of breaking quorum. The problem with it is that the POTUS didn't have the authority to do it. It was an abuse of power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Recent Threads

Back
Top