Governor Hutchinson was given a platform on national TV for approximately the umpteenth time yesterday to defend his laissez-faire approach to battling COVID-19.

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It’s a proven failure to merely encourage people to wear masks and get vaccinated.

The figures don’t lie.

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Arkansas’s rank in the percentage of the population fully vaccinated: 42

Its rank in deaths per capita: 42

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Its rank in COVID cases per capita: Good timing on this one, the Democrat-Gazette daily ranking moved us up to No. 4 just today and closing in on No. 3.

Heckuva job Asa!

And thanks to our supporting cast, including the $200,000-a-year part-time surgeon general,  Gregory Bledsoe, who defends vaccine resisters in the name of liberty. Liberty to Bledsoe means special exemptions for those who wish to imperil others. It is NOT liberty or justice for the majority of American adults who HAVE gotten vaccinated to gave the dangerous unbridled freedom to roam and spit among us.

A report on Arkansas resistance to science, law and common sense is not complete without a word from Terrible Trent Garner, who seems to be aiming to become the George Wallace of COVID-19. Any day now, Garner, well-armed, will be standing in a hospital door to block the government distribution of masks and shots. Better to serve those who’d rather sicken or kill their fellow Arkansans than obey a government rule.

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Next: Removal of hand-washing facilities in restaurant restrooms and speed limit signs. Because …. liberty.