Letters to the Editor: As Beshear tries to keep us alive, GOP legislators offer nothing

Restrictions pay off

Thank heavens we have brave legislators preserving our freedom to contract COVID. At a time when cases, deaths, and infection rates are close to an all-time high in Kentucky, they are passing legislation to restrict COVID precautions and strip the governor of his ability to respond decisively. I get it: They want to reopen. Teachers want to reopen. Parents want to reopen. Students, wait staff, business owners want to reopen. I want to reopen. But I want to reopen for good, and only rigorous restrictions will make this possible. Otherwise we’ll be stuck in our current cycle of open-surge-close. Although “surge” sounds abstract, let’s remember what it means: “more actual people get sick and die.”

Ellen Rosenman, Lexington

‘Keep us alive’

It may be that some limitations should be put on a governor’s emergency orders, but can you imagine where we would be now if our Republican legislators had any input. Ten months in and they’d still be discussing it. There would be no mask mandates, no social distancing. Our death toll would be magnitudes of times higher. Our hospitals would be overflowing. Our nursing homes and prisons would be empty or nearly empty. Nursing homes won’t be able to make a profit on empty beds. Maybe that industry would light a fire under the legislators to do something since they have many of their legislators in their pockets.

Our legislators are all for shooting someone just because you are afraid, whether or not you have reason to be, but not for keeping people alive. No healthcare for those who can’t afford it. Work or lose your job, the legislators are for that, too.

Gov. Andy Beshear has tried to keep us alive. His efforts may be imperfect, but all the legislators have offered is for nothing to change. Stay open. Make money. Let people die.

Glenna Brouse, Lexington

Power, not people

Once again, Kentucky Republican politicians have shown their true colors. And it is not pretty. Voting to restrict Gov. Andy Beshear’s power during a pandemic is unconscionable. Andy Beshear is trying to save lives. It is obvious that is not a top priority for Republicans. So what is their top priority? Money? Not yours. Theirs. And power. Self serving, arrogant, strutting around power. And now there is a petition going to impeach the governor. Really? During an unprecedented pandemic where nearly 400,000 Americans have died and this is what they are focused on? This is unethical, immoral, and shallow. It is just a ploy to get attention. Such childish behavior is indecent. Especially now. We have been in a downward spiral for the last four years. I hope this is as low as it gets. Maybe then we can push ourselves back up to a decent standing in the world, in the country, in Kentucky.

Catherine Ferguson, Lexington

Listen and learn

Throughout the previous nine months, Kentucky has been a shining, albeit surprising, example of how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Why surprising? Kentucky is sick, old, and rife with preexisting health conditions. Kentucky voted 70% for Donald Trump and the majority of Kentucky’s lawmakers have expressed skepticism of the severity of the pandemic and the health measures that are required to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. This combination of factors is common throughout the South and Southeast. This is the situation in Tennessee, in South Carolina, in Alabama. These states have suffered devastating effects from COVID-19.

There is one, and only one, factor that sets Kentucky apart and that is Governor Beshear and his administration. The Trump administration spews the ideology of toxic individualism and the Kentucky GOP falls in line. In Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama, there is no governor willing to take the difficult steps to save lives.

The 2021 Kentucky legislative session began with a rush to limit the emergency powers of the executive branch. Sadly, I have little faith in the legislature’s decision-making skills regarding COVID-19. I can only implore them to learn, to listen, and to understand what has kept Kentucky safe.

Laura A. Kennedy, Lawrenceburg