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Phil: So, my brother from another mother, are you as perplexed as I am by the executive authority our current leader is inflicting upon us Mainers?
Ethan: Are you referring to Trump’s orders ignoring oversight of stimulus spending, forcing workers into unsafe meat plants, and blocking healthy immigrants from reuniting with their American loved ones?
Phil: I am referring to Queen Elizabeth I, er, Gov. Janet Mills, inflicting economic hardship on so many through her lockdown. Her Excellency is wielding that crown with the kind of “let them eat cake” indifference that would make Marie Antoinette proud.
Ethan: Well, that’s better than saying, “ Let them eat Clorox!”
Phil: Look, COVID is certainly the real villain here, but government edicts by the inexperienced are making matters much worse. Just because you have a title doesn’t mean you should use your constitutionally questionable power to force people into financial crisis.
Ethan: Tell that to the 80,000 American families who have lost loved ones, and the next 80,000 we already know will die this summer because some states are opening too soon.
Phil: Slow down. Maine has had 65 deaths, not 80,000. And while every one of them is tragic, needlessly destroying hundreds of businesses and putting over 100,000 workers on unemployment is having severe financial and emotional consequences.
Ethan: Your point about 65 deaths is spot on. Thanks to Mills, Maine has the lowest per capita death rate of any state on the east coast. I want to keep it that way.
Phil: We all do, that’s the point! But the east coast isn’t the only place this virus is killing people. States like Wyoming, Nebraska, and Arkansas are all faring as well or better than Maine and they largely stayed open. Those governors were smart and strategic.
Ethan: I think the jury is still out on those decisions. As the virus spreads, more and more states are seeing infection rates grow. Caution is the name of the game.
Phil: Of course caution is key. But a few weeks ago, experts at the Hoover Institute rolled out facts about who and what environments were most vulnerable (for instance, the elderly and nursing homes account for the overwhelming majority of infections and deaths). Mills should have used that info to empower businesses to be smart and get Maine on the move again. Instead, she extended the lockdown for many businesses and is still telling many tourists to vacation in place through most of the summer!
Ethan: Unfortunately, all it takes is for a few yahoos, like that guy in Sunday River, to make this pandemic explode out of proportion.
Phil: Don’t be dissing Rick Savage. The man is a patriot, a canary in the coal mine, who is simply trying to keep from going out of business.
Ethan: Not sure getting your liquor and health licenses revoked is a smart way to do that.
Phil: You got me there. Pretty tough for Rick to serve you a bourbon without a liquor license. But, hey, Rick was just willing to sacrifice for his values.
Ethan: Except his “sacrifice” is potentially going to kill the rest of us. So tell me, if you were governor (when are you going to run anyway?) how would you go about re-opening the state? Just fling open the doors and pack Hadlock Field for Opening Day?
Phil: Of course not. I would set clear rules for re-opening any business. Rules to protect workers and customers. And then I would allow all businesses to meet those rules, two weeks ago!
Ethan: C’mon, Phil. Sitting in a restaurant for an hour with dozens of other diners, waitstaff, and cooks, is a bit more contagious than getting your coffee at a drive-through.
Phil: The government should not be picking some businesses over others. If a bar can operate with social distancing, they should be allowed to, in the same way that Whole Foods and Home Depot have been allowed. And if you don’t feel it is safe to go to that business, it is your God-given right to stay away, regardless of what is said by the Queen of England, er, Gov. Mills.
Ethan: I try to stay away from Whole Foods no matter what anyone says.
Phil Harriman served as a town councilor and state senator from Yarmouth. Ethan Strimling served as mayor and state senator from Portland.