Spanberger is running in a new district
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Commentary: Look out for yourself because the government isn’t
The box with confederate relics from Richmond’s Monument Ave. was opened on Tuesday. It revealed a few pieces of history that really have no impact on life in 2021. Governor Ralph Northam has made a spectacle of the box live streaming it and attending the opening of both boxes. (the first one was a false alarm)
As a history nerd myself, I understand why people are interested in what is in the box. But as someone living with Covid-19 currently, I could not care less what is in the damn box. Instead, I care about the lack of testing available to see if I do in fact have the virus. (I eventually was given a test from a wonderful person that had a spare, and I do.)
But all the while, Virginia and the United States seem to have SOMEHOW been caught off guard by the latest surge in cases, even though the variant was ravaging counties across the Atlantic since early November.
President Biden and Gov. Northam were caught flat-footed here.
Biden says it is now up to the states, even though he once said he would get the virus under control. SO, if that is true, this latest lack of testing is apparently on the governor?
That brings me to Jan. 15, when Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin will take office. Youngkin has said he will drop any statewide mask and vaccine mandate as soon as he is in office. Other than that, he doesn’t seem interested in addressing Covid at all. (Critical Race Theory will be banned immediately, however.)
“I’m gonna choose every authority that I have as governor in order to combat what I believe are not correct mandates and therefore I’m gonna rescind them,” Youngkin said during an interview as the end of November.
I don’t plan to drag this out. I am simply here to say that you cannot rely on your leaders during a health emergency to take the appropriate steps. They told us not to hoard supplies at the beginning of the pandemic, but more than two years after the first Covid cases we still are playing catch up. Look out for yourself and your family, because the leaders we have elected won’t.
Happy Wednesday!
New maps and analysis from the Virginia Public Access Project
US House of Representatives
House of Delegates (100 Districts)
State Senate (40 Districts)
Behind the paywall: Spanberger confirms she is running for Congress in a new district, an almost-former delegate is strongly considering a run for the state Senate in Norfolk, a state Sen. discusses the potential of primarying a member of Congress from their own party, another state Senator is running in a third congressional district in as many weeks, and more.