Rantz: Dear partisans, please shut up about coronavirus

We’re in the middle of a public health emergency and partisans on both sides won’t stop spreading toxic, politically driven nonsense. It’s dangerous and sows seeds of division. Please shut up.

Sorry to be blunt but this is not the time for this trash.

It’s one thing to offer reasonable criticisms of any political or public health leaders. We live in a democracy and we need to put a check on people in positions of power. But we’re seeing more unhinged attacks or conspiracy theories from Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats: Stop being so partisan

Democrats don’t like President Donald Trump. How do I know? They won’t shut up about it. But at some point, they have to see that their insane attacks are hurting their own cause. If the coronavirus is as serious as you say (and it is!), then why undercut your message with ludicrous attacks?

Washington State Democratic chairwoman Tina Podlodowski’s rancor has been particularly vile on Twitter. She ridiculously and dishonestly claims neither President Trump nor Republican lawmakers in Washington care about our health.

Let’s be clear @washdems – Trump and his #WAGOP cronies don’t care about the your health, or the people you care ab. Facts and science and truth matter – beyond time to #RiseAndOrganize https://t.co/YQhsz17I5G

— Tina Podlodowski (@Tinapo) March 12, 2020

You’ll have to excuse her typos. When you tweet with such rage, you tend to make mistakes in spelling and logic.

It’s one thing to reasonably question a decision by an administration. It’s an entirely different to dehumanize your opponents and claim they don’t care about your life. You can make the same argument without such grotesque vitriol.

Podlodowski wasn’t done. She never is.

She falsely claimed a “non-existent Trump response to Covid-19” in another tweet. If she believes this, we should stop worrying about her risk to the coronavirus and start advocating for her to receive much-needed mental health care.

There’s been a “non-existent” coronavirus response by the Trump administration? Governor Jay Inslee, days before her tweet, met with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss the response work. To his credit, outside of a ill-advised tweet attacking Pence, Inslee has handled conversations with the Trump administration responsibly.

Meeting with @VP Pence, our congressional delegation and local leaders about how we can best work together to keep Washingtonians healthy. I appreciate the administration’s action on our requests thus far. pic.twitter.com/oOqRUhM8uM

— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) March 6, 2020

The only thing positive in her display of derangement, Podlodowski constantly tags accounts of politicians (and even the party account she runs) hoping they’ll retweet and amplify her ramblings. They never do.

Republicans: Ditch the coronavirus conspiracies

This is a note to some of my listeners and followers: You need to stop with the nonsense conspiracy theories.

No, Inslee isn’t instituting “Marshall Law” (which doesn’t exist) nor is he trying to install socialist policies.  I keep seeing people tweet this at me or text into the show, downplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus.

Disagree with Inslee’s strategy, if you’d like. I have called out a strategy that seems disconnected at times. I will continue to call out what makes no sense, while also supporting him when he leads (his Monday morning press conference was a success).

But to claim he’s acting out in a way to purposefully hurt Trump or help Democrats makes no sense. He’s taking it as seriously as the Trump administration. Or is Trump trying to hurt his own administration?

Democrats: stop your nonsense attacks on Trump and other Republicans to undermine their coronavirus messaging for your own political gain.

Republicans: stop claiming some mass conspiracy for Marshall Law or to install socialist policies.

This isn't helping. #coronavirus

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) March 16, 2020

And, please keep in mind, the same way we criticize Inslee in good-faith, others can criticize Trump in good-faith. I certainly acknowledge the media has been over the top in some of their criticisms, often acting in bad-faith to hurt him. But we’re also smart enough to separate good-faith from bad-faith.

On FOX News Monday night, Trump supporter Laura Ingraham pressed Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf over the handling of the travel ban. Is she less of a Trump supporter for questioning the administration? Of course not.

And the weekend stunt by Tim Eyman? Ridiculous. It put his antics back in the spotlight. Eyman came off as polished and serious at the KTTH GOP Gubernatorial Debate. It was a great side of him that not many people get to see. We need more of that Eyman, not the one who pulls silly, dangerous stunts.

Democratic lawmaker offers advice

State Senator Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle) joined my KTTH show to discuss the state’s response to the coronavirus. I asked him specifically about the nastiness of Podlodowski and conspiracies from Republicans.

Carlyle had good advice: knock it off.

“It’s just not the time for partisan politics,” Carlyle told the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “We need to move forward. I applaud the governor, you know, after he had one quick, early stage tweet, which was unnecessarily political. But since then I haven’t heard one [negative] word, one issue.”

“I think there are political folks who are doing that, but, you know, Tim Eyman said some political things that were inappropriate [too],” Carlyle rightly noted. “So everyone’s got it on both sides a little bit, but I think people have moved beyond it… We gotta put the part of politics aside, move on.”

Move on

Look, regardless of your politics, we should be able to be on the same team to help protect vulnerable lives and stall the spread of the coronavirus, while a vaccine is developed.

Put the pettiness away. Park the conspiracy theories. Let’s focus on staying united, not giving each other a reason for another partisan spat. We’ll have plenty of time for that — after we get through the crisis.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter.

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