Rantz: Selfish Seattle to force coronavirus shelter-in-place directive

I think Governor Jay Inslee will offer a coronavirus shelter-in-place directive on Monday. Selfish Seattle residents will be mostly to blame after a weekend of ignoring the governor’s pleas to stay home.

Inslee’s Friday press conference couldn’t have been more clear: he was begging you to stay home as much as possible or he’d be forced to take an extreme measure. The extreme measure? A coronavirus shelter-in-place directive.

He has no choice.

I heard a few people gathered in large groups this weekend.

A reminder: you are endangering yourself, your loved ones and the vast majority of Washingtonians who are responding responsibly.

It is reckless, and must stop.

— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) March 22, 2020

Coronavirus shelter-in-place coming

There’s no way around it. The number of cases (infections and deaths) continue to rise. It’s not so much that the mortality rate is alarmingly high (though it’s higher, right now, than the flu). It’s that if we continue to strain our hospitals, more people will suffer and die. And that’s not all.

If there’s an outbreak in the Seattle Police Department, with already-low staffing, an entire precinct could be crippled. If a Costco or Safeway is full of people who are sick, it could end up closing entire stores. Think the economy is hurting now? Wait until Amazon warehouses close because of the spread of the coronavirus.

Inslee asked folks to stay home and at the first moment they realized it was nice outside, they took to Alki Beach like it was the last time they’ll see Spring. For some elderly people who get the coronavirus from them, it literally could be.

Selfish Seattle

It’s not so much that only Seattlites went out when they didn’t need to. It’s how many decided to ignore advice and treat this weekend like we didn’t have a global pandemic on our hands.

“It’s packed, and even people are saying, ‘what about the social distancing,’ People are out here living their life. You can’t let it stop you,” Seattleite and overtly-dumb-guy Terrell told Q13, not realizing that if he is sick with coronavirus and asymptomatic, he could literally end up killing older or immune-compromised family and friends.

Q13’s AJ Janavel spoke with a number of Seattle dolts at Alki Beach. He says hundreds showed up for the good weather. They’re not even saying they’re disobeying in order to save the economy! At least I can understand that argument. They just don’t want to!

“Even with social distancing, there is an extent to that. We can’t just fully isolate ourselves,” Jasmine complained to Q13. In 2020, with easy access to all the entertainment you could possibly want and the ability to communicate with pretty much everyone from your couch, we just can’t “fully isolate ourselves.” She seems fine contributing to a pandemic because she’s a selfish narcissist.

But that’s not all, per Janavel.

But it wasn’t just people taking social distancing lightly. Several businesses allowed customers to eat “take out” food on their property. One restaurant even served people alcohol while they ordered “take out” food despite statewide restrictions.

It’s like they need dead bodies piled in the streets before they pay attention.

Despite statewide restrictions, many flock to Alki Beach during coronavirus pandemic https://t.co/m1AkKQkm9J pic.twitter.com/hDlDjDgNlm

— #Q13FOX (@Q13FOX) March 20, 2020

Hypocrites on both sides

Some Progressives and Conservatives have acted like abject hypocrites when it comes to the coronavirus.

Progressives, particularly younger ones, purposefully misstate data to claim we’re a decade away from global warming irrevocably destroying this planet. We must act now, they proclaim defiantly! But when asked to self-isolate for a week, in order to save innocent lives, they head to the beach instead.

They scream that President Donald Trump is an imbecile who will kill us all! We should listen to the doctors, they say. The doctors tell us to stay home but we don’t like those answers so I guess we should ignore them.

Conservatives will proclaim they’re pro-life because an innocent child is worth saving. They will actively push policies to restrict a woman’s access to an abortion. But when it comes to saving older people, suddenly, they’re no longer pro-life. They complain that they won’t let the government tell them when they can or can’t leave their homes!

As someone who is pro-life, my values extend to the elderly and immunocompromised.

To be fair to Seattle dopes

In fairness to the dopes in Seattle, they’re not the only ones ignoring Inslee’s (and President Trump’s) directives. State Representative Jim Walsh (R-WA 19) posted video from Westport where dozens of people congregated for a scheduled razor clam dig (that the WDFW canceled in other areas). He posted (in part):

It’s a beautiful day. I can’t blame people for wanting to go to the beach. It’s why I live here. But big crowds like this make more extraordinary measures from Olympia more likely…. Use good judgment. Avoid big crowds.

Forcing Inslee’s hand

Inslee has vacillated between a decent leader and a goofy bonehead choosing jokes over a clear message. Perhaps it’s why people are ignoring him. Or people are just selfish

Either way, when he calls for a coronavirus shelter-in-place directive, he will be right to do so. It needs to get done to help blunt the curve of infections that public health officials say it necessary before this gets out of control. And if that happens, it’ll not just take innocent lives, it will absolutely destroy the economy. A few days of pain will get this over with much quicker.

Oregon update.

The state of Oregon announced their directive to stay at home.

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