Democrats sure are quiet about the norms tossed aside in mask fights, CDC evictions
For about four years or so, we heard a lot about the danger of deviating from the accepted behavioral boundaries of our democracy.
It’s funny how so many who made a mantra of “this is not normal” are now quiet at the festival of broken norms around us.
Start with the Texas House Democrats who fled to Washington to prevent passage of an election bill they don’t like. After more than a month, enough have trickled back that the House was able to resume business late Thursday. And that’s good, because it’s definitely Not Normal for lawmakers to bring the business of an entire branch of government to a halt for weeks with no end in sight.
We’ve also seen entire agencies of government openly defy a lawful order by the governor in their efforts to implement mask mandates. They have a different interpretation of the law, and there’s nothing wrong with that; courts can sort out the differences. But elected representatives eager to thumb their noses at court rulings, cheered on by some constituents? That is Not Normal.
Many are just following the example they see from the top. President Joe Biden, who owes his election largely to the sentiment that Not Normal just couldn’t go on any longer, decided the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could extend an eviction moratorium, just days after saying most lawyers believed it would violate the Constitution.
And he acknowledged the point was to use the time it would take for a case to wind through the courts to continue the unconstitutional action. For someone who took an oath to defend the Constitution, that’s Not Normal.
The administration’s arbitrary exercise of power continues through the Department of Education, which the president has instructed to use civil-rights enforcement authority to allow schools to impose mask mandates barred by Republican governors such as Texas’ Greg Abbott and Florida’s Ron DeSantis.
The underlying reasoning — that minority children are harmed more by schools’ struggles to deal with COVID, so their rights are violated by the lack of a mandate — could be stretched to give federal control of every detail in local education policy. That kind of interference is … well, it happens more than it should, but it’s still Not Normal.
The battles over mask mandates are urgent matters of public health. And it’s a harsh reality that local leaders, through no fault of their own, lack many tools to beat back the latest wave of COVID-19. Their initial steps to push back against the governor and implement local policies were appropriate. (And yes, masks help. They are not the talisman some want to make them into, but they work and people should wear them voluntarily.)
But once the legal situation is clear, it’s odd to hear elected officials trying to lead their governments into “civil disobedience.” That’s not how the rule of law works.
And of course, in our polarized universe, Republicans who were very quiet about norms for years have suddenly become loud referees. Hypocrisy in American politics is never more than an election away.
The confusion spawned by the mask fight and other COVID rules demonstrates that we need better conversations about executive power at all levels. It’s fair to say the governor’s emergency power is too sweeping, has gone on too long and needs a healthy infusion of local control as a balancing force. That’s a job for the Legislature, though, not a random county judge or school superintendent.
Precedents matter, and for decades, we’ve seen presidents expand their power, while Congress almost gleefully goes along to avoid difficult decisions. It shouldn’t surprise us that such abuse trickles down.
We should be alarmed by what’s Not Normal, though. No matter which side does it.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 5:07 AM.
