Time for the Scalpel Instead of the Sledgehammer
A couple headlines stood out to me over the weekend. One was the news that North Dakota's Governor was sending help Montana's direction. Another was that North Dakota's Governor was taking heat for not issuing a "stay-at-home" order.
Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that North Dakota's Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND) took a much different approach than Montana's Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT), and yet- it is Montana that needs North Dakota's help?
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) has also refused to follow "the herd mentality" of other governors and has largely refused to issue statewide shutdown orders. And yet, both and North and South Dakota have nearly the same number of COVID-19 deaths as Montana.
In other words, when it comes to treating the coronavirus- Burgum is using a scalpel, while Bullock is using a sledgehammer. That's what Rob Port (he has SayAnythingBlog.com out of North Dakota) told me when I reached out to him Monday morning to get his take on the coronavirus fight in Montana and North Dakota.
He said as much in a recent column for The Dickinson Press:
Instead of issuing broad orders, he's focused on narrowly-tailored policies addressing specific concerns.
I won't argue that he's been perfect — who has been? who could be? — but his approach is what wise, competent leadership looks like.
By the way, also Monday- I spoke with Montana's Speaker of the House Greg Hertz. He says Governor Bullock (D-MT) has been following too much of a sledgehammer approach, and that it is time to start opening up Montana's economy.