I know from experience that Americans in the eastern part of our nation have a very particular opinion of those of us who live in western states. Most of them are far from the truth because most of those opinions are based an assumptions. I live in Nevada, and the only picture which comes to mind for most Americans is gambling, drinking, scantily clad women, and bright lights. I left the casinos in 2008 and have only been in one since that day. Northern Nevada is an outdoorsman’s paradise.

Eastern Americans think of Arizona as filled with old people who live in retirement communities, not recognizing that two major universities educate thousands of young men and women in the state. Most believe that Idaho’s citizens are all toothless “hayseeds” who are rednecks and carry their rifles everywhere they go. Okay, I admit that some areas are exactly like that. If the people of Idaho would elect intelligent and free thinking men and women to the state legislature, its image would be different.

Here’s what I mean. This week 15 of the 105 Idaho legislators held a session of their own. It became instantly obvious that they worship Trump and place his failed presidency ahead of the people of their state and our nation.

Their purpose was to decry Gov. Brad Little’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders as “unconstitutional” and a prime example of “tyranny.” The session, however, had no effect other than to underscore their impotence.

As of today, Idaho had 4,254 confirmed cases and 89 deaths. The state’s population is 1,787,000.

My state of Nevada has a population of 2,890,845 residents. There have been more than 13,000 cases confirmed and 487 deaths; all in the southern part of the state with the exception of 74. Clark County has most of Nevada’s citizens at 2,141,574.

With the number of cases growing across America once again, governors are reestablishing all safety regulations in most states. States designated as “red,” with Republican controlled governments are prone to denial of the facts and rejecting safety measures until recently when Florida and Texas experienced more cases in a single day since the pandemic became a reality.

Here’s the ultimate truth, it doesn’t matter where you live, as people travel across state lines, or in the case of Nevada, from all over the world to gamble, we are all susceptible to infection. There is no excuse for ignorance.

In an earlier article I revealed that my own daughter, her husband, and my two granddaughters all contracted Covid-19. Thankfully, they are all recovering. Her family is as socially responsible as any, and still became infected. This virus is more contagious than our government is reporting.

Without leadership in Washington, it’s up to governors to place the welfare of their people first. It required great courage for Nevada’s Governor Sisolak to close the casinos in Nevada. Las Vegas generates more revenue in one month than many other sparsely populated states do in a year. Doing the right thing is sometimes difficult, but a real man, a man who performs the job for which he was elected, will always make the right choice. Sadly, our federal government believes that corporate profits are more important than the lives of our nation’s people.

As of June 26, 2020, the United States continues to lead the world in cases, 2,414,870: and deaths, 124,325.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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Photo courtesy of Jeremy Segrott

My eight novels are available on Amazon’s free Kindle app