Public health has a politics problem
Conservatives in the Missouri legislature this week took down the state’s acting public health director.
His crime? Advocating for public health measures.
Donald Kauerauf has said he’d like to see an 100% vaccination rate in Missouri, even as he opposed mandates (at his confirmation hearing, one Senator asked why he was promoting the vaccine at all). He’s pushed back on a law subjecting local health orders to approval from local governing bodies and said masks work to limit the spread of COVID-19, even though he opposed mask mandates.
All of those statements stuck in conservative lawmakers’ collective craw. His nomination failed to pass a Senate committee and, because of the snow storm, wouldn’t be approved before the legal deadline. Parson accepted Kauerauf’s resignation Tuesday.
But here’s the thing: Kauerauf was walking the same political line many Republicans (and some Democrats) have walked for months when faced with deeply-held vaccine skepticism in their communities.
He advocated for public health measures that could save lives, but against mandating them.
That’s a common position among conservatives in Congress, where Republicans have fought vaccine mandates pursued by the Biden Administration.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, one of the most vocal opponents of the federal response to COVID-19, often starts speeches by talking about being vaccinated and encouraging others to get their shots.
That’s not to say Marshall hasn’t stoked resentment against the public health measures. He’s rarely seen in a mask (if at all) and has been particularly critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
So I asked Marshall if he’s concerned that the backlash against the COVID-19 vaccine and public health guidance is going to spread to the other immunizations long-accepted as necessary for things like attending public school or college.
“I’ve seen that shift already happening before COVID and I think COVID just brought it more to the forefront,” Marshall said Thursday. “And this is what happens with mandates, when you start shoving something down people’s throats, they say, ‘no, I’m not going to eat it.’ So I think that this is some of the backlash from the from the mandates as well.”
When I asked Marshall what can be done to restore trust in public health, he pointed the finger Fauci, saying he needed to “move on and stop talking about it.”
“The people who are vaccine hesitant feel like Dr. Fauci has lied to them,” Marshall said.
Fauci has called that type of statement a “distortion of reality.” A majority of Americans are still confident in Fauci, according to polling by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, but that support has dropped from 71 percent in April 2021 to 65 percent in January 2022.
But there remains a significant and energized portion of the population that does not trust the healthcare establishment. It is a group that will accept horse dewormer as an unauthorized, unproven antidote to COVID-19 while refusing an authorized, proven vaccination, then turn around and make it easier for doctors to prescribe drugs for off-label uses.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Fauci openly pondered whether there’s some sort of pain driving the mistrust of institutions; an undiagnosed suffering, a rebellion against a failing of society pushing people over the edge.
While Fauci may have touched upon a truth about America, it may also not be an entirely new development.
There’s a section in the novel Arrowsmith where the main character takes a job as the public health official in a town in Iowa. After he imposes several measures to help boost public health in town, he’s ousted because he’s politically unpopular. “Once they lost faith in him they lost it completely and with joy.”
The book, written by Sinclair Lewis, was published nearly 100 years ago.
More from Missouri:
Lawmakers passed a bill out of committee that would expand the state’s self-defense law to give a “presumption of reasonableness,” to those who use lethal force, essentially giving immunity from prosecution. The bill is opposed by several law enforcement groups. One prosecutor is calling it the “Make Murder Legal Act.”
Here are headlines from across the state:
- Lawmakers want to expand the state’s self defense law, Jeanne Kuang
- Missouri blew a deadline to get raises for snowplow operators and other state workers, Jeanne Kuang
- A dean left a school after reports of abuse and landed at another unlicensed school, Judy L. Thomas and Laura Bauer
- A candidate running for Jackson County executive attended the Jan. 6 riot, Mike Hendricks
- GOP infighting is threatening Parson’s agenda in the legislature, Kurt Erickson
And across Kansas:
Gov. Laura Kelly returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. and vetoed the Kansas legislature’s Ad Astra map, which would have made Kansas Rep. Sharice David’s district significantly more competitive. It’ll now go back to the legislature where Republicans will have to whip votes if they hope to override Kelly’s veto.
- Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the KS redistricting maps, sending them back to the legislature, Katie Bernard
- A fourth Kansas lawmaker was arrested on drunk driving charges, Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman
- Opioid drug overdose deaths rise, Kansas lags on live-saving policies, Andrew Bahl, Topeka Capital-Journal
The former director of the Kansas Association of School Boards got the national gig, Jonathan Shorman and Katie Bernard
- Lawmakers are trying to pass a school voucher bill after it narrowly failed last year, Katie Bernard and Sarah Ritter
The latest from Kansas City:
In Kansas City....
Kansas City Mayor Lucas is introducing an ordinance that will extend the K-12 mask mandate, Cortlynn Stark
- A Kansas City detective convicted in a fatal shooting is no longer with the department, Glenn E. Rice
- You can check how high the rent has gone up in your neighborhood, Kynala Phillips
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@mcclatchydc.com.
Odds and ends
Vegas trip
Three U.S. Senate candidates in Missouri — former Gov. Eric Greitens, Rep. Billy Long and Attorney General Eric Schmitt — racked up big campaign bills when they went to the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas this fall. Long spent more than $2,000 on a tab at a steakhouse and had hotel costs at the Wynn and the Venetian. Greitens spent more than $15,000 on lodging at the Palazzo.
Elton’s error
The widely-beloved Elton John mistakenly thanked Arkansas City — instead of Kansas City — for coming out to support him at his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert at T-Mobile Center. That’s too low for zero, but I guess that’s why they call it the blues. I’m glad he’s still standing.
A final rest for Bob Dole
Around two months after he died on December 5, Bob Dole was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on a hill overlooking the U.S. Capitol, where he spent so many years of his life. It can often take a while for people to be buried at Arlington, where there’s a long wait-list for veterans and their spouses and it can sometimes take months before they’re buried there (the bodies are often either cremated or stored at the family’s expense until the funeral). The cemetery can host up to 30 funerals a day, five at a time and in different sections so each service feels like it’s the only one at that time.
Happy Friday
Here’s a long story about Germany’s ambitious effort to transition to cleaner energy. This weekend, try feeling Fine and Dandy. Here’s an Elton John and Dua Lipa song for the road.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
Think this newsletter is missing something? Think I’m fabulous? Think I’m a moron? Send your reactions to ddesrochers@mcclatchydc.com.
For more politics news, follow @KatieJ_Bernard, @drdesrochers, @JeanneKuang, @jonshorman and @Cortlynn_Stark.
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