Don't lose faith, Joplin- Though COVID-19 is hitting us hard, Mayor Ryan Stanley tells Washington Post he is concerned

As the COVID-19 pandemic finally hits the Joplin area hard, Ryan Stanley wears a face mask and thinks other people should be wearing them, too. 

Stanley, who has been serving as Joplin's mayor for less than a month, has a hard time understanding why people are so averse to a simple act like wearing a cloth facial covering to help prevent the spread of disease.

So when Stanley had his first chance to exhibit mayoral leadership, he pulled a Susan Collins. 

As the Maine senator often does, Stanley expressed deep concern, even making a long, thoughtful speech about how he weighed all the pros and cons … and then he cast what was essentially the deciding vote against the proposed mask ordinance.

If you don't believe me about Stanley's thoughts about wearing a mask being the right thing to do, encouraging people to do it and not understanding why they think it is such a big deal- let me reveal my source.

Ryan Stanley.

While Stanley cast a vote aligning himself with those whose constitutional expertise enabled them to locate the heretofore unknown amendment to the Bill of Rights protecting the right to bare faces, he made every effort to convince a Washington Post reporter how deeply thoughtful he is.

From the Washington Post:

“I’m surprised it’s as divisive as it is,” said the mayor, who personally wears masks and advocates that others do the same, but who cast the deciding vote against mandating them. “If we’re having this crazy spike in the area, don’t you think we’d want to err on the side of caution?”

Of course, in Stanley's favor, it should be noted that the Washington Post is part of the evil fake news media (any news source that reports facts and has actual trained journalists doing the reporting) so maybe the Post reporter was out to get the mayor and make him look a small town rube by writing what he actually said.

The nerve of those people.

When Joplin really know what's going on, its people don't get their news from the Joplin Globe or the aforementioned fake news media (to which many around here includes the Joplin Globe).

Ask Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Toby Teeter.

The Washington Post did.

"Eighty percent of people here are watching one channel and it’s downplaying the epidemic,” Teeter said, referring to Fox News. “So there’s a lot of confusion.”

Teeter was diplomatic in that he did not mention the 24-hour a day KZRG propaganda machine (I am sure it is a Chamber member) which also points listeners in the same Fox News direction and its Facebook page which encourages the bullying and belittling of anyone who would dare to require anyone to do something to help their fellow man.

With that type of macho posturing, the Joplin area has developed into one of the fastest growing hot spots for the spread of the coronavirus, the hospitals' COVID-19 units are filling up, and there are no signs of the outbreak abating.

The outlook is not totally bleak, however.

Ryan Stanley is concerned.