LETTER: Citizens will determine when states ‘open’ again
April 19, 2020 - 9:00 pm
The discussion of presidential power versus the governors when it comes to lifting the shutdown is irrelevant. If President Donald Trump decrees that parts of the United States should open, the governors will comply. Compliance will not be based on presidential direction, but rather driven by the citizens of that state. Those governors want to get re-elected. Do the math.
Protests are already boiling up, and May 1 may be the shut-in tipping point. Peaceful civil disobedience used to be blocking freeways or standing on the steps of a courthouse. In Nevada, that may now take the form of going to a park, playing golf or having a barbecue.
Data already tells us we should open up. Our state seems to be going in the opposite direction.