He isn’t the winner of the Republican asshole of the week, but Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas will be issuing a mandate for wearing masks to combat the coronavirus on...Drum roll please...Monday.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Governor Asa Hutchinson announced he would issue a mask mandate in Arkansas, effective next Monday, at his daily press conference on Thursday.
Hutchinson said he believes the move is necessary now due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and in light of schools reopening this fall.
“I have listened to the doctors and nurses that are on the front lines of this fight against COVID-19, and they ask the public to do more,” Hutchinson said.
Some cities in Arkansas, such as Fayetteville, had already issued mask mandates for their city.
What’s a few more days when a deadly contagious disease is running around in your state?
Oh, and how tough is that mask mandate? Uh. Not too tough.
A violation of the executive order is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of between $100-500. Law enforcement and local officials are encouraged to give first-time violators a warning.
No law enforcement officer or local officials may arrest, detain, or jail an individual for violating the mask mandate.
Something tells me that there will be mutiple “first time violaters warnings” in Arkansas. I can safely predict that more than one county sheriff’s office will be saying that they will not enforce the mask mandate. The redneck cops will look the other way and complain that they are too busy with law and order to take away Arkansans’ “freedom.” Along with saying, “Fuck Walmart!” for their mask wearing policy.
Anyway, it is just interesting to watch Asa “I don’t need to shutdown my state because I have a targeted approach to the coronavirus” Hutchinson mandate anything with regards COVID-19. I seem to recall Hutchinson’s arrogance early on with this pandemic. He had the solution for this problem.
Fuck him.