it could be argued that the problem may even be more of a community spread process in Knox county vs isolated multi-person institutions

Apparently KCHD agrees. Compass reported Friday: Charity Menefee, the Health Department’s director of communicable and environmental disease and emergency response, said on Wednesday that recent transmissions appear to be general throughout the county. “While we have seen some small clusters, many of our cases have no known contact to a previous case,” she said. “This can be an indication of community spread.”

Within the next two weeks we will begin to see a statistically significant upward tick in Hospital room supply. I seriously doubt we have enough PPE to handle what the next month will bring. Right now Jacobs is scrambling to avoid responsibility for all his lousy decisions. He will be held accountable.

Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, misanthropes are vital to both stopping evil and pushing forth good in today's political climate. I have done my best to research, and determine, to the best of my ability, the right and wrong side of certain issues. Morality is important in the public, governmental process. Certain things are easily identified, others, not so much.

For instance, masks. Masks are clearly necessary to control the corona-19 virus. It's been shown to be effective in every single situation in which they have been mandated. Regardless of whether or not there is a three year, double blind negative study that has been peer reviewed, there is more than enough evidence to show that masks work. And yet, we still have public officials in denial of this, what would appear to be a widely accepted, circumstance. Certain politicians are still allowing the Shrodinger's mask argument (O2 can't get in but corona virus escapes at will) and are giving it their implicit endorsement. These folks are blatantly lying by not demanding the truth and picking and choosing their lies in order to advance their cause. This issue is not my first rodeo. Once, I came across a project that was based on a publicly funded project on a sinkhole that, until I did an onsite inspection of the property involved, I was in favor of. I stood up and did the right thing, mainly because I was teaching my son about civic responsibility. I went against what would have been my tribe and sacrificed any chance I would ever have of doing greater good for the community I love. Perhaps you remember. And that's their choice. It's also why misanthropes are vital to the modern political process.

Some things about the covid crisis are becoming clear. Laissez faire policy (Knox County policy) does not work. We have local politicians who have agendas that extend beyond the welfare of the citizens that elected them, in good faith, to govern with the best interest of the community at the forefront. Ones personal brand cannot supersede one's duty to the citizenry if one is to govern effectively. The censorship of dissenting opinions is not only a violation of Tennessee State Law, it is a violation of the federal Bill of Rights. When our own elected officials cannot defend their positions and must resort to suppressing any dissent, the pendulum has swung too far. I deliberately push the boundaries of the dissent. That's how people know whether or not a point is valid. Government has a purpose. That purpose is to serve the citizenry, and if that purpose is not being met, then it is up to members of the citizenry to stand up and hold the government officials accountable. I understand that it gets ugly. That is unfortunate. But, what is more unfortunate is that, were it not for misanthropes, deliberate acts of using the government for personal gain, such as advancing one's personal brand, would go unchecked. It's one thing to subscribe to a crackpot economic theory, it's another to try to institute it during a pandemic and economic crisis at the projected cost of the very citizens you are trying to protect lives.

I admit, waking up to a world where my elected officials have suddenly decided that my life or death is irrelevant, and that I should merely role over and allow my death to occur to serve a greater good, to serve their personal ideology, kind of pissed me off. So, I chose to stand and fight for myself. But when I looked around, it was bigger than me. What a small group of our elected officials are attempting to pull off goes beyond a political, philosophical difference. We have people in office, playing God, setting up circumstances where they get to determine who gets to live, and who dies. And I'm in the group they want to die. Our local government is acting against my best interest. I'm going to do my best to change that.

In the same sense that they are downplaying my existence, I will overplay theirs until we are back on a level playing field. The mayor is in charge. I will do my best to never forget that.

There comes a time to temper a misanthrope's arguments. My goal, from an early critical post to Congressman Burchett months ago to now, has been to work to impress the urgency of the situation upon our elected officials. Perhaps now would be a good time to take a deep breathe, take a bit of a break, and see if the value I've added to the discourse on the government's role in this pandemic has added value and provided a better service to the community. If what I've done with my writing has been to save lives, even if the rest of the world views that death and the life that preceded it as somewhat irrelevant, it was relevant to the person and family of the person that lived it. We are more than just poker chips played on the table by a gambler by the seat of his pants. We have value. We are human beings.

As more people step up, I'm more comfortable stepping back.

It was nice to connect to check that we are on the same page wrt what is meant by the term reliability as a social science construct. Being in quarantine the last three months watching the GOP amateaur hour their way through as 125,000+ Americans have died because of the GOP's federal and what appears to be increasingly state-level incompetence has solidified my disposition. Let's hope that their dispositions change as we move forward through what appears to be a cubic function in our national COVID caseload.

Perhaps we are seeing some of that evolution with people like Mitch McConnell, someone in a high risk group, saying the following today

I reckon you are right. Metro makes sense when you have well qualified leaders. It would be impossible to find a decent and well qualified Mayoral candidate that would be representative of city folk and other reasonable citizens interests and that could win a county wide election. Thank God Knoxville has Kincannon to counter Jacobs. We should all pray that the multitudes of misguided Republicans will finally see the light after the terrible nightmare of Trump, McConnell, and Jacobs!

In theory, Metro govt is a good idea. I voted for it twice. I will never vote for it again as long as I see the people of Knox County elect such incompetent people.

People transmit the virus, not locations. Zip Codes with high number of case tells where people who are not following CDC guidelines live. The zip codes with the highest number of cases are mostly in the city limits. Zip Codes in Knox County are usually lower. Zip Codes in both City and County are higher than codes only in the county. Examples, 37921 (city) 98 cases, 37923 (city) 69, 37919 (city) 48, 37920 (city/county) 61. Most of 37920 residents live in the city where there are are several apartment sites and high density housing, the county portion is rural with farms, woodland, and subdivisions.
The data supports the opinion that the city is not as safe as the county.