January 5, 2021

Sadly, we live in a time when our leaders are actually followers. Our so called leaders compete by seeing who can best indulge the fears and fantasies of the people they are supposed to lead and instruct. We see this playing out now with President Trump and many Republican leaders denying that Joe Biden won the presidential election fair and square. They seem to believe that it was not possible for President Trump to lose. Certainly, Trump himself, cannot believe he lost and thus makes up all kinds of fabulous and false stories of how he was robbed, how the election was stolen, or how there was massive fraud. A real leader would speak hard truths to his followers. He would describe how he and his supporters fell short and what they need to do to win another time.  

The corruption and bankruptcy of leadership doesn't affect only Republicans. It also affects Democrats and Independents. A glaring example is how poorly most Governors have responded to the spread of Covid-19 in their state prisons. Governors have been slow to release inmates who are elderly (over 60), who have serious pre-existing medical conditions, or are a year within release. State prison systems have failed in curtailing the spread of the virus; one in five prisoners has been infected. Over 1700 inmates have died because of Covid-19. 

Taking effective measures to curb the spread of Covid in prisons requires strong leadership. Many people believe everyone in prison is capable of committing terrible violent crimes. Many people believe that people in prison don't have any basic rights. They believe that people in prison should suffer. It takes strong leadership to teach the public that it is in their self-interest to curb the spread of the coronavirus in prisons. Prisons become hot houses for Covid and then it spreads to the rest of the community. It takes strong leadership to teach the public that the risk of releasing significant numbers of prisoners is relatively low. 

Now comes the question of whether incarcerated people and correctional officers should have higher priority to be vaccinated. Prisons are very similar to nursing homes and other long care facilities. Since so many staff and visitors come in and out, they breed the virus. If there is an Covid outbreak in the prison, then it can quickly spread to the surrounding community and further. So it makes sense to vaccinate correctional officers, other staff, and inmates along with front line medical personnel and nursing home residents.

Over the weekend, we read reports of how Governors and other state officials are having second thoughts about giving priority for vaccinations to prisons. In Colorado, Governor Polis (a Democrat) caved in to public outcries when it was announced that the prison population would have priority. Instead of standing up to the pressure and explaining why it was in everyone's interest to give priority to vaccinating prisoners and prison staff, Gov Polis caved and said that in "“no way” the limited supply of shots would “go to prisoners before it goes to people who haven’t committed any crime.”

In Kansas, there is a dispute among elected officials about whether the state should give priority to vaccinating prisoners and prison staff. "Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has said that she supports vaccinating prison inmates before the general public, according to a report last month from The Topeka Capital-Journal.  However, not everyone agrees. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a Facebook post on Sunday that people ages 65 and older should be a top priority in getting vaccinated."

Our country desperately needs leaders who will not promote conspiracy theories or give into them. We need leaders who will explain what is in the best interest of the public instead of fanning their fears.  It is time to insist that it is moral, decent, and in the public's self-interest to see that incarcerated people and prison staff be vaccinated earlier rather than later.