Gazette-Mail. May 25, 2023.
Editorial: Gov. Justice’s distant style catching on
It didn’t take long for Gov. Jim Justice, who can get a little hair-brained from time to time and is very thin-skinned, to recognize the appeal of conducting public briefings online without any constituents or press in the room with him.
The regular and remote briefings from his office that were initially done out of necessity during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic continued in the same format long after advisories on gatherings and masking were relaxed. They even continued beyond the lifting of the state of emergency that had been in place for more than two years.
Somewhere along the way, the briefings became less about COVID and more of a captive platform for Justice to beat his chest about policy and attack political rivals. (Indeed, the governor didn’t even mention the state of emergency expiration during any briefings the week it happened, but about a month later.)
Justice has near-complete control over the message, can’t be confronted by constituents and is able to deal with limited questions from the news media however he pleases. He does make a lot of public appearances at ribbon-cuttings and project announcements, pet bulldog Babydog in tow, but these also are fairly coordinated events.
The West Virginia governor’s method of minimizing or completely cutting out unpredictable real-time, in-person interaction might be catching on.
This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his presidential bid not at a news conference or a rally at a crowded arena, but in an exclusive conversation streamed live with eccentric (to be kind) Twitter owner and right-wing conspiracy convert Elon Musk.
The announcement was streamed on the sparsely used Twitter Spaces (not to be confused with the more widely used main Twitter platform) and was audio-only. Multiple technical difficulties at the beleaguered social media company caused problems for 30 minutes or so at the beginning of the event. There were about 500,000 people listening to the announcement, according to reports, although, by the time all of the technical issues got resolved, it was whittled down to around 250,000.
That’s nowhere close to the millions of people DeSantis could’ve reached had he made the announcement at an event open to the public and traditional news outlets.
It’s a strange choice, especially considering Musk agreed to pay an unreal $44 billion to acquire Twitter last year and has committed gaffe after gaffe since taking over as CEO, from mass firings of essential personnel to a laughable scheme to get users to pay for user verification, and all manner of things in between. Advertisers and users have been fleeing in droves.
More than a few political analysts think DeSantis liked the idea because, despite his highly caustic engagement in culture wars from comfortable territory, he looks frazzled, confused and irritated when engaged in unscripted interactions with traditional news outlets or constituents.
Conservative commentator David Frum, a speechwriter for former president George W. Bush who now serves as a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine, believes DeSantis, perhaps subconsciously, prefers to be viewed as inaccessible.
Frum pointed to a recent DeSantis “pre-launch” campaign ad that showed people reacting to him talking on television or on the screen of a smartphone or tablet. There was zero footage of him in the same space with a constituent. Another ad that aired just before the announcement showed DeSantis approaching a stage to speak, but featured a voice-over in a British accent. Frum believes the second ad is meant to distract from DeSantis’ underwhelming speaking voice.
In the case of the first ad, Frum said, the purpose was “to conceal the fact that DeSantis’ actual, real-life encounters with voters are few and look awkward.”
Sounds familiar. It’s not by accident that Justice keeps everyone distant and, when he does appear in public, his dog is there as a deflection prop.
As Justice runs for U.S. Senate and DeSantis for president, it’s unsettling to see both so clearly uncomfortable, if not outright disdainful, of any situation that might involve public scrutiny.
DeSantis won’t be able to hide forever, if he really wants the GOP nod for president.
In West Virginia, though, Justice might be able to coast to a Senate primary win without changing a thing. He was reelected to a second term as governor easily enough and is very popular, despite his own mounting legal problems (mainly in terms of his business dealings) and his disdain for doing the job to which he was elected. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va. via Maryland, also was easily reelected last year, despite two ongoing ethics investigations and a notorious reputation as a ghost when it comes to appearances in his district.
Mooney and Justice will clash in the 2024 Senate primary. Conventional wisdom says each needs to up his visibility and accessibility. But recent history suggests it’s not required. That’s a disservice to voters. Until those voters demand better, though, don’t expect any high-profile candidates to risk exposure.
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Herald-Dispatch. May 25, 2023.
Editorial: WV, PA both could use a dose of disinfecting sunshine
The question of whether some physicians in Pennsylvania are too enthusiastic about prescribing medical marijuana shows the need for enforcement of open records laws. It’s also a reminder that West Virginia could be more diligent in upholding the ideals of open government, too.
According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is incorporating the idea of legal adult use of marijuana in that state’s upcoming budget. Shapiro wants a 20% tax on wholesale prices of marijuana products. If sales begin in January 2025, Shapiro estimates that the tax would produce $16 million in the first year and increase to $188 million a year by the end of the decade.
As the newspaper noted, any regulatory program must ensure transparency “so that the relevant information could be used to guide policy. Yet, the administration remains far less than forthcoming regarding basic information about the existing medical marijuana program.”
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has rejected the news organization Spotlight PA’s requests for records regarding marijuana prescriptions by specific doctors. “Using other public records, Spotlight PA has shown the department has cited excessive patient approval numbers for marijuana use in at least one disciplinary case against a doctor. In another case, an attorney for the Health Department argued that discipline was appropriate, saying ‘the total number of patients versus his time and ability to certify patients is relevant.’” the newspaper reported.
In a state of 13 million people, one or two doctors overprescribing medical marijuana is hardly an epidemic, and it comes nowhere near close to what the overprescription of opioid painkillers did to Appalachia and other regions of the United States.
It is, however, evidence that people will bend laws and take advantage of them. Oversight is crucial to preventing that, and for oversight to be effective, transparency is required.
West Virginia government in recent years has been notoriously nontransparent. Gov. Jim Justice is getting a taste of the need for transparency as he prepares to run for the U.S. Senate next year. As reported by HD Media’s Roger Adkins, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has filed a lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court against the governor’s office demanding the release of records related to his official schedule.
The lawsuit alleges that Justice’s office has consistently denied requests for basic records, such as lists of official meetings scheduled for the governor and his senior staff, as mandated by the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
DSCC research director Diana Astiz contends that voters have a right to access information about Justice’s activities and performance while in office.
West Virginia will get a new governor in 2025. May he or she be more committed to openness, transparency and accessibility. That’s important not just so people can see what their public servants are doing, but also so voters can hold those servants accountable.
If sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said more than a century ago, then West Virginia has indeed suffered too long from cloudy weather.
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The Intelligencer. May 30, 2023.
Editorial: Federal Solution to Drug Crisis Unlikely
West Virginia has been a battlefield in two wars for the past several decades. The federal “War on Poverty” began in about 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat; and the nation’s “war” on drugs began in 1971 under President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican.
It is stunning how little progress we’ve made on either of those.
In fact, here in the Mountain State we’ve made almost no progress in fighting the substance abuse epidemic. According to WalletHub’s look at “Drug Use by State: 2023’s Problem Areas,” West Virginia is ranked 2nd overall for highest drug use. Only New Mexico is worse.
We continue to be tied for first (with the District of Columbia) for the number of overdose deaths per capita. West Virginia is seventh for drug use and addiction, third for law enforcement (arrests, etc.), and 18th for drug health issues and rehab.
Perhaps of some use to state lawmakers is our rank of 48th for the number of people receiving substance abuse treatment per 1,000 drug users.
WalletHub points out our country’s effort to fight the substance abuse epidemic has an “uncertain future and lack of significant progress to date.” One thing seems obvious after 50 or 60 years: The solution is not going to come from the federal government.
In fact, if it is to come from government at all, it will likely be at the hands of state lawmakers who take seriously their responsibility to lift ALL Mountain State residents with sound economic growth and diversification policy, improved educational opportunities, affordable and accessible health care that includes mental health services, better transportation options and reliable broadband access for as many as possible.
Most assuredly our progress will not come at the hands of those few lawmakers who makes such a scene of trying to drive us backward and into the dark. The era they crave is the era in which many of the evils we face found their footing. And that kind of thinking is — quite literally — killing us.
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