In a state that is seeing "alarming outbreaks" of Covid-19 and that recorded 2,343 new cases just yesterday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson now says he "regrets" his decision to ban statewide school mask mandates (taking away the freedoms of school districts to make their own decisions).
"In hindsight, I wish it had not become law," he said Tuesday, as if the ban turned itself into a law all on its own. "Everything has changed now," he said, perplexed that his state has the third highest rate of new Covid cases in the nation, behind Florida and Louisiana. But, whether we're talking climate change, gun laws, or deadly pandemics, backpedaling is what happens when a leader listens to a misinformed, conspiracy-driven base rather than facts and science.
