Since the pandemic began in March, Sen. Lora Reinbold has consistently gone against all science and public health recommendations to wear masks, practice social distancing and be safe. Ms. Reinbold has been a gadfly against science, reason and facts, and she likely does this to rile up her base and get her name in the news.
Her Facebook page, for those brave enough to view it, appears written from recommendations from QAnon. She has set a low bar when it come to recommending anything based on science and research studies, so her latest folderol should come as no surprise when it comes to recommending people ignore Alaska Airlines mask polices, and actually encouraging people to avoid these protocols to “protect their civil liberties.”
At the beginning of this pandemic, she just appeared foolish and ignorant, yet another politician who remains in the Dark Ages when it comes to science. She has now crossed the line into reckless and dangerous behavior. Please keep in mind that Ms. Reinbold has absolutely no background in medicine, infectious diseases or epidemiology (she is a graduate of Oral Roberts University, whose claim to fame is a charlatan founder who claimed to have raised a child from the dead, and told his followers that unless he raised $8 million dollars for his university, he would die), so no one should take anything she says seriously. Her own political party has ostracized her and reduced her influence. She is not a model politician or leader, to say the least. But her latest recommendations are putting all of us at risk, as unfortunately we have to live in the same community as she does, and shop at the same stores.
COVID-19 doesn’t care what your beliefs are. Alaska Airlines would be wise to ban her from all flights, and Eagle River would be wise to elect someone whose views and beliefs are not going to kill even more people.
Darrel Hamel
Eagle River
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