Lamont, Reiss and Three Part Disharmony

Connecticut begins its 12th week Monday under a state of emergency. The declaration gave Governor Ned Lamont extraordinary authority over every aspect of life in the state during an extended public health crisis. He has exercised his vast temporary power with appropriate prudence. The curve of coronavirus infections has been bent. The state’s healthcare system has not collapsed.

Our work is not done. We must continue to maintain practices that have become habits. Keep wearing a mask, washing your hands, and practice social distancing. Together, we’ll keep the curve bent and reduce the chances of a lethal second wave in the fall.

Lamont’s authority comes with the burden of setting an example in an age of suspicion. That includes wearing a mask in public—as his executive orders require us to do. The public is watching. When Lamont posed for a photo Friday with the proprietor of a Stamford cafe, there were no masks and nothing resembling social distancing. The photo appeared briefly on the cafe’s Facebook page. Comments ensued until it disappeared.

The weekend dustup prompted an ill-considered response of a three tweet thread from Lamont flack Max Reiss, who seemed to miss the point. A weary public looks to Lamont as we erratically make our way out of the lockdown the governor imposed and now struggles to lift with a consistent plan. Reiss will run dry of snark before the public depletes it’s interest in the example Lamont sets, by design or inadvertence, each day.

A second wave later this year or early next will test us all. It will require the public’s confidence in Lamont’s leadership match what it felt this spring. We will need to trust him more than he does us. For the months ahead, little things like photos will continue to mean more than they did before the deluge that arrived in March.