Joe Henderson: Marco Rubio “fundamental truths” ignore who gets hurt the worst

Sen. Marco Rubio.

In the race to the bottom by Florida’s two U.S. Senators, Marco Rubio may have surged into the lead. In a video that generated a firestorm, Rubio offered “fundamental truths” (his words) to take us out of the morass.

He said – paraphrasing here – yes, people could die if they go back to work.

They need to go anyway because the economy needs them.

I thought that Rick Scott had a padlock on the bottom spot after the calamity of the state’s unemployment system he created as Governor. However, never under-estimate Marco’s ability to simultaneously sound compassionate and full of baloney.

That’s quite a skill. But let’s examine his position on this issue.

“No one can tell you for certain when all of this is going to end. But here are some fundamental truths that people need to hear, and they need to start hearing now,” he said.

I’m all ears.

His logic is that until there is more testing and a vaccine to combat COVID-19, the infection rate will never be zero. And he admits that re-opening the economy will put people at risk by potentially running into someone carrying the virus.

#Truth.

But then he jumped the shark with what I assume is a GOP talking point.

He said, “What we are doing now is not sustainable long-term. We cannot keep the country in this condition for six months, for nine months, for a year, until we have a vaccine.”

Of course, this is not sustainable. Everyone understands that, but it’s not the point.

This is the point: What kind of work does he mean?

People all over Florida already work remotely. Teachers at the state’s public schools stream their lessons. In many cases, TV anchors deliver the news from their homes. Offices throughout Florida have adjusted to the new reality.

Your average health care worker or first responder lives on the front-lines.

Grocery stores remained open with extra precautions. You can get food and booze delivered to your door with no contact. Big-box stores are open with restrictions on the number of customers who can be inside at a given time. And companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Publix are hiring.

But tourism and travel drive Florida’s economy, and those industries are devastated. There’s a reason for that. People coming to visit Florida need hotels, restaurants, bars, and theme parks to open. And that, folks, is the petri dish that spread the virus in the first place.

To talk about opening for business again when folks can’t even find a bottle of hand sanitizer is ridiculous. If the big theme parks re-open and enough people come, this thing could spike again. And then we really would face a catastrophe of a shutdown that could last a year or more.

Is this a good time to mention the sorry state of health insurance in Florida?

Rubio wants to talk about the “fundamental truths that people need to hear.”

Fair enough. Consider this fundamental truth, then. Those on the lowest-end of the economic scale are the most vulnerable in a rush-to-work scenario. That’s just a fact.

I’m sure they do want to get back to work.

They also want to live.

Marco Rubio used to be known as a young man in a hurry. Back then, it was a compliment.

Not now. That’s a fundamental truth.