Praise for Governor in pandemic not coming

At this writing, there is still no mandatory “shelter-in-place” restriction in Nebraska, one of nine states to enjoy such “freedom.”
Just as I was about to laud Governor Pete Ricketts for his transparency in doing an afternoon COVID-19 news briefing five days a week to keep Nebraskans informed about the burgeoning pandemic, the Governor gets a letter from 45 doctors in Grand Island begging him to shut down the state.
Yes, these front-line medical professionals want the state’s elected Chief Executive to go beyond the “medical directive” which covers all 93 counties and requires restaurants to serve take-out only and other businesses to limit crowds to 10 or fewer and for everyone to practice social distancing.
No mention of why the other states, representing most of the nation’s population, must be wrong and Nebraska is right.
It’s obviously about state’s rights and Ricketts is obviously preening to be the poster boy for that movement. But I’m not sure why, given that he’s in his second term as governor and doesn’t appear to be running for any higher office—yet. Both Nebraska senators and all three members of Congress are already Republicans, so there’s no opening there.
It’s been joked about for several years that Rickett’s father, Joe, the founder of the recently sold TD Ameritrade, wants his kid to be President of the United States. Who knows, maybe Pete wants that, too, and figures a presidential appointment—assuming the Republican incumbent wins re-election—would be his best ticket to the top.

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