An interesting development has taken place in the Decorah News the past couple of days.
It all started with a letter to the editor submitted by three Decorah physicians, including Dr. Kevin Sand, who is the father of Auditor Rob Sand.
Part of the letter states:
“It is obvious Gov. Reynolds is unable to protect Iowans, with many ‘preventable deaths’ already.”
It is obvious that this letter from three physicians happens to be hyperpartisan.
But it continues…
“Don’t gather with others outside your household, including the holidays.”
But, Rob Sand shared this photo on his Auditor’s Facebook page from Thanksgiving:
That photo, which shows Rob Sand’s family gathering with Dr. Sand drew the ire of Paul Hunter, who submitted his own letter to the editor.
“Maybe Dr. Sand can explain to us why his son, State Auditor Rob Sand, posted a picture on one of his social media pages of his family sharing a meal in Rob’s house with Dr. Sand and his wife during Thanksgiving. Is the Sand family not expected to follow the same guidelines as the rest of us? Rules for thee, but not for me?”
In looking at the photo, it appears the families are eating in separate rooms. And that is what Rob Sand said in his response.
“Paul Hunter claimed in his letter that my dad broke his own recommendation not to ‘share air’ with family over the holidays,” Sand wrote in his own letter to the editor.
“On Thanksgiving, my parents sat on our screen porch, open-air on three sides, while we sat inside the house. My family: inside. My parents: outside. Glass windows between us and a cell phone on speakerphone made for a creatively careful Thanksgiving, in which we did not ‘share the air.'”
Sand went on to say he was presenting the “whole truth” and called the whole thing “a waste of everyone’s time.”
But read what the original letter from Dr. Sand specifically said. I’ll type it one more time…
“Don’t gather with others outside your household, including the holidays. A lonely Christmas is better than an ICU New Years’.”
So, who is right?
Nobody knows, or cares to be honest, to what extent Dr. Sand “shared air” with his family on Thanksgiving. Only the Sand family knows that.
But what everyone else can gather is that when told not to gather with others outside your household, including the holidays, that picture certainly looks like gathering with others outside their household.
And this wouldn’t be a story but for a narrative being pushed that spending time with children and grandkids could kill you and the risk just isn’t worth it.
Well, we’ll link to all three letters to the editor and allow you to come to your own conclusion. Feel free to chime in by emailing us at newsdesk@theiowastandard.com.
Thanks!
Original letter from Dr. Sand.
Letter of response from Auditor Rob Sand.
