Edward Sotherden: Five years after the Covid madness began, we need open records laws more than ever

Five years ago, we didn’t know, but the world was about to change drastically and quickly. I would soon be fighting Montgomery County to get them to simply abide by their Right-to-Know laws. 

In retrospect, it is notable how even the smallest of interactions with our children can stick out as major moments that we are clueless about without the clarity of hindsight. I was driving my daughter to kindergarten, and she was anxious about this talk of a new virus on whatever business radio show was on. So, I explained when I was younger, we’d gone through swine and bird flu media hype, and that you can’t rely on major media for pure facts anymore. You must think critically to understand that hype is intended for more people to watch or listen longer, and that is how they make money. Does that make sense? 

“Yes,” she said. 

Do you feel better? 

“No. Dad, you might have, but I’ve never been through something like this, so it is scary.” 

Gut check. Pretty wise words from a six-year-old. 

“Well, I have been through these media hypes. Trust me, it is no big deal.” 

I should have listened to the kindergartener.

By March 16, 2020, Montgomery County was implementing shutdown measures. By the 23rd, the State of Pennsylvania was implementing them. “Two weeks to slow the spread.” They sure pulled the wool over our eyes. 

I made my wife and daughter stay home, and if errands were needed, I gloved up and went to the grocery store with my hand sanitizer. I cancelled an important conference where we were headed to launch a new business related to healthcare cost transparency. After all, being in healthcare (I’m not a clinician) giving the system a couple weeks so as not to overwhelm it made sense.

However, the two weeks started to drag on and keep getting extended. I was regularly speaking with people whose job is to dive deep into healthcare cost transparency data, and they were the first skeptics who pointed out the perverse profit incentives hospitals had to label everything Covid-19. After all, they were shut down from elective procedures, so playing ball with the public health authorities was a gravy train and doing anything else could jeopardize your medical license. Working with healthcare cost-containment vendors I’d seen the positive impact of sunshine laws on that industry.

Many of the school closures, and re-closures, and masking requirements defied common sense. Wearing a mask, outside at recess in the upper eighty-degree heat on the playground, on the other hand, did not seem based on science. 

I was a part of a group of parents in Bucks and Montgomery Counties that tried to peel back the curtain on these decisions using sunshine laws. After our first requests, we universally found counties, townships, and school districts fought the requests with red tape and lawyers paid by taxpayer dollars. Hospital executives pressuring public health officials policies, a County Commissioner requesting law enforcement and County Attorneys investigate protestors, and health officials pressuring school districts were all things that came out of these Right-to-Know efforts.

My intent is not to rehash the entire madness. I treasure the friends we made at protests and online to try and keep kids in school, and to push back against all the draconian public health overreach. Collaborating to use Open Record and Right-to-Know requests which proved many of the “conspiracies” were facts. The vigor with which local governments fought them proved there were things they wanted to hide. We shouldn’t have to fight for our natural freedoms, so I prefer the current quiet to the fights of 2020-22, however I rest more easily knowing how many people are willing to jump up and fight for our kids and our rights. The wolves have a lot of sheepdogs to contend with.

Most importantly, I remember how easily it was to give my child false security in early March 2020. I hope that the kids who remember going through that are going to be a tough generation, and one that is slow to trust official narratives. It proved skepticism is most certainly not a bad trait, and hopefully it fuels a generation to use transparency and advocacy for whatever causes they believe in supporting.

Edward Sotherden is a husband, father, friend, and healthcare executive who only bought into Covid Madness for two months before going on to add protestor and Right-to-Know activist to his “resume.”