Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in studio to discuss the data and efficacy of masks for public school students and Tennessee legislation.
(MNPS Teacher Zoe Butler clip plays)
Leahy: Okay, so that clip comes from WSMV. That is a teacher. Yes, that is a teacher in Metro Nashville Public Schools. When she says nonsense like that, Andy Ogles you wonder, what else is she teaching kids?
Ogles: Again, Where’s the source? It’s fact and proven. Children have not been a significant vector of spread. Children are not at risk for serious illness unless they have some underlying compromised issue.
The survival rate for a child is 99.9 plus-plus percent. And yet we’re going to mask our children. I don’t know. It’s mind-numbing. And like you said, I want to be careful. (Leahy laughs)
Leahy: I can say these things.
Ogles: I’m trying to be nice.
Leahy: Because you’re naturally much nicer than I am. Andy is a gentleman of the Southern style. I am a Yankee with that sort of Yankee go after them. We will pause now. And you can collect your Southern gentlemeness and go ahead with your comment.
Ogles: I just would say I would be concerned if that young lady and I’m sure she’s a nice person was teaching my children because if you can’t apply logic and reason to something like this, now we have almost two years worth of data and you’re still buying into the narrative. I mean, goodness gracious.
Leahy: The non-science narrative. Now, one thing that’s of note here on this, we can’t single out that particular teacher because the entire leadership of Metro National Public Schools is defying science. Absolutely defying science.
We had a very lengthy 20-page story by James Agresti, which looked at the issue of the efficacy of masks. And the conclusion is, it doesn’t stop the transmission of COVID-19. It’s theater.
Ogles: From the very beginning, so early on, and if you go back and look at my daily reports I was doing on COVID, the NIH, National Institutes of Health had a very exhaustive study on their website. I haven’t checked to see if it’s still there.
But this studied viruses and the efficacy of various masks and coverings that you can put on your face all the way down from if you were in an emergency situation and if there was an outbreak of some sort, what would be the effect if you put a napkin over your face?
All the way from a triple cotton mask to an N-95 mask. And so you’re N-95 mask that is only 95 percent effective. A triple-layer cotton mask is up to 40 percent effective. So it’s 60 percent ineffective.
Leahy: That’s a better way of articulating it.
Ogles: So on a good day, assuming it’s clean, assuming you’re wearing it properly.
Leahy: By the way, very few people wear these masks properly, right. And that it’s fitted properly. And of course, five-year-old kids were okay. (Laughs)Â
Ogles: I have a six-year-old, right. And he goes to the bathroom. It’s like, son, have you washed your hands? He goes out and feeds the chickens. He comes back in. Son, have you washed your hands?
He goes out and feeds the lambs. You have to remind them about hygiene. He’s six. You’re going to put a mask… (Leahy laughs) And I’m not kidding. They were out playing with some friends, and these other children were wearing masks.
And just through the course of playing, he informs us, hey, I got to wear, and I won’t say the little girl’s name. I got to wear so and so’s mask.
Leahy: How wonderful for you. (Laughs)
Ogles: But again, for a kindergartener, a six-year-old…
Leahy: Let’s trade masks.
Ogles: That’s right. Yours is cool. Can I wear it?
Leahy: Yeah, well, now this is interesting. So the lightning speed of the lunatic left in trying to subvert the Constitution of the United States was in full display over the weekend where this overreaching federal judge went in. And by the way, the law, as it relates to masking in schools was very detailed and Jack Johnson will come in at 7:05 a.m. and talk more about it.
But it was very detailed, and it had a provision therefore accommodations for children who are disabled and covered by the Americans for Disabilities Act. It had that provision. Its also very carefully thought through where the mask mandate wouldn’t apply based upon actual numbers and data.
It’s interesting because you look at this and many school boards, the authoritarian school boards like Metro Nashville Public Schools jump in and say, oh, well, we have an excuse now to reissue this mandate. This is surprising.
But actually very encouraging. Yesterday, last night, and this is from WKRN. I’ll read this headline. A Mandate That Went Into Effect Several Months Ago Is Now No More in Williamson County. On Monday night, the Williamson County Board of Education voted to remove the existing mask mandate in place in Williamson County schools.
This goes into effect starting today, Tuesday, November 16th. The decision came despite the legal counsel urging the board to defer its decision until a federal judge determines whether Governor Bill Lee’s, they call it the law signed by Governor Bill Lee is legal.
Hint, it’s legal! It was passed by the Tennessee General Assembly. It was signed by the governor. The way our Constitution works is that’s a law, folks. On Sunday, Judge Waverley D. Crenshaw of the Sixth Circuit Court issued an injunction after a group of parents filed a lawsuit against Governor Lee, an education leader, claiming the law potentially violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
That’s the same argument they made back in September when the judge made the same decision. He obviously hasn’t read the law. The law passed by Tennessee has explicit provisions that address the concerns of the Americans with Disabilities Act. But what’s encouraging about this? Apparently, the vote was seven to five.
I don’t know how the new guy Josh Brown voted. I’d be very curious to see. But seven to five, they voted no mask mandates. That is in Williamson County, That’s a victory for liberty, in my view.
Ogles: Also in Rutherford County, the mask mandate there just expired maybe five days ago give or take. This is what I’ve been screaming for months and months and months now. And I’ve been critical of the governor of all of the executive orders. The executive orders don’t have the same level of standing. That is an action taken by the General Assembly.
Leahy: The law. A bill passed by the General Assembly and then signed into law by the governor is much stronger standing than an executive order, which can be challenged as being nonstatutory.
Ogles: That’s right. From my perspective, the General Assembly didn’t go far enough. The governor did not go far enough. But at least we’re moving in the right direction. But again, for Jack Johnson, I appreciate his work on this.
To have these things codified now, we have legal standing. We can defend this. We can fight for this. And we can insert the 10th Amendment.
 I’ve been preaching this now for I mean, we’re going on 20 months. The first three or four months we’re all terrified. But for a good 12-15 months now I’ve been saying, hey, let’s put this in writing, not through executive order, but by law.
Leahy: There was another bill that became law, but not because the governor signed it. The way it works is if a bill is passed by the Tennessee General Assembly and is given to the governor for signature, there are three things he can do.
He can sign it, and that turns it into law. He can veto it, which means it goes back to the Tennessee General Assembly and they can override his veto.
In Tennessee, it’s pretty easy to override a veto because you only need half in both Houses. Or if he simply takes no action for, like, 10 days, it becomes law. So there was another law that was passed in the special session that has gone into law.
And that is the one that removes the special privilege of six counties. Six counties had health departments that were independent on their own.
There were 89 counties that were under the Tennessee Department of Health. Now all 95 counties apparently are under the Tennessee Department of Health. Your thoughts on that bill and its impact on that?
Ogles: There was quite a bit in that bill, and that’s something that I’ve been working through with my legal team. But to go back, the reason why the governor gave that he didn’t sign it is that he did want to clean up that legislation in that, in the case of a non-COVID related pandemic, what are the responsibilities and or authorities of the respective health departments? And I don’t want to put words in the governor’s mouth, but he felt that it needed to be covered more clearly.
But it also solidified the county mayor’s role in acting on behalf of public health. And so one of the things that I’m looking at with my legal team. that I’m shooting for Wednesday is rolling out some stuff to better protect people from forced vaccines.
Leahy: I’m looking forward to seeing whatever that may be on Wednesday.
Ogles: I think The Tennessee Star should have a scoop.
Leahy: I think we will. (Laughter)
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
