Ron DeSantis, Florida’s mini-trump governor, didn’t close down the state until spring breakers had the chance to come down and revel on the beaches. Many of them got infected and went home and passed the virus on to family and friends in other states. COVID loved it. The lockdown was in early April.
But it was never a full lockdown. Groceries stores and other “essential” businesses were still open. And this was before masks became a part of daily life. Testing was a complete disaster – not just in Palm Beach County, but in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to the south of us as well. Monroe County – the Florida Keys – sealed themselves off from the mainland and today, July 18, have only 768 cases and six deaths. Dog parks and other public parks were closed, bars, gyms, restaurants except for takeout orders, schools, hair and nail salons etc.
In March and April, when the epicenter was in New York state, DeSantis crowed about what a great job Florida was doing, with testing sites set up and running, hospitals humming along without any problems, case numbers low (compared to now). DeSantis felt so good about things in Florida that when trump made rally calls about opening the country, DeSantis was one of the first to answer that call – along with his fellow republican governors in Georgia, Arizona, Texas.
On Memorial Day weekend, then the July 4th weekend, beaches were jammed. Restaurants were up and running with alleged distancing, mask rules etc. Protests consumed the news. People stopped paying attention to COVID. But the funny thing about a virus is that it doesn’t give a shit what you want or think or desire. It doesn’t care what color you are, what political party you belong to, whether you’re straight, gay, transgender, a CEO or homeless. Its focus is to find a new host and dig in.
So now on July 17, about six months into all this, here’s where we are in terms of countries- the top 18.
States:
See Florida there, 3rd on the list? 327,241. That’s total cases. And for the last several weeks our new cases have broken records set in New York – more than 15 ,000 on July 12. Notice that we, a state, fall between Mexico and Chile – 7 and 8 on the country graph. Keep in mind some other facts. As of 2019, Florida had 21.48 million people. Chile, as of 2018, had 18.7 million. Mexico in 2018 had 126.2 million.
DeSantis still hasn’t issued a mandatory mask order. The Republicans are still planning their convention in an outside venue in Jacksonville in late August. Right now, Florida temperatures are usually in the 90s, with the heat index somewhere around 105 to 110.
This is the kind of heat that turns your hair sopping wet, that drenches your clothes, that makes you thirst for water and air conditioning and ice, and not necessarily in that order. It’s the kind of heat that would make trump’s mop of orange or white hair melt, that would bring Mitch McConnell to his knees, that would send Pence into an air conditioned church to pray for climate change. Uh-huh, repugs. Think again.
As you try to alter reality with your lying narratives, to bend and falsify statistics and facts that fit your bogus versions of reality, people are dying, hospital are becoming overwhelmed, 2020 has become a shit show that illustrates just how incompetent repug governors are.
The bottom line is ugly: trump and his admin don’t care if you get sick and die. They don’t care if your kids and their teachers are incurring an unnecessary risk by returning to school. Or if you’re exposing yourself to greater risk if you return to work. If you fly. And if you’re American, you can’t enter Europe, Mexico or Canada. Our welcome mat has been pulled.
They. Do. Not. Care.
So it’s up to us – you and you and you. What choices do we make?
POSTSCRIPT
Today, there were more than 71,000 new cases in the U.S.
Today, Florida had another 10,328 new cases.
Today, DeSantis gave another say nothing meaningful press conference.
Total BS from the fringies. I’m so over all the stupid conspiracy theories. At least when I went down all the rabbit holes, I didn’t believe everything I read. The Q stuff was so dumb – I waited two years for the “cabal perps to be frog-marched out of government offices” – which was always going to happen “next week!” Yep, you guessed it – never happened. I’m convinced it’s a Russian sitting in his underwear, sipping vodka, and laughing at all of the stupid americans buying his BS story about Q. David Wilcock was a big proponent of the White Hats (Brics nations) and the Black Hats (US). Why is the US always the bad guy and Russia always the good guy??
The Q stuff is incredibly dumb. All of the conspiracies are.
A question to ponder:
Why did the media go into full attack mode re: Hydroxychloroquine when it was first introduced as a possible treatment/prophylactic for SARS-CoV-2? It was immediately dismissed without any investigation into the merits, even though Dr. Anthony Fauci himself reported in 2005 that Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment for SARS-CoV, the predecessor to SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19). See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1232869/ (that link is to the Virology Journal, an official publication of the National Institute of Health (Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chairman), in case you were planning to dismiss it as a right-wing conspiracy theory publication). Why was it immediately dismissed, despite extensive research showing it to be effective, despite other countries all over the world using it effectively to treat COVID-19 patients, despite countless doctors right here in the US prescribing it with great effectiveness for COVID-19 patients, despite research right here in the US showing it to be effective? And not just dismissed by the media, but full-on attacked as dangerous and irresponsible? By both the media and Democrat politicians? Ponder that question for a moment.
And when you’re done pondering that, ponder these followup questions:
Why wouldn’t the media want to work on all fronts to find a possible solution/cure?
Why wouldn’t the media want to give people hope that there is something that might possibly help?
Why wouldn’t the media want the pandemic to slow or stop?
Why wouldn’t the media want society to heal and recover?
Why wouldn’t the media want people to no longer fear leaving their homes?
Why wouldn’t the media want people to return to work and their normal daily lives?
Why would the media challenge and attack anyone who defies the pushed and coordinated narrative?
Why would the media fail to report on certain labs in Florida returning 100% positive test results – no negative tests? At all? Isn’t that a story worth following up on?
Why would the media want to stop individual critical thinking?
Who benefits the most from all of those things?
Is this about the virus or Something Else?
I won’t answer those questions for you. The media already tries to do that. Think for yourself.
Then why don’t you take a dose? And are you afraid to use your name?
How do you know I haven’t already taken it and found it effective in my case? Why is my real name important to you?
I’m just asking questions. It’s up to you to see the answers.
Until you see, I will continue to fight for you.
Thanks, but I don’t need anyone fighting for me. If you’ve taken it and it worked, then great. In terms of names, just curious. For all I know, you’re a bot or someone who works for DeSantis.
You don’t think you need anyone to fight for you, but you do. You are being misled and lied to. By your government (repubs and dems). By your media (news, social, and entertainment). By people you’ve been taught to trust. You will see. Until then, I’m here. Whether you think you need me or not.
In the meantime, answer the questions above. Doesn’t have to be out loud or in public, just answer them for yourself. Remember your answers.
Then watch what happens over the next few months and see if your answers change.
Give it up, dude (or lady). Find someone else to preach to.
Not preaching. Just asking questions. Think for yourself.
Ditto.
And one more, then I’ll leave you alone – this is from your own local news, so I thought you might be interested:
https://cbs12.com/news/local/i-team-deaths-incorrectly-attributed-to-covid-19-in-palm-beach-county
Why is that happening? Is this about the virus, or Something Else?
Which is why I don’t use the dept of health dashboard. The woman who used to do the dashboard was asked to lower the figures so desantis could open early. She refused and got fired. Now she has her own dashboard. I also use the worldometer, which isn’t gov’t related. I already don’t trust gov’t. And while yeah, there may be some larger conspiracy afoot or whatever it is you’re alluding to, and yes, all politicians of both political parties are shady dealers, the best tool anyone has is gathering info from many sources. DeSantis is an idiot for the way he has handled things in this state and the man he adores is corrupt, a pathological liar, and the sooner he’s gone the better off we’ll be as a country. Bernie was my choice but I’ll vote biden just to see trump gone. Hopefully, the southern district of new york will charge him with multiple crimes and he’ll end up in prison. It’s what Obama should’ve done to Cheney and Wolfowitz and their ilk.
And that’s pretty much all I’ve got to say to you, whoever you are. And just for your information, the virus isn’t a hoax, as you seem to imply. My sister and her family had it. My husband had it. And no, they didn’t use UV lights or drink clorox or use Hydroxychloroquine for treatments.
ps: as i write, hospitals ICU units in tucson are full, and they are bringing in portable morgue containers because Tucson’s are full. And there are states now requiring a 14 day quarantine if you are coming from Arizona. https://www.kold.com/2020/06/24/multiple-states-now-require-arizonans-quarantine-after-arriving-state/
Thank you for the link, Lauren. I didn’t realize Arizona was in such dire straight – especially Tucson. Stay safe!
A powerful [hoto, from the pandemic of 1918 I assume, which lasted 2 years and had three waves. We in Arizona have the distinction of being the 2nd worst place to be, next to Florida, and our governor is about the same as yours. The Mayor of Tucson, not the worthless trump loving mgovernor, put a mandatory mask law in place in the city – and still I see people refusing to wear a mask because “it’s their right not to wear a mask”. How on earth did we end up with politicians that politicize a lethal virus? I almost wish they would have their rallies for trump and die off in a demonstration of the survival of the fittest, except that they go home and infect everyone else. I’m sorry, I don’t really mean that.
But make no mistake: Trump and these republican “leaders” are no less than mass murderers, willing to sacrifice so many lives.
I agree. The way this pandemic is being handled in this country is criminal.
This is not leadership. It is such a nightmare. Please stay safe!!! ☹️
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