Florida Politics (2 Viewers)

[Osaurus]

Random Twitter troll suggests Afghanistan pullout should be grounds to invoke the 25th Amendm---wait, I'm being told that is, in fact, the junior senator from Florida 

Well he did run for Senate with term limits as a part of his platform. 

 

[The Commish]

Oh good...the PSF slap fight has graced us with it's presence in this thread as well.  It was a run gents  

 

[belljr]

So I had a theory that I was going to post about why there's no remote school option, but then last night I happened to catch up with an old friend who is an assistant principal at a high school in Minnesota, and her experience offered pretty strong evidence that my theory was correct.

My friend said she had basically spent her entire summer vacation planning the logistics of remote learning for her school. But in Florida, at the beginning of the summer things seemed to be getting better and DeSantis was putting heavy pressure on schools not to offer anything remote. No one here was even talking about that as an option until a couple weeks ago. A school board can implement a mask mandate overnight, but a remote learning plan takes a while to come up with, and the schools here didn't have nearly enough time to put it together.

Didn't they just finish some remote learning 2 months ago?

 

[The Commish]

Didn't they just finish some remote learning 2 months ago?

They did. The problem is, the money for that approach has been taken away. They need to figure an entirely new plan that fits the  budget given them. 

 

[The Commish]

Is it time to declare a state of emergency?  Feels like that's where this is headed.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

From the Miami Herald's back-to-school overview. I hadn't even been aware of this:

For Miami-Dade students, there’s a new K-12 online option this year called Miami-Dade Virtual School. Enrollment ends 10 school days after the semester begins on Aug. 23 and will reopen in January. Enrollment for the school district’s other online option has ended.

For Broward students, the online K-12 option is called Broward Virtual School. Enrollment for grades K-5 ended July 18. Enrollment for grades 6-12 ends Aug. 31.

Both Miami-Dade Virtual School and Broward Virtual School are free and are franchises of Florida Virtual School, the state’s online K-12 school that offers full-time and part-time learning.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

JFC

The city of Orlando is asking residents to reduce water consumption IMMEDIATELY. Liquid oxygen used to treat water is being diverted to the hospitals to treat COVID patients. They believe if water consumption doesn’t change, water treatment could hit a critical point in a week.

 

[kface]

JFC

This is what happens when you govern to 'own the libs' instead of actually governing.  

The worst part is that people that support this nonsense just don't care anyway...as long as they are owning the libs

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

LINK For those who want to actually read the article instead of a tweet about the article.

Spoiler: this has ZERO to do with the Governor "owning the libs".

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

LINK For those who want to actually read the article instead of a tweet about the article.

Spoiler: this has ZERO to do with the Governor "owning the libs".

Yeah, I just posted the link because, while it obviously seemed like something bad, I didn’t understand enough about what was causing the problem to assign any blame. But I can see how my post might have implied it was DeSantis’ fault (which is how killface interpreted it).

I would still argue that DeSantis’ mistakes have exacerbated the pandemic in Florida generally, so in that sense he bears partial responsibility for everything that’s happening, but this specific situation does not seem to have any direct connection to his policies.

Anyway, thanks for posting the clarification. 

 

[rustycolts]

I think I live in an alternate Florida than the rest of the folks here.. Kind of like DCs comics earth 1 and earth 2.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

I think I live in an alternate Florida than the rest of the folks here.. Kind of like DCs comics earth 1 and earth 2.

How so? One of the things I like about this thread is getting different perspectives from around the state, so would love to hear the view from Earth 2 (or is it 1?)

 

[Osaurus]

I think I live in an alternate Florida than the rest of the folks here.. Kind of like DCs comics earth 1 and earth 2.

Orlando is bizarro world imo

 

[rustycolts]

How so? One of the things I like about this thread is getting different perspectives from around the state, so would love to hear the view from Earth 2 (or is it 1?)

I think we have a different Governor in my Florida than the one in the other.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

I think we have a different Governor in my Florida than the one in the other.

That’s probably true. I don’t like the guy, but I recognize that, even after the past month, he’s still pretty popular, and I would be legit shocked if he doesn’t win re-election next year. So clearly there are a lot of Floridians who don’t share my assessment.

 

[The Commish]

I think we have a different Governor in my Florida than the one in the other.

I'm down for a trade...have nothing to lose.

Though, I'll just throw the possibility out there that the different perspectives is mainly driven by the fact I have kids who can't be vaccinated yet and there is really no protection afforded them, by the state, at school.  I fully admit that's a major bias for me.

 

[rustycolts]

I'm down for a trade...have nothing to lose.

Though, I'll just throw the possibility out there that the different perspectives is mainly driven by the fact I have kids who can't be vaccinated yet and there is really no protection afforded them, by the state, at school.  I fully admit that's a major bias for me.

As it should be. It's been over 20 years since I have had kids in school so not sure how I would react now. I know that I would want the final say and not the state on my child's welfare. I do know that I would have my children fully vaccinated if safe to do so. I believe in vaccines and don't really understand why people don't. 

 

[Maggot Brain]

Our Brevard County Congressional Rep Bill Posey doing his best to spread more covid misinformation  on Facebook

Rep. Bill Posey this week shared on his Facebook page an "educational resource" about COVID-19 that, among other things, says there on no coronavirus vaccines, pushes a drug regimen that the Food and Drug Administration says can cause serious heart problems and doesn't once mention masks in its 26 pages.

 "A Guide to Home-Based COVID Treatment" is a product of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group opposed to any government role in health care.

Posey told FLORIDA TODAY that a doctor he admires sent him a link to a video of one of guide's editors, Dr. Peter McCullough, testifying before the Texas Legislature. The text also said Posey should get a copy of the guide.

Posey said he sent the paper to another doctor friend to get his opinion and that doctor told Posey he follows the protocols advocated by the guide.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Our Brevard County Congressional Rep Bill Posey doing his best to spread more covid misinformation  on Facebook

Since there don't appear to be any consequences, I guess these people just don't care that they contribute to killing people.

I used to be proud to say that we'd met personally and discussed his early years working at KSC in the tech field we shared.  Not so much anymore.

 

[kface]

Since there don't appear to be any consequences, I guess these people just don't care that they contribute to killing people.

I used to be proud to say that we'd met personally and discussed his early years working at KSC in the tech field we shared.  Not so much anymore.

It's one of those things that hopefully 5 years from now there is some mechanism for charging these people with some sort of crime.  I used to think that a lot of the nonsense was just political rhetoric and in a way that's expected.  But this type of stuff is just way to far over the line.  

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Good Miami Herald explainer on quarantine protocols in Miami-Dade and Broward public schools:

COVID QUARANTINE RULES FOR STUDENTS, STAFF IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

If you were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19:

Fully vaccinated students and staff who are asymptomatic and do not live in a group home will not need to quarantine, according to Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Individuals will be asked to present their CDC vaccination card if they are deemed to be a close contact.

People who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated will have to quarantine for at least 10 days if they are asymptomatic, whether or not they get tested.

If a student is ordered to quarantine and is asymptomatic, the rest of the household, including siblings and parents, will not have to automatically quarantine. If the student starts to show symptoms or tests positive, then the family should get tested.

[...]

If you tested positive:

Students will be required to self-isolate for 10 days. The Florida Department of Health will notify the school district when the student can return to school. The district will then notify the school’s principal, who will notify the child’s parents.

One of the big changes this year is that entire classrooms or the entire school are no longer expected to quarantine if someone tests positive. However, it can still happen as a result of a close contact investigation, according to the district’s COVID-19 parent handbook.

[...]

COVID QUARANTINE RULES FOR STUDENTS, STAFF IN BROWARD COUNTY

If you were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19:

Fully vaccinated students and staff that are asymptomatic don’t need to quarantine, according to Broward County Public Schools. Students who tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 90 days, have recovered and are asymptomatic also do not need to quarantine.

Students who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated will have to quarantine until they meet one of the following criteria:

▪ Receive a negative test after four days (on Day Five or later) from the date they were last exposed to the person who tested positive. The quarantined individual must also be asymptomatic.

▪ Seven days have passed (on Day Eight) since the last date the student was exposed to the person who tested positive. The quarantined student must be asymptomatic.

If you tested positive or have symptoms:

Students who test positive for the disease or have symptoms cannot attend school until they meet one of the following criteria:

▪ Its been at least 10 days since symptoms began or since the student received an initial positive test result. The student must have also gone 24 hours fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications. Other symptoms also must have improved.

▪ The student has received a negative COVID test and is asymptomatic.

▪ The student received written permission to return to school from a Florida licensed medical doctor, osteopathic physician or an advanced practice registered nurse.

Not having a remote option for kids while they quarantine is going to be really tough, especially if it happens more than once.

 

[The Commish]

10 counties now simply ignoring DeSantis and imposing mask mandates in schools.  Also, the narrative has shifted from "I will take away your school funding if you mandate masks" to "I will take away salaries of those who instituting mask mandates".  If you need more proof that this is nothing more than political grandstanding, I don't know what to tell you.  They called his bluff.  Oddly enough, and I never thought this would happen, our county education board is having an emergency meeting this week.  We could be county #11.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

10 counties now simply ignoring DeSantis and imposing mask mandates in schools. 

Yeah our county went from optional to mandated.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Ugh:

NEW: An ENTIRE elementary school in Florida is *closed* until Labor Day due to COVID. 

Officials confirmed to @DanielleCBS12 Beachland Elementary in Vero Beach was closed bc of COVID, but didn’t specificy if it was bc of high cases, quarantines due to exposure, or both

 

[Shutout]

Ugh:

“NEW: An ENTIRE elementary school in Florida is *closed* until Labor Day due to COVID. 

Officials confirmed to @DanielleCBS12 Beachland Elementary in Vero Beach was closed bc of COVID, but didn’t specificy if it was bc of high cases, quarantines due to exposure, or both”

My best friend lives in the area and says it's very likely that it is a combination of cases trended up and precautions due to quarantines.  So, a mix.  

 

[The Commish]

It took about a week to destroy the "they need to be in school for the stability and socialization" narrative.  My youngest two have been out of school more than in for the first two weeks and my oldest has had to stay home two days because of exposure.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

https://twitter.com/VanessaBrownTV/status/1431289400600694790

Happening now— a FL judge is ruling against #DeSantis & his ban on mask mandates, citing a bill passed by the legislature, signed into law by the governor, allowing this power to the school board. Also, cites the science/evidence in favor of . drop.

(ETA: That second emoji was a microphone in the original tweet, as  in "mic drop")

 

[The Commish]

Wonders never cease.

His presser today will be interesting

 

[Osaurus]

Is the appeal coming out the same day as the ruling?

 

[Kal El]

Is the appeal coming out the same day as the ruling?

I’m surprised he didn’t file one before the decision was made, just in case.

 

[Osaurus]

I’m surprised he didn’t file one before the decision was made, just in case.

No doubt.

 

[The Commish]

Is the appeal coming out the same day as the ruling?

It's going to be interesting to see what the new argument is on appeal.  That judge's ruling covered a ton and was very thorough.  The best part of the whole thing was the witness comments.  I guess DeSantis and crew threw a guy out there who had no relevant experience treating kids while the plaintiffs had 4-5 pediatric doctors

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

It's going to be interesting to see what the new argument is on appeal.  That judge's ruling covered a ton and was very thorough.  The best part of the whole thing was the witness comments.  I guess DeSantis and crew threw a guy out there who had no relevant experience treating kids while the plaintiffs had 4-5 pediatric doctors

Which is ironic considering that his Surgeon General is actually a pediatrician by training

 

[The Commish]

Which is ironic considering that his Surgeon General is actually a pediatrician by training

and not used at all in the testimony that I am aware of....it should be rather obvious at this point what's going on, but alas.....

 

[The Commish]

Hillsborough County reported over 10K students currently out of school and over 300 teachers out (isolation and quarantine) as well this month....that's a lot.  So much for "getting back to normalcy".  It's been a bad couple weeks for the common talking points.

 

[2Squirrels1Nut]

Hillsborough County reported over 10K students currently out of school and over 300 teachers out (isolation and quarantine) as well this month....that's a lot.  So much for "getting back to normalcy".  It's been a bad couple weeks for the common talking points.

Then there's too many horror stories like this:

Florida woman hospitalized with COVID-19 comes home to find husband dead from virus

DeSantis and every elected official still perpetuating this myth that masks do nothing and the vaccine is "your choice" as if there's something to be afraid of.  The same people saying "only" 1-2% of people that get Covid die, are evil.   They know what they are peddling are lies. They are willing to let Americans die and get sick, and hundreds of thousands and millions have, to further this disgusting, fraudulent, dishonest, narrative.  There's no other way to put it. I can't believe this is STILL happening in the country I love. 

 

[Rich Conway]

Then there's too many horror stories like this:

Florida woman hospitalized with COVID-19 comes home to find husband dead from virus

DeSantis and every elected official still perpetuating this myth that masks do nothing and the vaccine is "your choice" as if there's something to be afraid of.  The same people saying "only" 1-2% of people that get Covid die, are evil.   They know what they are peddling are lies. They are willing to let Americans die and get sick, and hundreds of thousands and millions have, to further this disgusting, fraudulent, dishonest, narrative.  There's no other way to put it. I can't believe this is STILL happening in the country I love. 

DeSantis, Abbott, and the others like them are killing people purely so they can burnish their MAGA credentials.

 

[rustycolts]

SMH. Guess we should go the Australia route. Laughable DeSantis is killing people. You guys amaze me. DeSantis is a big supporter of the vaccine. He definitely is not trying to scare people away from the vaccine. 

 

[rustycolts]

I know what we could do. We should just shut society down all together. No bars,no retail outlets,no Walmart, no Amazon, no Publix no business open at all. Cuz you know if an employee were to get it an give it to someone else and they were to die then businesses would be killing people. No one allowed outside their homes except once a week to go to food distribution centers set up by the government. People in hazmat suits could hand out supplies. 

We could do this for say 5 years that should do the trick. People who are caught  venturing outside would be rounded up and sent to re-education camps down in the Everglades. I think that should work.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

Glad to see the hysteria and fear mongering going strong. Thank god for variants. Just a reminder: people can wear a mask without being mandated to do so.

 

[AAABatteries]

I know what we could do. We should just shut society down all together. No bars,no retail outlets,no Walmart, no Amazon, no Publix no business open at all. Cuz you know if an employee were to get it an give it to someone else and they were to die then businesses would be killing people. No one allowed outside their homes except once a week to go to food distribution centers set up by the government. People in hazmat suits could hand out supplies. 

We could do this for say 5 years that should do the trick. People who are caught  venturing outside would be rounded up and sent to re-education camps down in the Everglades. I think that should work.

Yeah, because that’s what people are saying we should do.  Right.

My problem with Desantis, Kemp, Abbott and some other governors is they spend much more time and energy on protecting some nonsensical right to not where a mask and not getting the vaccine than just simply saying - get the damn vaccine people.  Oh, I know, they are very pro vaccine.  “Please get the vaccine, IF YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING SO” (Kemp quote).  You don’t see how that isn’t all out support and pushing people to get vaccinated?  Several things they’ve done gives people a mixed message on how serious they should take it.  And as @gianmarco pointed out in a Tweet he posted, these same people giving mixed messages are all vaccinated and 99% of the people dying aren’t.

Note - I’m not in favor of any lockdowns and I’m actually somewhat indifferent to masks mandates that some schools want to implement - but I’m 100% against banning masks mandates and telling companies they can’t require proof of vaccination.

 

[John123]

DeSantis, Abbott, and the others like them are killing people purely so they can burnish their MAGA credentials.

FTA:

"He always wore his mask, he always used his hand sanitizer," she said.

She said that neither of them had received a COVID-19 vaccine - not because they were against it, only because they wanted to wait.

But yeah, this story is a GREAT example of Desantis killing people. 

 

[Rich Conway]

SMH. Guess we should go the Australia route. Laughable DeSantis is killing people. You guys amaze me. DeSantis is a big supporter of the vaccine. He definitely is not trying to scare people away from the vaccine. 

https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/florida-ban-requiring-vaccine-passports-banned-now

On April 2, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order prohibiting businesses in Florida from “requiring patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business.” A month later, the Florida Legislature passed, and the governor signed into law, a bill applying that prohibition to all business entities, enforceable by imposition of a fine up to $5,000 per violation effective July 1. (§ 381.00316, Fla. Stat.)

That's absolutely trying to burnish his MAGA credentials at the expense of encouraging vaccinations and mitigation efforts.  There's no way to spin it.

 

[Navin Johnson]

I know what we could do. We should just shut society down all together. No bars,no retail outlets,no Walmart, no Amazon, no Publix no business open at all. Cuz you know if an employee were to get it an give it to someone else and they were to die then businesses would be killing people. No one allowed outside their homes except once a week to go to food distribution centers set up by the government. People in hazmat suits could hand out supplies. 

We could do this for say 5 years that should do the trick. People who are caught  venturing outside would be rounded up and sent to re-education camps down in the Everglades. I think that should work.

49ers’ WR/KR Richie James needs knee surgery that is expected to sideline him at least six weeks

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

The vaccine zealots are far worse than the vaccine hesitant imo.

 

[[scooter]]

The vaccine zealots are far worse than the vaccine hesitant imo.

No one died when vaccine zealots proselytized.

 

[The Commish]

SMH. Guess we should go the Australia route. Laughable DeSantis is killing people. You guys amaze me. DeSantis is a big supporter of the vaccine. He definitely is not trying to scare people away from the vaccine. 

I certainly don't think he's tryng to kill people or is killing people.  Ultimately, people make their decisions.  However, I have no idea if he's a big supporter of vaccines or not.  I've heard a "get the vaccine" message sprinkled into his anti-mask shtick, but that's about it.  He spends far more time on masks, his mandates and keeping businesses from doing what they feel is best for them than pumping up the vaccine.  It's not close.  Is he vaccinated?  No idea...I HAVE seen him push the antibody treatments and I think setting up those stations is a positive.  In my view, this state needed a huge print/TV campaign pounding the vaccine message home...similar to all the political ads we see all the time.  I've seen a few locally driven ones, but that's about it.

 

[the moops]

All these governor's just need to stop couching their vaccination suggestions with outs. Nobody would be resorting to calling DeSantis a killer if he would just get up on stage or go on TV daily/weekly/whatever and just clearly say "Patriots, get the vaccine. It is safe and highly effective. Doing so let's us country loving patriots take back the White House and Congress in 2024. We can't take them back if we are dead from the virus!"

It could be the speech of all speeches. And people would eat that #### up. 

 

[BassNBrew]

All these governor's just need to stop couching their vaccination suggestions with outs. Nobody would be resorting to calling DeSantis a killer if he would just get up on stage or go on TV daily/weekly/whatever and just clearly say "Patriots, get the vaccine. It is safe and highly effective. Doing so let's us country loving patriots take back the White House and Congress in 2024. We can't take them back if we are dead from the virus!"

It could be the speech of all speeches. And people would eat that #### up. 

Yup...and call it the vaccine created by Trump for the cherry on top.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

No one died when vaccine zealots proselytized.

Just hand over your freedom and nobody gets hurt, right?