who could've seen this coming? But apparently it's the dems that turned a "fake pandemic" and vaccines political.
"DeSantis for the win" - Let's see what taxpayers in Florida are paying for. DeSantis tried to hide public info on COVID. And you paid for it https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opi...0210119-qfunzsyds5a2tfnamx6ncnetaq-story.html Last month, the state of Florida had to fork over $7,500 of your money to lawyers for the Orlando Sentinel. Now, normally, I like it when people give money to the Sentinel. This, however, was a ridiculous waste of taxpayer dollars. Not the biggest, but definitely one of the most ridiculous. Because it was money that Gov. Ron DeSantis had to reimburse us for suing him over access to obviously public information — White House reports about what was happening with COVID in each state. They were records created by public officials for the public. Other states weren’t even waiting for journalists to request these reports. Ohio and Oklahoma simply posted them on the internet for everyone to see. Why? Because that’s why they were created. The problem for DeSantis was that Florida’s reports didn’t look so good. They showed case numbers spiking — and that the governor was ignoring some advice from the nation’s top medical minds. So instead of facing the music, DeSantis tried to silence it. When Sentinel health reporter Naseem Miller requested copies of the report, DeSantis’ administration refused to provide all of them. So we sued. Some legal cases are complex. This one was not. It was a slam dunk; the legal equivalent of Shaquille O’Neal trying to score on a 4-foot Nerf goal. At first, the state tried to claim it wasn’t intentionally hiding the reports, but that it was just so darn busy with things — like other lawsuits — that it couldn’t get around to providing the reports in a timely manner. But, as Miller reported earlier: “When the judge pressed them for a list of other litigation, the state attorneys backtracked their statement and said they were busy monitoring the election.” I believe the Latin legal term for the state’s excuse was Bullimus Crapimus. After their flimsy excuses crumbled, the state’s lawyers quickly caved, handing over the reports, agreeing to promptly share future weekly dispatches and coughing up $7,500 to cover our newspaper’s legal fees. I know we live in an age of hyper-partisan tribalism where some people will defend any action perpetrated by a member of their own party. But for the handful of Republicans who still defend everything DeSantis does, try finishing this sentence: “I support the governor’s effort to hide public information because _______.” Or this one: “Giving $7,500 to Sentinel lawyers — instead of providing public information for free — was a smart financial move because _______.” If you can finish either of those sentences with a straight face, you should go into acting. Sentinel Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson said: “We are satisfied with the settlement and hope we don’t have to sue again for crucial public records regarding the pandemic or any other important public matter. Onward.” Not everything DeSantis has done with regard to the pandemic has been bad. In fact, some recent metrics suggest he is overseeing a perfectly average response. On vaccine distribution, for instance, the latest CDC numbers show that Florida has administered about 41% of the vaccines it has received — a rate that’s around the national average. We’re doing worse than Texas, Colorado and New Jersey; better than California, North Carolina and Georgia — about the same as the New York and Indiana. Our overall per capita death and case counts are also around average — though our numbers are now spiking more than elsewhere. Basically, if the CDC was handing out grades, DeSantis might earn a C ... one that’s trending in the wrong direction and where the governor was trying to hide the report card. And Floridians have noticed. Several months into the pandemic, one survey found that DeSantis was the only governor in the entire country whose approval ratings had gone down. Think about that. In almost every state in America, citizens saw their governors — Republicans and Democrats — trying their darnedest to fight the virus. And yet in one, they’ve seen a governor trying to fight to keep citizens from even hearing all the facts. That strategy isn’t just bad policy for the citizens, it’s also bad politics for DeSantis. Listen, I get that some people still like this governor’s red-meat take on issues and his fealty to Donald Trump. I know some cheered DeSantis’ efforts to deny Joe Biden a duly won presidency. I’m just not sure how anyone can also cheer his efforts to deny you access to information … and to waste your money doing so. I’m proud to work for an institution that had the guts and resources to fight for the public’s right to information. But it shouldn’t require that. Plus, not everyone has those resources. Unfortunately, DeSantis’ behavior in this case reflects a troubling trend. As the South Florida Sun Sentinel revealed in its investigative piece, “Secrecy and spin: How Florida’s governor misled the public on the COVID-19 pandemic,” the state’s county-level health officials were ordered last fall to stop issuing public statements about COVID-19 until after the Nov. 3 election. The state also withheld information about infections in schools, prisons, hospitals and nursing homes. And the governor’s former spokesman regularly took to Twitter to spread misinformation about the disease. None of these actions reflect an administration confident in own its actions.
So much for Floriduh's Sunshine Law (Open Meetings and Public Records). DeSanity continuously gives it a one finger salute.
The governor of a state with one of the worst vaccination rollouts -- with elderly people out in the cold in long lines overnight, clogged phone lines, and failed websites -- thinks that it is proper to criticize Biden's vaccination plan. "DeSantis for the win" -- in the vaccination idiot category. DeSantis criticizes Biden’s vaccine plan as ‘big mistake,’ ‘not necessary’ Biden wants to enlist FEMA to create vaccine clinics across the country. https://www.tampabay.com/news/healt...ns-vaccine-plan-as-big-mistake-not-necessary/ Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t impressed with President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to enlist the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help with the nation’s vaccine rollout. During a news conference in Cape Coral on Tuesday, DeSantis said Biden’s plan to use federal disaster agency and the National Guard to build COVID-19 vaccine clinics across the country would be a “big mistake.” “I saw some of this stuff Biden’s putting out, that he’s going to create these FEMA camps, I can tell you, that’s not necessary in Florida,” he said. “All we need is more vaccine. Just get us more vaccine.” “To try and reinvent the wheel at this point I think would be a big mistake,” DeSantis added. “The more bureaucracy that’s involved in this, the worse it’s going to be.” The comments were the first Florida’s governor has made about the incoming administration’s vaccine plans. Unlike President Donald Trump’s approach of letting states distribute the vaccines, which has been slower than expected at getting shots into arms, Biden said last week he would speed the process by enlisting federal help. “Our plan is going to focus on getting shots into arms, including by launching a fundamentally new approach, establishing thousands of federally run or federally supported community vaccination centers of various size located in places like high school gymnasiums and N.F.L. stadiums,” Mr. Biden said during an interview with WFXE-FM in Columbus, Ga., according to The New York Times. DeSantis, a Trump ally, has also faced intense criticism over the state’s slow and confusing vaccine rollout. But he dismissed Biden’s idea. “Just think about it: If you come in and tell FEMA to create some type of camp, how long is that going to take?” DeSantis said. “And then are you going to divert vaccines from my efforts here?” “I worry the more that they try to control the application of it, I think that’s going to be very problematic,” DeSantis added. “They should use their ability and authority to get more vaccine for folks.” DeSantis was originally asked whether he’d spoken with the Biden administration about the vaccine plan. DeSantis did not say. “I don’t have any read on it,” he said.
This is it:- DeSantis said. “And then are you going to divert vaccines from my efforts here?” How am I going to look good. What's in it for me? F the dying.
DeSantis can’t mask reality of new COVID-19 threat https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinio...0210119-lga4yvs6hzfkngvev4hzlenghy-story.html No wonder Gov. DeSantis didn’t want Floridians to know what’s in the weekly reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force. According to the newest report, the state is in a “full-blown COVID-19 resurgence.” Florida can expect “significant fatalities” from this third wave. The report recommends that Florida do lots more — soon — to protect residents. It took a lawsuit to force DeSantis to release the reports. You can see why. The latest advice reveals how much he is to blame for the third wave of cases. In late September, the governor issued an executive order that prohibited cities and counties from enforcing mask mandates. Imagine telling local governments they can’t order evacuations with a Category 4 hurricane approaching. You can trace Florida’s spike in cases to that date and thus to that decision. The per capita rate is now almost 25 percent higher than the previous high in July. To defend his hands-off response to the pandemic, DeSantis has tried to shift the debate. When cases have increased, he has talked about how hospitalizations and deaths haven’t risen. Now, however, DeSantis has no place to run. All the metrics are bad. On Thursday, Florida recorded 222 COVID-related deaths. That was the highest number since August, which for now remains the peak. On Friday, Palm Beach County had a record high in new cases. And here’s the metric that most undercuts DeSantis’ argument that Florida must go easy on restrictions to protect the economy. For the week of Jan. 9, jobless claims in the state tripled, to their highest level since August. Ten months into the pandemic, DeSantis still doesn’t understand that economic health depends on public health. Theme parks are taking admirable precautions, but people won’t pack them until the virus is under control. Cruise lines still have no timetable for sailing from domestic ports. So DeSantis prefers to talk about COVID-19 vaccines. He sounds like the arsonist trying to reassure people because the fire engines are on the way. Yes, the vaccines ultimately will end the pandemic — if enough people get them. Why, then, does DeSantis say he won’t encourage Floridians to get them? From the start, DeSantis has prized allegiance to President Trump over allegiance to Floridians. He is the only Republican governor of a large state not to issue a statewide mask mandate. It seems clear that, before the presidential election, the governor doctored the metrics to make the virus looks less threatening here. Trump won the state, which made the governor look good. But how’s that working out for the rest of us? Last week, Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz told a legislative committee that the White House allowed most of the state’s COVID-19 vaccines to go unused for weeks. “More people,” Moskowitz said, “are going to get sick and more people are going to die.” Even the Trump administration’s announcement that it would release more doses of vaccines was just a tease. All those vials will contain second doses. These deliveries won’t mean that more people are vaccinated. After noon on Wednesday, Donald Trump won’t be president. Perhaps DeSantis then will feel free enough to act on behalf of his constituents, not his political patron. He could start by being more forthright with information, including about vaccine distribution. According to the News Service of Florida, even top Florida Republicans are saying so. During a meeting of the Senate Health Policy Committee last week, Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, told Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees: “If there is an orderly process that is clear and communicated well, most people are patient — they will wait their turn and know that new supplies are coming. And I can wait my turn. But when there’s no information, and there’s no rhyme or reason who’s getting it, that’s the frustration.” Sen. Ben Albittron, R-Wauchula, asked Rivkees whether it’s “fair to say” that it would take 22 months to get shots into the arms of everyone who agreed to be vaccinated. Rivkees didn’t directly answer, the News Service reported. “When we’re looking at talking to people back home, being realistic with them matters. Because if not, they’re not going to believe us the next time,” Albritton saod. “A million doses a month, 22 million people, that’s a maximum of 22 months. And the hope is additional inflow reduces that timeline. Is that fair to say?” Again, Rivkees avoided answering the question. DeSantis shows up regularly at Publix supermarkets to promote the availability of the vaccine to seniors age 65 and over. On Tuesday alone, he visited stores in Jupiter, Cape Coral and Rockledge. The governor talks as if there are plenty of vaccines for everybody, but there’s not. Florida is losing this arms race badly. As of last week, the state had received 1.7 million doses of the vaccine and administered about 700,000 shots. About 61,000 people had received both required doses. Democrats in the state Senate on Tuesday voiced outrage at DeSantis’ rah-rah strategy of hyping the partnership with Publix supermarkets. “Smoke and mirrors,” said Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa. Equally important, DeSantis could rescind the September order and allow local governments to protect public health. This month, the Delray Beach City Commission sent such a request in a letter to the governor. Public health experts regularly criticize the mask-less crowds packed into nightspots on East Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. Unfortunately, the early signs are not good. When the legislative session begins in March, the priority will be cutting next year’s budget because of COVID-19-related revenue shortages. The state also should fix the unemployment benefits system that crashed last March. Apparently, though, DeSantis doesn’t intend to meet Florida’s moment. During a speech before a conservative crowd in Texas last week, he said his top legislative priority this year was to prevent the online censorship of conservatives. DeSantis wants Florida to punish social media companies for supposed anti-conservative bias, though the state doesn’t regulate those companies. He also wants to pass anti-rioting legislation aimed at those protesting racial bias in the criminal justice system and our nation’s history. DeSantis now says the legislation is aimed at the Capitol insurrectionists. If this is the governor trying to fend off a primary next year and/or auditioning for a 2024 presidential campaign, spare us. Florida already ranks just 25th in the rate of COVID-19 deaths because of DeSantis’ inaction. Every warning light — notably the one from the White House task force — is flashing red. So is DeSantis’ future. His approval rating dipped as his subservience to Trump rose. Now the president is leaving office with his own ratings below 30 percent. Encouraging an insurrection will do that. As noted, the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines will help. Herd immunity, though, remains far off. Until then, DeSantis still can take lifesaving measures. Stop hiding the truth from Floridians.
Couldn't possibly be where counties have large senior populations (which happens to coincide with large GOP voter base) right? Has to be your made up, tin foil hate (intentional) reasoning. You people are such griefers.
Could it be that large Democratic cities with large numbers of seniors struggling to get vaccinations were totally cut out and ignored. Yes... it certainly looks like. The selection of Publix locations looks like a gerrymandered election map. DeSantis is not only content to hide the COVID data, cost the state money in lawsuits, and have a terrible COVID vaccine rollout..... he has politicized the the vaccine rollout including having his GOP political allies moved to the front of the line. SAD!