You people need a new playbook. Attempting to tie Ron DeSantis to any indiscretion Gaetz has done could have been predicted by anyone who understands cretins like yourselves.
Little Ron is trying to back away from his BFF. Sorry Ron, you will not be able to crawl away from your close buddy so easily. GOP’s Ron DeSantis turns his back on embattled Matt Gaetz — who helped put him in office https://www.rawstory.com/matt-gaetz-ron-desantis/ The sex scandal swirling around Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) could soon put Gov. Ron DeSantis, who leaned heavily on the GOP lawmaker during his campaign, in a tough spot. The pair met when both were serving in Congress, and the 39-year-old Gaetz used his father's connections as a longtime state senator to help the relatively inexperienced DeSantis navigate the Florida political landscape as he weighed a gubernatorial run, and he went on to play a major role in that campaign and the early days of the administration, reported Politico. "Man, I can't tell you how much by the end of the election he was the campaign," said one former DeSantis adviser. "By the time we were in heavy general election mode, DeSantis was not doing anything without Gaetz being in on it." The governor's communications did not respond to requests for comment, and DeSantis has not made any comments about the Gaetz investigation. "I don't have anything to say about that," he has previously said about the case. Gaetz urged the governor to appoint several associates now caught up in the federal sex trafficking investigation, and he brought friend Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector who pleaded guilty this month in the case, for a visit to the campaign office in Orlando. "I obviously knew who Matt was, but I was like, 'who the f*ck is this guy?'" said one former DeSantis aide who was at the meeting. "It was the first time I saw him [Joel]. They were in like shorts and sunglasses, and just came in trying to give us advice and tell us what to do. It was very bizarre for like an hour or so." Gaetz continued to advise DeSantis after his November 2018 election win, and he helped the new governor pick his early staff and pushed to get appointments for friends now linked to the federal sex trafficking probe. "When they started the transition, the governor let Gaetz appoint the transition team," said one early DeSantis administration adviser. "He picked the transition chairs… they were all picked by Gaetz, and he worked hard, and to some degree of success, putting all his people he wanted in the administration." The lawmaker lobbied Orlando surgeon and GOP fundraiser Jason Pirozzolo, whose private plane was used in September 2018 for a Bahamas trip that included Gaetz and five woman, including one who was 17 at the time, to oversee the state Department of Health. "Gaetz stood on his head to make Jason surgeon general," said one DeSantis transition official. "He got a meeting. The governor didn't appoint him, but no way he's even in the room without Matt." Another plane used for that Bahamas trip belonged to former state Rep. Halsey Beshears, who Gaetz urged DeSantis to appoint to a post in his administration, and the governor ultimately tapped him to head the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. "Gaetz wanted him to be [Department of Environmental Protection] secretary and had him interview with [the Department of Environmental Protection] secretary," said a former DeSantis transition adviser. "It didn't work out, so he needed to find a place to get him in." The lawmaker eventually fell out of the governor's inner circle, which was pushed by DeSantis' former chief of staff Shane Strum. "Here is a good way to look at it: As Shane's power grew, Matt's diminished," said one current DeSantis adviser. "I don't think it was a personality conflict, it was more of a power conflict.
You always know when people have nothing when they go this route. You're an empty suit, GWB. Always have been. This is, of course, assuming you can afford a suit in the first place, which I doubt.
Stop hiding the numbers, Florida. Tell worried parents how many COVID cases are in our schools https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article251666193.html A South Florida dad wanted to know how many COVID cases were in his child’s school. But the state health department, which has tap-danced, downplayed and obfuscated its way through this pandemic, wouldn’t tell him. John Silver, a registered nurse in Broward County, was persistent. He asked his son’s school, the county health department, even the state health department’s inspector general. No one had answers for him. A state website contained only limited data and did not include some schools, including University School in Davie where his son is enrolled. Eventually, he filed a complaint with the Public Health Accreditation Board. Six months later, the result is nothing more than a “slap on the wrist” for the Florida Department of Health, along with this helpful suggestion: Florida’s health department should try to improve how it communicates healthcare data to the public — in this case, crucial information for parents gauging the risks of sending children back to school in person. Improve how it communicates? We can think of a lot better advice to offer a health department that routinely kept the public from seeing detailed information about the course and intensity of the pandemic. Funny how that information would often come out once trends had shifted to better match Gov. Ron DeSantis’ version of events. Since we’re doling out advice to the state health department, too, here’s a thought: How about arming parents with all the information they need to make good health choices for their children? How about the DOH acting like a partner rather than an obstacle? How about, for once in this terrible 14 months, putting public health above public relations? Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, called the action by the accreditation board “a slap on the wrist,” but he said he thinks the health department will pay attention to the rebuke. We’re not as optimistic. This is a state where we brag about being “wide open” for business, but neglect to mention that more than 37,000 people have died in Florida of COVID-19. Another 81 deaths were announced on Tuesday. Plus, we’ve been here before. At the outset of the pandemic last year, we implored the state — on behalf of those with loved ones in assisted-living facilities and nursing homes — to tell worried families the senior facilities where COVID had been found. Obviously, secrecy remains the DeSantis administration’s cruel MO.
Congratulations to you and the Miami herald in finding the one person who hates DeSantis and is still afraid of sending his kid to school. The rest of the state really doesn't give a shit.
I do have to laugh at DeSantis. Seeing that the cruise lines are requiring you to upload the departure paperwork prior the cruise -- including proof of vaccination -- to a website that is not located in Florida for cruise companies whose corporate legal structures are not incorporated in Florida. Nobody can see how DeSantis can possibly stop departures of cruises from Florida requiring proof of vaccination. CDC approves first cruise from Florida, but DeSantis may stand in the way The restart plans clash with a law recently passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature and promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars businesse from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. https://www.tampabay.com/news/flori...om-florida-but-desantis-may-stand-in-the-way/ Federal health officials have approved the first passenger cruise from the U.S. from Fort Lauderdale in June — but Florida’s governor insists he will block company plans to require passengers be vaccinated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wednesday gave Royal Caribbean Group approval to start seven-night cruises to the Caribbean on its Celebrity Cruises brand ship, Celebrity Edge, on June 26, according to an agency spokesperson. The ship is the first to win Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approval for revenue cruises since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The approval is a welcome milestone for the cruise industry, which has been paralyzed in the U.S. since March 2020 after COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths on several ships. “For the past 15 months our conversations with friends and loved ones about seeing the world have been accompanied by the phrase ‘someday.’ I’m beyond proud and excited to say that day has arrived,” said Celebrity Cruises CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo in a statement. The June 26 cruise will leave from Port Everglades and visit Mexico and The Bahamas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all cruise passengers be vaccinated, but doesn’t require it. The agency has given cruise companies two options: meet vaccination thresholds of 98 percent of crew and 95 percent of passengers on the ship and start revenue cruises immediately, or forego the thresholds and first perform test cruises to ensure COVID protocols are working. Cruise ships that meet the threshold will have more relaxed mask and social distancing rules. Celebrity Cruises spokesperson Susan Lomax said the company has opted to comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination threshold and will require all crew and passengers 16 years old and older to be vaccinated. The age requirement will drop to 12 years old on Aug. 1. The go-ahead for Celebrity Cruises follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s approval — also the first of its kind — of test cruises with volunteer passengers aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas ship from Port Miami in late June. Freedom of the Seas will require all crew and passengers 16 years old and older to be vaccinated, but will not meet the agency’s vaccination thresholds — meaning it must first perform test cruises before revenue cruises can begin. Royal Caribbean Group is the second largest cruise company in the world with three cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea. The restart plans clash with a law recently passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature and promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars businesses, schools and government entities across Florida from asking anyone to provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. Under the new law, which takes effect on July 1, businesses can be fined up to $5,000 per violation. The only exemption in the law is for licensed healthcare providers. “We’ve been very clear, the law is clear in Florida,” said Taryn Fenske, spokesperson for the governor. “You can’t mandate vaccine passports. We are interested to see how the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) works with them so that they don’t get these exorbitant fines.” Celebrity plans to restart its cruises days before the new law takes effect. Lomax said the logistics of its vaccine requirement are still being worked out. “We are working with the Governor’s office to align on the path forward,” she said via email. DeSantis sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month, asking a judge to force the agency to drop its cruise safety requirements and allow cruises to begin immediately. The judge instead sent the case to mediation, which begins Thursday. Wednesday’s approval signals long-sought relief for the cruise industry, which first began working with the CDC to restart cruises last October under a conditional sail order issued by the agency. Cruise companies had to enhance COVID-19 testing capabilities on their ships, report weekly crew test results to the agency and secure agreements with ports and local health authorities in the cities they plan to visit. PortMiami will welcome volunteer passengers on board Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas for a two-day test cruise on June 20. PortMiami also submitted an agreement to the CDC with Carnival Cruise Line that has not yet been approved.
Gov. Ron DeSantis: ‘Overwhelming’ Number of People Moving to Florida Registering As Republican Many people moving to Florida are registering as Republicans because lockdowns in blue states caused them to reevaluate being a Democrat, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Wednesday. “So it’s interesting with Florida, like, the media at the beginning of this said, ‘Florida is bad,’ and I think it’s because they wanted to damage Trump in Florida, wanted to damage me, so they just kept saying it was bad, even though the facts didn’t say it,” he said during a town hall event on Fox News Channel’s Hannity: edit.. I put the link to breitbart in after Tsing replied. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/...-moving-to-florida-registering-as-republican/