Florida's COVID Explosion Should Finish Off Ron DeSantis' Miserable Career

With barely half the House Republicans having been vaccinated, the House physician told Pelosi to reinstate a mask mandate for anyone on the floor. Several radicals, led by Marjorie Traitor Greene (Q-GA) immediately rushed to the floor without masks, including Lauren Boebert (Q-CO), Mary Miller (Q-IL), Matt Gaetz (Rapist-FL), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Chip Roy (R-TX), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Carol Miller (R-WV), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Bob Good (R-VA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Andrew "Tourists" Clyde (R-GA), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Blake Moore (R-UT) and Burgess Owens (R-UT).

One of the anti-mask nuts, Chip Roy then tried shutting down business by demanding a motion to adjourn. It failed with several Republicans joining all the Democrats to put an end to the childish game-playing. "Consider resentment being magnified right here on floor of the House of Representatives," said Roy. "We are absolutely sick and tired of it and so are the American people. This institution is a sham! And we should adjourn and shut this place down."

Pretend "moderates" like John Katko (R-NY), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Maria Salazar (R-FL), Young Kim (R-CA), Tom Reed (R-NY), Mike Garcia (R-CA), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and the newly radicalized Elise Stefanik (R-NY) voted right along with McCarthy and the death cult extremists. Pelosi noted to a reporter who asked her about McCarthy, "he's such a moron."

And speaking of morons, one of the ones bragging on TV how he didn't get vaccinated, Byron Donalds (R-FL) was conspicuously walking around without a mask, even getting onto elevators with normal people.

The fine for these assholes refusing to wear a mask is $500-- docked from their pay-- and $2,500 for subsequent instances of noncompliance. Among those already fined $500 and who will have to pay $2,500 for yesterday's stunt were Greene, Massie and Van Duyne.

Yesterday, not a single Republican senator was wearing a mask. At least all but 4 of them are double vaccinated. Yesterday, the U.S. was once again in the #1 position worldwide for daily new cases-- with 10 countries over 20,000 one-day cases:

• USA- 74,296 new cases (107,159 cases per million residents)

• Brazil- 48,443 new cases (92,435 cases per million residents)

• Indonesia- 47,791 new cases (11,886 cases per million residents)

• India- 43,211 new cases (22,607 cases per million residents)

• Iran- 33,817 new cases (44,538 cases per million residents)

• France- 27,934 new cases (92,530 cases per million residents)

• UK- 27,734 new cases (84,534 cases per million residents)

• Spain- 27,149 new cases (93,975 cases per million residents)

• Russia- 22,420 new cases (42,433 cases per million residents)

• Turkey- 22,291 new cases (66,353 cases per million residents)

In the U.S., Florida is a disaster zone-- once again, as every day for months, the worst state-- 16,038 new cases yesterday and 92 new deaths. A couple of days ago Politico reporter Matt Dixon wrote that the crisis in Florida has wedged Gov. Ron DeSantis-- whose policies and political ambition have caused the catastrophe-- "between two competing forces: public health experts who urge him to do more and anti-vaxxers who want him to do less."

The Republican governor has come under attack from the medical community and Democrats as the Delta strain of Covid-19 sweeps through Florida, turning it into a national coronavirus hotspot. The state recorded more than 73,000 infections last week-- four times as many as the start of July-- leading to overcrowded hospitals and more than 300 deaths in the most recent seven-day period. Florida is now home to one in five new cases of Covid-19 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But as DeSantis encourages vaccinations-- he said “vaccines are saving lives”-- he is facing a backlash from the anti-vaccination wing of his political base. It’s the same group that praised him and helped thrust him onto the national stage for his hands-off approach to the virus. DeSantis, with 2024 presidential ambitions, has to walk the line between keeping his conservative base satisfied and keeping his state from becoming more of a disease hot spot.

“Don’t let political correctness get in the way of health choices,” former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said recently of DeSantis’ comments, speaking on “The Right Side with Doug Billings,” a conservative radio host and podcaster.

Another conservative radio host, Stew Peters, last week called DeSantis a “sellout” and suggested the governor was taking bribes, though didn’t specify from whom.

As infections and hospitalizations surge in Florida, DeSantis has largely encouraged vaccinations while still rejecting restoring any Covid-related lockdowns or mask mandates. He remains one of the most vocal voices pushing for schools to do in-person learning, and successfully pushed to prohibit local governments from instituting pandemic regulations.

DeSantis has gone to war with local governments and businesses that have tried to protect people-- although not top campaign contributor Disney who he allows to do whatever they want and is likely the source of the "bribes" Peters mentioned. His boneheaded approach has made him a hero to the GOP Death Cult but a thoroughly reviled figure among the normal Americans who have heard of him.