Florida! World’s Hottest Spot!

Guests wear masks as required to attend the official reopening day of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Saturday, July 11, 2020. Disney reopened two Florida parks, the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, Saturday, with limited capacity and safety protocols in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

It wasn’t that long ago folks that our Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis was bragging how everything that the experts had predicted for Florida didn’t happen.  We were not New York or any of the other states battered by the Corona virus.

He was all over television with the “I’m not criticizing those other states but the experts were wrong,”  Yadayadayada.

When he made those speeches Florida was mostly under lockdown. After the video of thousands of young spring-breakers partying on the local beaches just about everything was shut down.  And indeed we had a period where Florida was looking pretty good compared to the north-east, mid-west and Pacific coast.

Then our Governor got his photo op with the Great Leader, which probably included a lecture on the importance of re-opening the economy and decided to re-pen just about everything – bars, restaurants, hair salons, gyms, yoga classes.

So this weekend just about everything is back in business.  Driving around this morning to do my shopping I didn’t see anything closed.   And it seemed that the only people wearing masks were old cranks like me pushing 80 or better.  Some local governments have mandated masks but there is no state wide requirement.

And so now we have a group of anti-mask “activists.”  What fools.  Where is karma when you need her?

Florida reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours on Sunday, as the Trump administration renewed its push for schools to reopen and anti-mask protests were planned in Florida, Michigan and Missouri.

If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases in a single day behind the United States, Brazil and India, according to a Reuters analysis.

Florida’s daily increases in cases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country  during the height of the pandemic there. It has also broken New York state’s record of 12,847 new cases on April 10 when it was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Nice going Ron.  Our public schools are scheduled to re-open in August.  We shall see.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said on Sunday that her department did not have its own safe reopening plans to promote, and each school district and state must devise their own plans based on their local coronavirus infection rates.  Everyone is on their own.  She really don’t give a shit about your kids or you.

Our latest record rise was reported a day after Walt Disney World in Orlando reopened with a limited number of guests who were welcomed with a host of safety measures, including mandatory masks and temperature checks.

Anti-mask activists in several states, including Florida and Michigan, have organized protests against local mandates, arguing that the measures infringe upon individual freedom.  Sheesh.

Health officials have pleaded with the public to wear masks to limit the spread of the virus, but the issue has become politically divisive in the United States unlike many other countries that have seen far lower rates of infection and death.  Thank you Mr. President.

Anti-mask activists organized a protest on Saturday at a grilled cheese  “restaurant” and bar in Windermere, Florida, which is in Orange County about 12 miles (19 km) from Walt Disney World.

For those from distant lands, some bars started a food service as a way to stay open as a restaurant when bars were closed. This one decided on a “menu” of grilled cheese sandwiches.  Its really a bar.

The restaurant, 33 & Melt, has become a focal point of tension after owner Carrie Hudson said she was not requiring customers to wear masks. County officials have mandated the use of masks in public since June 20.

During Saturday’s protest, no customers wore face coverings inside the restaurant. Agents from the state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco arrived during the rally and served Hudson with a warning, according to a video.

“This is a virus that is very well contained,” said one of the demonstrators, anti-mask activist Tara Hill. “Everyone is responsible for their own health care decisions … We want our choices respected as well.”

Where are the Gods in the face of such hubris?

Hundreds were expected to attend a demonstration at the Michigan state capitol on Sunday afternoon, according to a Facebook event, to protest against Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s order that everyone must wear a mask in public, except when outdoors and able to maintain social distance.

Protesters were also planning to gather outside city hall in Springfield, Missouri on Monday, where the city council was due to vote on a mask mandate in response to rising cases and a more than fourfold increase in Greene County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations in the last month.

So while the rest of the world recovers, the world’s “only super power” and “leader of the free world” thrashes about over the assault on individual liberty of wearing a mask.

When did Americans get so stupid?

If you had any doubt as to whether or not the Great Leader really gives a rat’s ass about you, then please get out more and wise up.

Your life, young or old, is expendable if it helps him get re-elected.

.

.