Coronavirus ravaged Florida, as Ron DeSantis sidelined scientists and followed Trump

[pppolitics]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor's schedule. His health department has sidelined scientists, halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating.

"I never received information about what happened with my ideas or results," said Thomas Hladish, a University of Florida research scientist whose regular calls with the health department ended June 29. "But I did hear the governor say the models were wrong about everything."

DeSantis (R) this month traveled to Miami to hold a roundtable with South Florida mayors, whose region was struggling as a novel coronavirus hot spot. But the Republican mayor of Hialeah was shut out, weeks after saying the governor "hasn't done much" for a city disproportionately affected by the virus.

As the virus spread out of control in Florida, decision-making became increasingly shaped by politics and divorced from scientific evidence, according to interviews with 64 current and former state and administration officials, health administrators, epidemiologists, political operatives and hospital executives. The crisis in Florida, these observers say, has revealed the shortcomings of a response built on shifting metrics, influenced by a small group of advisers and tethered at every stage to the Trump administration, which has no unified plan for addressing the national health emergency but has pushed for states to reopen.

[...]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-ravaged-florida-as-ron-desantis-sidelined-scientists-and-followed-trump/2020/07/25/0b8008da-c648-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html

[brucejoel99]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

[Dereich]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

[KaiserDave]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Ooo

Tough but true

[brucejoel99]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Oh, we won't always get competency with a Floridian Democrat, but the chances of doing so are certainly WAYYYY f**king higher than getting it with a Floridian Republican.

[pppolitics]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

He does have a point.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Compared to the human dumpster fire that is Ron DeSantis?  Yeah, probably   Admittedly, that's more of an indictment of DeSantis' incompetence than anything else.

[Dereich]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Compared to the human dumpster fire that is Ron DeSantis?  Yeah, probably   Admittedly, that's more of an indictment of DeSantis' incompetence than anything else.

This, of course, is where it has to be brought up that the Democratic candidate who DeSantis  beat has since been forced to leave public life after being caught earlier this year on a crystal meth binge with a male escort. It has been an eventful 2020 for Florida politics.

[TrendsareUsuallyReal]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Compared to the human dumpster fire that is Ron DeSantis?  Yeah, probably   Admittedly, that's more of an indictment of DeSantis' incompetence than anything else.

This, of course, is where it has to be brought up that the Democratic candidate who DeSantis  beat has since been forced to leave public life after being caught earlier this year on a crystal meth binge with a male escort. It has been an eventful 2020 for Florida politics.

That’s irrelevant to the issue at hand of DeSantis’s own governance.

[Xing]

Pepperidge Farm remembers when DeSantis was "surprisingly reasonable", "one of the best Republican Governors", a lock for re-election in 2022, and presidential material.

[Del Tachi]

Pepperidge Farm remembers when DeSantis was "surprisingly reasonable", "one of the best Republican Governors", a lock for re-election in 2022, and presidential material.

All of these things are no more or less true than they were a year ago.  Politicos live and die by incredibly short news cycles.  Any governor's COVID-19 performance is not going to be driving the 2024 or 2028 election cycle.   

[Xing]

Pepperidge Farm remembers when DeSantis was "surprisingly reasonable", "one of the best Republican Governors", a lock for re-election in 2022, and presidential material.

All of these things are no more or less true than they were a year ago.  Politicos live and die by incredibly short news cycles.  Any governor's COVID-19 performance is not going to be driving the 2024 or 2028 election cycle.  

As much as Americans tend to have short attention spans, I don’t think his handling of COVID-19 is going to be easily forgotten like a typical scandal. I was simply pointing out that the praise people piled on him (including from Democrats) when he was a couple of months into his term was a bit premature.

[MARGINS6729]

Say what you want about the FDP but Florida Democrats in the Senate, House, and Congress are well liked no? On the state level the GOP has controlled everything for so long that you can't blame Democratic politicians for the state's failures can you?

[R.P. McM]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Absolutely not! But people get the government they deserve. Is a significant subset of the FL electorate capable of parsing a complex political issue? Are they capable of paying attention and deciphering the optimal outcome?
Is Brawndo what plants crave?! Probably not. Which shouldn't exactly come as a surprise !

I think it's generally accepted that the MN DFL is one of the most effective political parties in the nation. However, they have the luxury of appealing to people who actually read newspapers and follow current events. Until the political culture of FL changes, y'all will be stuck with an endless series of incompetent banana Republicans.

[brucejoel99]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Absolutely not! But people get the government they deserve. Is a significant subset of the FL electorate capable of parsing a complex political issue? Are they capable of paying attention and deciphering the optimal outcome? Probably not. Which shouldn't exactly come as a surprise !

I think it's generally accepted that the MN DFL is one of the most effective political parties in the nation. However, they have the luxury of appealing to people who actually read newspapers and follow current events. Until the political culture of FL changes, y'all will be stuck with an endless series of incompetent banana Republicans.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Say what you want about the FDP but Florida Democrats in the Senate, House, and Congress are well liked no? On the state level the GOP has controlled everything for so long that you can't blame Democratic politicians for the state's failures can you?

Their congressional delegation includes Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Alcee Hastings, and Donna Shalala. Not a good group there.

[brucejoel99]

Say what you want about the FDP but Florida Democrats in the Senate, House, and Congress are well liked no? On the state level the GOP has controlled everything for so long that you can't blame Democratic politicians for the state's failures can you?

Their congressional delegation includes Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Alcee Hastings, and Donna Shalala. Not a good group there.

Donna Shalala (& others in the delegation including Stephanie Murphy, Ted Deutch, Frederica Wilson, & Debbie Mucarsel-Powell) are all well-liked by their districts. Just because you don't think they're good doesn't mean they're not well-liked.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Compared to the human dumpster fire that is Ron DeSantis?  Yeah, probably   Admittedly, that's more of an indictment of DeSantis' incompetence than anything else.

This, of course, is where it has to be brought up that the Democratic candidate who DeSantis  beat has since been forced to leave public life after being caught earlier this year on a crystal meth binge with a male escort. It has been an eventful 2020 for Florida politics.

And yet his LG still would've handled COVID-19 far better than DeSantis.  So could a three month old wheel of cheese, for that matter.

[brucejoel99]

Fellow Floridians: stop voting for Republicans if we want a f**king competent government!

Because we should trust the Florida Democratic Party to bring competence?

Compared to the human dumpster fire that is Ron DeSantis?  Yeah, probably   Admittedly, that's more of an indictment of DeSantis' incompetence than anything else.

This, of course, is where it has to be brought up that the Democratic candidate who DeSantis  beat has since been forced to leave public life after being caught earlier this year on a crystal meth binge with a male escort. It has been an eventful 2020 for Florida politics.

And yet his LG still would've handled COVID-19 far better than DeSantis.  So could a three month old wheel of cheese, for that matter.

Yeah, this right here. Let's be real, everybody: if Gillum's meth problem had still happened in the event that he won (which is a big if, given he says his downward spiral started as a result of his loss), Chris King - & not Gillum - would be Governor right now.