Just say no to the Delta Variant. Don’t be fools like Darwin Award nominees, the sub-gub-Govs Tate Reeves, DingBel Edwards & DeathSentence, aka DeathSatan. Magical thinking, fasting & prayers, or witholding paychecks for wearing masks won’t help. The ICU hospital beds are fast filling up in the South—the red states are all Code Blue, with Florida leading at the helm. Wear your mask indoors for all our sakes. Because, science. Don’t wait for herd immunity—not gonna happen in our lifetime.
As Florida becomes the epicenter of the nation’s death delta surge, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had some sage advice for his constituents: Just deal with it. Literally.
"We are seeing people testing positive in higher numbers than I think most people anticipated," DeSantis admitted Thursday in Jacksonville while visiting a facility that will soon be offering monoclonal antibody treatments for people infected with COVID-19.
Explaining that the delta variant is "airborne," DeSantis offered simply, "We just have to understand when that's happening, these waves are something you just have to deal with.”
Sorry folks, we’re sitting ducks here. That was the message from DeSantis, as if getting vaccinated and masking up—the two most highly effective preventative measures—weren't worth a mention. Florida is now ground zero for runaway COVID-19 infection rates and, thanks to DeSantis, a case study in how an elected official can doom a state to a worst-case scenario. Via executive order, DeSantis has deliberately tied the hands of local officials and educators to mandate anti mask-wearing. He has also failed to make a high-profile vaccination push, though he has also admitted vaccines are saving lives. In a briefing, he said,
“In the past week, Florida has had more Covid cases than all 30 states with the lowest case rates combined," said Zients, "And Florida and Texas alone have accounted for nearly 40% of new hospitalizations across the country.” —Daily Kos
But DeSantis' most depraved move by far has been to leave children who can't get vaccinated 100% defenseless against infection as they return to school by prohibiting universal in-school mask mandates. Concurrently, delta is landing more kids and sicker kids in ICUs than at any time during the pandemic.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it clear that, when it comes to COVID-19, he has one priority: Punishing anyone who gets in the way of spreading the virus. In particular, DeSantis has focused on making sure that school children and teachers are as exposed as possible by both mandating that schools have to hold in-person classes and declaring that schools cannot implement either mask mandates or vaccine requirements. In order to drive home his pro-virus policies home, DeSantis has threatened both the funding for school districts and the pay checks of school board members or school administrators who vote to protect their students.
These actions had already earned DeSantis some direct criticism from President Joe Biden. As WTSP in Tampa reported earlier this week, Biden said, “...It's clear to me and to most of the medical experts that the decisions being made – like not allowing mask mandates in school and the like – are bad health policy.” In response, DeSantis sneered about “media hysteria” and said that Biden was “obsessed with Florida.” Then DeSantis went right on threatening school districts and making it clear he was serious when it came to punishments.
But on Friday evening, Biden fired back in a way that shows serious support for districts already defying DeSantis, and could provide a much needed backbone injection for those afraid of the governor’s efforts to defund the schools. A letter from Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, sent directly to DeSantis, makes it clear: If he tries to cut funds to schools that institute mask mandates, Biden will send them federal funds.
Saying that “safe return to in-person instruction requires that school districts be able to protect the health and safety of students and educators,” the letter from Sec. Cardona expresses that he is “deeply concerned about Florida’s July 30 Executive Order prohibiting school districts from adopting universal masking policies.” —Daily Kos
Apparently full-on death is preferable to wearing a mask according to John Jacob, an Indiana state representative from hell.
Funny, how my grandmother lived through the Spanish flu because she wore a mask, her loved ones survived as well because they also wore masks, and I’m pretty sure no one had mask anxiety after the Spanish Flu was over, they were just glad to be alive.
May his purgatory be haunted by those who have died under his watch. Especially the constituents of children he has invoked this upon. I don’t think purgatory is going to let him in—not without a mask.
Wear a mask!
