Ron DeSantis: Enemy of the People
February 1, 2022
Ron DeSantis: ‘We are right, and they are wrong.’
Ron DeSantis is a bully, and he has proved to be an awful Governor.
DeSantis thrives on political theatre, and he specializes in public events which use inflammatory tactics to rally a base of confused, uninformed and/or angry voters.
Since taking office in January 2019, DeSantis has:
- Signed a sweeping voter suppression bill into law, citing baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
- Proposed a special police force to oversee state elections — the first of its kind in our nation — intended to protect Florida from nonexistent threats.
- Opened pop-up COVID-19 vaccine sites in wealthy Florida neighborhoods where his donors live.
- Let nearly a million COVID-19 tests expire.
- Appointed a science and medical contrarian (Lodapo) as Florida’s Surgeon General.
- Occluded Florida COVID-19 data by firing DOH scientist (Jones), then sending armed tactical police to raid her personal residence.
- Actively promoted the use of monoclonal antibody treatments as an alternative to vaccine.
- Consistently refutes FDA guidance creating confusion and putting Florida residents at increased risk from COVID.
- Orchestrated a fundraising tour across America while the Delta variant sickened and killed Floridians.
- Signed laws restricting abortion access (2020).
- Supports an oppressive abortion bill (SB 146 and HB 5) like the one in Mississippi.
- Urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
- Refused to accept that climate change is an existential threat to our state.
- Failed to prepare Florida’s coastal communities for rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes.
- Ignored the “red tide” algae bloom that scares off tourists, risking the engine which supports 1.6 million jobs and contributes over $96.5 Billion to the Florida economy.
- Actively and aggressively created tension in our public education system resulting in a mass exodus of teachers and staff from Florida schools beginning in spring 2020.
- In 2021, he targeted eight large school districts for defying his order prohibiting schools from enforcing mask mandates, helping to create toxic conditions for school district superintendents. This led to highly politicized and public confrontations and an unusual exodus of qualified and experienced leadership.
This is Ron DeSantis. He currently is Public Enemy Number One in the State of Florida.
George Orwell was right.
January 30, 2022
If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.
The School Board in McMinn County, Tennessee recently announced a decision to ban author and creator Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus from their eighth-grade curriculum.
McMinn County, TN may be a poster child for the current divisiveness in America.
This rural county is home to just 54,000 residents and until very recently, was over 90% white.
As a whole, the State of Tennessee has been, and remains, predominantly Christian. About 81% of the population identifies as Christian, and 52% of Tennessee residents identify as Evangelical Protestants.
Plagued by the legacy of a mediocre public education system, poverty is rampant in McMinn County: Over 17% of residents live below the poverty line, including 24% of children (under 18) and 12% of seniors (65 and over).
The McMinn County School Board recent action helps to reinforce the notion that adults who themselves are products of a mediocre public education system are often incapable of making sound and fully informed decisions based on solid facts. Or, we might say that these folks have been deprived of critical thinking skills due to the inadequacy of their public school system.
Over the past decade, we have witnessed an alarming increase in public displays of frustration, rebellion and even violence among adults who are constrained by the toxic combination of extreme religious ideologies and vulnerability to unreliable or false sources for (mis)information.
George Orwell was correct, and only WE can prevent the vociferous minority from subsuming the will of the majority.
Fundamental Christianity in 2022
January 29, 2022
The Dangerous Intersection of Evangelical Christianity with White Supremacy
White supremacy sometimes manifests as colorism, a persistent issue within India, Latin America, Africa and nearly every community of color. When a mother tells her children not to play out in the sun because their skin will get too dark, she is reinforcing the myth of white supremacy by encouraging proximity to whiteness via lighter skin.
The most dangerous combination seems to occur at the intersection of Fundamental (Evangelical) Christianity and White Supremacism – the belief that Caucasians are superior to all other races.
Fundamental/Evangelical Christianity states that ‘only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation’.
White Supremacists adhere to the aberrant beliefs that (a) Whites must have dominance over people of other backgrounds, especially where they may co-exist; and (b) White people are genetically superior to other people.
In a 2019 nationwide survey, 86% of white evangelical Protestants and 70% of both white mainline Protestants and white Catholics said that the “Confederate flag is more a symbol of Southern pride than of racism”; nearly two-thirds of white Christians overall said that killings of African-American men by the police are isolated incidents rather than part of a broader pattern of mistreatment; and more than 60% of white Christians disagreed with the statement that “generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for blacks to work their way out of the lower class.”
The Southern Baptist Convention itself was organized prior to the Civil War in Georgia by Southern Baptists who were strongly opposed to the abolition of slavery. It delivered the invocation when Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederacy.
Today, the Southern Baptist Convention has a membership of over 16 Million, and is thought to be the second-largest Christian denomination in the U.S.
When I came of age in the late 1960’s in Buffalo, NY – a true northeast rustbelt city – we really didn’t have time for any of this nonsense, and I naively believed that our nation had progressed beyond the foolish notions of the Confederacy.
Four decades later, Donald Trump and his loyal following of ultra-conservative Evangelical Christian voters truly surprised and shocked me, and many others.
Robert Jones, a graduate of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, may have said it best when he stated that Trump inspired White Christians, “not despite, but through appeals to white supremacy,” attracting them not because of economics or morality, “but rather that he evoked powerful fears about the loss of White Christian dominance.”
You can deny if you like, but denial doesn’t change reality.
This is the year 2022, and there is no turning back.
We are competing in a 21st Century World Economy, and it is high time for those of us who don’t have time for all of this foolish nonsense to call the bluff of the revisionist Confederate Civil War re-enactors.
Here in the U.S., we need to move on; come together; find common ground; join hands; and work side by side to strengthen our technology and innovation capabilities and return to a leadership role by influencing international economic, scientific, trade, and security institutions.
Alternatively, we could continue to allow petty and insignificant micro-inequities to distract and divide us domestically, which will encourage other nations to move aggressively to assert leadership and shape the direction of global rules and institutions.
Update on Florida HB-5: Restricting Women’s Rights
January 22, 2022
The Florida bill which would severely impact the ability of women to make personal choices about their own reproductive health (known as HB5) passed its first House committee hearing on January 19, 2022, and it is now heading to new committees for further discussion. (The companion bill in the Florida Senate is SB-146). Among other things, the bill will place severe restrictions on women’s access to abortions in Florida.
Florida Representative Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) perhaps said it best, “This bill is terrible for all Floridians, particularly for those who are low-income, live in rural areas, or are people of color who have historically faced inequitable access to quality healthcare, or low-income people who cannot afford to travel out of state for a safe abortion. It is not the government’s place to interfere with one of the toughest decisions a person will ever make. That private decision is one of faith, healthcare, personal freedom, and protecting the emotional and physical future of women and their families. Tallahassee politicians should not be involved.”
Kudos to Rep. Driskell for speaking out clearly and eloquently on basic human rights.
Florida HB 5: Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality
January 18, 2022
HB 5 will be presented in the Florida House ‘Professions & Public Health Subcommittee’ on January 19, 2022.
This proposed bill has a very clever title.
The real purpose of the bill is to codify into Florida law, “A physician may not perform a termination of pregnancy if the physician determines the gestational age of the fetus is more than 15 weeks.”
HB 5 is a direct affront on the rights of all women to make personal decisions relative to their own lives.
Whenever arbitrary restrictions are imposed on open access to comprehensive reproductive health care services, the actual outcomes have disproportionate adverse economic impact — and direct deprivation of human rights — on young women; low-income women; and women of color.
These are socially and economically disadvantaged women, almost always members of a protected class.
The great majority of published public opinions opposing open and unrestricted access to comprehensive reproductive health care over the past 4 decades – including both contraception and abortion – center on personal ethical, moral or religious values.
Nationally, the loudest voices opposing open access to comprehensive reproductive health care services come from a small minority of predominantly college educated white evangelical Christians.
When people bring their personal religious beliefs or values into any public debate, they risk imposing illegal, unwanted or restrictive religious practices and beliefs on others who have been granted the Constitutional right to pursue their own – perhaps significantly different – beliefs.
I am aware of no rational person who considers abortion to be a primary means of family planning or birth control. Abortion is a last resort, a means to be employed only when all other options have failed.
I’m hopeful that you will reach a conclusion similar to mine on this Bill: Florida’s government should focus on supporting our residents and improving health care, not taking away their rights, especially rights that can materially impact their health, livelihoods, and futures.
I encourage you to join me in asking members of the Florida Legislature to carefully and objectively examine the broad implications of HB 5 prior to taking a position on the Bill.
Meet Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor
January 13, 2022
Ron is a native Floridian who worked his way through Yale University, where he was captain of the varsity baseball team, and he graduated with honors. He then graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he earned a commission in the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer. During his active-duty service, he was deployed to Iraq in support of various SEAL missions.
In simple words, his pedigree sounds impeccable.
Since his election to the office of Florida governor, Ron DeSantis has consistently engaged in political theatre by evoking confusion; separation; and division of the people of good will who call Florida home, apparently seeking immediate and durable personal political gratification.
Instead of taking a strategic leadership position to engage and protect the people of Florida based on factual scientific knowledge, he has issued a number of Executive Orders which are arbitrary, capricious and serve to support his personal campaign of rancid rhetoric and dangerous disinformation.
DeSantis married his wife Casey in 2010, and they are the parents of 3 young people: 2 daughters and one son, all under 7 years of age.
His Executive Order 2021-175 (which bars Florida school districts from instituting mask mandates in public schools) was an egregious example of misguided government overreach which may well prove to be a death warrant for many economically disadvantaged Florida students. Can you imagine how or why a father of 3 young children would reject protecting youngsters from potential airborne transmission of a lethal virus?
Now, in his “State of the State” address delivered on January 11, 2022, Gov. DeSantis had a simple message on COVID-19 to Floridians: “We were right,” he said, “and they were wrong”.
‘Florida was right to reopen the state early’, DeSantis said. ‘The federal government’s restrictions are wrong. Ideas such as critical race theory must be stamped out, and both China and the U.S. border with Mexico remain as serious threats to America’.
According to DeSantis, “Florida has become the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions.”
I reject his irresponsible behaviors, divisive rhetoric and his constant efforts to actively quash any debate on subjects where he has taken a stand.
I am proud to join millions of other Floridians who actively oppose his future political intentions and any and all attempts of Ron DeSantis to run for public office again.
A new look at the Republican Party
January 13, 2022
During my college years, I was introduced to the writings of Franz Kafka; that may help explain my rather bizarre sense of humor.
Fact-based Research?
August 8, 2019
When I was in school, there was zero tolerance for opinion-based research.
You either backed up your work with validated facts from reliable sources, or you didn’t pass the class.
In 1996, under extraordinary pressure from the NRA and other pro-gun rights factions, Congress essentially shut down support for CDC-supported-research into the causes of gun violence.
Why is this important?
The commonly accepted proactive method to solve difficult problems is known as “Root Cause Analysis”. It relies on a rigorous independent methodology to identify the Root Cause of an intractable situation; that is, zeroing in on the primary factor that is the foundational cause of the dilemma.
Removing the Root Cause of a problem prevents the problem from recurring. Removing a causal factor (one that may affect an event’s problematic outcome) certainly can improve an outcome, but it does not prevent its recurrence with certainty.
More than 2 decades after the Congressional ban on gun violence research, the paucity of research leaves some of our elected officials and media pundits to conjecture that ‘violent video games’, ‘mental illness and hatred’, ‘soft targets’ and plenty of other ingredients contribute toward increasing occurrences of domestic gun violence events.
A surprising number of elected officials have recently emerged, seemingly unable or unwilling to consider that access to military-style weapons could be the Root Cause of our gun violence problem.
Instead, we read or hear assertions that…‘racism, bigotry and white supremacy is the trigger. It’s not the gun’.
Research provides fact-based evidence.
There is no research which supports any notions that video games, mental illness or racism play a primary role in domestic gun violence incidents.
Despite the arbitrary Congressional moratorium on public funding toward the causes of gun violence, we have seen some compelling research from small private colleges and universities.
One research paper from an independent private college published in 2015 asserted that, “Men commit over 85% of all homicides, 91% of all same-sex homicides and 97% of all same-sex homicides in which the victim and killer aren’t related to each other.”
Many studies on human brain development have provided a rich array of data which strongly supports the fact that female brain development occurs at a more rapid pace than males of a similar age.
Specifically, the frontal cortex — the area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act — develops later in males than in females. The majority of research tells us that females tend to reach maturity toward the end of adolescence; where in males, the frontal cortex is still changing and maturing well into adulthood.
If we know that:
(1) Over 85% of U.S. homicides are committed by males;
(2) Significant scientific research supports the theory that male brain development is delayed to early adulthood;
(3) The vast majority of mass homicides in the U.S. over the past decade have been committed by American males under 30 using a military-style assault weapon with high-capacity magazine(s);
Lacking any specific research, what should we do right now to put a halt to these massacres?
Institute an immediate ban on the production, sale or civilian possession of military-style assault weapons, military-style ammunition and high-capacity magazines in the U.S.
AR-15 (AK-47, and similar weapons) have no place in a civil society, except perhaps for military and limited law enforcement use.
Removing assault weapons from civilian access on a temporary – say 5 year time-frame – will provide a window of opportunity to conduct meaningful contemporary research.
Is there a precedent to this “call to action” at the federal level?
Yes, there is. The Public Safety Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (1994) prohibited the manufacture, transfer, or possession of “semiautomatic assault weapons” as well as “large capacity ammunition feeding devices” — defined as “any magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device” which had “the capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition”.
That legislation passed in September 1994 with a sunset provision for the assault weapon ban section. The law expired on September 13, 2004, and nothing has occurred at the federal level over the past 15 years to reign in the proliferation of civilian ownership of assault weapons, military grade ammunition and high capacity magazines.
===========================================================================
As a nation, we have everything to lose – and nothing to gain – by refusing to face the facts we have at hand, and to engage in proper research to help guide our future policy.
Another American Massacre?
August 3, 2019
Today’s massacre in El Paso contains some common elements to dozens of similar occurrences.
Who are these killers?
The statistics tell us that they are most likely to be U.S. born while males, generally under 30 years of age.
A number of studies have shown that the male brain reaches maturity significantly later than females. The key brain region believed to be primarily responsible for reasoning and helping us to ‘think before we act’ is the pre-frontal cortex, which develops later in males, and is generally still changing and maturing well into adulthood.
What sort of weapons do these mass killers prefer?
Military-style assault weapons with high-capacity magazines.
What should we do right now to put a halt to these massacres?
Institute an immediate ban on the production, sale or civilian possession of military-style assault weapons in the U.S.
AR-15 (AK-47 and similar weapons) have no place in a civil society, except perhaps for military and limited law enforcement use.
Is there a precedent to this “call to action” at the federal level?
Yes, there is. The Public Safety Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (1994) prohibited the manufacture, transfer, or possession of “semiautomatic assault weapons” as well as “large capacity ammunition feeding devices” — defined as “any magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device” which had “the capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition”.
That legislation passed in September 1994 with a sunset provision for the assault weapon ban section. The law expired on September 13, 2004, and nothing has occurred at the federal level over the past 15 years to reign in the proliferation of civilian ownership of assault weapons, military grade ammunition and high capacity magazines.
I refuse to stand by and wait for someone to go hunting with an AR-15 at the school which my grandchildren attend, at the mall where my family shops, or at the house of worship in my neighborhood.
Please join me: Step up and demand common sense gun regulations from your elected officials.
Now!
An Economic Genius: Part 2
August 1, 2019
A few weeks ago, I shared some thoughts about our current President and his economic credentials.
Donald John Trump was one of 366 student members of the class of 1968 who was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.
Other than his bachelor’s degree and some experience working in the family real estate business, there is no evidence that Mr. Trump has pursued additional education, credentials or capabilities in the field of economics.
Trump’s paucity of bona fides in the world of economic theory and practice has not deterred him from taking an active role in testing new economic theories and concepts.
Below, I introduce a new chapter in my observations on Donald Trump’s economic strategy:
…………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
July 31, 2019 (Wednesday): Federal Reserve Chairman Powell reluctantly announced a 25bp cut in the federal funds rate, the first rate cut in over a decade (December 2008). In his announcement, Chairman Powell cited, “implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as muted inflation pressures”. The Fed also referenced an apparent global economic slowdown; uncertainty around U.S.-China trade negotiations; and ‘stubbornly low inflation’.
August 1, 2019 (Thursday): Donald Trump announced (in a series of tweets) that the U.S. would impose a new 10 percent tariff on certain goods from China beginning on September 1, 2019, following the news that trade talks with the China have failed to make sufficient progress.
These new tariffs will apply to the $300 Billion of Chinese goods which had not before faced a tariff. Another $250 Billion of Chinese goods will continue to be tariffed at a 25 percent rate.
This abrupt and unusual move roiled the equity markets, creating a major sell-off.
Since late 2018, the U.S. economy has been showing signs of slowing — bond markets are flaccid; GDP has slowed; new home sales are generally flat; and business investment is anemic, at best.
Virtually every main-stream economist agrees that Trump’s trade war is contributing to the domestic economic malaise, although it’s too early to determine by how much, and if the damage is permanent.
The Fed rate cut on Wednesday was accompanied by a caveat that one purpose was to help create a barrier to prevent Trump’s trade wars from toppling our domestic economy.
Thursday’s surprise announcement by Trump reveals a new, arbitrary, capricious and unilateral decision by the White House which will result in higher taxes to Americans on imports; and further expand uncertainty for businesses which need significant time to manage their supply chains.
The agricultural sector in the U.S. – farms and ancillary industries, suppliers, manufacturers, etc – are already fighting the unexpected impacts of climate and weather on production. Then, they were handed a potential death sentence by a White House which is guided not by strategy and planning, but by impetuous and arbitrary policy changes driven by Trump’s narcissistic compulsions.
If Trump’s Trade War battle plans were conceived within a coordinated environment (i.e. in concert with the Fed and the Congress) perhaps we would be able to see a pathway toward successful outcomes.
Trump is consistent in his bravado that he – and he alone – has the vision, wisdom and solutions to create equilibrium in the trade accounts between the U.S. and China.
According to a BBC analysis from May 2019, “Trump’s decision to take on China could lead to adverse effects for consumers in the US and in China, but also worldwide. An economic showdown between the world’s biggest economies doesn’t look good for anyone.”
Article I of the US Constitution vests the power to set tariffs in Congress, thus Congress has the power to stop this President from continuing his arbitrary and impetuous trade war. The question remains: Will elected officials in Congress wake up, do their job and use that power, or will they continue to abdicate legislative responsibilities to this President?
walrus51 