At some point, I believe someone will calculate the number of Floridians who died unnecessarily from COVID-19 specifically due to the misguided and ego-dominated policies of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
These policies ranged from fighting cruise ship companies requiring proof of vaccination from passengers to reopening schools without mask and vaccine mandates. DeSantis even manipulated testing and vaccination centers for political payback by ordering the closure of centers on Miami Beach because Mayor Dan Gelber was a vocal critic of the governor’s COVID policies.
DeSantis is now rejecting $350 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding meant to fight climate change by providing monies to replace old appliances with newer, more efficient ones that will save Floridians money and help reduce emissions, thereby reducing global warming. Because our idiot-in-chief is a climate change denier, he is rejecting the funding. This means untold thousands of Floridians – not to mention humankind – won’t benefit.
As the world heats up, the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico are getting hotter, which means we face more powerful and more frequent hurricanes. Florida should be leading the charge in fighting global warming, but instead we are adopting the Republican position of not even mentioning the phrase “climate change,” as if that will make the problem disappear. This idiocy means we’re helping to destroy ourselves.
Now we face the aftermath of a hurricane in northern Florida. Most states devastated by a natural disaster welcome the arrival of the president. Politics is normally thrown aside in times of these types of crises, because ultimately Americans of every race, color, religion and political party are indiscriminately hurt by a natural disaster, whether it’s fires in Hawaii, mudslides in California, flooding in Vermont and yes, hurricanes in Florida.
In years past, when a president visited the site of a natural disaster, local political leaders met with him to tell the head of the U.S. government – the leader of our country – what critical resources they needed to help citizens devastated by the loss of loved ones, homes and livelihoods. A firsthand view of a disaster site gives the president valuable insight while meeting with local leaders to marshal federal resources that address a community’s needs for recovery.
Enter our state’s idiot-in-chief, DeSantis, who pointedly dissed Biden over Labor Day weekend when thousands of Floridians were in need. The explanation he gave is that a presidential visit takes away from first responders who must clear streets for the president’s security. So, for the first time in modern history, a governor did not welcome their president.
Reginald J. Clyne, Esq.
How did past presidents manage to visit disaster sites without a problem? How many presidents have visited disaster sites with no ill effect on residents? Why is it that this governor couldn’t make time for a presidential visit? Even Republicans know this is a bull---- excuse, and it didn’t prevent Sen. Rick Scott from meeting with Biden in Suwannee County Sept. 2 in our governor’s absence. It was good to see one Republican politician put away party politics.
The real issue is that DeSantis didn’t want a photo taken of him next to Biden, as this might crush his increasingly pie-in-the-sky dream of becoming president. It was a stupid and shallow reason to disrespect the president, who can place the vast resources of the U.S. government at the disposal of Floridians when we need them most.
Biden, on the other hand, rose above the disrespect and pledged to provide the support this state needs, including pushing for more funding from FEMA.
DeSantis should go back on the campaign trail so he doesn’t harm Floridians hit by Hurricane Idalia any further. Spending his time eating corn dogs in Iowa and trying to project a compassionate personality (spoiler: he fails time and time again) would be a lot safer for Floridians than having him actually run our state government.
Reginald J. Clyne is a Miami trial lawyer who has practiced in some of the largest law firms in the United States. He has been in practice since 1987 and tries cases in both state and federal courts. Clyne has lived in Africa, Brazil, Honduras and Nicaragua.