Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Gov. Ron DeSantis Defies the Media and the Federal Government
Republican governors all over the country are taking care of their states regarding Covid-19 to mixed reviews. At least most of them aren’t crippling their economies or insisting on lockdowns. I can’t help bragging about Florida’s governor, however, because he does whatever he thinks is necessary—and he’s faced an irate CDC and has been denounced by the media.
Let me tell you about Ron DeSantis. While Gov. Andrew Cuomo was signing the death warrants for hundreds of senior citizens in New York when he sent them into nursing homes, Ron DeSantis protected the nursing homes until it was clear that residents could safely be visited. He has also defied the recommendations of Dr. Anthony Fauci, knowing that the good doctor wasn’t using the science at all, nor good sense, but was making political decisions. Most recently DeSantis was chastised for two decisions: the first was deciding to prioritize vaccines for the elderly. According to Peacock Network, this was clearly a political decision. I guess targeting the most vulnerable group is considered high politics.
A second decision was criticized when the governor set up “pop-up” vaccination centers in Manatee County for a community of elderly residents. (We had a similar vaccination center set-up in our 55+ community, and vaccinations were limited to those 65+.) He was criticized for ignoring federal guidelines and decided to offer vaccinations to the most vulnerable. I guess the critics believed that old people were more likely to vote Republican.
But my favorite story, which you probably haven’t seen in the mainstream media, happened in a farming community:
In early February DeSantis teamed with former NFL star Anquan Boldin to distribute vaccines in Boldin’s hometown of Pahokee, an impoverished farming community on the shore of Lake Okeechobee. More than 60 percent of Pahokee’s population is black, according to U.S. Census reports. Because the city is about 30 miles from the nearest Publix grocery store – one of the state’s primary vaccination distributors – most of the area’s seniors had little access to the vaccine, according to a report by The Palm Beach Post.
According to The Post, DeSantis was contacted about Pahokee by the state’s lottery secretary, John Davis, another former Pahokee football standout who had been talking with Boldin.
‘John came to me and said, ‘Is there any way we can make it happen?’ DeSantis said, according to The Post. ‘I’m like, ‘We need to make it happen.’
Gov. Ron DeSantis learned his lessons when he was a representative in Washington, DC. He has a clear understanding about the DC bureaucracy, and how they can try to push their power. And he doesn’t care. He’s trusted that his success in using good judgment and common sense in deciding next steps with Covid-19 would show his insight into what mattered to the people in Florida: successful policies that worked. He hasn’t ridiculed Washington in spite of their confusion and ineptness, but simply focused on the state and our needs here. He has let the wisdom of his actions speak for themselves.
And today, DeSantis announced that additional vaccines to be brought in by FEMA would be used to vaccinate teachers, cops, and firefighters over 50. Surely someone will protest that decision.
Governors (at least Republican leaders) should take note that acting according to the Constitution, which states that these kinds of decisions should be made at the state level (as Donald Trump stated) will benefit their stakeholders, the citizens of the states, if they will only free themselves from their fear of the federal bureaucracy and remember who their constituents are. DeSantis has been called one of the most popular governors in the country:
DeSantis now sits as one of the most popular governors in the country, enjoying a 58 percent approval rating, according to Morning Consult.
Another survey from GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio reported by Politico shows DeSantis as the most popular Republican in Florida, beating the state’s Republican senators in a hypothetical presidential primary match-up with 62 percent compared to 12 percent for Sen. Marco Rubio and 10 percent for Sen. Rick Scott.
We need to see this level of political courage from all our Republican leaders, and soon.
With his courage and defiance, I hope DeSantis will consider running for the Presidency in 2024.
Published in Domestic Policy
And to think Florida could have had Governor “meth in my room”.
Yeah, and that was a close call!!
I believe he was a Rep, not a Senator. But whatever, he’s done a heckuva job.
Thanks, @oldphil! I will fix it forthwith!
Ron DeSantis is the honey badger of US governors.
I hope he is our next President. I think he really does know how to drain the swamp.
He’s #1 on my list for 2024 GOP Presidential nominee.
It’s not just the Covid, he’s advocated for further election reforms and thrown some chaff at Big Tech, fired that Sherriff from the Parkland shooting.
He’s shows real courage, leadership and common sense.
I’m expecting big things from him.
And that’s why the left and the press (but I repeat myself) are throwing everything they can come up with at him.
Some of their attacks are so lame that I think people see through them. He just lets it go.
These days the best response is often to ignore them or just laugh.
2024.
De Santis have Iron Balls and he seems to be really good at picking the right people. He should run for President.
It looks like he can be tough when he needs to be, and charming when that is called for. It’s called versatility.
Ron DeSantis/Nikki Haley is my choice ticket for 2024 (if the Republic lasts that long).
I mentioned in my post that other Republican governors have had mixed results. I saw Gov. Jim Justice from West Virginia on Fox News and he’s done a great job on vaccine distribution. Then Bret Baer asked him about the Covid package in Congress, and he said they should pass it; after all the bill shouldn’t be stalled if the amount is only a little over what it should be.
Excuse me??
Roughly translating “DeSantis” from Latin or a Romance language, I think it means “the saint”!
Right now DeSantis is my pick for 2024. He seems like Trump with manners. ;) Of course it’s early now. I can see others.
Dr. Fauci, 1/21/20:
“Obviously, you need to take it seriously and do the kinds of things that the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security are doing, but this is not a major threat for the people of the United States, and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.”
Dr. Fauci on 60 minutes, 3/8/20:
Question: “There’s a lot of confusion around people and misinformation surrounding face masks. Can you discuss that, Dr. Fauci?”
Dr. Fauci: The masks are important for someone who’s infected to prevent them from infecting someone else. Right now in the United States, people should not be walking around with masks.
Question: You’re sure of it? ‘Cause people are listening really closely to this.
Dr. Fauci: There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet. But it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And often there are unintended consequences. People keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face.
Okay, all together now:
Good article. Folks should not get behind a DeSantis Presidency or anyone else, yet. It’s early, let’s make sure we spend the next two to three years preparing to avoid the certainty of wide spread fraud that will prevent any Republican from becoming President. That threat is huge and we must do whatever can be done to prevent it.
I agree. I just want people to know what he is doing, and the possibilities for dealing with Covid, in spite of the resisting forces. No excuses. No blaming Trump.
I wonder how many never-Trumpers will now become never-DeSantisers just because he’s “like Trump” . . .
Bite your tongue!
Jonah was giving DeSantis grief on Twitter recently because of a campaign ad that spoke well of Trump. I need to stop listening to anything Jonah says. He’s broken beyond repair it seems.
I caught DeSantis on local TV this morning, and among many other steps, he’s optimistic that if the current delivery level of vaccines continues, he’ll be authorizing vaccines to other than us old folks by March. You go, Ron!
As I understand, the reason for NeverTrump was not issues so much but Trump’s manners. I think they can get behind DeSantis.
I dumped Jonah even before Trump came along.
This tells me never-Trumpers are not really issue oriented because logically they should never support a candidate with equally bad manners (Biden) but whose policies are anathema to them . . .
They’re not. They preferred letting Hillary get elected to Trump.
I hope you’re right.
Again, that makes me question the sincerity of their vaunted “principles” . . .
Ron DeSantis opened CPAC this morning; you can here his entire speech here. At the end, I loved what he had to say to Republicans:
“Hold the line, stand your ground, and don’t ever, ever back down.”