Another horror story from Florida — the land of COVID, DeSantis and his newly minted anti-vaccine, anti-mask, anti-science, anti-human Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.
A few days ago, Ladapo and his two legislative aides went to FL Sen. Tina Polsky’s office, where she repeatedly asked him to put on a mask, explaining to him that she has a serious medical condition. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and she is scheduled for radiation therapy treatment for cancer starting this week. He refused to do so.
From floridapolitics.com/… -
Polsky said there was a brief back-and-forth, and then she finally asked whether there was a reason he couldn’t wear a mask.
“He just smiles and doesn’t answer. He’s very smug,” Polsky recalled. “And I told him several times, `I have this very serious medical condition.’ And he said, ‘That’s OK,’ like it basically has nothing to do with what we are talking about.”
Eventually, Polsky said she asked Ladapo to leave her office, which he agreed to do, she said. But the Senator said before going, Ladapo remarked, “Sometimes I try to reason with unreasonable people for fun.”
Let all that sink in. The guy is an MD and is the state Surgeon General, even though he remains to be confirmed by the Senate. Whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath of first doing no harm? This sort of hatred and callous indifference to other people’s lives seems to be a badge of honor these days in the GOP.
The incident prompted a stern memo from Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican, to all members and Senate staff - where he sharply criticized Ladapo (without naming him) and ordered everyone to respect and follow the norms of the Senate. Will they block Ladapo’s confirmation? What do you think?
This is the difference between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats want to serve the people and save lives, no matter what their politics, while republicans care only about their own power and wealth and will even let their own supporters die.
Ladapo was hired by DeSantis for a reason — he is anti-vaccine, anti-mask and he is feeding his conspiracy based theories to the republican base. He is a believer in the “Great Barrington Declaration” which calls for the pandemic to be addressed with “Focused Protection,” which wants the government to focus only on the protection of the elderly and medically vulnerable and let the rest reach herd immunity via infection. DeSantis and his advisers are leaders of this cult movement.
From www.politico.com/… -
Ladapo’s appointment by DeSantis gives the Republican governor a health adviser who agrees with his approach to the pandemic. DeSantis staunchly opposes mandates on face masks — especially in schools — and had promoted the use of monoclonal antibody therapies in treating the virus while deemphasizing the need for vaccines. The GOP-controlled Florida Senate still needs to formally approve the 42-year-old Ladapo, but he is expected to be easily confirmed.
Covid Crank Ladapo -
Florida's new surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo during a press conference Thursday questioned the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, denounced all mandates in workplaces and argued people would face more health repercussions by losing their jobs because they refused to comply with requirements.... Ladapo invoked anecdotal examples and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories to argue against the vaccines, according to footage from WFLA, the NBC News station in Tampa.
Let’s make sure voters of all stripes hear about such stories. It is not just about Florida or DeSantis, this dangerous game is being played out across the country by republicans in their monstrous attempt to derail Biden’s presidency, to block the Democratic agenda and to win the next election, even if it ends up killing some of their own supporters.
This is the dystopian nightmare in our future if republicans win the House and/or Senate next year. This is what Virginia and NJ will turn into if our brothers and sisters in these states fail to vote next week. Let’s do all we can to help Democrats win these critical elections - volunteer, make calls, send postcards and donate what we can.
Further Reading
- Tina Polsky turns breast cancer diagnosis into advocacy — floridapolitics.com/…
- Surgeon General asked to leave Tina Polsky’s office after refusing to wear mask — floridapolitics.com/…
- Senate President blasts Florida Surgeon General for his ‘unprofessional’ actions — floridapolitics.com/…
- To Mask or not to Mask, why is that a Question, DeSantis? — www.dailykos.com/...