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Top Three Takeaways – August 30th, 2021
- The eye of the storm. From the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ida, which not only made landfall with top winds exceeding 150 mph, but also at high tide, to Americans still in harm’s way in Afghanistan to the peak of the pandemic in Florida; it feels like this news cycle has us in the eye of the storm hoping that the backside of what we’ve been living through is far better than what’ve we’ve already been experiencing. It’s also a reminder that most of us are incredibly fortunate most of the time. More often than not we’re able to live our lives in the eye of the storm while we watch chaos and destruction play out around us. Consider our good fortune to have avoided any meaningful impact from a hurricane since Irma four years ago. Or the reality that despite the horrors playing out in Afghanistan, for almost all of us the concern is for the well-being of others as opposed to ourselves or our families. And as for the pandemic, despite Florida having lived the entire month of August in peak pandemic conditions, still only 15% of Floridians have contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began over a year and a half ago. That’s a lot of good fortune for most of us and...
- The next two weeks will be highly consequential. Starting with hurricane season. This week and next are statistically the two peak weeks of hurricane season. We started the peak with IDA’s wrath, let’s pray that’s also where the landfalls end. A quick check of the Hurricane Center’s map shows there’s plenty brewing and more that we’ll need to continue to dodge on its way. Getting though next two weeks places us on the backside of the season, which while not getting us out of the woods, is something I always look forward to. Within the next two weeks whatever will be in Afghanistan will have also taken hold. For the future of the country and its impact around the world, this window is the most consequential in nearly twenty years. The pullout, should it be completed by tomorrow, is the beginning of the story, not the end of it. Will the Taliban seize complete control? Will there be a three-way civil war between the Taliban, ISIS and the Afghan government loyalists? Will China be brought into the mix? As Congressman, and Afghan Green Beret Vet Mike Waltz mentioned to me last week. What happens in Afghanistan doesn’t stay in Afghanistan. The next two weeks will also be key as to if Florida’s finally turned the tide on the peak of the pandemic. Though it might not seem like it because we’re still consistently topping twenty thousand new COVID-19 cases per day in Florida, the weekly trend for new cases peaked on August 17th. We’ve ever so slowly been trending in the right direction since then. That’s especially notable given we’ve been progressing with schools back in session. Speaking of schools...
- It’s not over. I don’t know if this issue will be resolved within the next two weeks, but I do know we’ve not heard the last in the school mask mandate debate. Friday’s ruling, by Leon County Circuit Court Judge John Cooper, striking down the Florida Department of Education’s mandate for parental choice for school mask mandates is being appealed. And as cited in the governor’s response (and that I cover in today’s Q&A), that court has a history of having its decisions overturned. Including on the previous two education decisions it ruled on - last year’s effort by teachers' unions to keep schools closed during the pandemic and a 2017 ruling on standardized testing. The mask mandates, without parental opt outs are in force throughout South Florida today – which means parents and students need to be mindful of potential punishments that are likely to begin to be levied against those not complying with mask wearing at school (except when eating or drinking when the virus evidently takes a break from spreading). That being said the case isn’t over and those declaring victory today might find it fleeting if history indeed repeats itself with Leon County’s challenged decisions.