Top Three Takeaways – March 29th, 2021
- Patience is a virtue. It’s been 54 weeks since the onset of the pandemic took hold in Florida and most of us have avoided the virus. As of Sunday, there were 2 million 39 thousand total cases of COVID detected in Florida during the pandemic. That means 91% of us haven’t had the virus. Now is not the time to get careless. We’re almost there. But there are clear signs Spring Break has become an issue and the last thing you want to do is get a little careless right before you get vaccinated and begin to put this thing behind you. After two and a half months of an improving trend for cases, the last week has taken us backward. After six consecutive days of rising cases, we enter this week averaging about 600 daily cases more than last week and if this continues, we’ll have given back most of the progress we’d achieved throughout March. What’s the point in being careful for 54 weeks only to get the virus now? Hang in a little longer, get your vaccine and we’ll all get on with our lives. Patience is indeed a virtue and while Spring Break has never been associated with anything virtuous the recent trend is especially frustrating because we’re so close to turning a massive corner in this pandemic.
- If photo ID equals voter suppression and racism...Then every federal government agency is racist too. From the FAA to the Social Security Administration. All racists. Of course, intellectual honesty is in short supply on the left. Instead, it’s replaced with political opportunism and the use of identity politics to appeal to low information people in society. Georgia passes a law which states that photo ID, which is already required to vote in person in Georgia, and 34 other states, is also required for absentee voting and suddenly it’s racist. It’s voter suppression. The Biden DOJ will look into it. Tony Clark, potentially the worst Major League Baseball Union President in history, is threatening the All-Star game in Atlanta. Who are the real racists here? Perhaps the people who see race everywhere, not those who’d never equate election integrity with race? Should I point out that the same laws apply to everyone in Georgia and Florida, and everywhere USA regardless of race? Some will continue to deny MLK Jr. of his dream – in which he wanted people judged on the content of character rather than color of skin. Apparently, that’s still too much for some to embrace in 2021. The real racists are opportunists who’d prefer to keep race wars alive and exploit them. They’re also exposing themselves daily. Speaking of election integrity matters...
- They’re coming to Florida. The good news is that Florida had its smoothest election cycle potentially ever last November. The bad news is that our existing laws still aren’t especially good at ensuring we won’t have problems in the future. Harvard’s Election Integrity Project graded Florida’s election systems with a 75 out of 100. That’s still a lot of room for improvement but as for reforms...they’re coming to Florida as well. As we’re nearing halftime in the state session, multiple election integrity proposals are advancing in Tallahassee. It’s unclear exactly what a final version will bring but at a minimum it will likely mandate requests for vote-by-mail ballots with signature verification in every election along with specific criteria for drop boxes too. Election Integrity was the top issue according to the most Floridians entering the state session and Governor DeSantis cited the need for improvements at the onset of the session. Reforms are coming to Florida’s elections too which, heads up, likely means the political opportunists too.