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Top Three Takeaways – August 25th, 2021
- Parental rights. In the ongoing battle over school mask mandates this is increasingly becoming a hot topic of conversation. And not just parental rights, but specifically, the Parents’ Bill of Rights. Signed into law by Governor DeSantis in June, the legislation which took effect July 1st provides a new layer of parental protection. The question is if they’re being honored by school districts. As the summary of the law states, it... Provides parental rights relating to a minor child's education, upbringing, & health care; provides school district, health care practitioner, hospital requirements & specified penalties. I dive deeper into what’s in the law in today's Q&A. The question is, are school districts with mask mandates violating your parental rights? Like so many new laws, that will likely have to be decided in court if needed. Aside from the Florida Department of Education’s rule change mandating parental opt outs for school mask mandates, the other big change between last school year and this one is this new law. The law clearly states that parents have the final say over their children’s health care – as opposed to any government entity. So, is a mask mandate considered a health care decision? The school districts have certainly asserted it is. That could work against them in what could be the next debate, and perhaps legal challenge, based upon what happens in the Leon County court where the current challenge over the state’s rule is taking place. There’s a solid case to be made that school district mask mandates violate your parental rights in Florida.
- Beholden to terrorists. On Tuesday we learned that Joe Biden wouldn’t extend the deadline to fully pullout from Afghanistan past August 31st. A date given to us by the Taliban. This despite military officials asserting it’s impossible to know if we’ll be successful in evacuating Americans and allies by then. This clearly makes us beholden to terrorists. What's worse? They’re prepared to back up their deadline with force. The kind of force that can threaten the United States because it was provided by the United States. From Blackhawks and Howitzers to air to ground missiles, the cache of military equipment seized by the Taliban after having been deserted by the Afghan Army in Joe Biden’s reckless withdrawal leave us in a position to where the Taliban would literally attack US forces with the equipment we just left them. It’s hard to quantify exactly how incredibly irresponsible and incompetent Joe Biden’s decision making is but the fact that we’re now beholden to terrorists threatening us with our own equipment - putting us in a position to abandon Americans and allies in the process - helps illustrate it. But hey, no more Trump tweets, right? Isn’t this so much better? Speaking of deserters...
- Florida’s Democrats are rapidly shrinking. Not as in the Democrats themselves as much as those who are registered to vote as one of them. The Florida Department of State updated voter registration information through July on Tuesday and it continues to be telling. There are now over 110,000 fewer Democrats registered to vote in Florida today compared to Election Day and while Republicans have shed voters as well, as voter rolls are being reconciled in a non-election year, Democrats have lost over 43,000 more voters than Republicans leaving Democrats with their smallest voter registration advantage in Florida’s history. While many in news media tried to suggest Donald Trump was bad for the Republican party, the party thrived in Florida during his time as president. The same can’t be said of his successor. And as for the future? One might not imagine that dementia Joe’s imploding administration will be good for business.