Ron DeSantis has emerged as America’s awesome ‘shadow president’

DeSantis was an early opponent of widespread lockdowns. This got him called a murderer by many national pundits and politicians. Yet his approach was vindicated: Despite predictions of doom, the Sunshine State did much better than lockdown-heavy states like California and New York, not only in terms of disease, but also economically. Now Florida s biggest economic problem is the influx of people fleeing from states with more intrusive COVID policies.

DeSantis approach contrasts sharply with that taken by disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was once touted as a COVID hero by virtue of snappy news conferences that garnered a (now-revoked) Emmy. It turns out Cuomo s policies killed many thousands in nursing homes, something his own administration covered up, while seriously damaging the Empire State economy.

(Nor was it DeSantis who was opposing the science here; as I ve noted in these pages, the World Health Organization opposes lockdowns as a means of dealing with COVID except in very limited, short-term circumstances.)

Likewise, DeSantis has opposed mandatory masking. While masks are useful in some circumstances, the evidence that mandating widespread mask-wearing helps is limited. A recent study by a US Army medical team found that the introduction of mask mandates in the San Antonio area did nothing to reduce rates of illness, hospitalization or death.

Democrats, on the other hand, have been all masks, all the time except when it comes to their own glitzy events, like the Emmys or former President Barack Obama s birthday party, where the sophisticated attending crowd was deemed mask-exempt. (But not the servants.)

DeSantis has moved decisively elsewhere, as when he sent law enforcers from Florida to Texas to help the Lone Star State deal with a Biden-engineered crisis at the Mexican border. That sets up yet another contrast with the current administration, which has been letting that region groan under the weight of many thousands of illegal immigrants.

DeSantis has been antitax, pro-small-business and a strong opponent of defunding law enforcement, all in contrast with his opposition.

via nypost.com

Glenn Reynolds.

Florida is horribly hot and humid, which is deal-breaker for me. It has lots of snakes, which is a plus. It also has lots of insects, which I am ok with, except for mosquitos and some spiders. It has beaches, which is good. But not mountains, which is bad. It has hurricanes, which I understand are bad. But few wildfires, which is good. Maybe if I could convince Utah to take over everything east of the 805? Probably not going to happen.