The DeSantis Mask Moment
A Covid Politics Rorschach Test
Not sure you all have seen the latest freakout the national media is having over Ron DeSantis. It's a Covid Politics Rorschach Test. And an interesting view as to where we are as a country with masking in schools right now. What do you see?
The Media, liberals, and the remaining members of Team Apocalypse see an angry man berating kids and defying health officials.
Conservatives and members of Team Reality see a leader calling out Covid Theater for what it is and giving kids a choice.
Media orgs lashed out at the Governor for "admonishing a group of students" and "scolding students":
Even Public Health organizations got in on the action:
Remember this comes just days after the CDC "Updated the Science" on masking, and if you look at where the event took place, in Tampa, FL, the Covid rates are right at the level where the CDC guidance doesn't mandate mask wearing, and cases are trending down like the rest of the country.
So which is it? Should we follow "The Science", or not?...
Regardless, liberal pundits see hypocrisy in the Governor telling students to take their masks off, after advocating for a parent's right to choose for their own children throughout the pandemic.
I find this criticism off base. The governor literally tells the students, "So if you wanna wear it, fine" before saying it's ridiculous theater. And it is theater…
And keep in mind, in blue states the politicians will tell you that a 12 year old can choose to get an EUA vaccine without parental consent. But I guess if a Governor tells high school seniors they don’t have to mask cause it’s theater, that’s some how a bad thing…
Other observers point out that the Governor wasn't berating the kids, but more giving them permission to takes their masks off. It's likely a choice the kids didn't have when they were told to stand on stage behind the Governor. While it's unlawful to mandate masks in Florida, there's a lot of pressure put on kids by teachers and school admins in the blue areas to mask up. We've seen throughout this pandemic that those with the least power (and often the lowest risk), such as school students and service industry employees, are the people with the least choice over masking.
I can't help but think of another would-be-Governor's "masking moment” that got a lot less coverage from the national media...
Unlike with Stacey Abrams, the media is on the case tracking down all the angles of the latest "DeSantis scandal":
They tracked down one of the students, who's Mother was quite angry with what the Governor did.
But ask yourself, does that kid look mad while taking his mask off?
I find all this pearl-clutching from the media to be so hard to take. On this issue DeSantis has already won!
We just watched hundreds of geriatric politicians gather for the SOTU without a mask in sight, the feds have given the green light to blue state governors to ends their mandates, and clearly Fauci has been locked away in Biden's basement. What more does the media want, why even make this a scandal?
If nothing else, I guess this latest DeSantis moment has created some amazing memes!
Anyway 0 and 2...