TX's Abbot and FL's DeSantis fan the flames of the pandemic

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,120
10,946
136

At the rate he’s going killing off his own voters… it would be ironic if he lost by just a bit - enough that it could be said that he would have won if he had not deliberately killed his supporters.
I think that would be a fitting defeat over a landslide, much as I'd like to see one for every asshole republican governor that has ignored and fought reality
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
23,083
21,203
136
As has been observed, DeSantis is angling for his presidential run. To be the nominee of a group of really shitty people, you have to consistently to really shitty things.

This is the way of the GQP and it's only going to get worse to see who can outdo the other in being more of a shitty person.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hal2kilo

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
28,745
40,188
136
I like how to be a favorite of the GQP, you need to have the blood of thousands of your constituents on your hands, and to be proud of it no less. Going that extra mile to ban mask mandates, even in schools, just, wow. Still blows my mind.

Trumpism is a mental disorder, with deadly consequences still being felt by everyone, not just the numbnuts who voted for the traitor. Pity we can't get Moderna to whip up something for that.
 

soundforbjt

Lifer
Feb 15, 2002
17,788
6,040
136
As pointed out by the talking cultists over at Faux News, the ONLY way DeSantis runs in 2024 is if Trump doesn’t. And believe me, if Trump is able to hold off legal action, he’ll run to gain back the protection the office of President gives him.
 

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,221
4,452
136
I talk a lot of shit about the place, but part of me feels that even a broken democracy like Florida doesn't deserve what that idiot is doing to it. At least I'm hearing Floridians rage on the guy now, hope that translates at the ballot box so overwhelmingly the GQP can't steal the election like they usually do. Misinformation, reg purges, poll taxes, Florida goes all out.

They knew who he is, and what he stood for, and voted for him anyway. They got what they wished for. As did Texas, and that is where I live, so I know.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,944
2,175
126
They knew who he is, and what he stood for, and voted for him anyway. They got what they wished for. As did Texas, and that is where I live, so I know.
Texas isn't a Utopia? Listening to some posters here, you'd think Texas was, and California was like a Mad Max movie :D
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,700
136
Texas isn't a Utopia? Listening to some posters here, you'd think Texas was, and California was like a Mad Max movie :D
Actually, my recollection of Texas WAS a Mad Max movie. I drove through it, west to east a couple months after JFK was assassinated, even visited the Grassy Knowle in Dallas. It was big and flat, the roads were long and straight and people drove a lot faster than they did in California (where my trip started).
 

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
11,851
2,807
136
I noticed on Ars Technica that we should be calling the governor of Florida Ron DeathSentence.


At the rate he’s going killing off his own voters… it would be ironic if he lost by just a bit - enough that it could be said that he would have won if he had not deliberately killed his supporters.
I don't believe the IFR of Covid-19 is high enough to swing elections, but if there's any place where it might, Florida is certainly a swingy state. Obviously the real electoral effect would be that swing voters abandon you.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,640
50,868
136
As I saw pointed out on Twitter today you have to look no further than Larry Hogan to see how diseased the modern GOP is. Hogan is the popular Republican governor of a blue state with huge crossover appeal and a record of success in general, and COVID in particular.

DeSantis is the unpopular governor of a state that is purple at best and right now he’s deliberately sabotaging his state’s response to the virus as things get so bad they are running out of oxygen.

So naturally Hogan’s future in the Republican Party is totally dead and DeSantis is the most popular non-Trump figure in the GOP.
 

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
28,745
40,188
136
They knew who he is, and what he stood for, and voted for him anyway. They got what they wished for. As did Texas, and that is where I live, so I know.

We haven't had a pandemic this bad in about a hundred years, I doubt very much people knew exactly how bad this asshole's response would be. Same for Trump. Most assumed that once people started dying in droves that the bullshit would hit pause. Should be an easy one for people who call themselves pro-life, right? I'd like to think that most Americans, regardless of political leanings, want competency from their elected officials. The issue is how do they react when that competency is not only non-existent, it tracks into homicidal negligence territory. Are they outraged at the enormous preventable body count, or are they making excuses and blaming CRT, Pelosi, anyone but themselves, for what happens at state/local levels with complete R control?

I'm seeing a steady stream of people walking it back now. From red state governors regretting their own mask bans to magats in ICUs in tears that they turned down the vaccine. Heard the other day that vaccinations in Alabama (the least vaccinated there is if I recall) spiked more than 200k people last week. Still slowly going up. VRAM's link about DeSantis' tanking approval pleases me. How long can he and governors like him keep covid45 simmering I wonder. Moscow Mitch gets it. DeSantis, Abbot? Not so much.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Muse

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,120
10,946
136
As I saw pointed out on Twitter today you have to look no further than Larry Hogan to see how diseased the modern GOP is. Hogan is the popular Republican governor of a blue state with huge crossover appeal and a record of success in general, and COVID in particular.

DeSantis is the unpopular governor of a state that is purple at best and right now he’s deliberately sabotaging his state’s response to the virus as things get so bad they are running out of oxygen.

So naturally Hogan’s future in the Republican Party is totally dead and DeSantis is the most popular non-Trump figure in the GOP.
sad but true.

We haven't had a pandemic this bad in about a hundred years, I doubt very much people knew exactly how bad this asshole's response would be. Same for Trump. Most us assumed that once people started dying in droves that the bullshit would hit pause. Should be an easy one for people who call themselves pro-life, right? I'd like to think that most Americans, regardless of political leanings, want competency from their elected officials. The issue is how do they react when that competency is not only non-existent, it tracks into homicidal negligence territory. Are they outraged at the enormous preventable body count, or are they making excuses and blaming CRT, Pelosi, anyone but themselves, for what happens at local levels with complete R control?

I'm seeing a steady stream of people walking it back now. From red state governors regretting their own mask bans to magats in ICUs in tears that they turned down the vaccine. Heard the other day that vaccinations in Alabama (the least vaccinated there is if I recall) spiked more than 200k people last week. Still slowly going up. VRAM's link about DeSantis' tanking approval pleases me. How long can he and governors like him keep covid45 simmering I wonder. Moscow Mitch gets it. DeSantis, Abbot? Not so much.

if it were up to me, i would charge them with crimes against humanity. there is no excuse for actively opposing some of the most knowledgeable infectious disease experts in the world, given the vast amounts of information and resources at their disposal.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
34,007
8,041
136
I like how to be a favorite of the GQP, you need to have the blood of thousands of your constituents on your hands, and to be proud of it no less. Going that extra mile to ban mask mandates, even in schools, just, wow. Still blows my mind.

Trumpism is a mental disorder, with deadly consequences still being felt by everyone, not just the numbnuts who voted for the traitor. Pity we can't get Moderna to whip up something for that.

The concept of American Taliban never rang so true, before 2021.
 
Nov 17, 2019
12,260
7,377
136
Let's not forget Kristi and the bikers:


Thousands of bikers descend on Sturgis amid delta spread fears

thehill.com.ico
The Hill|42 minutes ago
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally kicked off in South Dakota on Friday, with thousands of bikers descending on the streets of the Black Hills region despite warnings from health experts that the event will fur ...
 

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
32,120
10,946
136
Let's not forget Kristi and the bikers:


Thousands of bikers descend on Sturgis amid delta spread fears

thehill.com.ico
The Hill|42 minutes ago
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally kicked off in South Dakota on Friday, with thousands of bikers descending on the streets of the Black Hills region despite warnings from health experts that the event will fur ...
In some ways I'll be surprised if cases spike. The spread will be at Sturgis and then everyone will get sick once they go home. The cases will get diffused across a wide area IMO, and it will be tough to gage the true impact.

Then again, all the locals will probably be exposed. So that's probably the best proxy for degree of spread among the attendees.
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,244
10,818
136
In some ways I'll be surprised if cases spike. The spread will be at Sturgis and then everyone will get sick once they go home. The cases will get diffused across a wide area IMO, and it will be tough to gage the true impact.

Then again, all the locals will probably be exposed. So that's probably the best proxy for degree of spread among the attendees.
Isn't Sturgis that caused the massive Midwest spike last year? Especially in North and South Dakota? I remember reading at one point it was responsible for like half the cases in the US.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Meghan54

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,700
136
As I saw pointed out on Twitter today you have to look no further than Larry Hogan to see how diseased the modern GOP is. Hogan is the popular Republican governor of a blue state with huge crossover appeal and a record of success in general, and COVID in particular.

DeSantis is the unpopular governor of a state that is purple at best and right now he’s deliberately sabotaging his state’s response to the virus as things get so bad they are running out of oxygen.

So naturally Hogan’s future in the Republican Party is totally dead and DeSantis is the most popular non-Trump figure in the GOP.
I just want to drive a stake in the heart of the GOP.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,700
136
DeSantis throws out the red meat-

Sounds exactly like he's trying to position himself for a run against Biden.

"I'm the one who..."

"I'm the one who..."

"I'm the one who..."

"I'm the one who..."

....
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,939
7,459
136
I will always remember how Trump and his lackey clones who are directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of fellow Americans continue to add to the body count because they think it will win them elections.

It boggles the mind to see how in their eyes the lives of their constituents are so cheap that it's perfectly fine for them to use the corpses of their fellow Americans as stepping stones on their way to electoral victories.

Horrifically worse is how rank and file Repubs believe this method of weaponizing a deadly disease for political advantage is OK so long as they come out on top of the heaps of bodies their murderous methods of campaigning is creating.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hal2kilo

esquared

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 8, 2000
23,985
5,128
146
From this article from Reuters.

"The U.S. South remains the epicenter of the latest outbreak, with Florida reporting a record of nearly 24,000 new cases on Saturday, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventihere.

The number of COVID patients filling the state’s hospitals has set records nearly every day for the past week.

“Things in Florida aren’t just bad — they’re epically bad,” cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a George Washington University professor, told CNN on Sunday, noting its case rate was behind only Louisiana and Botswana. “If Florida was another country, the United States would consider banning travel from Florida ... It’s going to get much worse there.”

Despite the surge, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has refused to mandate masks and has blocked school districts from requiring them, despite the state leading the nation in pediatric hospitalizations bit.ly/3xD1TXq based on its population."
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Zorba

VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
7,017
8,545
136
Honestly DeSantis could blame Obama for the surge in cases and the Trumpies would believe it.

A GOP think tank is already making plans to blame others for the preventable deaths that they will cause.

It’s a sacrifice they’re willing to let others make.