Joe Henderson
Let’s boil the argument against mandatory masks in Florida schools to its essence. Anti-maskers continually bleat that it’s about freedom and parental choice, but that’s a misdirection play. It’s about keeping teachers and students safe from a deadly virus, and that’s all that matters.
As of Tuesday, more than 8,800 Hillsborough County students are in quarantine after exposure to someone infected with COVID-19. That’s an increase of about 2,400 since Monday.
Most of them probably won’t become deathly ill or require hospitalization, but what’s an acceptable number of serious illnesses or even deaths? What if you were the parent or sibling of one of those casualties?
Anti-maskers seem to argue that their freedom to spread germs trumps your child’s health. That apparently is a minority opinion. A new poll by Axios/Ipsos showed 69% support for the ability of local school boards to require mandatory masks.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Hillsborough School Board held an emergency meeting to consider defying Gov. Ron DeSantis and making school masks mandatory. After going two hours over the planned meeting time, the Board voted to require mandatory masks, with medical opt-outs, for 30 days.
It’s a little vague.
Before that, the war on science and knowledge was on full display.
I listened as multiple speakers dismissed the safety experts say masks provide, maybe because they heard Tucker Carlson say that. Most of them, I suspect, wouldn’t be accepted to Duke University (full disclosure: nor would I).
On June 30, Duke released a study that said, and I quote, “North Carolina schools were highly successful in preventing the transmission of COVID-19 within school buildings. The report found in part that masks effectively prevented COVID-19 transmission even without physical distancing in schools and on buses.”
The people at Duke know more about this topic than the naysayers who spoke at the Hillsborough meeting. I’m sorry if that hurts anyone’s feelings (not really), but it’s a fact.
Dr. Douglas A. Holt, director of the county’s Department of Health, was asked if masks can make a difference in schools.
“I believe it will reduce infections in schools,” he said.
How did we get here?
That’s easy: ignorance fueled by politics.
The late Claude Kirk, a Republican who governed Florida from 1967 to 1971, was a maverick, disrupter, and always happy to engage in a war of words as long as it got his name in the newspaper.
“The garden of controversy must be continually cultivated,” he famously told Time magazine. “Otherwise, nobody knows you are alive.”
DeSantis wasn’t born until 11 years after Kirk made that statement, but he must have done some research on the subject of garden-variety controversy. He appears to revel in it in a way that Kirk would have loved.
That’s especially true when the subject is mandatory masks in Florida schools. It’s damn-the-torpedoes (or deadly viruses). The man who detests mandates from Washington appears to delight in telling mayors and school boards what to do.
He doesn’t like it when those same people push back, though.
“If you make it about me, you get on CNN,” DeSantis said. “They’ll like you if you do that.”
Well, it’s sauce for the gander. When DeSantis makes it about masks, he gets on Fox. They like him if he does that. The Tampa Bay Times reported that DeSantis regularly coordinates appearances with the personalities there.
Fox loved it on Tuesday when the state Board of Education decided the school boards in Alachua and Broward counties violated the law by requiring school masks unless a student has a medical exemption. DeSantis wants to give that control to parents, which takes us back to the earlier point.
In most cases, parents don’t know enough about how the virus spreads to make a choice that will potentially affect others. I’m not trying to insult them; that’s simply a fact.
I trust the people who spent years studying these issues. A large majority of medical experts say that masks help keep people safe. That’s good enough for me.
18 comments
Tom
August 18, 2021 at 9:41 pm
Hang it up Joe.
Surveys Polls , people of Florida agree with America’s Governor. Team Biden tripping over every step. If they keep on building America’s Governor up, he won’t have to run. He will just move from Tallahassee to W H.
What a monumental event, once every 50 to 70 years. As President Kennedy said, victory had many fathers, defeat is an orphan.
Tom
August 18, 2021 at 9:54 pm
Addendum:
Joe,America’s Governor just did a soft shoe tap on POTUS. Great segment on Hannity. What a terrible 48 hrs for Dums. DeSantis is a great leader. Just explained all the success on monoclonal therapies. New centers going up daily. Brilliant move. Meanwhile FDA hasn’t approved the vaccine, Over 100,000,000 million Shots, samples to study. Also, no FDA commissioner still, unbelievable.
Billy
August 18, 2021 at 11:13 pm
Just to be clear, the monoclonal antibodies only have emergency use authorization by the FDA, like the vaccines adn the FDA says this:
Prophylaxis with REGEN-COV is not a substitute for vaccination against COVID-19. FDA has authorized three vaccines to prevent COVID-19 and serious clinical outcomes caused by COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. FDA urges you to get vaccinated, if you are eligible. Learn more about FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-authorizes-regen-cov-monoclonal-antibody-therapy-post-exposure-prophylaxis-prevention-covid-19
PeterH
August 18, 2021 at 10:01 pm
No ….polls clearly show most Floridians DON’T AGREE WITH DESANTIS.
In fact, in Broward County out of 200,000 parents …..only 200 requested that their children not wear masks. DeSantis will not win this stupid insidious fight. One of many DeSantis idiotic policies….. like the cruise ship policies that the courts and industry rejected.
LATEST DESANTIS GRIFT
Turns out, Ron DeSantis’ whole “my freedoms” shtick was a con. Of course it was. The whole reason he’s been so anti-mask and vaccine mandates?
DeSantis has gotten over $10m in campaign funds from the biggest investor in Regeneron, a COVID treatment.
DeSantis knows he’s got to win his primary next year to have any shot at running for President. So he’s going full MAGA and getting people sick.
When people get sick, Regeneron makes more money.
When Regeneron makes more money, Ron DeSantis raises more campaign money.
Rinse and repeat.
Tom
August 18, 2021 at 11:30 pm
So I guess he’s not suppose to accept contribution from an investor in therapy’s. Desperation smears is all your side has. You don’t run on issues.
You are demented though, when you ignore Pfizer that has cleaned up financially.
No the polls show Gov in lead and that parents as they agree on no mask mandates. FYI, Gov has no primary. This will not be a race. Gov had $44 million COH. Dums are in serious trouble.
Tom
August 19, 2021 at 4:15 am
Oh btw, whose making millions off of a booster you dweeb. Your are as ignorant as Alex.
Joe Henderson
August 18, 2021 at 10:07 pm
Sorry, Tom. I’m going to hang around. Be well.
Tom
August 18, 2021 at 11:20 pm
I enjoy you Joe.
No worries.
I can’t imagine you agree that W H decision to take shots at Governor is helping them. They’ve made him a giant hero. Just saying.
Ronald Hollywood
August 21, 2021 at 12:20 pm
Yeah, a giant hero to the ignorant.
Tom
September 1, 2021 at 1:09 pm
What is your solution oh ignorant one. DeSantis the best!
America’s Gov!
JoAnne
August 19, 2021 at 9:08 am
Universities have political agendas. It’s disingenuous to quote what they claim. Give us some real scientists if there are any left.
Ron Ogden
August 19, 2021 at 10:41 am
Freedom is a “misdirection play” ? That’s like saying “liberty is a dodge.” Joe, you should migrate to Afghanistan. You’d fit right in. Here’s your turban.
Mark Harms
August 19, 2021 at 1:50 pm
So are they going to start mandating masks during flu season since more children die from the flu than from covid.
PeterH
August 19, 2021 at 1:55 pm
FUN FACTS
The cumulative deaths resulting from the past ten years of flu season do not come close to the Covid deaths the USA has experienced in 2020!
Worry not ……”the virus will go away in warmer weather ….. like magic”
Bobber
August 20, 2021 at 10:25 pm
I’m registered independent,wife is registered Republican. We both voted DeSantis in 2018. If he continues with his current display of assclownedness we will both consider a return to Crist if he is on the ballot. Fried, no way,we’ll write in Skink instead.
We both voted Trump twice,clothespins firmly in place.
We are college educated retired professionals,long term residents of Broward County. She’s a Florida native,I’m a Carolinian.
So when do our voices get heard, we will not lower our standards of decency and pride in our country for what we as a people have achieved. Keep the columns coming Joe, we may not always agree with you but we respect your well argued opinions.
TJC
August 21, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Good column, Mr. Henderson. Keep up the good work. So good to read sane reasoning — and very entertaining to read the ignorant trolls try to make sense of their nonsense.
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