Matt Gaetz's solution to Florida's virus surge: 'Lock up the boomers'
Category: News & Politics
Via: jbb • 4 years ago • 62 commentsBy: Oliver Willis (The American Independent)
Matt Gaetz has a great idea. /s Lock up the Boomers!
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Oliver Willis - July 15, 2020 1:31 PM6965
But younger people have increasingly contributed to COVID-19 surges, in Florida and elsewhere.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) proposed to "lock up the boomers" in response to the recent surge of COVID-19 infections in his home state of Florida.
"I think younger people are not going to stomach another lockdown," Gaetz said in a radio interview on Tuesday. "I think younger people are going to move about the country, so we've got to prepare for it."
Gaetz also leaned on discredited claims about the virus, suggesting that skyrocketing cases in the state are due to Florida having "the most robust testing system in the nation," and that travelers "coming in and out from Latin America" were impacting surges "substantially," though there is no evidence to support that.
However, there is abundant data showing that people in their 20s to 40s are increasingly testing positive for COVID-19 and transmitting it around the country, though Gaetz said there should be no expectations for this group to take virus precautions.
Florida has mismanaged their virus response since the beginning of the outbreak, most notably refusing to close beaches despite evidence that the coronavirus was being transmitted among spring breakers.
The state, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) also reopened ahead of other states, only to see infections and deaths substantially increase.
From the July 14th edition of Fox News Radio's "Fox Across America":
JIMMY FAILLA, host: What do they attribute the situation in Miami to? Is that people going out? Is that people traveling? Is it the surge in testing? Like, what specifically would you tell the audience on that? Because I do know people want to know, because they're, you know —
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): It's a combination. So, in the Miami area you have a real international city. And people are coming in and out from Latin America, and they are getting hammered in Latin America right now with coronavirus, and so that impacts Miami substantially.
But also, in a lot of the agricultural communities down there around the Everglades, the governor has been very aggressive about going in and testing everyone, and so a consequence of building out the most robust testing system in the nation, which is what we've done in Florida, is that we in fact have a higher number of cases.
And I think that now, when you're looking at 15,000 cases in a day, you passed the point of just being able to like contact trace, right? You have to become more resilient in your sanitation, you have to, I think, be effective in social distancing, and I think our people can do that.
I mean, I don't think we have to go into another lockdown to socially distance, to be very aggressive on sanitation and hygiene, and then, you know, lock up the boomers, you know, for the most part, because they're the ones who see higher intubation rates and death rates.
I think younger people are not going to stomach another lockdown. I think younger people are going to move about the country, so we've got to prepare for it.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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Matt Gaetz is such a stupid lameass deplorable loser.
rising star of the GOP...
Gaetz meets the damn gop's qualifications...
Low! The damn gop's very low qualifications.
There is no bar low enough for the gop.
I could vomit just thinking about it.
Matt Gaetz is so much like Donald Trump that I think Mama Vicky Gaetz has some explaining to do.
He's part of the "deep taint", the super-secret undercover shadow conservative cabal that is ruining, er, I mean running the country. These super-smart super-secret conservative Republicans gather on full moons and discuss how they will blame all the worlds ill's on Democrats and paint them as racists even though it's their own constituents waving swastika and confederate flags while chanting "Jew's will not replace us!" while defending the removal of monuments to confederate traitors. The "deep taint" wants Americans to reject any attempts to institute mandates to wear masks or social distance because they custom designed this virus to attack minority groups while leaving the white gated communities mostly alone, so they are working hard to make sure any plans to stop the spread are stymied.
But seriously, Gaetz is a raging moron conspiracy theorist who sadly accurately reflects the idiocy of the vast majority of his constituency.
An white southern male constituency.
Yes-- and that's on his better days!
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120 People died of Covid-19 in Florida yesterday...
honest question , how many of them are actually fla residents and not tourists? reason i ask is my state has some people included in the infection death count that didn't get infected or died here .
All were residents. Non residents deaths are counted separately.
Actually its interesting to compare the trends of news cases, deaths , etc in Florida... and New York:
Florida
New York.
Can anyone see a trend there?
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In 2014?
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[Please use flagging or use chat or PN to ask for a review]
Ummmm , so did the head D when they were in charge . funny thing is one of those head ds are running now.
Obama did setup a zero tolerance plan. Separation was only used for suspicion of trafficking and fraud where family relationship could not be established. It was extremely limited. Mostly they used family detention facilities allowing the whole family to stay together or they let them go under the tracking policy until the court date. The zero tolerance policy got so much push back from the party the Obama Administration pivoted to putting it's priorities into finding, tracking and deporting violent criminals.
Florida has become the epicenter of the virus and Miami Dade is the epicenter of the epicenter. Most all large cities in Florida are experiencing increases in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Over 50 hospitals statewide are out of ICU beds.
A couple of recent reports (one of them below) will throw everything out the window when it comes to restarting schools.
This is a damn serious problem in Florida. Yesterday we had 10,181 new cases and 112 deaths.
A view of Spring Break 2020 in Panama City Florida....
And South Padre Island Beach, Texas....
Is it any wonder?
Florida is breaking records for new cases daily...
The Emperor Dodo, or Republis Trumpus Conservatus if you want to get fancy, is an extinct species of brainless mammal that was native to the tiny peninsula of Moronicus before it sadly died out. But enough of the Discovery Channel stuff, you’re reading this to find out how this sucker went extinct. And the answer is, well, complicated.
It’s commonly believed that the Emperor dodo went extinct because Dutch sailors laughed the beast into extinction after finding that the mammal was incredibly easy to tease and due to the fact it had no fear of global pandemics, (why it didn’t fear the virus is a mystery for another day). This is, for the for the most part, pretty accurate. It is noted that after sailors landed and settled on the Peninsula in 2020, the dodo’s population rapidly declined and other sources confirm that the dodo was indeed haunted by sailors looking for an easy laugh, since the dodo’s ungainly gait, penchant for wearing truck stop sleeveless T-shirts and lack of a third axis of movement made it relatively easy to tease. This teasing led them to continually bunch up together in groups with no virus protection which, as we all know, led to their early extinction.
And yet, THE PROTESTERS AND "DEMOCRAT HOTBEDS' AND OBAMA ARE CONTINUALLY BLAMED.
Those photos are not from spring break 2020 Buzz. I did a tin eye search on them.
The first one you posted has been on the internet since 2014 and the second since 2017.
Thank you. Then I was being misled by the internet. I posted a search on Ecosia for Florida 2020 Spring Break, clicked for "images", and those particular photos were CAPTIONED with an indication that they were from 2020.
However if you were to do an internet search you will probably find these....
Please tell me if THOSE are not from 2020.
By the way, can you see anyone wearing a mask in those photos/videos?
So am I, Kathleen, because I would never intentionally post something misleading on NT. But please tell me, what was your meaning in making that comment? I ask that because it appears to be something that should concern me personally.
Those were from March when Fauci was advising not to wear masks to save them for the medical workers, it wasn't until April when he changed it to you should wear a mask.
Good excuse - and you can see where that got America. But notwithstanding what Dr. Fauci said, and what your POTUS was NOT DOING in order to set an example, wasn't anyone in the USA smart enough to follow the usual guidelines to contain such an epidemic?
And there is more....
And take note of the date of the stories - around the middle to late March 2020, - do they not make the point that it was WRONG to not follow the guidelines, notwithstanding what Dr. Fauci might have said - in other words, it wasn't an afterthought or hindsight. Intelligent people KNEW to wear masks.
@ bccrane
Take note of the date of the stories - around the middle to late March 2020, - do they not make the point that it was WRONG to not follow the guidelines, notwithstanding what Dr. Fauci might have said - in other words, it wasn't an afterthought or hindsight. Intelligent people KNEW to wear masks.
Well Buzz, I certainly didn’t mean to upset you, that was not my intention at all. I was just pointing out that those particular photos were not from 2020.
I think having people come from all over the US to gather in large groups to party In Florida was stupid.
And no, I do not see masks on all the kids in the link you provided. I can’t begin to explain why they weren’t wearing them. I don’t live in their minds and am not their parent.
I can only say that when I go out in public I wear a mask as do my family members.
The internet certainly can be a misleading place.
I did not criticize you for pointing out my error - not only were you right but I appreciate that you did it, because as I said, I never intentionally post anything to mislead anyone on NT. If I seemed upset, it was because of my mistakenly not being more careful, but I believe that I have posted correct photos/videos and information now. Not being like some who run and hide, I have almost always thanked those who have corrected me if I was wrong (Did I not say "thank you" to you?), and apologized when that was applicable, wherein I know I differ from others on this site. Think of that adage (is it German?) "We grow old too soon and smart too late." However, I may be old, but I don't think I'm senile yet.
There were no masks to be had. At the time it was you needed an N95 mask and there was none to be found. Then in April all you needed was a bandanna, but my wife purchased the material to make our own N95 style masks and have been using them sinrce.
I am going out for a bit to see if the comet is visible tonight, unlike the last few nights.
Notice that Gaetz is using a tried and true tactic of division. Having given up on the over 60 vote, he now wants to court the young voter. Screw your grand parents - "lock them up". (Where have I heard that before.)
New COVID19 cases for Wednesday, July15...13,965, and 156 deaths.
''You're doing a great job Brownie''..
Spring break, Tampa Bay 2020.
OMG!!!
Sorry but this photo and/or the caption is wrong.
Tampa's spring break was April 7 to the 13th. All of Florida's beaches were closed during and after this period. Jax Beach was the first Florida beach to open April 17th at a very limited nature. No chairs, no sitting and distancing was required.
Tampa's beaches did not open until May 4th, and that was with the same type of limitations. Nothing of what is depicted in the photo is true
bugsy is not wrong. I made the same mistake and originally relied on internet photos that were not part of current stories, but I then posted links to news articles that were current during March 2020, and also identified the photos/videos as being current. The photo you posted is from a current Tampa Times article, but the photo caption reads that the photo was from years before.
I did a search on that one too. It first appeared on the internet in 2017. It would seem that the news organizations are just using stock photos instead of actually going out and getting one.
Hi bugsy, you're correct that photo is incorrect.
Here is a video from Clearwater Beach, March 16th, 2020.
Spring Break for collages and universities in the Tampa Bay area started on March 9, 2020.
Stay safe
From your usatoday link:
"If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying,"
Or stop you from making everyone around you sick, or stop you from killing your grandparents - you selfish ignorant son of a bitch.
I wish my mom were still alive so she could reassure me that I wasn't this freaking stupid when I was younger...
Yesterday Florida recorded 11,466 new cases and 128 deaths.
Thank you for that, Buzz.
That's true, but again, that is a fraction of NY on 4/7 when 597 deaths were recorded. Keep in mind, Florida has 3 million more people in it.
Since I don't live in NY, I'm much more interested in what is happening in the state that I live in, bugsy.
And we are not going in the right direction here.
That's pretty much how I tend to view it here , with 23 counties in the state , each separate county is in a different phase .
Though it might be correct to call it a pandemic since it is world wide, looking at it on the state level here , some counties are in outbreak status , some are in ENdemic status and some are in full blown EPidemic status , and whats even more confusing is each county , has a combination of all 3 just within the county lines , some places haven't even had an outbreak while other areas are being hard hit.
I live in an Epidemic area of county on the reservation.,just under half the total state deaths have occurred around me and where I live.
When it first started here it was the southern part of the state, Miami etc and they are getting hit hard again. Now it's moving into central Florida. Orlando, Tampa Bay etc. My county was for a very long time logging 3 to 5 cases per day. The last week we are averaging well over 100 new cases daily. Eventually, it reaches every area of every state, Mark.
Take care, Mark.
Well sometimes being anti social in person and wanting to be left alone , actually pays off, I haven't really noticed any difference.
I understand that. However, you are far closer to the red zone in Florida than I am, so you should be concerned. South Florida has the vast majority of cases and deaths in the state.
I wonder if the numbers would be lower since it has come out that some central/south Florida labs have only reported positive cases, and the reports were 100 percent?
I didn't think I was much closer than Jville is so I looked it up. Milage from Jville to Miami is 304 miles. Ocala to Miami is 345 miles. Not much difference.
In Marion County (Ocala) we have a couple of things going for us a fairly large county and a relatively small population. 366K and a density of 224 per sq mile. Duval county is 976K and a density of 1231 per sq mile.
As of yesterday, we had a total of 2322 cases and 27 deaths in Marion county vs Duval with 16,486 and 97 deaths.
Both counties are much better off than many of the southern counties but I'm not about to celebrate. The number of cases and hospitalizations keeps increasing.
It was discovered and the FHD said it was some of the small labs. The changes should have been made in a day. I think we're going to have to wait until the end of next week to see what type of difference it makes.
Mileage wise on the freeway is not much of a difference, but geographically, Ocala is about 2 hours closer, but I'm sure both places are destinations for those that live in south Florida. That is what we need to watch out for.
Duval's biggest hot spots are those that are the largest populated, mainly the southside, and downtown, where most of the homeless and drug users reside. The zip code I live in has 17,000 people and we have had 117 cases since March. Not really a big number considering the population. The only time I leave this zip is to go to work in the Rehab center I work, and we have our temps taken daily and I just got tested for the third time Thursday. My wife works in a large hospital here in town and the last count was 91 cases of COVID there. Thankfully she does not come into contact with them, especially since she is on the outskirts of the "vulnerable" age and is diabetic. To this day, I know nobody who has or has had COVID.
You do have alot of open space. The wife and I went to Tampa a few weeks ago to the Seminole Hard Rock. 301 is a beautiful ride with many farms and ranches. That's what the northside of Jax looked like not that long ago.
To be honest, I think alot of the numbers are being padded in some counties because of their hatred for DeSantis and Trump. We saw that hatred come out during our last governor election when the same counties with the highest numbers of COVID now were found to be cheating then, namely Palm Coast and Broward counties. Miami I don't think cheated but it certainly is a democrat stronghold. That is my conspiracy theory
Politicizing this pandemic is a stupid thing to do, but unfortunately, it is the times we live in.
I live in the SW part of Ocala and our zip code probably has less than 20,000 people. We do have three large retirement communities in the zip and there are around 10,000 households in the zip code.
We are surrounded by a lot of horse farms and cattle ranches. Beautiful country around here. So you took 301 from Jax to Tampa, right through the Ocala National Forest and the then through Ocala. Next time you go to the Hard Rock say Boozhoo (greetings) to my cousins.
Sadly I do know one person that died from the virus and one person that has it now and is in ICU.
I agree I'm sure that the virus doesn't ask what your political affiliation is before it strikes.
Good thing Gaetz had his daddy to keep him out of jail...