Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is obviously strange. And his campaign hasn’t been exactly stellar. But he just premiered a new slogan that hopefully he will keep because it is hilariously ironic. At an event in Jacksonville, DeSantis appeared with Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo. They were condemning those crazy medical professionals (i.e. doctors, nurses, and trained medical staff), and arguing that DeSantis is more equipped to handle COVID-19 than the entire medical community.
That is clearly absurd, but such is the Republican way. They have made doctors and scientists the enemy. Which is weird because isn’t Dr. Ladapo a … doctor? Anyway, what does DeSantis know about viruses? According to the CDC, Florida had the 18th highest age-adjusted mortality rate from COVID-19. It isn’t the worst, but certainly not something that makes him claim to be an expert. And if you look at totals, Florida is third in total deaths. These are CDC stats though, so ew, evil scientists, using verifiable facts to make their well-researched points! Suffice it to say, that Ron DeSantis does not have the numbers to back up his rhetoric about being some masterful Governor during the pandemic.
Clearly, these campaign stops are places where people can and will say anything because truth or logic isn’t relevant to the modern-day GOP. Common sense is different though, and his campaign seems to be lacking in that department as well. DeSantis stood behind a sign that read “Mandate Freedom.” It’s a nonsensical slogan that encompasses his governorship and belief system, i.e. the idea that Americans do not need to be told what to do by doctors, the government, or anyone else. People don’t need to wear masks, open schools, vaccines schmaccines, and the like! Cracking down on people’s health choices is un-American! Unless, of course, they are women seeking abortions and reproductive care, or transgender people seeking gender-affirming care. But hypocrisy is irrelevant to Republicans. This slogan though is wildly ironic.
So let me be petty. The definition of mandate, as a verb, is: to officially require (something): make (something).
The most common definition of freedom, as a noun, is:
-The quality or state of being free, such as
- the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
- liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another
I am trying to square these definitions of freedom with the definitions of mandate. It is not adding up! Essentially, DeSantis wants to require something that is the absence of necessity or coercion. His slogan doesn’t make sense because Republicans don’t make sense.
The hypocrisy of Republicans has to be discussed whenever we get the chance. Maybe they do not see it or (more likely) they just don’t care. They believe in freedom when it comes to wearing masks, which impacts not just themselves but the general public. Yet even during the thick of the pandemic, DeSantis and people like him still didn’t prioritize taking necessary steps to stop the infection rates. They were more concerned about perpetuating ridiculous definitions of freedom. But again, when it comes to something like abortion rights, somehow now everyone has to be involved in our uteruses. Even though abortions do not spread from human to human, the issue requires government intervention. Freedom is no longer relevant! These people are truly wild. Logic aside, this seems like a horrible slogan. So I hope it stays with DeSantis for a while!
(featured image: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
