United States of America eSeries: “Freedom over Faucism”

“Freedom over Faucism”

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August 2, 2021

Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu

'Freedom over Faucism'

Nowhere is America's clash between the reality of Covid-19 and the political resistance to doing something about it more acute than in Florida.

The Sunshine State now accounts for nearly 1 in 5 cases in America's wave of new infections driven by the Delta variant. Florida, which has vaccinated just less than half of its population, racked up 110,724 new infections last week. Many hospitals are filling up. Local leaders are pleading with people to wear masks and get vaccinated before it is too late.

But the state's Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, is determined to contradict public health guidance. He signed a law banning local leaders from introducing preventive measures like mask mandates. He led a crusade against "vaccine passports" with the backing of some businesses. Now DeSantis has forbidden schools to require masks in class — saying it should be up to parents.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week advised that all schools use face coverings when kids return from the long summer vacation — and in many cases, from over a year of online learning. But DeSantis said: "I want to see my kids smiling, I want them having fun." The father of three says Florida is choosing "freedom over Faucism" — a reference to the federal government's top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

DeSantis is not anti-vaccine, but the wildfire spread of Covid-19 in Florida suggests his anti-mask policies are backfiring. They have been hugely successful in one way, however: DeSantis is becoming a conservative media darling. If he can successfully navigate a reelection race next year, DeSantis will be one of the hot favorites to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 -- if Donald Trump decides to pass.

Critics can accuse DeSantis of putting politics before lives. But he is speaking for millions of pandemic skeptics on the right. And he's showing the kind of ruthlessness necessary to rise in the Republican bear pit.

Cape Coral, Florida (WINK)

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The world and America

Fighting is intensifying between the Taliban and government of Afghanistan.

An Olympic sprinter from Belarus says her government tried to force her back to Minsk.

And wildfires in Turkey are erasing farms and forcing tourists to flee.

Meanwhile in America, at least 10 people were injured in a mass shooting in New York City.

A Connecticut claimed a record for the world's biggest mouth.

A shipwreck is leaking oil off of Georgia's coast.

'It will be hard not to hit her with it'

The jokes are only getting uglier as Republican and Democratic legislators face off. Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy quipped Saturday that he'd like to hit Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the speaker's gavel, if Republicans take control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms and he becomes speaker. "I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it," McCarthy said in audio posted to Twitter by a Main Street Nashville reporter. The Republican leader made the comments after he was handed an oversized gavel during a fundraising event in the state.

Iran nuclear deal faces new crisis

Hopes the US and Iran could agree on terms to restore a nuclear deal were already waning. Then an oil tanker off the coast of Oman was attacked.

The United States has joined Israel and the UK in blaming Iran for an alleged drone attack which killed two people onboard on the Mercer Street on Thursday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington is consulting with allies on "an appropriate response, which will be forthcoming." It is not clear what that response will be, but any military reprisal would significantly increase tensions with Iran -- and challenge its new hardline President Ibrahim Raisi, who takes office this week.

In such circumstances, it is hard to see Tehran make the nuclear concessions that Washington wants. The attack could also make it much harder for the Biden administration to sell any new deal with the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, talks in Vienna have stalled and it's not clear if Raisi will be as open to compromise than his predecessor Hassan Rouhani, who agreed to the previous deal with the Obama administration.

Iran apparently wants guarantees that a future US President would not walk out of the next deal (as Trump did with the last one). President Joe Biden can hardly promise that, given Republicans' unanimous opposition to the deal. But admitting the deal is dead would also inflict a serious blow on Biden's own presidency, since he made restoring the agreement — which is highly valued by America's European allies — a cornerstone of his foreign policy.

There are still strong reasons for Tehran to stay at the negotiating table; the country badly needs economic sanctions strangling its economy lifted and Ayatollah Khamenei ultimately has the final say. But with Iranian centrifuges spinning and diplomacy at a standstill, Biden may soon face the question that Trump apparently didn't bother to consider when he withdrew from the deal in the first place: How can the US stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, without plunging into another disastrous war?

Thanks for reading.

On Monday, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro receives Portugal's president in Brasilia. The 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting takes place. And fully vaccinated foreign tourists arriving from "amber" list countries will be allowed to enter England, Scotland and Wales without having to quarantine.