Despite massive loophole in restrictions, California and Florida saw similar COVID results by Guy Benson

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Credit where it’s due: This Associated press The story highlights a reality that seriously undermines a narrative – adopted by many in the media – that imposing more COVID restrictions equates to greater “security” and “following the science.” A health official in the Biden administration was baffled by the California-Florida disconnect on MSNBC recently, and here’s the AP further shedding light on the disturbing truth:

Very different approaches. “Almost identical” COVID results. More details:

California and Florida both have a COVID-19 case rate of around 8,900 per 100,000 population since the start of the pandemic, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And both rank in the middle of states for COVID-19 death rates – Florida was 27th Friday; California was 28th. Connecticut and South Dakota are another example. Both rank among the 10 worst states for COVID-19 death rates. Yet Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, has imposed numerous statewide restrictions over the past year after an early rise in the number of deaths, while South Dakota Governor Republican Kristi Noem has not issued a warrant as virus deaths soared in the fall.

We already know New York has been a disaster both on COVID and economically. But as you delve a little deeper into the comparison between California and Florida, more facts emerge. California has slightly better per capita death and case rates, although the two states sit roughly in the middle of the pack nationally on the old metric. Florida, of course, has an older population. Before the pandemic hit, Florida’s unemployment rate was one point higher than California’s (3.3% and 4.3%, respectively). By the end of the year, California’s unemployment rate had climbed to 9.3%, while Florida’s was only 5.1%. In 2020, California lost 1.63 million jobs, compared to about 583,000 in Florida. The media is obsessed with the attack on Florida and its Republican governor, but the data tells a story that doesn’t fit their preferred scenario. Even pieces designed to criticize Ron DeSantis end up turning into frustrating territory for those who have been married to the “ DeathSantis ” thing:

Some people, like this infamous leftist hack columnist Los Angeles Times cannot deal with empirical truths that conflict with his partisan feelings, so they resort to Baseless Conspiracy Theories:

This did not happen, and the madman he referred to was exposed as a liar and charged with multiple crimes. But some media figures just can’t leave it because it’s easier to hang on to conspiracies than to realize that your passionately held partisan dogma may be incorrect. Since we started this post with a mainstream news organization recognizing truths that many in their tribe refuse to acknowledge, what about another? Via ABC News, at the end of last week:

Despite calls for national unity and bipartisanship, President Joe Biden and his key aides have refused to give the Trump administration credit for rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine in the country while relying heavily on a system established by their predecessors.… Biden and his top aides have repeatedly accused the Trump administration of having “no plan.” … While Biden purchased additional vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna were still expected to increase their supply throughout the year. Also, Biden’s playbook for vaccine distribution relied heavily on a system created by the Trump administration, including federal partnerships with state officials and agreements with local pharmacies. In fact, the federal pharmacy program created by Trump’s aides is what Biden relied on last week to expand eligibility to teachers. And when Biden called for “100 million shots in 100 days” – a rate of about 1 million shots per day – former health officials noted that the United States had already reached this pace the week of Biden’s inauguration mid-January … With three vaccines now authorized by regulators, the strengthening of the supply is indeed a victory. But he’s also the one Biden celebrated as only the success of his administration without acknowledging that he was relying on Trump-era contracts to achieve this.

You might call this policy cynical and predictable as usual, but Biden explicitly campaigned to unify the country, bridge divisions and reach the other side of the aisle. It’s not that.



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