So why is DeSantis refusing to compel all Floridians to stay home? From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis has adopted whatever policies seem to mollify Donald Trump. That is no surprise. During the 2018 Florida gubernatorial primary, Trump endorsed DeSantis, effectively clinching the nomination for the previously obscure congressman. In return, Trump expects DeSantis to ensure that he’ll win Florida in the 2020 presidential election. But the governor has reportedly done little to help Trump, neglecting the state’s Republican infrastructure necessary to churn out GOP voters while paying insufficient fealty to the president. On March 5, Politico reported that the “bad blood” between the two men might soon spill out into the open.

It has not—probably because in the intervening weeks, DeSantis has adopted Trump’s disastrously negligent, hands-off approach to the virus.

Trump has richly rewarded DeSantis for toeing the White House’s line. The president showered DeSantis with praise at a Saturday press briefing, declaring: “He’s a very talented guy. He’s a very good governor. Everyone loves him. He’s doing a fantastic job for Florida.” The federal government has also given Florida adequate medical supplies from the national stockpile while denying them to states with Democratic governors. According to the Washington Post, for instance, Maine asked for a half-million N95 masks and received about 5 percent of what it requested. Florida, by contrast, requested 430,000 surgical masks, 180,000 N95 respirators, 82,000 face shields, and 238,000 gloves—and received it all within three days.

And yet, despite doing everything Trump could ask for, DeSantis has failed miserably to contain COVID-19. The state still isn’t testing nearly enough people, allowing the virus to spread silently while county officials implement public health measures that Desantis rejects. In the Miami region, infections may soon reach New York City levels, straining hospital capacity and forcing doctors to ration scarce equipment like ventilators. DeSantis has responded to this emerging catastrophe by looking the other way and continually targeting New Yorkers. In addition to the interstate checkpoints, the governor has stationed members of the National Guard at Florida’s airports, where troops screen travelers from the New York region and direct them to self-quarantine for two weeks. “After all the hard work,” DeSantis explained, “we don’t want it to now get seeded as people flee the hot zone.” His spokeswoman decried New Yorkers visiting Florida, accusing them of carrying the virus into Florida, “unwittingly or not.”


Randy Fine, a Republican state representative and DeSantis ally, was even more explicit in maligning New Yorkers. “Seems like some of our friends from New York are trying very hard to make us like New York,” Fine said on Monday. “We don’t know how many people those criminals spread the virus to here.”

Please enjoy a momentary distraction from an intrepid Swiss cow going about its business in the stunning Alpine mountains...

SECTION 17. Impeachment.—
(a) The governor, lieutenant governor, members of the cabinet, justices of the supreme court, judges of district courts of appeal, judges of circuit courts, and judges of county courts shall be liable to impeachment for misdemeanor in office. The house of representatives by two-thirds vote shall have the power to impeach an officer. The speaker of the house of representatives shall have power at any time to appoint a committee to investigate charges against any officer subject to impeachment.
(b) An officer impeached by the house of representatives shall be disqualified from performing any official duties until acquitted by the senate, and, unless impeached, the governor may by appointment fill the office until completion of the trial.
(c) All impeachments by the house of representatives shall be tried by the senate. The chief justice of the supreme court, or another justice designated by the chief justice, shall preside at the trial, except in a trial of the chief justice, in which case the governor shall preside. The senate shall determine the time for the trial of any impeachment and may sit for the trial whether the house of representatives be in session or not. The time fixed for trial shall not be more than six months after the impeachment. During an impeachment trial senators shall be upon their oath or affirmation. No officer shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the senate present. Judgment of conviction in cases of impeachment shall remove the offender from office and, in the discretion of the senate, may include disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit. Conviction or acquittal shall not affect the civil or criminal responsibility of the officer.

History.—Am. S.J.R. 459, 1987; adopted 1988; Am. proposed by Constitution Revision Commission, Revision No. 13, 1998, filed with the Secretary of State May 5, 1998; adopted 1998.

The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence, the Great Bubonic Plague, the Great Plague or the Plague, or less commonly the Great Mortality or the Black Plague, was the most devastating pandemic recorded in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which results in several forms of plague (septicemic, pneumonic and, the most common, bubonic), is believed to have been the cause.[4] The Black Death was the first major European outbreak of plague and the second plague pandemic. The plague created a number of religious, social and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.

The Black Death probably originated in Central Asia or East Asia, from where it travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343. From there, it was most likely carried by fleas living on the black rats that traveled on Genoese merchant ships, spreading throughout the Mediterranean Basin, reaching the rest of Europe via the Italian Peninsula.

The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population. In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 475 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century. It took 200 years for Europe's population to recover to its previous level, and some regions (such as Florence) only recovered by the 19th century. Outbreaks of the plague recurred until the early 20th century.