O, Florida. HANDOUT / GETTY IMAGES

And so we find this weekend the Republican governor Ron DeSantis completely opening Florida while the state is still far from out of the pandemic woods. Florida still averages 3,000 cases and something like 100 COVID-related deaths per day. Reopening did not work at all in July. It's not going to work in September. But he still did it. And he also "banned local fines against people who refuse to wear masks."

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But what DeSantis refuses to grasp is the obvious fact that the economy of his state closed on its own. Sure, a few bars and diners can operate as if the pandemic is over, but it's hard to imagine Florida's tourism bouncing back simply because the governor says: "We're open for business." It's also really amazing to see that if you are white and a leader of the party that white people get to have all for themselves, you are permitted to kill thousands of lives, many of which are white.

Back when the US had 160,000 deaths (it now has 206,000), Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, spoke for many capitalists when he recommended that the whole of the US should commit to a real six-week lockdown "to save both lives and the economy." Now we know that a lockdown, though effective, may not even be needed. The coronavirus code can be cracked with masks and basic social distancing practices alone.

The example of the Japanese economy is right there for all to see. There was no shutdown in Japan because the social habits of the majority of its citizens kept the pandemic in check. As the Atlantic reported at the end of August, "the country currently has approximately 98 percent fewer COVID-19 deaths than the United States."

Also:

Let's turn to the other hill that the GOP keeps running up and getting beat down: Obamacare.

On Sunday, the Editorial Board of the intellectual wing of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, posted an op-ed called "The GOPs ObamaCare Self-Sabotage." The piece drips with frustration. The nomination of Judge Barrett and the Supreme Court would have been smooth if the GOP had not, in the middle of a pandemic, submitted to the court yet another challenge to the Obamacare.

WSJ:

President Trump is at the Supreme Court trying to strip away the peace of mind from more than 100 million people with pre-existing conditions, Joe Biden said last Sunday. If Republicans confirm a nominee, he warned on Wednesday womens rights as it relates to everything for medical health care, is going to be gone. Nancy Pelosi claimed that the President is rushing a confirmation vote because Nov. 10 is when the arguments begin on the Affordable Care Act.

And so with indirection, the Democratic party seems to have found some direction.

Indeed, Biden even had a moment of brilliance when he described many of the survivors of the deadly virus as stuck with "preconditions."

CNN: "Biden made specific reference to some of the lingering tolls of the illness, including scarring of the lungs and heart damage, describing those complications as 'the next deniable pre-existing condition.'"

There is no way the Dems can beat Barrett's nomination, and in my opinion they should just ignore it. (The GOP cheated, they've already won). Instead, Dems should focus on beating Trump and winning the Senate, but as the pro-business Wall Street paper knows, and what will certainly be indicated in coming polls, is this approach (Barrett = No Cheap Health Care During a Pandemic and High Unemployment) will reach a large number voters who have little to no idea about the Supreme Court lies committed by the GOP in 2016, or why Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death matters, but who are by no means in the dark about hospital bills and the debt collectors and escalating court fees.

In this way, Dems will not orient themselves toward the past but toward a very visible future.

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Link:

American Health Will Sink the GOP in November - TheStranger.com