Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Free State of Florida” signs would be simply wacky advertising if it weren’t for the real damage caused by the actual laws imposed by his administration.
Let’s call out deception whenever we see it. The opposite of a free state would be a slave state, which Florida hasn’t been since 1886, so yes, to proclaim at the state line that we are a free state is historically accurate. But February is the month we celebrate African-American history, so let’s assume the governor isn’t making a reference to Black history.
No, he’s suggesting and hoping we’ll believe he’s a hands-off, personal choice, live-and-let-live kind of guy. Florida citizens know a different type of governor.
DeSantis is the governor who signed the “Stop ‘Woke’ Act” (HB 7), which prohibits teaching or instruction that “exposes, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels students or employees” to believe any of eight concepts. Challenges to some of the provisions are still pending, but the intent of the law was not to expand freedom in the classroom or workplace, but to restrict it.
Schools especially have felt the brunt of the law. Threats for non-compliance and uncertainty about what compliance looks like are resulting in faculty leaving, vacancies left with few, if any, applicants and families reconsidering a Florida public education.
In Florida, we are now “free” to work in the stifling heat without guarantee of heat protection. We’re “free” from seeing the word “climate” in state government documents. We’re “free” from the possibility of trying cultivated meat if and when it becomes available for purchase.
There are too many “freedoms” to list. If I weren’t exhausted by all this freedom, I would write DeSantis a letter asking to be freed from using my tax dollars for the big “Free State” signs.
Nancy S. Cohen, Lighthouse Point
You call this ‘free’?
The governor’s latest taxpayer-funded political promotion are the state’s new welcome signs to visitors and tourists upon arrival: “Welcome to the Free State of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis.”
Florida, where freedom goes to die.
Jude Smallwood, Royal Palm Beach
Questioning a DWS endorsement
The Sun Sentinel’s editorial endorsement of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is essentially rewarding the Democrat who gave us Donald Trump.
That’s because, during the 2016 presidential campaign, Wasserman Schultz was chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, which promoted Hillary Clinton’s campaign, even as she was losing to Bernie Sanders in a number of Democratic primaries even though Sanders is to the left of Lenin and is a poor public speaker.
In the current campaign, Wasserman Schultz continues to express loyal support for Joe Biden, who the congresswoman must know cannot possibly defeat Donald Trump in November. Under that scenario, we will once again end up with Donald Trump.
David Arlein, Boca Raton
Separation of powers
Thank you for your excellent editorial analysis of the Supreme Court’s anti-democratic decision to remove the authority of the federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer and give that power to the courts. We can anticipate a similar attempt to eviscerate state agencies.
I served as the director of communications and consumer education for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection for 23 years. Our jurisdiction was broad, from unfair trade practices to food and product safety. We knew our laws intimately. Thus, when faced with deadly collapsing baby cribs, Chinese pet food contaminated with melamine or an unregistered contractor scamming the elderly, we were able to act immediately.
We acted with the intent of the law — not as a politically driven court directive.
The justices and judges appointed by Donald Trump and Gov. DeSantis are replacing laws with their personal beliefs. The Supreme Court’s Chevron decision effectively ends our system of checks and balances. Remember, justices: The Constitution created three separate, but equal, branches of government.
June S. Neal, Delray Beach
