Monday, December 7, 2020

I’ve been out of pocket today and really haven’t even been in the mood to look at the news. So, this will be a short, sweet, and somewhat shallow wrap up of today’s foolishness. Granted, I’ve said that before and wound up going nuts, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. And a programming note: I have a solid chunk of Actual Paying Work to have done by Friday, and while it’s almost certain I’ll wait until Thursday evening/Friday morning, it may impact this week’s output. Anyhow.

Rebekah Jones, the Florida data scientists who made news back in May when she got fired from the state department of health for refusing to juke the numbers at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request, had her home raided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement agency. Announcing the event on Twitter, Jones said the agents took her computer and data as well as pointing guns at her and her children. The FDLE acknowledged they served the warrant this morning. She was previously the geographic information system analyst for the state.

Since getting canned by DeSantis for refusing to lie to make him look better, Jones has maintained the Florida COVID Action website to track and analyze all the data concerning the pandemic that’s been ravaging the country and the world all year. Initially fired for speaking out against the state’s deliberate misinformation campaign, Jones offered daily updates on how the virus was affecting the Sunshine State. She also maintained The COVID Monitor, which tracked how the pandemic was affecting schools across the country from Kindergarten to twelfth grade.

The COVID-19 dashboard Jones built for the state received national praise and since her firing she’s been crowdsourcing funds to keep her private website up and running. According to the FDLE, the Department of Health requested the warrant claiming someone hacked their database back in November and sent a message saying the department should act before another 17,000 died of the disease. They claim Jones hacked the database. She maintains she didn’t because she doesn’t know how to.

In any event, FDLE agents came to her door this morning at 8:30 demanding to be let in. Jones left them hanging for twenty minutes before acquiescing, whereupon the agents stormed in with guns drawn and screaming. Obviously, a data scientist and her family are that dangerous, but this year has taught us the long arm of the law sees no need to be subtle when it feels it should be able to go where it wants. As of right now, Jones plans to get another computer and get back on the horse. Florida hasn’t announced where it’ll go from here.

Folks, this is the real deal. You’re concerned about censorship? This is the real deal, not Twitter preventing some dork from posting more screeds about how the Jews are behind Trump’s election defeat. You’re worried about an over intrusive government trampling on fundamental rights promised in the Constitution? This is the real deal, not some imagined scenario where a Biden administration finally takes away your guns like you’ve been fearing since Clinton was elected. You’re worried about an unchecked executive using its power to punish someone who doesn’t toe the line? This is the real deal, not some imaginary theory about the IRS being mean to conservative groups who advocate cheating on taxes.

DeSantis is a known Trump toady and a serious scumbag, which seem to go hand-in-hand these days. His government initially got kudos for the way they were handling COVID-19 in Florida before Spring Break blew it all to hell and they decided to hide the truth. He also made the news by leading the charge to keep ex-cons from being able to vote, even though the state’s residents voted in favor of it by an almost two-thirds majority. So him using the state’s power to punish a whistleblower isn’t too far a stretch of credibility. The lady should be thankful she’s white middle-class and not Breonna Taylor, so no member of her family was shot. Not even her dog, and that’s usually the first thing cops go for when kicking doors down.

And are the Trump faithful, who’s always screaming about governmental thuggery and free speech, up in arms about this obvious violation of someone’s rights? Well, no, they’re still planning a civil war because Georgia refuses to overturn the election at Trump’s behest. Indeed, the state recertified the electoral win for Joe Biden, making it the third time he’s won the Peach State. The next track they see is getting the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballots, even though the rule under question was passed by the state’s Republican congress. Knowing which side their bread is buttered on, Republican members of the U.S. Congress are backing Trump’s efforts to deny reality and encouraging the deluded boobs that make up his supporters in their lust for violence.

So there’s your Monday, friends and neighbors. The state government of Florida is putting the thumb down on whistleblowers while the looney MAGA horde deludes itself into believing they have the right to kill the rest of us because they refuse to accept most of the country can’t stand the man they see as the New Messiah. They not only think it’s justified, but they’re also sporting a blue-vein throbber at the idea.

Well, I say bring it on. Those chumps have been talking this sort of nonsense for at least 30 years but are content to let the occasional “lone wolf” do the work for them. Money talks and bullshit walks, but it’s way past time conservatives put their money where their mouth is. They don’t think people will shoot back.