Florida storms Archives

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis prepares for the storm. (Pensito Illustration)

Today Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 24-176, placing 54 Florida counties under a state of emergency, including Hillsborough County, where I live. A tropical wave, named Invest 97L, could become Tropical Storm Debby over the next 36 to 48 hours and veer up Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Gov. Ron is grandstanding (again). He’s trying to deflect attention away from his latest embarrassing “Stop Woke” loss in federal court and the growing media focus on his cruel and cynical mini-Project 2025 experiments on the Free State of Florida.

As a native Floridian and veteran of numerous storms, it seems to me to be a bit premature to start pulling on the white high-heeled shrimp boots, but I think Ron’s afraid of getting caught unprepared for what looks to be a rather large, wet, but (hopefully) not awful storm.

And it’s easier to declare a nearly statewide state of emergency than it is to head off a double-digit rate hike by Citizens Property Insurance, the state’s insurer of last resort for over 1.2 million policies.

Thanks, Ron. I almost forgot about all the book banning and climate change–denying you are doing for five seconds.

Off to the liquor store for hurricane supplies …

Tag: Florida storms

Ron Versus Debby

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), accusing Democrats of creating Hurricane Helene for political purposes.

“Liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”

— Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney finding that Georgia’s six-week abortion law violates Georgia’s Constitution, reports the AP.

“Maybe we’ll pay off the $35 trillion US debt in crypto. I’ll write on a little piece of paper ‘$35 trillion crypto we have no debt.’ That’s what I like.”

— Donald Trump, floating a plan to address the federal budget deficit and demonstrating his deep understanding of the crypto marketplace.

“To my friends in Nebraska, that one electoral vote could be the difference between Harris being president and not, and she’s a disaster for Nebraska and the world.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, on his trip to Nebraska to push for the state’s Republican leadership to change how it awards its electoral votes.

“I will if he does. That’s a trade-off I’d do.”

— George Clooney, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, responding to Donald Trump’s call for him “to get out of politics.”

Numerati

254,000

“The pace of hiring picked up strongly in September and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, signs the economy had continued momentum in a month the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate cut in four years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

49% to 44%

A new Susquehanna poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally among likely voters, 49% to 44%.

40 trillion

$55 million

Kamala Harris raised about $55 million in high-dollar events in California this weekend, a haul that pads her financial advantage over Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports.

57%

A new NBC News poll finds about 57% of voters report feeling negatively about Project 2025, with 51% saying they see the proposal “very” negatively and another 7% saying they view it “somewhat” negatively. Just 4% of voters reported viewing the conservative policy plan positively.