Kids sue Florida Governor Rick Scott for endangering their future by not combating climate change.

Anybody else ever get the feeling that Dick Scott is a reptile? Maybe that is why climate change does not bother him.

Courtesy of the New York Post:  

A group of kids is suing Florida Gov. Rick Scott, claiming he “endangered” their future and violated their constitutional rights by not doing anything to combat climate change. 

The youngsters filed their lawsuit on Monday in Leon County Court. 

“It is the responsibility of the state to uphold the constitution, and these young people have a fundamental right to a stable climate system,” said Guy Burns, lead counsel for the eight plaintiffs, most of whom are teens.

The youths are being represented by the Oregon-based nonprofit organization Our Children’s Trust, which is supporting similar suits from children across the country. 

They range in age from 10 to 20 years old — and include climate change activists Levi Draheim and Delaney Reynolds, who expressed their outrage in a statement. 

“The reason that I’m a part of this lawsuit is because I believe that the climate change crisis is the biggest threat that my generation will ever have to face,” Reynolds explained. 

“Right now we live in what I like to call the state of denial because the state of Florida is doing nothing to address climate change, but everything to cause it. That is completely immoral,” she said. “If we ever want to have a future of living here in Florida, if my children ever want to live here in Florida, we need to start working together to implement solutions for climate change or the state of Florida won’t exist.”

Damn, these kids today are nothing short of amazing.

I think I am going to start relaxing about the future. It seems to be in pretty good hands. 

So thanks to the pressure from those Parkland students Florida passed some gun control laws. So now the NRA is simply suing the state.

Courtesy of the BBC:  

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is suing Florida after it passed a gun control law in the wake of a school shooting that left 17 people dead. 

Governor Rick Scott, a staunch ally of the gun lobby, enacted the bill, which the NRA says violates the constitution. 

The law raises the legal age for buying rifles in Florida, but also allows the training and arming of school staff. 

It does not ban semi-automatic rifles like the one used in the 14 February massacre in Parkland. 

But it does introduce a three-day waiting period on all gun sales and a ban on bump stocks, a device that enables semi-automatic rifles to fire hundreds of rounds a minute.

The NRA filed its lawsuit on Friday just an hour after the bill was signed by the governor. 

One of its arguments is that the legislation violates the rights of young women as they are unlikely to commit violent crime.

Oh yeah, it's all about protecting young women. THAT sounds like something the NRA is well known for giving a shit about. 

By the way, whatever happened to all that "state's rights" rhetoric that the conservatives are famous for?

Not when it interferes with gun sales dammit!

It's not going to make a difference however.

As the great Joy Reid pointed out in her recent Daily Beast article, the NRA is losing.

CNN is holding a town hall and inviting Donald Trump and other Republican politicians to meet and talk to the family and victims of the Florida school shooting.

Courtesy of CNN: 

The school shooting in Florida this week has sparked a renewed call for lawmakers to take action, and some of the loudest voices demanding change are not even old enough to vote. 

The tragic event, which occurred Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, is one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern history. Seventeen people -- 14 students and three teachers -- were killed and many more injured. 

Now, led by the students, this South Florida community is demanding answers on how this could have occurred and are asking what steps will federal and state authorities take to prevent this from happening again.

To help facilitate the discussion, CNN has announced it will hold a nationally televised town hall with the victims' classmates, parents and community members. "Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action" will air live at 9 p.m., ET, on Wednesday, February 21 at the BB&T Center. 

In addition, President Donald Trump, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott, along with the state's Sen. Bill Nelson, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Ted Deutch have all been invited to participate in the town hall and hear directly from the grieving community.

Well first off Donald Trump will NEVER show.

Trump is the biggest coward to ever sit behind that desk in the Oval Office and the possibility that he might sit and listen to what these kids had to say in person is absolutely zero.

I mean can you even imagine how Trump would deal with the likes of Emma Gonzalez, or this young man?

Cameron Kasky, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School: “My message for the people in office is: you’re either with us or against us. We are losing our lives while the adults are playing around.” (via CNN) https://t.co/ShcPmXgXJR

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 18, 2018

I bet he is wetting his plus size Depends at the very thought.

And I would imagine that the same holds true for Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and the rest of the Republican politicians.

I hope that Bill Nelson and some of the other Democrats prioritize this however as it would provide a very powerful message to the voters come the 2018 and 2020 elections.

I know I'm going to be watching.

The New York Times gets their hands on the speaker list for the GOP convention. Guess whose name is not on it. Update!

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The roster of speakers obtained by The Times, and confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of the convention planning, reveals a lineup lacking many of the party’s rising stars. Instead, it features some of Mr. Trump’s eclectic collection of friends, celebrities and relatives, from his Slovenian supermodel wife to professional golfer Natalie Gulbis. 

The parade of people seems to have been selected to broaden Mr. Trump’s demographic reach. 

There are several notable women speaking. They include Pam Bondi, the Florida attorney general, who tangled on television with the CNN anchor Anderson Cooper after the Orlando, Fla., nightclub massacre; Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission; Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma; Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa and Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania. 

There are a few African-Americans, like Jamiel Shaw Sr., who became an outspoken advocate for tougher immigration laws after his son was killed in 2008 by an undocumented immigrant; and Darryl Glenn, who is running for Senate in Colorado. 

From sports there is Mr. Tebow, the former quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner who is known for his conservative views; Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts organization; and Ms. Gulbis.

Though Rudy Giuliani, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Joni Ernts, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Scott Walker, and Mitch McConnell are on the list the bigger more recognizable political names are all missing.

Instead Trump has filled out the roster with members of his own family who each have a prominent speaking slot on each of the four nights.

So you would think that Trump would be scraping the bottom of the barrel to flesh it out a little.

Well apparently there is a bottom that he is unwilling to scrape:

But what is striking, as much as who is on the list, is who is not. Several figures Mr. Trump had said he would invite to speak, like the boxing promoter Don King and Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, were not included.

(Just take a moment to mull over how delicious it is that Sarah Palin is mentioned in the same paragraph as boxing pimp and known murderer Don King.)

So Sarah Palin did NOT get a ticket to the big show?

Damn I am very surprised to hear that.

I was convinced that not only was she going to be there but that she would have Dakota Meyer on her arm when she arrived.

So what do we think?

Is Sarah being dissed by Trump, is this New York Times list incomplete, or is Palin simply too afraid to show up knowing that the protesters outside will be carrying guns?

Update: Well according to multiple sources it appears that Mike Pence has won the honor of standing side by side with Donald Trump as he loses this election.

Courtesy of Roll Call:

Donald Trump is planning to announce that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is his choice for his vice presidential running mate, according to a Republican with direct knowledge of the decision.

Well arguably Pence is the best choice among the group of losers that Trump had to choose from, but he brings significant baggage with him, and in the end he will provide virtually no benefit whatsoever.

Trouble in Trump paradise as bickering among top aides leads to another "You're fired" moment.

Karen Giorno with Donald Trump.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign on Wednesday night announced it had parted ways with its national political director, Rick Wiley — a move that appears to stem in part from an ongoing turf war atop the campaign. 

Wiley was the first high-profile hire by Paul Manafort, the veteran GOP operative who Trump brought on board in late March to help professionalize a campaign that had cruised through the GOP primary season with a skeleton staff.

But Manafort and Wiley quickly found themselves at odds with Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and key members of the team he had built. 

Sources in and around the campaign told POLITICO that Wiley was not responsive to Lewandowski or other officials from the old regime, and that he had clashed in recent weeks with Karen Giorno, a Lewandowski ally who ran Trump’s campaign during the Florida GOP primary. 

Gee another organization put together by Donald Trump is starting to crumble? Who could have predicted such a thing?

You know, besides everybody.

By the way if you think that the name Karen Giorno sounds vaguely familiar well you are probably right.

Also courtesy of Politico:

The consultant Donald Trump hired in November to lead his Florida campaign abruptly resigned from a previous post with Gov. Rick Scott’s administration after a blow up at a Disney G.O.P. fundraiser, according to former party and administration staff.

Karen Giorno, who served as Scott’s external affairs director in 2011, now has the title of southeast political director for Trump’s campaign. Scott has also endorsed Trump's campaign. 

That year, the keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Florida’s Victory Dinner was Sarah Palin. 

Giorno wanted better seating for the Palin family at the Victory Dinner, according to the sources, which led her to try and rearrange seating in the ballroom at the Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa where the event was being held.

She received complaints from RPOF staff who had made the seating charts, and was reminded the event was a political function and that she worked for Scott’s administration, an official state job. 

“She was upset about how things were working with the Palin Victory Dinner event,” said a former party employee. “She yelled at RPOF staff and got into an altercation with some fundraising folks, then was summarily told to leave the room and not come back.”

Interesting.

Kind of makes one wonder if this most recent conflict was in some way Palin related as well.

Or perhaps it is yet another weird Palin coincidence.

(H/T to Martha.)

P.S. Since this post mentions Palin I should let you guys know that the trial call for Track's case has once again been continued.

I wonder how many times they can actually do that?

Governor Rick Scott actually makes a commercial attacking the woman who called him out in a local Starbucks for cutting Medicaid.

"Latte Liberal?" Well that woman certainly got under SOMEBODY'S skin.

But was she really that wrong?

Courtesy of the LA Times: 

Local fact-checkers have picked apart Jennings' spiel and found it wanting in a few particulars, though it certainly remains well within the accepted margin of error of standard political discourse. Scott's efforts to bring Florida within the ACA's orbit have been halting and cynical. He opposed Medicaid expansion at first, then reversed himself and offered to expand it for three years only, after which it would have to be reauthorized. But he didn't push hard enough to get even that through the Legislature. 

Scott has attacked the Obama administration for failing to extend federal funding for its low-income pool, a program aimed at helping Florida hospitals with the costs of uncompensated care that expired in 2015. But as federal officials have pointed out, the remedy for the loss of this funding is to expand Medicaid, which Florida has refused to do. Essentially, Scott wants the feds to pick up the tab for his own failing. 

Then there's HB 1411, the law Scott signed in March, which purports to cut off state funding of abortion, but imposes excessive restrictions on abortion clinics similar to those already being challenged in Texas and elsewhere. Scott tried to minimize the impact of the law by saying that Planned Parenthood only received $114,000 a year in state funding, but Planned Parenthood says the real sum is more than twice that, and adds that "because the legislation is broadly written, Planned Parenthood will also lose access to reimbursements from local government entities and federal funding from the Title X program that is contracted through local county Health Departments."

So no she wasn't wrong.

And as for those jobs that Scott is bragging about, well really had little or nothing to do with his policies.

In fact the job growth in this country is typically credited to President Obama and his administration.

You know, the President that Rick Scott typically vilifies at every opportunity.

Washington Planned Parenthood clinic set on fire as Republicans continue attacks in response to doctored videos.

Courtesy of KGW:

Pullman Fire Department and Pullman Police Department both confirmed a fire at the Planned Parenthood. 

The fire started at around 3:30 a.m. along SE King Drive and caused extensive damage. Police said fire alarms and burglary alarms were tripped at the same time. 

Pullman fire said the fire is suspicious because it happened at Planned Parenthood. 

Around 4:45 p.m., Riordan said Pullman fire investigator Rich Dragoo informed them that the fire was arson. 

"This is an appalling act of violence towards Planned Parenthood, but unfortunately a predictable ripple effect from the false and incendiary attacks that fuel violence from extremists," added Karl Eastlund, CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater WA and North Idaho.

I think that this fire is undoubtedly the result of those doctored videos, and even though investigations launched in numerous states have found that NO fetal tissue was sold for profit, the politically motivated attacks continue.

In fact Florida Governor Rick Scott decided that since his investigation did not find the evidence he was hoping to find, that he would just withhold that information from the public: 

After the now-discredited videos accusing Planned Parenthood of selling fetal tissue came out, Republican politicians rushed in, demanding investigations and defunding efforts with an eye toward marginalizing or even destroying the women's health care provider. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida was particularly eager, sending a team of investigators into Planned Parenthood clinics in a fishing expedition to find malfeasance. 

That effort may end up backfiring. Politico Florida reported on Wednesday that Rick Scott's office suppressed the findings of the investigators, who found no evidence whatsoever of the alleged fetal tissue sales. The initial press release drafted by Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration indicated that "there is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics we investigated across the state." Emails obtained by Politico through a Freedom of Information Act request showed that the governor's office struck that language from the press release. 

Well I guess we can all look forward to a clinic in Florida suddenly bursting into flames as well, can't we ?

The "controversy" over the videos is also affecting the President's plan to promote Obamacare.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

The Obama administration on Wednesday awarded more than $1 million in grants to Planned Parenthood to help promote ObamaCare, a move that is drawing GOP criticism at a time when the healthcare provider is under congressional investigation. 

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) blasted the White House’s decision as “unconscionable” in light of allegations of illegal activity in the health provider’s fetal tissue program, which has prompted key Republicans to call for a total defunding of the organization. 

“A growing body of evidence suggests that Planned Parenthood broke federal law and now the Obama administration is thumbing its nose at Congress and taxpayers by using this backdoor maneuver to boost funding for the scandal-ridden abortion giant,” Black wrote in a statement Wednesday. 

She is the lead author of three bills to defund Planned Parenthood, one of which she says has been promised a vote by House GOP leadership.

Actually according to Mitch McConnell the Republicans don't have the votes to defund Planned Parenthood but he hopes that when President Trump, Carson, or Bush take office that will all change.

Which means that the Republicans are going to try and make this issue a central theme during the 2016 election, and that we can all expect more anti-abortion protests, more fire damaged clinics, and more political manipulations by those who want to deny women the right to control their own bodies.

Neil deGrasse Tyson schools Florida voters on the importance of electing scientifically literate politicians.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had choice words for the state of Florida Monday, saying he was “astonished” by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration’s alleged ban on using the words “climate change.” 

Speaking as part of a lecture series in Sarasota, Florida and at a press conference before it, the renowned scientist and science communicator said that he thought that the U.S., as a country, was above using science as a political debate. Tyson also said voters held responsibility for electing lawmakers like Scott, which points to the need to better educate voters about issues like climate change. 

“I don’t blame the politicians for a damn thing because we vote for the politicians,” he said. “I blame the electorate.” 

Tyson has a point: a poll last year found that Americans are, in general, less concerned about climate change than people in many other parts of the world. And though most Americans believe climate change is happening, many don’t fully understand why. 

Tyson also said that Florida officials should be worrying about what to do to prepare the state for the imminent threat of sea level rise, rather than restricting state workers from talking about climate change. 

“Now we have a time where people are cherry picking science,” he said. “The science is not political. That’s like repealing gravity because you gained 10 pounds last week.”

Professor Tyson's point about Florida's voters being accountable is exactly right. And if they don't start to educate themselves, and allow their children to be educated, then the future of their state is in terrible jeopardy.

Personally I think that politicians should have to pass a basic science test before running for election in this country. At this point things are simply becoming too dire to allow any more idiots like Rick Scott, or Ted Cruz, to hold office.

And while we're at it they should probably also be tested on the Constitution, basic math, and women's reproductive systems. Because many of them seem to have trouble with those subjects as well.

The ill wind of Fan-gate continues to blow in the face of Rick Scott.

Yesterday when I shared video of the awkward six minute plus pause before Rick Scott emerged from his sarcophagus to join Charlie Crist on stage for that Florida debate, I failed to include Scott's answer as to why he is such a baby.

I apologize for my indefensible oversight. Here it is.

And here is how AATP reported on it:  

“And Governor Scott, why the delay in coming out over a fan?” moderator Elliott Rodriguez asked. 

Scott, channeling Sarah Palin, offered a garbled, word salady response that is an embarrassment to any and all speakers of the English language. “I waited to see be he till we figured out he was gonna show up. He said he was gonna come to the, uh, he sss he said he was gonna come to the debate, so why come out until he’s ready?”

Yes Scott was merely waiting backstage for Crist to get off his ass and agree to participate in the debate, which clearly he had a whole six minutes earlier.

(I guess in reptile numbers that was really only a few seconds.)

Now if you think that initial response was awkward, trust me it really never got any better no matter how many times he was asked.

CNN's the Wolf tried asking him about it:

Blitzer asked, “What was the big deal?… Why was this even an issue going into the debate?” Scott didn’t directly answer, telling Blitzer that the reason he didn’t come out is because he was told Crist wouldn’t be coming out and debate organizers did not tell him to come on stage. (It’s worth noting here that the debate had started and Crist gave answers for several minutes before Scott appeared on-stage.) 

Blitzer brought up the debate agreement, which had a note from Crist that he may need a fan. Scott said he hadn’t seen that agreement, and as opposed to last night, when it sounded like he adamantly refused to come on stage if Crist had the fan, he said today, “I don’t care if he brings a microwave, if he brings a humidifier.”

A reporter later in the day tried asking him about it:  

"Charlie was throwing a fit," he told reporters. "He was saying he wasn't going to show up, so we waited to see if he would show up."

Charlie was throwing a fit? Really?

Did Scott not see the footage from the debate?

Of course for the best response to Fan-gate you have to go to Stephen Colbert: 

"Clearly, for Scott's campaign, last night blew," he continued. "And, if you turned the switch the other way, it sucked." 

But Colbert did think the whole thing was a little unfair. 

"I don't blame Crist for wanting to bring his own coolant," Colbert said. "Based on that skin tone, I'd say his core temperature's about 450 degrees. But why should Crist get to cool himself with a fan, but Scott isn't allowed to control his temperature by laying on a chilled rock?"

And just when you thought that nobody was going to do anything dumber than Sarah Palin allowing her family to start and lose a public fight in Anchorage.

Could the outcome of the Florida gubernatorial race be decided by something as simple as a fan? It just might.

Okay I originally saw this last night on the Rachel Maddow show and I was so stupefied that my jaw was literally hanging down. I just sat there waiting for Rick Scott to take the stage, completely amazed by the fact that he might not do so simply because his opponent had a fan under his podium. 

Here is how the Tampa Bay Times reported on the incident now referred to as, of course, "Fan-gate:" 

In the weirdest start of a gubernatorial debate, Florida Gov. Rick Scott initially refused to take the stage Wednesday night because Democrat Charlie Crist insisted on using a fan to keep him cool. 

The Republican governor finally emerged at least six minutes late as flummoxed moderators struggled on live TV to figure out what to do with a bemused Crist standing solo on stage at Broward College.

A Crist adviser tweeted this out early this morning making the case that Crist was in the right.

Debate "organizers" are wrong. Rules were settled two days prior to the debate. pic.twitter.com/JIRbWAsxdr
— Kevin Cate (@KevinCate) October 16, 2014

Hell I don't know if Charlie Crist pulled a fast one, or if Rick Scott is really this petulant, but either way it is never a good thing for the state, that you are asking to elect you to their highest office, to see you throwing a tantrum and threatening to take your ball and go home over something so incredibly trivial.

I think if Crist wins this election that he should get that fan plated in gold and put it up on  a display case in the Governor's mansion.

New political ads from Republicans show that they really (DON'T) understand women voters.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

In the latest attempt to woo younger, more diverse voters, a Republican group has released an ad campaign comparing voting for various Republican gubernatorial candidates to Say Yes To The Dress, a reality show centered around women picking the right wedding gown. 

One ad, paid for by the College Republican National Committee, shows a young woman trying on a wedding dress and raving about Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) as her mother urges her to pick Charlie Crist instead. 

“Mom, this is my decision. And I see a better future with Rick Scott,” the bride says. At the end, she, her mother, and her African American maid of honor squeal and toast with champagne. 

Facing dismal approval numbers with women, minorities, and college students, Republican Party strategists have publicly urged candidates to talk to these voters in a new way. So far, however, the script hasn’t changed much. “Say Yes To Rick Scott” comes on the heels of another recent ad by Americans for Shared Prosperity that compares President Obama to an abusive boyfriend. “The goal here is to communicate with women voters in a way that outside groups and campaigns haven’t,” Americans for Shared Prosperity head John Jordan told Politico with the release of the ad.

By relegating them to an outdated stereotype? 

What's next?

Will the Republicans attempt to blame anger at their party's platform on "that time of the month?"

Will they suggest that women should vote for them because they would make it so hard to compete against men in the workplace that they would be forced to stay at home and be better mothers?

Or perhaps they simply want to slip them a roofie, take their unconscious body to the polls, "help" them to vote, and then try to convince them afterward that were sending out signals that they wanted that to happen.  

Seriously, how could any woman vote for these idiots?

More on the real Obamacare "death panels."

Courtesy of Americans Against the Tea Party:  

This 32-year-old mother of three was trying to sell a vacuum cleaner when she died, one of her three jobs she worked in order to financially support her family. Dill died due to a treatable heart condition she had but could never receive care because she could not afford insurance. 

Charlene Dill only made $9,000 a year and was working three jobs. She even tried applying for Obamacare but was denied due to her “high income.” This is a perfect example as to why Florida needs to expand the Medicaid plan, but the Republican Party, once again, is ignoring the issue. 

Kathleen Voss Woolrich, Dill’s best friend, tried to help raise money in order for Dill to pay for the care she needed. Woolrich used crowdfunding sites to try to raise the money; instead she raised money for her friend’s funeral. Woolrich rightfully blamed Florida politicians for Dill’s death. “You see the main argument Republicans use is that it’s some lazy person who needs Medicaid expansion. That those of us living without healthcare or dental care are lazy. But my friend, a single beautiful mother, worked three jobs,” Woolrich wrote in a moving blog post after Dill’s death. 

“I am burying my best friend because of the policies of the Republican Party. I am burying my best friend because had Medicaid expanded, her needs would have been met.”

Such an unnecessary end to a young life.

As somebody who also falls between the gap left by my Republican Governor's refusal to adopt the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. I totally relate to this poor woman's situation.

I voted for this President twice, and supported the plan to implement the Affordable Care Act all the way, only to find that I, like many others, will not benefit simply because I happen to live in a state where Republicans rule the day.

Because of these heartless POS there are many of us here, and in other red states, who could get sick and die simply because of their refusal to support a plan advocated by a hated ideological enemy.

It is a tragic shame that this young mother died, and I believe that every death that would have been prevented by an expanded Medicaid, is a homicide that the governors of their states should be held accountable for.

Are there death panels?

You bet your ass there are. Only we know them by another name, Republican administrations.

Governor Rick Scott forced to okay 8 foot "Festivus" pole made out of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans. How's that whole religious displays on public property thing working out for you Florida?

I swear that video gave me a case of the giggles.

Here is more courtesy of Raw Story:  

Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) office has approved the request of a self-proclaimed “militant atheist” to install an 8-foot-tall Festivus pole made of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans in the Florida State Capitol building. 

According to Tamarac Talk, Deerfield Beach resident Chaz Stevens asked for permission to honor the holiday created by the television show Seinfield after learning that there was a Christian nativity manger and a Three Wise Men display. 

“I figured one ridiculous act required another,” Stevens noted. 

After the activist forced Deerfield Beach to allow him to erect his pole outside the main fire station last year, the city voted to ban all religious displays. 

Stevens plans to install the pole at the Capitol building on Wednesday. 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) was also forced to approve a Festivus pole for his state’s Capitol building this year.

Merry Festivus everybody!

Florida Governor Rick Scott attempts to sabotage Obamacare launch by refusing to allow ACA navigators to work in his state.

Courtesy of the Miami Herald:  

The outreach workers known as navigators won’t be allowed to help people sign up for health insurance on the grounds of county health departments, according to a memo from the Florida Department of Health. 

The order from Deputy Health Secretary C. Meade Grigg went out late Monday to the 60 local health department directors across the state. 

Grigg declined to comment on the directive. But health department spokeswoman Ashley Carr said there was a need for “clarity” and “a consistent message” across the agency. 

“Navigators are not acting on behalf of the Department of Health and this program has raised privacy concerns due to the consumer information that will be gathered for use in a federal database,” Carr wrote in a statement. 

Health and Human Services Department spokesman Fabien Levy called the Florida directive “another blatant and shameful attempt to intimidate groups who will be working to inform Americans about their new health insurance options and help them enroll in coverage, just like Medicare counselors have been doing for years.”

Of course these navigators are crucial to the success of the Affordable Care Act.

This from Public Health Newswire:

To help consumers understand all their new options, the law is creating a formal “navigator” program and other in-person assistance programs designed to help consumers enroll and learn about how to access care under their new coverage. Organizations and health entities can apply to become formal navigators and educate and guide consumers through their application processes. 

Among the requirements, navigators must achieve certain training standards such as being equipped to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to their consumers, and maintaining knowledge about racial, ethnic, and cultural groups in their area. 

ACA workers who speak your language, understand the options, and are able to help you access the best and most affordable health care coverage available in your state. Yeah you can definitely see WHY the Republican Governors would fight that all the way.

You know I am beyond tired of of these obstructionist assholes doing everything in their power to keep people from accessing affordable health care.

There are REAL people out there suffering, and potentially dying, due to a lack of health coverage, and THESE bastards would rather keep them from getting the help they need rather than allow the American people to recognize that THEY have been fighting against a program that will greatly benefit them and their families once it is fully implemented.

It is time for Americans to vote this idiots out and pave the way for politicians who actually want to help their constituents rather than spend all of their time sucking Koch.

Governor Rick Scott's blurring of the line between church and state, by allowing public school students to read "inspirational messages" at assemblies, has attracted support....from Floridia Satanists.

Courtesy of New York Daily News:  

Florida Gov. Rick Scott doesn’t seem to have many fans these days. But he can count on the backing of one group: Satanists. 

Members of the Satanic Temple are gearing up to rally on behalf of the Republican leader to commend “his defense of religious liberty,” the group said in a news release. 

In particular, Satanists say they are impressed by Scott’s support of Senate Bill 98, which allows school districts to draft policies allowing students to read “inspirational messages” at assemblies and sports events. 

“The bill is something we felt we could latch onto,” Lucien Greaves, a spokesperson for the Satanic Temple, told the Daily News. “It does allow for an alternative point of view.” 

In the release, the group praises the bill, which went into effect July 12, for reaffirming “our American freedom to practice our faith openly, allowing our Satanic children the freedom to pray in school.” 

Greaves added the bill, which was slammed by groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State, helps “alternative, marginalized religions.” 

“When it comes to faith-based initiatives, that’s the kind of the thing that gives minority religions access to foundational funding,” he said. 

The rally is set to take place on Jan. 25 on the steps of the State Capitol in Tallahassee. Greaves likened the event to a “Satanic coming out.”

Hmm methinks this may NOT have been the kind of support that Governor Scott was hoping to attract. But hey, they are Florida voters so maybe he will welcome their support and embrace them with open arms.

Or perhaps not.

Interestingly enough the truth about Satanists is kind of like the truth about witches. In other words, whatever you heard about them from the Christian church was pure bullshit.

In fact Satanists are NOT worshipers of Satan, and are probably more in line with Atheists or Agnostics. (You can learn more about them here.)

You know at first I was a little surprised that the Satanists would want to be associated with somebody associated with the Tea Party and who seems to push a Christian agenda.

But then I remembered THIS picture.

And it all just kind of made sense.