Beware cold blooded slide of Florida Cottonmouth
Yet another example of malfeasance by Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the rest of the motley crew. Of course, at this stage of the game who of us aren’t surprised, it seems corruption and misconduct is the name of the game in the Sunshine State. The venality of Gov. Rick Scott is only exceeded by his on-going thumbing of his nose for federal law and the safety of others. Honestly, as a Texan I thought no Governor could be worse than the that other Rick, yes I do mean Rick Perry. However, Rick Scott truly has my own Rick beaten hands-down, in fact Rick Scott could beat Rick Perry for downright snake in the grass mean, crooked and degenerate with one hand tied behind his back.
What am I going on about you ask? Is this the Voter Suppression Rick Scott has pursued with such glee? Or the suppression of Doctors by the NRA in the infamous ‘Docs vs. Glocks’ case? Maybe it was the grab for power in his sidelined attempt to dictate Foreign Policy; with the misguided piece of legislation, he signed in May and struck down by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore. Or perhaps it is his on-going fight with the EPA and his denial of their authority over Clean Water and greenhouse gas emissions.
No, it is none of these things, although all of the above show his complete unsuitability to serve as a Governor of a State within the United States of America.
The latest sampling of this egotistical maniac’s complete disregard for public safety and more importantly human life is far worse. It is especially worse when you consider the primary victims of his latest decision do not look like him, are not in the same economic stratosphere and are highly likely not part of his primary in his voting bloc. So what is the Great Terrible that Gov. Rick Scott has done?
Wouldn’t want to step in it. Vile and clings long afterward.
The CDC report went out in April, but as early as February 2011, it was already known Florida was struggling with the worst outbreak of Tuberculosis in the past sixty (60) years. What did that bastion of compassion for the weak and downtrodden do about the potential threat to public health do you ask; absolutely nothing other than hide the facts, sweep those nasty’s under the carpet of Sawgrass and Alligator shit (pardon me).
The facts as they are known:
Three thousand (3,000) people potentially have been exposed to a possibly deadly and drug resistant strain of Tuberculosis. Of these only 253 have been found and one third have tested positive for exposure.
Ninety-nine (99) people are infected. Of these six (6) of them are children. Most of those infected are poor, many are Black men. Many have not been treated in time to stop the disease from progressing and have or are wasting away.
Thirteen (13) thus far are dead.
I suppose the thinking by Rick Scott and his cronies is those that have been exposed, those that have thus far died or will die; well, they are simply ‘NOT LIKE ME’. As one of the articles so eloquently put it;
“Believing the outbreak affected only their underclass, the health officials made a conscious decision not to not tell the public, repeating a decision they had made in 2008, when the same strain had appeared in an assisted living home for people with schizophrenia.”
Since most of those infected appear to have been exposed to the killer disease in the states jails, soup kitchens and homeless shelters it is apparent they have indeed made the same heartless decision. The same NOT LIKE ME decision. Why waste time and energy, certainly why waste money that could be better spent on LIKE ME people and programs that LIKE ME people support.
I am stunned by the callousness, the heartlessness of Governor Rick Scott. He is one of many GOP state leaders intent on destroying the very heart of our nation. He though is the poster child for the GOP and their march to perdition.
The heat isn’t Global Warming Rick.
My suggestion, stay the Hell away from Florida!
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/scott-has-more-strikeouts-than-hits/1239081
QBG_Tilted Tiara 
This is all news to me.. but here in the UK we dont get to hear much unless its to do with the Olympics or Queens Jubilee year or weather..
I know that TB had an outbreak UK a few years ago with more cases being reported due to foreign Immigrants were bringing the disease in.. I think they started vaccinations again. I know I was vaccinated when I was a child.. Great highlighted Post Val..
We have a few terrible Governors. I wish we were not so drawn along party lines right now and it was simply that we have some terrible people inhabiting seats of power, but currently it is all ideology.
This though, this is a terrible thing.
This is disturbing. I don’t recall hearing about it on the news. Now, the national news is reporting daily about a strange ailment killing children half a world away in Cambodia. TB is very contagious and can easily spread from the “undesirables” to the rest of the population. But, it doesn’t surprise me a Republican governor would ignore the looming crisis.
Well as they said, as long as it is only the ‘underclass’. Of course it isn’t and won’t be.
Do not forget Gov. Scott is the former CEO of Colombia/HCA, which was the largest private for-profit health care company in the U.S. Taking what could have been a small public health-care threat and tying the hands of public clinics, health departments, etc. where the poor are most likely to seek help benefits whom? Yup. Scott, or at least his old cronies.
One of the articles I posted says the cost of early treatment is under $100 (I think this is correct) but the cost of treatment in the later stages is $275,000 and even at this it might not be effective. This is criminal. It is criminal both in the cost to the Florida taxpayer and in the cost of human life. But even worse is all those who have been exposed and don’t know it. What boggles my mind though is how this thug was ever elected.
Politics has always been the realm of opportunism and surprisingly dim-witted people, but I really think we’re at a frightening low for politics in this country.
I think we are at an all time low. This crop of politicians, especially on the GOP side make Nixon look like Robin Hood.
Dick always looked best in green …
Reblogged this on FiftyFourandAHalf and commented:
My fake medical career started while I worked on the issue of Tuberculosis, so this issue is near to my heart. But until I read Val’s piece, I was unaware that there are folks in power here in our country who are willing to (1) just let folks die; (2) risk the spread of a deadly contagious disease; and (3) endanger everyone. Ignorance and stupidity are costly.
Thank you for the reblog
I worked on TB issues for three years. It is a serious disease that is not going away as it should have. In fact, it is getting worse. In addition to standard, run of the mill TB, there is Multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). MDR-TB extremely difficult and expensive to cure; XDR-TB is nearly impossible to cure. All types are highly contagious.
Val, as this issue is close to my heart, mind if I reblog your post?
There is additional information in some of the links. The strain in Florida is MDR I believe.
Please feel free to re-blob.
Thanks.
It’s a really informative piece and there are possible two people who read me who don’t read you!
I’m sure Gov. Voldemort’s actions will do wonders for tourism.
He does have a resemblance to Voldemort, wow good catch
Sadly, I am not the first to notice!
Grrr! This is just one more reason why I detest politicians. If they’re not filling us up with lies, they’re trying to cover something up…which is also a lie. To me, none of them can be trusted and all of them will say and do anything just to get in office….then watch out.
Hugs to you, Val! xx
I don’t hate them all. There were and are a few that I like(d) immensely.
Jimmy Carter
Bernie Sanders
Olympia Snowe (though she occasionally towed the party line)
Joe Biden (yes I do like him)
Dwight Eisenhower (though he did a few things I didn’t like)
The Late Great Governor Ann Richards (Texas)
Al Franken
There have been a few others in my time. They aren’t all bad. They don’t all suck.
I just think it has gotten worse. It has gotten desperately worse and the good ones are drowned out by the horrifyingly bad ones.
“and the good ones are drowned out by the horrifyingly bad ones.”
That’s sort of my point…You can’t trust them at all anymore.
I know. But I am and will like remain a wonk and immensely engaged. I believe we have to be because ultimately it is our nation. I might not always seem so, but it is on us, our responsibility.
This is true, it’s just hard to figure out what’s true and false most of the time.
Love and hugs xx
Thanks for the warning. I will keep myself far away from Florida. Had thought of moving there some years ago but this stop me quicker than the hurricanes. We really know how to elect our leaders, don’t we?
I use to love Florida! We often fly through there because it is the standard jump of place for flights home to the Bahamas. But this is the second outbreak in 4 years and the second cover-up. To me this is a political issue more than anything else. They need to fix that, get the crazies out and their house in order, than we will see.
People think of TB as a disease of the past (“Consumption”), but as you point out, it remains a very real threat. Unfortunately, more resistant forms are surfacing, making it challenging to treat. I wasn’t aware of the issue in Texas, though I’ve read in dismay about some of those other issues you mentioned. Thanks for highlighting the subject.
Oh our Texas issues are much different, I just always assumed Rick Perry was the most malicious of the lot. You are right though, TB is not only dangerous it is resurfacing persistently. This is the second outbreak in Florida since 2008 and the second time they have covered it up.