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   From: xeton2001@yahoo.com   
      
   > Florida Democrats say the state's new surgeon general is unfit for the   
   >job   
   >WFSU | By Lynn Hatter   
   >Published October 29, 2021 at 1:05 PM EDT   
   >   
      
   >Pictured here is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and newly appointed state   
   >surgeon general Joseph Ladapo.   
   >courtesy of   
   >/   
   >The Florida Channel   
   >Gov. Ron DeSantis (left) introduces newly appointed Florida Surgeon   
   >General Joseph Ladapo (right) in a press conference in September 2021.   
   >   
   >Democrats are urging the Florida Senate to reject Joseph Ladapo’s   
   >appointment as State Surgeon General. Ladapo was appointed to the job   
   last   
   >month. He replaced Scott Rivkees, who resigned. But since coming on   
   >board—Ladapo's positions on issues like vaccines and mask mandates have   
   >riled Democrats. And a run-in with a Democratic state senator earned a   
   >rebuke from the Senate’s top Republican.   
   >   
   >Ladapo established himself early on as firmly on the side of his boss,   
   >Gov. Ron DeSantis. During his introductory news conference, Ladapo stated   
   >his opposition to mask mandates in schools and said vaccination is a   
   >choice:   
   >   
   >“The state should be promoting good health," Ladapo told reporters.   
   >"Vaccination is not the only path to that. It has been treated almost as   
   a   
   >religion. That is just senseless. There are lots of good pathways to   
   >health, and vaccination is not the only one.”   
   >   
   >One of his first actions as surgeon general was to sign off on a revised   
   >Department of Health rule governing school mask mandates to give parents   
   >the ultimate say in whether their children should wear face coverings.   
   The   
   >change led a judge to toss out a lawsuit filed by school districts.   
   >   
   >Now, the surgeon general has found himself earning a rebuke from the   
   >Senate’s top Republican, Wilton Simpson. The reaction came after Ladapo   
   >visited the office of Democratic Senator Tina Polsky, who has breast   
   >cancer. Polsky asked Ladapo to wear a mask—but he refused. Polsky later   
   >made several media appearances blasting Ladapo.   
   >   
   >“For a public health leader to not care about my health says all I need   
   to   
   >know about him," she said.   
   >   
   >In a statement, Senate President Wilton Simpson said Senators have a   
   right   
   >to request visitors wear masks in their offices, and those wishes should   
   >be respected. More recently, an investigation by the USA Today network   
   >found Ladapo’s hire to a medical professorship at the University was   
   fast-   
   >tracked ahead of his appointment to surgeon general.   
   >   
   >It's all led to calls for the rejection of his confirmation.   
   >   
   >"He should not be our surgeon general. He should not be somebody who is   
   in   
   >charge of our healthcare policies in the state of Florida. So I am asking   
   >our state Senate to do what is right for the people of our state and deny   
   >his confirmation this legislative session and to make the governor come   
   >back to the table with a new appointment for surgeon general," said   
   >Agriculture Nikki Fried. She is running for governor next year.   
   >So is former Governor, and Congressman Charlie Crist—who also wants   
   Ladapo   
   >gone.   
   >   
   >"Dr. Ladapo has made it clear that he was appointed not to help our state   
   >battle this public health crisis but to be an ill-informed political tool   
   >for the governor of Florida," Crist said.   
   >   
   >Other state Democratic leaders have issued similar calls. In fact, Most   
   of   
   >the public consternation over Ladapo is coming from the Democrats. Yet   
   the   
   >surgeon general still has one powerful and influential defender. Gov.   
   >DeSantis.   
   >   
   >"He actually explained he offered numerous accommodations and it was more   
   >about an issue. There are pictures [of Polsky] very close with [other   
   >people with] no mask in other instances. I don’t see people talking about   
   >this… They’re trying to politicize this," DeSantis said in defense of his   
   >surgeon general.   
   >   
   >On the same day she met with Ladapo, Polsky attended a senate committee   
   >meeting alongside other unmasked senators. It may all be moot.   
   Republicans   
   >are in lock-step behind DeSantis, and they control the legislative   
   >committees that have to approve Ladapo's appointment.   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)