It was late June in 2020, and the Palm Beach County Commission meeting had gotten ugly.
Speakers insulted the commissioners. They demeaned the county’s top health official. They threatened “citizen’s arrests.”
What had prompted such anger? The commission’s unanimous vote to require masks to slow the spread of COVID-19.
As a public health measure, it was sensible. No vaccines were available. A month later, Florida would become not just the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States but in the world.
Miami, one infectious disease specialist told the Washington Post, was “Wuhan six months ago.” The pandemic began in that Chinese city.
To some in the commission chamber that day and others beyond, however, the mask mandate insulted God and freedom. Self-described “patriots” proclaimed themselves willing to die rather than submit.
If such responses seemed silly at the time, they seem ludicrous now. Media misinformation and political irresponsibility fueled dangerous resistance to safety measures — and later, vaccines. Our COVID-19 death rate remains roughly twice as high as Germany’s and almost two-thirds higher than Canada’s.
More important, Americans can look at China now and see the sort of policies that might have justified such passionate resistance two years ago.
Under orders from President Xi Jinping, the government has locked down entire cities in a failed attempt to eradicate the virus. Unprecedented protests have broken out.
Beyond those demonstrations, though, Chinese citizens have no way to retaliate. But in Florida, we have the freedom that those speakers claimed had been stripped from us. This month, voters across the state fired local officials — especially school board members — who supported mask mandates.
Some of those new boards are ousting school superintendents just because they can. However misguided, they have the freedom to do that. The voters then have the freedom to decide if those moves were correct.
We’ve heard a lot about “freedom” from Republicans in Florida since the pandemic began. Indeed, it’s become a theme.
Before the Aug. 23 primary, the Republican Party of Florida announced its “Keep Florida Free Tour.” It featured Gov. DeSantis, Sen. Marco Rubio and others.
The tour came after two years of Republicans in Tallahassee passing legislation that restricts what teachers can say about history, race and gender. It came after Republicans passed legislation that subjects university professors to firing if they anger the system’s new thought police.
Beyond the missed irony, however, the GOP has devalued the meaning of “freedom.” During the pandemic, Republicans defined “freedom” as using a gym or dining out at a restaurant. Losing these “freedoms,” Republicans claimed, amounted to high sacrifice.
Recent events further mock such posturing.
Ukrainians literally have been fighting for their freedom since February. They are preparing for a winter with limited electricity, water and food.
Yet the resolve of the country’s soldiers and civilians continues to impress. Despite the prospect of a brutal few months, a citizen of Kyiv told a reporter, “We should live, we should stay, we should fight. This is the only way of how we can actually win this war … even if we have to sleep in a tent.”
Meanwhile, Iranian citizens are risking their lives by protesting their country’s rigid Islamic laws and the system that supports them.
The protests began two months ago after a 22-year-old woman died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police. This week, an Iranian security official acknowledged that government forces have killed at least 350 protesters. Human-rights groups believe that the real number is closer to 500.
In contrast, true freedom in Florida never has been at stake during the pandemic. But the United States has been backsliding on freedom for another reason.
Each year, Freedom House ranks countries based on their level of freedom. For 2021, the United States scored 83 out of 100 — the lowest among industrialized democracies.
Why? Mostly because of election denying by Donald Trump and his Republican enablers — many of them in Florida — leading to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
No state has more residents facing charges from the assault on the Capitol. As Florida Republicans attempt to corner the market on freedom, they’re cornering the market on hypocrisy.
Contact Randy Schultz at randy@bocamag.com.
