This 'free state' has plenty of restrictions
As I buckle my seatbelt, something I never did before the government mandated it, and stop dutifully at the corner, obeying a little red octagonal sign that dictates I must, I proceed to my favorite watering hole. At the end of the evening, after having one too many, I allow our designated driver to take me home, even though I feel perfectly able to drive. I accept these restrictions on my personal freedom willingly, because I realize they are for my own benefit and the public good.
Does our governor truly believe that masks do not limit the spread of COVID? Or that unvaccinated Floridians are not a public health risk? I find it extremely disturbing that so many Americans, who as recently as five or six years ago would have readily accepted biomedical evidence as truth, now believe a set of “alternative facts” fed them by an extreme right-wing media, putting me and many Americans around me in danger.
Herb Goldstein, Wellington
It's all about the 'Biden-bucks'
Florida is a free state as long as the federal government keeps sending money.
Paul Cummings, Lake Worth
Signature fiasco leads to disenfranchisement
I have been voting by mail ballot the last six years without incident. I mailed my ballot to the supervisor of elections over one week ago. On Election Day, Jan. 11, 2022, I received notice in the mail from Wendy Link, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, that the signature on my vote by mail ballot did not match my signature on file with her office. My husband also voted by mail ballot and received the same letter. I signed my ballot with the identical signature I have used over six years. With alacrity, I rushed down to the voting precinct to vote in person, and was disenfranchised because I was advised I had to file a vote by mail cure affidavit, along with a copy of my identification with the supervisor of election, which I promptly did. I suspect voting fraud here.
Esther Zaretsky, Esq., West Palm Beach
The Big Lie a big challenge
I’m glad to see that Biden has finally taken on Trump and his lies. Unfortunately, the truth is irrelevant to Trump’s powerful base of supporters. They have found a messianic leader who can do no wrong. To this devoted base, the Big Lie will be supported against any fact that disproves it. They will also use any means necessary to restore their leader to power, including violence. If you are on a sacred mission, facts and truth are to be ignored. The ends justify the means. This is the danger our democracy faces. Are there enough Americans up to the task of preventing this?
Ray McGogney, West Palm Beach
Governor sounding like a socialist
With the COVID restrictions, legislation from the special session and now upcoming legislation to control what teachers can say, it seems Gov. DeSantis is acting like a socialist dictator by mandating what a business can and cannot do and what teachers can and can not say in a classroom. The Republicans really have to stop projecting their faults onto the Democrats. Every word out of their mouths against the left is a direct description of the thoughts and behaviors on the right. It is appalling how un-American they really are.
Marcia Halpern, Palm Beach Gardens
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Gov. Ron DeSantis forgets Florida has rules and regulations
