Barefaced Floridians embrace right to kill neighbors

Ghenete “G” Wright Muir, attorney, LGBTQ advocate. The growing epidemic of violence against transwomen, mostly Black, hit home with the murder of Bree “Nuk” Black right here in Broward. Bree, 27, was shot in Pompano Beach during a July 4th celebration. Last year, 27 transwomen were killed — this year we’re already at 21 murders. “Black transgender women live at the deadly intersection of transphobia, sexism and racism,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. A fundraiser to help with Bree’s memorial expenses has been organized by TransInclusive Group. Here’s the link: gofundme.com/f/BreeBlackMemorialFund

Would our forefathers have bothered tussling with the Redcoats had they known that 244 years later, bossy-pants busybodies would infringe on our God-given right to spew COVID-19-laden spittle onto our neighbors?

As I recollect, their rallying cry was “Don’t tread on me.” Not “Don’t sneeze on the

Publix cashier.”

So far, in this great philosophical struggle, liberty has prevailed. You can see it in the fully exposed faces of America’s new rebels strolling down Las COVID Boulevard. They defy face-mask-in-public mandates as an affront to our inalienable right to be stupid.

If their collective intransigence results in a brutal surge of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, so what? If the nation suffers another hundred thousand COVID-19 fatalities, that’s a cheap price to pay for the freedom to bar hop without a face covering.

Besides, the elastic bands that secure masks tend to cause my ears to flap out like Barack Obama’s. (Speaking of tyrannical leaders with the audacity to put the health and safety of the old and infirm over the sacred and cherished right to party hard.)

“Give me liberty or give me death,” said Patrick Henry, hero of that previous American revolution. But why choose? Thanks to Florida’s modern-day patriots, we can have both.

For decades now, Florida has been the great protector of individual rights, even at the expense of the commonweal. Not even ghastly mass murders, including the killing of school children, have shaken our fervent belief that lost lives are just not important enough to inconvenience owners of military-style assault weapons. Make that, “Give me liberty and I’ll give your state a gun homicide every 10 hours.”

In Florida, because we so love freedom, the legislature has taken a Churchillian stand against local governments who would interfere with smoker rights. It goes like this: “We shall pre-empt them on the beach; we shall pre-empt them in the parks; we shall pre-empt them in patio dining areas; we shall pre-empt them in music venues; we shall pre-empt them in the stand-alone bars. We shall never surrender.”

Their courage held through the 2020 legislative session. In March, companion bills that would have outlawed smoking at beaches and parks died in committee without the bother of floor votes in the House or Senate … because Florida cannot allow mere health and environmental concerns to subAnna Fusco, president, Broward Teachers vert individual rights.

Union. Despite record-breaking positive tests I’m surprised Tom Jefferson didn’t incorand many summer camp closings, the presiporate a few of Florida’s peculiar rights in dent insists all schools must open and threatthe Declaration of Independence. Like the ened to pull funding from districts that don’t. right, memorialized in state law, to dump The vice president acknowledged we cannot bio-medical waste in county dumps, no meet CDC guidelines and has instructed the matter what a county commission might CDC to make revisions. Thesay.Floridagovernor echoes those demands. Raise your hand if you Nor can cities and counties infringe on want YOUR child to be the one to get infected! Raise your hand the intrinsic right to package take-out with if you want it to be YOUR educator friend! Raise your hand if plastic bags, plastic straws and Styrofoam you want it brought home to infect YOUR elderly parents. Are food containers. A true patriot regards you ready to infect everyone? Sadly, our “leaders” are. plastic detritus littering our beaches, streets and waterways as the variegated tesserae in Florida’s freedom mosaic.

Thank goodness Tiger Kings, we live in a state where local governments can’t interfere with a homeowner’s menagerie of exotic jungle cats or deadly venomous snakes. A tiger’s roar, accompanied by an occasional expression of human terror, has become the Florida freedom anthem.

Add the harmony of chainsaws, music to the ears of state legislators who voted to emasculate the legislative power of communities that value tree canopy more than a builder’s right to denude the joint.

Only because our legislators cherish individual rights, visitors to Key West can now resume slathering their pinkish flesh with oxybenzone and octinoxate without fear of municipal interference. And to hell with the coral reefs.

Last year, Key West banned the use of sunscreens composed of chemicals known to damage reefs. Sunscreen industry lobbyists quickly explained to Republican lawmakers that they should be outraged by such a blatant infringement on personal liberty.

Two weeks ago, the governor restored that liberty, signing into law a measure that pre-empted the authority of communities with the temerity to mess with sunscreen. (For full effect, the reader should now begin humming the Battle Hymn of the Republic.)

Sure, if we caved in to the wanton demands of freedom-haters, Key West snorkelers and scuba divers and sunbathers could opt for sunscreens composed of titanium oxide or zinc oxide-based lotions, which won’t harm coral reefs.

But I ask you, fellow liberty lovers, would George Washington have given up his Coppertone without a fight? (At this point, the reader should stop humming and start sobbing.)

Michael De Lucca, president, Broward Regional Health Planning Council, Inc. Joey Chestnut took home his 13th title at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest last Saturday. He gobbled down 75 hot dogs and buns in just 10 minutes, beating his own national record. Joey also made history by eating his 1,000th hot dog and bun around the 8-minute mark of the contest. In the women’s competition, Miki Sodo successfully ate 48.5 hot dogs and buns. There were no fans in attendance due to the pandemic and It was nice to see that safety precautions were in place by having clear barriers between each contestant.

Frank Ortis, mayor, Pembroke Pines. We’re living in a time when people tend to disagree about many things, but we seem to be united when it comes to our hate of robocalls. The Supreme Court this week upheld a 1991 federal ban on robocalls to cell phones. The question was whether political consultants and pollsters could robocall since there was a 2015 exception in the law that allowed such calls for the collection of government debt. The judges thankfully agreed to strike the exception from the law and save us all from those annoying robocalls from anyone. I’ll take this as a win for us.

Chip LaMarca, member, Florida House of Representatives. The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll during this difficult time. The PPP loan will be fully forgiven if the funding from the loan is used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. The Small Business Administration began accepting new loan applications in response to the Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act on July 6. The new deadline to apply for the PPP loan is Aug. 8, 2020. For more information on the Paycheck Protection Program, visit SBA.gov.

Traci Callari, President, Broward League of Cities; Hollywood commissioner. Later this month, America will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This landmark piece of legislation prohibits discrimination against, removes barriers, and promotes equal opportunity for millions of Americans with disabilities. The anniversary of the ADA also serves as an important reminder for public leaders in Broward County and our 31 municipalities. With virtual communications more prevalent than ever, we must be cognizant of residents with disabilities when communicating, and work to ensure accommodation of important information, so that all residents can understand and participate.

Peter Moore, president, Chen Moore and Associates. In the coming weeks, I think the biggest news stories will be the continued shutting down of businesses that we came to think of as household names. Last week was Brooks Brothers and Chuck’s Steak House. While I neither wore Brooks Brothers or ate a Chuck’s (OK, I did once), I knew them. In the first month of the crisis, there were businesses that failed, but sadly if they failed that fast, they weren’t run well. When you hear established names starting to fall, we need to be prepared for Amazon and Walmart to take over in their place.

Fred Grimm, a longtime resident of Fort Lauderdale, has worked as a journalist in South Florida since 1976. Reach him by email at leogrimm@gmail.com or on Twitter: @grimm_fred