DeSantis Intimidates Whistleblower? - 12/8/20

For your quick news today, we cover the possible intimidation of a Florida whistleblower by Governor Ron DeSantis and his goons, new possibilities for the Biden/Harris inauguration, and all things related to the COVID vaccines. We also take a quick break for humor and talk about Trump floating the idea of holding a rally in Florida on inauguration day instead of attending.

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(Mostly Accurate) Transcript:

OPEN

Today is Tuesday, December 8th, thanks for choosing Quick News Daily. For our stories today, they may seem like they’re all local stories, or stories that only affect a certain community or city, but what I try to do with this show is explain how everything is connected. We really do have an impact on people everywhere around the world. The world is so interconnected now because of the internet and transportation being easier (well, in a non-COVID world), so I think it’s crucial to try and cover stories from almost anywhere. I’ll try to show you what I mean today. Let’s get caught up!

FLORIDA

Let’s start with a scary situation that went down in Florida yesterday that was all because of a small, weak, pathetic governor. For all of you Florida listeners, I’m sure it’s no secret down there that Governor Ron DeSantis, whose face just says “my wife doesn’t love me”, has handled the coronavirus absolutely terribly. He tried to deny it and keep everything open for as long as he could, and because he went full Trump, many people died that didn’t need to die. I mean, he did this knowing that he’s the governor of the retirement capital of the United States. 

Based on that, I’m sure it won’t surprise you if I tell you that he hasn’t exactly been transparent with reporting the COVID stats in his state. In fact, he was so misleading that, thankfully, the geographic information system manager for the Florida Department of Health spoke out and got fired for it. Since that time, this employee, named Rebekah Jones, decided to create her own website that reports information about Florida’s COVID numbers, including the numbers for hospital bed availability for specific facilities and nationwide COVID cases by school, which DeSantis did not allow to be released publicly.  

Well, yesterday morning, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement raided her house at 8:30 am, with guns drawn, because they said that she hacked into the state email system and sent a message to other government employees, which isn’t allowed because that system is supposed to be for emergencies only. They say that they entered the home so forcefully because Jones wasn’t opening the door and hung up on an agent, but Jones says she was taking her time opening the door because she was getting dressed since she thought she was being arrested. 

It’s not confirmed that this raid was ordered by DeSantis himself, but it does seem pretty suspicious that the officers on this raid were so heavily armed for a “data breach” that was really just an email telling other employees to not be afraid to speak out. Jones denies that she even wrote the email, and I think she’s hinting at this email being part of a plot to frame her and silence her for reporting these numbers. I think the most unforgivable part of this is these thugs came in and pointed guns at her and her kids, including her 2-year-old. What does that accomplish? Is the baby really a threat? 

Jones thinks that this wasn’t really about the email, and that it was more to scare her into silence and stopping her work on her COVID website. I think that certainly makes sense. She also thinks it’s funny that she’s being accused of being a hacker because “DeSantis publicly said I’m not a data scientist, I’m not a computer scientist and I wouldn’t even know what to do if I saw a database”. He said that back in May after she was first fired. That’s the sort of two-faced attack that Trump uses. It’s like when he said that John Bolton’s book was nothing but a bunch of lies, but at the exact same time, he was suing Bolton for revealing classified national security information in the book. How can it be lies, but also contain this super secret national security info? The “bunch of lies” attack is just for Fox News to play clips of on their shows, and the national security accusation is for the courts. 

I think my favorite quote of hers is when she said “I’m not a hacker. I don’t hack. I don’t know s--- about computers. I know how to do statistics.” I think I’m going to put that on my resume. She also said “I’m going to buy another computer tomorrow and go back to work.” So good for her for still being that determined. Let’s actually listen to a bit of her on Cuomo Primetime last night…

I’m not quite sure what to think on this one. I think maybe two things could be true at once: this raid could be a show of force by DeSantis to silence her and/or frame her, and that she’s not being completely truthful either. I think it’s too early to judge, but her story of not coming to the door seems a little weak. The email also sounds like it would have been written by her, but she says the stats in the email are wrong and still lower than they actually were, which could point to the framing theory. I just can’t get over the gun in the 2-year-olds face; that says to me that they were really trying to intimidate her. I think it’s too early to tell on this one, but Ron DeSantis is on thin ice here. 

INAUGURATION

As we get closer to inauguration day, we’re starting to get more of an idea what that might actually look like. It doesn’t sound like anything is set in stone yet by any means, but there are some sources that are starting to give hints at what they’re thinking. 

First off, like I think we all could have guessed, a source says that they’re considering a COVID test for anyone on the platform in front of the Capitol where Joe and Kamala will be sworn in. That VIP platform usually holds 1,600 people, but there will probably be far fewer people this time around. One thing that could help cut down on the number of people is the fact that congressional planners have already invited lawmakers to record video messages for the president-elect and vice president-elect that can be played on Jumbotrons before the swearing-in. 

No decisions have been made on whether the official inaugural balls are going to still go on like usual. I’m not exactly sure if those are super necessary and worth jeopardizing the 78 year-old president’s life for. Some advocacy groups already are going virtual with their galas. One group, the Human Rights Campaign, said “Our goal is to democratize the inauguration party experience by holding a virtual event integrating our 3 million-plus members and supporters into the day’s events and breaking the traditional bubble of a Washington insider experience”, which could actually be pretty cool and give a sneak peek to a lot of us who might not get the chance to ever go. 

There haven’t been any updates on what celebrities will be performing, if they do at all, but one source close to the inauguration suggested looking for hints in the lineup of celebrities who campaigned for Biden, including Lady Gaga, John Legend and Jon Bon Jovi.

You can also plan on seeing some protests during the course of the day. The Answer Coalition is planning a demonstration demanding “urgent action to save the environment, end war and prioritize money to meet people’s needs.” Let America Hear Us Roar For Trump is seeking a permit to “support our President.” Boy, I’m glad the Trump group chose a name that just rolls off the tongue. They have to apply for permits to protest in these parks. 

As for whether Trump himself will actually show up, Biden said “it is totally his decision, and it’s of no personal consequence to me. But I do think it is for the country”. Personally, I think there’s about a 0% chance that Trump actually shows up that day, especially if he can hold a rally, but we’ll talk about that in just a bit.

Overall, I think we can expect Biden to trust the medical advice available, and that he’ll choose the safest option; that was the theme of his campaign. 

COVID

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting about whether to officially approve the vaccine, the FDA released data confirming Pfizer's vaccine efficacy against Covid-19. The document goes on to detail the safety profile of the vaccine as "favorable" and notes that the most common adverse reactions to the vaccine have been reactions at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain and fever.

The document describes the efficacy of Pfizer's vaccine in the time between the first and second dose as 52.4%, but the document notes that "the efficacy observed after Dose 1 and before Dose 2, from a post-hoc analysis, cannot support a conclusion on the efficacy of a single dose of the vaccine, because the time of observation is limited by the fact that most of the participants received a second dose after three weeks." That basically means they don’t have enough data to definitively say how protected you are between the first and second doses. That did answer one of my questions though, because I was wondering how long there is between the doses. I’m glad it’s not like a shingles vaccine or something where it’s months between. Overall, this FDA news makes it pretty clear that we should expect them to approve this Pfizer vaccine on Thursday. 

Sticking with vaccine side effects, there was some wild news about the AstraZeneca vaccine. In that trial, there were three events classified as possibly related to a vaccine. Those included a case of haemolytic anaemia (which is when destruction of red blood cells outpaces your bone marrow’s production of these cells), transverse myelitis (which is when the messages that the spinal cord nerves send throughout the body get interrupted. This can cause pain, muscle weakness, paralysis, sensory problems, or bladder and bowel dysfunction), and regular high fever. 

Besides those nasty side effects, the other insane part of this study found that there were four deaths during the course of the trials, but all were unrelated to the vaccine, caused by a road traffic accident, blunt force trauma, homicide and fungal pneumonia. Like, what the hell was going on there? 

Early this morning for us in the U.S., the United Kingdom began administering the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine outside clinical trials. Margaret "Maggie" Keenan, who turns 91 next week, became the first person in the world to receive an authorized, fully-vetted coronavirus vaccine. And listen to this: an 81-year-old man named William Shakespere has become the second person to get the Pfizer vaccine. I’m not even kidding. The UK is a wild place, man.

There was also this news that Trump administration officials gave up a chance to purchase more than the 100 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine it agreed to earlier this summer. The administration says the decision was made as part of a plan to "diversify" the nation's vaccine arsenal, and an anonymous official said that members of the administration's "Operation Warp Speed" effort to mass produce a coronavirus vaccine were trying "not put all their eggs in one basket." 

Of course, that has led to concerns that the company would be unable to fulfill any additional US order until June because of their commitments to other countries, which would really suck if these other vaccines don’t end up being as good. Hopefully these manufacturers are able to ramp up their production quickly, and that all of us can get our vaccines early. 

TRUMP

Going back to the plans for inauguration day, people familiar with the discussions told NBC News that Trump plans to skip the ceremony in DC, and that he has floated the idea of a Florida rally to announce that he’s running again in 2024, which would honestly just be an attempt to keep himself relevant and make more money off of these people that keep donating to “stop the Dumbocrats from stealing the election!”

Since we all know how much Trump loves polls, I was pretty happy to see that in a new Gallup poll, Biden has a 55% favorable rating and a 41% unfavorable rating. The same poll gives Trump a 42% favorable rating and a 57% unfavorable rating. Pretty much all of the polls throughout Trump’s entire presidency have shown his favorable rating has usually been in the 30s or 40s, such as in the Gallup poll. Biden’s current rating is the highest it has been since February 2019, two months before he declared his candidacy for president when it was 56%.

In general, it seems like a lot of the talk shows I listen in on are still saying how crazy things are and how all of this news from Trump world is substantial, but I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m in the minority here, but it seems like all of the print media like the Associated Press, New York Times, etc. always say how his claims of fraud are fake, and basically that he’s delusional, before they even start talking about the latest thing he said or did. Everyone else around the world is watching him like they watch someone having an episode of dementia, because that’s basically what it is. The man is a sociopath whose brain cannot, not will not, cannot process the idea that he’s a loser. But he is.

END

Well, that’s it for today ladies and gents. Again, I just want to remind everyone that I may not be releasing an episode tomorrow; I’m still not sure if I’ll be skipping tomorrow or Thursday, but remember not to be too surprised if you don’t see anything out there. I also just want to point out something you might have been noticing in the episode descriptions lately: usually sometime after the episode is published, I’ll add basically my whole script in there. Apparently, it’s supposed to help your content get found if you make your transcripts into blog posts, so I decided to go ahead and do that since I’m always trying to get more listeners. It’s also supposed to help the deaf, hard of hearing, listening impaired, and language learning audiences follow along, and I really hope it does. In any case, just know that that’s usually there, and that it might not match the actual podcast audio 100%; sometimes I recognize a typo that I just mentally correct as I’m recording, or I’ll think of something else I want to say on the topic, so that stuff won’t typically make it in there. Otherwise, I think that’s all I have for you. While we’re talking about growing the audience, I guess my one ask of you guys is to tell your friends about the show, introduce them to podcasts if they’re not too familiar. This is supposed to be news for anyone who cares about actual facts and also doesn’t want to sit through all of the pointless stories that are usually shown on the evening news. So, hopefully, you can tell a friend or three and get them hooked as well. Alright folks, stay safe, and I’ll see you on the next episode. 

Sources:

Trump plans to outshine Biden on Inauguration Day with opposing rally: report with information from Alayna Treene of Axios, as well as NBC News
Gallup: Biden's approval rating is already higher than Trump's has ever been by the staff at the Florida TV station WFLA  
Florida police seize computer of COVID data whistleblower by Mary Ellen Klas and Ana Ceballos from the Miami Herald

Rebekah Jones Thread 
https://twitter.com/firenzemike/status/1336147080428052484?s=21 

Inauguration planners rethink how to party in age of virus by Kevin Freking in the Associated Press
Oxford/AstraZeneca Publish Coronavirus Vaccine Results by Peter Aldhous from Buzzfeed 
Coronavirus update: The latest on the pandemic as vaccine rolls out in the UK from CNN
US 'shouldn't have closed the door' to more Pfizer Covid vaccine doses this past summer, official says by Jim Acosta and Maegan Vazquez from CNN