Back in July, as part of his ongoing effort to kill as many Floridians as possible, Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates in his state’s schools, claiming that parents should have the right to expose their kids to a highly contagious virus that’s claimed more than 650,000 lives in the U.S. thus far, and hospitalized 10 times more Florida children last week than when school began. Shortly after that, he threatened to withhold pay from school officials who had the audacity to look at the data, consider the significantly more communicable delta variant, and make their own decisions regarding masking, a threat he followed through on in August, when the Florida Department of Education withheld the salaries of school board members in Alachua and Broward counties who voted to impose mask mandates.

As you can imagine, DeSantis’s pro-COVID actions have irked the contingent of Florida parents and educators who would prefer children too young to be vaccinated not contract the virus so the governor can suck up to the “personal freedoms” crowd. And, as it happens, a judge has now twice ruled he’s breaking the law.

Per The Washington Post:

Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper again sided with parents who said an executive order from DeSantis (R) overstepped the state’s authority in restricting school districts from requiring masks. “We have a variant that’s more infectious and more dangerous to children than the one we had last year,” Cooper said when issuing his ruling. “We’re in a non-disputed pandemic situation with threats to young children who, at least based on the evidence, have no way to avoid this unless to stay home and isolate themselves. I think everybody agrees that’s not good for them.” Cooper pointed to the guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommends masks for students and staff in schools, calling it the “the gold standard.”

School districts in Florida reopened for full in-person learning last month, just as a surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus hit the state, causing more cases, hospitalizations, and deaths on a daily basis than during any other point in the pandemic…. About a dozen districts have defied the order and put mask mandates in place for students. DeSantis threatened to withhold the salaries of school board members who approved the mandates. That’s when a group of parents sued.

Cooper first ruled in favor of the parents on August 27, after which DeSantis’s administration appealed, temporarily allowing his Department of Education to enforce the ban on mask mandates. While the Wednesday ruling allows districts to make their own decisions regarding face coverings, DeSantis is apparently undeterred re putting millions of children’s lives at risk; according to the Post, the state plans to file an emergency motion to reinstate the stay, according to the governor’s communications director.

The ruling follows DeSantis’s appearance on Fox News last month in which he claimed that Florida’s handling of the virus has been hugely successful and, with a completely straight face, said Joe Biden should follow his lead on pandemic protocols. He also criticized Biden for not ending the pandemic already, despite literally doing everything in his power to keep it going.

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Trump and co. are already claiming the California recall is rife with fraud

Because that’s just what they do now, unless of course their candidate wins, in which case, uh, nothing to see here. Per SF Gate:

Former president Donald Trump, who is still banned on most social media platforms for pushing thoroughly debunked voter fraud conspiracies related the 2020 presidential election, called into Newsmax Tuesday and offered some fresh new evidence-free conspiracies regarding the Gavin Newsom recall election. “It’s probably rigged,” Trump said. “They’re sending out all ballots, the ballots are mail-in ballots; in fact, I guess you even have a case where you can make your own ballot. When that happens no one is going to win except these Democrats.”

With recent polling showing that Newsom has seemingly closed the partisan enthusiasm gap and seems likely to survive the recall (Democrats make up 47% of registered voters in California while Republicans make up only 24%), conservatives have increasingly turned to blaming fictitious voter fraud to preempt a potential loss. On Tuesday, Fox News personality Tomi Lahren proclaimed on air “the only thing that will save Gavin Newsom is voter fraud,” dismissing another panelist’s explanation that Newsom’s massive fundraising advantage has allowed him to build an army of staffers to connect with previously apathetic Democratic voters and convince them to cast ballots.

Republicans, of course, have continued to push the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, for which there is no evidence whatsoever. Nevertheless, GOP lawmakers have used that completely made-up storyline to enact wildly restrictive voting laws all in a supposed effort to “safeguard” our elections.

“But you can probably guess what I think”

Elsewhere!

Elizabeth Holmes Prosecutors Target “Lying and Cheating” in Theranos Trial (Bloomberg)

Texas Abortion Law Could Cost Companies Millions as Others Cut Ties (Bloomberg)

Biden administration tells ex-Trump officials to resign from military academy advisory boards or be dismissed (CNN)

U.S. is likely to breach debt ceiling soon unless Congress acts, Janet Yellen says (Washington Post)

Coinbase Threat Shows There’s a New Crypto Sheriff in Town (Bloomberg)

Robert E. Lee Defeated Again in Virginia (Intelligencer)

Biden administration outlines how solar could be nearly half of electricity supply by 2050 (CNBC)

NYC house made of shipping containers sells for $5 million (NYP)

Cops: Husband Was “Covered in Meat Sauce” After Domestic Spaghetti Battery (TSG)

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— Sebastian Junger on How the U.S. Corrupted Afghanistan
— Rudy Giuliani Is One Week Away From Waxing His Back in a Sweetgreen
— New York Prosecutors Are Full Steam Ahead to Take Down the Trump Organization
— How Turf Wars Mucked Up America’s Exit From Afghanistan
— Biden’s COVID-19 Origins Report Leaves the Lab Leak on the Table
— Governor Kristi Noem Joins Fellow Republicans in Quest to Kill Constituents
— From the Archive: The Man in the Window
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