Rick Scott was smart enough to be Florida governor for two terms and steadfastly avoid direct interaction with voters that could make headlines on TV news and social media. But he didn't expect severe, unremitting pollution to trip up his campaign for US Senate.
Last week, Scott ducked into the St. Lucie River for a quick photo op then disappeared faster than you can say, Houdini.
Houdini was the famous escape artist who succumbed to a common fatal infection with the words, "I'm tired of fighting." I don't think Scott is half the escape artist as Houdini, or, that the Republicans and Democrats and Independents of Florida are tired of fighting the rampant pollution that is destroying the "jobs" economy Scott professes to hold as his top priority.
The facts are clear enough. Scott killed the science capacity of the water management district and installed a governing board that uses millions in your tax dollars to spread fake news and propaganda. Its primary purpose is to shield the state's top polluters, Big Sugar, from scrutiny and criticism.
Under Rick Scott, enforcement actions against polluters have plunged precipitously. Scott, also, objected to the effort by the federal government to put limits on exactly the pollutants that are causing red tides and spreading marine death throughout south Florida, exposing residents and visitors to harmful algae called Cyanobacteria. It is linked to Alzheimer's. Now Scott is trying to blame the federal government for the state's pollution crisis.
Nice try, Rick, but you are no Houdini.
If you are a taxpayer, you are not tired of fighting. If you are voting age, this November you will crowd the polls like schools of fish looking for good water.
Remember the names of the polluters' friends in high office: Big Sugar is aiming Rick Scott to the US Senate. Adam Putnam, the current Agriculture Commissioner, is being promoted to governor, and Sugar's friendliest legislator, Matt Caldwell, is being pushed into the ag position being vacated by Putnam. These are the Toxic Trio and they DO NOT DESERVE YOUR VOTE.
Too bad it takes the massive pollution of Florida's waters to wake up voters. We've been heading to this perilous direction for a long, long time. Don't get tired of fighting. Get even. Vote.
