Screenshot via Twitter/Ron DeSantis
Florida gov. Ron DeSantis called Florida "America's West Berlin" during a news conference on Monday.
At a press conference on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the state "America's West Berlin" while discussing the state's lax response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The state opened up for business prematurely, forced the end of local mask mandates before the majority of the state had been vaccinated and will end federal benefits early in an attempt to force low-wage workers back to their former jobs. To DeSantis' mind, this constitutes freedom.
He compared the state's relative lack of care regarding COVID-19 to the Western Europe-backed enclave within the otherwise Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic.
"People have the right to work...right to operate businesses," he said. "We are effectively America's West Berlin over the last year and people view this as a free zone."
DeSantis said Florida was a place that people "move to to follow their dreams" or visit "for a time to escape some of the more repressive policies."
Of course, he's right in some respects. West Berlin was a bombed-out and grim city where artists flourished because the lack of any investment made the city cheap to live in. Florida has the lack of concern for its underclass down pat, though it's prohibitively expensive to live in any of its cities.
Where West Berlin had Bowie and Einsturzende Neubauten stalking around and making classics, Florida gets superspreader concerts from Ted Nugent in suburban grocery store parking lots. Six of one...
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