Junius, if you'll recall, was a pseudonym for a political agitator back in the 1770s. He wrote a series of letters/essays about the corruption within the British government, and in one particular letter (number 41) he laid down this meaningful quote:
An Honest Man, like the true religion, appeals to the understanding, or modestly confides in the internal evidence of his conscience. The Impostor employs force instead of argument, imposes silence where he cannot convince, and propagates his character by the sword.
Word has gotten out in the past few weeks that here in Florida, the Impostor Rick Scott has imposed silence with regards to climate change. Per The Atlantic:
...Can a staunch enough refusal to acknowledge certain words erase facts? If so, the Sunshine State will find a way. According to a report from the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, officials at the state Department of Environmental Protection "have been ordered not to use the term 'climate change' or 'global warming' in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting."In a state that's supposed to have Sunshine (transparency) laws, in a state that's supposed to have a functioning, responsible and responsive government, this hush-hush "avoid the debate" stance is a terrifying sign of behind-the-doors abuse and avoidance of needed solutions. BECAUSE MIAMI IS ABOUT TO FLOOD OUT. That link to The Atlantic uses a photo of a Miami street unable to drain out during a regular thunderstorm, because the Intercoastal waterway seawater is already flooding the sewers and land margins.
The state denied any such policy, but a large number of former staffers assured FCIR it was real and circulated verbally. (Editor's Note: verbal instructions is a clear attempt to avoid any paperwork or evidence) Documents since the policy was allegedly introduced, in 2011, use phrases like "climate drivers" and "climate-driven changes." Since the policy is in dispute, there's no direct explanation for it, but the cause would seem to be Governor Rick Scott's insistence that climate change is not real...
This is a live-or-die issue for an entire metro region of Florida. We are talking millions of lives affected by what this state can do about the VERY REAL THREAT of Climate Change, and our entire state government is pretty much using whiteout ink to paint over the naughty words.
How far is this See-Nothing Say-Nothing Know-Nothing policy going? They're at the point they're suspending employees. One such employee was even told to "get medical clearance" for having spoken the Verboten Words before coming back, which is shorthand for "you're a mental health issue." Per the SaintPetersBlog:
On March 9, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) suspended a state employee for speaking about climate change at an official meeting, which made its way into the record of the meeting, according to a complaint filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Barton Bibler, a long-time DEP employee, received a letter of reprimand ordering him to take two days personal leave. The agency also instructed Bibler not to return without medical clearance...
On February 27, Bibler attended a Florida Coastal Managers Forum, where a number of attendees discussed climate change and sea-level rise, among other environmental topics...
DEP superiors directed Bibler to remove any “hot button issues,” such as explicit references to climate change. The letter of reprimand, dated March 9, accused Bibler of misrepresenting the “official meeting agenda (so it) included climate change.”
Bibler was instructed to take two days off, which was charged against his personal leave time (Editor's note: this was like rubbing chewing gum into his hair, it's so petty). He later received a “Medical Release Form” requiring his doctor to provide the agency an evaluation of unspecified “medical condition and behavior” before being allowed to return to work...
Want to know how Orwellian this is?
This was, and still is, a practice of totalitarian (often COMMUNIST) regimes to use psychology to paint political dissidents as "crazy" for wanting to hate the totalitarian Utopia, and ship them off to mental asylums instead of prisons to give the outward appearance of "See? We're not arresting political prisoners at all!"
To the Republican party leaders like Rick "Comrade" Scott who like to accuse liberals - even today! - of being commie stooges, emulating the likes of Red China and Soviet Russia is the height of hypocrisy.
Accusing Bibler of being crazy for discussing a known scientific such as Climate Change is dangerous and wrong. What is crazy is the "magical thinking" of Scott and his Republican ilk who think that if we don't say anything about the increasing flood risks and weather damage to our own state the "myth" of global warming will go away.
This is a combination of things: Rick Scott and a lot of Republican leaders live off of the largesse of land developers and oil/coal industries so they don't want to do anything to disrupt those businesses (because efforts to repair the climate involves regulating those businesses); and Rick Scott and his conservative allies seem to genuinely view the whole Climate Change debate as a Communist takeover plot, and so reflexively oppose any effort out of sheer
So not only is Rick Scott still a crook on this issue because he's making money out of the denial scams, he's also crazy for refusing to discuss the matter at all. If anyone needs a Baker Act imposed, it's our entire political leadership from Scott downward letting this happen.
And by stifling our government agencies from speaking the words at all, Rick Scott is propagating his Impostor character by the Sword of suspension and work loss.
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