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Our Australian friends have a saying about people whose ambitions exceed their abilities. They call such people tall poppies and warn that the tallest are the first to be cut.

That saying came to mind when I looked back at Donald Trumps appearance 10 years ago at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. (See video below.)

I was in the press gallery for that occasion just as I will be in the press gallery for Trumps address to CPAC this afternoon.

In that 2011 appearance, Trump told the audience that he would decide by June whether to enter the race for the 2012 Republican nomination.

I doubt if anyone took the prospect of a Trump candidacy seriously. But the audience certainly seemed to be enjoying his speech, which was the usual mix of humor and bombast.

In the midst of it all, he said one thing that brought to mind that piece of wisdom from the land Down Under.

That came after, in typical Trump fashion, he boasted that he had won many wars and earned billions of dollars.

Those accomplishments actually made him less likely to enter politics, Trump said.

Most successful people dont want to be scrutinized or abused, and thats what happens, Trump said.

It is indeed what happened. Once Trump became president his life was subjected to intense scrutiny. Events that might not have otherwise surfaced such as that Access Hollywood appearance that sparked a million-woman march - now made national headlines.

When allegations of payoffs to former mistresses surfaced, the Manhattan District Attorneys Office used that as entre to investigate Trumps business dealings.

Last week, eight years worth of his financial records were handed over to the aggressive Democratic prosecutor Cyrus Vance for his perusal.

That investigation could dog the Donald for years, accompanied perhaps by probes into what role, if any, he played in the sorry events of Jan. 6.

The big question at CPAC is whether Trump will declare hes going to make another run in 2024. I for one would prefer to see him enjoy his well-earned return to private life.

In 2016 he had astonishing success when he came out of nowhere to beat first the Republican and then the Democratic establishments. But in 2024 his candidacy would face similar prospects as those he assigned to Ron Paul in that 2011 speech.

After supporters of the Texas congressman and two-time contender for the GOP presidential nomination shouted out his name several times, Trump took up the topic of another Ron Paul candidacy.

Trump said he admired Pauls policies, but Ron Paul cant get elected president.

Well, neither can Donald Trump. He cant seem to get over that 47 percent barrier in popularity.

His excuse is that the 2020 election was stolen from him. But several of my fellow conservatives say he would be wise to drop that pitch.

Is he gonna whine about the past election or have a vision for the future? asks Rick Shaftan, a conservative political consultant formerly of Sussex County and now of North Carolina.

I expect a lot of whining. That may not be good for the GOP, but it could be good for the Donald.

If Trump says hes in the race for the 2024 nomination, or even hints at it, a cynic would have to ask whether hes just trying to get enough contributions to cover his legal bills.

Trump has threatened to create an organization to run primaries against members of Congress who resisted his unconstitutional attempt to change the results of the recent election. But that would require him to spend time and money on people other than his favorite person: himself.

If Trump cared about the Republican Party, he would announce that hes not running again. That would clear the field for a primary contest among a lot of other promising Republicans.

Then he could go back to being the Donald Trump we used to see at CPAC in the good old days, a smart-talking New Yorker who could dismantle a Democrat with just one wisecrack.

That guy was a winner, such a winner that he promised that once he was elected wed all get tired of winning.

But his ambition exceeded his abilities.

For this tall poppy its time to duck out.

BELOW - THE DONALDS COMING-OUT PARTY AT CPAC IN 2011:

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Trump at CPAC: Its time for the Donald to call it a day | Mulshine - NJ.com

Asked when the process would end, Senator Mike Braun, Republican of Indiana, observed, I think that were just a captive of the time here.

Setting a brisk, modulated pace, Mr. Merlino and a small cluster of colleagues embarked on the reading marathon at 3:21 p.m., paging through the hefty stack of text. (For comparison, the sixth book in the Harry Potter series clocks in at 652 pages.)

Sometimes passing a small lectern back and forth across the dais, they sped through reciting the text to a largely empty chamber, speaking to a diligent carousel of stenographers, floor staff, the Democrat presiding in the chamber and Mr. Johnson, who had to remain on the floor or find a like-minded Republican to spell him to prevent Democrats from stopping the process and moving on.

By 7:21 p.m., the group had reached page 219.

It was unclear what precedent there was for reading aloud such a substantial piece of legislation, according to the office of the Senate historian, as the Congressional Record does not indicate how much time is spent on the reading of bills.

The Senate has provided funds to employ at least one clerk since 1789, with close to a dozen people now sharing the responsibility of recording the minutes of the Senate, reading legislation, calling the roll and other procedural duties.

The positions are throwbacks to the days before Xerox machines and the ready availability of hard copies, or now digital copies of legislation, said Paul Hays, who served as the reading clerk in the House for nearly two decades in the 1990s. You have to try to achieve a balance between sounding like youre a robot and sounding like youre an advocate.

Having read everything from the impeachment resolution against former President Bill Clinton to a lengthy presidential message from former President Ronald Reagan that took about 35 minutes, Mr. Hays acknowledged that a straight reading was perhaps not conducive to full comprehension.

Continued here:
Action on Stimulus Bill Halts as Senate Clerks Read All 628 Pages Aloud - The New York Times

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In my previous column, I wrote about moving the conservative movement beyond Donald Trump. I asked which conservative voices would best serve the conservative movement going forward post-Trump (assuming there is a post-Trump period). I particularly related this question to young people, who are the future of the movement and the country.

Since that column, a few notable things happened that bear on that question, including the reactions I received from Trib readers.

For one, CPAC held its annual meeting. Since 1974, the American Conservative Union, founded in 1964 by pioneering conservatives such as William F. Buckley Jr., has annually met in Washington for the Conservative Political Action Conference (this year it met in Florida, because of covid). The first CPAC keynote was delivered by California Gov. Ronald Reagan, who rarely missed a gathering over the next decade and a half. Every year, CPAC offers a glimpse into the state of the conservative movement. Ive attended regularly for about two decades (though not this year).

Ive been increasingly frustrated with CPAC. Though the conference is run by solid conservatives (and good guys), the meeting the last few years was heavily dominated by not just a Trump feel (thats expected, given that Trump was president), but a Fox News feel, with Fox personalities far overrepresented, often as literal keynotes. I remember the days of speakers like Bill Rusher and Stanton Evans i.e., thinkers who defined the movement. To be fair, if one pauses to look closely at the full roster of speakers, the CPAC organizers have done a good job representing the broader movement. But still, in recent years the conference felt too Trumpish and FoxNews-ish. The headliner this year (again, not unexpected, given that he just left the White House) was the banner closing speech by Trump.

What CPAC left unanswered, however, was the question my column raised about the best messengers for the movement going forward, especially among young people. To dig into that question just a small bit, I surveyed students in my conservatism course at Grove City College. (Im also teaching Marxism this semester yes, two polar opposites.)

I had my poor students suffer the indignity of reading my previous column, but with a more edifying purpose. I asked the students (23 in total) to list three conservatives (they need not be politicians) they feel could best represent the movement and carry the message going forward, articulating conservatism in an intelligent, appealing, winsome way. I asked that Trump be left off the list, given that the focus was conservatism post-Trump, even if Trump isnt necessarily finished as a future candidate.

This seemed a good exercise because it sampled young people to see who young people are looking to. This certainly was not a scientific survey a highly limited sample. Nonetheless, here are their top choices:

The far and away favorite was Ben Shapiro, whose name was listed by nearly half the students. Right behind him was Candace Owens. Here we see the strength of the Daily Wire group among young conservatives. (Im surprised that Michael Knowles didnt get listed.) Third place was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a reflection of his sudden rising popularity. Fourth was Tucker Carlson. Tied at fifth were Sens. Ted Cruz and Ben Sasse. Rounding out the 10 were (in a tie for sixth place) Amy Coney Barrett, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and Steven Crowder. Its revealing that most of these conservatives are not politicians; as is often the case, leading conservative voices are pundits and media figures.

I should add that several Trib readers reacted to my column with their own lists. These readers are much older than my students. They came up with names like Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, Louis Gohmert, Devin Nunes, Marsha Blackburn, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and (among others) DeSantis.

So, for what its worth, those are some names moving forward. Notably, none hail from Pennsylvania, including an absent Sen. Pat Toomey, who actually scored a perfect 100% conservative rating among U.S. senators in the most recent annual scorecard produced by the American Conservative Union (also receiving perfect scores were Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee). Its ironic that no Pennsylvania politicians made the list, given that, as Ive written here, Donald Trump showed that Western Pennsylvania could be home to a new (and winning) coalition of Republican voters.

Where we go from here, of course, remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Paul Kengor is a professor of political science and chief academic fellow of the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College.

Categories:Opinion | Paul Kengor Columns

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Paul Kengor: The conservative movement going forward - TribLIVE

MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) Former President Donald Trump will return to the political spotlight this weekend at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando.

Trump will be the star of the show and will deliver a Sunday afternoon speech in which he is expected to continue to falsely claim that the presidential election was stolen. This will mark his first public comments since leaving the White House.

Governor Ron DeSantis opened the conference Friday morning and touted that the state is open for business as are the schools.

A medley of potential 2024 presidential candidates will be looking for breakout moments at the conference that will launch them toward stardom. Their speeches will serve as a gauge of the conservative bases feelings about them as they begin to position themselves for possible runs.

The race for 2024 will start at CPAC, said American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, a chief organizer for CPAC.

The lineup includes some of Trumps staunchest allies on Capitol Hill, including Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. And it includes several of his strongest supporters from the states: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

It also features several veterans of Trumps administration, including former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former housing and urban development secretary Ben Carson and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is running for governor of Arkansas with Trumps endorsement. Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend and Trump campaign aide Kimberly Guilfoyle are also speaking.

Not on the list of speakers: Trumps intra-party critics such as Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. Also not appearing are former Vice President Mike Pence, who turned down an invite, and Nikki Haley, Trumps former United Nations ambassador who now finds herself isolated after tempered criticism of Trump.

Schlapp said Haley had initially signaled she would address the conference but later backed out of an appearance. Haley did not respond to a request for comment.

This years CPAC is certain to demonstrate Trumps firm hold of the GOP and the conservative bases eagerness to turn Trumps falsehoods about election fraud into policy action, as several state legislatures move to impose new voting restrictions. Seven panels or speeches at the conference are taking place under the title of protecting elections.

The events appear to be little more than forums to advance unfounded Trump-world allegations that the election was stolen by President Joe Biden. Those accusations were rejected by Trumps own attorney general, William Barr, as well as dozens of court decisions, in some cases involving Trump-appointed judges.

Schlapp acknowledged that much of the conference will be devoted to Trumps claims about the election. He said it would be better if conference participants also focused on Bidens agenda, though.

My thinking is its fine to go through the atrocities of the past election, Schlapp said. But better to rally folks to stop Biden policies.

The events theme is America Uncanceled, a title that underscores another focus: cancel culture, or conservatives belief amplified since Twitter and other social media platforms banned Trump in the wake of the deadly January 6 insurrection that expressing their views has placed them at risk of backlash.

What Trump will sayTrumps CPAC speech Sunday afternoon will serve as his resurgence into the political world, and according to a source familiar with his plans, it is not finished, with advisers still weighing in on how to make the most lasting impact.

Some within Trumps circle are advising the former President to focus on 2022 and winning majorities of the House and Senate, which are both now controlled by Democrats. However, Trump and those who have pushed his anti-establishment agenda are instead considering a message without undertones of Republican Party unity that takes aim at Trumps intra-party critics, the source said.

We are going to war but not physically, this source said in describing the sentiment. Its primary season, and its open season.

But ultimately, those around him know that the speech that Trump gives Sunday will depend on what he decides he wants to say when he arrives at CPAC, despite what might be on paper in front of him.

Trump is also likely to continue his lies about election fraud.

In the context of needed election reforms, yes, Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said about the former Presidents plans for Sundays address.

Trump has spent the last several days in meetings at Mar-a-Lago with Republicans who are clamoring to assure him of their allegiance.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, former Trump Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, and Miller have all been spotted at the former Presidents Florida residence over the past week.

Many of Trumps meetings have focused on his political future including his strategy going into the 2022 midterms and planning around if he runs for president again, the source said. While Trump continues to flirt with a 2024 bid, his focus now is on payback against those he believes crossed him. His advisers are in the process of identifying pro-Trump candidates to challenge Republican state officials in Georgia, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach the former President, and others.

While Trump continues to take meetings, the source said his inner circle is smaller than in the past noting that Trump still feels betrayed by those who did not support his lies about election fraud and did not back him after the January 6 riot at the Capitol that Trump instigated with a speech encouraging angry supporters to march there.

One of the ex-Presidents former advisers questioned CPACs decision to welcome Trump back into the spotlight. It may be helpful for Trump to return to the stage as he attempts to solidify the Republican Party and eyes a comeback run for the White House in 2024. Still, the adviser argued, Trumps return is a setback for the GOP.

For him, yes. Bad for the party, the adviser said, adding that its in Trumps nature to continue to peddle his baseless election claims.

He always faces zero consequences for his actions, the adviser said. Why change now?

Why CPAC mattersSince 1974, CPAC has grown from a small gathering of a few hundred conservative activists to one of the largest annual political events in the country, regularly drawing thousands of attendees and speeches from top Republican politicians.

For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, CPAC will be held outside of the Washington, DC, area in Orlando. Florida has emerged not just as a reliable red state but is the home to Trump and two other important conservative figures: DeSantis and Scott, both of whom will have high-profile speaking roles on the conferences main stage.

Interspersed with policy panels and breakout sessions for activists, the main-stage speeches at CPAC offer ambitious Republicans the opportunity to speak directly to the conservative faithful. Ronald Reagan spoke at 13 total CPACs, including the very first meeting six years before he became the Republican nominee for president.

Since Reagan, every GOP nominee has spoken at least once to CPAC including those with strained relationships to the conservative movement, like George H.W. Bush and John McCain. The confab can give Republican hopefuls a chance to make a first impression or change their perception with the activist base of the party.

In 2000, George W. Bush made his first appearance at CPAC, winning over the crowd with a speech criticizing outgoing President Bill Clinton while on his way to winning the GOP nomination and then the presidency later that year. Twelve years later, during his own successful bid to be the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney touted to the CPAC crowd his severely conservative record as Massachusetts governor.

One key feature of most CPACs is the presidential straw poll, an informal and nonscientific survey of attendees that can be a bellwether for the party or, more often, a show of organizing strength. While Romney won four CPAC straw polls between 2007 and 2012, Trump won none of the four pre-2016 straw polls before his own nomination.

Trumps own political career within the Republican party began in part at CPAC. He made his first appearance there in 2011, introduced by the events director Lisa de Pasquale as someone who was thinking about tossing his hat into the ring for the 2012 GOP nomination.

These are my people, Trump said as the crowd cheered. This is beautiful.

Trump would not actually run until the next cycle, but his speech in 2011 had all the hallmarks of his 2016 campaign and term in office. He criticized the United States for being the laughingstock of the world and claimed that the leaders of other countries were taking advantage of America. Trump stated he was pro-life and against gun control, Obamacare, and raising taxes. Jumping among the days news items high gas prices, the sale of the New York Stock Exchange to a German company, the Somali pirate attacks Trump boasted he would be able to handle it much better than the current leaders.

How about the Somali pirates? Trump said. How simple would that be? Give me one good admiral and a couple of good ships, wed blast them out of the water so fast.

He even antagonized some of the crowd, telling a vocal group of Ron Paul supporters in the audience that the libertarian Texas congressman cannot get elected.

Trump would return to CPAC in 2013, 2014, and 2015 always drawing large audiences thanks to his celebrity and his ability to speak the populist language of the activist crowd. He became a big donor to the American Conservative Union, the organization behind CPAC. Trump also spoke at the conference every year of his presidency.

Ironically 2016, the year he won the Republican nomination, was the last time Trump did not appear at CPAC. In the midst of the GOP primary season, Trump backed out of his CPAC slot that year after some activists accused the CPAC organizers of being too close with him. Instead, he stuck to the campaign trail, including attending a massive rally in Orlando.

Five years later, CPAC is coming to Orlando, practically in Trumps backyard. While a number of would-be presidential candidates for 2024 will use the opportunity to make a splash, their speeches will all be the warm-up act for Trumps big address on Sunday.

(2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company, contributed to this report.)

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President Trump To Headline CPAC Weekend In Orlando - CBS Miami

Ron Thorson was born to Alvord and Agnes Thorson on January 20, 1948. He leaves behind his wife, Dr. Darline Thorson, and his three children, Jesse and Ariel Thorson and Dennis Lara. He was a good father figure to his stepdaughter Debra Lara. He also leaves behind his sister Marcia Nordwall and his Uncle Kenneth Odland. His younger brother, U.S. Airforce Pilot and Purple Heart Recipient, Second Lieutenant Larry Thorson, preceded Ron in death during the Vietnam War.

Ron attended Glenwood High School in Minnesota and had many fond memories of times spent with friends and playing on his Varsity Basketball Team. Ron attended college on a basketball scholarship but was an excellent student, continuing his education until he achieved his Masters Degree in Education. He was an educator for 40 years, during which he was a teacher, coach, principal, and school counselor. The highlight of his coaching came in 1983 when he coached the Thayer Boys Varsity Basketball Team to become the Division 1A State Champions that year. He made a concerted effort to teach his players about maintaining integrity in basketball and in life.

Ron deeply cherished his family. He relished his friends, co-workers, students, and Church fellows. He had fond memories of his fellow teachers, students, friends, and loved ones in St. Joe, Arkansas, Hot Springs, Arkansas, Malvern, Arkansas, Colony, Kansas, Thayer, Kansas, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, St. Paul, Kansas, Harrison, Arkansas, New London, Minnesota, and Bismarck, Arkansas, just to name a few of the places where he left an indelible mark on the hearts of people who knew him.

Ron enjoyed working with his thoroughbred horses and owned several horses at the time of his passing. One of his favorite past times was taking care of his horses. Ron was a Christian and valued his relationship with God most of all. He saw death as inevitable but did not think it had to be a sad event, if there was certainty that Jesus would be waiting on the other side. He died with that certainty in his heart. He was sure to ask that his loved ones not cry too long for him after his death, but to instead get right with God to ensure that he will see them again.

Walk through viewing: 1 pm-6 pm March 4, 2021 at Samuel L. Vance & Sons Funeral Directors to leave condolences visit http://www.samuellvanceandsons.com (855-SLVANCE)

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Ron Thorson 1948-2021 | Obituaries - Chanute Tribune

The national stature of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is rising swiftly among the countrys Republicans, and the checks from deep-pocketed donors are following.

His political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, brought in $2.7 million in February, its largest monthly haul by far since the Republican was sworn in as governor two years ago. Its the latest signal that DeSantis is putting the pandemic in the rear-view mirror and shifting focus to his political future.

The first-term governor paused contributions to his committee after the coronavirus first arrived in Florida. As he publicly and proudly reopened the state for business in the back half of 2020, he also started accepting donations to his political committee again.

As the checks came in, DeSantis was boosting his visibility in Florida and nationwide. Part of that was his job. He has crisscrossed the state to open new vaccination sites as he continues to manage the public health crisis. Part of it was extracurricular. Hes been a frequent guest on nightly Fox News programs favored by reliable Republican voters.

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to get high marks for keeping Florida safe and open for business, said Helen Aguirre-Ferre, the executive director of the Republican Party of Florida. Florida has been getting a lot of attention because of the Governors conservative and principled policies which are working this in turn is driving support for Gov. DeSantis efforts in 2022.

DeSantis is up for re-election next year, though he hasnt officially filed to run yet. That limits him from holding fundraisers and campaign events. But his committee can raise money and he can traverse the state on business.

For example, Spring Bay Capital, a private equity firm founded by top DeSantis donor Frederick Sontag of Ponte Vedra Beach, gave half a million dollars to DeSantis committee on Feb. 8. The same day, DeSanits held a media event in Little Havana, a common stop on the South Florida campaign circuit, where he had a surprise announcement: vaccines were coming solely for the Cuban veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Several times a week, DeSantis opens up new vaccine locations, often in neighborhoods where Republicans outnumber Democrats or where important voting blocs reside. Cameras are invited to capture footage of seniors getting shots in their arms or DeSantis latest confrontation with a reporter questioning his ad hoc coronavirus strategy.

DeSantis has also faced criticism for opening vaccine sites at locations with ties to political donors. On Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported DeSantis received $250,000 in February from former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a resident of Key Largo, where an affluent and exclusive club received some of the states earliest vaccines.

Also sending six-figure sums in February were hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones of Palm Beach ($150,000), the Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach ($100,000), and the paving and highway construction company Vecellio Group based in West Palm Beach ($100,000).

In 2018, DeSantis leaned heavily on a donor network closely tied to former President Donald Trump and his committees latest finance report indicates that he may again.

Troy Link, the CEO of a beef jerky empire who held a Florida fundraiser for Trump during the height of the states coronavirus outbreak, gave DeSantiss committee $50,000. The committee also received $100,000 from Anthony Lomangino, a garbage hauling tycoon and Mar-a-Lago member who helped pay the legal fees of Trump associates ensnared in former special prosecutor Robert Muellers investigation into Russian meddling in the election.

Meanwhile, New York art dealer Joseph Nahmad contributed $33,300. Nahmads brother, Helly Nahmad, was among the controversial last-minute pardons issued by Trump in one of his final acts as president. Hillel Nahmad pleaded guilty in 2014 to running a sports gambling ring that investigators said had ties to Russian-American organized crime.

Few Republicans have navigated the post-Trump era with the same ease as DeSantis. He opened last months Conservative Political Action Committee in Orlando by turning the page on the the failed Republican establishment of yesteryear, and calling out Democratic governors for their shutdown policies. The home-court crowd rewarded DeSantis, naming him their top presidential pick in 2024 as long as Trump doesnt run.

We are in an oasis of freedom in a nation thats suffering from the yoke of oppressive lockdowns,' DeSantis said during his speech. Florida got it right, and the lockdown states got it wrong.

DeSantis handling of the coronavirus, often criticized by Democrats, left-leaning talk show hosts and public health experts, and his alliance with Trump has only fueled more talk about his future as a presidential contender for Republicans.

It has also all-but eliminated the threat of a primary challenge in his bid for a second term, though a handful of Democrats are already positioning themselves for a run. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the states only statewide elected Democrat, has sharpened her criticism of DeSantis of late, as has U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a former governor who is seriously considering another campaign for the office.

DeSantis will have a significant fundraising head start over any Democrat that decides to run. His political committee has raised $5 million just since October, when he lifted the moratorium on contributions.

Floridas business community has largely favored DeSantis approach to the coronavirus and responded in February with more financial support for the governors political committee. The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association PAC donated $15,000 to Friends of Ron DeSantis and he received another $150,000 from political committees closely aligned with the Florida Chamber of Commerce and other large business entities.

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As DeSantis GOP star rises, the money is following. He raised $2.7 million in February. - Tampa Bay Times

By Greg Smith

HILLSBOROUGH, N.H. Paul Scott, antiques dealer, collector and past board member of the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association (NHADA), passed away February 22 at his home in Hillsborough, where he had lived since 1983. He was 70 years old.

Scott was born February 18, 1951, in Farmingdale, N.Y., on Long Island, to parents Harriet (nee Muff) and Douglas Scott. He was educated in the public school system until attending university at New England College in Henniker, N.H., where he majored in history and political science. The college offered a winter break class on American antiques taught by Ron Rosenbleeth, who was then a teacher but would become an auctioneer. A highlight of the class was a trip to the January sale at Richard Withington Auctions at the Rolling Green Hotel in Andover, Mass. As Scott watched dealer John Walton pay over $2,000 for a period Queen Anne chair, he got hooked. At age 19, he became a runner for Withington until he graduated in 1973.

Thereafter, Scott began working for antiques dealer Richard Mills at his shop in Exeter, N.H., where he had his first introduction to the dealer side of the trade. Mills, a Winter Show dealer, had a breadth of knowledge to pass on that included books, paintings and Americana. Scott and Mills worked together until the latters passing not long after.

Scott then became a picker as he attended auctions and scoured shops in search of country items that he could sell to established dealers.

Scott soon met his wife, Cheryl, and they were wed in 1979 until their divorce in 2013. Together they formed an antiques business dealing in Americana, attending a dozen shows at the height of their careers. Their show schedule included the New Hampshire Antiques Show; the Hartford Show; the Southport-Westport Antiques Show; the Peabody Museum Show in Salem, Mass.; Rhinebeck; the Delaware Antiques Show; the Chester County Antiques Show; the ADA/Deerfield Show; Antiques at the Armory; and shows in Ellsworth, Maine and Wilton, Conn.

Paul Scotts passion was in New England furniture from the Eighteenth and the early Nineteenth Century that retained original surface and paint and exemplary form. He also held close American folk art, wood carvings and weathervanes, the latter category introduced to him by Scott Bassoff in the 1980s.

We were all part of the same group running around the flea markets or doing the shows, just all over, recalled dealer Sandy Jacobs. In the early 1980s, there was a hardcore group of us. Paul, Cheryl, Scott and I were the babies, we were the young kids at the time. Everyone else had been doing shows for longer. We were part of the contingency of southwestern New Hampshire dealers that included Charlie and Dudley Cobb, Tom Longacre, Jay Turomsha, Bill Lewan and more. Wed all see each other at the auctions, the smaller shows some of them were just local people. We got to know each other well.

Paul was enthusiastic about the business, it was a love affair he kept up his whole life, Jacobs continued. He wasnt a snob when it came to antiques, if it was old and he felt like he could sell it, he would buy it. I remember the first time he talked us into doing the Wilton Show, he said I sold five pieces of brown furniture, when can you do that!? He loved the hunt and he loved finding pieces.

Over time, the picking led way to an established antiques business that saw the pickers coming to them. The Scotts only time off was two weeks per year at a cottage in Maine. His favorite hunting grounds included Brimfield and the New Hampshire Antiques Show.

After the NHADA took back management of the New Hampshire Antiques Show in the late 1980s, it was Paul Scott who was installed by the board and president Peter Eaton as chairman of the show. He remained in that role for a number of years before bequeathing it to others, and he returned to it again after.

Paul Scott, left, with dealer Wayne Pratt

At his first show as chairman, Laura Beach wrote, In its 32nd year the New Hampshire Antiques Show remains one of natures more agreeable freaks. Today, with a surfeit of shows to choose from, what else could move more than 2,000 people to drop everything for an August weekend in Manchester? To fight for reservations at the Center of New Hampshire Holiday Inn? To limit their conversation to hi, how much, and Ill take it in their charge around the convention center floor? How does Paul Scott, this years New Hampshire Show chairman, describe this phenomenon? Delightful, confusing, profitable. It really is controlled chaos.' The review mentions that the Scotts sold three of the four weathervanes they brought to the show. That year, there were fears from some dealers that with Russell Carrells departure, the board would try to make the show more elite. Nobody is going to be kicked out as long as I am involved, Scott said. Were going to keep the ratio of New Hampshire dealers to non-New Hampshire dealers the same and well keep the same mix. You dont mess with success, after all this is New Hampshire. We dont want it to be a beauty pageant.

Thats when I really got close with Paul as we worked together on the board, remembered Tommy Thompson, president of the NHADA. One thing led to another and we spent a lot of time together. Paul was devoted. He breathed, slept and ate antiques and was a real proponent of the Dealers Association. He thought it was a great thing and we had a great show and we should keep things going as it is.

Scotts thirst for antiques was transcontinental as he engaged in buying trips to London with his good friend Dan Hingston, who managed sales at Richard Withington Auctions. Together they would buy pewter, brass, ceramics and mochaware, wrought iron and painted furniture that had American appeal. In 1986 on a flight home from London, the locking mechanism on a door near the flight attendants station failed to engage, resulting in the door flying open mid-flight. The co-pilot and attendants wrestled it shut and were able to keep it closed with an emergency bar. He never flew again.

Scott was passionate about the work of New Hampshire bird carver Jess Blackstone, whose estate he represented. Blackstone carved and painted more than 160 kinds of birds in his lifetime, though it was his songbirds that found great favor. Scotts passion for these carvings was no doubt influenced by his general love of birds.

Said dealer Bob Foley, I knew him close to 40 years and probably met him at the Concord Valley Hotel Show in the 70s. He was a great competitor, a great businessman and a great friend. He always had quite the attitude. We had a lot of positive experiences together.

Scotts involvement in the antiques business continued unabated until tragedy struck on May 10, 2009, when he fell in his backyard and suffered a spinal cord injury that would leave him a quadriplegic. He lived with assistance for the rest of his life and went largely unseen in the business thereafter, though his communication with fellow colleagues never ceased.

It was after his accident that he began calling dealer Arthur Liverant about three times per week, always at night around 10:30 pm. We would discuss sports, the antiques business, politics and the news of the day, Liverant said. It was always amazing to me that, no matter how dire things were for him, he never lost his optimistic attitude or his desire to carry on. I hardly ever heard him complain about his predicament. He had a great eye when he was dealing, he loved colorful painted surfaces and he loved weathervanes with great character and subject matter and form and composition, also genre paintings. He was very trustworthy and honest.

In August 2012, Skinner held a sale of 280 lots from Paul and Cheryls collection. It was led by a $41,475 result for a copper butterfly weathervane attributed to Fiske. The sale would gross $578,000.

His friendship with Thompson allowed Scott to continue dealing through a space at the Chichester, N.H., Thos. Bartlett Antiques and Oddments through his final days.

Paul is survived by many cousins and his presence in their lives will be greatly missed.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no memorial service will be held at this time. Donations in Pauls memory may be made to the Wheels of Mercy, http://www.wheelsofmercy.org.

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Paul Scott, 70, Antiques Dealer - Antiques and the Arts Online

Three scientists analysed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be very low. more about the credibility ratingA majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Cherry picking, Misleading, Overstates scientific confidence.

REVIEW This Wall Street Journal opinion piece, published on 18 February 2021, claimed in its headline that the U.S. will have herd immunity by April. Written by Marty Makary, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the article received more than 220,000 interactions and 37,000 shares on Facebook, according to the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle. Its claim was also propagated through social media posts by other outlets, such as this video by former U.S. Representative Ron Paul and this article by Zero Hedge, labeled a conspiracy-pseudoscience source by Media Bias/Fact Check.

Herd immunity is a state in which a certain proportion of individuals in a population are immune to an infectious disease. As explained in this article by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health:

For example, if 80% of a population is immune to a virus, four out of every five people who encounter someone with the disease wont get sick (and wont spread the disease any further). In this way, the spread of infectious diseases is kept under control. Depending how contagious an infection is, usually 50% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity.

The headlines claim is built in large part on the assumption that 55% of Americans have natural immunity to COVID-19 through prior infection. However, experts who reviewed the article told Health Feedback that this assumption wasnt supported by the data. [See our reviewers overall feedback.]

Marm Kilpatrick, a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz who studies disease ecology, found that the articles figures for the number of COVID-19 infections detected by testing, as well as the infection fatality ratewhich measures the proportion of infected people who die from the diseasewere unsubstantiated.

Kilpatrick explained that the proportion of COVID-19 infections detected by testing is unknown, since there are no representative serosurveys available for the U.S. Serosurveys, or seroprevalence studies, measure the proportion of people who have antibodies to a pathogen. These studies inform researchers about the extent of a pathogens spread in a population.

The author uses a value of 15.4 percent (1/6.5), which produces a very different answer than if the author had used his other proposed value of 25 percent (1/4), Kirkpatrick pointed out. Instead of the 55 percent seroprevalence claimed, seroprevalence would be 34 percent. The fraction of infections detected by testing may even be higher than 25 percent, which would produce an even lower estimate of seroprevalence.

The article also extrapolated the total number of COVID-19 infections by relying on the infection fatality rate and the total number of deaths. However, the article underestimated the infection fatality rate. Given a fixed number of deaths, the higher the infection fatality rate, the smaller the size of the infected population.

The best available data for the U.S. population indicates a value of 0.6, Kilpatrick said, citing a study by ODriscoll et al.[1]. Using the same number of deaths as the author, which is 0.15 percent of the U.S. population, this would translate to 25 percent of the U.S. population having been infected, rather than two-thirds as the author claimed.

In short, the articles statement that 55 66 percent of the U.S. population has already been infected and has immunity is not supported by available data, he concluded.

Apart from the miscalculations in the total number of infections, the article also made several inaccurate assertions about COVID-19 reinfections and immunity.

Tara Smith, an epidemiologist and professor at Kent State University, refuted the articles claim that when [reinfections] do occur, the cases are mild, citing a case report documenting COVID-19 cases around the world that were more serious upon reinfection[2].

Virologist Angela Rasmussen pointed out that the article misrepresented a study by Sekine et al. on T cells[3]: T cell immunity is presented [in the Wall Street Journal opinion piece] as being an indicator of protective immunity [] this is an incorrect interpretation of the data cited about T cells to support that assertion.

Eric Topol, a cardiologist and professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute, highlighted several problems with the opinion piece in a Twitter thread:

William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard University, pointed out that the articles use of the Brazilian city of Manaus as a real-life example of successful protection through natural infection is inaccurate and misleading.

The article fails to mention that since the research it cites was published, Manaus has suffered a surge of infections even worse than the one that it saw at the start of the pandemic[4], he said.

As reported in a study by Buss et al.[5], even though an estimated 76 percent of Manaus population was infected, the spread of COVID-19 wasnt halted. In fact, news reports indicated that a second wave of infections overwhelmed hospitals in early 2021. Buss et al. warned that Manaus represents a sentinel population, giving us a data-based indication of what may happen if SARS-CoV-2 is allowed to spread largely unmitigated.

Curiously, the Lancet commentary cited in the opinion piece to support the claim actually reported COVID-19 resurgence in Manaus despite the high level of infection in its population[4]. This contradicts the Wall Street Journal articles suggestion that Manaus had achieved protection through natural infection.

One reason for the resurgence may be the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants[4,6], although other factors, such as waning population immunity, may also be a contributing factor.

It is not known to what extent the circulating variant P.1 contributed to the surge, or how many cases were reinfections, but it should be more than enough to demonstrate the dangers of trusting to herd immunity from infection for protection, Hanage said.

Cases in the U.S. have indeed been falling in recent weeks. The reason for this is still unclear, but this Washington Post article explored several possible explanations. Apart from vaccinations, other potential contributing factors that scientists highlighted were changes in peoples behavior, such as greater adherence to physical distancing and the use of face masks, as well as fewer COVID-19 tests being performed due to a shift in focus from testing to vaccinating. However, an analysis of the number of cases and positivity rate in this Health Feedback review indicated that the decrease is genuine and not simply due to fewer tests being performed.

In summary, the Wall Street Journal opinion pieces claim that the U.S. will achieve herd immunity by April 2021 is unsupported by the available data. Its claim that natural infection confers sufficient herd immunity to end the COVID-19 epidemic in the U.S. also doesnt stand up to scrutiny, when we consider the example of Manaus. The city experienced a largely uncontrolled spread of COVID-19, which resulted in a high infection rate. Yet the city still saw a resurgence of COVID-19 that was worse than the first wave.

While the U.S. is indeed experiencing a fall in the number of new COVID-19 cases, scientists have urged Americans to avoid complacency given the threat posed by the new virus variants.

Former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tom Frieden told CNN:

Weve had three surges. Whether or not we have a fourth surge is up to us, and the stakes couldnt be higher.

You can read the original Wall Street Journal article here. REVIEWERS OVERALL FEEDBACK A. Marm Kilpatrick, Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz:The articles claim that the U.S. is near herd immunity rests on two numbers: 1) the detection of infections by testing (claimed to be 10 25 percent) and 2) the infection fatality rate (claimed to be 0.23 percent).

1) The fraction of infections detected by testing is unknown, as there are no representative serosurveys for the U.S. on which to quantify this number. The author uses a value of 15.4 percent (1/6.5), which produces a very different answer than if the author had used his other proposed value of 25 percent (1/4). Instead of the 55 percent seroprevalence claimed, seroprevalence would be 34 percent. The fraction of infections detected by testing may even be higher than 25 percent, which would produce an even lower estimate of seroprevalence.

2) The infection fatality rate is an age-specific value that also depends on gender and pre-existing morbidities. The best available data for the U.S. population indicates a value of 0.6 (95% CI: 0.51-0.7), which comes from Figure 2 of this study by ODriscoll et al.[1].

Using the same number of deaths as the author indicates that 0.15%/0.6% = 25% of the U.S. population has been infected, rather than two-thirds as the author claims.

Thus, the authors argument that 55 66 percent of the U.S. population has already been infected and has immunity is not supported by available data.

Tara Smith, Professor, College of Public Health, Kent State University:There are a lot of errors here, probably because the author has no background in infectious disease. The author of the T cell research cited says its misused (see that and more info in this Twitter thread). And not all reinfections are mild[2].

William Hanage, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health:This is not an exhaustive list.

The estimates of how many have been infected do not tally with those of others (for example, see this analysis of attack rate). But because these numbers inevitably lag, the best way to show this is probably the section where the national per capita mortality is used to estimate how many people have been infected. In reality, this statistic varied hugely by state, with more than 2500/million dead in New Jersey, less than 1000/million in Virginia, and about 300/million in Hawaii. This suggests great regional differences in the amount of infection that has occurred and the resulting immunity. Note that the role of the holidays in producing a peak is illustrated by the fact that Hawaii saw a small peak around the same time as the rest of the country in early January, despite having little evidence of immunity and a very different climate. While cases are down nationally, in some regionsincluding some with very high per capita mortality ratesthey are showing signs of plateauing.

There are numerous misstatements about the weight of evidence when it comes to reinfections. It should be noted that if your bar for reinfections is two PCR tests with a genome from each, that makes them very hard to detecteven more so when, as the article states, many initial infections are never detected! Probably the best single counterpoint is the example of Manaus, which is held up in the article as an example of herd immunity. The article fails to mention that since the research it cites was published, Manaus has suffered a surge of infections even worse than the one that it saw at the start of the pandemic[4,5]. It is not known to what extent the circulating variant P.1 contributed to the surge, or how many cases were reinfections, but it should be more than enough to demonstrate the dangers of trusting to herd immunity from infection for protection.

The articles statement that most infections are asymptomatic is not true[7].

Finally, the arrival of the B.1.1.7 variant which is approximately 50% more transmissible means that a larger proportion of the population needs to be immune to drop the reproductive number below one[8]. While April may well be considerably better than the worst of the winter, this should be placed in the context of seasonality[9]. Overemphasizing population immunity is misleading and could discourage people from vaccination.

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Misleading Wall Street Journal opinion piece makes the unsubstantiated claim that the US will have herd immunity by April 2021 - Health Feedback

Gov. Ron DeSantis gave his State of the State address Tuesday to formally start the 2021 legislative session. Here are his remarks, as prepared for delivery:

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the House and Senate and fellow citizens:

I see, in many parts of our country, a sad state of affairs: schools closed, businesses shuttered and lives destroyed.

This calamitous reality is just the beginning of what will likely be long-term damage to children, families and society.

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.

While so many other states kept locking people down, Florida lifted people up.

Floridas schools are open and we are one of only a handful of states in which every parent has a right to send a child to school in-person.

All Floridians have a right to earn a living and our citizens are employed at higher rates than those in the nation as a whole.

Every job is essential.

If you are working hard to earn a living, we got your back in the state of Florida.

Every business in Florida has a right to operate. We have stood up for small, family-owned businesses and have saved thousands of them from ruin.

Because of our actions, Florida is leading the nation in the number of people submitting business formation applications and we are one of the top destinations for business relocation.

Friends, legislators, Floridians, lend me your ears: We will not let anybody close your schools, we will not let anybody take your jobs and we will not let anybody close your businesses!

One year ago, COVID-19 had not yet been declared a global pandemic. We had scant knowledge of the virus, little ability to test for it, and no approved treatments.

Today, we have three safe and effective vaccines, great treatments like monoclonal antibodies, and the ability to conduct rapid diagnostic tests.

A lot has happened over the past year.

We are saddened by the thousands of Floridians and hundreds of thousands of Americans who have died with COVID. And we sympathize with the family members who in many instances were not even permitted to see their loved ones in person, at a nursing home or in the hospital.

To honor those who have died with COVID and to recognize the toll the virus has taken on family members, the state of Florida will be lowering the flags to half-staff on Wednesday.

We thank the health care professionals throughout Florida who cared for those who became ill due to COVID. This includes front-line doctors and nurses, who provided top-notch care to hospitalized patients, as well as staff at long-term care facilities who worked tirelessly to protect our most vulnerable seniors.

Their efforts helped to save thousands of lives and are a major reason why Florida, with perhaps the most vulnerable population to COVID, has per capita COVID mortality that is below the national average.

From the outset, Florida has been steadfast in focusing efforts on the protection of the elderly. We rejected the policy of sending contagious COVID patients back into nursing homes; indeed, we prohibited the practice. Florida also established COVID-only nursing facilities so that infections in long-term care facilities could be more effectively contained.

And perhaps most importantly, we are prioritizing our senior citizens for vaccinations. Florida is putting seniors first because it is the best strategy to save lives and is the best way to honor our elders from whom we draw inspiration. We have vaccinated millions of seniors throughout Florida parents, grandparents, veterans of the second world war, survivors of the Holocaust.

We have made vaccinations available all across the state: in retail pharmacies including Publix, Walmart and CVS, at hundreds of hospitals throughout Florida, at drive-thru sites in places like The Villages retirement community, at houses of worship from the First Baptist Church Piney Grove in Lauderdale Lakes to the St. Paul AME in Jacksonville, at senior communities such as Century Village and Kings Point in South Florida, and in underserved areas such as Pahokee.

We even have delivered thousands of shots to homebound seniors in the comfort of their own homes.

Our efforts saved lives. In fact, 40 states have suffered higher COVID mortality for seniors aged 65-plus on a per-capita basis than Florida.

And the cases and hospitalizations for seniors in Florida have plummeted as vaccinations have increased since Jan. 30, the number of seniors hospitalized for COVID has declined by 80% and cases among seniors have declined by 71%.

Florida was right to prioritize the elderly. Seniors first works.

As we worked to protect seniors, we also worked to give opportunities to our kids. Florida has led the way in providing all parents the right to send their kids to school for in-person instruction. Florida is one of only four states and the only large state to offer in-person instruction to 100% of its students.

Across the nation, millions of students have been locked out of the classroom for nearly a year and for many there is no end in sight. These students have fallen behind on academics, have been denied the opportunity to participate in activities such as athletics, and have seen their social development stunted.

The consequences of shutting kids out of school for a year, year-and-a-half and maybe even, in some places, two years, will be catastrophic and long-lasting.

The failure of so many places outside of Florida to open schools at the beginning of the school year will go down as one of the biggest policy blunders of our time.

Florida did not make that mistake. We followed the data and stood by our parents and students. We ignored the political posturing and fear-mongering and did what was right for Floridians.

Florida has succeeded where so many other states have failed in providing opportunities for its students in large measure because of the tireless efforts of school superintendents, administrators, teachers and coaches. They knew keeping kids out of school would be a disaster and were not going to let that happen on their watch.

On behalf of a grateful state and millions of grateful parents, thank you.

Given the unique circumstances we faced, you may never have an opportunity to play such a crucial role in ensuring opportunities for students as well as in preventing long-term damage to society.

Open schools have been a godsend to parents throughout Florida, especially for single moms responsible for putting food on the table.

Economic lockdowns are a luxury of the largely affluent Zoom class; many Floridians cannot do their jobs over a computer; they need to show up.

Over the past many months, Florida has led the way in protecting the jobs and livelihoods of its hard-working citizens from construction workers to bartenders, from servers to hair stylists, everyone has a right to earn a living.

Floridas efforts have made a lasting impact on the lives of millions of people. But do not take it from me. Let them tell you for themselves:

There are not a whole lot of Floridians who are itching to move from Florida to lockdown states, but there are thousands and thousands of people who are seeking to leave the lockdowns behind for the greener pastures in Florida.

We have long been known as the Sunshine State but, given the unprecedented lockdowns we have witnessed in other states, I think the Florida sun now serves as a beacon of light to those who yearn for freedom.

As we begin this legislative session, I look forward to working with Senate President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls. You both have already demonstrated leadership on issues that matter to Floridians and I know you will be great partners for progress.

When the initial fallout from COVID began, there was a lot of concern about whether we could afford to continue with the progress we have already made on priorities like protecting our water resources and K-12 education.

Forecasts were dire. The 2021 legislative session was shaping up to be a fiscal nightmare.

I am pleased to report that our current fiscal outlook is much better than the bleak forecasts from last spring.

As many of you are probably aware, when the pandemic hit, I vetoed $1 billion from this years budget. I also instructed our executive agencies not to spend all of the appropriated funds because we did not know for sure how much revenue we would be taking in.

Because Floridas economy is open, revenue is coming in at levels far higher than even the most recent revised estimates. For the last three months December to February preliminary estimates peg the increase in revenue at more than $800 million over and above the December revenue estimation.

Florida is below the national average in unemployment and much lower than our peer states of Texas, New York and California. We also anticipate downward revisions of Decembers unemployment numbers to reflect even stronger jobs numbers.

As international travel is reinstated and tourism picks up (and I hope the federal government will allow our cruise ships to sail again), the employment outlook should improve even more.

Throughout the pandemic, Florida has not touched one red cent from our rainy day fund.

The bottom line is that we saved Floridas economy and as a result our budget outlook is positive.

The priorities weve championed from water resources to education to infrastructure can be honored.

Let us get it done.

I reject reductions in funding for K-12 education. Last session, the Legislature answered my call to increase the average minimum salary for teachers, taking Florida from the bottom half of states to the top 5. Let us keep this momentum going let us do more this year!

We should not forget that Florida continues to make great strides in K-12 education.

Just last week, the College Board released data showing that Florida ranks No. 2 in the nation in the percentage of graduating seniors who have passed Advanced Placement exams.

Florida leads the nation in school choice.

We are beginning to place a strong and long overdue emphasis on vocational education.

Florida has launched an ambitious civics initiative so that students can understand the principles that make our country unique.

Florida is leading on education and we must continue to do so.

We also must continue to protect our natural resources and invest in improvements in water quality. I ask that you continue to fund the key projects from the EAA reservoir in the south to the projects in the northern Everglades that will impact our state for generations to come, and reaffirms our commitment to Everglades restoration and access to safe, clean water for our communities.

I am also proposing the creation of the Resilient Florida program under the Department of Environmental Protection. Through this initiative, Florida will invest $1 billion into projects that help our communities adapt to the threats posed by flooding from intensified storms and sea level rise. I am encouraged by similar proposals from the Legislature to address this important issue for our communities, and I look forward to signing into law a program that will make a difference.

Florida is and must remain a state dedicated to law and order. When riots broke out across the nation last year, we saw cities ruined by violent mobs. Law enforcement was targeted and lawlessness prevailed. This was not and must never be tolerated in the state of Florida.

As we saw rioting in other states last year, I called up the National Guard, mobilized mobile field force teams from the FHP, and worked with local officials like Carlos Gimenez and Lenny Curry to ensure that places like Miami and Jacksonville did not suffer the same fate as Minneapolis and Kenosha. Florida handled it well. But we need to do more.

Working with President Simpson, Speaker Sprowls and law enforcement groups across the state, we have proposed the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement reforms in the nation.

We will not permit localities to jeopardize the safety of their citizens by indulging in the insane fantasy of defunding law enforcement.

We will not allow our cities to burn and violence to rule the streets.

And we will not leave any doubt in the minds of those who wear the uniform that the state of Florida stands with you.

To paraphrase an old Merle Haggard song, when you mess with the men and women of law enforcement you are walking on the fightin side of me.

Speaker Sprowls and Senator Simpson have also been leaders in supporting legislative reforms to protect Floridians from the power of Big Tech.

This is real-life 2021, not fictitious 1984, yet Big Tech wields monopolistic power over the public in ways that would have made the monopolists of the early 20th Century blush.

Floridians have a right to control their personal data and Big Tech should not be able to make billions of dollars off us without our informed consent.

Florida has always been a state that strongly supports free speech, and we cannot allow the contours of acceptable speech to be adjudicated by the whims of oligarchs in Silicon Valley.

Nor we can allow Floridians to be de-platformed or silenced with no means of recourse, and this is especially true of those who rely on these technology platforms for their livelihoods.

Finally, because Florida is dedicated to free and fair elections, we cannot allow Big Tech to interfere in our elections by putting a thumb on the scale for political candidates favored by Silicon Valley.

Speaking of elections, we should take a moment to enjoy the fact that Florida ran perhaps the most transparent and efficient election in the nation in 2020. People actually asked, why cannot these other states be like Florida? Such a sentiment would have been unthinkable 20 years ago.

We need to make sure our elections are transparent and run efficiently. There should be no ballot harvesting in the state of Florida. One person, one vote.

We also cannot allow private groups to pour millions of dollars into the administration of our elections. That is a public function and should be done free from this type of private interference.

Let us stay ahead of the curve on election administration we never want to see the chaos of 20 years ago rear its head in Florida again.

I know these issues are merely scratching the surface of what the House and Senate will tackle this session. Of course, I would be remiss if I did not lend my support to the COVID liability bills for business and health care; for the Speakers bills cracking down on the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign influence; general reforms to improve the states legal climate; reform of the emergency powers of local government; and continued support for infrastructure.

I have no doubt that you will send me a lot more than that.

At the close of the constitutional convention the famed elder statesman, Benjamin Franklin, was asked to be the first to sign the new Constitution. Franklin pointed to General Washingtons chair, the back of which had the design of a sun low on the horizon. There were days, Franklin remarked, when I thought this picture of a sun low on the horizon was a setting sun, but I now know its a rising sun a new day for America, a new dawn for freedom.

Our nation and our state have endured a tumultuous year. Floridians have responded in ways that would make our founders proud.

Because of those efforts, the sun is rising here in Florida and the Sunshine State will soon reach new horizons.

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WATCH: Gov. Ron DeSantis to give State of the State Address - WMBB - mypanhandle.com