At first the headline looked like something The onion. Florida has thrown its hat in the ring to host the postponed 2020 Olympic Games due to take place in Tokyo this summer. Since 80 percent of the population of Japan Florida’s Trumpist administration believes that hosting a super-spreader event in the middle of a pandemic may not be the best use of resources or be worth the risk, even if that foot sinks into the Atlantic due to global warming.
The state’s chief financial officer who filmed Jimmy Patronis sent a letter To the International Olympic Committee, “Today I am writing to encourage you to consider moving the 2021 Olympics from Tokyo, Japan to the United States of America, and Florida in particular.” Patronis customarily kissed the rump of his Trumpist Governor Ron DeSantis for his “handling” of the pandemic and wrote: “When most of the major states closed their economies, we were fortunate to have a governor who recognized the important balance between the Combating the virus and keeping the economy open. ”
That is of course a lie. DeSantis’ “handling” of the pandemic was a disaster. Despite its efforts to keep the harmful health effects a secret, we know that Florida has reported more than 25,500 deaths and 1.67 million coronavirus cases. This is the fourth largest US state overall.
Patronis even included their phone number in the public letter to encourage the global super spreader to come into their state. Florida’s efforts have had so much immediate impact that the media asked Joe Biden’s spokesman Jen Psaki on the possibility. She referred people to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The latter reiterated his support for Tokyo calling Patronis’ trick a rogue stunt apparently meant to buff the state’s reputation and kiss its boss’s bum more than a serious effort.
But let’s take it seriously for a moment and consider what it would mean for Florida to host the Olympics. This is a state that has been brought to its knees by DeSantis, with rising Covid rates, massive tax breaks for the rich, persistent poverty and police violence. Florida is one of the poorest states in the country, despite the ostentatious wealth of some of its residents. 7 percent of the population live on less than $ 10,000 a year. Now imagine if the Olympic Games come to the city in this crisis. It’s a recipe for dystopia. Given the debt, displacement, and hypermilitarization that the Olympics bring to protect the rich from the poor, one is tempted to argue that Florida’s masses are unable to tell the difference from a typical day to be recognized under DeSantis’ thumb. But as the Olympics showed, things can get worse and worse, and Florida can’t afford to get worse.
Meanwhile with one press conference After a meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee earlier this week, a reporter raised the misconception of Florida stepping in to pinch for Tokyo. IOC President Thomas Bach brushed off the absurd trick and made it clear that the plan was to move the Games forward in Tokyo. tell Reporters said the IOC is “fully focused and committed” to hosting the Tokyo Games this summer. But we will see.
The above polls in Japan show that 80 percent of the population do not want the Olympic Games to be held this summer. Coronavirus rates have risen in the past few weeks. After pulling and getting his feet banged from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun For its “slow and lukewarm” response, the government eventually subordinated Tokyo an official state of emergency.
In Japan, the medical system is already being taken to extremes. Toshio Nakagawa, President of the Japan Medical Association, told Reporters that the current hospital occupancy rate in the country meant that it would be “impossible” to accept international visitors who attended the Tokyo Games and contracted the coronavirus.
Nakagawa is not alone. Numerous medical professionals in Japan are wondering aloud why Tokyo needs to host an optional sporting event with the coronavirus escalating. “We’re far more dangerous than last year. So why do you have to hold the Olympics, which were canceled last year due to the risk of infection?” asked Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease specialist at Kobe University in Japan. Iwata added, “Do you have to risk this? Risk from hosting the Olympic Games? I do not believe that. ”
Japan has seen a surge in coronavirus infections, but it’s nothing compared to what the Floridians are experiencing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the whole country has Japan just over 371,000 cases. Florida alone has detected nearly 1.7 million infections since March. Offering Florida as an Olympic host is offering the ridiculous.
Florida’s CFO’s proposal to move the Olympics to the Sunshine State certainly deserves a hilarious headline that has been conjured up by the minds of the United States The onion. But hosting the Olympic Games is no joke for everyday people, even under non-Covid conditions. Enough is enough. In the name of global public health, the time has come to cancel the 2020 Summer Games. In the midst of a raging pandemic that has already killed more than 200 million people around the world, it is unbearable to move on with the Olympics. It’s a slow motion train wreck that could be avoided with a reasonable stroke of the pen.
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