Key West Lou / TWO IMPORTANT ISSUES…..ONE LOCAL, THE OTHER NATIONAL

The Key West Citizen provides a valuable service with its Citizens’ Voice section. It provides Key Westers and others to speak out on issues of concern to them.

How local authorities have been handling coronavirus concerns is one of them. The County and City Commissions are kow-towing to bar and restaurant owners and their employees. To an extent that can almost be described as forgetting the rest of the citizens of Key West. Who account for much more in number than the bar, etc. people.

One comment, infrequently two, will show up re an issue. Coronavirus issues are becoming more frequent. To the extent that yesterday there were many. I do not ever recall that many in the years I have lived here.

I share several with you.

“Inviting tourists anywhere during a pandemic seems irresponsible. It needs to stop.”

“Thanksgiving is upon us and the city is recommending we not have large gatherings of family and friends to celebrate, while they just approved stuffing as many people as possible into local bars, full of people not masking and not distancing all night. The city needs to stop pandering to businesses who are obviously the cause of our rising COVID-19 cases.”

“As long as we have weak, meaningless Covid-19 rules, we will continue to get crushed by the Miami crowd.”

“The Commission meeting seemed to be all about the welfare of bars and tourists. I didn’t hear much of anything about protecting residents. Ten months later, ‘communication’ isn’t going to solve anything.”

“A curfew is pointless if we don’t enforce the rules before midnight. All over town there are bars and restaurants whose staffs are not following the guidelines all day. If the staff does not follow the rules, how can we expect tourists to? The city should be cracking down.”

“Tourists willing to vacation during a pandemic probably don’t care much about Covid-19 or the residents of Key West. Clearly our leaders don’t care much about the residents either.”

There is madness that attaches.

Miami’s Covid nurses and front line workers were surprised with a free vacation to the Florida Keys. Over one dozen. They had been scheduled for an upcoming mandatory 48 hours of training. Instead they were surprised tuesday with certificates for the vacation.

Why the Keys? Same old story! They can do more and get away with more in Key West than in Miami. Miami should keep its germs in Miami. The Keys neither want nor need them.

A never ending supply of Miamians on weekends. Key West acquiring an “open town” reputation. The gunslinger of yesterday is the coronavirus of today.

I do not know which Key is involved. Whatever, the message is the same: Miamians stay away from our homes!

On the national scene, Trump’s baseless election lawsuits are a disgrace and shameful. Thus far, each and every such lawsuit has been groundless and dismissed. I believe Trump’s record is 0-8.

With a record like that, a coach would be gone. Yesterday’s news.

Not Donald. Yet.

The federal system frowns on groundless lawsuits being brought. The type Trump has been bringing.

Rule 11 of the federal Rules of Civil Procedure apply.

Rule 11 requires an attorney to perform a due diligence investigation concerning the factual basis for any claim or defense.

Claims such as have been brought by Trump, waste a court’s time, resources and other parties’ time.

Lawyers and their law firms can be sanctioned. A fancy word for fined. Significant dollars involved.

In Trump’s cases, federal judges are requiring Trump’s attorneys in open court to swear under oath at the beginning of the case that the case has some factual or legal merit. Each attorney in the phony cases has responded “no.”

A strange procedure.

Cases based on fraud solely to delay , confuse and harass will not be permitted.The attorneys wish neither to be sanctioned nor embarrassed. The lawsuits are then dismissed.

Justice Scalia has always been spoken well of by Trump. Considered by many including Trump to be what every justice and judge in the U.S. should aspire to be.

Justice Scalia in a 1993 opinion re Rule 11 said judges should come down hard on lawyers who abuse the system with delay, confusion and harassment.

Scalia added lawyers should be sanctioned with mandatory fines. He wrote, “In my view” re “litigation abuse” those “who file frivolous lawsuits and pleadings should have no ‘safe harbor.”’ Scalia thought courts must punish this conduct to deter bad behavior and free up the use of the courts! Courts were needed to hear legitimate disputes.

Yesterday an unusual one. It was 7:40 and I was prepared to begin typing my blog. Suddenly, no internet, computer, land line, cell phone and TV.

Not a momentary glitch. The problem resolved one item at a time till around 6 pm when all was well.

When the world was available to me once again, I became aware there had been an accident around mile marker 88. The area has some sort of central station that handles all the items. Note my cell phone is with Verizon. Everything else Comcast.

Never did do the blog.

Also discovered a day without internet or TV is not easy to handle. Boring!!! Nothing to do!!! Tried reading, but was not into it very long.

Glad to be back on line.

Enjoy your day!

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