Perhaps you didn’t notice, but cruise ships haven’t been sailing out of American ports lately. Something about, um, a virus.
Many of us heard the first squeaks of a future pandemic when waves of infection broke out on a few alleged pleasure boats, leaving their guests stranded on board, hostage to the new plague. The industry has recently been on … hiatus. But now it’s clamoring to get back in action with as few new rules as possible.
Florida, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, is suing the federal government to open up the harbors. At the same time, it’s prohibiting cruise lines from asking passengers for proof of vaccination.
We pause here to note that at this moment in time, DeSantis is regarded as one of the leading candidates for the next Republican presidential nomination.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been unenthusiastic about letting the ships back on their voyages, and really, who could blame them? Imagine you were stuck trying to protect the nation from another COVID-19 surge while you had the whole country on your case, complaining about face masks. You’re terrified the pandemic could somehow come back, kill another half-million people and wreck the economy.