Last night, Joe Biden fumed at Gov. Ron DeSantis as he announced his likely unconstitutional and certainly dictatorial vaccine mandate. According to Biden, the Florida governor (among others) represents the fount of all evil by not forcing masks on children, an action that is so anti-science that not even the Europeans will go along with it. Biden also accused DeSantis, without naming him, of not promoting the vaccine, a contention that is absolutely false.

Yet, while Biden is busying throwing a fit, DeSantis is scoring more victories for individual rights. It’s amazing how much you can win when you choose to play the game.

BREAKING: 1st District Court of Appeals just granted the State of Florida's request to reinstate the stay — meaning, the rule requiring ALL Florida school districts to protect parents' rights to make choices about masking kids is BACK in effect!

— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) September 10, 2021

This comes after a lower court struck down DeSantis’ order that masking could not be mandatory in schools (no doubt, that same court would uphold Biden’s vaccine mandate because reasons). Now, school districts will once again be required to offer an opt-out to parents who don’t want their kids muzzled all day long for no real reason whatsoever.

As I’ve shared many times, the data on mask mandates is clear — they don’t work. Even if one wants to argue for some limited efficacy of masks via laboratory testing, real-world data continues to show no efficacy at all in stopping the spread of COVID-19. That includes a study that the CDC seemingly tried to bury which showed mask mandates in schools do not change rates of spread.

Yet, for reasons that seem purely political, those that claim to follow the science refuse to just follow the science. Children do not need to wear masks and there are legitimate long-term concerns regarding how masking affects the learning environment. We should not be hurting kids in order to appease the irrational fears of adults.

DeSantis understands that, and unlike some other GOP governors, he’s chosen to stay on offense. That’s paying dividends for the residents of his state. Further, Florida appears to be well over the hump in regards to the Delta variant while draconian, locked down, and masked up states are seeing major spikes with no end in sight. The refusal to understand the seasonality and cyclic nature of COVID-19, which is clearly now endemic, is maddening at times.

Ron DeSantis correctly pointed out today that Fauci said with 50% of adults vaccinated, you wouldn’t see surges like those in the past.

Florida had 50% of adults fully vaccinated just a few days afterwards — then cases exploded +2,200% anyway.

Fauci is literally always wrong. pic.twitter.com/Q5rZT6NS4d

— IM (@ianmSC) September 7, 2021

Hospitalizations in Hawaii continue to reach new highs, nearly a month after they went back to capacity and gathering restrictions since their mask mandate failed so spectacularly.

Is Ron DeSantis flying from Florida to Hawaii every day? How could this be happening?! pic.twitter.com/xPQqgdXBIY

— IM (@ianmSC) September 9, 2021

Follow the science the left screams, but that’s exactly what DeSantis is doing. He’s using real-world data to take logical actions that do not stomp on individual rights. That is the way, and more Republicans would do well to follow the same path.