Swept up in Tea Party hysteria, Pinellas County --Florida's sixth largest county and home to St. Petersburg -- decided to stop the widespread practice of fluoridating its water supply in a surprising 4-3 county commission vote last year. Though, citizens soon got sick of sipping that right wing tea instead of fluoridated water, and the county commission has now voted to start the practice again.
That didn't stop dozens of people from showing up to claim the move was "terrorism at its highest" and a "Nazi plot."
County Commissioner Norm Roche, swept into office with Tea Party support, lead the charge to remove fluoride form the county's drinking supply, despite the CDC dubbing the practice, which is meant to ward off tooth decay, "one of the greatest public health achievements of the century."
"This is all part of an agenda that's being pushed forth by the so-called globalists in our government and the world government to keep the people stupid so they don't realize what's going on," Tea Party activist Tony Caso said at the time.
Roche's fellow Republicans on the council joined him, and the county became the largest in Florida not to fluoridate its water.
Turns out people aren't so stupid, and did realize what was actually going on.
Fluoride became a central point in the latest round of county commission elections, and two of the anti-fluoride Republican commissioners were swept out of office.
With another deciding to change his vote, the commission voted to add fluoride to its drinking water once again. Roche was the only holdout.
Though, crazies remain outraged.
"This is terrorism at the highest," Yvette Capetillo, a resident of neighboring Hillsborough County who felt so strongly about the issue she showed up for the vote, told The Tampa Bay Times. We're sure the families of victims of actual terrorism appreciate that sentiment.
Other compared it to a Nazi police, while, according to TBO.com, another yelled out "shame, shame, shame!" when the measure was passed.
"You seem to think you're fit to make medical treatment decisions for me," Pamela Hummel told the commission according to TBO. "That's a matter for me and my doctor, me and my dentist, and you are intruding on that decision."
The fluoridation process will begin again in March of 2013. Crazy people are of course always welcome to collect and purify their own un-fluoridated water through whatever means they wish.
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