DeSantis3 dont say gay

SEE DESANTIS 4 5 24

SEE WEDGE CULTURE WAR

4 22 new node, seems some sort of tipping point? never assigned him to troll caucus (MOC?) but he's on the edge of trumpier than thou // MTG

picked a fight with Disney, biggest employer and beloved corp?! Gavin N made offer to refugees?!

merri ok

see voter suppression fraud BS

some neglect? see connections

phobe bingo?

see Ginni

skipped cpac?

signed disney bill

bak 5 24 fail

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moms 4 lib conf? M4L gop head rape

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quits, endorse trump

SEE BORDER BS

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an 6 24

A law Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed after the 2020 election has caused a significant decrease in the amount of voters who can receive mail-in ballots ahead of the 2024 election, according to Politico.

Per Politico, "The plunge occurred after GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a wide-ranging election law in 2021 that required all standing vote-by-mail requests to be canceled after the 2022 elections. Both parties and election supervisors have tried over the last several months to build up awareness of the change, but it’s not clear if that message is sinking in with voters."

Although both GOP and Democratic voters are both experiencing the impact, the news outlet reports the the law "could prove devastating" especially for the latter, :who have embraced mail-in voting since 2020 as the Republican Party nationally has raced away from it."

Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fred told Politico, "It’s definitely inconvenient and unfortunately we have to start all over again. It’s a waste of everyone’s resources to get access to voting."

The news outlet also notes:

Florida used to allow vote-by-mail requests to remain valid for two election cycles, but GOP legislators changed the law in the session following the 2020 elections. Starting in 2023, mail-in ballot requests expired at the end of December following a general election. The law signed by DeSantis was part of a wave of changes that Republicans made in the aftermath of the election where former President Donald Trump made false claims about widespread voter fraud.*

GOP consultant Ryan Tyson — who Politico reports is one of DeSantis' own advisers — has been negatively impacted by the change in the law.

Tyson wasn't able to vote in the Republican presidential primary.

"I was in another state the day of the primary," the DeSantis adviser said. "I was in Colorado when I tried to request one and was notified I missed the window."

Politico reports the state's "local election supervisors have tried to alert voters that their vote-by-mail requests had been canceled and that they need to make new requests, but so far have seen only limited success."

Although the change hurts the state's Democratic Party, Politico reports, "The Republican base’s aversion to mail-in voting has hurt the party across the country, both in the midterms and in critical off-year elections. Republicans elsewhere have haltingly started to encourage voters to embrace the method, even as Trump’s attacks continue."

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((( NOTE HOW FLORIDA HARMED

3/24

wASHINGTON (AP) — A new Biden administration rule that sets tougher standards for deadly soot pollution faced a barrage of legal challenges Wednesday, as 25 Republican-led states and a host of business groups filed lawsuits seeking to block the rule in court.

Twenty-four states, led by attorneys general from Kentucky and West Virginia, filed a joint challenge stating that new Environmental Protection Agency rule would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities and families and could block new manufacturing plants and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Texas filed a separate suit, as did business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers.

“The EPA’s new rule has more to do with advancing President (Joe) Biden’s radical green agenda than protecting Kentuckians’ health or the environment, said Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, who is leading the joint lawsuit along with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

The EPA rule “will drive jobs and investment out of Kentucky and overseas, leaving employers and hardworking families to pay the price,” Coleman said.

Watchdog: EPA’s lead pipe fix sent about $3 billion to states based on unverified data

Racial bias did not shape Mississippi’s water funding decisions for capital city, EPA says

US’s largest public utility ignores warnings in moving forward with new natural gas plant

The soot rule is one of several EPA dictates under attack from industry groups and Republican-led states. The Supreme Court heard arguments last month on a GOP challenge to the agency’s “good neighbor rule,” which restricts smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas.

Three energy-producing states — Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia — challenged the rule, along with the steel industry and other groups, calling it costly and ineffective. The rule is on hold in a dozen states because of the court challenges.

In opposing the soot rule, Republicans and industry groups say the United States already has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world — tougher than the European Union or major polluters such as China and India.

Tightening U.S. standards “wouldn’t improve public health, but it would put as many as 30% of all U.S. counties out of compliance under federal law, leading to aggressive new permitting requirements that could effectively block new economic activity,’' Coleman said.

The EPA rule sets maximum levels of fine particle pollution — more commonly known as soot — at 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms established a decade ago under the Obama administration.

Environmental and public health groups hailed the rule as a major step to improve the health of Americans, including future generations. EPA scientists have estimated exposure at previous limits contributed to thousands of early deaths from heart disease and lung cancer, along with other health problems.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the new soot rule, finalized last month, would create $46 billion in net health benefits by 2032, including prevention of up to 800,000 asthma attacks and 4,500 premature deaths. The rule will especially benefit children, older adults and those with heart and lung conditions, Regan said, as well as people in low-income and minority communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution.

“We do not have to sacrifice people to have a prosperous and booming economy,″ Regan said.

Biden is seeking reelection, and some fellow Democrats have warned that a tough new soot standard could harm his chances in key industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The EPA and White House officials brushed aside those concerns, saying the industry has developed technical improvements to meet previous soot standards and can adapt to meet the new ones. Soot pollution has declined by 42% since 2000, even as the U.S. gross domestic product has increased by 52%, Regan said.

The new rule does not impose pollution controls on specific industries. Instead, it lowers the annual standard for fine particulate matter for overall air quality. The EPA will use air sampling to identify counties and other areas that do not meet the new standard. States would then have 18 months to develop compliance plans for those areas. States that do not meet the new standard by 2032 could face penalties, although EPA said it expects that 99% of U.S. counties will be able to meet the revised annual standard by 2032.

Industry groups and Republican officials dispute that and say a lower soot limit could put hundreds of U.S. counties out of compliance.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned the White House in January that 43% of total particulate emissions come from wildfires, and called the pollution standard “the wrong tool to address this problem.’'

The EPA said it will work with states, counties and tribes to account for and respond to wildfires, an increasing source of soot pollution, especially in the West, where climate change has led to longer wildfire seasons, with more frequent and intense fires. The agency allows states and air agencies to request exemptions from air-quality standards due to “exceptional events,” including wildfires and prescribed fires.

Besides Kentucky, West Virginia and Texas, other states challenging the EPA rule include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.

All three cases were filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

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AHA NOTE ENABLED BY FOX bs GAS STOVES OFFSHORE WIND

an 5 24

florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a bill that erases most references to climate change in state law, deprioritizes it in policy decisions, and eases regulations for natural gas pipelines while banning offshore wind installations in state waters.}:

DeSantis signed the bill despite the fact that Florida is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the climate crisis—both from sea-level rise and extreme weather such as heatwaves and hurricanes. Indeed, on the day of the signing, Key West tied for its highest heat index on record at 115°C, heat that was made at least five times more likely because of the burning of fossil fuels.

"This purposeful act of cognitive dissonance is proof that the governor and state Legislature are not acting in the best interests of Floridians, but rather to protect profits for the fossil fuel industry," Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of climate education nonprofit the Cleo Institute, toldThe Associated Press.

The bill's opponents told APthat it exes out nine references to climate currently on the books. It also takes steps to promote fossil gas—which already provides nearly three-quarters of Florida's electricity—and makes it harder to ban gas stoves and other appliances.

Further, AP reported:

The legislation also eliminates requirements that government agencies hold conferences and meetings in hotels certified by the state's environmental agency as "green lodging" and that government agencies make fuel efficiency the top priority in buying new vehicles. It also ends a requirement that Florida state agencies look at a list of "climate-friendly" products before making purchases.

The law, which goes into effect July 1, "is very much out of line with public opinion," Greg Knecht, director of the Nature Conservancy in Florida, toldThe Washington Post.A full 90% of Floridians believe climate change is occurring, 69% of them want the state government to act on it, a Florida Atlantic University survey found.

Florida is already seeing the impacts of the climate crisis from Wednesday's high heat and humidity in the Keys to last year's Hurricane Idalia. Moving forward, Florida was ranked 10th in a list of states or provinces with the most physical infrastructure at risk from climate impacts by 2050.

"This feels like Act 1 of a Greek tragedy," the Environmental Voter Project wrote on social media in response to the signing.

Knecht told the Postthat DeSantis and Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature were willing to address the effects of the climate crisis—the governor earmarked more than $28 million to study flooding vulnerability in each county last year—but would not acknowledge the cause of the problem or discuss solutions that involved reducing emissions.

"On one hand, we recognize that we're seeing flooding and we're seeing property damage and we're seeing hurricanes, and we're conveying to the public that we can build our way out of these problems," Knecht said. "And then on the other hand, we're turning around and saying, 'Yeah, but climate change isn't really real, and we don't need to do anything about it.'"

This may partly be because, as green advocates told Post, the climate crisis has become a culture war issue that DeSantis can use to attract media attention and right-wing voters, as he has done with high-profile attacks on abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

Others blamed the influence of the fossil fuel industry.

"Fossil fuel companies don't like competing with clean energy," Democratic Florida Senate candidate Carlos Guillermo Smith wrote on social media. "So they donated to Ron DeSantis who signed a law that bans offshore wind, eliminates energy efficiency grant programs, and deletes any reference to 'climate change' from state statute."

"GOP = Profits over people always," Smith said.

Progress Florida wrote: "While Gov. Ron DeSantis does the dirty work of corporate polluters, Floridians are left to suffer as the state becomes more unaffordable and the natural treasures of the people who have farmed, hunted, and worshipped here for generations are destroyed

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an 2 24

florida public school students start learning about communism in 7th grade. That’s too late for some Republicans in the Florida House, who want teachers to instruct students as young as kindergarteners on concepts such as “cultural Marxism.” But what is it?...

future plans? culture warrior

desantis-signs-floridas-ban-on-lab-grown-meat

// on May 1, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he had signed into law a bill that prohibits the production or sale of lab-grown meat in the state. DeSantis noted that Florida was the first state to enact such a ban, declaring, "Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef."

Liberal economist Paul Krugman is vehemently critical of DeSantis' move in his May 7 column for the New York Times. The ban, Krugman argues, is not only against freedom of choice — it also underscores the modern Republican Party's ability to turn anything and everything into a "culture-war" battle.

"It's possible to grow meat in a lab — to cultivate animal cells without an animal and turn them into something people can eat," Krugman explains. "However, that process is difficult and expensive. And at the moment, lab-grown meat isn't commercially available and probably won't be for a long time, if ever."

But DeSantis, Krugman adds, is "cracking down" on an "industry that doesn't even exist yet."

"The new Florida law is a perfect illustration of how crony capitalism, culture war, conspiracy theorizing and rejection of science have been merged — ground together, you might say — in a way that largely defines American conservatism today," Krugman observes. "First, it puts the lie to any claim that the right is the side standing firm for limited government; government doesn't get much more intrusive than having politicians tell you what you can and can't eat."

The fact that "meat consumption, like almost everything else, has been caught up in the culture wars," Krugman laments, shows how intellectually bankrupt and devoid of substance the modern GOP has become in the age of Donald Trump.

"Look, I'm not an admirer of Ronald Reagan, who I believe did a lot of harm as president," Krugman argues. "But at least Reaganism was about real policy issues like tax rates and regulation. The people who cast themselves as Reagan's successors, however, seem uninterested in serious policymaking."

The Times columnist continues, "For a lot of them, politics is a form of live-action role play. It's not even about 'owning' those they term the elites; it's about perpetually jousting with a fantasy version of what elites supposedly want."

*Paul Krugman's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

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Governor DeSantis Closes the Curtain on COVID Theater

*On March 7, 2022, in News Releases, by Staff

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. –Today, Governor Ron DeSantis was joined by Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and world-renowned physicians and epidemiologists to discuss the failures of lockdowns and mandates in response to COVID-19. Lockdown politicians and the medical establishment have continually ignored data, instead choosing to stoke fear and push for lockdowns and mask mandates in their fruitless attempts to “stop the spread.”

“Over the past two years, the data has shown us what works and what doesn’t work. It is long past time to stop the COVID Theater,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “In Florida, we told the truth, we let the data drive our response, and we let Floridians make decisions for themselves and their children. As a result, Florida is in a better spot than states who used fear mongering and mandates.”

“Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, Florida has continued to stay ahead of the federal government by following sound science – not coercion,” said Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.“Today, we were able to bring doctors from around the world to discuss COVID-19 and the lack of data to support mandates. Scientific debate takes place in a public forum – it is not hidden in federal bureaucracy. We need to get back to living – not hiding in fear.”

“It was Governor DeSantis who led the nation prioritizing seniors, followed the data for businesses to remain open, and children to attend school in person, recognizing how little their risk was,” said Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez. “While the Biden Administration criticizes our response to COVID-19, Florida remains to be the envy of the nation.”

“The lockdowns were an enormous catastrophic mistake that should never be repeated,” saidDr. Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Health Policy, Stanford University Medical School. “When we think about lockdowns, we should recoil with horror because the policies we followed have violated not just medical ethics, but also crushed the ability for scientists to discuss openly with each other facts and evidence. It’s taken a great amount of effort and willingness to face abuse in order for scientists to speak up and many have been silenced. I think [we need] the restoration of the freedom for scientists to discuss with one another openly what the evidence actually says without fear of repression that we’ve seen during the pandemic in order to support the lockdowns. I think that the proper place of science in society needs to be restored so that scientists can advise, but not dictate policy.”

“There is no justification for mandating vaccines for children, full stop,” said Dr. Robert Malone, M.D. “We’re of the strong opinion that if there is risk, there must be choice. As far as we’re concerned, there is no medical emergency now, and there is therefore no justification for the declaration of medical emergency and the suspension of rights that has occurred with that reupping of the medical emergency by the executive branch. Another thing that the state of Florida has led on that we are very grateful for is enabling physicians [and providing] the latitude to provide early treatment to patients. We have really tried to advocate for the ability of physicians to just practice medicine.”

“I come at it, not from the public health perspective, but from the individual patient doctor perspective,” said Dr. Shveta Raju, M.D., MBA, Primary Care/Internal Medicine Department, Gwinnett Clinic. “It is very difficult when you are talking to a patient and between you there’s a mandate. It definitely has affected the relationship in so many ways. I would really hope that going forward we can refocus on meeting the patient where they are, understanding their concerns, answering their questions, focusing on their overall health, metabolic health, making sure that they’re getting routine preventive care that’s appropriate for their age, and their mental health. There’s definitely been good, better media attention on the mental health of children, but the mental health of adults has been greatly affected as well.”

“We’ve really had an inversion of the precautionary principle,” said Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg, M.D., Ph.D., Board Certified Interventional Sports and Spine Medicine Specialist, Northern California Orthopedic Associates. “I think that’s a great theme because it relates to school closures, lockdowns and masks. We know that masks interfere with communication, and children do not like wearing them. The children with hearing impairments and other impairments have difficulty wearing masks. And, we’re forcing them to do this just because we have this idea that they’re going to be doing something good. We have actually no high-quality evidence showing that they are.”

“At most 5%, based on a lot of the published data of COVID, was actually spread in schools,” said Dr. Christopher D’Adamo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine. “So what we do know is the collateral damage was real with this, for both physical health and mental health. On the physical side we’ve seen, when you’re out of school, you’re not getting recess, you’re not getting physical education, you’re not getting sports, dance, just general movement from class to class. We have seen this likely contributed to the increases in BMI and obesity, a doubling of the increased rate of BMI during COVID. We’ve seen a doubling in some places of the incidents of new type two diabetes cases. When you have social isolation, when you’re away from friends, especially at such a formative age like that with even more screen time, we’ve seen increases in anxiety, depression, stress, which is one of the ultimate ways to impair the immune system is to be stressed. This has resulted in emergency department admissions for mental health related conditions.”

“In contrast to actually a lot, what a lot of the voices here [are saying], my perspective throughout the early parts of this pandemic were very different than theirs,” said Dr. Joseph Fraiman, M.D., Emergency Medicine Physician, Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, Slidell Memorial Hospital, and Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center. “My views were wrong at that time because the states and nations that didn’t take aggressive COVID policies, they didn’t do obviously worse. It took me about a year into the pandemic before it became really clear that it wasn’t obvious at all that there was any policy that was strongly effective at reducing COVID. The scientist in me had to take this emerging data that I was seeing and acknowledge my hypothesis had been falsified.”

“If you have had immunity, you don’t need vaccines, and that by itself sort of reduces any argument for having a vaccine mandate or vaccine passports,” said Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Ph.D., Scientific Director, Brownstone Institute; Fellow, Hillsdale College’s Academy for Science & Freedom. “But for children who haven’t had COVID, the question was, we don’t know to what extent it helps, up against death and serious disease. Right now in the U.S., the Omicron wave is going down. Right now I think the benefits of vaccinating children are very small. We know that there’s a risk of myocarditis for young boys and young men, but also for girls. There might be other adverse reactions that we don’t know about yet. So for children, the benefits we know are at best, very small and we don’t know what the risk benefit ratio is. I think under those circumstances, it’s unethical to mandate vaccinations for children.”

“It seems to me that there’s been a sort of inversion of the schedule of uncertainty as I call it,” said Dr. Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology, Department of Zoology,University of Oxford.“Right from the start, everyone, all the powers that be were saying that these measures, lockdowns and other restrictions, will work. But the truth is we didn’t know whether they would work or indeed what the purpose would be, even if they did work, where was that taking us? The one thing we did know was that the measures we were proposing to implement lockdowns and other restrictions would have enormous cost. That was the one thing we were certain about. And yet that’s what we went ahead and did. So we inverted the precautionary principle of trying to minimize harm by doing the one thing that we knew would cause harm. Now we can say the benefit of hindsight is that the measures, in fact, didn’t do very much to slow down the spread and what we do see very sadly is that what we knew right at the start that these measures would cause harm that has in fact unfolded in front of us.”

“It’s interesting that there’s been a lot of misdirection from what we’ve seen,” said Dr. Harvey Risch, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health and the Yale School of Medicine. “We put out our scientific understandings and evidence, and then we get criticized on things that we didn’t say. I think part of the problem has been that what’s been purveyed to our society is plausibility, but not science. There’s a big difference between things that seem plausible and things that are scientific. And so lockdowns are plausible, but they’re not scientific. The scientific evidence as we’ve seen is how harmful they’ve been.”

“I’m just pleased to see the shift that we could now acknowledge that perhaps our children are not as resilient as we most often heard that they were,” said Dr. Jill Ackerman, M.D., Advent Health Shawnee Mission.“I hope that [with] this recognition we can move forward and prevent this from occurring in the future and recognize schools are essential. We really left that core principle in the dust over the past two years.”

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Column: Does Ron DeSantis even believe his dangerous B.S. about COVID vaccines?

9/23

The latest government advisories on the new monovalent COVID-19 vaccines were not much of a surprise. On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccines as safe and effective, and a day later the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the shots for all Americans over the age of 6 months.

Even less of a surprise was the reaction of the resolutely anti-vax, anti-science Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican, who is angling for the GOP nomination for president, staged a roundtable of scientific mountebanks on Wednesday to attack the vaccines.

They included his crackpot state surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, and Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya, who is a member of a COVID-19 advisory committee assembled by DeSantis. Bhattacharya is also a purveyor of a fatuous program of useless anti-COVID policies that has been impervious to the raw data that persistently demonstrated that it did not work.

There’s been an enormous experience with this vaccine, with more than 13 billion doses distributed. It is arguably one of the best-studied vaccines in history, with a tremendous safety record.

— Vaccine authority Paul Offit, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia

In the course of the event, Ladapo announced that the state Department of Health would advise against anyone under 65 taking the new vaccine.

DeSantis’ roundtable took place, naturally, on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which is today most notable as the place where truth goes to die.

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The roundtable, as one might have predicted, was an agglomeration of misinformation, misunderstanding and misrepresentation that amounted to a public health threat in real time.

It raised the question of how many lives would be saved across the country if DeSantis’ presidential campaign completes its glide path to irrelevancy, sapping his quest for the most politically expedient right-wing policy prescriptions.

The answer, conservatively, is hundreds of thousands. Florida boasts one of the worst COVID death rates in the nation, more than 391 deaths per 100,000 people. If Florida’s rate were applied to the entire U.S. population instead of the national rate of 338.6 deaths per 100,000, then nearly 1.3 million Americans would have perished from the disease, instead of the documented toll of 1.1 million.

(By the same token, if the entire U.S. had California’s low death rate of 258 per 100,000, the national death toll would have been lower by 267,500.)

In other words, the end to DeSantis’ boorish, charisma-free performance on the campaign trail would be a public health boon. Can there be any greater proof of the adage that “elections have consequences”?

What’s curious is that DeSantis’ attack on the vaccines is a complete about-face from his initial reaction. On Dec. 14, 2020, he stood at a lectern in Tampa and that day for the very first shipments of the vaccine to his state. “I had the privilege to be able to actually sign for the vaccines from FedEx,” he said.

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Soon after that, however, he must have concluded that his path to challenging Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination involved kowtowing to the far right wing. That included embracing the anti-vaccination movement in a bear hug.

That said, let’s take a look at the roundtable, which was a one-stop shop for anti-vaccine tropes.

The event started out as a flat-out attack on the CDC and FDA, aimed at undermining the credibility of the nation’s leading public health agencies.

This has long been a theme of DeSantis’ world. As long ago as 2021 he was fundraising off a personal attack on Anthony Fauci, who was not associated with either agency but was the nation’s most respected authority on epidemics and immunology. His campaign sold T-shirts bearing the slogan “Don’t Fauci my Florida.”

An online fundraising appeal made Fauci the subject of every paragraph. “I refused to blindly follow Dr. Fauci ... and allow him to strip Floridians of their God-given freedoms,” DeSantis declared. “I chose to lift Florida up, not follow the lead of Dr. Fauci and lock Florida down.”

Ladapo opened the roundtable by stating, “We continue to live in a world where the CDC and the FDA, when it comes to COVID at least, are just beating their own path in a direction that’s just inexplicable, in terms of thinking about data and thinking about common sense.”

This is a guy who has promoted nostrums that science has shown to be utterly useless against COVID, such as the anti-parasitic ivermectin and the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Ladapo turned the mic over to Bhattacharya. He aired the familiar anti-vaxxers’ complaint that the new vaccine has not been subjected to a randomized clinical test. This is a claim popularized by anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and it’s utterly bogus.

As I reported earlier, randomized testing of every iteration of the current vaccines is unethical, unwise and unnecessary. The truth is that such trials are important when an entirely novel product is developed, as occurred when the mRNA vaccines against COVID most widely used today were originally developed by Moderna and Pfizer.

“There’s been an enormous experience with this vaccine, with more than 13 billion doses distributed,” says Paul Offit, a vaccine authority at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee. “It is arguably one of the best-studied vaccines in history, with a tremendous safety record,” Offit told me.

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Demanding a randomized prospective trial for every iteration of this vaccine makes no more sense than doing so for the annual updates of the flu vaccine, which doesn’t happen, Offit says.

Bhattacharya also implied that the protection against COVID provided by the previous vaccine versions is modest and “short-lived,” based on the waning of antibody levels over the months after the shot. Of the new shot, he said, “We don’t know that it protects you against being hospitalized, we don’t know that it protects you against dying.”

Yet it’s well understood that antibodies always fade during the months after a shot.

Is there any dabout that vaccination keeps people healthier against COVID-19? These charts from the CDC show that vaccinated Americans were safer from infection and death than the unvaccinated through the entire pandemic.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

In the case of COVID, Offit told me, “the critical immunological component responsible for protecting against severe disease is the memory T-cells, which are long-lived and recognize parts of the virus that have been generally conserved, from Wuhan-1 [the original recognized strain] to BA.2.86 [the rapidly spreading strain against which the new vaccines are expected to be effective].”

As for the suggestion that the vaccinations don’t protect much against COVID, that’s absurd. Data have consistently shown that case and death rates have been higher among the unvaccinated than the vaccinated, sometimes as much as 14 times higher.

That brings us to what may be the most preposterous and irresponsible claim aired by Ladapo during the roundtable.

“Multiple studies” in the U.S., the Middle East, Iceland and other places, he said, “are now finding that after four to six months, what was just waning effectiveness ... is entering a negative area,” which means that after a period there is “risk of increased infection. This is obviously an enormous finding.”

It also appears to be wholly mythical. Ladapo wasn’t very precise about where he got the idea that vaccination can increase susceptibility to COVID, a phenomenon known as “negative immunity” or “negative efficacy.” But it needs to be stifled at birth.

I asked Ladapo’s health department to identify the studies he referred to. The agency didn’t respond, but the vaccine advisory it issued later Thursday listed 14 studies backing up Ladapo’s claims supporting his caution about the vaccines.

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Not a single one supported his claims about negative immunity. One, of vaccination outcomes in Qatar, mentioned such a finding, but cautioned that it was almost certainly due to bias in the study design and “not true negative biological effectiveness.” On the whole, the study certified that the mRNA vaccines provide “strong and durable protection against COVID-19 hospitalization and death.”

As for Iceland, the health department advisory listed a study from that country that found that the rate of reinfection from the Omicron variant of COVID increased with the time since vaccination, and that the rate of reinfection was slightly higher among Icelanders who had two shots than those who had one. But it advised that the finding should be “interpreted with caution” because of the complexities of assessing the conditions under which the shots were administered and the Icelandic lifestyle.

The notion of “negative immunity” appears mostly to derive from a 2022 article on a right-wing website that stupidly misconstrued graphs in a scientific paper.

That paper’s author, Danyu Lin of the University of North Carolina, conclusively refuted the interpretation in interviews with Reuters and the Associated Press. “The statement that ‘the vaccine destroys any protection a person has from natural immunity’ is unfounded,” he told Reuters. He told the AP, “The evidence we have supports the finding that natural immunity is boosted by vaccination rather than being destroyed by vaccination as claimed.”

Yet the claim was swiftly taken up by the far right and anti-vax communities because it fed their conspiracy theories so well.

Ladapo and DeSantis, despite their claim to adhere to science and data, are all too happy to retail this claptrap. Have they come to believe their claims? Or are they just trying to slip lies past a credulous public for their own malignant purposes?

We have one clue from Ladapo’s history of flagrant falsehoods. We know from reporting last April in Politico that he personally altered a state-sponsored study of the COVID vaccines to inflate their risk to young men, which fed his anti-vaccination mind-set.

In March, the FDA and CDC warned Ladapo in an unusual, if not unique, joint letter that his claims about the purported dangers of the COVID vaccines were “incorrect, misleading and could be harmful to the American public.” Misinformation like his denigrating vaccine safety “has led to unnecessary death, severe illness and hospitalization.”

In short, he and his mentor in the Florida statehouse are menaces to the public health. Perhaps if DeSantis’ presidential campaign finally crashes and burns, he’ll give up on the attacks on COVID vaccination and return to his original stance, when the vaccines were first introduced in early 2020 and he gloated about obtaining an early shipment for his state.

Until then, unfortunately, public health sits on a knife‘s edge. DeSantis and Ladapo are the most prominent public officials undermining the crucial effort to get more Americans vaccinated. As the toll continues to mount, the blood is on their hands.

Latest from Michael Hiltzik](https://www.latimes.com/people/michael-hiltzik)

Feb. 28, 2024

Column: As measles spreads, ‘herd stupidity’ grips Florida’s government

Feb. 27, 2024

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5/23 LAT

they’ve held credentials from some of the world’s most elite universities — Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Oxford. They’ve been welcomed into the highest government policy councils. They became fixtures on television news shows and were quoted incessantly by some of the nation’s leading newspapers.

They’re a cadre of academics and scientists who pushed a discredited solution to the COVID pandemic, shunning masks, school closings, even vaccines, all in the name of reaching the elusive goal of “herd immunity,” resulting in what may have been hundreds of thousands of unnecessary American deaths.

That’s the contention of “We Want Them Infected,” a painstakingly documented new book by Jonathan Howard, a neurologist at New York University and a veteran debunker of the pseudoscience contaminating our efforts to fight the pandemic.

In 2019 you would have been considered a quack if you suggested that the best way to get rid of a virus is to spread the virus. But that became mainstream and influenced politicians at the highest levels.

— Jonathan Howard, M.D.

Howard takes his title from Paul Alexander, an epidemiologist in the Health and Human Services Department during the Trump administration.

In July 2020, Alexander offered his view of how to exploit the relative risks of COVID to discrete populations to reach herd immunity. The idea was that so many people would eventually become naturally infected with the virus, and therefore immune from further infection, that the virus would be unable to spread further.

“Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk,” he told top HHS officials. “So we use them to develop herd ... we want them infected.”

Alexander’s proposal was essentially a screed against lockdowns. That suited the Trump White House, which was searching for ways around the economic dislocations caused by the virus. But he was wrong about the toll of sickness and death that would result, allowing the virus to rage among these ostensibly low-risk groups, and wrong about the prospects of reaching herd immunity naturally.

“We Want Them Infected” may be the most appalling and infuriating book you’ll read about America’s response to the pandemic. It’s also essential reading.

The book is populated by quacks, mountebanks and charlatans — and not a few scholars with distinguished academic records — many of whom appear to have been seduced by the embrace of the right-wing echo chamber into promoting unproven and disproved policies.

“It’s unbelievable that while doctors like myself were working to treat sick COVID patients, begging people to stay at home and be safe,” Howard told me, “there was another group of doctors working at cross-currents to us — prominent doctors wanting to purposely infect unvaccinated young people with the promise that herd immunity would arrive in a couple of months.”

They consistently minimized the gravity of the pandemic, but rarely if ever acknowledged that their optimistic forecasts of illness and deaths were consistently proved wrong.

There are a number of problems with the herd immunity theory. One is that immunity from COVID infection tends to wane over time rather than become permanent. Also, infection with one variant of the virus doesn’t necessarily confer immunity from other variants, of which there have been many.

BUSINESS

Column: COVID boosted anti-vaccine propaganda. Now measles and other childhood diseases are on the march

Nov. 30, 2022

Another problem is that COVID can be a devastating disease for victims of any age. Allowing anyone to become infected can expose them to serious health problems.

Moreover, the prospect that COVID could be defeated by the natural expansion of herd immunity persuaded many people not to bother with proven countermeasures, including social distancing, masking and vaccination.

Today, more than three years after COVID first appeared, the U.S. still has not achieved herd immunity although it is nearing the goal, in the view of Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at UC San Francisco. The disease’s trajectory has been cataclysmic — the U.S. death toll stands at 1.13 million, hundreds of children have died, and an estimated 245,000 children have lost one or both parents to COVID. The U.S. leads the world in COVID deaths; its death rate of 3,478 per million population is worse than that of Britain, Spain, France, the Nordic countries, Canada and Israel.

Some herd immunity advocates offered their blithe forecasts in a misguided, if not dishonest, attempt to provide comfort to the American public. Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, urged HHS officials in March 2020 to advocate against lockdowns on grounds they were “inciting irrational fear” of the virus, which he estimated would cause about 10,000 deaths. “The panic needs to be stopped,” Atlas wrote.

Atlas soon became a top advisor to Trump, promoting the herd immunity theory in the White House despite the objections of more experienced advisors such as Dr. Deborah Birx.

Howard is especially disturbed at how politicizing the pandemic has allowed fringe ideas to infiltrate public health policies.

“In 2019 you would have been considered a quack if you suggested that the best way to get rid of a virus is to spread the virus,” he says. “But that became mainstream and influenced politicians at the highest levels.”

In his book, Howard reserves his deepest scorn for the promoters of the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a manifesto for herd immunity published in October 2020 and signed initially by epidemiologists Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford; Martin Kulldorff, then of Harvard; and Sunetra Gupta of Oxford. (Thousands of other academics and scientists would later add their signatures.)

The core of the declaration was opposition to lockdowns. Its solution was what its drafters called “focused protection,” which meant allowing “those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk” — chiefly seniors.

Older people living at home, the declaration said, should be kept apart from other family members except by meeting them outside, and “should have groceries and other essentials delivered to their home.”

Focused protection, the promoters wrote, would allow society to achieve herd immunity and return to normalcy in three to six months.

As Howard documents, the declaration was little more than a libertarian fantasy. That may not have been surprising, because one of its organizers was an arch-libertarian named Jeffrey Tucker.

BUSINESS

Column: COVID boosted anti-vaccine propaganda. Now measles and other childhood diseases are on the march

Nov. 30, 2022

For a taste of Tucker’s worldview, consider a 2016 article entitled “Let the kids work.” There he ridiculed the Washington Post for publishing a photo gallery of child laborers from 100 years ago, including miners and sweatshop workers as young as 10.

Tucker’s response was that those children were “working in the adult world, surrounded by cool bustling things and new technology. They are on the streets, in the factories, in the mines, with adults and with peers, learning and doing. They are being valued for what they do, which is to say being valued as people.... Whatever else you want to say about this, it’s an exciting life.”

A better life, at least, than “pushed by compulsion into government holding tanks for a full decade” — that is, going to school.

The declaration’s promoters, Howard writes, never specified how to achieve their goals. Delivering food and supplies to millions of housebound seniors? In a Hoover Institution interview, Bhattacharya said, “We could have offered free DoorDash to older people.”

As Howard observes, Bhattacharya was remarkably sanguine about “creating a program overnight to deliver fresh food to tens of millions of seniors for months on end throughout the entire country.”

Similar hand-waving addressed the problems of multigenerational households, in which millions of vulnerable elders live. Older family members, the declaration authors wrote, “might temporarily be able to live with an older friend or sibling, with whom they can self-isolate together during the height of community transmission. As a last resort, empty hotel rooms could be used for temporary housing.”

Of course, hermetically sealing off tens of millions of “nonvulnerable” people from tens of millions of vulnerable people in a few weeks would be “the single greatest logistical challenge humanity had ever undertaken,” Howard observes. “Nowhere in the world used focused protection to achieve herd immunity in three to six months, as the Great Barrington Declaration promised.”

What the declaration really promoted was complacency. Its drafters, Howard says, were “people with no real-world responsibility for much of anything who made impossible things sound very easy. The task of actually getting food into the houses of elderly people was left up to public health authorities who were understaffed, overwhelmed and underfunded.”

BUSINESS

Column: Did Sweden beat the pandemic by refusing to lock down? No, its record is disastrous

March 31, 2022

What may be the most inexcusable element of the herd immunity movement was its implication that children could be used as shields for the rest of the population. Its advocates counseled against vaccinating young children on the grounds that their susceptibility to the virus was minimal or even nonexistent, so they could safely acquire immunity naturally — and perhaps, as Vinay Prasad of UC San Francisco implied, provide an immunity boost to adults in their families.

Yet although children tended to suffer less from symptoms when they were infected, they were anything but immune. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1,600 American children under the age of 18 have died from COVID during the pandemic.

In any case, death is not the only serious outcome from COVID. The CDC says more than 14,000 children were hospitalized for COVID during the pandemic. An untold number of children may suffer from long COVID or other lifelong manifestations of the disease. For doctors to counsel deliberately exposing children to COVID when a vaccine is available, especially if the purpose is to protect adults, is “a moral abomination,” Howard says. He’s right.

In a world guided by science, the promoters of an unsuccessful herd immunity theory would long ago have lost their credibility and their public soapboxes.

The opposite has happened. Bhattacharya and Kulldorff still have their platforms (Kulldorff is now associated with the right-wing Hillsdale College). Both were appointed in December by Florida’s anti-vaccine governor, Ron DeSantis, to a “Public Health Integrity Committee” charged with questioning federal public health policies.

Scott Atlas, meanwhile, was tapped to deliver the commencement address at New College of Florida, a once-renowned liberal arts institution that DeSantis has turned into a haven for right-wing pedagogy. He was greeted with boos from the audience of graduating seniors, however, indicating that the youth of America perhaps can’t be gulled as easily as their parents.

At this moment, anti-science ideology on the right appears to be in the ascendance. Agitation against the COVID vaccine is metastasizing into an opposition movement against all childhood vaccinations, a trend that threatens to produce a surge in other vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and polio.

“The anti-vaccine movement has spotted an opportunity to sow doubt,” Howard told me. “Getting rid of all school vaccine mandates has always been the Holy Grail for them.”

Howard’s book is a warning. We may be on the verge of a public health disaster, because the promoters of a failed theory that COVID could be fought through “natural immunity” without vaccines have been able to wrap themselves in the mantle of truth-tellers. But they’re not.

Latest from Michael Hiltzik

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woke math 5/22

fldoe-releases-math-textbook-reviews-00030503

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Department of Education on Thursday released scores of documents shedding new light on why the agency rejected dozens of proposed math textbooks over what state leaders deemed “impermissible” content, including lessons on critical race theory.

The records, nearly 6,000 pages of book examinations, show that state reviewers flagged several traces of critical race theory and inklings of “social emotional learning” in proposed texts, two topics that have been explicitly targeted by the DeSantis administration. The slate of textbook denials gained national attention last month when state leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, publicly blasted publishers for attempting to “indoctrinate” students.

At the time, many were left confused as to why the state would not accept dozens of math textbooks over issues like critical race theory, which are generally not part of the mathematics curriculum.

Ahead of the midterms and his reelection campaign, DeSantis has pushed measures limiting how race can be taught in classrooms and defended Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill, known by opponents as “Don’t Say Gay.” That bill bans teachers from leading classroom instructions on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade.

DeSantis on Friday said the state will follow Florida standards and praised his education department for flagging the texts and sending them back to publishers to “take the nonsense out of the math books.”

“Two plus two equals four,” DeSantis said at an event in Ocala. “It’s not two plus two and let’s have a struggle session over that.”

The book reviews released Thursday illustrate that the Florida Department of Education asked its analysts a series of four questions on “special topics” that could ultimately disqualify a text from being adopted for use in classrooms across the state.

The state education department specifically sought to know if the books aligned with the state’s rule outlawing critical race theory, and if they included any snippets of “Culturally Responsive Teaching,” “Social Justice,” or social emotional learning, which aims to teach students how to manage their emotions and develop strong relationships with their peers. Florida’s Board of Education in 2021 passed a rule banning critical race theory along with The 1619 Project from The New York Times, claiming they are theories that “distort historical events.”

Critical race theory, an analytical framework developed by legal scholars, examines how race and racism have become ingrained in American law and institutions since slavery and Jim Crow.

In one example that caught the state’s attention, a reviewer noted that a high school statistics book included lessons on race that could violate the rule.

They pointed to pages that discussed “racial profiling in policing” and “discrimination in magnet school admission,” along with one instance in which the book mentioned there were “too many” white police officers in the NYPD compared with the racial makeup of the community.

This textbook, published by Pearson, was one of dozens renounced by the state. Another book from Pearson covering precalculus honors was dinged for a section that asked students what algebra can help tell about “racial bias.”

Florida originally rejected 54 of the 132 proposed math textbooks, some 41 percent, submitted by publishers, the bulk of which were proposed for kindergarten through fifth grade. Some 28 of the math textbooks — or 21 percent — were left off the adoption list due to “prohibited topics” including critical race theory, according to the state education department.

This decision initially left schools across Florida with only one textbook option for standard K-5 math. But the state has since adopted additional publishers after they tweaked their proposals.

To that end, two publishers seeking to provide K-5 math books were flagged by reviewers for broaching lessons on social emotional learning, according to the documents.

One second-grade book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was penalized on its alignment to state standards because “attempts at multicultural teaching” were evident in its text. The example given was “types of housing for different groups of people.”

Similarly, a McGraw Hill LLC book for fifth graders was rated as “very poor” for its social emotional learning lessons. The reviewer noted that one question “asks students to think about social and emotional learning competencies, including relationship skills and social awareness.”

Another book on Florida’s “not recommended” list, a Mathematics for College Liberal Arts text, was allegedly “biased” on climate change and emphasized that “racism is embedded in American society dependent on age,” according to one reviewer.

This book, a Pearson publication for high school students, contained exercises based on “an argument” between former Vice President Al Gore and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in which, the reviewer wrote, “You can tell the author favors Al Gore and dislikes Rush Limbaugh based on questions.”

This book includes a bar graph “measuring racial prejudice, by age,” an example previously cited by the FLDOE.

“Based solely on the Critical Race Theory elements, this book should not be considered for adoption,” according to the reviewer, who also criticized the author for “talking about a climate crisis as if it’s a proven fact.”

Textbook publishers, including McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, have indicated they are appealing the state’s decision against adopting the books.

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Ron DeSantis and his allies in the GOP-controlled Florida State Legislature have been major allies of the Religious Right, pushing a socially conservative agenda in public schools. State lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow religious chaplains to offer students counseling in public schools, and the bills awaits DeSantis' signature.

In an opinion column published on March 17, MSNBC's Zeeshan Aleem argues that if DeSantis does sign the bill into law, it will be an egregious violation of the United States' separation of church and state.

The Religious Right and Christian nationalists have been claiming that there is no such thing as separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution, but the Constitution's First Amendment clearly states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The late Norman Lear's People for the American Way, over the years, has emphasized that while the U.S. promises freedom of religion, government has no business promoting one religion over another.

Aleem warns, "The emerging crusade to install school chaplains should be understood as an outgrowth of rising Christian nationalism, and an alarming threat to America’s students. It violates the spirit of the First Amendment for public schools to hire religious administrators who have the opportunity to indoctrinate students with their religious beliefs."

The MSNBC columnist notes that the Florida bill's "requirements for serving as a volunteer chaplain are virtually nonexistent."

"Public schools inviting chaplains onto campus raises obvious First Amendment questions," Aleem explains. "School districts will be picking and choosing religious figures to come onto campus to provide children with services that would typically be carried out by a school counselor — guidance on issues such as academics, relationships, mental health, trouble at home, bullying and future career ideas. But instead of drawing from education and training specific to counseling young people, chaplains would be drawing from their spiritual beliefs."

The columnist adds, "At the bare minimum, this means schools would be priming students to think of specific religions as an educational resource."

The "specific religions" part, according to Aleem, is important. Although Christian nationalists believe the U.S. is a "Christian nation," there is nothing in the Constitution that favors Christianity over Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other religion.

"Chaplains infiltrating public schools would constitute state-sponsored promotion of religion, in violation of the First Amendment's commitments to a secular state," Aleem writes. "In Florida's bill, parents would have to consent to allow their child to see such a cleric, but in some other states’ bills — including Texas’ policy — no consent is required."

READ MORE:[Far-right group that calls Biden 'the antichrist' is now the 'center of gravity' in evangelicalism

*Zeeshan Aleem's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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ron-desantis-fails-again-appeals-court-stops-stop-woke-act-calls-it-the-greatest-first-amendment-sin

'I don’t think that’s appropriate': DeSantis reneges on book censorship crusade - Alternet.org

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The House bill moving in the Legislature doesn’t provide a definition for the term, raising questions about how little kids could understand cultural Marxism.

The Senate version of the bill doesn’t include cultural Marxism in its legislation.

Nevertheless, HB 1349, passed in a House committee on Feb. 1. The bill analysis says that starting in the 2026-27 school year, the history of communism must be included in instruction in grades K-12 in Florida’s public schools. (Currently, there are no standards for the history of communism from kindergarten to 6th grade.) The legislation would include “the philosophy and lineages of Communist thought, including cultural Marxism.”

The bill involves a task force — the governor would appoint the members — to come up with age-appropriate curriculum and academic standards for K-12 instruction of the history of communism and its dangers. The task force would report its findings no later than July 1, 2025, and it “must also make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the creation of a Florida Museum of Communist History,” according to the legislative staff analysis.

The House proposal, from Republican Reps. Chuck Brannan and James Buchanan, gained enough support last week to move forward in the Legislature. But Democrats criticized the inclusion of cultural Marxism as one of the things students will learn about. Brannan represents North Florida counties and a part of Alachua, and Buchanan represents part of Sarasota.

From terrorist manifesto to K-12 curricula

Democratic lawmakers pointed to far-right groups’ usage of cultural Marxism in relation to antisemitic beliefs.

“If you look up the term cultural Marxism, what comes up is the term cultural Marxism refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory, so that’s also concerning to me,” Palm Beach Democratic Rep. Katherine Waldron said during the Choice and Innovation subcommittee meeting last week. “I’m all for kids learning about government and political systems. But I would be against this very specific terminology in training or in trying to educate them on this.”

Marilyn Mayo, a senior research fellow with ADL’s Center on Extremism, said in a statement to Florida Phoenix that antisemites also use the term to reinforce their longstanding antisemitic trope that communism is “Jewish.”

“‘Cultural Marxism’ is a term, typically used by right-wing ideologues, to attack an array of ideas and concepts they oppose, including multiculturalism, globalism, feminism, and LGBTQ+ rights, among others. The term often functions as an antisemitic dog whistle or codeword,” Mayo wrote in the statement.

“Promoters of the term often invoke a conspiracy theory that falsely claims such progressive ideas originated with the so-called Frankfurt School, a leftist intellectual collective active in Germany between the two World Wars. Exploiting the fact that a number of the Frankfurt School intellectuals were Jewish, antisemitic versions of this conspiracy theory link the Frankfurt School, and thus ‘cultural Marxism’ itself, to Jews, claiming that Jews seek to subvert and weaken Western (and Christian) society by imposing their left-wing and politically correct (or ‘woke’) views.”

Over the years, cultural Marxism has gone from being linked with the far-right through terrorists’ manifestos to seeping into the vocabulary of mainstream politicians, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has said he views wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism.

“Most of the most violent, the deadliest acts of hate, perpetrated against Jewish people especially in the United States in the last 10 to 15 years have been by far-right extremists. We don’t have cultural Marxists shooting up synagogues. If it were the case, then we should talk about it, but it isn’t,” said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. “You have white supremacists, anti-government extremists who are embracing antisemitism. Of course, antisemitism is on the far-left as well. There has been a rapid, marked increase in antisemitic rhetoric coming out of the far-left as well.”

The terrorist who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 and another who killed a woman in the attack at the California Chabad of Poway synagogue in 2019 left manifestos denouncing cultural Marxism’s effect on Europe and blaming Jews for coming up with it, respectively.

Groups like the Proud Boys have also used cultural Marxism as a catch-all term for anyone they view as an enemy, Lewis said.

“What we’ve seen in recent years has been an intentional effort, by far-right extremists to launder antisemitism, launder white supremacy, launder anti-LGBTQ narratives and hate speech against everyone who’s not effectively in this in-group, which is largely white, largely Christian,” he said.

Dangers of communism

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, published a 45-page report in 2022 about how cultural Marxism threatens the U.S. In it, the think tank states cultural Marxists have infiltrated the country through college campuses and public schools. They also credit DeSantis for showing a path to dismantle cultural Marxism.

“Today’s cultural Marxists believe that the reason economic, social, cultural, academic, and health outcomes (to name just a few) show persistent racial disparities is because of a pervasive, systemic racism that can only be eliminated by smashing the system itself,” the report states.

Subcommittee chair Republican Rep. Alex Rizo of Miami-Dade, last week defended the bill, stating that students don’t learn enough about communism.

“When we talk about antisemitism I equate antisemitism a lot with communism. … I love that this bill will come up with some sort of curriculum to start teaching what communism really does other than an economic theory that was brought up by Marx and Engels, two philosophers, and I use that term very loosely, in the 19th century. Because we do have curriculum in almost every single grade level K through 12 that talks about the sins of slavery, that talks about the horrors of the Holocaust, but does not yet really address the over 100 million people who were victimized, murdered, displaced in about 100 years worth of communism in our society,” he said.

The Florida Department of Education standards related to communism include the evaluation of economic systems in seventh grade and the identification of political ideologies (communism and totalitarianism) that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy in high school.

Lawmakers also discussed last week how the material would be taught in an age-appropriate manner to younger students. Republican Rep. Thad Altman of Brevard said his wife, a first-grade teacher at a Catholic school, teaches kids through hands-on simulations.

“I think these kids understand capitalism and communism more than a lot of college students, especially if they go to an Ivy League,” he said.

Other things students would learn about through the House bill or analysis include atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism, the Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China, the communist policies of Cuba, and the spread of communist ideologies throughout Latin America.

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mma mg 1 24

Several Republican governors responded to the campaign by Donald Trump and his right-wing media allies to undermine the credibility of the 2020 election by signing bills making it more difficult to vote. But Florida’s Ron DeSantis stood out from the pack thanks to the unique venue for his May 2021 signing ceremony: a live, exclusive appearance in front of a cheering crowd of supporters on Fox & Friends, the Fox News morning show beloved by the former president.

DeSantis’ rise to political prominence shows how a canny politician attuned to the right-wing press can use its power to become a plausible presidential contender. But the collapse of his presidential campaign, which came to an end when he endorsed Trump on Sunday before the New Hampshire primary, demonstrates the limitations of such a strategy given the right-wing media imperative to support Trump.

DeSantis first won the governorship in 2018 by running a “Fox first campaign.” When he announced his candidacy — on Fox & Friends, naturally —- he was an undistinguished House backbencher in his third term facing an uphill climb in the GOP primary against a candidate who already held statewide office and had locked up the support of the state’s party establishment. DeSantis countered those advantages by staying in front of Florida’s GOP voters on their favorite right-wing TV channels. He made more than 100 appearances on Fox News and Fox Business — winning Trump’s endorsement with his on-air defenses of the then-president from the Russia probe — and touted his support from Fox hosts Mark Levin and Sean Hannity, the latter of whom appeared with him on the campaign trail.

As governor, DeSantis became a star in the right-wing media by fixating on its obsessions and using state power to cudgel its foes. He first drew plaudits for his lax handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which mimicked the response from Fox hosts and other influential figures downplaying the danger posed by the virus. And after the right responded to Trump’s defeat by refocusing its ire on “critical race theory” and other examples of “wokeness,” DeSantis made those topics the linchpin of his policy agenda. While Fox hosts bemoaned “groomer” public school educators and “woke” universities and entertainment companies, DeSantis signed laws weaponizing his base against the state’s teachers, put right-wing ideologues in command of one of its colleges, and went to war with Disney.

DeSantis’ popularity with Fox hosts and other influential figures in right-wing media made him seem like a plausible contender for president, particularly after his 2022 reelection. He benefited from the support of Rupert Murdoch, who hoped to move past Trump after the horrors of January 6, and anti-anti-Trump figures at outlets like The Daily Wire and National Review, who preferred that Trump not return as the GOP’s presidential nominee. DeSantis sought to stoke that support by giving privileged access to right-wing influencers while freezing out the mainstream press.

But DeSantis’ disastrous presidential announcement — an interview with Elon Musk in a glitchy Twitter Spaces, followed by a Q&A with the right-wing media influencers in attendance that focused on their picayune concerns — was somehow the campaign’s high-water mark. The various accounts of his campaign’s demise point to a slew of reasons he never caught on with Republican voters, but two factors point to the limitations of his right-wing media-focused strategy.

First, DeSantis garnered support from the right-wing press and their audiences by focusing on their grievances and obsessions. But those focuses did not help him grow national support, either because they were no longer major forward-looking political issues, like pandemic response, or because they were niche concerns that were alien to normal people, like his self-identification as a general in the “war on woke.”

Second, Fox’s stars — the most influential in the right-wing media constellation — might like DeSantis, but they are dependent on Trump and his supporters, who make up their audiences. They never broke with the former president; the cult of personality they built for him made it virtually impossible for his rivals to gain traction; and once federal and state prosecutors began indicting Trump on various charges, their ongoing support was crucial in securing his unassailable position. And they did not come to DeSantis’ aid when he came under fire from Trump — even on ludicrous claims, such as Trump’s attempt to brand DeSantis as a “groomer.” Before the first GOP primary votes had been cast, Fox hosts were already preparing a return to their role as Trump’s personal propaganda outlet.

DeSantis spent the final days of his campaign complaining that Fox hadn’t been willing to take on Trump, and drawing attention to one of the few avenues for criticizing him the network hadn’t preempted — the former president’s role in ensuring the development of COVID-19 vaccines. It was a fitting conclusion for a presidential bid that rose and fell on its relationship with the right-wing media.

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Floridians could have gotten $120 for each child to help feed the underprivileged — but the state wasn’t interested - Alternet.org

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Right-wing media dance on the grave of the Christie campaign | Media Matters for America

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https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/a-handy-guide-for-translating-republican-speak-into-plain-english/

alternet no lnx

A handy guide for translating Republican-speak into plain English

Thom Hartmann

January 15, 2024

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley had a spitting match Wednesday night on CNN as they fought for, well, something. Vice president? Unlikely. Beating Trump? Probably not. Book deal? Who knows?

Anyhow, during the “debate,” they both threw out numerous Reagan-era GOP talking points that most people probably poorly understand, so here’s a handy guide to translate Republican-speak into plain English.

Haley: “I think we have to acknowledge that Republicans and Democrats have both done this. I mean, the fact that they’ve done all of this wasteful spending, they did a $2.2 trillion COVID stimulus bill that expanded welfare that’s now left us with 80 million Americans on Medicaid, 42 million Americans on food stamps. That’s a third of our country.”}:

Reality: The economy crashed in 2020 (due to Covid) in a way that hadn’t been seen since Republican President Herbert Hoover oversaw Black Tuesday, 1929, which kicked off the start of the Republican Great Depression. Covid initially cost our economy an estimated $14 trillion, throwing 3 million Americans out of work. Donald Trump was the first president since Hoover to see significant job losses during his presidency. Unemployment hit 15% (Hoover’s was 23.6%).

While a loose money policy by the Fed helped, the main thing that prevented America from sliding into a second Republican Great Depression was Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s success in shepherding through Congress legislation that softened the impact of Trump’s 15% unemployment; without it, if those unemployed people had lost all their demand-creating spending power (which is what drives economies), the nation would almost certainly have slid into a long-lasting depression.

That was apparently what many in the GOP wanted: in May 2020, for example, when Pelosi shepherded through the House a nearly-$3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, only 44 Republicans voted for it, while 130 voted against it. Although it saved America, Republicans like Haley and DeSantis are still complaining about it.

Currently there are around 84 million low-income Americans on Medicaid, our country’s largest and most successful single-payer healthcare program. It’s far more efficient than any for-profit health insurance programs (no executive salaries, dividends paid to stockholders, or commissions to salespeople) and, with tweaks, could be the foundation of a Medicare-for-All national system like Canada, Costa Rica, and most of Europe have.

Republicans see this as a bad thing, though, because they want all our healthcare to be paid for by private, for-profit health insurance companies that will then kick back part of their profits to GOP political campaigns and other now-legal (Citizens United) bribes.

Food stamps (SNAP), on the other hand, reflect a failure of the rules that govern the American economy. Every family should have enough money to buy food, but, with 20 mostly Red states (including all 13 former Confederate states) keeping their minimum wage at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour, in virtually all of those states full-time minimum-wage workers can’t afford to provide their families with shelter, transportation, and food.

Nonetheless, Republicans would like to eliminate that food support. After all, they believe, when poor people are down they will only get up if you kick them hard enough.

Haley: “We’ll go and instead of 87,000 IRS agents going after middle America…”}:

Reality: This wild exaggeration of the number of IRS agents funded by the Inflation Reduction Act is a simple lie, promoted by think-tanks funded by America’s rightwing billionaires. Because nearly every time Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House they cut funding to the IRS, it’s been decades since that agency could effectively audit the nation’s largest tax cheats: those very same billionaires.

While the IRS has 79,000 employees, the largest block (13,000) are customer service representatives, and another 10,000 are seasonal employees who file mail or record data. There are lawyers, office staffers, administrators, etc. Only about 10,000 are agents, and that number would expand with the new money available in the Inflation Reduction Act, but not by more than a few thousand, virtually all of whom would direct their efforts to catching billionaire tax cheats.

This is why the “compromise” legislation being worked out right now between the House and Senate, at Republican insistence, contains a $10 billion cut to the IRS budget: they want to again kneecap the agency so their billionaire patrons can continue to steal our tax dollars.

It’s also worth noting that every $1 spent by the IRS investigating tax cheating by billionaires typically returns between $6 and $12 to the federal treasury. The fastest and easiest way to lower the national debt without raising taxes is to audit billionaires, but Republicans will lay down on railroad tracks to try to prevent that.

DeSantis (arguing for a flat tax): “We have a spending problem in this country. It’s not a tax problem in this country. And if you had something that was simple and transparent, not only would that [be] better for economic growth, it’s also better to end the weaponization of government.}:

“The IRS has been weaponized against conservatives going back to the Obama administration. I was there for that. No one’s been held accountable for doing that. … [T]he weaponization of federal power ends the day I become the president of the United States.”}:

Reality: Last year, the US government spent 22% of GDP, covering everything from the military (the largest single expenditure) to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, all social safety net programs, education, and administration. But by comparison with other OECD countries, we’re misers: France spends 58.34%, Japan 44.09%, the United Kingdom 44.3%, Sweden 47.32%, Spain 47.11%, and Italy 56.74%

These countries spend more because they cover all or nearly all of the healthcare and educational costs of their citizens, as well as providing quality housing support, unemployment, paid sick and maternity leave, and other benefits.

The rightwing billionaires who own the GOP don’t want our government to do this because they fear their income taxes may be raised — like in those other countries — to fund quality-of-life programs for average and poor people.

A “flat tax” — where billionaires pay the same rate as average working people — has long been a dream of Republicans, with rightwingers like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul pushing it for years. They cite Hungary’s 15% flat tax, although Hungary’s billionaires routinely avoid paying anything close to that by living off money borrowed against assets instead of paying themselves wages (a trick emulated by most American billionaires, which is why they only pay 3%). They’ll also live off capital gains, which are taxed at a lower rate and almost entirely benefit the morbidly rich at a scale capable of supporting a wealthy lifestyle.

The net effect of instituting a flat tax in America would be that low-income people, who currently don’t pay income taxes or pay a very low rate, would have to start paying far more, while billionaires could still run their shell game with regard to their own living expenses. Squeezing the lowest income Americans hard to pay America’s bills is a very attractive prospect to Republican politicians and their billionaire owners.

DeSantis: “We’re looking forward to be able to open up energy production… We’re going to be able to open up production. We’re going to choose Midland over Moscow. We’re going to choose the Marcellus Shale over the mullahs. And we’re going to choose the Bakken over Beijing.}:

“Energy independence isn’t even -- it’s not -- it’s good for consumers. It’s good to reduce inflation. And it’s one of the best things we can do for our national security. So we’ll do that on day one, and we are going to reverse Biden’s green new deal and the electric vehicle mandates. We’ll save the American automobile.”}:

Reality: DeSantis and Haley, afraid to offend the fossil fuel billionaires who’ve funded a massive national support network of think-tanks and get-out-the-vote efforts for the GOP, argue that we should largely abandon any effort to cut oil, coal, or methane production and instead increase our dependence on the rightwing fossil fuel billionaires’ products.

Somehow, they manage to ignore the fact that producing electricity by wind or solar is now cheaper than any fossil fuel, and water power has been for centuries. They claim to love the “free market” but will go to the mat to defend hundreds of billions of dollars a year in federal and state subsidies (including military subsidies) to the fossil fuel industry.

Additionally, electric cars are becoming much cheaper to produce than internal combustion engines (they only have a handful of moving parts, never require oil changes or fluids, and don’t even have a transmission), save thousands a year for the average driver on the cost of gasoline, and are fun to drive (they take off like rockets because they have such great torque).

There are now multiple electric cars available at the very bottom end of the new car market, so affordability is no longer an issue, either. All we need is a national network of charging stations, which is what Biden’s “Green New Deal” (actually, it’s the Inflation Reduction Act) is funding over the next few years.

This GOP fealty to fossil fuels and the billionaires the industry produces could all be described as, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

DeSantis: “I supported Trump’s policy vis-a-vis Russia, Ukraine, and it was successful. You know, the Biden policy has not been. But, Nikki Haley is basically a carbon copy of what Biden is. It’s an open-ended commitment. They want another $108 billion. They will not tell you when the -- they have achieved their goal. And this is going to go on maybe hundreds of billions more into the future. I think a lot of people have died. We need to find a way to end this, because our priorities for national security, of course, the border, which we talked about, and people like Nikki Haley care more about Ukraine’s border than she does about our own southern border, which is wrong.”}:

Reality: Trump is owned by and terrified of Putin, a vicious fascist dictator who routinely murders his political opponents and imprisons journalists. Putin has ordered Trump to stop the US from further funding Ukraine, so he can add that nation — the largest country in Europe, about the size of Texas, with some of the most productive farmland and largest oil and natural gas reserves on the continent — to his empire.

DeSantis, trying to do whatever Trump wants so he doesn’t offend Trump’s fascist base, is willing to sacrifice a fellow democracy (Ukraine) just to curry favor. It’s frankly pathetic. And Ukrainians, trying to defend their own country, are dying every single day under Russia’s brutal attacks. As Republicans continue to withhold aid to Ukraine, blood is on their hands.

On this one issue, Haley is right and deserves credit for telling the truth.

Jake Tapper: “Governor [DeSantis], just a point of clarification, do you want to implement Florida’s education policies nationwide?”}:

DeSantis: “It depends on the policy. School choice universal, yes. I don’t want a nationalized curriculum. I think that that’s a bottom up thing. I want to get rid of the federal Department of Education, get that weight off the backs of the state and local governments. …”}:

Haley: “I have fought for school choice in my entire career because I think parents know their children best, and I think we should always do that. That's why we passed charter school legislation in our state. That’s why we empowered homeschoolers in our state. …”}:

Reality: The entire “school choice” movement emerged in America following the 1954 Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation of America’s schools. DeSantis and Haley — both governors of former Confederate states that exploded in response to that decision — know this well.

Prior to that time, Republican presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Dwight Eisenhower were promoting public schools and helping build them as fast as possible.

The second major change in Republican attitudes around public education came in 1980, when David Koch ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket and part of the billionaire’s platform explicitly demanded public schools in America be shut down:

“We advocate the complete separation of education and State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended. … We condemn compulsory education laws, which spawn prison-like schools with many of the problems associated with prisons, and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”}:

Reagan, enchanted by Koch’s suggestion, put Bill Bennett in charge of his Education Department — the guy who said we could reduce crime in America by “aborting every Black baby” — and called for massive cuts to federal aid for education. The result was that many American students today are largely ignorant about civics and college debt has gone from negligible in 1980 to a nearly $2 trillion drag on American families and our economy today. But it’s very profitable for the banks that donate to the GOP.

jake Tapper (about raising the Social Security retirement age): “Just a clarification, Governor Haley, in 15 seconds, should voters in their 20s plan on having to work until they’re 70?”}:

Haley: “They should plan on their retirement age being increased, yes. We’re going to change it to reflect more of what life expectancy should be.”}:

Reality: Reagan, using the same rationalization of “rising life expectancy” lifted the Social Security retirement age from 65 to 67, made Social Security benefits taxable, and refused to index them to the inflation gauge that reflects the needs of the elderly. Republicans have hated Social Security — calling the program “socialism” or “communism” — ever since it was passed in 1935 as part of FDR’s New Deal.

Now they want to raise the qualification age to 70. As Haley pointed out about DeSantis’ years in Congress: “Three years in a row, he voted to raise [the Social Security retirement age] to 70 years old, three years in a row. Go to desantislies.com and you'll see it. So, now suddenly he's going to tell you because he's running for president and he's not going to do it, you can't trust him.” Well said.

DeSantis: “So, number one, we need term limits for members of Congress.”

Reality: This has been another Republican wet dream ever since the Reagan Revolution for a very simple reason: it increases the power of lobbyists.

Historically, when a new lawmaker comes into office, he or she will hook up with an old-timer who can show them the ropes, how to get around the building, where the metaphorical bodies are buried, and teach them how to make legislation.

With term limits, this institutional knowledge is largely stripped out of a legislative body, forcing new legislators to look elsewhere for help.

Because no Republican has ever, anywhere, suggested that lobbyists’ ability to work be term-limited, in those states with term limits the lobbyists end up filling the role of permanent infrastructure to mentor and guide new lawmakers.

Of course, lobbyists — and the billionaires and corporations that pay them — love this. It dramatically increases lobbyists’ power and influence, giving them an early and easy entrée into the personal and political lives of the individual legislators who lean on them for guidance.

Haley: “And I think we have to always be strong on the fact that, look, we want fair elections and we saw some discrepancies in those elections in 2020 that should be concerning. That’s why I passed voter I.D. in South Carolina. That’s why I think when absentee ballots go out, you should be able to verify signatures.”

Reality: Republicans want to make it harder to vote. As Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, told a group of Reagan campaign workers in a Dallas church in 1980:

“How many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome: good government? They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

For over a century, most states used biometrics to verify voter identity. Signatures done in front of a witness are nearly impossible to fake (unlike IDs, which can be easily faked). Polling place workers would compare the original registration signature with the signature of the person signing in to vote, and if they didn’t match, the worker would disqualify the voter.

When the Motor Voter Act was passed in 1993, not a single state required proof of citizenship to vote, and there was no national problem of voter fraud. The threat of a few years in jail was more than enough to discourage even the most ardent partisan from trying to double-vote or fraudulently vote.

But when Republicans realized that many Democratic voters — low-income people living in cities with mass transit — didn’t have drivers’ licenses, they began a campaign to require “voter ID” not just to register but to vote. It was a solution for a problem of “voter fraud” that didn’t exist: the first Red state to put mandatory ID laws into place as a way of suppressing the urban vote was Republican-controlled Indiana in 2005.

Now they’ve taken it a step further. Because mail-in and absentee ballots — heavily favored by Democratic voters — are authenticated by a signature on the outside of the ballot envelope, the GOP is sending people into ballot-counting venues in Blue cities to challenge signatures.

Once your signature is challenged, your ballot is removed from being counted until you can show up in person at a state or county elections office to produce ID and confirm your identity. Because most people never do this — most don’t even know their ballot has been challenged (it varies from state to state) — this has become one of the GOP’s favorite way of discarding Democratic votes. (See: The Hidden History of the War on Voting.)

— Haley argued that the solution to healthcare unaffordability was to publish prices, so people could comparison shop hospitals and doctors as the ambulance is carrying them from the scene of their car crash. She also argued for expanding the Medicare Advantage scam, because “seniors love it.”

Haley added: “We’re going to pass Tort Reform around this country” because why should you be able to sue a doctor or hospital who harms you? They need to make a buck, too, plus they’re big donors to the GOP.

— Both Haley and DeSantis feigned lack of concern about climate change by claiming that Obama has a big house and John Kerry has a private jet. This is a common diversion from the topic promoted by climate change denial groups funded by fossil fuel billionaires.

— Both also trash-talked trans kids and adults, arguing, as Haley said, “Boys need to go into boys’ bathrooms, girls need to go into girls’ bathrooms.” The medically sound reality of gender dysphoria, known for literally centuries under a variety of names across virtually every culture throughout history, has become a simple punching bag for Republicans. And it’s driving suicides across the country.

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an 1 24

a Florida Republican’s bill aims to silence accusations of racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, or any other allegations of discrimination, making them “defamation” under the law and potentially costing the person who made them up to $35,000 in the state known for its “Don’t Say Gay” law.

The sweeping legislation also appears to void journalists’ right to not reveal sources, and, chillingly removes the long-standing requirement that a public figure needs to show “actual malice” to win a defamation lawsuit.

“In cases of alleged homophobia or transphobia, defendants charged with defamation are not allowed to use the plaintiff’s religious or scientific beliefs as part of their defense. If they are found liable for defamation, the defendant could be fined at least $35,000,” The New Republic reports, noting it “would silence basically any accusations of discrimination.”

“The bill applies to statements made in print, on television, or on social media. It also states that someone who is caught in a viral video engaging in allegedly discriminatory behaviors does not qualify as a ‘public figure,’ giving those people even more grounds to sue.”

:{:{LGBTQ activist Erin Reed, who first reported on the legislation, writes: “A person could not call, for instance, a fiercely anti-gay or anti-trans pastor transphobic. The pastor would be able to sue their accusers for $35,000 and their accusers could not use the pastor’s ‘religious expression or beliefs’ to prove that the pastor is transphobic or homophobic.}:

Similarly, if a shopkeeper kicks a transgender person out of a shop while citing ‘God’s word’ or their ‘scientific beliefs’ and the video goes viral, the shopkeeper could claim that they were acting under their ‘constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs’ or their ‘scientific beliefs.’ It would bar anyone from calling that shopkeeper transphobic.”}:

Florida Democratic state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani decried the legislation, writing: “More attempts to chill free speech in the ‘free’ State of Florida.”

Dr Robert Bohan, an Irish artist and scientist who says his “work is about the human condition and understanding how the mind is connected with the body and our environment,” on social media where he has over 300,000 followers voiced concern.

“The US is proud of free speech. The KKK can spit racism, misogynists can attack women & groups can call for the annihilation of Gay ppl,” Dr. Bohan wrote. “Florida is now removing free speech, but just for the Gays. If you can’t name your oppressor how do you call them out?”

Florida State University professor of history Paul Renfro observed, “For these folks, accusations of racism, sexism, transphobia, or homophobia are far more objectionable than the racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic policies they enact and support.”

The legislation is being sponsored by Republican state Senator Jason Brodeur, who last year “introduced a bill that would require the registration of bloggers who are critical of the state’s government,” leading a columnist at the right-wing National Review to call him a “moron” and an “idiot.” It’s unclear if that would be considered defamation under Sen. Brodeur’s new bill.

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see voter suppression fraud BS

GOP voter fraud prosecutions only yielded 47 convictions out of tens of millions of ballots: report - Alternet.org

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Ron DeSantis’ 'Never Back Down' super PAC backs down from $2.5M in Iowa and New Hampshire ads - Alternet.org

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Watchdog accuses DeSantis and super PAC of 'illegally' coordinating election spending: report - Alternet.org

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Florida bill banning Pride flag would make showing support for LGBTQ people a 'political viewpoint' - Alternet.org

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'Hostile dangerous environment': Black nurses group moves conference out of Florida - Alternet.org

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an 12 23

the imagery is dark. The words are defiant. The message is dystopian. An ad for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis‘s presidential campaign, currently “in turmoil,” features the First Lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis, issuing a warning: “They’re coming after our children.”

The ad never quite says who is coming after the kids, but the video (below) includes clips of President Joe Biden and former Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the war on COVID and the now-retired Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

While it was first released over the summer, it received little attention. Casey DeSantis on Friday reposted her “Mamas for DeSantis” ad. It comes in the wake of the alleged ménage à trois sex scandal involving an unnamed woman who has accused Christian Ziegler, the head of the Florida Republican Party of rape. His wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, who reportedly confirmed the consensual three-way sexual relationship, is Casey DeSantis’ “best friend,” according to Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch.

“In America, we’ve witnessed a lot and put up with enough,” Casey DeSantis says in a voiceover at the start of the two-and-a-half minute video.

“We’ve been forced into silence,” she charges, amid a baby crying and a COVID mask being put over a child’s face. “Into compliance.”

“Told that we must ‘trust the science,'” DeSantis continues, in a direct attack on Dr. Fauci, showing him speaking during the height of COVID in the Trump administration.

And in an attack on LGBTQ children and adults, she says: “We’ve been told that we must deny truth. Back down. And look the other way.”

“Enough is enough. When you come after our kids, we fight back. Because there’s nothing we won’t do to protect our children,” she says.

Seconds later, the video shows President Joe Biden declaring, “Our nation’s children are all our children.”

“We will not allow you to exploit their innocence to advance your agenda. We are no longer silent,” Casey DeSantis declares. “We are united. We have finally found our fighter.”

Casey DeSantis praises her husband, saying he will do for America what he did for Florida: “Schools: opened. Parents’ rights: defended. School choice: universal. Critical race theory: prohibited. DEI: stopped. Child mutilation: illegal. Girls’ sports: saved. Communities: protected. Our economy: growing. VIA INFLATION? And freedom: guaranteed.”

In the section where President Biden says, “Our nation’s children are all our children,” Casey DeSantis doesn’t explain that those words came from a White House celebration honoring Teachers of The Year from across the country. The President was praising an Oklahoma Teacher of the Year whose district includes students who speak 62 different languages, so she had to work hard to ensure everyone felt included. She had said, “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child.”

Nor did DeSantis acknowledge that Governor DeSantis’ performance for children has been poor.

The Florida Policy Institute, which says it is “an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization,” in September warned “368,728 youth aged 20 and younger” have been cut from Medicaid. “Because Florida has not expanded Medicaid, the vast majority of those losing insurance during this time have been children, parents, young adults, and new mothers.”

Florida ranks 35th in child well-being (with 1 being the best), according WUSF, citing the Kids Count Databook from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Some critics on social media blasted Casey DeSantis’ remarks.

“Republicans refused to extend child tax credits that pulled 2 million children out of poverty. They resist the idea of free school lunches. Yet they come up with bullshit about their opponents ‘coming after our children.’ Yes, we’re coming after them, to give them a sandwich,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob.

Watch the Casey DeSantis video below or at this link.

inflation up

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12 23

FL prosecutor takes removal by 'authoriarian' DeSantis to high court: 'Democracy is being destroyed' - Alternet.org

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12 23 more bad campaign news, koch endorse haley

===

Florida professors leaving in droves blame 'very dystopian' environment: report - Alternet.org

1123 an

prominent Iowa evangelical leader, who once backed ex-President Donald Trump, is set to publicly endorse Florida governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, CNN reports.

Support from The Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats, after a recent endorsement from Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, Politico notes, "would offer a boost" to the governor's "campaign as he seeks to erode Trump's lead in the Hawkeye State."

According to CNN, DeSantis said during a Tuesday New Hampshire appearance, "We're hopeful that we're able to secure that endorsement. We have a good relationship. And I think that Bob has been somebody that's been very vocal about Donald Trump is not going to be the way forward."

many arts on camp fail

'Why don’t you come over here and get it': DeSantis team 'nearly came to blows' in strategy meeting - Alternet.org

FL homeowners buried by skyrocketing insurance costs after DeSantis’ handout to big insurers - Alternet.org

Florida newspaper rips DeSantis’ blatant 'cronyism' - Alternet.org

booed at mass shoot kia 3 hbc

bootgate 11 23 ~ authentic good old boy ivy league?

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1123

'Tensions' rise in DeSantis’ circle as emerging Florida group plans Iowa takeover: report - Alternet.org

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an 11 23

a Florida county commissioner ousted by governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, was exonerated Thursday after being sentenced to three years of probation and community service, and serving 75 days in jail, The Intercept reports.

"He lost everything," Oren Miller's wife Angie Fox said, according to the report. "They took his job away. He had to go to jail. He had to pay for all the expenses and everything. Where we go from here, I don't know. Right now we're just trying to settle down from the news."

The Sumter County commissioner, along with "fellow commissioner, Gary Search, who was similarly prosecuted," but took a plea deal, The Intercept reports, "ran for office pledging to roll back a property tax increase that had been foisted on residents to fund future development in The Villages. They argued that if the developer, which also owned the local newspaper and radio station, wanted to expand the size of the retirement community, they should do so with their own money."

The news outlet adds, "Shortly after Miller and Search were sworn in, the local prosecutor launched an investigation into whether they had violated Florida 'sunshine laws' around transparency and open government. They were never charged with doing so, but as part of the investigation, the state's attorney interrogated both Miller and Search about phone calls they had after the election."

The report notes that "Commissioners are barred from talking about commission business outside of open meetings, and the investigators wanted to know about calls between the two that had happened earlier in the year."

Miller's "repeatedly hazy" reply to questions about when his calls with Search stopped is what resulted in his perjury charge and jailtime.

A panel of judges pointed out "the absurdity" of Miller's charge, and furthermore, The Intercept notes, "The case is shot through with ironies, principally that the prosecutors used an anti-corruption law to prosecute a commissioner who was challenging corruption. In a further irony, the prosecution made obviously false statements while accusing Miller of perjury."

The ruling read: "Reviewing the entirety of the sworn statement made by Miller to investigating authorities, it cannot be said he in fact definitively claimed that there were no phone calls with Commissioner Search after January 2021. Indeed, quite the contrary."

According to the report, "The court took the unusual step of not just vacating the previous conviction, but also instructing the lower court to insert a new verdict of 'not guilty.'"

*The Intercept's full report is availableat this link.

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11 23

After Florida governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis visibly received less support than ex-President Donald Trump from Republican voters during the state's Saturday Freedom Summit, the Sunshine State leader is expected to be endorsed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Monday, NBC exclusively reports.

NBC notes, "Prior to Reynolds, two Iowa Republican statewide officeholders endorsed other presidential candidates. State Attorney General Brenna Bird gave her support to Trump, while state Treasurer Roby Smith backed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy."

Reynolds' decision comes after she said she planned to "remain neutral" on a candidate earlier this year, later adding during the August Iowa State Fair that she might change her mind "down the road."

Reynolds criticized Trump for failing to participate in the event's "Fair-Side Chats," saying that if he wants to win, voters "expect him to be here."

NBC reports:

*The endorsement is a major departure from tradition: Iowa governors have typically stayed on the sidelines ahead of the caucuses. An endorsement last happened in 1996, when then-Gov. Terry Branstad threw his support behind Bob Dole — though Branstad did also step out in 2016 to say he hoped Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas would be defeated ahead of that year's caucuses.

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FL homeowners buried by skyrocketing insurance costs after DeSantis’ handout to big insurers - Alternet.org

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an ah 8 23

mAGA Republicans in Florida drew widespread criticism from historians when they blocked an Advance Placement course on Black studies. The subjects in the course that Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, objected to included the Black Lives Matter movement and "queer theory."

But according to Miami Herald reporters Ana Ceballos and Alyssa Johnson, Florida Republicans "did not say that in many instances, its reviewers also made objections in the state's attempt to sanitize aspects of slavery and the plight of African-Americans throughout history."

"For example, a lesson in the Advanced Placement course focused on how Europeans benefited from trading enslaved people and the materials enslaved laborers produced," Ceballos and Johnson explain in a report published on August 29. "The state objected to the content, saying the instructional approach 'may lead to a viewpoint of an oppressor vs. oppressed' based solely on race or ethnicity. In another lesson about the beginnings of slavery, the course delved into how tens of thousands of enslaved Africans had been 'removed from the continent to work on Portuguese-colonized Atlantic islands and in Europe' and how those 'plantations became a model for slave-based economy in the Americas.'"

Alexander Weheliye, a Black studies professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, believes that thereviewers offered a "complete distortion" of the history of slavery.

Weheliye told the Miami Herald, "It's really trying to go back to an earlier historical moment, where slavery was mainly depicted by white historians through a white perspective. So to say that the enslaved and the sister African nations and kingdoms and white colonizers and enslavers were the same really misrecognizes the fundamentals of the situation."

The Miami Herald's full report is available at this link.

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August 11, 2023

Kate Riga @ Talking Points Memo: Right Wingers Furious That The FBI Killed A Man Threatening Biden. Trump’s Truth Social Tipped Agency Off.
Joe Jervis:DeSantis Appoints Liberty Counsel Lawyer To FL Bench.
Emily Singer @ The American Independent: Michigan Republican lawmaker predicts civil war in remarks at fundraiser for fake electors.
David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: Republicans Claim ‘Coverup’ After Merrick Garland Appoints Special Counsel for Hunter Biden Investigation.
Laura Vozzella @ The Washington Post: Recordings show Va. swing district candidate favors ‘total ban’ on abortion.

Tags: John Stirrup Matthew Maddock Roger Gannam Ron DeSantis Round-Up Liberty Counsel

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~ narcos desantis

https://www.alternet.org/end-up-stone-cold-dead/

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no lnx an 8 23

DeSantis-appointed lead of Florida’s affordable housing has 'very surprising' financial history: report

Maya Boddie

August 12, 2023

In a January letter, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' new 2024 presidential campaign manager James Uthmeier, urged the Florida Housing Finance Corp. to select Mike DiNapoli as its leader, but didn't note why, according to a Miami Herald report.

Established by the state legislature in 1980, the Florida House Finance Corp. oversees "billions of dollars" within the Sunshine State's affordable housing assistance programs.

"Please take this important action at your next available opportunity to meet," Uthmeier wrote in a letter to the organization's board chairperson, Mario Facella.

READ MORE: DeSantis’ taxpayer-funded governor’s office hires former campaign employees

DiNapoli was suspended last month, but Miami Herald reports as of Friday August 11, "the corporation has not acknowledged his suspension or the reason for it," and that it's also "unclear whether the DeSantis administration was aware of DiNapoli's history."

Spokesperson Katie Betta said in a text message to the news outlet, "Our office was made aware that Mr. DiNapoli was being placed on administrative leave due to some personnel matters."

Regarding DiNapoli's personal history, Miami Herald notes:

After decades of working in wealth management in New York City, he lost his job with the financial services firm UBS, where a customer — who said DiNapoli was her brother — accused him of stealing her money and forging her name on a check. Creditors were garnishing DiNapoli’s bank accounts. His nearly 10-acre equestrian estate in Ocala was in foreclosure and his homeowners association was pursuing him for past dues. In 2017, he filed for bankruptcy.

"DiNapoli's financial history was 'very surprising,'" Florida State Democratic Rep. Allison Tant said. "We are in a time where people are really struggling to have a roof over their head, and we need somebody with a background of strong stewardship, not only of their own funds, but public dollars."

READ MORE: DeSantis boots campaign manager, replaces with conservative aide behind top far-right policies

Miami Herald reports:

When the Florida Housing Finance Corp.'s board of directors met in February to confirm DiNapoli, he received a strong endorsement from Eagle's temporary replacement, acting Secretary Meredith Ivey, a former spokesperson for DeSantis. Ivey touted DiNapoli's 'great personal success' in his previous career in finance in New York City. 'I asked him, 'Well, why in the world would you choose to continue working so hard and working 80-plus hour weeks?' Ivey told board members. 'And he said, 'I really just want to help people.'

However, the news outlet also notes:

Since DiNapoli's appointment, the office has seen a wave of departures, including the firing of its longtime general counsel. Democratic lawmakers are questioning the decisions that led to DiNapoli’s appointment. 'What's the vetting process over at Camp DeSantis?' Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Miami, said in a text message. 'Is this the caliber of agency personnel he'd install at the national level?' WALL STREET HISTORY DiNapoli, who did not respond to requests for comment for this story, had a long career as a wealth manager in New York City until Sept. 9, 2015, when he lost his job with Switzerland-based UBS.

READ MORE: Trump taps ex-DeSantis consultant to lead 2024 campaign

Miami Herald's full report is available at this link.

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Ron DeSantis’ 'hostile takeover' could cost a Florida college $29 million in donations: report ›

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prove it was 7 23

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-makes-wild-claims-insurrection/

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https://www.alternet.org/florida-permits-prageru-materials-classrooms/

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-slave-trade-trade-school/

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https://www.alternet.org/desantis-post-birth-abortions-wokeness/

definition fail

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AN 8 23 NO LNX

'Fascist' and 'tyrant': DeSantis blasted for ousting another elected Democratic state attorney

David BadashandThe New Civil Rights MovementAugust 09, 2023

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected. Mr. Warren is not Black.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday morning, for the second time, suspended an elected Democratic State Attorney and replaced them with an appointee of his own choosing.

DeSantis, who is also running for president, says he is suspending Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell “for neglecting her duty to faithfully prosecute crime in her jurisdiction.”

“I am appointing Judge Andrew Bain to step in and take over the duties of the State Attorney’s Office in the 9th Circuit,” DeSantis announced on social media. “The people of Central Florida deserve a State Attorney that will prosecute criminals and keep our communities safe.”

Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell won her office in 2020. Her term runs for four years. Judge Bain, a member of the right-wing Federalist Society, was appointed to the bench by Gov. DeSantis in 2020.

READ MORE: Trump Spins Wild Attack Against Fulton County DA Fani Willis Ahead of Possible Indictment

One year ago, almost to the day, Governor DeSantis suspended from office Andrew Warren, another Democratic elected State Attorney, also for alleged “neglect of duty.”

The New York Times on Wednesday called Gov. DeSantis’ removal of the state attorneys a “drastic and exceedingly rare step.”

“Critics, and even a federal judge,” The Times reported, “decried Mr. DeSantis’s ouster of Mr. Warren as politically motivated. But Mr. Warren remains out of office — and Mr. DeSantis mentions his removal in just about every campaign stump speech.”

Critics are again blasting DeSantis.

“This is literally just a dictator overruling the people, kicking out a duly elected official he doesn’t agree with and putting in his own pawn. This shouldn’t happen in America. And the guy who did it shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the White House,” said David Rothkopf, a noted foreign policy, national security and political affairs expert and commentator.

U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, Democrat of Florida, blasted Gov. DeSantis as a “Fascist” who “hates democracy.”

“Struggling to raise money for his failing campaign and trailing by 40 points in the polls, Ron DeSantis removes a Black woman, Monique Worrell, from her duly elected office in Florida in a desperate, antidemocratic ploy to win MAGA voters,” observed attorney, former White House aide, author, and political commentator Keith Boykin.

READ MORE: Trump Disparages America’s Transgender Service Members at Rally: ‘We Had It Banned’

“This is absolutely disgusting,” wrote Florida state Democratic Rep. Anna V. Eskamani. “State Attorney Monique Worrell is a duly elected official and the only Black woman serving as State Attorney in Florida right now. Her removal is a complete slap in the face to Orange and Osceola County residents and another example of Governor DeSantis eroding our local control and democracy. This politically motivated action by the Governor in a predominantly democratic part of the state should alarm everyone. DeSantis is extreme, unfit to serve, and must be held accountable.”

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, Democrat of New York, slammed the Florida governor.

“Ron DeSantis not only punishes corporations, like Disney, for advancing causes, like LGBTQ rights, that he disfavors. He also removes from office duly elected officials who dare criticize the imperial Ron DeSantis. The latest victim is a Florida State Attorney, Monique Worrell, a black woman elected by the people, only to be removed by a tyrant.”

“The self-proclaimed small-government conservatives are actually authoritarians who are all too willing to use big-government power to enforce cancel culture against their political opponents,” Torres added. “There’s a word for this: hypocrisy.”

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gitmo?

https://www.alternet.org/showtime-axed-documentary-about-desantis/

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no lnx an 823

DeSantis boots campaign manager, replaces with conservative aide behind top far-right policies

David BadashandThe New Civil Rights Movement August 08, 2023

Ron DeSantis, continuing to struggle despite a month-long reboot of his 2024 presidential campaign, has replaced his longtime campaign manager with his Florida governor’s office chief of staff, a conservative attorney and former Trump administration official who has been behind DeSantis’ most extreme policy initiatives. The DeSantis campaign and DeSantis’ governor’s office have been revolving doors for several top aides moving between the two entities.

“In his third staff shakeup in less than a month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis replaced his embattled presidential campaign manager with one of his most trusted, and most conservative, advisers: his gubernatorial office’s chief of staff, James Uthmeier,” The Messenger first reported. “Outgoing campaign manager Generra Peck will remain as chief strategist on the campaign as part of the restructuring.”

The Messenger also reports that before making the switch Governor DeSantis used his chief of staff to help him “diagnose problems with the campaign and see if he could fix them. Ultimately, it led the governor to ask Uthmeier to take the job.” Uthmeier “took time off from his government job” to work on the campaign issues. “DeSantis’s policy director, Chris Spencer, also took time off in a volunteer capacity and reviewed the finances of the campaign.”

READ MORE: Experts Slam Trump Attorney’s ‘Irrelevant’ Protective Order Response, Warn He Wants ‘Freedom to Disclose Witness Interviews’

Uthmeier, The Messenger notes, is a member of the right-wing Federalist Society, and “has had a key role in nearly every conservative and controversial policy that built the DeSantis brand with conservatives.”

Those issues include: “DeSantis’s legal efforts to prohibit local government mask mandates, ban private business vaccine passports and reopen schools quickly in response to COVID,” “the controversial effort by DeSantis to redraw Florida’s congressional maps and eliminate a Black-held congressional seat. He also helped recruit legislative and school board candidates favorable to DeSantis’s conservative pro-business tax-cutting agenda.”

Also, “Uthmeier helped ensure that the ‘heartbeat bill’ 6-week abortion ban made it through the legislature.”

:{:{}:

Uthmeier headed the attack against Disney during DeSantis’ push for his “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

But Uthmeier has a history of working on far-right efforts before joining DeSantis’ administration.

READ MORE: Kayleigh McEnany Claims She ‘Watched’ Devon Archer’s Non-Public Closed Door Testimony and ‘Learned a Lot’

He was an attorney in the Trump administration’s Commerce Department, working under Secretary Wilbur Ross, and was part of the administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census.

“Uthmeier wrote the memo at the request of Earl Comstock, another Trump appointee who was under pressure from Ross to figure out how to get a citizenship question onto the 2020 census forms,” NPR reported.

Later, in 2019, at the direction of Commerce Dept. attorneys as Politico reported, Uthmeier “refused to answer more than 100 questions during an interview with the House Oversight and Reform Committee that centered on the Trump administration’s controversial decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.”

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new college? lose teachers

https://www.alternet.org/education/desantis-2662303284/

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an 8 23

'Just absurd': Shakespeare is latest casualty of Florida’s book ban law

LONDON - MARCH 09: A painting of William Shakespeare which is believed to be the only authentic image of Shakespeare made during his life is unveiled by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust on March 9, 2009 in London, England. The recently discovered painting, which is believed to date from around 1610, depicts Shakespeare in his mid-forties. The portrait is due to go on display at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 2009. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Adam NicholsandRaw StoryAugust 08, 2023

The Bard has become the latest casualty of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's push to remove books involving sexuality from schools.

The Tampa Bay Times reported Monday that schools in the state’s Hillsborough County will allow only excerpts of William Shakespeare’s works to be studied.

School district officials said teaching now covered a wider array of books and writing styles – meaning more writers would be studied, and shorter sections of their work assigned rather than complete books.

But spokeswoman Tanya Arja said, “It was also in consideration of the law,” referencing the newly expanded Parental Rights in Education Act.

Teacher Joseph Cool told the Times, “There’s some raunchiness in Shakespeare. Because that’s what sold tickets during his time.”

The district said that, because students need to read more writers, they are no longer required to read the complete books.

“We need to make sure our students are prepared with enough material during the year so they will be prepared for their assessments,” Arja said.

School board member Jessica Vaughn said on Facebook that teachers had only just found out about the changes, days before schools returned from summer recess.

“Honestly, it feels that much of this is intentional, in order to cause as much chaos in public education as possible, so that the collapse of public education is swift and the agenda of education privatization can move forward with less obstacles,” she wrote.

And Cool said, “I think the rest of the nation — no, the world, is laughing at us.

“Taking Shakespeare in its entirety out because the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is somehow exploiting minors is just absurd.”

Michigan mayor faces calls to resign at city meeting as constituents sound off on fake elector scheme

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https://apnews.com/article/state-legislatures-supermajorities-extreme-policies-5cff2be330289aa034dce295fa0a3a56

no lnx

BY DAVID A. LIEB

Published 9:15 PM PDT, June 16, 2023

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lawmakers in state capitols this year have been flexing their superpowers.

In North Carolina, a new supermajority of Republicans enacted abortion restrictions. In Vermont, a new supermajority of Democrats imposed a climate-sensitive home heating law. And in Montana, a GOP supermajority booted a transgender lawmaker from the House floor.

In each case, the views of their political opponents ultimately were irrelevant.

OTHER NEWS

Attorney Taylor Meehan talks with Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson during a break in oral arguments for a case challenging the state's congressional districts before the Utah Supreme Court in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Utah high court scrutinizes process that sliced state’s most Democrat-heavy county into 4 districts

FILE - Members of the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee hear testimony on a new map of state congressional districts onNov. 16, 2021, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court will take yet another look at the legality of the state's congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, June 30, 2023, set aside a ruling striking down the districts and ordered further consideration of the case. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth, File)

Supreme Court directs Ohio’s top court to take another look at redistricting lawsuit

FILE - Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks to The Associated Press in a year-end interview at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, N.C., Dec. 14, 2022. On Friday, June 16, 2023, Cooper vetoed GOP legislation that would ban the promotion of certain beliefs that some lawmakers have likened to critical race theory in state government workplaces. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum, File)

North Carolina GOP bars promotion of certain beliefs in state government, 1 of 6 veto overrides

FILE - Reggie Weaver, at podium, speaks outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., Feb. 15, 2022, about a partisan gerrymandering ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has ruled that North Carolina’s top court did not overstep its bounds in striking down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under state law. The justices on Tuesday rejected the broadest view of a case that could have transformed elections for Congress and president by leaving state legislatures virtually unchecked by their state courts when dealing with federal elections. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson, File)

Supreme Court rejects GOP in North Carolina case that could have reshaped elections beyond the state

By at least one measure, political power is at its highest mark in decades. That’s because Republicans or Democrats hold majorities so large in 28 states that they could override gubernatorial vetoes without any help from the minority party.

“Supermajorities give one party a lot of power to do what they want to do,” said Steven Rogers, a political scientist at Saint Louis University who focuses on elections and state legislatures.

There is no single standard for a supermajority, though the term generally is equated with whatever threshold is needed to override a gubernatorial veto. In many states, that’s a two-thirds majority. In some, that’s a three-fifths majority. In six states — Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia — it takes only a simple majority to override a veto. But those states all have Republican majorities around 70% or greater — easily exceeding any definition of a supermajority.

The number of states with supermajorities is at its highest level since at least 1982, with 19 Republican supermajorities and nine Democratic ones, according to research by Rogers.

This year began with supermajorities in 26 legislatures, including new Republican ones in Florida and Montana and a new Democratic one in Vermont. That total grew in March when Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson — who had served nearly 50 years as a Democrat — switched to the Republican Party to give the GOP a supermajority. Thompson cited his conservative voting record while asserting that Democratic leaders were pushing issues that didn’t align with his Christian values.

In April, North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham switched from Democrat to Republican to give the GOP another supermajority. Six weeks after Cotham’s switch, she provided a pivotal vote as the new GOP supermajority overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Some North Carolina Republicans already are eying other proposals they could pass with a supermajority, including an elections bill containing provisions that Cooper previously vetoed and an expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for students to attend private schools.

The supermajority creates an opportunity to “adjust the playbook” [ IE RULES, GERRY DIRTY TRICKS] to ensure “that we are scoring more touchdowns, so to speak, than we might have previously,” said North Carolina Republican state Rep. John Torbett, chair of an education committee.

The new Republican supermajority in Louisiana also could soon be put to the test.

Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has said he intends to veto a package of bills that targets the LGBTQ+ community, including a ban on gender-affirming treatments for transgender minors. Louisiana lawmakers have convened for just two veto sessions since 1974. But Republicans now have the two-thirds majority necessary to override an Edwards veto.

Vermont’s Democratic-led legislature is to return to the Capitol next week to consider overriding vetoes by Republican Gov. Phil Scott, including one of a bill expanding child care subsidies for some families. The Democratic supermajority already notched one victory in May — overriding Scott’s veto of a clean-heating-standard bill that credits utilities for energy-efficient technologies and penalizes them for not meeting certain goals.

Scott vetoed a similar bill last year before Democrats obtained a supermajority, but an override failed by one vote in the House.

Republican-led legislatures in Kansas and Kentucky this year also overrode vetoes by Democratic governors, including on bills dealing with transgender issues, abortion and work requirements for food assistance.

Political scientists cite a couple of reasons for the rise of supermajorities.

Over the past decades, Americans have increasingly voted along party lines— picking state lawmakers and even local officials who align with their party choice for president or the top of the ticket, Rogers said. At the same time, politicians in power in many states have gerrymandered voting district boundaries to give their party’s candidates an advantage in legislative elections.

As parties gain more seats in House and Senate chambers, the political ideology of their middle members often shifts further to the right or left, reducing the need to appeal to moderates and virtually eliminating the need to compromise with the opposing party.

“All that we have is our voice,” said North Carolina state Rep. Marcia Morey, a Democratic whip. But now “there’s no need for (Republicans) to have any dialogue.”

Parties with supermajorities also can more easily silence their opponents. In Tennessee, where Republicans hold at least three-fourths of the seats, the GOP supermajority expelled two Black Democratic lawmakers who used a bullhorn on the House floor to protest for gun control after a deadly school shooting in Nashville. Democrats also were upset Republicans had limited debate on various topics.

Following Tennessee’s expulsions, Montana’s Republican supermajority banned transgender Rep. Zooey Zephyr from the House floor. Zephyr initially was silenced after telling lawmakers supporting a prohibition on gender-affirming treatments for minors that they would have blood on their hands; she was exiled for participating in a protest over her right to debate in the House.

When supermajorities run state capitals, some voters may be pleased by the sweeping policies that get enacted. Others may feel like their priorities are ignored.

“On behalf of the voters, it might be a good thing, because it helps clarify responsibility,” said Carlos Algara, an assistant professor of government and politics at Claremont Graduate University in California.

“If you are a voter in California, you know explicitly which party owns policy – it’s the Democratic Party,” Algara said. “So if you don’t like the direction of policy in California, you have a very easy choice.”

Voters in Florida are in a similar situation with Republicans. GOP Gov. Ron DeSantishelped build a Republican supermajority by becoming more involved in legislative races, and the candidates he backed remained firmly loyal during this year’s legislative session.

DeSantis had no problem passing a legislative agenda that included a six-week abortion ban, tougher immigration laws, more power for parents to remove books from public schools and an easier ability for prosecutors to win death sentences, among other things. He now is campaigning on that agenda as he runs for president.

House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said DeSantis “changed the vibe” in the Capitol. She recalled that lawmakers last year had included limits on how the governor could use funds in an emergency management bill.

“That was when they did not have a supermajority,” Driskell said. “This time, we didn’t see anything that would be a check on his power.”

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7 23 an ah no lnx

supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign continue to hope that he will pull ahead of former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, but so far, that isn't happening. An Economist/YouGov poll released on July 12 shows DeSantis trailing Trump by 26 percent.

That poll is hardly an anomaly. A Fox News poll from late June found Trump with a 34 percent lead over DeSantis.

If Trump's status as the GOP primary frontrunner holds up, it is entirely possible the United States will see a rematch between Trump and Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden in 2024. But some affluent donors, according to Axios reporters Sophia Cai and Erin Doherty, are hoping to avoid that scenario by donating to DeSantis and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.— one of Biden's Democratic primary challengers — at the same time.

READ MORE: 'Roiling with conspiracy theories': RFK Jr.’s 'madness' abounds in New Yorker interview

"It's tempting to see the moves by donors in banking, venture capital, hedge funds and tech as part of Republicans' push to move past former President Trump while making Biden's path to re-election more difficult," Cai and Doherty report in an article published on July 12. "But those behind the movement say it's driven by classic notions of liberty, lingering dissatisfaction with COVID-era restrictions — and yes, a sense of Trump-Biden fatigue in the donor class."

The donors who are giving money to both DeSantis and RFK Jr. include Omeed Malik (a former Bank of America executive) and Farvahar Partners co-founder Joe Voboril.

Voboril said of DeSantis and RFK Jr., "I think what's interesting about both of these candidates is they are a challenge not just to the other side, but within their own party."

:{:{}:

Cai and Coherty note that Twitter CEO Elon Musk has also "shown an interest in DeSantis and Kennedy."

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis is 'losing' voters and 'alienating' them: columnist

GOP strategist Alex Conant told Axios that people donating to DeSantis and RFK Jr. simultaneously are "kind of like the super-rich Joe Rogan crowd,"adding, "Clearly, both candidates are trying to tap into that."

READ MORE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr: 'I have a lot of conversations with dead people'

Axios' full report is available at this link.

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an ah 7 23

when Russian President Vladimir Putin was photographed shirtless during the Barack Obama years, many far-right Republicans argued that the United States would be better off if Obama could be that macho. Quite a few progressives responded by mocking their messaging as pathetic and buffoonish, yet that Republican obsession with hyper-masculinity continues.

In an article published by Politico on July 10, journalist Adam Wren focuses on a trend in the 2024 GOP presidential race: male candidates trying to win over voters by showing how "masculine" they are.

"Francis Suarez is bragging about placing sixth in an Independence Day 5K in Cedar Rapids, Iowa," Wren observes. "Vivek Ramaswamy, a former nationally ranked junior tennis player, is flexing his weekly pickup victories over former collegiate athletes at a Life Time Fitness outside Des Moines. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the muscle-bound, 69-year-old longshot Democratic presidential hopeful, went viral for doing pull-ups shirtless at a Gold’s Gym. Even Asa Hutchinson, the 72-year-old former Arkansas governor, is boasting about still playing full-court basketball."

The 2024 election, according to Wren, has "careened into a kind of testosterone primary." And Wren cites GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's influence as a factor.

"Brawn and bravado are in demand, particularly among a GOP base conditioned by a steady dose of both in the Trump era," the reporter observes. "Thirst traps are a new wedge issue."

Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez discussed the Republican obsession with hypermasculinity in her 2020 book "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation." And that mindset, she says, is showing up in 2024's GOP presidential primary.

Du Mez told Politico, "Republican candidates are now needing to play to a base that has really been defined by the Trump presidency and just the Trump persona. Now, to win as a Republican, you need to play that game. This kind of masculinity — physical fitness — goes hand in hand with masculine toughness."

===

7 23 badash an

florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis says if elected president his plan to address climate change will be to throw out President Joe Biden’s Green New Deal.

Last week on Monday planet Earth suffered the hottest day on record, a record that it broke on Tuesday.

Fox News Business’ Stuart Varney, who has attacked climate change activists as “juvenile” and declared it is “ridiculous” that “the western world is obsessed with climate change,” on Monday asked DeSantis if he has a plan to address the climate crisis.

“The headlines are just full of stories about wildfires smoke, extraordinary temperatures in the southwest and the Southeast to some degree. Do you have a climate plan?” Varney asked.

“It’s going to be to rip up Joe Biden’s Green New Deal,” DeSantis bragged. “I think at the end of the day, we need to embrace American domestic energy. This could be a huge source of national security, economic vitality can build our industrial base in Florida.”

DeSantis’ claim echoes Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy‘s, who last Thursday said God has blessed America with largenatural gas resources, and the United States should use them to make two of the world’s largest countries and largest economies, China and India, “dependent on American natural gas.” He suggested doing so would “make us economically stronger but geopolitically the world safer,” while falsely claiming it would make the world “environmentally sound.”

The Florida governor bragged to Varney about Florida’s reduction in emissions, which happened, he admitted, through “market forces."

"We’ve actually had a huge reduction in emissions but it was done through innovation,” DeSantis said. “It was done through market forces, not command and control. So we’ll go about that in a much different direction than, than Joe Biden, I think ultimately, Biden’s policies andBidenomics is really about making the average person poor and reducing their standard of living. That is not the way you go about it.”

Last year, a Tampa Bay Times opinion piece noted, “2018, the last year for which [emissions] data is available, Florida utilities had decreased emissions by 19%, the research shows, while tailpipe emissions grew 12%.”

DeSantis was sworn into office in 2019.

Also last year, the Miami Herald warned Florida was not addressing the causes of climate change.

“The last time the Legislature addressed the root cause of climate change — greenhouse gas emissions — it was in a law that effectively blocked cities from cutting emissions,” the paper reported.

Watch DeSantis below or at this link.

===

iowa help no

https://www.alternet.org/msn/ron-desantis-2662248322/

https://www.alternet.org/fox-hosts-casey-desantis-moniker/

2x? https://www.alternet.org/casey-desantis/ knives staff

vid am's karenhttps://www.alternet.org/americas-karen-serena-waterford-wannabe/

an 7 23

no lnx on heels of alt rt over the top vid? trump // gay flag etc

the First Lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis, announced the launch of "Mamas for DeSantis" Thursday, as a part of her husband, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign.

:{:{}:

Casey shared a two-minute launch video via Twitter, writing, "We will not allow you to exploit the innocence of our children to advance your agenda. When you come after our kids, we fight back. We are no longer silent. We are united. We are Mamas for DeSantis. ...and we will elect @RonDeSantis President of the United States. Join our historic movement today: http://mamasfordesantis.com"

The video claims parents across the country have been "forced into silence," and complains we were "told to trust the science" and forced to mask children at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed millions, according to the World Health Organization.

READ MORE: 'A clown show': Steve Bannon lambastes DeSantis’ 'historic screwup' of a campaign launch

Regarding DeSantis' handling of the pandemic in The Sunshine State, according to a Columbia Law School report, The Florida Department of Health has said, "Governor DeSantis and members of his staff repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the COVID-19 death rates, with his press secretary Fred Piccolo Jr. tweeting: 'we can tell you definitively that Florida is counting deaths that were not directly caused by COVID-19," adding, "Mr. Piccolo has also sought to downplay the COVID-19 pandemic in other ways. On one occasion, he erroneously tweeted: 'we had one COVID death in Florida yesterday . . yes you read that right. One.' In fact, on the day in question, there were 47 deaths."

However, when it comes to the health of children, the narrator of the "Mamas for DeSantis" video insists,"We have finally found our fighter [in Ron DeSantis]. We're doing for America what he did for us."

The spiel emphasizes that if the GOP governor is elected in 2024, America will look like: "Schools, open. Parents rights, defended. School choice, universal. Critical race theory, prohibited. DEI, stopped. Child mutilation, illegal. Girls' sports, saved. Communities, protected.Our economy, growing. And freedom, guaranteed." [ vs tourism, drop]

https://www.alternet.org/experts-panic-over-florida-tourism-as-major-conventions-flee-state-s-unfriendly-political-environment-2662247798/

Then, the camera pans to Casey, who says, "But winning the fightin Florida is just the beginning.We must protect parents' rights and the innocence of our children. We must restore sanity TM in our society. We need every mama, and every grandmama, in every corner of the country tostand up and fight backby electing Ron DeSantis president of the United States of America."

READ MORE: Ex-DeSantis staffers sharpen their knives against his 'vindictive' wife Casey ahead of presidential run

Earlier this week, The New York Times reported:

But Mr. DeSantis, who has not shown that he is a natural campaigner, has failed to take off in the polls, and his carefully choreographed public events have offered few headline-generating moments, as his campaign, until recently, has worked to shield him from potentially awkward unscripted interactions with voters and the news media.

Several journalists and political experts blasted the "bizarre" ad.

Kimberly Leonard, politics correspondent for Business Insider said, "This video reveals something I've emphasized for a while: The DeSantises are in lockstep. She is fully engaged and supportive in her husband's political rise, and when it comes to policy they agree."

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan wrote, "Imagine thinking in 2023 that the threat to our kids is from…masking in a pandemic? The actual threat to our kids, missing from this video, are mass shooters in schools, who are able to exist of course with the support of GOP gun laws."

Former President Barack Obama staffer Tommy Vietor commented, "A couple weeks ago, the DeSantis campaign was pitching stories about how his wife was the secret weapon to help sand off his weird, rough edges. Now she's releasing insane agitprop videos. Bizarre choice!"

READ MORE: Florida Republican lawmakers fear DeSantis will 'chop off heads' if they go against him: report

Peter Schorsch, publisher of Florida Politics, added, "The more it becomes clear @RonDeSantis will not win in 2024, the more you’ll see them position @CaseyDeSantis for 2026."

Deputy Political Editor at Courier Newsroom Keya Vakil, wrote,"This is utterly indistinguishable from QAnon."

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: 'Walmart Melania': Casey DeSantis loudly backs her husband’s message of 'division and dehumanization'

The New York Times' full report is available at this link (subscription required). The World Health Organization's report is here.

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ct ruling?

https://www.alternet.org/biden-desantis-disney/

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https://www.alternet.org/whos-going-to-work-florida/

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a federal judge on Monday blocked a provision of a recently enacted Florida law that the ACLU characterized as a "clear and brazen attack on civic participation in our democracy."

S.B. 7050, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in May, would have imposed $50,000 fines on community organizations for every noncitizen individual who collected or handled voter registration forms for the groups—even if the people were legally authorized to work in the United States.

In a scathing 58-page order granting rights groups' request for a preliminary injunction, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida called the law "Florida's latest assault on the right to vote" and agreed that the voter registration provision would have "substantially interrupted" community groups' outreach efforts.

"Tomorrow, Floridians across the state will commemorate our nation's birthday," Walker wrote. "They will endure the heat of the Florida summer to celebrate the Fourth of July with family and friends at barbecues and picnics. They will gather with their communities at public parks for music and fireworks. They will cheer and sweat at parades and block parties. And amid these patriotic festivities, some may feel moved, for the first time, to embrace their solemn privilege as citizens by registering to vote."

"That's where plaintiffs come in," the judge continued, pointing to the testimony of Veronica Herrera-Lucha, a lawful permanent resident who works as the Florida state field director for Mi Vecino, a nonprofit voter registration group.

"Absent the challenged provisions at issue in these cases, individuals like Ms. Herrera-Lucha and [third-party voter registration organizations] like the Florida NAACP and Hispanic Federation would be engaging with their communities and registering new voters," Walker wrote. "Ms. Herrera-Lucha, a noncitizen who, herself, lacks the right to vote, has spent years registering and encouraging citizens to exercise that solemn right. She may, at least for now, continue to do so andadd more voices to the millions of others singing a more perfect union into existence."

Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, celebrated Walker's ruling as confirmation of "what we knew from the very beginning: Florida's latest voter registration law was unconstitutional and served no other purpose than to silence our communities."

"This ruling is a win for all Floridians—especially for underrepresented communities who rely on nonpartisan organizations like us to help make their voices heard," said Miranda. "We applaud this ruling, and will not rest until everyone's right to participate in our democracy is protected."

The Hispanic Federation was one of several groups that sued the state of Florida over the provision targeting noncitizen voter registration advocates, part of a broader voter suppression effort by the state's governor and dominant Republican Party.

In addition to its sweeping attack on voter registration groups and restrictions on mail-in voting, S.B. 7050 includes a provision that allowed DeSantis to run for president without resigning as Florida's governor.

Walker wrote in his order Monday that Florida's political leaders in recent years have struggled to govern "within the bounds set by the United States Constitution."

"When state government power threatens to spread beyond constitutional bounds and reduce individual rights to ashes, the federal judiciary stands as a firewall," Walker added. "The Free State of Florida is simply not free to exceed the bounds of the United States Constitution."

Daniel Tilley, legal director at the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement that Walker's ruling "fortifies the idea that all Floridians have a right to participate in building a stronger democracy through civic engagement."

"While this is a step in the right direction, our work is not finished," said Tilley. "People in our communities, including noncitizens, work tirelessly to assist in voter registration efforts to empower Floridians to vote on issues that impact their daily lives. We applaud the court's decision, but we must ensure this harmful law is struck down altogether."

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'Woke ideology': DeSantis vows to kill four federal agencies including one that manages US nuclear weapons

David BadashandThe New Civil Rights Movement June 29, 2023

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has declared he plans to eliminate several federal agencies if elected president, including the one that manages the U.S. Government’s nuclear weapons stockpile, is responsible for promoting worldwide nuclear safety, and reducing weapons of mass destruction.

“Are you in favor of eliminating any agencies? I know conservatives in the past have talked about closing the Department of Education, would you do that?” DeSantis was asked by Fox News’ Martha McCallum on Wednesday.

“So we would do Education, we would do Commerce, we’d do Energy, and we would do IRS,” said the Florida governor, naming the federal agencies he will close if elected to the White House. The Florida governor currently has similar agencies within his administration that he has not attempted to eliminate.

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis: I Would Have Loved to Hang Out With Jesus and His Disciples – America Needs More God

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is part of the Dept. of Energy, which DeSantis says he will eliminate. It is “responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science.”

“Preventing nuclear weapons proliferation and reducing the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism around the world are key U.S national security strategic objectives that require constant vigilance,” says the NNSA on its Energy.gov government website. “NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation works globally to prevent state and non-state actors from developing nuclear weapons or acquiring weapons-usable nuclear or radiological materials, equipment, technology, and expertise.”

That’s just one part of what the NNSA does.

The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, also part of the Dept. of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, “provides militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and ensures they’re safe, reliable and long-lived operation. NNSA’s Naval Reactors Program provides the design, development and operational support required to provide militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and ensure their safe, reliable and long-lived operation.”

READ MORE: ‘Grave Concerns’: House Democrats Urge Chief Justice to Formally Investigate Clarence Thomas

“The NNSA’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation (CTCP) is integral to the U.S. Government’s layered defense against nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation,” the NNSA also says.

Then there’s the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, which provides the Navy with “militarily effective nuclear propulsion plants and ensures their safe, reliable and long-lived operation.”

Meanwhile, DeSantis did not explain who would do all the vital work these agencies are responsible for, but did promise, “if Congress will work with me on doing that, we’ll be able to reduce the scope of government.”

“Eliminate the IRS?” McCallum pressed.

:{:{}:

“But what I’m also going to do, Martha, is be prepared,” he vowed, ignoring her question. “If Congress won’t go that far, I’m going to use those agencies to push back against woke ideology and against the leftism that we see creeping in to all institutions of American life.”

READ MORE: Evangelical Pastor With Ties to DeSantis Denies He’s Endorsing Biblical Call for Death to Gays

“So for example,” he continued, “with Department of Education, we reverse all the transgender sports stuff, women’s sports should be protected. We reverse policies trying to inject the curriculum into our schools. That will all be God we will make sure we have an accreditation system for higher ed, which is not trying to foment more things like DEI and CRT, so we’ll be prepared to do both. Either way, it’ll be a win for conservatives.”

Watch below or at this link.

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https://www.alternet.org/desantis-vows-to-take-action-to-end-birthright-citizenship-if-elected-president/

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for decades, Florida had a reputation for being an incredibly volatile swing state. Floridians often split their tickets, and President George W. Bush won the state twice before it went to President Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012. Democrats and Republicans had to work extra hard with Florida voters because the Sunshine State was neither ultra-Democratic Massachusetts nor ultra-Republican Alabama.

But that was before the Ron DeSantis era, which has found Florida moving way to the right. Republicans now dominate all three branches of Florida's state government: executive, legislative and judicial.

In a report published on June 20, Washington Post reporters Beth Reinhard and Josh Dawsey describe DeSantis and his allies' campaign to push the Florida Supreme Court way to the right.

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis accuses teachers of 'forcing' students to pick pronouns

"For decades, the ambitions of Florida's Republican governors were stymied by the liberal-leaning (Florida) Supreme Court," Reinhard and Dawsey explain. "That is, until Ron DeSantis was elected. The Court let him erase a congressional district with a large Black population. It opened the door to a law making it easier to impose the death penalty. Now, it's poised to rule on the governor's plan to outlaw most abortions in the third-most-populous state."

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The reporters emphasize that theFlorida Supreme Court's "hard-right turn" was "by design" —and encouraged by the right-wing Federalist Society.

"DeSantis seized on the unusual retirement of three liberal justices at once to quickly remake the court," according to Reinhard and Dawsey. "He did so with the help of a secretive panel led by Leonard Leo — the key architect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority — that quietly vetted judicial nominees in an Orlando conference room three weeks before the governor's inauguration."

Leo, known for his many years as vice president of the Federalist Society, played a major role in the demise of Roe v. Wade. And Reinhard and Dawsey stress that Leo helped give Florida "one of the most conservative state supreme courts in the country."

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis vows to 'destroy leftism' and 'woke ideology' if elected president

"(DeSantis) repeatedly points to his overhaul of the state court as a sign of how he would approach the (federal) judiciary if elected (president)," the reporters note. "He has called Justice Clarence Thomas 'our greatest living justice' and pledged to move the U.S. Supreme Court even further to the right than President Donald Trump did."

READ MORE: 'Boxed in': Why Trump’s 2020 fixation is a 'fundamental problem' for Ron DeSantis

Read The Washington Post's full report at this link (subscription required).

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FEC complaint alleges DeSantis campaigns got illegal donations from Canadian firm

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Jake JohnsonandCommon DreamsJune 27, 2023

The Canadian financial services company ECN Capital was hit with a Federal Election Commission complaint on Monday for allegedly donating to the state political committees of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in violation of U.S. campaign finance laws.

The complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is the second in recent weeks involving DeSantis, who CLC says violated federal law by transferring more than $80 million from a state political action committee to a super PAC backing his 2024 presidential campaign.

The new complaint against ECN Capital states that between October 2018 and August 2022, the company breached the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by donating to DeSantis' last two gubernatorial campaigns and a state PAC formerly known as Friends of Ron DeSantis.

That state PAC, which is now controlled by DeSantis allies, is the same entity that funneled $82.5 million to a pro-DeSantis super PAC earlier this month, a move that is the subject of a separate FEC complaint filed against DeSantis last month.

The CLC's complaint against Toronto-based ECN Capital also alleges that the corporation's U.S.-registered subsidiaries "made contributions totaling over $122,000 in connection with federal and state elections" between 2018 and 2022, "and there is reason to believe that ECN Capital's officers or directors may have participated in the decision-making process regarding these contributions—such that these contributions may also have violated FECA's foreign national contribution ban."

"FECA unequivocally prohibits foreign nationals, including foreign corporations, from making a contribution or donation of money or any other thing of value, in connection with any federal, state, or local election, and federal regulations further prohibit foreign nationals from participating in any decision-making process with regard to making a political contribution," the complaint notes.

Saurav Ghosh, CLC's director of federal campaign finance reform, said in a statement that "the recent, unprecedented rise of ' soft money' in federal elections undermines the crucial campaign finance laws that exist to uphold transparency, combat corruption, and safeguard the electoral process."

"As this complaint shows," Ghosh added, "foreign money may already be influencing the 2024 presidential election, which obviously undermines voters' ability to trust that the electoral process and their government are truly serving their interests."

The complaint urges the FEC, which is evenly divided between three Democrats and three Republicans, to investigate ECN Capital's donations to DeSantis' committees and "seek appropriate sanctions for any and all violations, including civil penalties sufficient to deter future violations, injunctive relief to remedy these violations and prohibit any and all future violations, and such additional remedies as are necessary and appropriate to ensure compliance with FECA."

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so far, former President Donald Trump is the clear frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Polls released in late May found Trump leading his main challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by 33 percent (Fox News), 31 percent (Quinnipiac) or 27 percent (CNN).

Yet some far-right anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists believe that Trump betrayed the MAGA movement when he promoted COVID-19 vaccines. DeSantis has been making a concerted effort to win over anti-vaxxers,and Never Trump conservative Tim Miller calls him out for it in a scathing column published by The Bulwark on June 5.

"The official 'DeSantis War Room' went after Trump for his unwillingness to 'acknowledge any of the adverse effects' of the vaccine in a conversation with a voter at one of his events," Miller observes. "The DeSantis campaign instead sided with the voter — who was arguing that it was the vaccine that caused deaths, rather than preventing them."

READ MORE: Stewart Rhodes’ son fears Trump or DeSantis will pardon his father

Miller, a former GOP strategist, argues that DeSantis' campaign is pandering to extremists only to take offense when people "notice."

"In the face of this campaign strategy," Miller writes, "the argument proffered by DeSantis supporters to skeptics in the middle is that we just have to sit there and take it while DeSantis does nothing to appeal to us and instead works like a mule to cater to the concerns of the anti-vax freaks and the most bigoted wing of the anti-woke brigade."

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Miller continues, "I'm sorry, but being told we have to ignore our lying ears in order to defeat Trump is not a compelling argument….. So yeah, Ron DeSantis is far less likely to be the leader of a violent overthrow of the government than Trump. Strong agree! But you can't run to the nutball right of the person who tried to do that and then get mad at us simply for noticing."

Among Never Trumpers, there has been much debate over whether Trump or DeSantis would be more dangerous in the White House in 2025. Miller is a blistering critic of DeSantis, but he clearly views Trump as the greater threat to U.S. democracy.

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis heaped praise on Fauci in 2020: report

"This risk assessment is based, in part, on the record of both men in office," Miller explains. "You might recall that one has already attempted a coup. But it's also based on what Rummy (Donald Rumsfeld) called the known unknowns. How catastrophic would the staffing of a second Trump Administration be? Would Kari Lake be VP? Might lunatic cult leader Mike Flynn control the military?"

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Miller continues, "Would Trump try to terminate the Constitution? Side with Putin in Ukraine? Similarly, the known unknowns for DeSantis tend to point in a less catastrophic direction. Would RD move to the center in a general election? I don't think so. Hire a more competent staff? Certainly. Is his personality less likely to inspire a rabid, violent death cult? Clearly."

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis vows to 'destroy leftism' and 'woke ideology' if elected president

Read Tim Miller's full column for The Bulwark at this link.

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https://www.alternet.org/california-ag-legal-action-florida/

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https://www.alternet.org/newsom-migrants-flown-sacramento-kidnapped/

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a group of 16 migrants were dropped off at the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento Friday, leaving California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and immigration rights advocates with many questions, The Sacramento Bee reports.

Per The Sacramento Bee, the migrants from Venezuela and Colombia "were taken from El Paso, Texas, to New Mexico, and then flown by private chartered jet to Sacramento where they were left on the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento."

Sacramento ACT — a group of "religious congregations," according to The Sacramento Bee said, "The migrants, upon arriving in Sacramento, had no idea where they were and 'only a backpack's worth of belongings,'" adding, "The group said that the migrants all have pending court appearances, and that by transporting them to California under false pretenses, there will be a disruption in their legal due process."

READ MORE: 'This bill is indefensible': DeSantis’ measure to fly 'migrants from state to state' approved

Last year, according to CBS News, Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott "started busing migrants released from federal immigration custody in his state to D.C., saying he was 'going to take the border' to the Biden administration," and months later, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis "took credit for the transportation of several dozen migrants to Martha's Vineyard."

CBS also notes:

The Biden administration, Democrats and advocates have called the transportation tactic a dehumanizing political stunt, accusing Republican-led states of using desperate asylum-seekers as props. Republican governors in Texas, Florida and Arizona have argued their efforts force Democratic cities to share the burden of accommodating migrants, which they say has fallen mostly on communities in their states.

Regarding the migrants flown to Sacramento, Congregation B’nai Israel's Rabbi Mona Alfi deems the incident "a moral travesty," noting, "these are human beings, no different than you or me, who simply want to take care of their families and live a peaceful life, and they deserve to be treated better."

Sacramento ACT President Rev. Efrem Smith added, " What has occurred recently with the deceiving drop off of our undocumented brothers and sisters into the Sacramento area grieves my heart. This political polarizing act is heartbreaking and yet I rejoice that I am part of a movement that brings the love of God and goodwill upon the injustices and political wickedness that impacts our vulnerable brothers and sisters."

READ MORE: Treasury Department IG’s office is investigating Ron DeSantis’ migrant flights to Massachusetts

Newsom emphasized, "My administration is also working with the California Department of Justice to investigate the circumstances around who paid for the group's travel and whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping."

According to The Sacramento Bee, the governor also said "he and Attorney General Rob Bonta met with the migrants, and that he is working with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg's office as well as area nonprofits 'to ensure the people who have arrived are treated with respect and dignity, and get to their intended destination as they pursue their immigration cases.'"

READ MORE: New report refutes Greg Abbott’s claim that his office was unaware of DeSantis’ migrant stunt

The Sacramento Bee's full report is available at this link (subscription required). CBS News' report is here.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is proud of the work he's done to destroy education in Florida.Parents and students are protesting as teachers plan to flee the state, but DeSantis wants to see his vision enacted nationally.

A brave woman called him out at a campaign rally. DeSantis gets confused and then triggered. His best response is a promise to double down on his plan to destroy education. The crowd seems to love this stuff, but Ron looks mighty lost.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/how-fox-paved-way-desantis-anti-vax-hit-trump

Thanks to Fox News, the Republican Party is embroiled in a furious debate over whether it was a good idea to save millions of American lives.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ nascent campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is floundering in the early going. He entered the race last month with a sizable polling deficit behind former President Donald Trump, his Twitter Spaces announcement event was a disaster, and his initial rollout hasn’t produced a bump in his support. DeSantis has seemed reluctant to go after his chief opponent, and when he has the results have been lackluster.

But on Thursday afternoon, his campaign opened a new line of attack, targeting the former president for his role in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines. The “DeSantis War Room” posted a video on Twitter of an Iowa town hall attendee telling Trump “we have lost people because you supported the jab.” The DeSantis account reported that Trump responded “by praising the COVID mRNA shots, doesn't acknowledge any of the adverse effects" [twit vid]

the DeSantis camp’s anti-vax attack on Trump speaks to the influence of right-wing media outlets like Fox in shaping the battlefield for the 2024 primary campaign. Their reflexive support for Trump over the years on issues like his role in the January 6 insurrection, his noxious racism, and his various alleged crimes put those topics off-limits for his opponents. But while some at Fox with ensuring the development of the vaccines, the network paved the way for the DeSantis campaign’s salvo by spending much of the last two-plus years stoking fears among its viewers about the shots.

Fox emerged as the most ferocious opponent of the COVID-19 vaccines, which provide crucial protection with a minimal risk profile and have prevented millions of American deaths from the virus since their initial U.S. deployment in December 2020. The network’s most popular figures regularly denounced the shots as dangerous and ineffective and the vaccination campaign as a nefarious plot to control Americans. Fox’s coverage worsened over time, and by the early weeks of 2023 a whopping 78% of the network’s vaccine segments included claims undermining vaccinations. The results have been devastating, with Republicans getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at lower rates than other Americans and dying from it at higher ones.

Fox’s lethal coverage of COVID-19 vaccines presented an opportunity for ambitious politicians like DeSantis, who is particularly attuned to what happens on the network and in the broader right-wing press. DeSantis once touted his own efforts to distribute the vaccines, which he credited with “saving lives.” But as the right’s discourse changed, he changed with it.

DeSantis cozied up to the GOP’s anti-vax wing — and used his power as governor on their behalf. DeSantis’ Florida is the only state that does not recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for children, and it “recommends against males aged 18 to 39 receiving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines” after a flawed study that was politically tainted by the vaccine skeptic DeSantis appointed as the state’s top medical officer found the shots were harmful for that group. DeSantis even called for a grand jury to investigate “any and all wrongdoing” related to the vaccines and “bring legal accountability to those who committed misconduct.”

Now DeSantis’ campaign is deploying the vaccines as a wedge issue, trying to make the case that the GOP electorate should oppose Trump due to his involvement in their development. The conservative reaction has been diverse, with Never Trumpers criticizing DeSantis for promoting “anti-vax nonsense,” anti-anti-Trumpers making excuses, and right-wing anti-vaxxers denouncing Trump.

One person who hasn’t weighed in is Rupert Murdoch, the Fox head and reported DeSantis supporter who was among the first to get the shot — then abandoned his viewers to the virus.

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https://www.alternet.org/

an ah 5 23 no lnx

hen the election returns for the 2022 midterms came in, Democrats were pleasantly surprised by how well they performed in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and other key swing states. Far-right pundits at Fox News, confined to a MAGA bubble, spent months predicting that 2022 would bring a massive red wave; instead, Democrats increased their small majority in the U.S. Senate and narrowly lost the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer enjoyed an 11 percent reelection victory over far-right MAGA Republican challenger Tudor Dixon. In Pennsylvania, the ultimate swing state, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro defeated GOP conspiracy theorist Doug Mastriano by 15 percent.

But there was one state where Democrats seriously underperformed in 2022: Florida. GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis ran a far-right campaign and was reelected by 19 percent, while Republican Sen. Marco Rubio defeated Democrat Val Demings by 16 percent. The news across the board was terrible for Democrats in Florida, inspiring many pundits to say that it had gone from swing state to deep red state.

READ MORE: 'Persistent affordability crisis': How DeSantis’ plan to sell his 'Florida blueprint' could backfire

Veteran Democratic strategist Steve Schale, who served as President Barack Obama's Florida director in 2008, examines his party's misfortunes in the Sunshine State in an article published by The Bulwark on June 1. Democrats have lost so much ground in Florida, Schale laments, that percentagewise, they now hold more positions in the Montana State Legislature than they do in Florida's.

"What happened in 2022 was a perfect storm," Schale explains. "A decade's worth of decisions to intentionally defund the state party had left it an empty shell. Republicans had an incumbent governor in Ron DeSantis who was incentivized to run up the score to support his presidential ambitions. An unpopular Democratic president was facing his first midterm election, and Democratic donors were both tired of Florida and focused — rightly — on maintaining a majority in the U.S. Senate and defending key governorships."

The Democratic strategist continues, "All the ingredients were in place for a wipeout, which is what Florida Democrats got."

That "wipeout," Schale observes, went way beyond "Hurricane Ron's" reelection. Most of the U.S. House and state legislature victories in Florida in 2022 went to Republicans.

READ MORE: 'Make him own this': Florida’s 'atrocious' abortion ban could derail DeSantis’ presidential hopes

Nonetheless, Schale doesn't believe that Florida has become far-right ideologically, but rather, reflects the Democratic Party's poor organizing in his state.

The Floridian writes, "I believe Florida remains today what it was when Obama won it: essentially a center-right state, where Democrats, as Obama was, have to be smart in how they talk to voters…. National Democrats can't afford to let Florida become a one-party state, not if they want any margin for error in the Electoral College. Which is why, for Democrats everywhere, the Florida Democratic problem is everyone's problem now."

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis vows to 'destroy leftism' and 'woke ideology' if elected president

Read Steve Schale's full article for The Bulwark at this link.

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https://www.alternet.org/putting-pedophiles-to-death/

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https://www.alternet.org/ron-desantis-improve-supreme-court/

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https://www.alternet.org/gitmo-desantis/

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Democratic and Republican political campaign experts, lobbyists, politicians, attorneys, and others are stunned and outraged after learning taxpayer-paid government officials in the administration of Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis have reportedly been soliciting donations for his presidential campaign, in violation of longstanding expectations of a firm wall between a political leader’s work as an elected public servant, and their political campaign machine.

“Whoever is telling these kids to do this has lost their damn mind,” a Florida Republican lobbyist told NBC News, which broke the bombshell story late Thursday night.

The solicitations from DeSantis government officials are in the form of personal text messages to Florida lobbyists, “a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked,” NBC News reports, adding that it was seen as “jaw-dropping.”

“It is walking a very close line to what is ethical and possibly legal,” a Florida lobbyist told NBC News. “It is state employees leveraging their official position to ask people whose livelihood depend on access to state government for money.”

READ MORE: ‘He’s Gonna Get Charged’: Experts Predict Obstruction and Espionage Act Charges for Trump Based on WaPo Report

“Using a bundle code makes it look like certain employees get credit with the campaign,” that same lobbyist added, calling it “very questionable.”

“If any of my clients had legislative staff sending out donation links, we would be having a hard conversation,” a Republican fundraiser who works on federal elections said.

NBC News says the “legality of the solicitations depends on a series of factors, including whether they were sent on state-owned phones, or if they were sent on state property.”

At the federal level, with the exception of the President and Vice President, elected and government officials are banned from soliciting donations or campaigning on government property, including in government buildings, such as Congress or the White House.

:{:{}:

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was formally admonished in March by the Senate Ethics Committee for violating ethics rules and standards by repeatedly soliciting campaign donations during an interview at the Capitol. It was not the first time he “directly solicited campaign contributions,” the Committee noted.

A longtime Florida election law attorney told NBC News, “At a minimum, even if they are sitting in their home at 9 p.m. using their personal phone and contacting lobbyists that they somehow magically met in their personal capacity and not through their role in the governor’s office, it still smells yucky.”

“There’s a misuse of public position issue here that is obvious to anyone paying attention,” they added.

READ MORE: ‘Manufactured MAGA Madness’: House Dems Slam GOP for ‘Running Out of Town’ to Trigger an ‘Economic Meltdown’

Pay-to-play, as some might call DeSantis’ actions, apparently has been part of the Florida GOP Governor’s playbook for years.

:{:{}:

“Since assuming office in 2019,” The Tampa Bay Times reported this past October, “DeSantis has accepted roughly $3.3 million in campaign donations from about 250 people he selected for leadership roles,” referring to government jobs. The Times called it “a 75% increase in the number of donors appointed compared to former Gov. Rick Scott’s first term in office, and over 10 times the amount of money.”

The Miami Herald at the time spoke with Kedric Payne, vice president and general counsel with the Campaign Legal Center, who noted appointing donors is a typical practice.

“The public perceives this to be pay to play,” Payne told The Herald. “It’s perceived to be a contribution given with a wink and a nod to get the appointment.”

Orlando Sentinel Capital bureau reporter Jeffrey Schweers calls the NBC report “huge,” and says “the implications are staggering.”

Matt Dixon, the NBC News reporter and co-author of the bombshell report, observed on Twitter, “The $117b state budget and several bills remain on DeSantis desk.”

“That’s a lot of leverage, and those who got the texts are feeling pressure,” he noted. “Beyond that, it’s just so drastically beyond the norm. Taxpayer funded staff asking lobbyists for political $ isn’t how it usually works.”

Jay Nordlinger, a senior editor at the right-wing National Review, tweeted, “Frankly, I didn’t know this was a matter of ‘norms’; I thought it was a matter of law. Something to keep an eye on.”

Former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Dept. of Justice’s fraud division, Andrew Warren, currently a Florida state attorney who was suspended by DeSantis, had strong words in response to NBC’s reporting.

“Florida government officials on taxpayer salaries are raising money for DeSantis campaign from companies doing business with his administration. This is corruption—plain & simple. But what else should we expect from a Governor who flaunts the rule of law?”

Warren is challenging DeSantis’ suspension in court.

READ MORE: DeSantis Tells Evangelicals He Wants to ‘Improve’ Supreme Court So Justices Reflect ‘Gold Standard’ of Clarence Thomas

Rick Wilson, the well-known political strategist and now-former Republican who has worked in politics since 1988, blasted DeSantis.

“The stories of @RonDeSantis GOVERNMENT staff…not campaign, GOVERNMENT staff soliciting Florida lobbyists for money for his Presidential campaign should draw the immediate attention of the Department of Justice,” he tweeted Friday morning. “This is Putinesque kleptocracy.”

“Here’s why the quid pro quo is so outrageous,” he noted. “DeSantis has yet to sign the state budget.”

Indeed, NBC News “spoke with 10 Republican lobbyists in Florida, all of whom said they couldn’t remember being solicited for donations so overtly by administration officials — especially at a time when the governor still has to act on the state budget.”

“That process that involves DeSantis using his line-item veto pen to slash funding for projects that the same lobbyists whom they are asking for political cash have a professional stake in. Most of the lobbyists said they felt pressure to give to the governor’s campaign.”

Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried, who ran in the 2022 gubernatorial primary but lost to Charlie Crist, responded to Wilson on Twitter, charging, “This is also how he [DeSantis] strong armed the endorsement of members of the legislature.”

“It’s not just the lobbyists they’re extorting,” Democratic former state lawmaker Carlos Guillermo Smith, a current state senate candidate, alleged via Twitter. “Ron DeSantis got 99 Florida Republican lawmakers to sign endorsement agreements before budget vetoes were announced. Using fear, intimidation, and threats of retribution is all they know how to do.”

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---

sci am

https://www.alternet.org/msn/ron-desantis-2660656516/

parnas

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-2024-trump/

this Wednesday, May 24, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to officially announce his plans to enter the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Polls have been showing former President Donald Trump with considerable leads over the MAGA governor in hypothetical matchups, including 42 percent (Harvard-Harris) or 45 percent (Rasmussen). But DeSantis' supporters are hoping that the May 24 announcement will give him a badly needed boost.

When DeSantis makes his presidential run official, that will bring him intensified scrutiny from Trump as well as from Democratic strategists and President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. And one thing they may be taking a close look at, according to Reuters, is DeSantis' relationship with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas.

Reuters reporters Aram Roston and Joseph Tanfani, in an article published on May 22, explain, "DeSantis and Parnas worked more closely together than the Republican governor has disclosed, according to a detailed account of their relationship Parnas provided to Reuters and 63 previously unreported text messages from DeSantis to Parnas between May and October 2018, as DeSantis campaigned for governor. A jury later found Parnas guilty of campaign finance crimes and other charges."

Text messages obtained by Reuters, according to Roston and Joseph Tanfani, "show that DeSantis "frequently…. appealed to fellow Floridian Parnas for introductions, advice and other fundraising help during his hotly contested campaign for governor."

"The texts also reveal thatParnas served as an intermediary between DeSantis and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who at the time, was the personal attorney of then-President Trump," the Reuters journalists explain. "In one case, 10 days before the 2018 election, DeSantis sent Parnas a text with suggested wording for a Giuliani tweet in support of his candidacy, the messages show."

===

https://www.alternet.org/disneys-damning-lawsuit-targeted-desantis/

===

on March 21, 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed MAGA Republican Sandra Atkinson — who was chairing the Okaloosa County GOP — to the Florida Board of Massage Therapy, noting that the appointment was "subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate." Two years later, DeSantis' connection to Atkinson is drawing scrutiny — as Atkinson, according to USA Today reporter Will Carless, appears to have entered the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

Photos, Carless reports in an article published on May 23, show Atkinson marching with "Stop the Steal" demonstrators in Washington, D.C. that day. Atkinson, according to Carless, has "denied" to USA Today that she entered the Capitol with the mob that stormed the building.

But Carless reports that "according to a USA Today review of multiple videos from the day and an interview with a close Republican Party associate," Atkinson "proceeded to the Capitol and through the doors."

"The same kind of activity has led to criminal charges for many who stormed the Capitol (on) January 6 — charges for unlawful entry, picketing or other nonviolent acts," Carless explains. "Two months later, Atkinson's name emerged in bold type, in an announcement from DeSantis. She was being given a new job: The governor was appointing her to a statewide regulatory board."

The Florida governor's office, according to Carless, "now declines to answer any questions about what DeSantis knew about Atkinson before her appointment or during her time as a regulator."

"Long seen as a leading candidate for the Republican nomination," Carless notes, "DeSantis has a fine line to walk regarding January 6. On the one hand, he can draw support from people who believe Trump's ongoing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from the GOP. That also risks promoting his presumptive rival's main talking point."

===

an 4 23

ft. Lauderdale, Florida was recently pounded by torrential rain and severe flooding. And according to WPLG-TV Local 10 (Ft. Lauderdale's NBC affiliate), some residents are criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis for not showing up and seeing the damage in person.

WPLG reporter Andrew Perez notes that although DeSantis "sent help" to Ft. Lauderdale, homeowners affected by the flooding are wondering if the Republican governor has been distracted by a possible presidential campaign.

Cheryl Lovejoy, a Ft. Lauderdale homeowner, told WPLG, "I don't think they realize how bad it is. Our whole house is devastated. I've got elderly and sick people still in the home. I'm waiting on insurance to kick in. Still no funds yet. I haven't heard from anybody."

Lovejoy also told the station, "He's the governor. This is our home. This is what he governs. He should be interested and on point with what's going on here."

Although the Florida governor has yet to make an official announcement, he appears to be gearing up for a presidential run. And if he enters the 2024 presidential primary, he will be competing in a field that includes former President Donald Trump — the frontrunner, according to polls — Nikki Haley (former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and talk radio host Larry Elder.

View WPLG Local 10's full report at this link.

===

qien es mas macho?

https://www.alternet.org/trump-desantis-duke-it-out/

death penalty

no lnx

'I'm tough on crime': Trump and DeSantis duke it out over pro-death penalty stance

Alex Henderson April 17, 2023

When it comes to the death penalty, the United States is out of step with many of its allies. A long list of countries in the European Union (EU) have long since abolished capital punishment, from Italy to Sweden to the Republic of Ireland — as have the United States' neighbors to the north (Canada) and south (Mexico). Australia hasn't had an execution since 1967, and in 2010, the Australian Commonwealth Parliament voted to prohibit any state from reintroducing the death penalty.

:{:{}:

Yet in the U.S., some far-right MAGA Republicans not only want to see the death penalty used more often — they want to expand it to include crimes other than murder. Two of them are former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appears to be gearing up for a 2024 presidential run even though he has yet to make a formal announcement.

:{:{}:

Journalist Gary Fineout, in an article published by Politico on April 17, stresses that Trump and DeSantis are both making a concerted effort to show fellow Republicans how pro-death penalty they are. Trump, Fineout notes, proposes expanding the death penalty to include drug trafficking; some DeSantis' allies in the Florida State Legislature, according to Fineout, want "the death penalty to be imposed on" anyone "convicted of raping a child despite a narrowly-decided U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2008 that found such punishments unconstitutional."

READ MORE: Tim Scott’s presidential committee got off to a 'weird' and 'grossly dishonest' start: conservative

"Ahead of a likely presidential bid," Fineout reports, "Gov. Ron DeSantis is leaning into a reliable campaign message: I’m tough on crime…. DeSantis' record on criminal justice is something that allies of formerPresident Donald Trump have already hit the governor on. They criticized him for signing a bill in 2019 that raised the amount that must be stolen for someone to be charged with a felony. The Make America Great Again PAC, last month, claimed that 'while President Trump is the only presidential candidate calling for the death penalty for drug dealers, DeSantis is giving a pass to thieves.'"

Much of the U.S., however, has been rethinking the death penalty. In 2022, according to France's Le Monde, only six U.S. states carried out executions: Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Mississippi and Arizona. Florida didn't have any executions in 2022, but Fineout notes that DeSantis has "signed three death warrants so far this year."

Mother Jones reporter Noah Lanard, in an article published on April 15, stresses thatDeSantis opposes Florida's current requirement that a jury be unanimous in order for the death penalty to be imposed.

"Gov. Ron DeSantis is on the verge of signing a bill that would allow people in Florida to be executed without a unanimous decision by a jury," Lanard reports. "Instead, an 8-4 vote would be enough for someone to be put to death in the state. The bill passed the Florida Senate last month and passed the House on Thursday, (April 13) by an 80-30 margin. The bill has been a priority for DeSantis, who opposed the decision not to sentence to death the Parkland school shooter who killed 17 people in 2018. Three jurors voted against the death penalty in that case."

READ MORE: Conservative preacher calls for abolishing the death penalty after jury spares Parkland shooter's life

In the U.S., the legality or illegality of the death penalty varies from state to state. According to the Washington Post,27 states still have the death penalty — and out of that 27, only three allow the death penalty without a jury's unanimous approval during a trial's penalty phase.

In 24 of those states, a jury could find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder but spare the person's life if one of the jurors votes against imposing the death penalty. In that scenario, the jury could be unanimous with the guilty verdict but have a hung jury with the penalty phase — which would likely mean life without parole but not execution for the person convicted. That is why pro-death penalty prosecutors, during jury selection or voir dire in capital murder cases, often ask prospective jurors how they feel about capital punishment.

READ MORE: 'What do you think of firing squads?' Trump hopes to 'put fear of God into violent criminals' if reelected

View Fineout's full report at this link. Explore Lanard's here.

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===

4 23 rww

April 20, 2023

David McAfee @ Raw Story: Judge who denied abortion to teen over bad grades may become next Florida Supreme Court justice.
Kate Riga @ Talking Points Memo: Major Anti-Abortion Organization Attacks Trump For Wanting To Leave It To States.
Josh Dawsey and Amy Gardner @ The Washington Post: Top GOP lawyer decries ease of campus voting in private pitch to RNC.
Sara Murray @ CNN: My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell ordered to follow through with $5 million payment to expert who debunked his false election data.
Nick Corasaniti @ The New York Times: A Super PAC Targets Greene, Gaetz, Boebert and Others on the Far Right.
Justin Baragona @ The Daily Beast: Fox News Parts Ways With MAGA Blowhard Dan Bongino.

Tags: Cleta Mitchell Dan Bongino Jared Smith Mike Lindell Round-Up Susan B. Anthony List

===

signed 6 wk abortion at 11 pm, did not speak if it the next morning at LIBERTY U?!

===

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/desantis-appoints-judge-from-religious-right-group-known-for-anti-choice-anti-lgbtq-stances/

trump-appointed federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has become the go-to judge for right-wing groups seeking rulings that advance their political agenda. Kacsmaryk worked at religious-right First Liberty Institute before his judicial nomination; now Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone to that same well, appointing First Liberty Institute senior counsel Jordan Pratt to the state’s Fifth District Court of Appeal.

First Liberty Institute is hostile to reproductive choice and legal equality for LGBTQ Americans. For years, it has sounded false alarms about supposed anti-Christian persecution in the United States. After Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, First Liberty Institute’s president signed a letter urging GOP senators to contest Electoral College votes from swing states won by President Joe Biden.

Pratt, a member of the Federalist Society, joined First Liberty in 2021. During the Trump administration, Pratt worked at the Justice Department to help Trump fill federal courts with likeminded judges. His nomination by DeSantis was praised by the Federalist Society’s Jacksonville chapter as well as by First Liberty President Kelly Shackelford.

Kacsmaryk’s record suggests what we might expect from a Judge Pratt. In 2019, People For the American Way strongly opposed Kacsmaryk’s confirmation, noting his “history of targeting those who do not live according to his particular social and religious beliefs” and warning—accurately—that his confirmation would “put reproductive freedom in danger.” Just last week, Kacsmaryk issued a ruling suspending the Federal Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. The lawsuit challenging FDA approval of mifepristone was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a powerful religious-right legal group with a goal of banning abortion nationwide.

In his anti-mifepristone ruling, Kacsmaryk adopted advocacy language from the anti-choice movement, rejecting the medically accurate term “fetus” in favor of “unborn human.” Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levison has described Kacsmaryk’s decision as “riddled with legal and factual errors,” and wrote that his use of an 1870s law, the Comstock Act, “essentially resurrects baseless arguments and once-dead law to wreak havoc on our settled legal principles.” Even the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board recognizedthat Kacsmaryk is “overstepping his authority”in the case.

Florida appeals court judges are appointed by the governor from a list prepared by a judicial nominating commission. After serving for at least a year, they face a yes-or-no retention vote on a general election ballot, potentially winning a six-year term.

Tags: Jordan Pratt Matthew Kacsmaryk Anti-Abortion Anti-Choice Anti-LGBTQ Courts Religious Liberty First Liberty Institute

===

an ah 3 23

to Ron DeSantis' cheerleaders — a group that includesauthor Ann Coulter, the Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro and Fox News' Rupert Murdoch — the far-right Florida governor offers the Republican Party its best opportunity to move on from former President Donald Trump in the United States' 2024 presidential election. DeSantis, as they see it, has considerable MAGA appeal, but with a lot of more self-discipline than Trump and minus the ex-president's legal baggage.

DeSantis has yet to formally announce a presidential run. So far, the only declared Republican candidates are Trump and Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and ex-governor of South Carolina. But DeSantis is certainly acting like he plans to run.

According to New York Times reporters Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, one of the things DeSantis is doing in preparation for a likely 2024 presidential run is talking to long-time ally Dustin Carmack — who was DeSantis' chief of staff during the now-Florida governor's years as a congressman. DeSantis was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016.

The Florida governor, Swan and Haberman report in an article published on March 30, plans to "install" Carmack as a "senior adviser specializing in national security" when he "formally begins his presidential campaign," according to New York Times sources.

"The planned appointment makes Mr. Carmack the most significant prospective policy hire to date for a DeSantis campaign," Swan and Haberman explain. "It indicates the governor will continue his pattern of filling key roles with trusted loyalists. Traditional Republican foreign policy elites, who are monitoring Mr. DeSantis' every move for clues about his intentions, will most likely be relieved that, in Mr. Carmack, Mr. DeSantis will have an adviser who leans more hawkish than the governor’s allies on the Tucker Carlson-adjacent New Right."

Carmack is presently with the Heritage Foundation, a major right-wing think tank. But according to Times sources, he plans to leave that position in order to join DeSantis' 2024 campaign.

"Mr. Carmack’s portfolio with an eventual DeSantis campaign will be broadly focused on policy," Swan and Haberman report. "But one of his key areas of expertise is national security, with a focus on cybersecurity…. During his most recent stint at Heritage, Mr. Carmack took a hawkish approach to his foreign policy writings, especially as they related to cybersecurity and Russia and China."

===

https://www.alternet.org/ron-desantis-2659688691/

quirky --> neg

===

https://www.alternet.org/new-wsj-poll-anti-woke/

bad news

===

poss arrest

https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-calls-gov-ron-desantis-make-sanctuary-state-donald-trump

===

((===

https://www.alternet.org/missouri-gop-dont-say-gay/

----

35yrs rip off covid $ 150K landscape biz?

an 3 23

no lnx

joe Harding, the now-former Florida Republican lawmaker who authored the extremist "Don't Say Gay" bill could face up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal felony fraud charges in a scheme to obtain $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to Florida Politics‘ publisher Peter Scorsch.

Harding, 35, was a construction project manager who started his own lawn care company. He quickly became a right-wing darling after his anti-LGBTQ legislation, officially the Parental Rights in Education Act, was embraced by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed it into law.

Harding was charged in a December federal indictment with six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in his plot to obtain $150,000 in COVID funds. He resigned from the legislature the following day. He originally pled not guilty.

READ MORE: 'Chilling': Law Enforcement 'Seriously' Investigating Threats Ahead of Possible Trump Indictment Says Top WaPo Reporter

After Harding was charged and resigned, Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, responded via social media, saying: "So much harm to students, parents and teachers because of his raw political ambitions. He slandered entire communities and trafficked in lie after lie that has emboldened violent bigotry. He will have his day in court but his legacy is already a despicable one."

Harding is not the only family member accused of criminal acts.

"Harding's indictment follows a September guilty plea from his brother-in-law, Patrick Walsh," Florida Politics reported in December. "As reported by Fresh Take Florida, Walsh pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges connected to his receipt of nearly $8 million in disaster relief loans."

Unrepentant to the harm many feel he has done to children and the LGBTQ community, in a statement Tuesday Harding said: "During the past legislative session I have felt the support of millions of Americans while fighting for our shared concerns and for the rights of parents. I will never forget the support I received from every corner of this great country."

READ MORE: 18 Attorneys General Blast Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Law as Unconstitutional

Harding will be sentenced in July.

Florida's Voice also reported Harding's guilty plea Tuesday.

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---

an 3 23

no lnx

a trove of leaked emails between South Dakota legislators and anti-trans lobbyists read like excerpts from "The Handmaid's Tale," according to a new report.

The communications between lobbyists, state Rep. Fred Deutsch and other South Dakota legislators use deeply religious language that shows Christian nationalists are pushing restrictions on LGBTQ rights as part of what they believe is a holy war, reported Vice News.

“Know that many have prayed and are praying for you this day," wrote Vernadette Broyles, a lawyer and president of the Georgia-based Children and Parental Rights Campaign in a 2020 email. "Do not back down, nor should you be afraid. Know that the Lord is with you. The children of South Dakota belong to him. He is jealous over them. Let his jealousies be spoken forth in the House of Representatives of South Dakota today so that his children would be made safe. Know you are HIS representative today. Do not be afraid. Stand firm in what is right."

The emails were shared with Vice by Elisa Rae Shupe, a trans woman who had de-transitioned and become an anti-trans advocate before re-transitioning and renouncing her ties to Christianity.

“I fell prey to the belief that if I did what they suggested that I would be cured of my gender dysphoria," Shupe said. "I was encouraged to confess my sins, ask for forgiveness by Jesus, and turn my plight over to the Lord Jesus Christ. I was also asked to accept that my transgender status was a sexually motivated sin and to cure myself by attending a religious 12-step program, which I did for approximately a year."

The messages are peppered with references to blessings, prayers and apocalyptic warfare.

“It is the language of Christian nationalism,” said Thomas Lecaque, an associate professor of history at Grand View University. “It is the language of people who very much believe they are doing God’s will, and it is the language of people who very much believe that they are engaged in a holy war.”

:{:{Lecaque said South Dakota Republicans, who've gotten three anti-trans bills signed into law by Gov. Kristi Noem, and GOP legislatures around the country are trying to eradicate the trans community while presenting themselves as underdogs.}:

“They are not trying to protect children," Lecaque said. "They are trying to murder the transgender community,”}:

“Stopping the existence of transgender people and the acceptance of trans people in the public sphere is to them some sort of religious imperative,” Lecaque added. “It’s particularly fascinating that this group that has all this money, control in state legislatures, control of the house, they had a presidency, is acting like somehow they are David in the struggle.”

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===))

i id w rustics

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-ridiculed-pretending-raised-midwest/

mma 3 23 matt g

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) plan to blame President Joe Biden’s economic policies for the Friday collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has hit a snag.

McCarthy wants the Republican message to be that Biden’s spending triggered a rise in inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s subsequent interest rate increases wiped out the bank. But his members have instead been claiming that the bank failed because it was too “woke,” a charge so ludicrous that a caucus leader reportedly urged them to “stop tweeting / going on tv if they don’t understand” the situation.

But McCarthy’s dilemma won’t be as easy to solve as that: It stems from the fact that GOP members of Congress are downstream from the same right-wing misinformation and infotainment apparatus as the party’s base. And that system has spent the Biden administration forcing every policy issue, no matter how complex, through its culture war lens.

SVB failed for banal finance reasons, as Bloomberg’s Matt Levine has detailed. It had a customer base of venture capitalists and the start-ups they fund. Those customers generally don’t require short-term, variable-rate business loans, so SVB instead invested their deposits in long-term, fixed-rate bonds without sufficiently hedging its risk. As interest rates rose, those bonds lost value. Some SVB depositors feared the bank’s finances had become too weak and withdrew their funds; since venture capitalists are panicky and move in a herd, the result was an old-fashioned bank run, and on Friday, regulators took over SVB, saying it lacked liquidity and had become insolvent.

But as the bank collapsed, the right-wing media concocted a very different story that fit neatly into their culture war narratives. In their telling, SVB failed because it was too “woke” and had excessively focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Digital media outlets, online influencers, right-wing podcasters, powerful Fox hosts, and columnists at the staid Wall Street Journal all converged on the same talking points.[twt]

republican politicians echoed this theme as it spread through the right-wing press, parroting the message that they perceived was popular among their political base. And not just random backbenchers — over the weekend, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who leads the party’s investigations as chair of the House Oversight committee, went on Fox News to decry SVB as “one of the most woke banks,” while likely presidential candidate andFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued on the same show that its leaders had been “so concerned with DEI and politics” that it “really diverted from them focusing on their core mission.”

McCarthy had lost control of the GOP message to propagandists who produce political takes that are optimized for ratings and clicks, and now he is desperately trying to get it back.

This isn’t the first time the right has blamed bank failures on excessive support for people of color. In 2008, it became commonplace to blame the financial crisis on the Community Reinvestment Act. As Fox’s Laura Ingraham put it at the time, that law, which was enacted in 1977, “pushed all these institutions to lend to minority communities, many were very risky loans.”

That argument was wrong — only a small percentage of subprime mortgages were issued by depository institutions under the CRA — and it scapegoated borrowers rather than the predatory lenders who in many cases deceived them or the bankers who profited handsomely by selling those subprime mortgages packaged in complicated financial products, even though it dramatically increased their institutions’ risk.

But the CRA charge was at least vaguely related to actual federal economic policies. That reflected the sizable portion of right-wing media attention paid during the Obama administration to developing talking points in favor of deregulation and other conservative economic priorities like cutting taxes, particularly for wealthy Americans and corporations, and slashing the social safety net.

The right’s priorities have shifted since then to increasingly favor the empty calories of the culture war. President Donald Trump signed legislation deregulating banks like SVB, just as he signed into law a huge regressive tax cut and pushed to kick people off health insurance by dismantling Obamacare. But he was largely uninterested in broad areas of federal policy, instead reflexively viewing issues through his own personal grievances. The right-wing press, and the GOP, adjusted to match his focuses.

By the time Biden took office, the right’s policy debate muscles had atrophied. Biden offered a far-reaching economic agenda, but in early 2021, Fox’s coverage instead revolved around the “woke mob” supposedly targeting Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss. Even when the network’s influential commentators discussed Biden proposals like his $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill, they fixated on the 0.06% of the total supposedly wasted on “social justice stuff.” The rest of the right-wing popular press followed Fox’s lead.

The shift by Republican propagandists has been bad for the party’s electoral prospects. As Fox’s hosts trained their audience to fixate on their own bizarre grievances, Republican politicians followed along. But it turns out that normal people don’t care about the same things as millionaire TV hosts like Tucker Carlson — in the 2022 midterms, Fox-friendly candidates who pushed the network’s obsessions were trounced, helping Democrats retain the U.S. Senate and several governorships while keeping the House closely divided.

To date, McCarthy has shown little interest in creating daylight between his members and the right’s infotainers — he’s fresh off of giving Carlson’s team exclusive access to January 6 security footage so the Fox host could generate revisionist propaganda. And now the House leader is reaping the fruits of his party’s right-wing media grievance addiction.

===

alex 3/17https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj5W54QcR2s

obvious proven lies earth2 for those outside bbl?

no lnx

late last month a Florida teacher posted a video of a school library where almost every shelf was empty. The video went viral, getting millions of views. Now, the teacher who posted that video has been fired.

Earlier this week Governor Ron DeSantis was asked about the video, he claimed it was a “fake narrative,” and “not true.” DeSantis told reporters the shelves were empty because “they hadn’t put the books out yet to begin with.”

School libraries at the end of January rarely have empty shelves because librarians hadn’t gotten around to filling them.

“Brian Covey, a substitute teacher at Mandarin Middle School, posted a video on Jan. 27 showing rows of empty bookshelves in the school’s library. The jarring video quickly went viral and now has over 13 million views, it made national headlines and was even fodder on a late night talk show,” First Coast News reports.

“On Wednesday, nearly three weeks after the video was posted, Covey said he was fired.”

“In discussion between the district and ESS,” a statement from Duval County Public Schools reads, “regarding this individual’s misrepresentation of the books available to students in the school’s library and the disruption this misrepresentation has caused, it was determined that he had violated social media and cell phone policies of his employer. Therefore, ESS determined these policy violations made it necessary to part ways with this individual.”

:{:{}:

ESS, First Coast News reports, is the company that hires substitute teachers.Their statement does not say what was allegedly misrepresented.

On January 31, First Coast News spoke with Covey, before he had been fired.

Their report, and many others, state that because of DeSantis’ laws, administrators or librarians have to review every book in the entire school.

:{:{}:

But DeSantis told reporters reviewing a book should only take “two minutes,” and said his Dept. of Education would be happy to help school officials if they had a question about a specific book.

During that same press conference, DeSantis was asked why a popular book about baseball great Roberto Clemente had also been pulled from school shelves.

:{:{}:

The Florida governor, expected to launch a presidential campaign soon, lashed out at the reporter, first blaming “politics,” then “teachers’ unions,” then claiming the story itself was “a joke” and “manufactured” while never accepting the impact the legislation he has supported, promoted, signed into law, and used to brand himself as a protector of children has had a devastating effect on those very children he claims to want to protect.

DeSantis appeared to be wholly uninformed as to what schools and students are going through as a result of his laws, which include his “Don’t Say Gay” law.

:{:{}:

“More than 1 million books in Duval County schools in Florida are subject to review due to three state laws impacting certain subjects in education, including race, gender and sexual orientation,” ABC News reported this week, confirming the Roberto Clemente book was pulled from school shelves, citing communication from county officials.

:{:{}:

“As required by state law, we are in the process of having certified media specialists review all classroom library books,” Tracy Pierce, chief of marketing and public relations at Duval County Public Schools told ABC News. “There are approximately 1.6 million titles in our classroom and media center libraries that need to be reviewed by a certified media specialist.”

===

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-trump-2659612884/

not RR

===

an 3 23

no lnx

reporter has been terminated from Axios after describing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) recent event as "propaganda."

According to The Washington Post, Ben Montgomery issued a response to an email where he was asked about DeSantis' recent roundtable discussion "exposing the diversity equity and inclusion scam in higher education."

:{:{}:

DeSantis also released a statement saying, "We will expose the scams they are trying to push onto students across the country."

:{:{}:

READ MORE: Florida teacher who posted empty library shelves fired day after DeSantis claimed it was a 'fake narrative'

:{:{}:

Responding to the email, Montgomery described the event as "propaganda" in a statement to the press office for the U.S. Department of Education.

:{:{}:

"This is propaganda, not a press release," Montgomery said.

:{:{}:

Per the news outlet, Montgomery also said the news release had "'no substance,' adding that he 'read the whole thing and it was just a series of quotes about how bad DEI was.'"

:{:{}:

Speaking about the incident, Montgomery weighed in with his reaction to the termination saying, "It's incredibly important that their organizations stand up on their behalf and realize that this is nothing but a political tactic to gain right-wing votes and disrupt the lives of hard-working journalists."

READ MORE: How a determined Ron DeSantis is trying to 'seize ideological control' of education in Florida: journalist

He also shared his co-workers' reactions to his abrupt termination.

"It might seem like a little thing for a guy in Tampa, Fla., to be out of a job for a minute," Montgomery said. "But this has ripple effects for an administration that's really had their way with the press and run roughshod over a lot of people — good people."

READ MORE: 'Makes him look very small': GOP strategists question DeSantis’ 'ridiculous' anti-woke campaign against the NHL

The Washinton Post's full report is available here (subscription required).

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'Where woke goes to die': Why Florida is now a red state ›

Florida teacher who posted empty library shelves fired day after DeSantis claimed it was a 'fake narrative' ›

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DeSantis wants to roll back press freedoms — with an eye toward ... ›

===

https://www.alternet.org/victory-florida-desantis-censorship-block/

an 3 23

the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday kept in place a preliminary injunction against Florida GOP policymakers' school censorship law in what rights advocates celebrated as "an important victory for professors, other educators, and students."

The appellate court denied a request from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration and higher education officials to block a district judge's injunction that is currently preventing enforcement of the Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act—rebranded by its supporters as the Individual Freedom Act—in the state's public colleges and universities.

DeSantis' Stop WOKE Act "limits the ways concepts related to systemic racism and sex discrimination can be discussed in teaching or conducting training in workplaces or schools," parroting a Trump administration executive order that was ultimately rescinded by President Joe Biden, the ACLU explained last year.

The plaintiffs in one of the relevant cases, Pernell v. Florida Board of Governors, are represented by the national and state ACLU along with the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and Ballard Spahr, who first filed the federal suit last August—the same day U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a separate injunction against the law related to employers.

The new appeals court order upholds the injunction Walker issued in November, which began by quoting George Orwell's novel 1984. Calling the controversial law "positively dystopian," the judge wrote at the time that "the powers in charge of Florida's public university system have declared the state has unfettered authority to muzzle its professors in the name of 'freedom.'"

Leah Watson, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program, said Thursday that "the court's decision to leave in place the preliminary injunction is a recognition of the serious injury posed to educators and students by the Stop WOKE Act."

"All students and educators deserve to have a free and open exchange about issues related to race in our classrooms," Watson argued, rather than censored discussions that erase "the history of discrimination and lived experiences of Black and Brown people, women and girls, and LGBTQ+ individuals."

LDF assistant counsel Alexsis Johnson similarly stressed that "institutions of higher education in Florida should have the ability to provide a quality education, which simply cannot happen when students and educators, including Black students and educators, feel they cannot speak freely about their lived experiences, or when they feel that they may incur a politician's wrath for engaging in a fact-based discussion of our history."

the order also pertains to a challenge filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in September.

"Professors must be able to discuss subjects like race and gender without hesitation or fear of state reprisal," FIRE said Thursday. "Any law that limits the free exchange of ideas in university classrooms should lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion."

The Stop WOKE Act is part of a nationwide effort by Republican state lawmakers and governors—especially DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate—to curtail what content can be shared and discussed in classrooms and workplaces.

"Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism,...;Education Week analysis updated on Monday. "Eighteen states have imposed these bans and restrictions either through legislation or other avenues." [twt]

aCLU of Florida staff attorney Jerry Edwards warned Thursday that "lawmakers continue to threaten our democracy by attempting to curtail important discussions about our collective history and treatment of Black and Brown communities."

"This is an important step in preserving the truth, civil liberties, and a better future," Edwards said of the 11th Circuit's decision.

though legal groups welcomed the order, the battle over the law is ongoing. The court will eventually rule on the merits of the case—which DeSantis' press secretary Bryan Griffin highlighted Thursday, adding, "We remain confident that the law is constitutional. Opponents of the law are also undeterred, as Ballard Spahr litigation department chair Jason Leckerman made clear.

"The movement to restrict academic freedom and curtail the rights of marginalized communities is as pervasive as it is pernicious," he said. "We are proud of the work we have done so far with our partners, the ACLU and Legal Defense Fund, but the fight is far from over. Today, we'll take a moment to savor this result—and then we'll keep working."zzz This post has been updated with comment from FIRE and Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary.

https://www.alternet.org/ron-desantis-hostile-takeover-is-causing-a-florida-college-29-million-in-donations-report/

new college // ucsc?

===

https://www.alternet.org/dictatorship-florida-prosecutor-desantis-suspend/

===

no lnx

https://www.alternet.org/autocrat-desantis-analyst-danger-democracy/

'Heartless aspiring autocrat': MSNBC legal analyst cautions Ron DeSantis is a 'danger to democracy'

Maya Boddie March 12, 2023

MSNBC political and legal analyst Glenn Kirschner is warning Americans Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' threat to democracy, Newsweek reports.

In response to author Brynn Tannehill's Twitter thread outlining the ways DeSantis exudes fascism, Kirschner tweeted, "Great thread here about the danger to democracy posed by DeSantis. Plus, when I saw him say, with a stupid smirk on his face, that, just for fun he, 'sent 50 illegals to Martha's Vineyard,' it reinforced that he's an inhumane man. Let's defeat this heartless aspiring autocrat."

In her thread, Tannehill was responding to The Brookings Institution senior fellow Shadi Hamid's assertion DeSantis does not pose as massive a threat to democracy as his potential GOP nominee rival, former President Donal Trump.

READ MORE: Trump beaten by DeSantis in new poll - here's where

Hamid wrote on March 1, "It's remarkable to me that there's a single sentient being who believes that DeSantis would be just as bad or even worse than Trump. And anyone who calls DeSantis a 'fascist' should be run out of the room."

The author tweeted in response, "This is such an incredibly bad take, and it is completely contemptuous of those people who actually spent their post graduate education studying how democracies collapse. I wrote at TNR about this, but I will summarize here why smart people can believe DeSantis is worse."

Newsweek reports:

Throughout the extensive thread, Tannehill made the common argument against DeSantis that he is a more competent politician than Trump who could more effectively implement undemocratic policies. She dismissed Trump as "an authoritarian figure who limits the amount of destruction he can cause via his own incompetence," and said that DeSantis "understands how the levers of power work, and he knows how to put the right people in the right places to get exactly the results he wants."

The former senior defense analyst wrote, "We can see in Florida how book bans have played out. How health care bans for women and trans people are going down. There's proposals to force people to misgender trans students and teachers, and ban the Democratic Party in FL."

READ MORE: Jeb Bush's endorsement of DeSantis just backfired big time

The Berkeley Beacon reports:

DeSantis claims to be a role model for free speech and expression, however, he has leveraged state authority to actively retaliate against private companies for speaking out against his 'Parental Rights in Education Bill,' also known as the 'Don't Say, Gay Bill.' In April 2022, DeSantis signed a bill revoking The Walt Disney Company's control over its own self-governed special district within the state, putting an end to the benefits Disney has enjoyed for 55 years.

:{:{}:

Furthermore, regarding the possible presidential hopeful's authoritarian ways, Tannehill said, "He's effectively used the power of the government to bring corporations to heel the way Putin reins in oligarchs. He's getting laws passed that make it difficult or impossible for people to criticize him by tearing down NYT v. Sullivan. This is authoritarianism 101 stuff."

READ MORE: IL Gov. blasts DeSantis and other 'demagogues who are pushing censorship'

Newsweek's full report is available at this link. The Berkeley Beacon's full report is here.

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===

an 3 23 ukraine fail

https://www.alternet.org/emperor-with-no-clothes-desantis/

===

an 3 23

https://www.alternet.org/ron-desantis-2659533898/

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1316

no lnx

How DeSantis declared war on the last century’s 'most important 1st Amendment decision': legal analyst

Alex Henderson March 08, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis and his MAGA Republican allies in the Florida State Legislature have made no secret of their disdain for the mainstream media. During a roundtable discussion that he hosted in February, DeSantis argued that it should be easier to sue journalists for defamation. And a Republican ally, Florida State Rep. Alex Andrade, later proposed a bill that would do exactly that: Florida House Bill 951.

:{:{}:

Andrade's bill would be a blatant violation of New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a tough standard for proving defamation. Under Sullivan, defamation must involve "actual malice," which is very difficult to prove. Dominion Voting Systems is trying to show "actual malice" in its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing Fox News, and ironically, the voting technology company would have an easier time proving its case if the High Court overturned Sullivan and agreed with Andrade's bill. Andrade and DeSantis believe that Sullivan was wrongly decided.

Meanwhile, Florida State Sen. Jason Brodeur (another Republican DeSantis ally) has proposed a bill that would require bloggers who write about state officials to register with the state government and file regular reports on their activities. Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) has slammed the Brodeur-sponsored Florida Senate Bill 1316 as unconstitutional, tweeting, "The idea that bloggers criticizing a politician should register with the government is insane. It is an embarrassment that it is a Republican state legislator in Florida who introduced a bill to that effect. He should withdraw it immediately."

READ MORE: Civil libertarians slam Ron DeSantis’ 'brazen and blatantly unconstitutional' war on press freedom

In a scathing op-ed published by The Guardian on March 7, journalist Trevor Timm — executive director and co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation — warns that DeSantis and his allies have declared an all-out war on the U.S. Constitution's 1st Amendment. And Timm is as critical of Andrade's bill as he is of Brodeur's.

"Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, and his cronies, not content with destroying free speech in public schools, have set for themselves a new target: destroying press freedom and every Floridian's right to criticize public officials," Timm argues. "Along the way, they aim to overturn the most important 1st Amendment U.S. Supreme Court decision of the 20th Century."

The decision that Timm is referring to is, of course, New York Times v. Sullivan. Timm notes that DeSantis and his allies are hoping to "weaken the 'actual malice' standard from Sullivan, to make it easier for public officials to sue newspapers or critics."

"Now, can states just pass laws that blatantly ignore Supreme Court precedent? Of course not," Timm explains. "Any responsible judge would strike this down as unconstitutional right away. But DeSantis may be hoping for a friendly appeals court ruling from a Trump-appointed judge or Supreme Court showdown to revisit the Sullivan ruling — following the same decades-long Republican strategy that finally overturned Roe v. Wade. And in the meantime, DeSantis can burnish his anti-media bona fides for his presidential run, and Republican legislatures around the country can use the opportunity to copy the bill or one-up him."

READ MORE: FL GOP bill would 'allow government officials to harass and bankrupt' opposers with defamation lawsuits

Timm points out that "many legal scholars consider" Sullivan the greatest 1st Amendment victory of "the last century" — a victory that DeSantis and his allies would like to roll back.

"It is one of the primary reasons newspapers in the U.S. can aggressively report on public officials and powerful wealthy individuals without the constant fear that they are going to be sued out of existence," Timm observes. "And up until a few years ago, when Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch started criticizing it, everyone assumed it was settled law."

Timm compares Brodeur's blogger bill to a draconian law that was passed under President Vladimir Putin in Russia in 2014.

"The proposed law, authored by state legislator Jason Brodeur, would — I kid you not — compel 'bloggers' who criticize the governor, other officers of the executive branch, or members of the legislature to register with the State of Florida," Timm observes. "Under the bill, anyone paid to write on the internet would have to file monthly reports every time they utter a government official's name in a critical manner. If not, they'd face potentially thousands of dollars in fines. It's a policy so chilling that it would make Vladimir Putin proud, and I wish that was hyperbole."

Timm continues, "In 2014, Russia's autocratic leader signed a very similar provision, then known as the 'blogger’s law.' As The Verge explained at the time, 'under it, any blogger with more than 3000 readers is required to register with the Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media oversight agency."

The agency that Brodeur has proposed would be similar to the pro-Putin Roskomnadzor, Timm argues.

"DeSantis has turned Florida into a national laboratory for speech suppression," the journalist warns. "And every American, Republican or Democrat, should be horrified."

READ MORE: How an overtly 'authoritarian' Florida GOP bill is designed to silence anti-DeSantis bloggers: journalist

Read Trevor Timm’s full op-ed for The Guardian at this link.

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no lnx

Ron DeSantis keeps appointing conservatives with 'radical fringe beliefs': MSNBC producer

David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement March 06, 2023

After Florida Republican Governor Ron Desantis last week appointed a far-right Christian extremist who believes tap water may turn people gay, an MSNBC producer and editor is calling him out.

"DeSantis keeps tapping conservatives for official positions of influence, and they have something important in common: a set of radical fringe beliefs," says MSNBC's Steve Benen, a producer on The Rachel Maddow Show and the editor of The MaddowBlog.

Benen points to DeSantis now fully stripping Disney World of its fifty-year special self-governing status after the Magic Kingdom's corporate leaders criticized his "Don't Say Gay" bill. DeSantis' appointment of Ron Peri, a former pastor who now runs the far-Christian right men's ministry called The Gathering to the new Disney World area oversight board leads Benen to ask, "Has Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped far-right conservatives to serve in key government positions despite their radical records or because of them?"

CNN's KFile last week reported Peri has "frequently" made derogatory remarks about LGBTQ people, and "shared a baseless conspiracy theory that tap water could be making more people gay."

READ MORE: After Being Mocked Over Three 'Nutcase' Whistleblowers Jim Jordan Now Threatening 16 FBI Agents With Subpoenas

"So why are there homosexuals today?" Peri asked in a January 2022 Zoom discussion. "There are any number of reasons, you know, that are given. Some would say the increase in estrogen in our societies. You know, there's estrogen in the water from birth control pills. They can't get it out."

"The level of testosterone in men broadly in America has declined by 50 points in the past 10 years," he has also claimed. "You know, and so, maybe that's a part of it."

"But the big part I would suggest to you, based upon what it's saying here, is the removal of constraint," Peri also said. "So our society provided the constraint. And so, which is the responsibility of a society to constrain people from doing evil? Well, you remove the constraints, and then evil occurs."

In other words, Peri believes that being LGBTQ is the result of water laced with drugs, or "evil."

It's not just Peri.

Benen adds, "It's also worth appreciating the Republican governor's broader track record when it comes to making personnel assessments. DeSantis had a great many choices for state surgeon general, for example, but he picked Dr. Joseph Ladapo, despite — or perhaps because of — the physician's highly controversial record."

"Similarly, the governor had an opportunity last year to appoint a new Florida secretary of state — an office that helps administer state elections. DeSantis tapped Cord Byrd, who has partnered with election deniers and has refused to say President Joe Biden won the 2020 election."

READ MORE: 'Emperor With No Clothes': DeSantis Mocked for Being Unable to Say How He Would Handle Ukraine as President

"Byrd's wife, meanwhile, has taken some radical positions related to the Jan. 6 attack, the Proud Boys, and even the QAnon delusion — and DeSantis appointed Esther Byrd to the state board of education."

There's more.

Benen doesn't mention her but Gov. DeSantis' former official spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, who switched over to his political campaign office, is the one largely responsible for getting the damaging and offensive "groomer" label against LGBTQ people to go viral.

Recently, Pushaw pinned her response to a VICE News tweet to the top of her Twitter account page.

The tweet reads: "If DeSantis gets his way—and he likely will—diversity, equity and inclusion efforts will be eliminated from every public college and university in Florida."

Pushaw's one-word response: "Good."

Also not mentioned in the article is DeSantis' highly-controversial appointment of far-right activist Christopher Rufo to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees. Rufo is the Manhattan Institute extremist behind the right’s CRT panic.

In 2021, Rufo bragged he wants to "have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think 'critical race theory,'" and "put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category." Last summer he told conservatives to make drag queens "more lurid" and sexual.

"Conservatives should start using the phrase 'trans stripper' in lieu of 'drag queen,'" Rufo said on Twitter, despite drag queens not generally being transgender. "It has a more lurid set of connotations and shifts the debate to sexualization."

It's little wonder DeSantis found a home in Florida for Rufo.

"Mr. Rufo has taken aim at opponents of a new Florida law that prohibits teachers in some grades from discussing L.G.B.T.Q. issues and that critics call 'Don't Say Gay,'" The New York Times reported last year in April. "He declared 'moral war' against the statute's most prominent adversary, the Walt Disney Company. And he has used the same playbook that proved effective in his crusade on racial issues: a leak of insider documents."

Rufo consulted on and appeared with Governor Ron DeSantis "at the signing of a bill known as the Stop W.O.K.E. Act, which bars teaching in workplaces and schools that anyone is inherently biased or privileged because of race or sex," The Times added, noting that Rufo "warned Disney that an in-house program it had run that urged discussion of systemic racism was 'now illegal in the state of Florida.'"

Last week, Florida Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky likened DeSantis' takeover of state boards, (which he is doing via appointments,) to "fascist regimes," as the Florida Phoenix reported.

"When you look to fascist regimes, it starts with beating down the press. Beating down academics. Excluding minorities. Targeting minorities – I think exactly what he's (DeSantis) doing with the LGBTQ community fits into that. And with the Black community with AP African American studies," Polsky told the Phoenix. "That's how it starts. And you control all levels of government, and you ban books. And so that is how it starts, and to me, that's what it looks like is going on right now."

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nhl fail

https://www.alternet.org/its-just-ridiculous-gop-strategists-question-desantis-anti-woke-campaign-against-nhl/

===

trump twt pix groomer

https://www.alternet.org/trump-desantis-2659496252/

===

https://www.alternet.org/emperor-with-no-clothes-desantis/

ukraine no answer

===

press suppress

https://www.alternet.org/afraid-of-press-ron-desantis/

===

cf Cruz ~ Gigi state TV proved

https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-ingraham/foxs-laura:{-ingraham-participated-ron-desantis-donor-event:(style="background-color:#ffff66ff"):}:-ahead-his-expected

// chris h fox host breakfast diner cannot find desantis vote till goes for woman in tshirt and she's on fence?!

===

an bad 2 23

Appearing to confess frustration, far-right Republican governor Ron DeSantis says he is remaking Florida’s education system because even after turning the state’s Democratic Party into a "rotten carcass on the side of the street," the left "can still impose their agenda on my people."

That "agenda," apparently includes so-called Critical Race Theory (CRT), Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, according to far-right Fox News host Mark Levin who told the Florida governor the right is "in a culture war."

"We didn't start it," Levin told DeSantis. "But what I call the Marxist left, they started it. It is devouring our institutions. It is devouring our politics. It's devouring the private sector."

DeSantis did not disagree.

As he uses the power of his office to pave the road for a likely 2024 run for the White House, DeSantis has not gone unnoticed. He has been accused of being "an Honest-to-God Semi-Fascist," turning Florida into "a laboratory for fascism," running his state "like a fascist," and being a "fascist for our time" and a "one-man civil rights wrecking ball, determined to neutralize any group that doesn't conform to his dangerously narrow view of social order."

All those accusations were before his Sunday night Fox News interview with Levin, who warned that "in the classrooms" there is "the sexualizing of little kids." Levin also said, "Disney, Walt Disney has to be rolling in his grave right now what's happened to Disneyland and Disney World and these other events in the culture."

Asked why he decided to take "the lead in taking this on as far as governors go," DeSantis bragged, "I got reelected November 2022. Largest vote than any Republican governor [in] Florida history has got, largest vote margin any governor candidates ever got. 1.5 million votes."

"I can win by 1.5 million votes. Make the Democratic Party in our state, basically, a rotten carcass on the side of the street. And yet, the left can still impose their agenda on my people if I'm not looking after fighting ESG and other woke companies and some of the stuff going on in the universities and the schools."

"And so I think I have an understanding that these fights are far broader than just one particular election. Yes, you do have to fight the woke in the halls of government and in the legislative chambers, and we have super majorities as Republicans in Florida so we will win all those fights, but you also have to be willing to defend your folks against this agenda being shoved down their throat from all these otherinstitutions,where these people aren't necessarily coming up for election."

DeSantis has infamously veered into pushing his supporters into local school board positions of power.

"So you talk about things with like the young kids and with Disney, and I see that not just through the eyes of a governor but also through the eyes of a dad," DeSantis continued. "You know, we have a six, a four, and a two-year-old at home. And we just believe as parents, we should be able to send our kids to school, have them watch cartoons without having somebody's sexual agenda shoved down their throats."

"And so when this issue came up, with the sexualization of the curriculum, of course in Florida, we think that that's inappropriate. And you know what? Republican, Democrat, Independent parents agree with us overwhelmingly."

That's debatable. In October Florida Politics reported, "Majorities oppose Ron DeSantis-backed 'Stop WOKE' and parental rights laws," including his "Don't Say Gay" law.

In January, a study by UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute found a large percentage of LGBTQ parents say they are concerned their families will be negatively impacted by DeSantis' laws, including HB 1557, the "Don't Say Gay" law – with some saying they already have been.

"Almost 9 out of 10 (88%) LGBTQ+ parents are very or somewhat concerned about the impact that HB 1557 will have on them and their children, with one in four reporting they have experienced anti-LGBTQ harassment since the law was passed and one in five reporting becoming less out in their communities since the law was passed. Parents have considered a variety of coping strategies in response to the bill, including moving out of the state (56%) and moving their children to a different school (11%). Over 16% of LGBTQ parents have already taken steps to move their families to another state."

Watch a short clip or the full interview below or at this link.

===

an 2 23

Ron DeSantis is denying any responsibility for new Florida restrictions on the First Amendment that ban protests at the state Capitol unless groups requesting a permit are sponsored by a state official and their protest “aligns” with his administration’s mission. On Wednesday, DeSantis joked about the January 6, 2021 insurrection while downplaying it as he spoke about the new state policy effectively curtailing the right to protest the government.

“I saw a little report that actually was not something that I was involved with. It didn’t necessarily come down from me,” DeSantis told reporters as he stood in front of a small airplane at a podium with a sign that read “Biden’s Border Crisis.”

DeSantis was likely referring to a report in Politico that firmly puts the DeSantis administration behind the new policy that restricts freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“The DeSantis administration now requires events held at the Florida state Capitol to ‘align’ with its mission, a recent change that is sparking concerns that the governor’s office is trying to censor events it doesn’t like,” Politico reported Tuesday evening.

“The Department of Management Services, the administration department that oversees state facilities, over the past few months has changed rules for groups or individuals who want to reserve space inside the Capitol.The changes require organizations seeking to reserve areas to make their requests through specific administration officials or legislative leaders and require they line up with the mission of the state.”

That effectively bans all protest against any legislation or policy the DeSantis administration supports. For example, it would have banned any protest at the Capitol against DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Continuing his remarks to reporters, DeSantis, an attorney, said, “I think I would imagine that it’s just, you go there and you speak your mind. Great, but you’ll have some groups that will try to take over capitals like we’ve seen in other other state capitals, he said. Protesting at state capitols is a hallmark of the right to protest and the right to “peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It is as old as the Magna Carta.

” And you know, it’s interesting,” DeSantis added, “if, if, if they’re, if they’re doing that from the left and the media says, ‘that’s democracy in action.’ They don’t say it’s an insurrection if you take over you know, a capital because of that, but but I think that’s what it’s getting to and so, you know, we’ve been very supportive of people being able to speak their mind, it’s their right.”

:{:{}:

\u201cGov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) defends an impending rule that would limit opposition protests at the state capitol:\n\n\u201cSome groups will try to take over capitols \u2026 If they\u2019re doing that from the left, then the media says that\u2019s democracy in action. They don\u2019t say it\u2019s an insurrection.\u201d\u201d

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1677169014

Florida Politics, reporting on DeSantis “joking” about insurrection while denying responsibility for the restrictions on the right to protest at the state capitol, notes the “Governor had commented on Jan. 6 previously, including last spring when he said concern about the riots that delayed congressional certification of the 2020 Presidential Election was a ‘dead horse’ and a ‘loser’ with voters.”

On the one-year anniversary of Trump’s insurrection, Florida Politics also noted, DeSantis said: “This is their Christmas,” referring to the media and Democrats

The January 6, 2021 insurrection was an insurrection because its goal was to stop lawmakers from certifying a free and fair election in order to overturn election results. Insurrectionists and rioters were not peaceably assembling, nor were they protesting a policy or law.

DeSantis has repeatedly mocked concern over the insurrection while attempting to minimize its significance.

In May he called the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade a “judicial insurrection.”

:{:{}:

\u201c\u201cYou wanna talk about an insurrection, that\u2019s a judicial insurrection.\u201d\n\n\u2014 Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade\u201d

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1651604071

One month later, as the actual decision in that case was about to be handed down, DeSantis likened pro-choice activists protesting at the Supreme Court to insurrectionists trying to shut down government to overturn the election.

:{:{}:

\u201cGov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) says protests outside a Supreme Court justice\u2019s house \u201cwould be considered an insurrection.\u201d\u201d

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1655129792

Watch videos of DeSantis’ remarks above or at this link.

===

an ah 2 23

During his four years in the White House, former President Donald Trump repeatedly attacked the mainstream media as "the enemy of the people" and dismissed any reporting he didn’t like as "fake news." And others in the MAGA movement haven’t been shy about echoing that type of rhetoric.

Kari Lake, the far-right MAGA Republican who lost to Democratic now-Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs in the 2022 midterms, described the mainstream media as "evil bastards" during a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech. And she vowed to be the mainstream media's "worst freaking nightmare" when she was campaigning for governor. Lake’s critics responded that her willingness to threaten journalists underscored her authoritarian mindset.

Now, another MAGA Republican, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and his GOP allies in the Florida State Legislature — including State Rep. Alex Andrade — are hoping to make it easier to sue journalists for defamation. Andrade has sponsored a bill that, according to Politico’s Matt Dixon, would "weaken state laws that have long protected journalists against defamation suits and frivolous lawsuits."

In an article published by Politico on February 23, Dixon reports that Andrade's bill — which he has been discussing with DeSantis’ office — is "being positioned to spark a larger legal battle with the goal of eventually overturning New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits public officials' ability to sue publishers for defamation."

Andrade, a critic of the New York Times v. Sullivan decision, told Politico, "There is a strong argument to be made that the Supreme Court overreached. This is not the government shutting down free speech. This is a private cause of action."

Handed down by Warren Court 59 years ago, Sullivan was very clear about what does and doesn’t constitute defamation. According to Sullivan, defamation must involve "actual malice" — which isn’t easy to prove. Dominion Voting Systems is trying to prove "actual malice" in its defamation lawsuits against Fox News, Newsmax TV and others who, in 2020, promoted the false, thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that Dominion’s voting equipment was used to help now-President Joe Biden steal the election from Trump.

Sullivan, a unanimous 9-0 ruling by the late Chief Justice Earl Warren and his colleagues, doesn’t offer protections for outright lies, but it offers considerable protections for edgy commentary — including the type of incendiary comments that are common at right-wing media outlets. Warren was a Republican appointee of GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower, but his views are detested by today’s MAGA Republicans, social conservatives and far-right white evangelical Christian fundamentalists.

Seth Stern, who serves as director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, views Andrade's bill as overtly authoritarian.

Stern told Politico, "I have never seen anything remotely like this legislation. I can't say I have seen every bill ever introduced, but I’d be quite surprised if any state legislature had seriously considered such a brazen and blatantly unconstitutional attack on speech and press freedoms…. This bill is particularly remarkable since its provisions have the vocal support of a governor and likely presidential candidate."

On Tuesday, February 7, Florida's governor held a roundtable discussion where he railed against the mainstream media and argued that it should be easier to sue publications for defamation.

Dixon notes, "Andrade’s proposal incorporates many of the elements DeSantis called for during the roundtable, including allowing plaintiffs who sue media outlets for defamation to collect attorneys' fees; adding a provision to state law specifying that comments made by anonymous sources are presumed false for the purposes of defamation lawsuits; lowering the legal threshold for a 'public figure' to successfully sue for defamation; repealing the 'journalist’s privilege' section of state law, which protects journalists from being compelled to do things likereveal the identity of sources in court."

Read Politico’s full report at this link.

an tom d 2 23

Steve Fraser: The Republicans Face Off Against... Yes, Communism!

Recently, at a well-publicized dinner, our former president — the one who encouraged a coup d’état to keep himself in power after losing an election — expressed his latest fear. “The problem we have,” he said ominously, “is that we are headed toward communism. We are beyond socialism. A lot of people say, ‘Well, not really.’ Of course we are.” And then he added, “If you do something spectacular, they don’t talk about it. If you do something not so good, they’ll make it into a travesty. If the other side does something bad, really bad, you’ll never find it. There’s never been a period of time like that in our country’s history.And that’s the way communism starts. And… we’re not gonna let it happen.”

OMG! A new red scare in America, as in my childhood when anti-communism was a part of everyday Republican politics? Did someone revive the Soviet Union when none of us were looking? Have Xi Jinping’s confederates infiltrated this country’s business class? Who could even begin to explain it? Hmm, let’s see… how about TomDispatch regular and historian Steve Fraser, author of Mongrel Firebugs and Men of Property: Capitalism and Class Conflict in American History, who (like Donald Trump and me) lived through those red-scare years of the 1950s.

Admittedly, running against Communism was once the norm in America. With that in mind, take a little voyage of — dare I call it nostalgia? — with Fraser and meditate a bit on what a truly strange world we now live in, one of remarkable extremes of weather, income inequality, and politics. After all, one of our two major parties has gone certifiably mad (and, at least in some parts of the country, that very madness has attracted voters in a big-time fashion).

Oh, and I think I can already hear Marjorie Taylor Greene calling me a “liar” for what I just wrote… or is that my imagination? Who can tell anymore? Tom

The Specter of “Woke Communism”: How Corporate America Became the Bogeyman of Today's Anti-Communist Crusaders

Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and perhaps the next president of the United States, is waging war against something he and many others on the right identify as “woke communism.” DeSantis even persuaded the Florida legislature to pass a Victims of Communism law, mandating that every November 7th (the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia), all public schools in the state must devote 45 minutes of instruction to the evils of the red menace.

You might reasonably ask: What menace? After all, the Soviet Union fell apart more than 30 years ago and, long before that, communist parties around the world had dwindled in numbers and lost their revolutionary zeal. The American Communist Party was buried alive nearly three-quarters of a century ago during the McCarthy hysteria of the 1950s.

How then can there be a muscular rebirth of anti-communism when there’s no communism to face off against? The Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank, explains the paradox this way: the powers that be of the present moment, including “education, corporate media, entertainment, big business, especially big tech, are to varying degrees aligned with the Democratic Party which is now controlled by Woke Communism.”

All clear now? A “cold civil war”is afoot, so we’re assured by DeSantis and crew, and if we don’t act quickly, “woke communism will replace American justice… the choice is between liberty or death.”

Naturally, Donald Trump has joined the chorus, declaiming that the Democratic Party functions as a cover for “wild-eyed Marxists.” People like Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, formerly considered proud defenders of capitalism, are now censored as socialists. Steve Bannon, right-wing populist organizer and one-time Trump adviser, has attacked the Business Roundtableand venture capitalists like Larry Fink of Blackrock, the largest asset management firm in the world, because he’s determined to defend a “government of laws, not Woke CEOs.”

At the January gathering of the Republican National Committee, angry thatRonna McDaniel had held onto her position as its chairperson, right-wing activist Charlie Kirk put the matter in stark class terms: “The country club won today. So, the grassroots people who can’t afford to buy a steak and are struggling to make ends meet, they just got told by their representatives at an opulent $900/night hotel that ‘We hate you.’”

How surpassingly odd! Somehow, the “spectre” invoked nearly 200 years ago by Karl Marx in The Communist Manifesto, reflecting his urge to see the exploited and impoverished mobilized to overthrow capitalism, now hangs out at country clubs, corporate boardrooms, and the White House — all the redoubts of capitalism.

Listen to DeSantis. At a rally in Sarasota during the 2022 midterm elections, he got his loudest applause for denouncing corporate America — and not just for assaulting the Walt Disney company’s criticism of the state’s “don’t say gay” policy. He went after Wall Street, too, noting that the “masters of the universe are using their economic power to impose policies on the country that they could not do at the ballot box” and promising to “fight the Woke in corporate America.” A recent Gallup poll signals that he might be onto something, since the percentage of Republicans unhappy with big business has soared....

===

an 2 23 guk

Although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was reelected by 19 percent in the 2022 midterms, the far-right MAGA Republican continues to be a highly polarizing figure in U.S. politics — a fact that was evident when, in late January, he received the Union League of Philadelphia’s gold medal award. DeSantis was greeted by a crowd of angry protestors who argued that it was an insult to Black Philadelphia to give DeSantis a prestigious award that went to President Abraham Lincoln back in 1863.

DeSantis had been drawing vehement criticism for banning, from Florida high schools, an advance placement course on African-American history. And the protestors who gathered outside the Union League included some Black Democrats who are well-known in Philly politics, including Pennsylvania State Sen. Vincent Hughes and City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. Philly is roughly 41 percent African-American.

In an article published by The Guardian on February 13, reporter David Smith stresses that DeSantis’ critics have a problem with corporations that "use Black History Month to denounce racism" yet have given the Florida governor or groups that support him generous donations. Smith, using research from the Center for Political Accountability, cites Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, DoorDash and Walmart as examples.

Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of the progressive group Equal Ground, told The Guardian, "These corporations can say that they stand with the Black community but then, also fund the governor and his work around dismantling Black history. It’s a huge level of hypocrisy."

Another company that Smith names is Disney, which is ironic in light of DeSantis’ well-publicized battle with that company. DeSantis stripped the Disney World amusement park in Orlando of its special tax privileges after the company criticized Florida’s controversial "Don’t Say Gay" law.

Smith observes, "Disney writes on its Resorts website: 'During Black History Month in February, the Disney Parks Blog will celebrate Black stories and highlight special experiences at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort.' Yet early in the election cycle — and before its relationship with DeSantis fully soured — Disney contributed $50,000 to his reelection campaign and $125,000 to the Republican Party of Florida, which supported his campaign and inauguration."

Although DeSantis has not made an official announcement, he appears to be gearing up for a 2024 presidential run — much to former President Donald Trump’s umbrage. And Burney-Clark believes that the time is now for corporations that salute Black History Month to take a stand on DeSantis’ positions.

Burney-Clark toldThe Guardian, "This man is attempting to be president of the United States. We could draw the line right now; these corporations had the true capacity and not the performative capacity to do that…. Disney, unfortunately, is going through a difficult time but has the power and capacity to be doing more than they’re actually doing. I don’t think that they should worry about the threat of losing support or favor with the governor. They should be focused on the consumers who have built these publicly held corporations to where they currently are right now with the scale that they have."

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https://www.mediamatters.org/ron-desantis/hungarys-viktor-orban-targeted-central-european-university-gov-ron-desantis-following

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https://www.alternet.org/missouri-gop-dont-say-gay/

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https://www.alternet.org/Bank/desantis-measure-fly-migrants-approved/

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https://www.alternet.org/judge-denies-desantis-mental-examinations/

ct loss

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https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-black-studies-always-going-be-politicized

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an 2 23

Far-right Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis set off yet another controversy when he banned, from public high schools, an advanced placement course on African-American studies. That controversy continued to rage on when DeSantis, in late January, visited the Union League of Philadelphia to receive its gold medal award and was greeted by a crowd of angry protesters that included local Democratic officials such as Pennsylvania State Sen. Vincent Hughes and Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson.

The protesters argued that in a city that is about 41 percent African-American, the Union League shouldn’t be giving a prestigious award to someone who had just attacked a perfectly legitimate Black studies course (the first recipient of that award was President Abraham Lincoln back in 1863). Liberal Philadelphia Inquirer opinion columnist Jenice Armstrong, in her January 24 column, angrily declared, “Don’t invite me to anything else at the Union League of Philadelphia ever again. I mean it.”

But despite all the blowback DeSantis has received, the College Board is now offering a different advanced placement curriculum on African-American studies — one that, according to New York Times reporters Anemona Hartocollis and Eliza Fawcett, has been “stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives.”

In an article published by the NY Times on February 1, Hartocollis and Fawcett explain, “The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum. And it added something new: ‘Black conservatism’ is now offered as an idea for a research project.”

DeSantis’ attack on the AP course, according to the Times reporters, “turned out to be the prelude to a much larger agenda” that also includes “a proposal to overhaul higher education that would eliminate what he called ‘ideological conformity’ by, among other things, mandating courses in western civilization.”

“In another red flag,” Hartocollis and Fawcett report, “the College Board faced the possibility of other opposition: more than two dozen states have adopted some sort of measure against critical race theory, according to a tracking project by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Law School.”

Read the New York Times’ full report at this link.

===

sieg heil

left-leaning media outlets have villainized Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, painting his recent moves in the Sunshine State’s education system as a hostile takeover from the Right. So Matthew Spalding, a professor at Hillsdale College whom DeSantis recently appointed to the New College of Florida’s board of trustees, decided to set the record straight.

“DeSantis Allies Plot the Hostile Takeover of a Liberal College,” Michelle Goldberg wrote in The New York Times. Goldberg referred to Hillsdale College as “the template for this reimagined New College” and noted that the conservative Hillsdale—based in southern Michigan—worked with then-President Donald Trump to create a patriotic education curriculum.

“DeSantis moves to turn a progressive Fla. college into a conservative one,” runs the headline on Valerie Strauss’s Washington Post**story. The subheadline: “His administration says he aims to make it a ‘Hillsdale of the South.’” Strauss brands Hillsdale a “bastion of far-right conservatism.”

“A Tiny Christian College in Michigan Is Infiltrating Florida’s Schools” runs the headline on Mary Harris’ Slate story.

The New Republic‘s Jack McCordick also slammed DeSantis’ appointment of Spalding, writing that Hillsdale and the Claremont Institute “eagerly hitched their wagons to Trump” and are “home to some of the country’s most notorious coup plotters and insurrectionists.”

McCordick suggested that Spalding’s appointment by DeSantis represents a threat to the “uniquely proactive nature of the New College’s student body.” He quoted alumnus Derek Black, who credited that student body with his conversion from a “white nationalist activist,” implying that the governor’s new appointments might enable white nationalism to emerge at the school.

These media outlets eagerly cited remarks from Christopher Rufo, a Manhattan Institute scholar best known for combating critical race theory and homelessness. DeSantis also named Rufo to New College’s board. In remarks to The New York Times, Rufo said he aimed toreverse a Marxist “march through the institutions.”

“If we can take this high-risk, high-reward gambit and turn it into a victory, we’re going to see conservative state legislators starting to reconquer public institutions all over the United States,” Rufo told the Times.

The media outlets also cited James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff, who told the Daily Caller: “It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college … more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South.”

“Florida is where woke goes to die,” DeSantis said in his victory speech following his nearly 20-point reelection victory in November.

The Republican governor has taken aim at critical race theory, a framework that claims to find “systemic racism” in American institutions and that critics say leads educators to treat white students as oppressors and treat black students and other minorities as oppressed. DeSantis also has opposed transgender ideology and signed a bill protecting parental rights in education and preventing institutionalized instruction of LGBT lessons in kindergarten through third grade.

Spalding, vice president of Washington operations and dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale’s satellite campus in the nation’s capital, did not address DeSantis’ program but insisted that the political controversy is “overwrought.”

Spalding, a former director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation, parent organization of The Daily Signal, also said he doesn’t aim to turn New College into a carbon copy of Hillsdale College. Rather, he told The Daily Signal, he intends to champion liberal arts and classical education at the historic Florida institution.

“The political controversy surrounding recent appointments to the board of New College of Florida is overwrought,” Spalding said in a written statement provided to The Daily Signal. “I am honored by the appointment and look forward to engaging in reform to achieve educational excellence.”

“As a professor, dean, and vice president at asuccessful liberal arts college, my focus is on the work at hand: restoring New College’s ‘distinctive mission’ as the ‘residential liberal arts honors college’ of Florida,” Spalding said. “I appreciate the complimentary nods to Hillsdale College, but we are not going to serve New College’s mission by remaking it into a carbon copy of another institution.”

“In the liberal arts, the college—which means a partnership, one between students and faculty—works together and comes into conversation with great thinkersand writers who’ve asked timeless questions about human purpose, about the good and justice, and how to live well,” he added. “The very aim of liberal arts education is to liberate the mind from current fads and popular ideologies by inviting students to address these questions in pursuit of the truth about what it means to be fully human. That pursuit transcends contemporary politics.”

Getting “such an education teaches one how to think, not what to think,” Spalding added. “The surging enrollment at my home institution and others like it shows that students hunger for such serious academic inquiry.”

The author of this article, Tyler O’Neil, is a Hillsdale College alumnus.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

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https://phys.org/news/2023-01-board-shake-ups-threats-tenure-money.html

usatoday

florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's decision to overhaul the board of trustees at a progressive public college was his latest move in a larger movement against so-called "woke" education.

"Like so many colleges and universities in America, New College of Florida has been completely captured by a political ideology that puts trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning," Bryan Griffin, DeSantis's press secretary, told USA TODAY, attributing low student enrollment and other financial challenges to the college's "skewed focus and impractical course offerings."

The shake-up is part of a years-long effort by DeSantis and a growing contingent of conservative leaders to chip away at what they view as higher education's liberal bias. They're shepherding legislation targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and critical race theory, including bills explicitly addressing colleges through provisions that would reduce tenure. They're shaping higher education in more subtle ways, too, including through philanthropic giving.

Observers say these trends will continue into 2023 as legislative sessions kick off and key players ramp up their campaigns for national elections.

What happened at New College of Florida?

New College has a reputation as a left-leaning college. All but two of the new appointees to New College's board of trustees are prominent conservatives.

DeSantis's chief of staff has said the hope is to make New College into something "more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South."

Hillsdale is a private Christian college in Michigan that has been lauded by some on the right for championing conservative values. The college doesn't receive any federal funding, exempting it from some of the civil-rights mandates typically applied to higher education institutions.

The prospective New College trustees "are committed to refocusing the institution on academics and truth and ensuring that students are receiving a quality education," said Griffin. "The campus will become a place for learning and discourse, as it was designed to be."

New College students have said they're drawn to the school precisely because of its offerings and because its values contribute to its academic rigor, as reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network. Among those values: building a "just, diverse, equitable and inclusive community" on campus.

In a statement, New College President Patricia Okker said she sees "tremendous opportunity for New College and I believe that our new trustees will bring fresh ideas and new perspectives. New College has a long history of embracing change, all while being true to our mission of academic excellence."

Is there a liberal bias in higher education?

College students tend to skew more liberal than the general population. In a 2020 survey of 20,000 students across 55 colleges, the most comprehensive analysis of its kind, 50% of respondents identified as liberal, versus 26% as conservative. Roughly a quarter of Americans generally say they're liberal.

However, just 19% of Gen-Z adults—the group of people most likely to attend four-year colleges now—identify with the right, suggesting there are more conservatives on college campuses than among their age group as a whole.

"Most colleges and universities are not extreme," said Samuel Abrams, a visiting scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and politics professor at Sarah Lawrence, a liberal arts college in New York that is often ranked as one of the country's most liberal colleges. With the exception of some liberal-arts schools, particularly in the Northeast, "students are pretty centrist."

Abrams' research suggests administrators and other leaders—from department heads to dorm staff—are the ones driving colleges' leftward shift. "We have undergrads who are a little bit more liberal than the average American, we have faculty who are understandably liberal but not crazy, as well as some conservatives," Abrams said. "And then you have administrators who are extremely liberal activist progressives."

Students continue to prize free speech rights on campus but increasingly feel those rights are being trampled upon, according to 2022 polling data from the Knight Foundation and Ipsos. The percentage of students who say speech rights are secure has dropped every year since the survey first asked the question in 2016.

Just last week, news broke that Harvard—where roughly eight in 10 faculty identify as liberal—had rescinded a fellowship offer to Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch. Roth is a prominent critic of Israel, which his organization has regularly accused of war crimes against Palestinians.

Critics are blaming the decision on pro-Israel bias within Harvard leadership and describing it as yet another example of the ways in which colleges—particularly elite ones—police thought.

Board shake-up part of larger movement against CRT, DEI

Since 2021, lawmakers in dozens of states have introduced legislation restricting lessons on race and systemic discrimination—often described as critical race theory—as well as on sexuality and gender identity.

For the most part, the bills have centered on K-12 schools. Increasingly, though, the legislation has focused on higher education. Thirty-nine percent of bills in 2022 targeted higher ed, compared with 30% in 2021, according to an analysis last year by PEN America, a free speech and literacy organization.

Another trend: Legislation targeting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives—for example, DeSantis's "Stop W.O.K.E. Act," whose higher education provisions are on hold for now because of a lawsuit. DeSantis is appealing.

Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and one of the four prominent conservatives appointed by DeSantis to the New College board of trustees, has been at the forefront of the anti-CRT, anti-DEI movement. He and one of the other new appointees—Matthew Spalding, a dean and professor at Hillsdale—also played key roles in the Stop W.O.K.E. act's creation.

Rufo, through his chief of staff, said he would only consent to an interview if the reporter removed her pronouns from her email signature for 90 days. USA TODAY rejected the request and reiterated its desire for an interview but did not hear back. People state pronouns in email signatures for a variety of reasons, including to avoid being misgendered by people with whom they communicate.

"I was honored to be appointed to this board, along with friends and colleagues from the conservative movement," Rufo wrote in a blog post Thursday. "Governor DeSantis has tasked us with something that hasnever been done: institutional recapture. If we are successful, the effort can serve as a model for other states."

Is New College replacing 'one set of extremism with another'?

Mark Bauerlein, a fellow conservative and recent appointee to New College's board, distanced himself from Rufo, however, saying he'll take a different approach.

"I don't have goals in mind," the Emory University English professor emeritus said, stressing the DeSantis administration hasn't given him any policy prescriptions and he doesn't have an agenda for the role. Bauerlein said he'll start by listening and getting "a feel for the atmosphere of the place."

While "the leftward tilt (in higher education) has certainly happened, it's not a problem if we find that academic standards are being maintained—if we find that the ideals of inquiry and discussion and peer review are held to a good level of rigor," he said.

Bauerlein, who has written about and helped the state of Florida develop K-12 standards, said one of his first tasks might be to compare student projects from the 1990s and more recent work to assess whether "there is some deterioration, whether the standards significantly lower quality than before." He's also curious as to why so many students—close to 70%—are female, and whether DEI efforts are crossing the line.

While having little prior knowledge about the college and living in another state, he's prepared for the host of issues he may have to chime in on, from facilities and athletic programs to administrator salaries and contracts.

"I think that the 'transformation' may be a lot slower and less striking than people expect," Bauerlein said.

USA TODAY reached out to the other new appointees but didn't receive responses.

In a statement, Hillsdale's Spalding said, "I appreciate the complimentary nods to Hillsdale College, but we are not going to serve New College's mission by remaking it into a carbon copy of another institution."

AEI's Abrams emphasized the importance of a cautionary approach. "What Florida has to do very carefully is they can't swing too far in the other direction," he said. "Florida needs to make sure that they showcase how viewpoint diversity works. ... We don't want to replace one set of extremism with another."

Another target of conservatives: Academic tenure

In addition to targeting DEI, DeSantis's Stop W.O.K.E Act aims to weaken tenure protections on the grounds that academics need to be held accountable for promoting critical race theory.

Reports indicate some professors in Florida adjusted or altogether removed classes in response to the law.

Tenure,which protects professors from being fired except in extreme circumstances, has long been in decline and for many reasons, including financial ones, said Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors. But "what we're seeing right now is really a war," and the renewed focus on tenure by "right-wing conservatives" is one aspect of it, she said.

Proposals to erode or eliminate tenure has come up recently in roughly half a dozen states, she said, primarily targeting professors who teach about race and racism, equity and justice, and gender studies.

"Tenure is what protects academic freedom for faculty in higher education—it's necessary so faculty can promote the free and vigorous open exchange of ideas ... without fear of being fired," Mulvey said. "Trying to take away tenure from faculty is an age-old strategy from the totalitarian playbook to attack education to stop students from learning ideas the state disagrees with."

Pressure could continue to mount this year as more states are expected to consider or implement tenure restrictions, according to reporting by the Associated Press. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, for example, has vowed to revoke tenure from professors who teach critical race theory.

"The larger strategy is to create divisions ... and then exploiting those divisions in order to win elections and build power," Mulvey said. "It's cynical, it's disingenuous, and the consequences for higher education and democracy are really devastating."

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mma 1 23

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been featuring anti-vaxxer Dr. Jon Ward at COVID-19 events as he positions himself for a 2024 presidential run. Ward said in a podcast appearance last year that Dr. Anthony “Fauci should face a firing squad” because of his work.

Ward is a Florida dermatologist who, as Politico recently reported, has become “a central figure in DeSantis’ Covid-19 events.” He at a COVID-19 press conference with DeSantis on January 17. In August 2022, DeSantis appointed Ward to the Northwest Florida State College District Board of Trustees.

Ward has linked the death of Lisa Marie Presley to “Pfizer and Moderna” and told parents to lie to schools about their children’s COVID-19 history.

In a statement to Politico, a DeSantis spokesperson defended the governor and praised Ward, stating: “We thank Dr. Ward for lending his time and expertise to our press conference to ensure medical freedom is preserved in Florida.”

Ward has regularly appeared on podcasts and radio programs to discuss medical issues. During the September 8, 2022, edition of The Driveway Liberty Podcast, Ward piggybacked off of DeSantis’ statement that he wanted to chuck Fauci across the Potomac River by stating: “I think Fauci should face a firing squad myself.”

### Jon Ward on The Driveway Liberty Podcast

September 8, 2022

JON WARD: It’s just one of those things where I say Fauci by pushing only drugs that were Big Pharma drugs, by not being willing to tout very cheap, inexpensive, widely available medicines, Fauci killed hundreds of thousands of people. When Ron DeSantis said he would like to take that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac, I said, “Let me be the next one to chuck him across the Potomac.”

CO-HOST: Right. Yeah. So I think the next question — you’ve been through all the medical ethics classes that I sure as hell haven’t — what should happen to these people?

WARD: For Fauci, given what we know about the gain of function research in Wuhan and for him knowingly collaborating with international scientists to publish a paper claiming that there was no way that COVID was manmade and that it for sure was natural, I think Fauci should face a firing squad myself.

an 1` 23

no lnx

as he gears up for a possible presidential run, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to be a highly polarizing figure. The far-right Republican, who was reelected by 19 percent in the 2022 midterms, is a rock star in the MAGA movement. But when he visited Philadelphia in late January to receive the Union League’s medal of honor, his visit inspired angry protests from a combination of Democratic officials, activists and Black church leaders.

Pennsylvania State Sen. State Vincent Hughes, Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and the Rev. Robert Collier of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia, all of whom are African-American, were among the protestors. All of them viewed the award as an insult to Philly’s Black community in light of DeSantis’ recent decision to ban an advancement-placement Black studies course from Florida’s public high schools. DeSantis claimed that the course isn’t historically accurate — a claim that many historians have vehemently disagreed with.

DeSantis’ ban has drawn widespread criticism. Some of it is coming from journalist Mark Whitaker, author of the forthcoming book “Saying It Loud: 1966 — The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement.”

READ MORE:Scholars and lawmakers are outraged over DeSantis’ rejection of AP African-American curriculum

In an op-ed/think piece published by the Washington Post on January 31, Whitaker lays out some reasons why he believes DeSantis is dead wrong about the merits of that AP course.

“Although DeSantis and his allies have insisted that they are not against teaching ‘the history of African-Americans,’” Whitaker argues, “their rhetoric suggests that they are hostile to the idea of treating Black studies as a separate field of study, and that they believe it serves only to turn impressionable young people of different backgrounds against one another.”

Whitaker goes on to discuss the history of Black studies in the U.S., going back to the 1960s, the Black power movement and the Black Panther Party. During the 1960s, the author recalls, there was plenty of white pushback against teaching Black studies — the same type of pushback coming from DeSantis in 2023.

“In America,” Whitaker writes, “teaching history in high school has long been seen as having not just an educational, but a deeper civic purpose. DeSantis seems to be playing to his political base by harking back to a day when that meant offering students a one-size-fits-all, uplifting national story dominated by the noble deeds of great white men. But as far back as the 1960s, members of the Black power generation announced they were no longer accepting that sanitized narrative, and since then, they have been joined by millions of young women and members of other ethnic and LGBTQ communities.”

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis claims he banned teaching Black history because it includes 'indoctrination' on 'queer theory'

:{:{}:

Read Mark Whitaker’s full Washington Post op-ed at this link.}:

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DeSantis’ critics fear that Sarah Sanders will 'import' his 'bad education' policies to Arkansas

Alex Henderson

December 30, 2022

In Arkansas, Gov.-Elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders is turning to the Ron DeSantis playbook for public education,

announcing that she will be nominating Florida education official Juan Oliva to head the...

===

aha yikes used to be k12? see campus free sp BS; non tenure cancel classes

an maya 1 23

Amid his attempt to ban race-related conversations from higher education classrooms, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis distributed a memo requesting course data from state colleges that teach “diversity, equity and inclusion,” reports ABC News.

The request comes after a judge recently temporarily blocked the passing of the governor’s Stop WOKE (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, which would ban race-related coursework, also known as critical race theory (CRT) from college and university classrooms.

In a statement from his office regarding the proposed law, DeSantis said, "No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race. In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida."

Those who support DeSantis’ law believe CRT is “discriminatory” and that students should not learn about the history of oppression and privilege in the U.S.

Critical race theory — taught in mostly graduate school programs, and not K-12 classrooms — according to The Brookings Institution, asserts that “U.S. social institutions (e.g., the criminal justice system, education system, labor market, housing market, and healthcare system) are laced with racism embedded in laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that lead to differential outcomes by race.”

ProPublica recently reported that DeSantis referred to the Stop WOKE Act as the “the strongest legislation in the nation against the state-sanctioned racism that is critical race theory.”

On the other hand, those who adamantly disagree with the law say it restricts free speech. Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali called it “a racist dog whistle but with a facially neutral cover.”

The memo says, “Governor Ron DeSantis has prioritized a cost-effective higher education system that delivers high-quality service to Floridians to best prepare them for employment.” It continues, “Additionally, state law requires dutiful attention to curriculum content at our higher education systems.”

A State University System of Florida Board of Governors representative said all 12 colleges confirmed receipt of the governor’s memo, according to ABC. And each institution is required to submit requested data by Friday, January 13.

===

CORP ROLE

12 22 kpfa

17 (so gop) states pass laws to prot dark $

eg 1

in a state with a reputation for political scandal, Florida’s 2020 elections saw a particularly brazen scheme to swing three state Senate races.A “dark money” group sent out mailers promoting the campaigns of three “sham” candidates—in one case, diverting enough votes to a candidate with thesame last nameas former Democratic Sen. José Javier Rodríguez to defeat him. Rodríguez lost by just 32 votes, and Democratic candidates in the other two districts were defeated as well.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that the group behind the misleading mailers, which has renamed itself as Grow United, received a $1.15 million donation from an organization closely tied to the business trade association Associated Industries of Florida. A Dec. 2 Sentinel investigation detailed the group’s consultants’ close coordination with electric monopoly Florida Power & Light, as well as the power utility’s ties to state Republican leaders, who control the chamber and can block bills like one that would empower solar electricity generators.

Florida organizations supporting Democrats also donated $700,000 to Grow United to obscure the funding source behind expenses like election mailers, a revelation that led to the resignation of a senior House adviser.

Last month, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs launched an investigation into one of Grow United’s donors. The “sham” candidate in Rodriguez’s race pled guilty last August and is cooperating in testimony against the consultant who allegedly put him up to it, former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles. Artiles has pled not guilty in the case.

With dark money rampant in the state, especially in state Democratic primaries, a Florida Republican is seeking to make it a crime for public officials to request or release information about the sources of money behind election spending by groups that are not required to reveal their donors.

In January, Republican Florida Rep. Toby Overdorf introduced the Personal Information Protection Act (H.B. 1547), which would prohibit public agencies from requesting that any individual, corporation, or other entity release personal information besides what is already required by campaign finance and other laws, or when they have a lawful warrant to seek the information. The bill would also prohibit agencies from publishing such information they may have in their possession. Florida Senator Joe Gruters introduced a similar bill in the Senate (S.B. 1848) that would do the same thing, but only for personal information of donors and other individuals affiliated with 501(c)(3) organizations, though its sponsor says he’s willing to broaden it to cover other types of groups. Each bill would allow for the right of civil action and violators could face possible prison time of up to 90 days.

The House version would prevent campaign finance regulators from trying to force non-disclosing organizations like (c)(4) nonprofits to reveal their donors when they spend money to influence elections in the state.

The new Florida bill is modeled after a policy propagated by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonprofit that brings together corporate lobbyists with conservative lawmakers to advance legislation that favors business interests. Rep. Overdorf is one of about 31 Florida elected officials listed as ALEC members as of April 2021, according to a state public records request from the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). Gruters is the chair of the Florida Republican Party, re-elected to that position last month, and is a close ally of former President Trump, having co-chaired his 2016 state campaign.

In recent years, such bills criminalizing the disclosure of politically-active nonprofits’ donors have spread to a number of states, passing into law in 2021 in Arkansas, Iowa, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

“These types of bills are unnecessary—there are already constitutional protections for donors that would actually face threats, harassment, or reprisal from public identification—and their only true achievement may be to simply impede transparency for politically active nonprofits and make dark money darker,” said Aaron McKean, legal counsel for state and local reform at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, which works to increase transparency in democracy.

“Voters have a right to know which wealthy special interests are spending big money to influence their vote and rig the political system in their favor,” said McKean. “Florida’s legislators should be focused on ensuring voters know the true sources of money used to influence elections.”

A poll commissioned by the Campaign Legal Center previously found strong bipartisan support for “publicly disclosing contributions to organizations involved in elections” so that wealthy special interests cannot operate with impunity and politicians can be held accountable.

florida has led the nation in public corruption convictions for much of the past couple decades. From 1976 to 2018, Florida was among the top 10 states in federal corruption convictions per 10,000 residents, according to a report from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A longtime state ethics watchdog tells Sludge that the practice of routing funds through dark money groups will proliferate in the state until the Legislature has the political will to stop it.

“I don’t think there will be any reduction in dark money in elections, it’s just going to increase,” said Ben Wilcox, research director of the nonprofit Integrity Florida. “The campaign finance system in Florida is so dysfunctional, it makes this sort of activity so easy to do, and easy to hide the source of campaign donations. There are all sorts of loopholes.”

With the end of Florida’s legislative session coming next month and the bills not gathering co-sponsors, Wilcox thinks that the state’s investigation into the Grow United case has likely chilled their support this year. But Wilcox tells Sludge, “The fact that they filed the bills this year, to further protect the sources of dark money, it tells you whether or not the bills pass this year, they probably will come next year. The powers that be are intent on keeping dark money dark.”

Wilcox also pointed to a loophole in state campaign finance law that allows unlimited donations to state political committees controlled by politicians. “It’s a form of legal corruption,” he said.

“When you look at Florida Power & Light, they give the maximum to various candidates, and then all the big money goes into the political committees, donations of $100,000 and more.” State campaign finance records show that in recent years, the committee Friends of Ron DeSantis has received donations of over $10 million total from Citadel hedge fund manager and GOP megadonor Ken Griffin, $850,000 from investment company Spring Bay Capital, $200,000 from Kane Financial Services, and nearly $125,000 from the Florida Home Builders Association, among many others.

Last May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law S.B. 1890, a bill sponsored by Republican State Sen. Ray Rodrigues, that would have set a $3,000 cap on contributions to political committees supporting or opposing constitutional amendments until the measure obtains enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Florida lawmakers left untouched the ability for donors to make unlimited donations to candidates’ political committees. The law was blocked in federal court on July 1, the day it was slated to take effect, and in August Florida’s Attorney General did not appeal, leaving the injunction in place.

The Tampa Bay Times reported last month that lobbyist Jorge Chamizo provided the bill language to staff of Senate sponsor Gruters, working on behalf of two groups: People United for Privacy and Opportunity Solutions Project.According to CMD, which tracks dark money groups, People United for Privacy was formed by the State Policy Network, an umbrella organization of right-wing causes. Opportunity Solutions Project is the advocacy arm of the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability, a State Policy Network member.

This year, Jorge Chamizo is registered to lobby for a long list of business clients, including Associated Industries of Florida and Duke Energy, which was an ALEC member as recently as 2020. Other clients of Chamizo this year include Peoples Gas System, Tampa Electric Company, health insurer Anthem, health care provider Centene, and Uber.

===

https://www.alternet.org/ukraine-2659007293/

quiet on zelensky

===

an ah 12 22

The MAGA movement suffered a long list of disappointments in the 2022 midterms, which found Donald Trump-backed candidates losing statewide gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia and other swing states. But one MAGA candidate who performed extremely well in the midterms was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and he did it without Trump campaigning for him.

DeSantis ran a far-right reelection campaign, defeating Democratic nominee Charlie Crist (a former Republican and ex-Florida governor) by 19 percent. Florida, in fact, is the one place where Republicans really did enjoy a major red wave in the 2022 midterms. And some right-wing pundits, including author Ann Coulter, are urging the GOP to nominate DeSantis, not Trump, in the 2024 presidential election — assuming that DeSantis decides to run.

DeSantis doesn’t pretend to be moderate; being a far-right culture warrior is his brand. Journalist/author and scholar Henry A. Giroux analyzes DeSantis’ appeal in a scathing article published by Truthout on December 16, and he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. DeSantis, Giroux warns, is “fueling the emergence of fascist politics in the United States.”

“While some pundits have connected DeSantis’ politics to an emerging authoritarianism,” Giroux explains, “they still fail both to name the ongoing development of fascism in the U.S. and to recognize that it takes different forms in different societies and historical formations. They dismiss any talk of fascism by suggesting that its unique historical attributes, such as the genocidal use of concentration camps, have to be repeated precisely in order to assign the term fascism to present events. Fascism is never entirely interred in the past; it is a dangerous ideology that may go into remission but never disappears.”

Giroux continues, “Fascism is a recurrent and infinitely translatable phenomenon and often takes on the cultural and political attributes of the societies in which it appears. The refusal to acknowledge that fascism can appear in many forms, often lying dormant in a society until the emergence of certain forces unleash it, reinforces the willingness of many to retreat into silence or ignore the seriousness of the emerging fascist threat. Expressing ourselves in words, learning from history and making connections among disparate events all matter in the age of fascism.”

Giroux stresses that when one is analyzing fascism, it’s important to recognize patterns and understand how individual events fit into the big picture — events like DeSantis sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts or Trump having dinner with white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago.

“Fascist politics saturate U.S. society,” Giroux warns. “Ultranationalism, the calls for racial purity, voter suppression, hyper-militarism, required loyalty oaths from higher education faculty, rampant censorship, a ubiquitous anti-intellectualism, and a full-fledged attack on social provisions and public goods make clear that democracy is in crisis. Yet, in too many cases, the larger significance of these incendiary calamities is missed because they are treated as separate from each other…. DeSantis’ publicity stunt of using migrants as political pawns was also disconnected in the mainstream and liberal media from his attempt to erase the history of the Jim Crow era as part of his larger project of a politics of disposability.”

Giroux continues, “For instance, little was said connecting this racist policy to DeSantis’ passing laws banning books about Black history and racial narratives from schools and libraries, along with limiting what teachers can teach about racism — a policy that clearly indicates how DeSantis is following in the footsteps of the Nazification of education in Hitler’s Germany.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a far-right authoritarian, has drawn a great deal of admiration among MAGA Republicans — including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.And Giroux outlines some parallels between DeSantis and Orbán.

“Following in the footsteps of Viktor Orbán, the authoritarian leader who has turned Hungary into a fascist country, DeSantis has waged a war on immigrants, targeted gay and transgender youth, purged voters, banned books in Florida schools, limited what teachers can say about racism and other critical elements of American history, and used state power to punish businesses, evident in his ruthless and vindictive attack on Disney,” Giroux observes. “He has also used policing to punish Black voters who disagree with his policies, courted Christian nationalists, supported a white nationalist agenda and waged a war on higher education. There is little doubt that DeSantis has turned Florida into a laboratory of fascist politics.”

===

https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/florida-judge-blocks-censorship-law/

dystopia

===

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/ron-desantis-and-triumph-anti-vax-right

no lnx vid

fox News founder Rupert Murdoch became one of the first people on Earth to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when he received his first jab in December 2020. He thanked “the amazing scientists who have made this vaccine possible,” in a statement at the time, adding, “I strongly encourage people around the world to get the vaccine as it becomes available.”

Two years later, such unqualified gratitude and support for the miraculous medicines are scarce among American conservatives, even as a new study found that COVID-19 vaccines have saved the lives of more than 3.2 million Americans and prevented more than 18.5 million hospitalizations. Instead, thanks in no small part to the paranoid rants of Murdoch’s employees, Republican anti-vaccine sentiment has spiraled to the point that former President Donald Trump’s role in their development may hurt his chances of gaining the party’s nomination in 2024.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was on Murdoch’s Fox on Tuesday night talking up his call for the state’s supreme court to impanel a grand jury to investigate “any and all wrongdoing” related to the vaccines and “bring legal accountability to those who committed misconduct.” It’s unclear precisely what such a grand jury would target or the impact it might have. As a signaling effort, however, DeSantis’ announcement put him squarely on the side of the anti-vax kooks at Fox and the faction of the GOP they influence.

DeSantis fielded softball questions from primetime hostLaura Ingraham, who praised him for having “fought relentlessly against [the] medical cartel’s silencing campaign.” As the governor spoke, on-screen text touted him as “still leading on COVID” and drawing mainstream press outrage for “challenging Covidians.”

Video

CitationFrom the December 13, 2022, edition of Fox News' The Ingraham Angle.

DeSantis is likely to challenge Trump for the GOP presidential nomination. He enjoys broad support in recent primary polls and across the right-wing media spectrum, from Fox primetime hosts to anti-anti-Trumpers at publications like National Review to, reportedly, Murdoch himself. And it is clear to everyone – including Trump’s advisers – that in preparation for that run, he is staking out ground as the vaccine-skeptical candidate.

DeSantis is following the path blazed by Fox hosts like Ingraham and Tucker Carlson. Anti-vaccine sentiment would likely have become a problem for the vaccination campaign under any circumstances. But it took the network’s patented ability to manufacture grievances to turn it into a compelling primary issue for Republican politicians.

Fox spent the last two years sabotaging the U.S. vaccination effort. The network had a unique moral responsibility to try to convince their viewers to get vaccinated. Instead, its most prominent and trusted figures waged a nightly battle against the shots, stoking fears that they were useless or dangerous and that their distribution was part of a sinister plot to control Americans. The discourse was “great for ratings” – but deadly for Republicans, who were vaccinated against COVID-19 at lower rates and died from it at higher ones.

Some right-wing commentators, even at Fox, tried to push back against that narrative and encourage vaccination. But ultimately, they lost the argument within the movement.

DeSantis followed the shift in right-wing public opinion, choosing to preserve his political viability rather than the lives of his constituents. DeSantis once touted his own efforts to distribute the vaccines, which he credited with “saving lives.” But once he saw which way the wind was blowing on the right, he started trying to appeal to the anti-vaccine right. Meanwhile, Trump himself has been flummoxed, getting booed by a crowd for saying he got his booster and eschewing the word “vaccine” on the stump.

It is a testament to the power of Fox’s propaganda that the network was able to turn life-saving drugs into a poisoned chalice for Trump – and that perhaps his greatest rival adjusted his views on them to appeal to its viewers.

===

300K KIA GOP?!

an 12 22

following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) announcement to launch an investigation into the potential safety risks of the COVID-19 vaccine, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr. Anthony Fauci offered a critical reaction to the governor's effort.

On Wednesday, December 14, Fauci appeared on CNN where he described the potential move as pointless. Fauci, who now serves as the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, argued that DeSantis' effort would only undermine Americans' confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccine.

“We have a vaccine that, unequivocally, is highly effective and safe and has saved literally millions of lives,” Fauci said Wednesday on CNN. “What’s the problem with vaccines?”

In a new analysis, Senior White House Correspondent Alexander Nazaryan expounded on Fauci's arguments explaining one of the main reasons for the apprehension around vaccinations.

"The problem is vaccines have become part of America’s polarized politics," Nazaryan wrote. "Since the advent of COVID-19 vaccines late in the Trump administration, skepticism of the established medical science has become a kind of creed for many conservatives, as well as for some on the far left."

He added, "Political disagreements about lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine requirements have hardened into antipathy toward the vaccines themselves."

----

far-right Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t officially announced a presidential run for 2024, but his admirers — from author Ann Coulter to Fox News’ Rupert Murdoch to writers at the National Review — are hoping that he will. As they see it, a DeSantis presidential campaign would be the way for the Republican Party to quit Donald Trump (who announced his 2024 campaign in mid-November) while still satisfying the MAGA base. And if DeSantis does run, he may have found a way to show MAGA voters how he differs from Trump: pandering to the anti-vaxxer crowd.

Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist Rick Wilson is quite skeptical about DeSantis’ prospects as a 2024 presidential candidate. Wilson, a North Florida resident, believes that DeSantis, for all his bombast, will be crushed in a Republican primary if Trump fully unleashes his cruelty on the Florida governor (who was reelected by 19 percent in the 2022 midterms).

In a biting article published by The Bulwark on December 15, Never Trumper Amanda Carpenter emphasizes that DeSantis’ latest anti-vaxxer theatrics are designed to fire up “fringe” MAGA voters ahead of a likely presidential run.

“As he seeks to elevate his profile further and distinguish himself from potential 2024 presidential rivals, DeSantis is sucking up to the anti-vax crowd and styling himself as a crusader against what he calls the ‘biomedical security state,’” Carpenter explains. “And, like most of DeSantis’ political stunts, his overtures to the fringe are pretty cringey. On Tuesday, (December 13), as the state legislature was embroiled in a complex debate about skyrocketing home-insurance rates,DeSantis hosted a roundtable in West Palm Beach that brought doctors and scientists together with other Floridians to question the efficacy and safety of COVID vaccines.”

DeSantis, Carpenter notes, featured Steven Ordonia — an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who claims that COVID-19 vaccines have “horrible side effects” that the “mainstream media” are covering up.

“When the roundtable concluded,” Carpenter observes, “DeSantis made a series of planned announcements. He called for investigations into vaccine manufacturers and public officials who he alleges lied about the life-threatening side effects of shots.”

These theatrics, according to Carpenter, reflect “a desperate wish to kiss up to cranky, conspiracist anti-vax voters.”

===

an 12 22 // morano lockdown BS

A new analysis is explaining how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) could use the COVID-19 pandemic to his advantage if he opts to run for president in 2024.

"The federal COVID response has become a red-meat issue for the party's base, and DeSantis' 2020 actions are much more aligned with the GOP's tone today," Axios’ Caitlin Owens reports.

Owens also noted that the Republican governor has admitted he wished he'd pushed back against Donald Trump and his administration during the critical moments when he disagreed with the former president's course of action in responding to the pandemic. As Owens notes, this includes "the Trump administration's calls for lockdowns early on in the pandemic."

Multiple political strategists weighed in with their predictions about a possible 2024 presidential run for DeSantis, explaining why COVID could be a key platform issue for the Florida governor.

Republican strategist Alex Conant, who worked with Sen. Marco Rubio's (R-Fla.) election campaign back in 2016, noted how DeSantis' conservative values appear to align more with the party.

"DeSantis is a conservative rock star in large part because of how he handled COVID in Florida," said Conant. "He'll certainly make the implicit contrast with Trump. Whether he makes an explicit contrast at some point depends on how the campaign plays out."

A number of other strategists also pointed out different ways DeSantis could use the pandemic against Trump. Brendan Buck, a former adviser to former House Speaker Paul Ryan, recalled the COVID shutdown in 2020 and how Trump initially aligned with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who Republicans have widely condemned.

"He introduced the country to Dr. Fauci, and the far right is not going to forget that. Not that Trump handled the pandemic like Dr. Fauci would have wanted him to, but if you're looking at a way to hit him from the right, that's a big fat target," said Buck.

Although Trump was widely popular among Republican voters, Conant noted that the COVID-19 pandemic response was the biggest drawback of his presidency.

"Trump's handling of COVID is clearly one of the president's biggest vulnerabilities with independent voters and conservative voters for very different reasons," Conant said. "No one is going to forget putting bleach in bodies and downplaying the initial threat, and conservatives won't forgive him for pushing some of the more restrictive policies.”

Matt Gorman, a former Republican campaign operative, also offered a brief take on how the political battle could play out. "Trump benefits if you're chasing him down every rabbit role and fighting with him everywhere. If you be strategic and fight with him on terms favorable to your candidacy, that is where you can take advantage of him," said Gorman.

"COVID is one of those examples where, when it comes to DeSantis, where he could fight him on favorable ground," Gorman added.

===

bad code

useful idiot?

https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/elon-musk-fiona-hill-ron-desantis

badash

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be aligning with the increasingly powerful Elon Musk, as the richest man in the world is accused “transmitting a message” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Monday DeSantis blasted Musk’s critics, including Ukraine, who were angered the billionaire had threatened to pull his SpaceX Starlink satellites away from Ukraine. The low earth orbit (LEO) satellites provide internet access to Ukraine and especially its military forces.

Despite the U.S. government having paid Musk $3 million for equipment and to keep the satellites over the war-torn country, Musk threatened to pull the hardware critical to the war effort.

He was quickly excoriated, and recently agreed to keep the satellites in place, at least for now.

DeSantis has generally avoided international issues, leading some to question where he stands. Many were surprised when the ultra-outspoken Florida governor not only was silent when Putin invaded Ukraine, but appeared to dodge questions about the illegal war. Politico at the time called his refusal to speak “eerie.” DeSantis has invested what were at the time about $300 million of his state’s pension funds in Russia, and refused to pull out.

Monday was different.

“When Russia invaded Ukraine, Elon Musk positioned his satellites over Ukraine and gave them these things. So they’ve actually been using his devices to be able to defend their country, and I guess some of the people in the government [of Ukraine] were attacking Musk,” DeSantis said Monday, as Florida Politics reported.

“And I’m just thinking to myself, ‘He’s doing this for free,’ ” DeSantis said. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Good Lord!”

“He’s provided that for them for free,” DeSantis continued. “And if you think about it, in a country that big, given what’s going on, that’s tens of millions of dollars that he’s effectively donated.”

READ MORE:... [twt vid] republican former U.S. Congressman Joe Walsh

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1582094061539688449...criticized DeSantis.

“Yet another leading Republican voice ‘admonishing’ Ukrainian officials. Republicans never admonish Putin. But they never hesitate to admonish Ukraine,” he said.

More Perfect Union reporter Jordan Zakarin observed: “Ron DeSantis choosing Elon Musk and Putin over the Ukraine is pretty on brand for a wannabe dictator who caters to billionaires.”

Musk reportedly had spoken to Putin before tweeting what many saw as pro-Putin remarks, but Musk denied the claim.

“Last week, Musk tweeted out his proposals for ending the war in Ukraine ― and they were very similar to what [Ian Bremmer] said Musk told him Putin wanted,” HuffPost reported.

Bremmer is a political scientist with an expert focus on Russia and the founder of a political risk research consulting firm. He has a PhD from Stanford where he wrote, “The politics of ethnicity: Russians in the Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, earlier on Monday Politico reported on “Fiona Hill, one of America’s most clear-eyed observers of Russia and Putin, who served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump and gained fame for her testimony in his first impeachment trial.”

“In the early days of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Hill warned in an interview with POLITICO that what Putin was trying to do was not only seize Ukraine but destroy the current world order. And she recognized from the start that Putin would use the threat of nuclear conflict to try to get his way.”

Politico adds that “despite the setbacks Russia has suffered on the battlefield, Hill thinks Putin is undaunted. She sees him adapting to new conditions, not giving up. And she sees him trying to get the West to accede to his aims by using messengers like billionaire Elon Musk to propose arrangements that would end the conflict on his terms.”

“Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role. But in reality, they’re just direct transmitters of messages from Vladimir Putin,” Hill told Politico.

“It’s very clear that Elon Musk is transmitting a message for Putin,” she says.

Watch DeSantis’ remarks above or at this link.

===

mma 11 22

As he gears up for a potential 2024 showdown with former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has enlisted a leading right-wing outlet for advertising: Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire. The Republican governor paid over $100,000 since last year in fundraising expenses to the site, which has aired commentary supporting DeSantis over Trump.

DeSantis and his associated PAC Friends of Ron DeSantis have paid $110,429.01 for fundraising expenses and list rental to the site since July 2021, according to a search of campaign data with the Florida Department of State. The Miami Herald noted some of DeSantis’ payments to the Daily Wire and other right-wing outlets in April.

Shapiro co-founded The Daily Wire, which publishes podcasts, videos, and commentary pieces. The site frequently pushes anti-LGBTQ, racist, and bigoted content.

The Daily Wire and its personnel have recently been friendly voices for DeSantis, who won his 2022 reelection bid.

Shapiro, as summarized by the website he co-founded, has “faulted Trump” and “made no secret of his support for DeSantis.” He also said in September that DeSantis is a “very effective governor” and a better potential president than Trump.

After Trump tried out the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh tweeted: “DeSantis is an extremely effective conservative governor who has had real policy wins and real cultural wins. Trump isn't going to be able to take this one down with a dumb nickname. He better have more than that up his sleeve.”

And the Daily Wire has featured pieces such as “Trump Launches Unprovoked Attack On Ron DeSantis For His Handling Of COVID Pandemic”; “With Trump The Big Loser In ’22 Midterms, DeSantis Now Frontrunner For ’24”; and “‘Original’ Trump Backer Michael Savage: ‘DeSantis Is The Future … This Is About A Nation, Not About Any Man.’”

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is the House Republicans’ official campaign arm, has also heavily advertised in the Daily Wire, paying $321,100.18 from 2021 to 2022 so far for list rentals.

===

https://www.alternet.org/desantis-advisor-private-email-migrants/

an 11 22

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) controversial initiative to relocate migrants; a program that sparked outrage among Democratic leaders, lawmakers and immigration advocates.

On Monday, November 14, Leon Circuit Judge John C. Cooper delivered the ruling but also gave the plaintiff, Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Miami), a chance to revise his argument laid out in the suit against the Republican governor and other state officials, according to Politico.

At the time, Cooper expounded on his decision. “We’re talking about technical pleading issues, we’re not talking about the ultimate decision in this case, or anything else,” he said. “Anything that I said by the way of hypotheticals, or whatever, should not be taken as a ruling or anything of that nature, for or against.”

“I don’t know that there is an enforcement official in this, or that the governor is a quote-unquote enforcement official under this statute,” Cooper said. “It seems to me the ability to sue the governor, in this case, depends upon other facts that might be unique to the situation here, which I think need to be alleged.”

The latest ruling comes more than a month after the lawsuit was initially filed. Pizzo filed back in September after DeSantis made headlines for flying nearly 50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Per the news outlet, Pizzo's lawsuit seeks to "block the governor from spending any more money on the program. State lawmakers set aside $12 million for the program in the state budget."

So far, Florida has paid approximately $1.56 million to the vendor that assisted with arranging the first migrant flights.

"Pizzo’s lawsuit alleges that state officials — including those at the Department of Transportation — did not follow the guidelines for the relocation program as drawn up by the Florida Legislature in the budget language, including that money was spent on food, hotel rooms and even haircuts for migrants in Texas who were eventually sent to Massachusetts," the news outlet reports.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pizzo said, “It’s not authorized in the Senate or the House for your dollars or my dollars to be spent in Texas.”

===

an 11 22 raw https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/trump-desantis-2658636638/**

Donald Trump's Thursday meltdown on his Truth Social website had already made its way into court proceedings in Florida just one day later.

"Former President Donald Trump's post-election screed labeling Florida's governor 'Ron DeSanctimonious' didn't go unnoticed by Andrew Gillum or his Miami lawyers," the Tallahassee Democrat reported. "In addition to saying he helped 'fix' DeSantis' campaign after it had 'completely fallen apart,' Trump said he also got the feds to intervene 'when votes were being stolen' in Broward County."

Gillum was beaten by Ron DeSantis in the 2018 midterms.

"David Markus and Katherine Miller, who are representing Gillum on federal public corruption charges involving donations to his gubernatorial campaign, didn't fire back at insults Trump hurled at Tallahassee's former mayor," the newspaper reported. "Instead, they cited Trump's statement in a motion filed Friday in federal court saying it further supported their request for a hearing on whether the federal government selectively prosecuted Gillum because of his race."

In a series of posts imitating a Twitter thread, a feature Trump's Truth Social does not support, Trump had harsh words for DeSantis.

Trump complained that Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post had gone "all in" for DeSantis, who Trump described as "an average Republican governor with great public relations."

"I was all in for Ron, and he beat Gillum, but after the Race, when votes were being stolen by the corrupt Election process in Broward County, and Ron was going down ten thousand votes a day, along with now-Senator Rick Scott, I sent in the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys, and the ballot theft immediately ended, just prior to them running out of the votes necessary to win," Trump claimed.

Gillum's lawyers seized on Trump's social media remarks in their filing.

"Former President Trump's posts raise serious questions about how exactly Trump 'fixed' DeSantis' campaign and what Trump directed the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office to do, and whether there is any connection to the FBI's investigation and later prosecution of Gillum," Gillum's lawyers argued.

The attorneys said Trump's Truth Social post demonstrates a "prima facie case of selective prosecution (at a minimum for political purposes), because Donald Trump confirms that he took action through the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office."

According to The Washington Post, Trump's claims of sending federal agents to intervene in the election are "also almost certainly false."

===

trump rally PA nickname?

https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/donald-trump-right-wing-rage/

xian nat'l

https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/ron-desantis-2658611577/

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is overtly courting Christian nationalist voters, and Donald Trump lashed out at his most likely GOP challenger.

The Florida governor released a new video presenting him as a savior anointed by God to save the country, which the former president perceived as a direct threat to his grip over right-wing evangelical voters -- and historian Sarah Posner told the Washington Post that Trump was right to be concerned.

"Trump knows that his base believes God anointed him to lead America at a critical juncture, and that many of them believe him to be a messianic figure who alone can rescue America from what they call demonic forces (liberalism, civil rights, 'deep state,' and more)," Posner told the Post columnist Greg Sargent. "None of Trump’s potential rivals have so blatantly tried to claim that divine blessing."

"It’s a very dangerous sign that DeSantis is reading the base — which has been bombarded with ever more radical claims of anointings, prophecy and spiritual warfare against the left — as receptive to savior alternatives to Trump," she added.

DeSantis was explicitly sending a message to voters who believe America was founded as a Christian nation, using their language, and signaling that he shares their vision of taking the country back from the forces of evil, Posner said.

"The video is a prime example," said Posner, a historical scholar of the religious right. "DeSantis has also used a revealing misquote from the Bible, calling on supporters to 'put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the left’s schemes.'"

"The 'armor of God” quote actually reads, 'take your stand against the devil’s schemes,'" Posner added. "He substitutes 'the left' for 'the devil,' demonstrating to his base that he, like them, will treat politics as a battleground for spiritual warfare to vanquish the left."

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an raw 11 22

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis received a fact-check on an outlandish claim about United States history that he made at his only debate with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.

"You have people that are teaching — and actually his running mate has said this in the past — that teaching the United States was built on stolen land," DeSantis said. "That is inappropriate for our schools; it's not true."

PolitiFact, a nonprofit operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, reached out to the DeSantis campaign for documentation that the statement was not true, but did not receive a response.

"We reached out to historians of Native and non-Native descent. All of them said it is well documented that the U.S. acquired Native American land through dubious treaties and, at times, forcefully confiscated ancestral territories to bolster the country's expansion," PolitiFact reported. "Sometimes the U.S. and Native American tribes struck treaties that defined boundaries and determined land sale prices and forms of compensation. Other times, tribes signed land-ceding agreements under duress."

DeSantis was not just wrong about U.S. history, but was also specifically wrong about Florida.

"Andrew Frank, a Florida State University professor who specializes in the history of the Seminoles, said the U.S. annexed much of Florida through treaties that a majority of the tribal leaders opposed," PolitiFact reported. "The U.S. military drove out more than 3,000 Seminoles from the state, according to the Florida Department of State. Around 300 members of the tribe remained in Florida."

The fact-check ranked DeSantis' claim as "Pants on Fire!"

"Historians of Native and non-Native descent said DeSantis' characterization is wrong. It's well-documented that the U.S. repeatedly made treaties with Native Americans and then violated them using force and other means to accommodate non-Native settlement. Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have time and again affirmed that as fact," PolitiFact reported. "DeSantis' claim is wildly historically inaccurate."

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an 10 22

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has arguably become the second most prominent figure in the far-right MAGA movement — second only to former President Donald Trump. If Trump doesn’t run for president in the 2024 election, countless pundits have observed, DeSantis would have a very good shot at winning the Republican nomination. And DeSantis has become so prominent in his party that according to newly obtained e-mails, he had lunch with a U.S. Supreme Court Justice in 2021: Clarence Thomas.

The e-mails were obtained by American Oversight under Florida’s open-records law and show DeSantis’ assistant coordinating the lunch, which was held at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2021. Four of Thomas’ clerks, according to the e-mails, attended.

In a May 20, 2021 e-mail, Thomas assistant Shean Kelly Makel wrote, “Justice Thomas will attend the June 23rd luncheon with Governor DeSantis and the Justice's four law clerks. Do you think that the Governor would mind coming to the Supreme Court for lunch? Technically we are still closed to the public but the clerks can order lunch from a local restaurant. Or they can dine at Capital Grille. Please let me know."

In a separate e-mail, dated June 1, 2021, Makel wrote, “The Justice and his law clerks will dine in the Natalie Rehnquist Dining Room from 12:00 -2:00 p.m. Would the Governor arrive with his security detail? If so, I would need his contact info for the security team here at the Court. I will let them handle the logistics on arriving to the Court, parking and, etc. Does the Governor have any food allergies? Or a restricted diet?"

Thomas is now the longest-serving justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Republican justice was nominated by the late President George H.W. Bush in 1991 after Justice Thurgood Marshall announced his retirement. Marshall, nominated by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, was the first Black justice on the High Court — and Bush 41 nominated an African-American justice to replace an African-American justice. But while Marshall, who died in 1993, was a liberal, Thomas is a far-right social conservative known for embracing an ultra-strict version of Catholicism and for his staunch opposition to abortion and gay rights.

DeSantis, also known for being a far-right social conservative, served in the U.S. House of Representatives before narrowly defeating Democrat Andrew Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor, in Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race. While that race was quite close, the 2022 reelection is, according to polls, shaping up to be a much larger win for DeSantis. Some polls released in late October have shown DeSantis with double-digit leads over his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist.

===

https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/house-republicans-dont-say-gay/ 33 gop

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"In a heartbeat': Analysis explains why Florida Dems believe DeSantis might take the Trump route and attempt a coup

Meaghan Ellis

October 21, 2022

A new analysis is exploring Florida Democratic lawmakers' concerns about the possibility of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) taking the Trumpian approach in the event he loses the upcoming gubernatorial election...

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new report refutes Greg Abbott’s claim that his office was unaware of DeSantis’ migrant stunt

Meaghan Ellis

October 21, 2022

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) office was aware of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' migrant stunt despite previous claims that it had no involvement in helping him, KSAT-12 report...

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/ron-desantis-scolds-ukraine-over-elon-musk-don-t-bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you/

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Surg gen vxr fla

https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/politics-masquerading-as-science-dangerous/

===

https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/how-ron-desantis-played-culture-war-demagogue-even-after-hurricane-ian-conservative/

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an me 10 22

a new analysis is expressing concern about the rise of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and how his influence could become increasingly problematic in the coming months.

"The Florida governor’s increasingly aggressive gambits make some wonder if he’s headed for a fall," Politico's Michael Kruse wrote.

"His swaggering standing and aggressive political posture, according to more than 30 recent interviews and hundreds more over the past several years with aides and ex-aides, strategists and lobbyists, operatives and activists, and current and former elected officials from both parties, reflects a pattern of behavior his allies and supporters chalk up to growing confidence and his critics and opponents see as an increasingly authoritarian bent," Kruse continued.

The writer went on to highlight DeSantis' handling of Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, who DeSantis suspended after he publicly criticized the governor's attempt to criminalize abortion and gender-affirming care. "There is nothing in the entirety of DeSantis’ record, most of these people agree, quite like the action he took against Warren," Kruse noted.

Speaking to Kruse, Warren said, “This poses a unique threat to democracy." He also expressed concern about the precedent the governor's actions might set. “It poses an existential threat to elections if this is allowed to stand,” he said.

Kathy Castor, a Congressional Democrat representing Tampa Fla., also criticized DeSantis for firing Warren, describing it as "an abuse of power."

“It’s anti-democratic," Castor said.

A former DeSantis advisor also described DeSantis' power move as "raw ambition."

“He’s thinking it’s smart politics,” the former aide said. “I think this might be one time where he may have overstepped.”

Kruse also noted that DeSantis' actions have actually benefited him politically.

"All indications are that it is working to his political favor. In the past two-plus years, he’s raised what is approaching some $200 million," he wrote. "On his campaign website, he’s selling taunting baubles such as 'Freedom Over Fauci' flip-flops and golf balls that come in a package that crows that 'Florida’s Governor Has a Pair.' Polls have reliably predicted he is going to win another term."

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claims media agenda in ian

https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/ron-desantis-media-hurricane-ian/

appear w. Biden // rhet, tho later Biden said that desantis agree AGW a factor

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girl athletes recall rt xian natl are fine with big gubmint to go after enemy or threat

https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/florida-history-of-mentrual-periods/

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heated mail

10 22

as governor of the most climate-vulnerable state in the U.S., Ron DeSantis has gone to great lengths to convince people that he is Not Like Other Republicans.

He created a chief resilience officer position for his administration to "prepare Florida for the … impacts of climate change.” He signed two bills to strengthen sea level rise protections across the state. Overall, DeSantis has committed a total investment of $1.2 billion in resilience projects to prepare Florida for climate impacts.

But as DeSantis invests all these taxpayer dollars protecting Floridians from climate change, he is also enacting anti-climate policies to ensure those investments will fail. It’s like spending a bunch of money to buy new tires, while also installing a bunch of spikes in your driveway. Stupid. Why would anyone do that?

I don’t know, but DeSantis is doing it. The only explanation I can think of is that he doesn’t think spikes cause holes in tires, or that fossil fuels cause climate change. That is evidenced not only by his rhetoric—he’s said he’s not ”concerned about what is the sole cause” of climate change—but by two major policies he has recently enacted to ensure fossil fuels keep burning as long as humanly possible.

These policies, if adopted on a national level, would all but doom Florida and other climate-vulnerable states. Considering DeSantis is widely considered a 2024 presidential contender, it’s worth taking a look at how truly dangerous and financially irresponsible they are—and how lots of other Republicans are adopting them, too.

Two recent policies to keep Florida underwater

The first policy enacted by DeSantis in Florida is what Food & Water Watch called “the most extreme energy preemption bills in the nation.” Signed last year, these bills ban Florida cities and towns from adopting 100 percent clean energy goals, reasoning that those goals “discriminate” against fossil fuels.

That means municipalities in the literal Sunshine State are being forced to keep using fossil fuels even if they don’t want to. It doesn’t matter if a climate change-fueled hurricane destroyed your town and now you want to be part of the solution. Sorry, honey. DeSantis said no.

The second policy came about a month ago, when DeSantis adopted measures to ban the state’s $186 billion pension fund from making investment decisions that consider climate change. DeSantis did this because he said such decisions constitute an “ideological agenda."

the pension measure is particularly mind-boggling given the staggering economic damage of Hurricane Ian, which scientists have already confirmed was made worse by climate change. That excess rainfall contributed to massive economic damage, which could total between $100 billion and $120 billion, according to AccuWeather. Many Florida insurance companies will likely go bankrupt.

Climate change is also just generally very costly, both to Florida and the world. Locally, Florida homes have lost $2.4 billion to floods since 2005, and $2.86 trillion of insured state property is vulnerable to hurricanes. Globally, the insurance provider Swiss Re predicted climate change could reduce global GDP by 11 to 14 percent by 2050 compared with a world without climate change, amounting to a $23 trillion loss.

It is obviously not “ideological” to consider climate change in investment decisions. This is why BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said it would make climate change central to its investment decisions in 2020.

But DeSantis is not trying to make financially prudent decisions. He’s trying to make politically prudent ones. After all, this is what all the other Republican governors are doing. And hopping on the oil train is known to have its perks.

Courting the oil industry for political gain

For DeSantis to make a successful 2024 run, he needs to have the oil industry on his side. To that end, there’s nothing better he can do than push their priorities—which just so happen to be the two policies described above.

“DeSantis is following political trends,” said Dan Cohen, an energy researcher for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “Republicans across the country are trying as hard as they can to move the funds they have control over to stand against the tide”—the tide being toward clean energy and a safe climate.

Indeed, Florida is just one of 17 Republican-led states that have proposed or adopted legislation limiting the ability of the state government to do business with entities that are moving away from fossil fuels. DeSantis is also part of a coalition of 19 Republican-led states that sent a strongly-worded letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, threatening legal action against him for investing with a clean energy future in mind. 19 other Republican-led states have adopted laws that prohibit cities from banning natural gas and other fossil fuels.

If legislation like this were adopted nationally, effective action to slow climate change would be near-impossible. Both governments and financial institutions would be forced to fund fossil fuels, financial risks of climate change be damned.

“This is the Republican’s latest version of climate denial, where all of a sudden climate science is out the window,” said Jackie Fielder, co-director of the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. “Ultimately, the people who will pay for it are the folks in Florida having to repair their homes, and so many other victims of climate change.”

So stupid that it probably won’t work — for now

Republicans like DeSantis are trying their best to prevent financial institutions from moving away from fossil fuels. But it turns out that, at least for now, their best is not very good.

DeSantis’s new policy to ban Florida’s pension fund from considering climate risk, for example, “doesn’t actually change much,” said Cohen. “He's making a big show of it, but Florida law already says that investments must be made for the sole, exclusive purpose of providing benefits to members and beneficiaries.” And if you want to get the best investment benefit, you actually have to consider climate change.

This is the problem with all these Republican states’ efforts to ban investments that move away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy: they’re not actually in the states’ best financial interest. “In order to believe [DeSantis is] right, you have to agree that climate risk is not an investment risk,” said Cohen. “But climate risk is an investment risk, and Florida just got bombarded again. They’re trying to make you forget that that’s a real thing.”

Because of this reality, the Republican states’ threats to sue financial firms like BlackRock for investing with climate change in mind are likely empty. Last month, Martin Lipton, the founding partner of one of of the world's most influential corporate law firms, agreed, accusing Republicans of spreading “misinformation” about environmental risks in order to “politicize” them.

Of course, this could all change if Republicans continue their coordinated drive to appoint judges that are against climate action. And if a Republican like DeSantis wins the presidency, there’s no telling how far these financially stupid actions could go.

For now, though, some climate advocates are just taking it as a sign that the tide is truly turning against fossil fuels.

“I view this as a sign that the divestment movement is winning, the fact that DeSantis and all these Republicans are suddenly engaged on this topic,” said David Arkush, the policy director of Public Citizen’s climate program. “Of course, I would like them to not do these things, not hurt their own citizens … But these are ultimately fossil fuel lobbying dollars that are behind this push. So if they’re pushing money here, it's because they feel themselves losing.”

florida’s Statewide Climate Change Response Ignores Cause. Tampa Bay Times, March 2022.

-The Deranged Demands of the “Anti-ESG” Movement. The New Republic, August 2022.

-Rightwing Lobby Group ALEC Driving Laws to Blacklist Companies That Boycott the Oil Industry. The Guardian, February 2022.

-How the Natural Gas Industry is Freezing Climate Action in its Tracks. Vox, September 2021.

===

blowback on immigr stunt

===

ok, still a floor/shame?

Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing a scandal as Hurricane Ian approaches Florida.

"Gadsden County religious leaders are demanding a local commissioner and Gov. Ron DeSantis 'come forward' to address allegations that the commissioner resigned last Friday after a photo surfaced purportedly showing him wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood at what could have been a Halloween party years earlier," the Tallahassee Democrat reported. "Jeffrey Moore, a Havana resident and former Department of Revenue employee, was appointed by DeSantis in late July and abruptly resigned from the post in Florida’s only predominantly Black county after the photo began circulating in the local community."

Moore is the past chairman of the Gadsden Soil and Water Conservation District.

"The local clergy will hold a press conference in front of the Gadsden County Courthouse, 10 E. Jefferson St., at 11 a.m. Wednesday to ask Moore and DeSantis to own up to the photo or deny it," the newspaper reported.

Moore did not list a reason for quitting in his resignation letter.

"Moore did not respond to questions about his resignation, the photo or the KKK outfit. In an email to the Tallahassee Democrat, he said he was "in the middle of hurricane preparations" and would be in contact on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning," the newspaper reported. "As of late Tuesday afternoon, he has not replied."

Read the full report.

===

also texas az reverse freedom rides; own libs just helping sanct states smirk, cheer

https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/us-attorney-doj-ron-desantis/

----

troll move own the libs

A Republican campaign advisor got it from both sides on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning after he attempted to defend Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) over his sending immigrants seeking asylum to Martha's Vineyard in what is universally being considered a political "stunt."

During the panel segment, Jennings said what DeSantis was doing was important because it helps illuminate the problems at the border, which led both a liberal and a conservative co-panelist to call him out for disregarding the human factor of shipping people around the country to make a political point.

Former Barack Obama senior adviser Daniella Gibbs Léger got in the first shot at Jennings, telling him, "You know what? You can make a point about border security and we can have a conversation about comprehensive immigration reform and adding more money to support border states, but using people as political pawns -- these are people fleeing communism."

"I thought the Republican Party was the one against communism," she lectured. "To ship them to a place that doesn't have the facilities to take care of them -- you say blithely 'only there for a day.' Martha's Vineyard doesn't have capacity to do that. The Republican governor sent them to a place where there were facilities to take care of them. "

She added, "This is MAGA extremism taking over this party. I get emotional talking about this because I remember when we were separating children, babies from their parents at the border with no care about reuniting them. This is what this is too. These migrants were lied to and misled; they thought they were going someplace else and were given appointments across the country for Monday. So they're setting them up for failure."

Former Donald Trump administration official Alyssa Farah Griffin then jumped in.

"Here's the thing," she began. "We have a crisis at the border, humanitarian, national security, full stop. Vice President Kamala Harris said on another network last week the border is secure -- it's not."

"That said, I disagree with the stunt on almost every level," she continued. "We know the Biden administration is relocating people within the country, migrants within the country to take some of the strain off the border states, but we cannot use human beings as pawns."

"If this was a serious effort by Governor DeSantis, he would have called [Massachusetts Republican] Governor Charlie Baker and say, 'I need all resources available, we need to house these people, set up places where they can process asylum claims and meet with you all.' This was meant purely for Twitter and to drive the conversation."

Watch below or at this link:

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/ron-desantis-spokesman-deletes-anti-oan-tweets-following-oan-ceos-generous-donation-to-his-boss-report/

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fla only state not to order vax for little kids 6 22

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an 9 22 ah

Among Never Trump conservatives, there has been a lot of debate over whether former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would be more dangerous to have in the White House in 2025. One school of Never Trumper thought argues that Trump would be more dangerous because he is undisciplined and lacks self-control; another Never Trumper argument, however, is that DeSantis would be more dangerous because he is a more focused and disciplined version of Trump. But one thing those Never Trumpers agree on is that the MAGA movement in general has an authoritarian mindset.

Conservative Daily Beast opinion columnist Matt Lewis, in a September 13 column, analyzes some of the MAGA Republicans who are being mentioned as possible post-Trump options for the GOP — namely, DeSantis and Blake Masters, who is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona’s 2022 U.S. Senate race. And the main thing they have in common, according to Lewis, is an affinity for “heavy-handed” authoritarianism.

“Ever since Donald Trump came down that gold-plated escalator in 2015, the American right has relied more on coercion than persuasion,” Lewis explains. “This month’s National Conservatism Conference — its third edition, held in Miami — signaled an increasing commitment to this heavy-handed approach. One breakout session included a call for mandatory military service for anyone making over $250,000 a year. And a speech by Blake Masters, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona, led a prominent conservative to unironically tweet: ‘Sounds like (Masters) is absorbing the Viktor Orban lesson.”

Lewis continues, “But perhaps the most newsworthy example came when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said tech companies ‘cannot be viewed as private entities’ because ‘we know without a shadow of a doubt they are doing the regime’s bidding when it comes to censorship.’ This, of course, comes on the heels of DeSantis going after Disney — when the company opposed Florida’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education’ bill, dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by its critics.”

The “prominent conservative” Lewis was referring to is author/journalist Rod Dreher, known for his work for the National Review, the now-defunct Weekly Standard and other publications. In a September 11 tweet, Dreher quotes Masters as saying that “libertarianism doesn’t work.”

“What happened to ‘limited government’ conservatives opposing intervention in the private sector, and opposing the state picking winners and losers?” Lewis writes. “The new right waves away such concerns, instead advocating for the government to use its awesome powers to do ‘good,’ as defined by the new right, just as it selectively embraces the good tech elites. Take, for example, PayPal founder Peter Thiel, an erstwhile libertarian, who during NatCon 3, praised DeSantis. Thiel, of course, famously funded successful GOP primary victories for Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance and Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters.”

Lewis argues that DeSantis and Masters “represent a dangerous worldview that could define the post-Trump American right.”

“Whereas Trump lacked a coherent and consistent philosophy — he flirted with populism, but Trump’s main agenda was always advancing Trump — these national conservatives are more competent, and they have an ethos,” Lewis warns.

“Trump can at least be laughed at, because he is essentially an out-of-touch old guy who says crazy shit. Likewise, ridiculous Republican lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert spout absurd, deliberately offensive things and are constantly committing malapropisms," Lewis continues. "These Trumpers get clicks, but they are not part of the new right’s ‘brain trust,’ like the NatCons. This raises the now-trite question of whether DeSantis would be more dangerous than Trump.”

Lewis speculates that DeSantis “might be merely playing up his authoritarian persona to appease the Trumpy Republican base” but adds that “DeSantis’ remarks about private companies and ‘the regime’ at NatCon 3 do little to quell my anxiety.”

“Devout believers in limited government have reason to fear national conservatism, and so do devout believers in Christianity,” Lewis writes. “But national conservatism isn’t about philosophical ideas or spiritual transcendence. It’s about earthly power — and who wields it.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/bad-for-democracy-florida-newspaper-lambasts-ron-desantis-for-avoiding-debate-with-democratic-challenger/

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https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/09/06/esg-companies-bankroll-gop-ags-the-very-officials-retaliating-against-their-climate-goals/

alex k

the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) investigation has identified more than two dozen major U.S. companies that are publicly committed to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles yet have recently donated large amounts of campaign cash to a group of Republican state attorneys general that is hyper-focused on eroding air and water regulations, promoting fossil fuel companies, and using state governments to punish companies that try to limit their climate-related risks by divesting from oil, gas, and coal.

Republican attorneys general, along with fellow GOP governors and state financial officers, are weaponizing their public offices to prevent action on climate change. Their latest efforts seek to bar companies that divest from fossil fuels or employ other ESG principles from receiving government contracts.

And yet large U.S. companies such as AT&T, Cigna, Citigroup, Lowe’s, Pfizer, T-Mobile, and UPS—all of which publicly promote their commitment to ESG—have recently funded the political prosperity of these Republican AGs.

Contradictory Takes on Climate Change

“Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges,” the multinational brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) acknowledges in its 2021 ESG report for investors. “Our evolved understanding of potential climate-related risks and opportunities across our value chain continues to inform our long-term strategy.”

AB InBev has set an ambitious climate goal for 2025, aiming to reduce its carbon emissions by 25% and purchase 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by then. In joining the international RE100 initiative to switch to 100% renewables, the company intends to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

But the beer giant is one of the largest corporate funders of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), a group of powerful state officials that has long attacked environmental regulations in the U.S. Members of RAGA—which receives substantial funding from fossil fuel companies to support the reelection campaigns of these AGs—have filed legal challenges against Obama-era air and water pollution regulations. Former Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt is among those who have worked directly with fossil fuel lobbyists to challenge these laws.

Numerous other corporations have given large sums to RAGA for this year’s elections while publicly committing to ESG principles and, in many cases, to direct climate action.

RAGA recently scored a big win in West Virginia v. EPA when the right-wing justices who now dominate the Supreme Court ruled against the agency, preventing the Biden administration from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act without going back to Congress for explicit authorization.

Retaliating Against “Energy Discrimination”

As the Right gets more extreme in the U.S., climate-denying Republicans have added a new weapon to their arsenal: attacking financial firms that decrease their investments in fossil fuels.

GOP attorneys general and financial officers are joining state lawmakers in penalizing investment firms that divest from fossil fuel companies. Although they are members of a political party ostensibly committed to a free market, these GOP officials are meddling in corporate decision-making by trying to prevent executives from limiting the enormous financial risk posed by the effects of climate change—likely the biggest economic challenge of the century.

As with their outcry about critical race theory supposedly being taught in American schools, GOP politicians are attempting to cast climate action as a culture war issue, branding routine practices such as ESG disclosures to investors and divesting from a waning fossil fuel industry as “woke.”

In 2021, Texas enacted a law to root out alleged “energy discrimination,” seeking to prevent investment firms that decrease their stakes in oil, gas, and coal from managing the state’s pension and other funds. After the law passed, the energy task force of the ultra-conservative, corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) approved a model bill with similar language, directing state treasurers or comptrollers to maintain a list of firms that have divested from fossil fuels and to only issue government contracts to businesses with more than 10 employees that verify their allegiance to fossil fuels.

In the past year or so, similar legislation has been introduced in at least 15 states and has already passed in four. On Aug. 24, Texas released its first list of firms that allegedly “boycott energy companies,” including BlackRock, Credit Suisse, and UBS.

Dubious Claims

On Aug. 4, 19 GOP attorneys general sent a letterto BlackRock CEO Larry Finkaccusing his firm of making ESG investments that “force the phase-out of fossil fuels, increase energy prices, drive inflation, and weaken the national security of the United States.”

Claims like this are histrionic and often baseless. For example, BlackRock has invested more than $108 billion in Texas-based energy companies, and this year it plans to support proportionally fewer ESG shareholder resolutions than it did last year. And while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his allies from other states claim that ESG investing hurts their pension funds, academic studies like a recent one undertaken by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago refute this. In fact, since Texas passed its anti-ESG law last year, the UPenn/Fed study indicates that it has already cost the state between $303 and $532 million, as Kate Aronoff points out in The New Republic.

Other evaluations of ESG investing are mixed, but when researchers from the New York University Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Rockefeller Asset Management analyzed over 1,000 relevant research papers from 2015–20, they found that a majority of the studies indicated ESG investing leads to either neutral or improved financial performance. The meta-analysis points out that “improved financial performance due to ESG becomes more marked over longer time horizons.”

Despite these findings, Republican state AGs and other officials have accelerated their attacks on climate action—a central tenet of ESG investing—in the past few years.

In August, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the trustees of the State Board of Administration voted to ban its investment managersfrom using ESG considerations in managing its portfolio of roughly $245 billion, primarily from the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan. Florida’s AG Ashley Moody (R) joined the governor in supporting the move.

In May, Kentucky’s AG Daniel Cameron(R) issued an opinion barring investment managers doing government business from employing ESG principles. On Sept. 1, Indiana’s AG Todd Rokita (R) did the same.

Meanwhile, right-wing entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is cashing in on the GOP’s anti-ESG and anti-woke craze, as CMD recently reported. His firm Strive Asset Management (DRLL) is trying to pull business away from the Big Three asset managers in red states. It recently announced that it hasraised $250 million thanks to large investments from far-right tech mogul Peter Thiel and his affiliated groups.

Not only are GOP AGs targeting asset managers that reduce fossil fuel investments, but they’re going after regulators and ratings agencies as well.

In June, Paxton spearheaded a letterfrom a group of 12 Republican AGs to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)opposing its proposed corporate disclosure requirements around sustainability. The rule would require firms to back up their claims of purportedly green or socially aware investments. Twenty-one GOP AGs sent another letter of opposition to the SEC on Aug. 16.

“The woke left is going full throttle in their mission to change every facet of American life… and erode our democratic institutions to suit their liberal agenda,” said West Virginia’s AG Patrick Morrisey (R).

In late July, Missouri’s AG Eric Schmitt (R) launched an investigation into whether Morningstar, a financial research and rating company, violated a state consumer-protection law by evaluating ESG issues. A few weeks later, 18 other AGs joined the probe. Schmitt and 16 other attorneys general are also trying to block California from setting its own vehicle emissions standards.

At the same time, the nonprofit State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) and its members are doing all they can to prop up fossil fuel companies and punish firms that divest from oil, gas, and coal. In West Virginia, state Treasurer Riley Mooretold five financial companies—the banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, as well as BlackRock—that they would no longer be eligible for state contracts because they have reduced financing for coal projects.

Corporate Code of Silence

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an 9 22 i struck

Tuesday, August 23, liberal economist Robert Reich expressed his disdain for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he visited Twitter and posted, “Just wondering if ‘DeSantis’ is now officially a synonym for ‘fascist.’” Many MAGA Republicans had an angry reaction, bombarding the University of California, Berkeley professor with familiar Republican insults like “coastal elitist.”But in an op-ed published by The Guardian on August 31, Reich doesn’t back down from his anti-DeSantis views.

In fact, Reich doubles down on them, laying out an abundance of reasons why DeSantis’ agenda is consistent with the elements of fascism.

“I was surprised at the outrage my little tweet provoked in right-wing media,” Reich notes. “The Washington Examiner, for example, called me an ‘ultra-left-wing elitist’ who wrote an ‘insulting slur,’ which is ‘what left-wing ideologues do when they discuss Republican politicians who pose any threat to the existence of their political ideology.… Anyone the Democrats don’t like or disagree with is a fascist.’ This was among the kindest responses…. The size of the blowback on my little tweet makes me think I struck a nerve.”

Reich points out that DeSantis is “the most likely rival to Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024” and has been called “Donald Trump with a brain.”

“DeSantis is the nation’s consummate culture warrior,” Reich explains. “Lately, he has been campaigning on behalf of Republican election-deniers around the country, including gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania and US Senate candidate J.D. Vance in Ohio. In Florida, discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity are now barred in schools. Math textbooks have been rejected for what officials call ‘indoctrination.’ Claiming tenured professors in Florida’s public universities were ‘indoctrinating’ students, DeSantis spearheaded a law requiring them to be reviewed every five years. Teachers are limited in what they can teach about racism and other tragic aspects of American history.”

Reich continues, “DeSantis has got personally involved in local school board races, endorsing and campaigning for 30 board candidates who agree with him. So far, 20 have won outright, five are going to runoffs. Abortions are banned after 15 weeks. DeSantis recently suspended an elected prosecutor who said he would refuse to enforce the anti-abortion law. A new state office has been created to investigate ‘election crimes.’ Florida’s Medicaid regulator is considering denying state-subsidized treatments to transgender people. Its medical board may ban gender-affirming medical treatment for youths. Disney, Florida’s largest employer, has been stripped of the ability to govern itself in retaliation for the company’s opposition to the crackdown on LGBTQ+ conversations with schoolchildren.”

The words “fascist” and “authoritarian” have been used interchangeably by DeSantis’ critics, who aren’t strictly liberals and progressives. Many Never Trump conservatives have been scathing critics of DeSantis and slammed him as dangerously authoritarian, from The Bulwark’s Tim Miller to the Washington Post’s Max Boot to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough (a former GOP congressman). The debate among right-wing Never Trumpers, in fact, is whether Trump or DeSantis would be a more authoritarian Republican candidate in 2024.

Reich argues that the word “fascist” captures DeSantis’ views even better than “authoritarian.”

“Authoritarianism implies the absence of democracy, a dictatorship,” Reich writes. “Fascism — from the Latin fasces, denoting a tightly bound bundle of wooden rods typically including a protruding axe blade, adopted by Benito Mussolini in the 1930s to symbolize his total power — is different. Fascism also includes hatred of ‘them’ — people considered different by race or religion, or outside the mainstream, or who were born abroad; control over what people learn and what books they are allowed to read, control over what had been independent government units…. control over women and the most intimate and difficult decisions they’ll ever make, and demands that the private sector support the regime. Perhaps my ‘just wondering’ tweet about DeSantis hit the nerve of the fascism now taking root in the Republican Party?”

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an 9 22

MAGA Republicans have been attacking Robert Reich as a “coastal elitist” in response to an August 23 tweet in which the liberal economist, UC Berkeley professor and former secretary of labor in the Clinton Administration described far-right Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a “fascist.” Reich’s MAGA critics have been arguing that his condemnation of DeSantis, former President Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans is painfully out of touch with Main Street America — and that Reich and other liberals and progressives simply don’t understand conservative values.

But Reich’s MAGA critics are ignoring or overlooking the fact that anti-MAGA arguments are hardly confined to the left. A long list of right-wing Never Trump conservatives, from attorney George Conway to The Bulwark’s Charlie Sykes to Washington Post columnist Max Boot to former Nancy Reagan speechwriter Mona Charen to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough (a former GOP congressman), have been attacking MAGA as a movement that favors far-right authoritarianism rather than traditional Reagan/Goldwater/McCain conservatism. And William Saletan, a writer for the conservative website The Bulwark, defends President Joe Biden’s anti-MAGA use of the term “semi-fascism” in an article published on September 1.

“Republicans are furious over President Biden’s recent remarks linking Donald Trump and his supporters to ‘semi-fascism,’” Saletan writes. “For days, they’ve been all over TV and social media, denouncing Biden’s use of the F-word. But Biden was right. Many of the ideas and tactics deployed by Trump and his apologists, including those who decry Biden’s comparison, fit the dictionary definition of fascism.”

Saletan stresses that refusing to accept democratic election results, which is what Trump and his followers did after the 2020 election, is an “authoritarian” act.

“A stickler might say that an attempt to overturn an election isn’t really fascist unless it involves the use of state power or mob violence, but Trump and his allies tried to use both,” Saletan explains. “Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s right-hand man in several abuses of power, says it’s Biden, not Trump, who runs America like ‘a damned dictatorship.’ But in December 2020, after the Electoral College had certified Biden’s election, Giuliani — at Trump’s direction — phoned the acting deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security to ask whether DHS could seize voting machines from states. Then, at Trump’s January 6th rally on the Ellipse, Giuliani exhorted the crowd: ‘Let’s have trial by combat!’”

Saletan adds, “Giuliani didn’t just help to incite the attack on the Capitol. To this day, he continues to whitewash it and excuse the perpetrators.”

The Bulwark writer cites other examples of “authoritarian” behavior from MAGA Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wondering how long it would be before “we get to hang” former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be executed for treason.

“The dictionary definition of fascism doesn’t just talk about autocracy,” Saletan notes. “It also includes ethnic nationalism. But by this standard, too, Trump and many of his propagandists are semi-fascist. Kayleigh McEnany, who served as Trump’s White House press secretary, calls Biden’s reference to fascism a baseless ‘message of hatred.’ But in the summer of 2016, Trump, the de facto Republican presidential nominee, declared a federal judge unfit to preside over a fraud case against Trump University because ‘he’s a Mexican.’ And McEnany defended this attack…. You could argue that an out-and-out fascist would use nationalist bigotry to persecute a whole minority group, not just a single judge. That’s what Trump did in 2015, when he called for a ‘complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.’”

According to Saletan, “Trump’s cult” contains many “components” of fascism, including “paranoia, fantastic lies, anti-intellectualism, a mythologized national past, selective appeals to law and order, and propaganda about enemies of the state.” Another is “invocation of mob violence to protect the movement’s leader.”

“But the clearest illustration of the MAGA elite’s descent into fascism might be its embrace of a like-minded leader from another country: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán,” Saletan writes. “As Cathy Young, Charles Sykes, David Baer, and other writers have explained in The Bulwark, Orbán is an increasingly authoritarian ethnonationalist. In a speech on July 23, he warned, ‘There is a world in which European peoples are mixed together with those arriving from outside Europe.’ Orbán called this a ‘mixed-race world’ and concluded, ‘We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed-race.’”

Saletan continues, “Orbán’s speech was so grotesque that one of his own advisers resigned, [briefly?] calling the speech ‘a purely Nazi diatribe worthy of Joseph Goebbels.’ But a week later, Orbán was welcomed as the keynote speaker at a Dallas meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, which reveres Trump and is one of his favorite venues. Two days after that, Trump spoke to the same gathering. The two aspiring autocrats were warmly applauded. This past Monday, CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp stoutly defended Orbán.”

READ MORE: The Republican Party belongs to Viktor Orbán: conservative columnist

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def running for trump 2 2024 msnbc new show educ racism

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/ron-desantis-gives-extremist-candidates-a-big-embrace/

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gerry? one trad AA distr gone?

https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/florida-law-discriminates-against-black-voters-to-gain-partisan-advantage-doj-filing/

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an 8 22

A former pilot for the U.S. Navy has publicly criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for his new campaign advertisement inspired by the 1986 classic film, "Top Gun."

According to HuffPost, the campaign ad featured the Republican governor who "donned aviator shades and a bomber jacket and plopped into what appeared to be the pilot’s seat of a fighter jet as he talked about taking on the 'corporate media.'”

At one point during the ad, he described himself as the "Top Gov." in the ad, and Ken Harbaugh is not pleased. “It’s not just cringy,” said Ken Harbaugh. “It’s literally Navy pilot cosplay.”

Harbaugh, a former member of the U.S. Navy who now hosts the “Burn the Boats” podcast, was featured in a new clip posted to social media by MediasTouch.

In the clip, he displayed his jacket with authentic pilot wings as he offered a comparison of both their roles in the maritime service branch. “Now, unlike Ron DeSantis, I didn’t pick this jacket up at Party City,” Harbaugh said. “These are actual pilot wings.”

He also noted that while DeSantis did serve in the U.S. Navy, he did so as an attorney. While Harbaugh also acknowledged that there is "nothing wrong with that," he did criticize the governor for appearing to embellish his role.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Harbaugh said of DeSantis' work in the Navy. “Until you start strutting around the flight line wearing aviator shades and pretending to be a badass.”

Harbaugh went on to offer a critical assessment of the political ad and the persona DeSantis attempted to portray.

“This tough guy act is pathetic, especially from someone like Ron DeSantis. This campaign ad from Ron DeSantis is just one more example of a Republican politician appropriating the honor of others because he has none.”

To view Harbaugh's full reaction, watch below or at this link.

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an 8 22

InfoWars host Alex Jones has publicly announced that he will no longer "pigheadedly" support former President Donald Trump. Instead, he is now throwing his support behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Jones made the announcement this week during an InfoWars broadcast as he recalled a number of the former president's political initiatives he now claims to have disagreed with.

According to Business Insider, Jones "said he disagreed with Trump over Operation Warp Speed — the former president's initiative launched in May 2020 to produce COVID-19 vaccines — but backed him anyway."

The far-right host also insisted that he believed Trump should have remained in the White House to "prevent the 'nightmare scenario' of Joe Biden being elected president."

He went on to declare his support for the Florida governor. "That said, I am supporting DeSantis. DeSantis has just gone from being awesome to being unbelievably good," Jones said.

He also insisted he believes there is "'real sincerity' in DeSantis' eyes" when viewing footage of the Republican governor.

"We have someone who is better than Trump. Way better than Trump," Jones said, as he suggested that DeSantis is who Trump "should be like."

Although Jones has been known as a fierce supporter of Trump, he was also one of the far-right individuals who pushed back against the former president's efforts encouraging Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Jones remarks come just days after Fox News' Laura Ingraham also suggested that it may be time to move on from Trump.

This week, Ingraham said that it appears Americans are "exhausted" by Trump's ongoing legal woes and other challenges and that it may be "time to turn the page."

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https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/04/04/ron-desantis-getting-cozy-with-the-wingnut-alliance-comprising-clarence-ginny-thomas/

It must be love.

Ron DeSantis has a major man-crush on Clarence Thomas, calling him our “greatest living justice and one of the greatest public servants in America.”

We haven’t yet heard the famously reticent justice pour his heart out regarding Our Dear Governor but, according to Thomas’s wife, we know the two of them have been emailing back and forth “on various thingsof late.”

And Virginia Thomas obviously digs Ron’s show, so much that last year she invited him to speak at Groundswell, a group of unglued rightwingers convinced that America is being destroyed by the nonwhite, the unchristian, feminists, socialists, environmentalists, book-readers, and what she called “transsexual fascists.”

“We start and end each meeting with prayer,” she said, and hoped DeSantis would “pick us up and refocus us.”

Ron and Mrs. T. clearly got a thing going on, too.

If we lived in a nation in which integrity and decency mattered half as much as we claim they do, Clarence Thomas would have resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court and retired to Florida.

I’m sure the local heterosexual fascists would be thrilled.

Instead, he shows no sign of even recusinghimself from cases in which he has a conflict of interest, such as anything to do with the attempted coup on Jan. 6.

As we now know from all the texts she fired off at Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas is up to her pearls in cheerleading the insurrection.

Virginia 'Ginni' Thomas is up to her pearls in cheerleading the insurrection.

Yes, the spouse of a justice is allowed her or his own views, career, and political persuasion, but given how the Thomases constantly insist they are actually, each calling the other “my best friend,” it’s pretty reasonable to assume that he knew she was promoting “Stop the Steal.”

She joined the mob on the Ellipse, but insists she “got cold” and went home before Donald Trump took to urging his white nationalist rabble to “fight like hell” at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Deranged texts

She didn’t go kick in windows at the Capitol (that kind of thing can be injurious to one’s pantyhose), but she did her part by sending that slew of incendiary and increasingly deranged texts about magically “watermarked” ballots, castigating Republican congressmen for not taking to the streets, and exhorting Meadows to “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!…You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

Meadows may have dabbled in a little heisting himself: The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations is looking into why he’s registered to vote in Virginia but also in the Tarheel State, where he listed a house trailer he never owned or lived in as his address.

Yet Justice Thomas not only failed to recuse himself from the Supreme Court case dealing with the release of Trump White House records, he was the lone dissenter.

Worse, Thomas is under no obligation to recuse himself from future Jan. 6 cases, even though his wife texted out delusional stuff assuring Meadows that Democrats, Deep Staters, and journalists would soon be rounded up by the Forces of Righteousness:

“Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc.) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition.”

If the White House could just hold on, she suggested, a vast Trumpist army would appear and keep Hairpiece Hitler in power. “Do not concede,” she told Meadows.

Not rational

OK, your average MAGA is crazy as an outhouse rat and has all the impulse control of a teenager at an open-bar party. But Ginni Thomas, Washington insider, lawyer, wife of a Supreme Court justice, surely understands that you should at least look like you have a nodding acquaintance with rational behavior.

Except she ain’t rational..

Remember that time she called law professor Anita Hill and demanded Hill apologizefor “what you did with my husband”?

What Hill “did” was testify — reluctantly — to how Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her, refused to take “no” for an answer, and tried to discuss his porn-watching habit with her, name-checking his favorite star, Long Dong Silver.

More recently, Mrs. T. acted as an unsolicited employment adviserfor Donald Trump, constantly showing up at the White House to demand Trump fire those she deemed insufficiently loyal and hire people she favored, including a suspected spy, a guy who worries credit card companies are in league with socialists, and Frank Gaffney, a professional Islamophobe who thinks the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the United States government. This lady needs help.

This lady needs help. And her husband needs to have a little chat with a legal ethicist, a kindly priest, or anybody who could make him see that, while he doesn’t have to recuse himself from cases in which his wife’s eruptions might figure, he ought to.

He should do it if for no other reason than to prove the justices aren’t all “partisan hacks,” as that partisan hack Amy Coney Barrett put it.

He won’t.

He doesn’t have to.

There’s no mechanism to make him. He knows he won’t be impeached. His fan club will continue to support him. And his whack-job wife will carry on undermining American democracy.

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Jane Mayer on Twitter: "New: Ginni Thomas invited DeSantis ...

https://twitter.com › janemayernyer › status

Feb 4, 2022 — Emails we obtained, reported on by @politico, suggest that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in regular contact with Supreme Court Justice Clarence ...

Ron DeSantis getting cozy with the wingnut alliance ...

https://floridaphoenix.com › 2022/04/04 › ron-desantis...

Apr 4, 2022 — Ron DeSantis has a major man-crush on Clarence Thomas, ... Virginia “Ginni” Thomas is up to her pearls in cheerleading the insurrection.

The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas

https://www.nytimes.com › 2022/02/22 › magazine › clar...

Feb 23, 2022 — The Supreme Court justice and his wife battled for years for a more conservative America. New reporting shows how far she was willing to go ...

Inside Groundswell: Read the Memos of the New Right-Wing ...

https://www.motherjones.com › politics › 2013/07 › gr...

Jul 25, 2013 — Ginni Thomas. Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and maker of at least one unsolicited early morning phone call. (Photo: Rex Curry/ ...

Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice, pressed Arizona ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com › 2022/05/20 › ginni-...

May 20, 2022 — Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, attends the swearing-in ceremony for ...

Email Suggests That Supreme Court Justice Thomas Had ...

https://www.americanoversight.org › email-suggests-tha...

Feb 7, 2022 — On June 10, 2021, Ginni Thomas reached out to DeSantis' ... leaders” was formerly known as Groundswell and included former White House Chief ...

Ginni Thomas invited DeSantis to join her weekly "cone of ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com › ...

Feb 4, 2022 — Clarence Thomas' entry into the United States began with controversy. The judge was confirmed in 1991 despite claims of constant sexual ...

6 posts · I'll be using that hashtag from here on out!

DeSantis' Supreme Court connection - Politico

https://www.politico.com › newsletters › 2022/02/04

Feb 4, 2022 — Ron DeSantis, who went to Yale and Harvard Law School, ... In June 2021, Thomas' wife, Ginni, who runs her own consulting firm, worked with ...

Missing: groundswell ‎| Must include: groundswell

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/florda-dont-say-gay-teachers/

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--> campaign

https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/ron-desantis-divisive-press-secretary/

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8 15 22 an

In six key battleground states that played a decisive role in the 2020 presidential race, Republican candidates who have openly embraced former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" have won nearly two-thirds of the GOP nominating contests for positions with power over state and federal elections, a potentially seismic threat to democracy.

According to a Washington Post analysis published Monday, 54 of 87 Republican nominees for key posts in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have denied the legitimacy of President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

"Had those candidates held power in 2020, they would have had the electoral clout to try something that the current officeholders refused: overturning the vote and denying Biden the presidency," the Post notes. "Whether they could have succeeded in practice is a matter of vigorous debate among scholars, who cite the potential for court challenges and other means of upholding the results."

"But the experts agree on one thing: A close presidential contest that comes down to the outcome in states where officials are willing to try to thwart the popular will could throw the country into chaos," the newspaper adds. "It would potentially delay the result, undermine confidence in the democratic system, and sow the seeds of civil strife on a scale even greater than what the nation saw on January 6, 2021."

Trump, who is gearing up for a possible 2024 run as he's under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, has endorsed and campaigned for many of the candidates featured in the Post's analysis, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake—a former TV news anchor whose incessant lies about the 2020 election that the results "took longer than they should have."

The Post's analysis confirms that Arizona, a state Biden carried narrowly in 2020, is a bastion of election denial on the GOP side: 12 of 13 Republican nominees for state and federal offices there have questioned the election, including the ...https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/03/jan-6-rallygoer-wins-gop-primary-arizonas-top-election-official... [twt graf]

noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington,

["This is how our democracy could crumble, quickly and quietly," Bookbinder warned.](https://twitter.com/NoahBookbinder/status/1559186901709402113

;the%20rise%20of%20GOP%20election%20deniers%20across%20the%20U.S.)

[The notion that Biden was elected illegitimately is](https://twitter.com/NoahBookbinder/status/1559186901709402113

;the%20rise%20of%20GOP%20election%20deniers%20across%20the%20U.S.)[with Republican voters, according to recent opinion surveys. As the Post points out, "The predilection among Republican primary voters toward candidates who deny the result of the last election extends well beyond Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona—three states that together accounted for 47 electoral votes in 2020, more than enough to flip the last election to Trump."](https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/70-percent-republicans-falsely-believe-stolen-election-trump/

...broadly%20popular)

Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, wrote in a blog post earlier this month that "the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump has been pushed by powerful politicians, starting with Trump himself."

"But it may be leaders closer to home who have the greatest ability to affect the popularity of election denial among the people of their state," he added.

One prominent Republican officeholder that is actively boosting election deniers is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 presidential contender.

The Orlando Sentinel ...last week that DeSantis is "set to appear at rallies for Pennsylvania GOP governor's candidate Doug Mastriano, Arizona candidate for governor Kari Lake, and U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, all of whom have denied Biden's win and falsely claimed election fraud.

DeSantis was one of the first Republicans to suggest state legislatures could overrule voters to choose Trump.

"Appearing on Fox News on November 5, two days after the election," the Sentinel observed, "he said 'presidential electors are done by the legislators and the schemes they create and the framework. And if there's departure from that, if they're not following law, if they're ignoring the law, then they can provide remedies as well.'"

The Republican Party's elevation of fervent election deniers—often with the support of dark money—in battleground states and nationwide has dramatically raised the stakes of the upcoming November contests, given that they could usher into power officials willing to subvert the democratic process to secure their desired outcome.

Wisconsin offers an illustrative example of November's implications. As the New York Times reported Monday, "The governor's race this fall, along with a pivotal State Supreme Court contest next spring, will decide whether Republicans can solidify their grip on the swing state and remake its voting laws."

"Nowhere in the country have Republican lawmakers been more aggressive in their attempts to seize a partisan edge than in Wisconsin," the Times noted. "Having gerrymandered the Legislature past the point that it can be flipped, they are now pushing intensely to take greater control over the state's voting infrastructure ahead of the 2024 presidential contest."

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an 8 22

Much has been reported on Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attacks on far-right Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fueling speculation on Newsom’s motivations — including a possible presidential run in 2024 if President Joe Biden doesn’t seek reelection. Polls of Republican voters find that DeSantis’ popularity with the GOP’s MAGA base continues to grow, and more and more of them would prefer DeSantis over former President Donald Trump in 2024’s GOP presidential primary. And some pundits are envisioning a possible Newsom/DeSantis battle in 2024, or perhaps 2028.

Now, another Democratic governor, Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, is also going after DeSantis with a vengeance, according to Politico’s Gary Fineout.

In a report published on July 13, Fineout observes, “Well, look who’s headed to Florida: a blue-state governor who’s emerging as a potential presidential contender. lllinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is running for reelection this year, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Leadership Blue Gala that Florida Democrats will hold this Saturday in Tampa.”

The Politico reporter adds that Pritzker’s visit to Florida “comes nearly two weeks after the mass shooting in Highland Park thrust him into the national spotlight.”

Fineout explains, “Pritzker’s reaction — where he said he was angry and furious about gun violence in the nation — was seen by some as an illustration of the type of passion Democrats need heading into the midterms and 2024…. Pritzker’s decision (to visit) Florida will also be sure to stoke long-running whispers about a possible presidential bid, especially since he’s spending time in the home state of Gov. Ron DeSantis, himself a potential GOP presidential candidate.”

DeSantis, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives before narrowly defeating Democratic former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race, is up for reelection this year.

Fineout notes, “Pritzker, a billionaire with a second home in Florida,is visiting when Florida Democrats are bracing for a bad election season as they grapple with President Joe Biden’s poor polling numbers, a growing GOP voter registration edge and a lack of resources…. Pritzker’s keynote speech will come on the heels of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s splashy decision to air ads bashing DeSantis and urging Floridians to move to his state. In that case, DeSantis has fired back and is now even fundraising off Newsom’s attacks. Expect his campaign team to fashion their own greeting for Pritzker.”

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less gender more ranger, chuck norris

an 8 22

Last Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas. His speech glittered with antisemitic, homophobic, and white supremacist rhetoric including “replacement theory." Orbán even railed against a “mixed-race world," and his address was met with a standing ovation by the audience.

CPAC itself was a weekend jam-packed with right-wing lawmakers and celebrities including former President Donald Trump, who overwhelmingly won its 2024 presidential straw poll.

But according to conservative columnistMax Boot, Orbán's keynote appearance at CPAC's opening night personified the Republican Party's abdication of liberal democracy.

"Something profound has changed in recent years," Boot wrote in an editorial in Monday'sWashington Post. "Ten years ago this month, Republicans nominated a national ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul D. Ryan, a centrist former governor and a budget policy wonk. Now we have the coup-coup caucuscheering Viktor Orbán. This is the Trump effect: The former president has made the marginal into the mainstream of the Republican Party, and vice versa."

The evidence of the GOP's descent into fascism, Boot explained, is unmistakable.

"Republicans are nominating far-right fanatics who claim that the 2020 presidential election — and any election that they lose, for that matter — was 'rigged.' By refusing to accept electoral defeat, they embrace authoritarianism," Boot said, noting that candidates for secretaries of state in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania "deny the legitimacy" of President Joe Biden's landslide victory over Trump.

"Two of those candidates, Arizona secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem and Pennsylvania governor nominee Doug Mastriano, were outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. If elected, they are no more likely to certify a Democratic victory in 2024 than they are to embrace critical race theory," Boot noted. "Meanwhile, most House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection are being driven out of Congress. Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer was the latest to lose a primary last week to a proponent of the 'big lie.'"

Trump-backed hopefuls for governorships and United States Senate are also attempting to out-MAGA each other.

"Guns have become a de rigueur accessory in GOP campaign commercials. Arizona U.S. Senate nominee Blake Masters wants to lock up Anthony S. Fauci for trying to slow the spread of COVID-19. And Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake wants to lock up her opponent for certifying Biden’s election victory," Boot continued. "Masters and Ohio U.S. Senate nominee J.D. Vance are both bankrolled by tech tycoon Peter Thiel, who has concluded that freedom and democracy aren’t 'compatible.' Thiel’s 'house political philosopher' is far-right blogger Curtis Yarvin, who is also close to Masters and Vance. Yarvin has mused that we may need an 'American Caesar' to take control of the federal government. Trump is auditioning for the role; his henchmen are plotting to fire tens of thousands of civil servants and replace them with ultra-MAGA loyalists in 2025."

Boot then lamented that "the libertarian-leaning Republican Party I grew up with in the 1980s is long gone and not coming back." The party, Boot added, has weaponized the concept of freedom to further its extremist agenda.

He pointed out that GOP voters at large "want Americans to be free to carry weapons of war or spread deadly diseases but not to terminate a pregnancy or discuss gender or sexuality in school," and that "Republicans, once suspicious of government power, are now eager to use it to impose their agenda."

Boot alluded to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis– widely believed to be eyeing a presidential run in 2024 – as an example of how far the GOP has strayed from the mainstream and its "small government" credo.

DeSantis, Boot said, "is establishing his culture-war credentials by, most recently, suspending an elected prosecutor who vowed not to 'criminalize personal medical decisions,' such as abortion or 'gender-affirming healthcare.' DeSantis even threatened to investigate parents who take their kids to drag shows."

Boot concluded his piece by recommending a new label for what the Republican Party has become.

"The most apt phrase for this American authoritarianism is the New Fascism, and it is fast becoming the dominant trend on the right," Boot wrote. He also warned that "if the GOP gains power in Washington, all of America will be in danger of being Orbánized."

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gubmint BS

https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/ron-desantis-attacks-states-declaring-emergencies-over-monkeypox/

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/voter-fraud/

ProPublica

His last night as a prisoner in North Florida, Kelvin Bolton couldn’t sleep. Fifty-five years old, with a wispy goatee the same color as the gray flecks in his hair, he was about to get out after serving a 2 1/2-year sentence for theft and battery. The last time he’d seen his brothers and sisters at a big family gathering, he’d marched onto the dance floor ostentatiously, turned away and wrapped his arms around himself to caress his own back. As he swayed goofily to the music, everybody laughed.

Now Bolton was so close to being free and seeing his family again. The next morning, a bright Wednesday in April, he was already dressed in his street clothes and cleared to go when the woman processing his paperwork stopped him.

“The lady said, ‘Hold on, you can’t go anywhere,’” Bolton remembered in a recent phone call.

Confused, he asked her what was going on, he recalled. There was a warrant out for his arrest for incidents in 2020, she explained gruffly. But that was impossible. He’d been in jail at the time, awaiting his prison stint.

Guards loaded Bolton into a van, then drove an hour and a half south to deposit him in Alachua County Jail.

There, he found out what he’d done wrong.

He’d voted.

In 2018, Florida voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, in a historic ballot initiative that restored the right to vote to most state residents with felony convictions. Until then, Florida had been one of only four states — the others were Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia — where people who had committed felonies needed to petition the governor to have their voting rights restored. It was a grim legacy of 19th-century laws passed after the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote.

Supporters applauded the law as restoring voting rights to what experts estimate is over 1 million people in Florida, about 5% of the population of the state.

But the state’s dominant Republican lawmakers quickly installed a financial hurdle to those new rights. The following year, they passed a law to clarify that people convicted of felonies could only vote if they first paid off any money they owed for committing their crimes. The penalty for registering or voting without doing so: a felony charge for voter fraud.

On the surface, the mandate seemed reasonable: Even advocates for Amendment 4 agreed that requiring paying off fines and restitution to victims was just. In Florida, however, that task proved a sometimes insurmountable challenge — one that disproportionately hit Black people. Florida has no centralized database to allow people to figure out what legal financial obligations they owe to the state. Instead, its 67 counties and various state agencies each maintain their own databases. The state also does not track information for federal or out-of-state convictions, which people are also required to pay off before voting.

On top of the fines and restitution, Florida layers on court fees that can run into the hundreds of dollars. Together, a voter’s debt can run into the thousands, a financial hole that some may never climb out of.

“That’s kind of the bottom line of the absurdity of this — it’s Kafkaesque,” said Dan Smith, chair of the political science department at the University of Florida. “It’s very troubling that we would have state attorneys prosecuting individuals who did not know their status, and there was no way for them to determine their status.”

Florida’s voting hurdles are part of a national pattern. For years across the country, Republican state lawmakers have been implementing new restrictive voting laws, including reducing access to vote-by-mail ballots, stricter voter identification rules and limits on early voting. These efforts have accelerated since Donald Trump promoted the false claims that Joe Biden stole the 2020 presidential election. Democrats, meanwhile, have pushed to expand voting access.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis boasted that in 2020, Florida, a swing state with a history of contentious elections, “held the smoothest, most successful election of any state in the country,” while he also signed a flurry of voting law changes that he said would further strengthen the integrity of future votes. And DeSantis has tacitly endorsed prosecuting people convicted of felonies for voter fraud. In April, he signed a bill establishing the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which will investigate alleged election violations.

Despite the increased scrutiny, voting fraud remains so rare in Florida that it hasn’t come close to altering election outcomes. The Florida Department of State in 2020 received 262 election fraud complaints, just 75 of which were referred to law enforcement or prosecuting authorities, according to the agency.

“Florida is an outlier, because the intentional targeting of citizens with felony convictions as a way to undermine democracy has been a throughline in that state,” said Nicole Porter, senior director of advocacy for the Sentencing Project. “And the attempt to address that, by popular vote, has been undermined by the legislature.”

In 2020, a representative of the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections conducted a series of outreach efforts at the local county jail to let inmates know of their new rights and offer to help them add their names to the voter rolls.

During three visits to the jail, the official helped sign up at least 10 inmates, including John Boyd Rivers, Dedrick Baldwin and Bolton.

Rivers, 44, felt a visceral thrill at the prospect. Sitting in his cell in February 2020 facing a battery charge for hitting his wife, he was told by the county representative that he could register to vote. The official, he said, told him that he could disregard the check box on the form that asks whether the applicant has a felony conviction because he didn’t have a disqualifying felony. That seemed odd to Rivers, since he had a previous felony conviction. (He subsequently was sentenced for the battery charge.) No one told him anything about needing to pay off his financial obligations before registering to vote, Rivers said, and the jail didn’t give him an accounting of those debts when he was later released.

Back at home, Rivers was excited when his voter registration card arrived in the mail. He’d lost his right to vote at 18, he said, after voting just once. Now he could vote in a presidential election. He and his wife went to their polling place, and he cast his vote for Donald Trump.

Bolton, too, was excited to sign up. He also said no one told him he’d need to pay off his debts before casting his ballot. Although he registered as a Republican, he said he decided to vote for Biden.

In all, 10 of the men who the official helped register to vote have been charged with voter fraud on the grounds they were ineligible.

Their alleged illegal voting was first spotted by a citizen who analyzed Florida’s voting rolls and then shared the information with the state. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement subsequently launched an eight-month investigation, after which it identified the 10 inmates.

State investigators found that some jail employees remembered the elections official giving clear directions to inmates about having to pay off financial obligations, while others did not. The investigation concluded that the jail visits were “lacking in both quality and longevity” and “showed a haphazard registration of inmates.” But the state prosecutor nevertheless proceeded with charges, although not against county officials.

Officials at the Alachua Supervisor of Elections office declined to comment to ProPublica. But Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton denied any wrongdoing in a statement released in June.

Brian Kramer, the state attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Florida, defended his office’s prosecutions to ProPublica, saying he believed the 10 men knew they were committing fraud. “I’m not going to say I will prosecute or not prosecute because it’s politically popular or unpopular,” he said.

Four of the 10 have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to between 364 days and three years in prison. Bolton and three others have vowed to go to trial, while the remaining two await arraignment. They face charges that carry a penalty of up to five years in prison, five years of probation or $5,000 in fines. Eight of the men are Black, and two are white.

Critics say the charges are unjust and, at a bare minimum, excessive. In nearby Lake County, the state prosecutor declined to bring charges against sex offenders who had registered to vote despite the law prohibiting voting rights restoration for those charged with sex offenses or murder. In April, two white men living in The Villages in Sumter County, an overwhelmingly white county in central Florida, pleaded guilty to each casting two ballots for Donald Trump during the 2020 election. Rather than face prosecution, they entered a pretrial intervention program, under which they must serve 50 hours of community service and attend an adult civics class, among other requirements. Because the men in Alachua County have prior felony convictions, they are ineligible for pretrial intervention and face harsher sentences.

“I’m thinking I’m doing something good for the community, so that’s why I chose to try to do it,” Bolton said. “It was not malicious — I was not trying to commit a felony of voting fraud. I never would have voted.”

Baldwin, 47, who is in prison on a manslaughter conviction, was sentenced to an additional 364 days. He felt “set up,” he said, since nobody told him he wasn’t eligible.

“There’s no way Biden was that important to me to vote for him,” he said in an email to ProPublica from prison. “We were flat out tricked into voting.”

The elections official who visited the jail denied telling the men that they could disregard the check box and said he warned them that they’d need to pay off their financial obligations, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named because he feared reprisals. The elections official declined to comment to ProPublica on the record.

The voter fraud charges were especially bitter for Rivers. By the time they were filed, Rivers said, he had already used part of his federal stimulus check to pay off more than $3,000 in costs related to his criminal record so he could reinstate his driver’s license and return to work.

“I should have known there would be some kind of catch,” Rivers said.

Florida’s history of felon disenfranchisement dates back to 1838,when the state’s first constitution prohibited people convicted of bribery or assorted “high crimes and misdemeanors” from voting. After the Civil War, faced with the prospect of formerly enslaved Black men voting, the state expanded the law so that anyone convicted of a felony lost the franchise. But in 2018, 64% of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, allowing people convicted of felonies, except for murder or sexual offense convictions, to vote.

This embrace of new voters became more complicated the following year when the state legislature passed its law. It required that people convicted of felonies must determine their own eligibility before registering to vote. The Florida Department of Corrections and county detention facilities are required to provide notice to inmates at the time of their release of their outstanding financial obligations.

But it is unclear if all of the facilities do so.

Florida charges those convicted of crimes with an array of fines and fees, some of which statutorily cannot be eliminated or reduced. Defendants facing felony charges are assessed $100 to use a public defender, as well as a $100 prosecution fee. At least one person already sentenced in the Alachua County cases has been charged an additional $671 for his voting fraud charges on top of the financial obligations he already owed.

Finding out what someone owes is time-consuming and expensive. An analysis led by Traci Burch, a political science professor at Northwestern University, tried to determine the legal financial obligations owed by a random sample of 153 Florida residents convicted of felonies and found consistent information for only three of them. Counties often keep poor records, have cumbersome websites and employ unhelpful clerks.

What’s more, it can cost money merely to find out how much money you owe. Four in 10 Florida counties charged either a payment or processing fee to look at their databases, and 15% charged a fee to access certain records, according to Burch’s research.

In 2020, Smith, the Florida political scientist, estimated that just over 1 million people would be eligible to vote under Amendment 4. Of that number, about 77% had outstanding legal financial obligations, rendering them ineligible to vote under Florida’s new law until they paid their debts. Four out of five Floridians with felony convictions owed at least $500 in fines and fees, Smith’s analysis found. More than 59% owed more than $1,000.

The state legislature immediately disqualified about 750,000 people from being able to vote when it passed its law requiring people convicted of felonies to pay their debts first, Smith estimated. And the new law’s impact was felt much more harshly by Black people, who faced greater fines and fees: 26% of white Floridians with a felony conviction would be eligible to get their voting rights restored under the new requirement, but only 18% of Black people, according to Smith.

In May 2020, a district court judge ruled that parts of the law were unconstitutional and that the law had established a pay-to-vote system. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling the following September, saying it was in the state’s power to require the payoffs and the law didn’t violate people’s rights. The state Supreme Court has also issued an advisory opinion that deemed the law legitimate.

Unsurprisingly, the number of people with felony convictions who have registered to vote has fallen far short of what supporters hoped. More than 85,000 such people registered in Florida ahead of the 2020 election.

Supporters of the law say that it’s only fair to have people fulfill their full sentences, including paying any crime-related debts. Some state attorneys, including Kramer, the attorney prosecuting the Alachua cases, have also developed processes within their jurisdictions by which people with felony convictions can verify their voting eligibility or request to reduce their fines and fees.

Felons who have not yet registered to vote can also appeal to the state to have certain fees reduced or eliminated, said Republican State Sen. Jeff Brandes, the sponsor of the law demanding the payoffs before voting rights restoration.

“We truly believe there are people who are indigent that will just simply never be able to pay,” he said. “The court only collects a fraction of what is given out anyways. And so there should be a way for the state to grant some grace or for the court to grant some grace and provide people flexibility.”

Kelvin Bolton has been sitting in the Alachua Council Jail since April, waiting for his case to proceed.

He’s been in and out of the system since he was 16, piling up a long record of mostly nonviolent crimes, most recently for stealing a car, groping a woman in a store and taking cigarettes from a Dollar General.

He aims this time to keep a vow he made to his family and himself to stay straight. He said he is frustrated that the prosecutor subsequently created a program for people convicted of felonies to check their voting eligibility while he and the others are still facing charges.

“Why would they want to keep charging us for something that they’re in the wrong for?” he said. “The state is in the wrong for what they did to us.”

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woke math

https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/ron-desantis-2657681938/

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/desantis/

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politico

Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS recently held a confab of dozens of his top national donors as well as a handful of fellow Republican governors and prominent candidates he’s close to as he runs for reelection and eyes a presidential run in 2024, two sources familiar with the event told Daniel Lippman.

Attendees at the event in Fort Lauderdale — which sources described as the most significant assembly of Republican governors outside of the RGA so far this year — included Govs. KIM REYNOLDS of Iowa, HENRY MCMASTER of South Carolina, KEVIN STITT of Oklahoma and BILL LEE of Tennessee, Arkansas gubernatorial candidate and former Trump White House press secretary SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, former Maine Gov. and current gubernatorial candidate PAUL LEPAGE and Nevada Senate candidate ADAM LAXALT. Conservative media influencers in attendance included BUCK SEXTON, LISA BOOTHE and JOSH HAMMER.

DeSantis’ political operation billed the “lightly scheduled” event as a chance to connect his key donors and friendly media figures to Republican governors and candidates who share the Florida governor’s political priorities and support his style of governing. The daylong conference featured an informal “get to know you” session over drinks and cigars, a dinner accompanied by a speech from DeSantis, and panels showcasing the visiting governors and conservative pundits moderated by DeSantis. A DeSantis campaign spokesperson declined to comment.

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ntbcw reptilian overlords

A conservative aerospace entrepreneur has donated an eight-figure contribution to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) re-election campaign.

According to The Hill, Robert Bigelow —founder of the Bigelow Aerospace and National Institute for Discovery Science and Budget Suites of America— donated $10 million to DeSantis' gubernatorial campaign for re-election. The massive donation, which was sent to the campaign on July 7, has been deemed the largest contribution to the Republican governor's re-election campaign.

Bigelow previously made headlines with his circulation of a bizarre theory about space aliens.

During a previous appearance on CBS News' "60 Minutes," Bigelow was asked if he believed in aliens. In response to that question, Bigelow cited his belief in the existence of extraterrestrials.

"There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence," he said at the time. "And I spent millions and millions and millions -- I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject."

When asked if he was taking a risk by making such a tall claim publicly, the unapologetic entrepreneur stood by his remarks saying, "I don't give a damn. I don't care."

Although DeSantis has denied the speculation, it is being reported that he could enter a presidential bid for the 2024 election. As of July 2022, the Republican governor's re-election war chest reportedly exceeds $110 million.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/ron-desantis-florida-real-history/

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/02/22/justice-clarence-thomas-wife-ginni-behind-group-that-reportedly-pushed-january-6-fake-electors-scheme

forbes no lnx

Justice Clarence Thomas’s Wife Ginni Behind Group That Reportedly Pushed January 6 ‘Fake Electors’ Scheme

Alison Durkee Forbes Staff

Feb 22, 2022,11:28am EST

Updated Mar 14, 2022,

TOPLINE Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife serves on the board of a right-wing activist group that pushed Republican state lawmakers to appoint “fake” electors and challenge the Electoral College result, the New York Times reports, adding to growing concerns over Ginni Thomas’s influence on the Supreme Court and the whether the 6-3 conservative court is too politicized.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and wife Ginni Thomas

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, right, and wife Virginia Thomas arrive for a State Dinner at ... [+] ASSOCIATED PRESS

KEY FACTS

Thomas’ wife, Ginni, serves on the board ofC.N.P. Action, the political advocacy arm of the right-wing Council for National Policy, which the Times reports circulated an “action steps” document after the 2020 presidential election that advocated for challenging the election results in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

C.N.P. Action told its members to “pressure” GOP state lawmakers to appoint alternate slates of electors in states that President Joe Biden won, in an effort to get Congress to recognize those electors over the Democratic ones, claiming there was “historical, legal precedent” for doing so.

The Times notes the effort “would have almost certainly” gone before the Supreme Court if the GOP lawmakers had succeeded.

C.N.P. Action broadly pushed for members to challenge battleground state results, the Times reports, noting one such effort—a Pennsylvania GOP lawmaker’s effort to overturn that state’s results—ultimately went before the Supreme Court, where it was rejected.

When the Supreme Court then separately rejected a full hearing on that Pennsylvania lawsuit after the election, Thomas issued a dissent that the Times notes “echo[ed]” C.N.P. Action’s arguments, saying the court not taking up the case “invite[s] further confusion and erosion of voter confidence.”

The Times piece also added to previous reporting on Ginni Thomas’ involvement with the January 6 rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol building, reporting she played a “peacemaking role” between different groups involved with the rally.

KEY BACKGROUND

The Times report comes as Thomas and his wife have come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, following a recent New Yorker piece on Ginni’s political activities and her signing a December letter that slammed the House’s January 6 committee as an “overtly partisan political persecution.” Watchdog group American Oversight also published emails in early February showing Ginni had emailed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office and told them her husband “has been in contact with [DeSantis] too on various things of late.”

Ginni’s political involvement has long been known and a 2019 meeting between her and then-President Donald Trump drew scrutiny. Critics have become more focused on her potential influence on her husband more recently, however, as the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court has taken up an increasing number of major cases on partisan topics like abortion, guns and immigration. Even aside from the Thomases, public trust in the Supreme Court has hit record lows because of the public’s perception the court is politicized, and Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch was recently criticized for speaking at the partisan Federalist Society alongside major GOP figures like DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence. His speech was closed to the press.

CHIEF CRITIC

Justice Thomas has hit back against suggestions the court is politicized, saying in a September speech he believes it’s a misconception. “If [the media thinks] you’re anti-abortion or something personally, they think that that’s the way you always will come out,” Thomas said. “They think you become like a politician. And I think that’s a problem.”

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Whether Justice Thomas will recuse himself from any upcoming cases that could be a conflict of interest.The court will soon hear a challenge to affirmative action policies backed by a group on whose board Ginni also sits, which has sparked calls for him to recuse, and the New Yorker reports she has ties to the leader of a group that’s brought two other upcoming cases to the court. The Washington Post notes that while justices are supposed to recuse themselves in cases that could pose a conflict, there’s no actual enforcement mechanism requiring them to do so. Legal scholars have advocated for the high court to take up a code of conduct that would impose a process for preventing conflicts of interest, but the court has not yet said whether they intend to do so.

TANGENT

Though the “fake electors” plot was known at the time it happened, the strategy—which resulted in seven false slates of GOP electors in states Biden won—has resurfaced in recent months, after the House January 6 committee released documents in December showing former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was involved in discussions about the plot. The committee has issued subpoenas to many of the false electors in an attempt to learn more about the origins of the plot and the Trump campaign’s involvement. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told CNN the Justice Department is also investigating the scheme, after multiple states’ attorneys general referred the certificates to the DOJ and asked them to look into it.

Today’s Indicator

421.68 parts per million

That’s the level of daily carbon dioxide concentration that was recently detected at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, marking the highest level of atmospheric CO2 researchers have ever observed at the lab since measurements began in 1956.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/desantis/

redistr? map judge nixes

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/desantis-2657239126/

fla most $ to live

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no lnx

Republican neofascists are playing a dangerous game that will rip America apart

Thom Hartmann April 28, 2022

Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has declared war on Disney, while his colleague in Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, is on a jihad against the parents of trans children.

This is how fascism progresses through its later stages toward tyranny.

Democracies typically don’t turn into fascist oligarchies by being invaded or losing wars. It usually happens from within, and is driven by an alliance between demagogic politicians, corrupt religious leaders, bigoted street brawlers, and some of the wealthiest people in society.

First, fascists identify groups of people they believe are both vulnerable and sufficiently powerless that they won’t be able to fight back. Typically, these are racial, religious, political or gender/sexuality minorities.

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Enormous efforts go into demonizing the people the fascists have identified; members of the group who’ve committed crimes are heavily publicized, while “think tanks” and fascist allies in the media identify malicious “reasons” for those folks’ “deviance.”

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Efforts by members of the demonized groups to achieve parity or equality in society are characterized as a “theft” of privilege and assets from the majority, legitimizing both verbal, legal, and physical attacks on members of the group.

For example, the billionaire Murdoch family’s top-rated morning show, Fox & Friends, recently wandered into a discussion about white people being “marginalized” by the possibility of our public schools teaching the actual racial history of America.

“[T]hey are not only trying to raise up minorities and make sure the playing field is even,” Brian Kilmeade said, “they’re trying to take down the white culture!”

Kilmeade, in full “White people are the victims!” mode, went on:

“Why are we being marginalized on a daily basis…? And it’s not even subtle! It’s actually out there! It is written in black-and-white!”

It’s played out this way in every democratic country that has fallen to tyranny from within. It’s how it happened in the 1930s in Italy, Germany, Japan and Spain, and today in Hungary, Poland, Egypt, Russia, The Philippines, and Turkey, among others.

More recently, Swanson Food Heir Tucker Carlson went on a rant about the Great Replacement Theory.

After identifying targeted minorities — for today’s GOP that includes Black people, trans kids (and their parents), pregnant women, and Democrats — and encouraging legal and physical violence against them, fascists move to the second major step: seizing enough economic and political power that they can reshape society itself.

This requires bringing in morbidly rich people and enlisting the aid of big business.

So, first, they go after the biggest businesses. One of the biggest businesses in Florida is Disney, so Ron DeSantis tried to get them on his bigoted side. They didn’t go along with it, so now, in typical strongman fashion, DeSantis feels he has to destroy them to save face.

As German industrialist Fritz Thyssen writes in his book I Paid Hitler, he pressured German President von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor, and then lobbied the Association of German Industrialists, that country’s and era’s version of the US Chamber of Commerce, to donate 3 million Reichsmarks to the Nazi Party for the 1933 election. It brought Hitler to power.

Hitler’s sales pitch to the German people was that Jews, gays, and socialists had “stabbed Germany in the back” and were trying to “strip” good white Christian Germans of their “rights” and twist society to conform with their “perverted” ideas and lifestyles.

Hitler blamed the 1933 economic crisis on German minorities, Jews and gays, and accused Germany’s second largest political party of complicity with them; the German people went along with him. Once the Nazis took power, they changed election laws in such a way that they would never again lose.

Republicans and rightwing billionaires, of course, are doing much the same thing right now in America. One wonders if they’ll have the retrospective angst that haunted Thyssen until the day he died. He wrote about it in I Paid Hitler:

“I am not a politician, but an industrialist, and an industrialist is always inclined to consider politics a kind of second string to his bow — the preparation for his own particular activity. In a well-ordered country, where the administration is sound, where taxes are reasonable, and the police well organised, he can afford to abstain from politics and to devote himself entirely to business.

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“But in a crisis-ridden state, as Germany was from 1918 to 1933, an industrialist is drawn, willy-nilly, into the vortex of politics. After 1930 the aspirations of German industry may be summed up in one phrase: ‘a sound economy in a strong state.’ This was, I remember, the slogan of a meeting of the Ruhr industrialists in 1931. …“I, too, approved this slogan, 'To surmount the crisis it was necessary to reinforce the authority of the state.’ … I believed that by backing Hitler and his party I could contribute to the reinstatement of real government and of orderly conditions, which would enable all branches of activity — and especially business — to function normally once again.”

Unlike Thyssen, who volunteered to support Hitler’s rise to power with massive financial and business backing, Disney is pushing back against DeSantis’ efforts to remake society in an American neofascist mode.

Unless they soon cave in, Disney’s executives probably won’t one day write in their memoirs, as Thyssen did in his:

“But it is no use crying over spilled milk. The strong state of which I then dreamed had nothing in common with the totalitarian state or, rather, caricature of a state, erected by Hitler and his minions.

“Not for an instant did I imagine that it was possible, one hundred and fifty years after the French Revolution and the proclamation of the Rights of Man, to substitute arbitrary action for law in a great modern country, to strangle the most elementary rights of the citizen, to establish an Asiatic tyranny in the heart of Europe, and to foster anachronistic aspirations of conquest and world dominion.”

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This is not America’s first brush with oligarchic fascism, as I lay out in The Hidden History of American Oligarchy. President Franklin Roosevelt and Vice President Henry Wallace struggled with it in the 1930s with Charles Lindberg’s infamous Nazi-aligned America First movement.

In early 1944, the New York Times asked Vice President Henry Wallace to, as Wallace noted, “write a piece answering the following questions: What is a fascist? How many fascists have we? How dangerous are they?”

Vice President Wallace’s answer to those questions was published in The New York Times on April 9, 1944, at the height of the war against the Axis powers of Germany and Japan.

“The really dangerous American fascists,” Wallace wrote, “are not those who are hooked up directly or indirectly with the Axis. The FBI has its finger on those. The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way.”

As if he had a time machine and could see the “conservative” media landscape today, Wallace continued:

“The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information.With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.”

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But Disney refused to use their media platform to advance the fascists’ agenda. It has only, however, slowed them down a bit.

Ultimately, as fascists gain more power and grow bolder, nothing is off the table. This is the threshold we’re approaching today, where they don’t just trash minorities and march through the streets displaying weapons and huge flags, but began asserting justification for violence and even murder.

Alleging crimes against the majority’s children is a fascist favorite, as Hitler charged with his repeated attacks on Jewish teachers, leading 15% of the nation’s teachers and professors (including a guy named Albert Einstein) to flee the country when he began his attacks on education in 1933.

Fascist politicians start alleging the most vile of crimes by the groups they hope to destroy: words like “grooming” roll off their lips with a smarmy ease.

Soon vigilante groups set out to destroy those accused, sometimes politically, sometimes physically.

German Nazis were particularly fond of accusing people they intended to destroy or kill of sexual “crimes.” As Thyssen wrote:

“General von Fritsch’s affair is also a good sample of the peculiar methods used by the Hitler regime. Fritsch was to be ‘liquidated.’ To achieve this, it is said, the head of the Gestapo personally reproached him with practising homosexuality.

“Fritsch, who denied this from the very start, was ordered to call at the chancellery of the Reich, where he was to be unmasked in the presence of the Supreme Leader. … It seems certain that General von Fritsch has subsequently committed suicide. I can at least say that whatever the actual circumstances of his death may have been, he was anxious to die.”

While history usually sides with the victims of fascists, as we’re seeing today with the people Putin is starving to death in Mariupol, that’s small comfort as they confront terror and death.

DeSantis, Abbott and the other Republican neofascists are playing a dangerous game, using Disney as a proxy for the racial and gender minorities they want as whipping boys. It’s a high-stakes political game that has torn societies apart and destroyed millions of lives in the past.

Standing against them are their victims and the Democratic Party, albeit hobbled in their efforts by the perfidy of Manchin and Sinema. This autumn’s elections may well be the last chance for people of good will who believe in American values and eschew fascism to rise in opposition.

Make sure everybody you know is registered to vote, regularly double-check your own registration to make it through a voter purge if you live in a Republican-controlled state, and volunteer to help out inside the Democratic Party or through any of the great groups fighting for a more just America.

Time is short, as Fritz Thyssen and Vice President Wallace would tell you were they alive today.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/devos-desantis/

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/ron-desantis-2657215779/

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/ron-desantis-democrats-florida-president/

dems stay out, redistrict ~ AA

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Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is under fire for banning 41 percent of all math books in grades K-12, including a whopping 71 percent of books in grades K-5.

DeSantis’ Dept. of Education announced in a press release, “Florida Rejects Publishers’ Attempts to Indoctrinate Students.” The DeSantis administration does not appear to have published a list of banned books or specific reasons each book was banned, nor did they provide examples. They also did not explain how or why the supposed “indoctrination” materials were initially approved, how long they have been in use, or what negative outcomes they have produced, if any.

“The news of the banned textbooks comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that makes it easier for parents to challenge books and instructional materials they don’t approve of,” Florida Politics reports. Supporters of the legislation says it gives parents more involvement in their children’s education, but opponents argue it opens the door to massive book bans. To note, Florida has third largest number of school book ban incidents in the country.”

Some say banning the books is just another way to reward GOP donors, by spending millions to buy new books.

The news has some in Florida and across the country angered and frustrated.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Florida Republican leaders are preparing to ban Algebra from high schools,” Florida native State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D) said, mocking DeSantis and the GOP in a sarcastic tweet. “They object to the subliminal use of [brackets] as an indoctrination to the concept of inclusion, they don’t like the equal sign, and they hate solving problems!”

Florida State Rep. Carlos G. Smith (D) says Desantis “is hysterically pulling math books outta FL schools claiming they ‘indoctrinate’ kids with CRT. This isn’t just crazy right-wing pandering— next they’ll spend MILLIONS of tax dollars forcing schools to buy math books from GOP campaign donors.”

He also accuses DeSantis of turning classrooms into “political battlefields,” and says the Florida Dept. of Education “won’t tell us” what books they banned “or what they say” because “it’s a lie.”...

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an 4 22

Some right-wingers have taken to using “groomer” to describe those who are sensitive to the concerns of LGBT-plus people.

A spokesperson for Florida Governor Ron Desantis tweeted: Don’t Say Gay “would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill.”

US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted: “Anyone who opposes anti-grooming laws like the one in Florida is pro-child predator.”

Fox’s Laura Ingraham did a segment called “Doom and Groom.”

I agree with progressives. This is a transparent ploy having little to do with protecting children. Some argue, including Lindsay Beyerstein, that the discourse is an attempt to spread QAnon ideology. A key takeaway from John Stoehr’s interview with Gabriel Rosenberg was that “groomer speech” is being used to harden the line between real conservatives (anti-pedophile) and those who are not (pro-pedophile).

I’m interested in why the typical conservative – not the thought leader or political elite – might use the term. A more interesting reason the right uses “groomer speech” is it’s the equivalent of “bigot” on the left.

The logic appears to be this: if the left can call me a racist for all these things I don’t see as racist, I’m justified in calling the left “groomers” because they want to teach gender and sexual identity to children.

Let’s dig in.

The function of a slur

When someone hears the word “slur,” they are likely thinking of racial slurs referring to racial or ethnic groups in a dehumanizing manner.

The n-word is the paradigmatic example.

But slurs can be defined more broadly as “an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo,” or words having “a shaming or degrading effect.”

In this sense, we use slurs quite often.

Consider the charge of being a “bigot” - a racist, sexist, homophobe or transphobe. This can be solely a descriptor of behaviors. But usually, the charge of bigotry is infused with a moral evaluation.

The identified bigot is a bad person who does not live according to what “correct-thinking people” believe is appropriate.

The identified bigot is insulted, shamed and degraded.

But slurs serve a purpose.

The French sociologist Émile Durkheim said deviant behavior has a useful function in society. I can simplify it in three bullet points.

1. When we see deviance and call it out, we clarify right and wrong.

What do you do when you discover that your male coworker thinks women are too emotional to lead a company? Call him out as a sexist! He may see this as slurring his good name, but it can be the catalyst for a positive chain of events. By calling him out, you let him know you think those ideas are morally wrong and damaging to women.

2. When people react to deviant behavior, it strengthens social bonds.

Other people learn the man is a sexist. They come together in a collective denunciation of the man and sexism.

3. After coming together against deviance, they can enact social change.

The collective agreement that sexism is wrong can lead to collective political action and the passing of legislation against sexism.

In this way, a slur can be a small catalyst for social change.

This is one reason why I vacillate between the social niceties necessary for productive exchanges. Slurring someone can end a conversation. But slurring someone can also spark positive social change.

False equivalencies

Although we don’t usually think of them as slurs, calling someone racist, sexist or transphobe is indeed a type of slur.

However.

These slurs are grounded in the link between action or idea.

They are grounded in the fact of the harm done to people.

It’s easy to chart the consequences of someone who believes women are too emotional for leadership positions. They may not hire a qualified woman for a leadership position or listen to women who are in leadership roles. And so calling that out has justification.

Similarly, we are aware of higher rates of suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts among transgender youthand adults. Efforts to suppress healthy conversations around trans identity in public settings can exacerbate the problem. A trans activist is wholly justified in calling someone who’s suppressing these conversations “transphobic.”

People on the right complaining about the left hurling accusations of bigotry at them without basis are usually quite wrong.

But what is the link between discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and grooming? There is none.

Obviously.

There is no link between discussing sexual orientation and gender identity and setting out to abuse children sexually, or grooming.

There is no link between learning about sexual orientation and gender identity in school and being vulnerable to sexual advances in school.

(Learning does not make kids vulnerable. It makes them powerful).

Claiming that “bigot” is the same as calling someone a “groomer” is a false equivalency. The former alerts us to actual attitudes and behaviors that can lead to harming populations. The former draw spurious links between education and sexual behavior and, in the process, diminish the actual crime of child sexual abuse.

“Groomer,” far from leading to good social change, harms two groups. It introduces noise into pedophilia discourse, making it harder for people to tune into real evidence signaling child sexual abuse. It also prevents discussions about gender and sexual identity. That may increase rates of suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts among LGBT-plus people.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/ron-desantis-black-congressional-seats/

gerry

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/fox-news/

Fox News dangerously declares war on teachers: Calls for violence, accusations of 'inclination' to pedophilia

David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement April 11, 2022

From Tucker Carlson to Laura Ingraham to Mark Levin, Fox News propagandists have declared war on public school teachers.The dangerous attacks follow the right’s misleading claims – fueled by Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation – about children inappropriately being taught about sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, sexual orientation, and gender identity starting as early as kindergarten.

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Last month, just days afterFlorida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ spokesperson Christina Pushaw charged that anyone who opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was “probably” a “groomer” – essentially, a pedophile, pedophile enabler, or pedophile supporter, Fox News propagandist Laura Ingraham jumped into action.

“When did ourpublic schools,any schools, become what are essentially grooming centers for gender identity radicals?” Ingraham asked, as Media Matters reported. The chyron was less ambiguous: “Liberals are sexually grooming elementary students.”

In fact, on Monday Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz wrote, “With Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, Republicans have weaponized their Fox News base against teachers.”

Sunday night Fox News’ far-right “fringe” host Mark Levin hosted award-winning playwright David Mamet, who has no degree in childhood development, education, or sexual studies, to discuss public schools. He declared that teachers, especially male teachers, are “sexual predators.”

“Teachers are inclined, particularly men because men are predators, to pedophilia,” Mamet charged, pointing to no study that proves his claim.

That claim came just days after Fox News’ top propagandist, Tucker Carlson, called for men to engage in verbal or physical abuse of school teachers, as Media Matters reported.

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“I don’t understand where the men are. Like where are the dads? You know, some teachers pushing sex values on your third grader why don’t you go in and thrash the teacher? Like this is an agent of the government pushing someone else’s values on your kid about sex, like where’s the pushback?

But Insider reports that Carlson was “repeating calls for violence he has made previously.” And The Daily Beast apparently agreed: “The Fox News host yet again suggested that violence against educators is called for.”

Rather than apologize for its hosts and guests, Fox News is doubling down.Monday morning the conservative outlet published an article claiming: “CNN, Washington Post, Vice and more fret that Republicans are worried about child grooming, pedophilia.”

On Twitter, Media Matters Matthew Gertz adds to points he made in his article.

“Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law effectively deputizes the most Fox-News-and-Facebook-addicted members of the GOP base to act on frenzied smears that LGBTQ teachers are ‘grooming’ children,” he writes.

“This vague law is then enforced by parents suing their school districts. Suits will inevitably come from the most anti-LGBTQ parents, and school districts will chill discussion of a wide range of topics to try to avoid getting mired in lawsuits,” Gertz adds.

“These baseless accusations that the right’s political opponents are actually pedophiles overlap with – and at times become indistinguishable from – the QAnon conspiracy theory,” he concludes, “which is moving ever closer to the GOP mainstream.”

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