Imagine Donald Trump, but with brains and brains.
OK…most people have these.
Imagine Trump, but with an unwavering commitment to legislation that will move the country in a direction that would terrify most sane people.
Enter Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
At heart, to me, Trump has always been a self-confessed iconoclast and solipsistic opportunist who decided to run for the US presidency, probably for fun, and managed to win over his competitors on an anti-establishment platform. Like a man who catches a full-grown alligator, he never seemed quite sure what to do with the presidency when he got it.
Trump had the hubris and gall of a man who had no intention of abiding by White House conventions, and he had (and still has) the benefit of the unwavering support of a group of mouth-breathers who, after eight years as a black man, have died frustrated were man in the office. These people were aimless, searching the edges of the flat earth for someone to follow. Trump was her man.
I believe that addiction to the power of the presidency is only The reason Trump is retrying the presidency: He has no real interest in legislative action that doesn’t line his pockets. However, DeSantis is a different kind of threat.
He managed to become one Beast of a governoranchored by a Republican legislature in Florida which, as the recently ended legislature has shown us, bows to his whims as some do to Darth Vader wielding the Force.
DeSantis hasn’t officially launched a campaign for the 2024 presidential nomination just yet, but the likelihood he won’t is absolutely nil: He’s already had footholds in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina in recent months made and supports a super PAC he is on a hiring tour in several states.
Though Florida has no shortage of Make America Great Again hats, the state is so smitten with DeSantis that lawmakers passed legislation allowing him to stay Governor while running for President — It’s like taking the bar exam during medical school.
At the legislative level, Trump made it look like he was throwing darts at a board blindfolded to see what might fall out. But DeSantis seems more focused on his one-man crusade to bring the country back to witch burning.
Florida was already a hole of disbelief before DeSantis got there (just Google “Florida Man”), but for the past four years he’s used the state as a petri dish to advance his ultra-conservative agenda and provided chilling insights into what that means The country might look like if he makes it to the Oval Office.
In April he signed a law Criminalize abortion after six weeks, making Florida — once a haven for abortion-seekers from the nearby Red States — one of the most restrictive abortion states in the country. Considering that the US Supreme Court is unscrupulous Fall of Roe against Wade Given the danger posed to women who cannot obtain legal abortions, it is downright frightening that multiple sectors of government are concerned about what women are doing with their bodies.
That same month, DeSantis signed legislation allowing Florida residents to do so Carry hidden weapons without permission or training. What if you did what I suggested and Googled “Florida Man,” you know it’s like throwing a match at a haystack doused with kerosene.
There is also DeSantis’ appropriation and corruption of the word “woke” he uses as a dog whistle to appeal to its target audience. He signed the Stop WOKE (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, which would ban “critical race theory” (read: talk of real white people actually behaving badly) from Florida classrooms.
It would essentially require teachers and professors across the state to teach about Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America, skipping hundreds of years of slavery and jumping straight to Ronald Reagan saving us all. Fortunately, this is not the case with the local courts have this nonsense.
Then there’s the Parental Rights in Education Act bill, which critics are calling “Don’t Say Gay.” The bill, which DeSantis signed into law in March, bans teachers from teaching or discussing sexual identity and gender orientation to children up to third grade; A few weeks later, the state board of education agreed to extend the ban to all grade levels.
The legislator passed a bill In April, drag performers were banned from doing anything near children (they are labeled “adult live performances”). DeSantis is expected to sign a bill into law Prohibition of gender-specific grooming This means that not even doctors or parents can make decisions that could save young lives.
In April, DeSantis signed a bill that would allow a Florida jury to pass the death penalty without a unanimous vote, making the state the death penalty state single lowest threshold that a convicted criminal dies. Logical step for an institution historically racially biasedand in a state that ranks among the most Relief of prisoners sentenced to death …
Finally DeSantis came into effect last week SB 1718, perhaps the most draconian immigration law ever. Its provisions include prohibiting anyone from taking an undocumented immigrant into the state, voiding the driver’s licenses of immigrants from other states, and making it significantly more difficult for an employer to hire them.
I’m not sure how it’s going to benefit lawmakers by pretending Florida doesn’t work on the backs of illegal immigrants, but maybe it’s learning the hard way.
This is a royal flush of regressive social policies that tie directly to DeSantis. And I haven’t even looked into his progression Beef with Mickey Mouse.
Lest you think DeSantis is a bona fide ideologue, armed with the Holy Bible and a nostalgia for the “good old days” before immigrants and the LGBTQ community, he’s actually like so many other politicians – he rocks along whatever drives his agenda at that time. The irony of DeSantis being Trump’s biggest competitor for the GOP nomination is that he made it on Trump’s coattails to a state that idolizes the former president.
Now Trump is in the headlines for being held liable for the sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll. Some Republicans believe This could hurt his chances for 2024. But considering Trump has come to the point of doing anything but eating a baby on camera, I will never disregard him. However, DeSantis could be his greatest threat – far smarter, more tactical, and calculated than his opponent.
Trump’s presidency encouraged the country’s cave dwellers to commit reprehensible acts such as organizing racist tiki torch assemblies and storming the US Capitol dressed like assholes. But he’s the devil I’ve seen in the White House before, and he only has one term left. Eight years of DeSantis scares me a lot more.