Ron DeSantis, the second coming of Donald Trump, is on the loose and coming to a state near you soon. He is a man driven by vaulting ambition and the kind of unbound over-reaching ego that knows no humility. DeSantis wants to make over wherever you live into his vision for all of America - the dreamland that is Florida.
Ask yourself if that’s truly something you want – a state that’s marching steadily backward toward the 1950s. It is a place and era where, to paraphrase Garrison Keillor’s description of Lake Wobegon, “All the people are white, all the men are in charge, all the women are subservient and dutiful, and all the children are taking up space in school while their education is being whitewashed." Sadly, Florida is lurching into deeper Red, where the repugnant reprehensible repulsive irresponsible reptilian morally-arrested Republican party is taking over. They are much like the plague of Burmese pythons that has invaded the state and is progressing northward. Pray that both forms of reptile get stopped at the Georgia and Alabama borders.
So here’s a commentary on Governor Ron in the form of lyrics to a song meant to be sung to the melody of the song that inspired it, “Here’s To The State of Mississippi.” It was written and performed by the brilliant but sadly deceased 60’s political protest singer Phil Ochs. I thank him for the inspiration and the one semi-plagiarized line plus the chorus.
Phil Ochs
If you want to get the melody in your head for the lyrics that follow, or just hear Ochs’s blistering takedown of Mississippi politics and mores in the mid-1960s, here’s a link: https://youtu.be/K7fgB0m_y2I
Here’s To The State of Ron DeSantis”
Here’s to the state of Ron DeSantis.
If you’re a Black American your history’s a joke.
His biases he tries to hide beneath his governor’s cloak.
His hatred is transparent in the racist words he spoke.
Watch out if he gets close to you you’ll want to gag and choke.
(CHORUS) So here’s to the land you’d tear out the heart of
Ron DeSantis find yourself another country to be part of.
And here’s to the self-image of Ron DeSantis.
Envisioning himself to be the savior of mankind
So self-absorbed and egomaniacally inclined.
A god-like figure sent to earth advertisements opine
More Trumpian than Trump himself to those who are not blind.
CHORUS
And here’s to the government of Ron DeSantis.
The legislature cowers when the big man is in town
They quickly pass initiatives that sanity’d shoot down.
He’d outlaw woke and wokeness as an adjective or noun
His speeches as the governor are the ravings of a clown.
CHORUS
And here’s to the humanity of Ron DeSantis.
He’d exile the transgendered to the shores of Molokai
And really wouldn’t care much if they live or if they die.
The idea that they’re normal’s just another foolish lie
No point to argue this with such a phobic-riddled guy.
CHORUS
And here's to the schools of Ron DeSantis.
The history they’re teaching has a hundred thousand gaps
Curricula straitjacketed, the textbooks under wraps.The kids cannot think critically, they might as well take naps
And soon the only thing they’ll use are Ronny-approved apps
CHORUS
And here’s to your health with Rhonda Santis.
Vaccines? Absurd! It’s all a hoax! So what if people die?
The very thought of public health is just a vicious lie.
Your uterus is not your own (Thank God that I’m a guy!)
You’ll have that kid, by God! (Whose god?) Don’t deign to question why.
CHORUS
So here’s to the fraud that’s Ron DuhSantis.
His first amendment rights are fine but don’t critique our Ron
His defamation legislation’s not an idle con.
Your right to say what’s on your mind will find itself withdrawn
If you take on the governor, your rights will soon be gone.
CHORUS
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13 comments:
Oh no, here we go again. Now we’ll have the usual suspects claiming DeSantis is rational and there’s nothing racist about his war on woke, as if it weren’t a blatant appeal to Trump’s White nationalist base.
In spite of DeSantis claiming to be sent by God, Trump remains the party’s clear frontrunner. The Trump devotees who thronged CPAC and its boiling cauldron of batshit-crazy stew are not a looney far-right fringe of the GOP. They are the party and they couldn’t care less that he ended his first term with an attempted coup. If it wasn’t clear before, it should be clear now: The voting base of one of our two major political parties is completely radicalized.
With respect to "transgender (fake) women," the Republicans, overall, are on the correct side of this issue. Do most women want dudes invading their privates spaces and stealing their HARD WON opportunities? I don't think so. The Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling (sp?), is spot on.
Regarding women's reproductive rights (no worries for "transgender (fake) women"), I hope the lawsuits start flying when women and girls who were forced by the state to give birth are harmed in any way, including death. The USA has a maternal health and death problem, especially black females.
Hillary’s remark about “a basket of deplorables“ has now metastasized into and taken over a large part of the mind of the left. The rage, the scorn, and most of all the contempt, is not lost on those at whom it is directed.
Donald Trump was a giant, orange, middle finger, raised by “the deplorables” in response to that contempt. Apart from winning the presidency, Trump was too scatterbrained and incompetent to accomplish an enormous amount. Ron DeSantis combines much of that same appeal with the competence to really get things done.
Meanwhile, the left continues to alienate groups that are crucial to the success of the Democratic Party:
You think that competence and excellence should be the measure of success instead of the racial quotas of “equity“? There go the Asians, who want their kids to get into good colleges through hard work and achievement.
You want to go “soft on crime” via policies like “bail reform“, “restorative justice”, and refusal to prosecute “small crimes” like shoplifting? There go a large portion of city dwellers, who refuse to live in the crime wave that those policies produce. We won’t even mention “defund the police”.
You don’t want your kindergarten student to be “taught“ the ideology of gender fluidity? How dare you not say gay? You’re canceled, transphobe! There go many parents, who have the nerve to want their children to learn to read and do arithmetic instead. How dare they?
But those feelings of scorn and contempt and superiority are apparently too delicious to give up, and so the virtue signaling is likely to continue and carry the Democrats right down the electoral drain in 2024.
My advice to the Democrats would be, “Don’t say woke“. But they won’t take it.
This ex-Oregonian finds DeSantis to be one of the better governors, actually improving Florida for most people. Yes, there are people on the fringes that could be doing better.
There is help available for the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.
Back in the 70s when we moved from NY to Oregon, we we recall that Oregon didn't exactly have the welcome mat out for new residents. Jobs were scarce as the timber industry was winding down, and the Silicon Forest hadn't quite ramped up, though Intel made a big commitment to invest there, as Silicon Valley was filling up. I grew up in Western New York in a steelworker family, and even I worked in the mills over the summers to help pay my college expenses. I recall Oregon being a bit more conservative at the time.
During my working years in Oregon, i recall a bit of resentment for people moving to Oregon from California. To the tune of "Don't Californicate Oregon!"
The post today reminded me of that as it's from a couple from the Northeast who've moved to Southern Florida, and their musical poem seems like an effort to MASSacre Florida, preferring their politics from Massachusetts instead what has been growing here for quite some time.
Yes, Florida is growing by leaps and bounds. A mass migration of retirees wanting a comfortable place to spend their sunset years. That migration includes liberals, conservatives and everything in-between. There are even some from the far-left as well as the far right.
For the most part, people are happy here in Central Florida due to the weather, the activities, the lower cost of living for some, and the better quality of life when compared to where they came from.
In my area of central Florida (The Villages), growth is phenomenal, being the #1 or #2 MSA:
Between 2010 and 2020, The Villages Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was the fastest-growing metro area in the United States, growing 39 percent, from about 93,000 in 2010 to 130,000 in 2020. In recent years, Lakewood Ranch near Sarasota has also alternated with The Villages for that #1 or #2 spot.
The Villages is a 55+ community; Lakewood Ranch is all ages.
You will find many stories about both areas; both true as well as untrue. Hyperbole exists.
Southern Florida has become very expensive. Many of my neighbors here have migrated from the mid-west and northeast. Yes even a few from the west coast, Texas, and the southwest. I'm actually the community organizer for my neighborhood of 103 homes. I'm also a recently appointed neighborhood representative for the several thousand homes in The Village of Marsh Bend here. One of the many Villages here in The Villages.
We cover 3 counties. Most of the new development is in rural Sumter County; cattle ranching is still quite big in the surrounding area.
Back to the point I am trying to make: there's little acceptance for newcomers coming here, wanting to turn it into something familiar from whence they've come. Adaptation is good for the soul.
My message to the couple in today's post - don't MASSacre Sothern Florida.
In what way has giving someone the middle finger benefited your life?
Has it gotten you a diploma or a promotion?
In a few decades Florida will be underwater.
Hopefully a lot of its racist morons will go down with the ship.
Perhaps, just as the state was underwater thousands or millions of years ago.
There's sand, limestone, and ancient coral almost everywhere in the peninsula.
And related there is the continental shelf off shore that is currently underwater
Some of this is primarily due to plate tectonics.
Fortunately, I don't expect to be threatened by those seas during my lifetime, nor during my grandchildren's lifetime.
Here's a 400+ datapoint: Plymouth Rock in in the northeast is still above the Atlantic's mean water level. Not much higher or lower.
What’s with Florida coastal developers wanting to-and being allowed to-build homes 2-5 feet above sea level? And why do get get surprised when a hurricane knocks on their doors?
Perhaps in years past, but not so in recent years.
Floridians have to follow stricter building codes developed after Hurricane Andrew slammed into south Florida in 1992, destroying more than 50,000 homes and causing about $26 billion in damage. FEMA guidelines require homeowners in areas vulnerable to flooding to build new homes higher off the ground.
For homes built in earlier times that have been flooded, there are strict requirements for rebuilding. There's also the matter of what can an cannot be rebuilt and insured.
Yes, the laws have been changing
Glad the laws are changing. Hope that’s enough. I look at all the beaches around Miami, and it’s pretty amazing to look at the contour lines.. most areas look like they should have fish swimming down the street simply from a slight breeze at spring tides.
And then hearing all the blame, not on the builders, not the owners nit Planning departments. No, it’s all “climate catastrophe”.
When you have a governor that denies climate change in a state that is the most vulnerable in the nation, what could go wrong? The hurricanes are causing more destruction than ever because the oceans are getting warmer. That heat feeds the hurricanes to even more destruction. The insurance companies are smarting up and charging more, which is a burden for a lot of people. But the roads are nice.
If you think DeSantis is better than Trump, you would be wrong. He’s the same guy without the felonies .He will not get the primary win in 2024, but will position to run in 2028. He could win.
DeSantis is the epitome of cancel culture. He's censoring the teaching of history, banned advanced studies in Black history, banned books, attacked corporations such as Disney that promote diversity and has taken over a liberal arts college (New College of Florida) in an attempt to turn it into a conservative arts college, apparently unaware that there's no such thing. For those who like their authoritarianism hot and humid, Florida is the place to go. Now he says he wants to "make America Florida." Let's give him the middle finger.
I'm on record in previous comments here and elsewhere, wanting DeSantis to finish his term, and not run for President in 2024. I'd probably say skip 2028, too, but he will be term limited for governor.
It's not likely he'd be successful turning the rest of the states into Florida, for a variety of reasons.
It does seem that some of the usual commenters here are unable to help restore Oregon and its metro areas to some level of civility, despite spending record amounts of tax revenues to run the state. The schools are near the bottom for K-12 outcomes. There's a continued quest to raise taxes, and renewed efforts to steal the kicker.
Discussions about future PERS needs to payout benefits seems to be quite quiet. A day of reckoning is overdue.
Seems more people outside Florida are quite concerned about current and future policy, but unable to recognize that their own state has a lot more problems that need to be addressed for its residents, and to attract businesses that will help fund improvements with their taxes.
No need to fix Florida when your own state has serious problems.that are being ignored.
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