The Ron DeSantis announcement disaster set new records for utter weirdness and personal abasement during the MAGA era. It was a parody of dysfunction, incompetence and ego that unspooled like a script from HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley.’ Squeezed between two self-important and loquacious billionaires — one being the richest man in the world — DeSantis was reduced to a prop at his own announcement. He was truly the invisible man.
Kent, I was never a fan of Biden. Nor did I vote for him, b/c living in NJ, I could rely on it going Dem. I wrote in Bernie. But now I have to say, I'm surprised and darn pleased at what Biden has done. He's what we needed in this insane time. I hope your words are realized in this next election. And I will vote for Biden this time, w/o hesitancy.
Yes well, I fail to see how anyone didn’t realize the vote in 2020 was about democracy. It wasn’t a time to make a point on who you would prefer to see running, that’s what the primary was for. The 2020 presidential election was supposed
For me, that's exactly what it was (opposition against fascism). Some folks missed that point. Hopefully even the "slow" folks understand what's at stake this time. ;-)
Neither Trump or DeSantis are fit to serve in any capacity. Both are committed to undermining our democracy for their own benefits! Those Americans who are opposed to their fascist model of governance must unite to defeat them! Thanks Steve for your efforts to bring sunlight to this issue!
“...it depends on apathy to succeed.” --- Local newspapers kept even the marginally interested of us in the loop of what was going on, close to home and nationally. People were drawn to stories about themselves and their neighbors. Pictures from high school sports or of kids playing in parks or of the public pool on Memorial Day or a hot dog stand on Labor Day or one of the church displays around town at Christmas or menorahs at Hanukkah. It was normal conversation -- “Did you see such and such in the paper?” Without local papers, with cable and streaming making local television and radio more irrelevant every month, we all easily lose touch with each other right at home. That makes our national connection even more tenuous. That makes for apathy and allows for gerrymandering to occur under our noses, diluting a large chunk of the democratic power we had left. National elections (Senate, President) show where our heads are at. The House and its manufactured districts shows us who we aren’t (Boebert, Taylor Green, Gaetz, really?). How the digital age disconnects us while hyper-connecting us would be anthropologically interesting if it didn’t threaten us all so completely.
May 26, 2023·edited May 26, 2023Liked by Steve Schmidt
I agree 1000 percent. NPR highlighted a local paper, the North Shore Leader, that exposed George Santos as "most likely a fabulist, a fake" before the 2022 election. If only more locals had read it.
I put forth the House shows us exactly who we are, and it ain't pretty. 'We' made those districts and 'we' picked the ugliest ways in which to represent us. It's us.
You are right, and yet here in North Carolina we have two sets of districts (for now), one for the state legislature and one for Congress. The state legislature has a veto-proof GOP majority in both the NC House and NC Senate, making our Dem Governor’s job exceedingly difficult. But our congressional breakdown is 6 Dem and 8 GOP, which feels like the place I live every day. Gerrymandering can occur in a fit of dark-arts strategy (the 2010 shellacking following the Affordable Care Act), and it’s damn hard to claw back from it. So, Congress is us and it isn’t us. It’s that contradiction that has painted this country from the start.
I live in MT, and while our state is low in population, we seem to be very close to you with so many similar state stories. We are having gerrymander battles for our local representation in our mostly rural state run by a R super majority that is leaving a lot a victims in its wake.
My wife is from Montana, so I’m in and out of Billings and surrounds once a year at least, more if I’m lucky. She has no confidence in her home state’s politics, but I see the growth of Bozeman and Billings and tenaciousness of Tester and expect there’s a tide out there that might equalize things a bit.
I hope so! I live in Billings and have taken up volunteering for local candidates for as long as it takes. I am in it for the long haul because otherwise despair comes calling.
These are my fears. There is a lack of knowledge and a solid delivery system. Is it age that says newspapers worked? I don’t think it’s age. I feel tho as connected to people. It’s local news that’s missing from here and in the places of many. What happens locally is what matters and what connects us to bigger issues. How will this impact 2024?
Look at the mess the republicans have to offer so far - Haley, Scott, Pence, Christie, desantis and the orange traitor himself.
What a collection of weak, power seeking, spineless individuals with no plan for a better America, and not one word about how to make life better for her citizens (not to mention the rest of the world).
Anyone who cares about democracy, freedom, and America should vote Democrat up and down the ballot in 2024 or stay home (while they still have one).
Look at the mess the republicans have to offer so far - Haley, Scott, Pence, Christie, desantis and the orange traitor himself. The much bigger problem here is that in Republicans eyes they are not offering "a mess." These are their very best people.
To me, Ron DeSantis is just the other side of the "MAGA/Trump coin"--bizarrely/frighteningly, though, he is setting himself up as the candidate who will run to the RIGHT of Trump. Maybe it will succeed, but like you, Mr. Schmidt, I believe that people will "go for the real thing" as opposed to a cheap (albeit even more extreme, which the Republican base seems to adore) knockoff.
Here is my question, though, and I certainly trust you to answer it: When does this seemingly never-ending move to the right end for the Republican Party? I am very concerned about the future of the country if it does not do so. This country has by and large benefitted from the two-party system. It has provided stability which has in turn made the United States the most powerful economy in the world and arguably, the most dominant economy since Great Britain dominated 1/4 of the world's population in the late 19th Century. Yet, at least to me, it seems as though Republicans seem more than happy to burn the whole system down, and for what reason? "Owning the Libs"? Unfettered business profits? Turning the country into a real-life equivalent of Margaret Atwood's "Gilead"? I honestly don't get this. I do get that many people in this country feel as though the "elites" in both parties don't answer to them, but how does that play into the sheer cruelty of these anti-trans laws which are spreading across Red States? How does that simmering anger lead to a belief that only ONE side has the right to be in charge? Are we that far gone?
Thom Hartmann is a longtime ace reporter / commentator on these matters of social justice and bringing a spiritual perspective to politics. Thanks for sharing this, Wendy!
This article is so helpful. I did not understand what was going on with the debt ceiling 'crisis' until I read this. Let's keep sharing this article. Thank you!
Much evil in the several plausible reasons you ponder. How, why, and when did this destructive infection first begin to fester? Like you I just “don’t get it” . ( while giving myself a little credit for trying to figur it out).
You ask some very good questions Ian, I like you was raised within a system where we had two parties that were in a dynamic dialog with each other, from my point of view they were both working for the betterment of all of us, that all stopped during Obama’s presidency, and now only one party has the interests of all Americans as it’s core belief. The repugnantkins no longer have a majority across the nation simply based on their ideas that will benefit all of us, so what do they do to excite their base, and they do have a base of voters that are fearful of the changes that our evolving democracy is producing, they target one of the weakest segments of our multifaceted population, the Trans community. They are behaving just like the insipid clown did when he was a young teenager throwing rocks at a toddler next door, that comparison is aptly applied, and is despicable at its core. Somewhere there must be a group of people that hold somewhat conservative views regarding the individual and the state, they deserve a place at the table and should be welcomed to the conversation about how we can improve our society for the benefit of all of us. I can’t think of a single elected repugnantkin leader in our congress who fits that description, maybe they are in there somewhere in the herd afraid to speak up and stand out, but if they are there, what use are they if they won’t stand up for their convictions, I’m left with the belief that they don’t have any convictions that I could entertain certainty has some validity. Until we have a reliable partner to have our dialog with, we are left with the democrats to do all of the heavy lifting, the outcome may be less than perfect but at least it’ll be heading in the right direction.
It is bad now, can’t imagine how bad the future will be. I have been reading McCarthy’s talking points. What an ass. It just goes on and on and on. I find it hard to believe that people are not looking at this mess and screaming. My hope is we have the largest non-Republican turnout in history. My fear, we will not.
Not funny, but I had to laugh about this stance of invading Mexico. Where does this stuff come from?
So true, all that you say here Steve. It’s frightening to me how quickly and deeply authoritarianism and fascism have embedded themselves into the GOP. As a baby boomer, I can remember hearing my dad talk about his service in WWII. There was no doubt in his mind the US had to defeat the authoritarianism of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo. It made a lasting impression on me to always abhor strongmen. Yet, in just a few generations we seem to have forgotten the cost we paid to fight authoritarianism in WWII. Many of us today seem to be willing to exchange our democratic freedoms for a strongman who will control our lives and promises to “protect and take care of us”. Sad to see how easy it is for us to be manipulated by these con men and women who are merely puppets of the billionaire class who are funding them via a parallel shadow government that most Americans don’t even realize exists.
Authoritarianism is such a lazy way to rule....which is certainly why "the orange one" is so fervent towards fascism. Consensus is hard work and rankle, supported by the billionaires, maintains discord in lieu of communication. It is the surest route to their intended goal.
I'm wondering if millions of us get on those putrid online threads and respectfully reply with the truth while being humble and curious. Maybe It could arrest the aggressive momentum that feeds each thread of lies. I know it sounds naive, and trolls will always be trolls, but we have to see each other as HUMAN and not some divisive ideology. Steve, you talked about this when you were on the campaign with Tim. We need GRACE and understanding, not "us and them." It could be a ray of light onto millions of screens around the country...a grassroots wormhole to battle fascism.
To say that DeSantis is dead in the water is a redundancy, as he is already a bloated zombie floating face down in the Florida flood waters party to which he brings his ironic white boots.
Rot subsumes the entirety of the GOP- it is democracy vs decomposition.
The United States will have to collectively determine its affinity for necrophilia vs equality and decency.
Opinion For Republicans, Ron DeSantis offers the best of two worlds
By Marc A. Thiessen (Republican columnist)
From the article--But DeSantis is also a conservative reformer who delivers concrete results. During the pandemic, he kept Florida open and running, banning vaccine passports, suspending local emergency orders that forced businesses to shut down and opening schools. When storms hit, he was the model of a chief executive in action, getting the bridge to Pine Island rebuilt in less than three days, reopening the Sanibel Causeway in 15 days and cleaning up thousands of miles of debris. And he has pushed a raft of conservative reforms through the Florida legislature: He signed one of the most comprehensive school choice laws in the country while also raising teacher salaries in traditional public schools. He cracked down on predatory lawsuits that steal the livelihoods of honest business owners. He passed “constitutional-carry” legislation, made child rape eligible for the death penalty and cracked down on left-wing “bail reform.” And he barred “environmental, social and governance" investing of state assets, saying he wants to make sure investment decisions are made only on the basis of what will deliver the best return for Floridians.
Marc Thiessen is the apologist for the right wing of the Republican party who echoes party dogma. I live in Florida, and I don't know anyone who admires DeSantis. He is responsible for many Covid deaths as he hired a charlatan to run the Health Department who has discouraged vaccination. His stunts! He tried to humiliate teenagers at a photo op because they wore masks, one of whom refused to remove his mask because of a vulnerable family member. His rhetoric on the dangers of books is moving from his Moms of Liberty organization into my own book club. I am disgusted.
Wow I was unaware of the severity of Thiessn extremism and surprised that WAPO would hire him. I am very relieved to learn that those you know in FLA do not admire DeSantis. Thanks very much for your comments.
WAPO figures it has to keep Thiessen because its principled conservative columnists (George Will, Kathleen Parker, Jennifer Rubin) left the Republican Party.
It seems they will tear their own movement apart, on their way to something worse, possibly violently. The ONE THING they do not want to hear is from Democrats. Being reminded of their false idols will bind them more closely to them.
They will decay; we just have to weather this storm. We’re in the eye of the Trumpocalypse. It will get worse before it breaks apart.
If we are as close to the Federal Indictment as it appears, it will be worse before better. Yes, they will bind themselves to Trump, for reasons beyond rationality.
Pathetic character, with hubris. It's a bit mind-blowing that he ever rose to the position he holds. I had tried twice to live in Florida, decades ago. I love warm weather and sunshine. Each attempt lasted just about 1 year. There was something a bit "off" about the people I encountered there. I assumed that this was just a cultural thing, it was I who did not fit in. But watching this insanity unfold, and DeSantis seemingly still favored by Floridians, causes me to believe that it's Florida that does not fit in, in the US. The 'why' of that, I don't know. Perhaps the is another north/south civil war on our horizon.
The amazing impersonator / comedian J-L Cauvin, who has uploaded to YouTube many hundreds of spot-on, unscripted sketches of Trump and his insane riffing (as well as Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Brett Kavanaugh, Don Trump Jr.), has a new hilarious tandem sketch of Elon and DeSantis conversing (with DeSantis' maniacal laugh). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky7R7J1NzyQ&t=215s
After World War II until the Berlin wall fell, communism was the enemy. republicans needed a new enemy, so they turned their sights at home. Our own government and the liberal left are the enemy now. Republicans are willing to vote for an authoritarian to protect them, and democracy becomes a threat.
DeSantis is more dangerous in so far as he actually believes white Christian autocracy is righteous and the appropriate political structure for the US. Trump is more dangerous in so far as having spent a term as President he has already consolidated power and a second term would commence with in your face autocracy and abuse of power. Pick your poison.
Steve, thanks for another great take-down of this bizarre DeSantis character, as you've masterfully done with so many insane and corrupt GOP personae. Your prior experience as a veteran campaign consultant allows you to notice many interesting things about political campaigns.
Takeover won’t take a majority for these horrendous Republicans. They just need enough people who don’t vote and don’t care. We are in desperate need of a communicator, an FDR or Churchill who can speak to the American people and rally those who are concerned about democracy. OK Democrats. Someone needs to step up in Prime Time.
When you said "Diet Trump" I first thought of a name brand out of Atlanta with Zero attached. Would fit DeSantis well.
Your core issue about their both standing together is key. Regardless of which survives their match up, it's still autocracy, and we still need to defeat it at every step. Yes, it is corrupt at its core: the CPAC financial person leaving due to leadership fiscal impropriety; that Ken Paxton is facing impeachment (23 counts); what we have seen with the House R (Santos anyone); or the continuing grift out of Arizona, no one has clean hands. Time to remove them, through the election process, from the political arena.
- "all the King's men" are falling. Stewart Rhodes III (Oath Keeper's leader) just got sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.
- Trumpty Dumpty is about to fall via various criminal and civil prosecutions; and he'll fall politically too.
- Biden will win reelection. Probably by a fairly large margin. Large enough to overcome the systemic inequality of the Electoral College.
- Thank God for Biden and the only political party supporting democracy and trying to make this place better for all people.
Kent, I was never a fan of Biden. Nor did I vote for him, b/c living in NJ, I could rely on it going Dem. I wrote in Bernie. But now I have to say, I'm surprised and darn pleased at what Biden has done. He's what we needed in this insane time. I hope your words are realized in this next election. And I will vote for Biden this time, w/o hesitancy.
We need to support Joe. The consequences of every person’s vote are too great. 💙
Yes well, I fail to see how anyone didn’t realize the vote in 2020 was about democracy. It wasn’t a time to make a point on who you would prefer to see running, that’s what the primary was for. The 2020 presidential election was supposed
to be a huge wave of opposition against fascism.
For me, that's exactly what it was (opposition against fascism). Some folks missed that point. Hopefully even the "slow" folks understand what's at stake this time. ;-)
Neither Trump or DeSantis are fit to serve in any capacity. Both are committed to undermining our democracy for their own benefits! Those Americans who are opposed to their fascist model of governance must unite to defeat them! Thanks Steve for your efforts to bring sunlight to this issue!
“...it depends on apathy to succeed.” --- Local newspapers kept even the marginally interested of us in the loop of what was going on, close to home and nationally. People were drawn to stories about themselves and their neighbors. Pictures from high school sports or of kids playing in parks or of the public pool on Memorial Day or a hot dog stand on Labor Day or one of the church displays around town at Christmas or menorahs at Hanukkah. It was normal conversation -- “Did you see such and such in the paper?” Without local papers, with cable and streaming making local television and radio more irrelevant every month, we all easily lose touch with each other right at home. That makes our national connection even more tenuous. That makes for apathy and allows for gerrymandering to occur under our noses, diluting a large chunk of the democratic power we had left. National elections (Senate, President) show where our heads are at. The House and its manufactured districts shows us who we aren’t (Boebert, Taylor Green, Gaetz, really?). How the digital age disconnects us while hyper-connecting us would be anthropologically interesting if it didn’t threaten us all so completely.
I agree 1000 percent. NPR highlighted a local paper, the North Shore Leader, that exposed George Santos as "most likely a fabulist, a fake" before the 2022 election. If only more locals had read it.
Excellent! We need to have this conversation. Thanks.
I put forth the House shows us exactly who we are, and it ain't pretty. 'We' made those districts and 'we' picked the ugliest ways in which to represent us. It's us.
You are right, and yet here in North Carolina we have two sets of districts (for now), one for the state legislature and one for Congress. The state legislature has a veto-proof GOP majority in both the NC House and NC Senate, making our Dem Governor’s job exceedingly difficult. But our congressional breakdown is 6 Dem and 8 GOP, which feels like the place I live every day. Gerrymandering can occur in a fit of dark-arts strategy (the 2010 shellacking following the Affordable Care Act), and it’s damn hard to claw back from it. So, Congress is us and it isn’t us. It’s that contradiction that has painted this country from the start.
I live in MT, and while our state is low in population, we seem to be very close to you with so many similar state stories. We are having gerrymander battles for our local representation in our mostly rural state run by a R super majority that is leaving a lot a victims in its wake.
My wife is from Montana, so I’m in and out of Billings and surrounds once a year at least, more if I’m lucky. She has no confidence in her home state’s politics, but I see the growth of Bozeman and Billings and tenaciousness of Tester and expect there’s a tide out there that might equalize things a bit.
I hope so! I live in Billings and have taken up volunteering for local candidates for as long as it takes. I am in it for the long haul because otherwise despair comes calling.
These are my fears. There is a lack of knowledge and a solid delivery system. Is it age that says newspapers worked? I don’t think it’s age. I feel tho as connected to people. It’s local news that’s missing from here and in the places of many. What happens locally is what matters and what connects us to bigger issues. How will this impact 2024?
Look at the mess the republicans have to offer so far - Haley, Scott, Pence, Christie, desantis and the orange traitor himself.
What a collection of weak, power seeking, spineless individuals with no plan for a better America, and not one word about how to make life better for her citizens (not to mention the rest of the world).
Anyone who cares about democracy, freedom, and America should vote Democrat up and down the ballot in 2024 or stay home (while they still have one).
Look at the mess the republicans have to offer so far - Haley, Scott, Pence, Christie, desantis and the orange traitor himself. The much bigger problem here is that in Republicans eyes they are not offering "a mess." These are their very best people.
To me, Ron DeSantis is just the other side of the "MAGA/Trump coin"--bizarrely/frighteningly, though, he is setting himself up as the candidate who will run to the RIGHT of Trump. Maybe it will succeed, but like you, Mr. Schmidt, I believe that people will "go for the real thing" as opposed to a cheap (albeit even more extreme, which the Republican base seems to adore) knockoff.
Here is my question, though, and I certainly trust you to answer it: When does this seemingly never-ending move to the right end for the Republican Party? I am very concerned about the future of the country if it does not do so. This country has by and large benefitted from the two-party system. It has provided stability which has in turn made the United States the most powerful economy in the world and arguably, the most dominant economy since Great Britain dominated 1/4 of the world's population in the late 19th Century. Yet, at least to me, it seems as though Republicans seem more than happy to burn the whole system down, and for what reason? "Owning the Libs"? Unfettered business profits? Turning the country into a real-life equivalent of Margaret Atwood's "Gilead"? I honestly don't get this. I do get that many people in this country feel as though the "elites" in both parties don't answer to them, but how does that play into the sheer cruelty of these anti-trans laws which are spreading across Red States? How does that simmering anger lead to a belief that only ONE side has the right to be in charge? Are we that far gone?
The ones who want unfettered business profits concede the domestic agenda to those who just want to own the libs, and here we are.
Thom Hartmann lays out a good explanation for how we got here in a clear way, for anyone who is interested.
https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-debt-ceiling-is-just-two-santas?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Thom Hartmann is a longtime ace reporter / commentator on these matters of social justice and bringing a spiritual perspective to politics. Thanks for sharing this, Wendy!
I had such a visceral reaction to this article that I wanted to link it for the others who might as well. It's the best explanation I've seen.
This article is so helpful. I did not understand what was going on with the debt ceiling 'crisis' until I read this. Let's keep sharing this article. Thank you!
Wendy, that is a fantastic analysis. Thank you for sharing it.
Much evil in the several plausible reasons you ponder. How, why, and when did this destructive infection first begin to fester? Like you I just “don’t get it” . ( while giving myself a little credit for trying to figur it out).
You ask some very good questions Ian, I like you was raised within a system where we had two parties that were in a dynamic dialog with each other, from my point of view they were both working for the betterment of all of us, that all stopped during Obama’s presidency, and now only one party has the interests of all Americans as it’s core belief. The repugnantkins no longer have a majority across the nation simply based on their ideas that will benefit all of us, so what do they do to excite their base, and they do have a base of voters that are fearful of the changes that our evolving democracy is producing, they target one of the weakest segments of our multifaceted population, the Trans community. They are behaving just like the insipid clown did when he was a young teenager throwing rocks at a toddler next door, that comparison is aptly applied, and is despicable at its core. Somewhere there must be a group of people that hold somewhat conservative views regarding the individual and the state, they deserve a place at the table and should be welcomed to the conversation about how we can improve our society for the benefit of all of us. I can’t think of a single elected repugnantkin leader in our congress who fits that description, maybe they are in there somewhere in the herd afraid to speak up and stand out, but if they are there, what use are they if they won’t stand up for their convictions, I’m left with the belief that they don’t have any convictions that I could entertain certainty has some validity. Until we have a reliable partner to have our dialog with, we are left with the democrats to do all of the heavy lifting, the outcome may be less than perfect but at least it’ll be heading in the right direction.
It is bad now, can’t imagine how bad the future will be. I have been reading McCarthy’s talking points. What an ass. It just goes on and on and on. I find it hard to believe that people are not looking at this mess and screaming. My hope is we have the largest non-Republican turnout in history. My fear, we will not.
Not funny, but I had to laugh about this stance of invading Mexico. Where does this stuff come from?
So true, all that you say here Steve. It’s frightening to me how quickly and deeply authoritarianism and fascism have embedded themselves into the GOP. As a baby boomer, I can remember hearing my dad talk about his service in WWII. There was no doubt in his mind the US had to defeat the authoritarianism of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo. It made a lasting impression on me to always abhor strongmen. Yet, in just a few generations we seem to have forgotten the cost we paid to fight authoritarianism in WWII. Many of us today seem to be willing to exchange our democratic freedoms for a strongman who will control our lives and promises to “protect and take care of us”. Sad to see how easy it is for us to be manipulated by these con men and women who are merely puppets of the billionaire class who are funding them via a parallel shadow government that most Americans don’t even realize exists.
Authoritarianism is such a lazy way to rule....which is certainly why "the orange one" is so fervent towards fascism. Consensus is hard work and rankle, supported by the billionaires, maintains discord in lieu of communication. It is the surest route to their intended goal.
I'm wondering if millions of us get on those putrid online threads and respectfully reply with the truth while being humble and curious. Maybe It could arrest the aggressive momentum that feeds each thread of lies. I know it sounds naive, and trolls will always be trolls, but we have to see each other as HUMAN and not some divisive ideology. Steve, you talked about this when you were on the campaign with Tim. We need GRACE and understanding, not "us and them." It could be a ray of light onto millions of screens around the country...a grassroots wormhole to battle fascism.
To say that DeSantis is dead in the water is a redundancy, as he is already a bloated zombie floating face down in the Florida flood waters party to which he brings his ironic white boots.
Rot subsumes the entirety of the GOP- it is democracy vs decomposition.
The United States will have to collectively determine its affinity for necrophilia vs equality and decency.
Yet in May 25th Washington Post
Opinion For Republicans, Ron DeSantis offers the best of two worlds
By Marc A. Thiessen (Republican columnist)
From the article--But DeSantis is also a conservative reformer who delivers concrete results. During the pandemic, he kept Florida open and running, banning vaccine passports, suspending local emergency orders that forced businesses to shut down and opening schools. When storms hit, he was the model of a chief executive in action, getting the bridge to Pine Island rebuilt in less than three days, reopening the Sanibel Causeway in 15 days and cleaning up thousands of miles of debris. And he has pushed a raft of conservative reforms through the Florida legislature: He signed one of the most comprehensive school choice laws in the country while also raising teacher salaries in traditional public schools. He cracked down on predatory lawsuits that steal the livelihoods of honest business owners. He passed “constitutional-carry” legislation, made child rape eligible for the death penalty and cracked down on left-wing “bail reform.” And he barred “environmental, social and governance" investing of state assets, saying he wants to make sure investment decisions are made only on the basis of what will deliver the best return for Floridians.
Marc Thiessen is the apologist for the right wing of the Republican party who echoes party dogma. I live in Florida, and I don't know anyone who admires DeSantis. He is responsible for many Covid deaths as he hired a charlatan to run the Health Department who has discouraged vaccination. His stunts! He tried to humiliate teenagers at a photo op because they wore masks, one of whom refused to remove his mask because of a vulnerable family member. His rhetoric on the dangers of books is moving from his Moms of Liberty organization into my own book club. I am disgusted.
This
Wow I was unaware of the severity of Thiessn extremism and surprised that WAPO would hire him. I am very relieved to learn that those you know in FLA do not admire DeSantis. Thanks very much for your comments.
WAPO figures it has to keep Thiessen because its principled conservative columnists (George Will, Kathleen Parker, Jennifer Rubin) left the Republican Party.
Oh, Lord, I meant Jennifer Rubin, not Ruth Marcus! Thank you for that. I'm fixing it now.
Propaganda
Mia, Lovely images - thanks:
It seems they will tear their own movement apart, on their way to something worse, possibly violently. The ONE THING they do not want to hear is from Democrats. Being reminded of their false idols will bind them more closely to them.
They will decay; we just have to weather this storm. We’re in the eye of the Trumpocalypse. It will get worse before it breaks apart.
If we are as close to the Federal Indictment as it appears, it will be worse before better. Yes, they will bind themselves to Trump, for reasons beyond rationality.
Pathetic character, with hubris. It's a bit mind-blowing that he ever rose to the position he holds. I had tried twice to live in Florida, decades ago. I love warm weather and sunshine. Each attempt lasted just about 1 year. There was something a bit "off" about the people I encountered there. I assumed that this was just a cultural thing, it was I who did not fit in. But watching this insanity unfold, and DeSantis seemingly still favored by Floridians, causes me to believe that it's Florida that does not fit in, in the US. The 'why' of that, I don't know. Perhaps the is another north/south civil war on our horizon.
The amazing impersonator / comedian J-L Cauvin, who has uploaded to YouTube many hundreds of spot-on, unscripted sketches of Trump and his insane riffing (as well as Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Brett Kavanaugh, Don Trump Jr.), has a new hilarious tandem sketch of Elon and DeSantis conversing (with DeSantis' maniacal laugh). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky7R7J1NzyQ&t=215s
For more Cauvin videos, see https://www.youtube.com/@JLCauvin/videos (and keep scrolling down to find hundreds more).
Yes, essential. J-L Cauvin has provided me and my late wife hours of comic relief during the insane, corrupt Trump / MAGA era.
I did get a good laugh out of that awful 'laughing' -thanks. Every laugh helps!
Here is a fancy Randy Rainbow one dedicated to DeSantis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2M5ZeJSZHM
After World War II until the Berlin wall fell, communism was the enemy. republicans needed a new enemy, so they turned their sights at home. Our own government and the liberal left are the enemy now. Republicans are willing to vote for an authoritarian to protect them, and democracy becomes a threat.
DeSantis is more dangerous in so far as he actually believes white Christian autocracy is righteous and the appropriate political structure for the US. Trump is more dangerous in so far as having spent a term as President he has already consolidated power and a second term would commence with in your face autocracy and abuse of power. Pick your poison.
Steve, thanks for another great take-down of this bizarre DeSantis character, as you've masterfully done with so many insane and corrupt GOP personae. Your prior experience as a veteran campaign consultant allows you to notice many interesting things about political campaigns.
Can one even imagine shaking hands with Puddin’ Fingers?
It “S’not Pudding” :-)
Good one!
NO
I only wish there was a meme.
Takeover won’t take a majority for these horrendous Republicans. They just need enough people who don’t vote and don’t care. We are in desperate need of a communicator, an FDR or Churchill who can speak to the American people and rally those who are concerned about democracy. OK Democrats. Someone needs to step up in Prime Time.
Carol, Right On! Thanks.
When you said "Diet Trump" I first thought of a name brand out of Atlanta with Zero attached. Would fit DeSantis well.
Your core issue about their both standing together is key. Regardless of which survives their match up, it's still autocracy, and we still need to defeat it at every step. Yes, it is corrupt at its core: the CPAC financial person leaving due to leadership fiscal impropriety; that Ken Paxton is facing impeachment (23 counts); what we have seen with the House R (Santos anyone); or the continuing grift out of Arizona, no one has clean hands. Time to remove them, through the election process, from the political arena.