[csusbpeace] A Comprehensive Guide to Why a Ron DeSantis Presidency Would Be as Terrifying as a Trump One
- From: "raccoon" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("bigraccoon1")
- To: "CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2023 09:21:29 -0800
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/ron-desantis-just-as-bad-as-donald-trump-2024?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=vf&utm_mailing=VF_Hive_010322&utm_medium=email&bxid=5c8ab7700564ce104853ea91&cndid=56692693&hasha=9c8dc2c8433f0f210392a1c0c9831ed8&hashb=f064be6284fa1ba75012386552774282e416916a&hashc=c74f948ab9752ff82e2ca44cab7f39a8ec63f899addc078246b23fb1af5474c3&esrc=bounceX&mbid=mbid%3DCRMVYF012019&source=EDT_VYF_NEWSLETTER_0_HIVE_ZZ&utm_campaign=VF_Hive_010322&utm_term=VYF_Hive
A Comprehensive Guide to Why a Ron DeSantis Presidency Would Be as Terrifying
as a Trump One
January 2, 2023
His bigoted policies and authoritarian behavior make him just as bad a pick
for the top job in Washington.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) at a rally in Hialeah, on Nov. 7, 2022. By Scott
McIntyre/The New York Times/Redux.
Ron DeSantis <https://www.vanityfair.com/topic/ron-desantis> has not (yet)
said if he will run for president in 2024, but with approximately two years
to go until the election, and with the caveat that about a zillion things can
change between now and then, his candidacy appears to be a forgone
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/ron-desantis-the-courage-to-be-free-memoir>
conclusion
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/10/ron-desantis-debate-full-term-governor>.
That prospect is exciting to a number of people—namely, his record-setting
pack of billionaire donors
<https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2022/05/25/florida-desantis-notable-billionaire-supporters-koch-publix/9745715002/>—but,
as it turns out, having the support of, say, Elon Musk
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/26/elon-musk-ron-desantis-election/>
does not mean someone should be president. In fact, it’s probably a good
indication someone definitely should
<https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/twitter-yoel-roth-flees-home-17649429.php>
not
<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/united-nations-dangerous-precedent-elon-muck-journalist-crackdown_n_639cf1bce4b044143047744f>
be
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/elon-musk-twitter-terrible-things-hes-said-and-done>
president, and when it comes to DeSantis, that is most certainly the case.
But wait, you say: Wouldn’t DeSantis be a hell of a lot more preferable to
send to the White House than Donald Trump? Shouldn’t we be happy about the
fact that, at the very least, he doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would
Sharpie over a hurricane map to cover his own ass
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/donald-trump-hurricane-map-alabama>
or force people to think about what he gets up to
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/12/donald-trump-forces-america-to-ponder-his-toilet-habits>
in the
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/02/donald-trump-clogged-toilets>
bathroom
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/08/donald-trump-toilet-clogging-photos>?
And the answer is no! We shouldn’t be!
To be clear, this is not an argument in favor of giving Trump, who announced
in November that he will run for a third time, a second term; that man should
be legally prohibited
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/07/trump-should-never-be-allowed-in-white-house-again-guide>
from coming within 1,000 feet of the Oval Office and it would clearly be a
boon for humanity if he was never heard from or seen again. Rather, it’s an
argument that DeSantis—who some recent polls show thrashing Trump
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/donald-trump-ron-desantis-2024-polls>
in a theoretical GOP primary—would be no better and it would be great if
people could avoid giving him the top job in Washington, too.
What, exactly, is there to dislike about the guy? Wellllll:
He thinks it’s okay to treat human beings like chattel
Remember when the state of Florida sent a bunch of planes to Texas; lured
Venezuelan migrants onto said planes with the promise of housing, jobs, and
basic services; told them they were headed for Boston; and then dumped them
on the tiny island of Martha’s Vineyard? All so the governor could score some
cheap political points with the gang at Fox News and anyone else who thinks
it’s cool to treat people from other countries as subhuman
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/09/biden-officials-legal-ron-desantis-stunt>?
You should, considering it happened quite recently, it was absolutely
stomach-churning, and it’s presumably the kind of stunt DeSantis would look
forward to regularly engaging in on a mass scale as president.
He’s dangerously anti-science
After three weeks of taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously by declaring it a
public health emergency and ordering a statewide lockdown, DeSantis
apparently decided science was for suckers. “We will never do any of these
lockdowns again,” he said
<https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/27/can-ron-desantis-displace-donald-trump-as-the-gops-combatant-in-chief>
in April 2020—as thousands of Americans were dying each day—lifting all
restrictions on schools, businesses, and government buildings and banning
<https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-florida-business-ron-desantis-donald-trump-e64376aba8306681b53d52956d15bcd7>
local governments from enforcing their own public health measures, like mask
mandates.
After initially telling people to get vaccinated against the virus, he
reversed course, refusing
<https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/01/21/why-wont-gov-desantis-say-if-he-has-gotten-a-covid-booster-letters/>
to say if he’d gotten a booster shot. He enacted a law prohibiting
<https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ron-desantis-cruise-ships-unvaccinated-passengers-florida.html>
businesses from requiring proof of vaccination, including in petri dish
environments like cruise ships. He withheld pay
<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-mask-mandate-school-board-members-salaries-withheld/>
from school board members requiring masks; held a press conference with a
guy who claimed
<https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/desantis-and-the-agony-of-the-anti-anti-anti-vaxx-republican.html>
COVID vaccines change your RNA; and offered unvaccinated cops $5,000
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/ron-desantis-florida-unvaccinated-police-officers-5000>
to relocate to Florida. In September 2021, he appointed Joseph Ladapo to
serve as surgeon general of the state, apparently having appreciated the
flurry of op-eds the doctor had written promoting hydroxychloroquine and
ivermectin, opposing masking and lockdowns, and questioning the safety of
vaccines. Ladapo later recommended that healthy children not get vaccinated
<https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/07/florida-surgeon-general-joseph-ladapo-recommending-against-covid-vaccine-healthy-kids/9411801002/>
against COVID-19, despite the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics
advising they do so and cited
<https://abcnews.go.com/Health/scientists-pan-analysis-floridas-surgeon-general-posted-covid/story?id=91294952>
what experts said was a deeply flawed study that also recommended men
between 18 to 39 not be vaccinated.
In December, DeSantis announced
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/ron-desantis-covid-19-vaccine-grand-jury>
that he’d petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to convene a grand jury to
investigate “crimes and wrongdoing” related to COVID-19 vaccines, and
suggested in the petition that anyone who recommended people receive the
lifesaving vaccine—like the CDC and Joe Biden—must have been financially
compensated to do so. That announcement came approximately one month after
the Palm Beach Post noted
<https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/2022/11/09/free-state-florida-no-1-covid-deaths-among-elderly/10658295002/>
that “the coronavirus has killed more people aged 65 and over in Florida
than any other state in the nation” and that “public health experts outside
of the state attribute the trend to the DeSantis administration’s
counterproductive COVID-19 policies,” which started when “the Governor began
weaponizing health care.”
He wants to make it harder for people to vote and had Floridians arrested as
part of another one of his political stunts
Like many a Republican, DeSantis is a big proponent of disenfranchising
voters, and has signed a raft of laws making it harder for people to cast
ballots for their candidates of choice, including ones
<https://www.npr.org/2021/04/30/992277557/florida-legislature-approves-election-reform-bill-that-includes-restrictions>
limiting the use of drop boxes, hampering Floridians’ ability to vote by
mail, and preventing the distribution or food or water to voters waiting on
long lines. That a judge found such measures “unconstitutional and especially
discriminatory toward minority voters,” according to USA Today
<https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/25/florida-governor-desantis-creates-security-force-voter-fraud/7443365001/>,
did not stop DeSantis from signing a bill this year creating
<https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/25/florida-governor-desantis-creates-security-force-voter-fraud/7443365001/>
the Office of Election Crimes and Security, and tasking it with
investigating alleged voter fraud. During a press conference he held
<https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2022/08/18/desantis-announces-20-arrests-of-floridians-for-voter-fraud/>
in August to brag about his work cracking down instances of supposed
wrongdoing, the governor told reporters that more than a dozen people had
been arrested on charges of voting illegally in the 2020 election and warned,
“This is the opening salvo.”
As it turned out, the number was 19; the majority of people were Black and
thought they were legally allowed to vote. What happened was that DeSantis
essentially exploited
<https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/08/19/desantis-touted-their-arrest-but-ex-felons-say-they-werent-told-they-couldnt-vote/>
mass confusion
<https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/10/18/body-camera-video-police-voter-fraud-desantis-arrests/>
around a Florida amendment that allowed some ex-felons to vote. Body camera
footage obtained
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/10/ron-desantis-florida-voter-fraud-arrests>
in October by the Tampa Bay Times showed an officer expressing surprise
about the charges against the man he was tasked with handcuffing, and telling
someone on the phone: “I’ve never seen these charges before in my entire
life.”
He’s anti-free speech, particularly the kind of free speech that says the
United States hasn’t always been great for non-white people
Republicans absolutely love to talk about their love of free speech and the
First Amendment, but you don’t have to do too much chipping away at that
claim to realize what they actually want is for people to only be “free” to
say the kinds of things they approve of. Few things embody this contradiction
better than DeSantis’s ridiculously named “Stop WOKE Act,” which he signed
<https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2022/04/22/florida-governor-desantis-stop-woke-act-race-bill-law-sign-discussions-republicans/7403239001/>
into law in April and which restricts conversations about race
<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-blocks-floridas-stop-woke-act-pushed-gov-desantis-rcna43908>
in schools and businesses, and allows students and workers to sue
<https://theweek.com/ron-desantis/1009131/florida-advances-desantis-backed-ban-on-making-white-people-feel-discomfort-or>
if they believe a classroom lesson or workplace training course caused them
to “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” due to
their race. While the bill never uses the phrase “white people,” it was quite
clearly drafted with their benefit in mind, and the reason we know this is
because DeSantis recently claimed that it’s wrong to teach students that
America “was built on stolen land,” the reality of which he denied during an
October debate.
Twitter content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates
<https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1584691446166491136> from.
In November, a federal judge blocked
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/ron-desantis-woke-act-blocked>
Florida officials from enforcing a central piece of law, saying it violates
the First Amendment and is positively Orwellian. The DeSantis administration
has, obviously, vowed to appeal.
He’s waging a war on trans people
In November, at the reported “urging
<https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-health-business-florida-government-and-politics-78e417a184718de8b9e71ff32efbc77f>”
of DeSantis, the Florida Board of Medicine and the state Board of
Osteopathic Medicine voted to prohibit trans minors in Florida from receiving
gender-affirming medical care, despite doctors and mental health experts
saying it is safe and beneficial for the people who need it. Before that, his
administration eliminated
<https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-governor-ron-desantis-anti-trans-campaign-is-sneaky-power-grab>
Medicaid coverage for transgender care for poor people of any age, and also
barred
<https://apnews.com/article/florida-religion-government-and-politics-health-sports-38ef69813259d68ca84308fd884e5669>
transgender girls from competing in sports. Apparently gunning for the title
of “Uniquely Evil Elected Official of the Year,” DeSantis and his surgeon
general have said—in official state guidance
<https://people.com/health/florida-advises-against-gender-affirming-care-for-trans-kids-in-texas-like-guidance/>—that
children who identify as trans should not be allowed to wear clothes or use
pronouns or names that align with their gender identity.
“Don’t Say Gay”
It’s hard to think of a more terrifying thing that has come out of Florida in
recent years than the dystopian, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation formally known as
the Parental Rights in Education Act. Dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its
critics, the legislation was signed into law by DeSantis in March 2022 and
prohibits teachers from discussing any gender identity and sexual orientation
in kindergarten through third grade. (It also prohibits discussing such
topics “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally
appropriate” through 12th grade.)
Even before the law went into effect, it’d already had a chilling impact
throughout the state. Written in what critics say is an intentionally broad
manner in order to scare school districts about being sued, one teachers’
union said school officials warned members against wearing clothing with
rainbows on them and to get rid of “safe space” stickers or photos of their
same-sex spouse.
As Georgetown Law school’s Journal of Gender and the Law noted
<https://www.law.georgetown.edu/gender-journal/the-dangerous-consequences-of-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill-on-lgbtq-youth-in-florida/>
after DeSantis signed the bill, “according to the text of the statute, if a
student is asked to draw a picture of their family and a child draws their
two dads and shares their drawing with the class, a parent could sue the
school if they feel there was an inappropriate discussion of sexual
orientation or gender identity.” Yet despite how absolutely nuts, bigoted,
and dangerous that is, DeSantis is not only deeply proud of the law, he’s
gone after anyone who’s dared to speak out against it
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/ron-desantis-threatens-disney-over-dont-say-gay-law-criticism>.
Which brings us to our next point…
He’s a massive bully
After Disney spoke out against the wildly bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” bill,
DeSantis unleashed
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/ron-desantis-willing-to-let-floridians-taxes-go-up-to-own-the-libs-and-disney>
holy hell on the largest employer in the state for having the temerity to
say it didn’t sound like a great idea. Then he signed a bill dissolving
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/ron-desantis-willing-to-let-floridians-taxes-go-up-to-own-the-libs-and-disney>
Walt Disney World’s special district status as retribution, a move that
could punish local Floridians by sending their property taxes through the
roof. Which seems like a pretty strange thing for a governor to do,
particularly one from a party that talks a big game about things like
“cutting taxes” and “free speech,” but it’s important to remember that
DeSantis is part of a new breed of conservatives who prioritize “owning the
libs” over basically everything else.
Elsewhere in bullying, DeSantis literally bullied the Special Olympics
<https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-06-06/special-olympics-desantis-covid-on-vaccines>
into dropping its vaccine mandate for competition, despite the organization
“repeatedly” saying, per ABC News
<https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/florida-threatens-fine-special-olympics-27-million-vaccination/story?id=85164181>,
“that vaccines save lives, particularly in people with intellectual
disabilities, who are at high risk for COVID complications and death.” The
mandate was dropped after DeSantis threatened the nonprofit with a record $27
million fine.
He’s antiabortion
Prior to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, DeSantis signed
<https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/14/politics/desantis-signs-abortion-ban-florida/index.html>
a law banning abortions beginning at 15 weeks of pregnancy with no
exceptions for rape or incest. (Before that, abortion had been legal in the
state through the end of the second trimester, making it a safe haven for
pregnant people living in neighboring states who would travel there for the
procedure.) DeSantis has since said
<https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/11/incoming-senate-leader-supports-12-week-abortion-ban-while-house-stays-quiet-00066549>
he supports further restricting the medical procedure and, after the Supreme
Court rolled back Roe, he pledged to expand “pro-life protections.”
He supported Donald Trump until it was no longer politically expedient to do
so
DeSantis may be on the
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/donald-trump-ron-desantis-truth-social-meltdown>
outs
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/ron-desantis-donald-trump-scoreboard>
with the former guy now, but it wasn’t too long ago that he couldn’t get
enough of President MAGA. In 2018, he ran one of the world’s most
embarrassing political ads featuring
<https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1591837252899962881> him reading
“The Art of the Deal” to one of his kids and teaching the other to say “make
America great again.” And while he’s avoided going all in on the false claim
that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, he happily backed numerous
midterm candidates who regularly made
<https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/17/desantis-wont-say-if-2020-was-rigged-but-hes-campaigning-for-republicans-who-do-00052266>
such claims
<https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/26/politics/ron-desantis-election-deniers-florida-2020/index.html>.
He saw “no need” for the Respect for Marriage Act
Saying a bill federalizing gay and interracial marriage rights wasn’t
necessary isn’t exactly the same thing as saying you don’t support gay and
interracial marriage rights but…it’s pretty damn close! While DeSantis may
not have seen a “need”
<https://floridapolitics.com/archives/576245-gov-desantis-sees-no-need-for-respect-for-marriage-act/>
for Congress to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, people who care about the
protections it entails, and have been paying
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06/supreme-court-roe-v-wade-clarence-thomas-contraception-same-sex-marriage-sodomy>
attention
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/03/mike-braun-supreme-court-interracial-marriage>,
very much did. It’s also notable that DeSantis was more concerned about how
the law could put “religious institutions [that don’t believe in same-sex
marriage] in difficult spots” than he was about same-sex couples being put in
a difficult spot if federal protections unravel. Also, again, this guy banned
talking about gay people in schools.
He’s made it harder for protesters to speak out about injustice and easier
for anti-justice people to hit protesters with their cars
In April 2021, DeSantis signed
<https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/ron-desantis-anti-riot-bill> an
“anti-riot” bill into law that, among other things, grants civil immunity to
people who decide to drive their cars into protesters who are blocking a
road. The legislation, which was drafted
<https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/tallahassee-activists-say-gov-desantis-new-anti-riot-bill-targets-blm-protesters>
in the wake of 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, also penalizes local
governments that interfere with efforts to stop riots; prevents people
accused of rioting from being bailed out of jail until after their first
court appearance; and makes it a second-degree felony to destroy a plaque,
memorial, painting, flag, or other structures commemorating historical people
or events (for instance, Confederate statues).
He has no interest in preventing gun violence
Earlier this year, DeSantis criticized
<https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/09/desantis-rebukes-florida-gun-control-proposals-texas-elementary-school-shooting/7556986001/>
Florida Democrats for trying to hold a special session to address gun
violence, claiming it would “kneecap” law-abiding citizens. In December, he
said
<https://www.fox13news.com/news/desantis-expects-florida-lawmakers-to-pass-constitutional-carry-gun-law-in-2023>
he expects the state legislature to make it legal to carry a gun without a
concealed-weapons license in 2023, adding that it is “something that I’ve
always supported.” Not surprisingly, he has an “A+” rating
<https://floridapolitics.com/archives/558269-nra-updates-grades-endorsements-for-2022/>
from the NRA.
According to people who know him, he’s an awful person and has been for many
years
A former college teammate, who simultaneously praised DeSantis’s
intelligence, described
<https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/27/can-ron-desantis-displace-donald-trump-as-the-gops-combatant-in-chief>
him thusly to The New Yorker: “Ron is the most selfish person I have ever
interacted with. He has always loved embarrassing and humiliating people. I’m
speaking for others—he was the biggest dick we knew.” We’ll repeat that for
emphasis: “He has always loved embarrassing and humiliating people.” Great
qualities to have in an elected official!
Other related posts:
- » [csusbpeace] A Comprehensive Guide to Why a Ron DeSantis Presidency Would Be as Terrifying as a Trump One - raccoon
