Florida Republican Ron DeSantis

Global Warming/Climate Change Ignored By Republican Party And Donald Trump!

A series of recent events, most notably Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, but also many other warnings of the escalating Global Warming/Climate Change crisis, is making the environment a growing political controversy!

The Republican Party en masse has long ignored the issue, favoring the oil and gas industries, and working against any efforts to combat the problem.

Donald Trump ridicules the concept of Global Warming/Climate Change, and if he is elected, the nation will be in ever greater crisis.

But even Republican members of Congress, and Republican governors, most notably Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have chosen to ignore the problem, and in Florida, DeSantis has followed former Governor and now Senator Rick Scott, in removing any mention or actions in state law to deal with Global Warming/Climate Change.

A long term disaster seems certain, and clearly there is no concern about the effect it will have against poor people, who always end up affected more by actions taken to benefit the powerful and wealthy corporate interests.

Abortion Rights Battle In Florida In November!

The battle over abortion rights is moving to Florida, where the voters will have the opportunity to enshrine them in the Florida state constitution by a vote in November, IF 60 percent of the voters vote favorably!

This fight will occur just as the state puts into action a six week abortion ban, even worse than the 15 week abortion ban originally put into play by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and just upheld by the DeSantis dominated appointments to the State Supreme Court. It will go into effect in May.

So for six months at least, there will be no legal abortion location in the Southern States, and this will be a battle royale of dueling sides in this battle for women’s rights!

This battle will also have the effect of putting the Presidential Election of 2024 into play in the Sunshine State, making it possible that Joe Biden might be able to win Florida.

Certainly, if that were to occur, it would insure that Biden defeats Donald Trump in November, due to the 30 electoral votes that Florida, as the third largest state, has in Presidential elections!

It could also endanger Senator Rick Scott in his race for a second term.

Ron DeSantis Denying Truth Of African American History: A Whitewash Of The American Past!

It is absolutely infuriating beyond belief that Florida under Ron DeSantis is denying the truth of African American history, and American history at large, in setting a new curriculum that whitewashes the truth of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, lynchings, and horrendous race riots in that state and elsewhere, causing mass destruction and death over the centuries.

To tell students that slavery “benefited” slaves by teaching them “job skills”, and that race riots saw African Americans both being victimized but also being perpetrators of the riots, is a bald faced lie, making Florida look worse than 1960s Alabama and Mississippi!

In the past, the Confederate myth perpetuated lies and racism, and finally in the 1960s and moving forward, the truth was being taught.

As a professor who has taught for a half century, I refuse to teach lies and mistruths, but imagine those who teach at all levels who are in danger of losing their jobs and professions over political interference by a governor, who seems as if he is George Wallace on steroids!

And Florida is setting the stage for other “Red” states to impose the same censorship and manipulation of the truth on students, which will undermine the future of a multiracial society, as nothing can be done to overcome the reality that in 2045, the white population of America will be less than half the nation, and already, non white groups are a majority of young people in many parts of the nation.

This does not bode well for the future of interracial cooperation, and Ron DeSantis must be opposed legally in court to work against this poison he is promoting!

What does this say about the truth of the treatment of Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, and native Americans, which also must be taught, and known by future generations!

The old saying is: “The Truth Shall Set You Free”!, and that must be the motto of all educators, and most specifically, American historians and journalists in this struggle against reality!

Ron DeSantis Promotes End Of Four Key Government Agencies!

Extremist right wing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared war on the federal government and four of its agencies, in his mad campaign on trying to win away the evangelical Christian right from Donald Trump!

Besides attacking Donald Trump’s past support of gay rights in 2016 (although Trump changed his tune in office and since), DeSantis has called for the end of the following agencies, if he is elected President in 2024:

Department of Education
Department of Commerce
Department of Energy
Internal Revenue Service (and wants a flat tax instead, which would harm middle and lower classes and benefit the wealthy)

This is pure insanity, and a sign of how crazy and looney DeSantis is, and reminds us of what other loser Republican contenders for President promoted in the past, most notably former Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2011!

Florida Economy To Suffer Due To Anti Immigrant Legislation

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is adding to his image as the most dangerous and hate oriented Southern Governor since George Wallace of Alabama in the 1960s!

The Florida legislature has just passed an extreme anti immigrant law, that will devastate the state economy, as undocumented immigrants are on the way to fleeing Florida, as they will be subject to legal action after July 1.

The American economy depends on undocument immigrants to perform various jobs that no one else wishes to do, including agricultural work; maids and housekeepers; lawn care; taxi drivers and chauffeurs; taking care of children and the elderly; home construction; hotel workers; and janitors.

The new law will make it impossible for undocumented immigrants to live and work in Florida, and they will be reported if they end up needing health care in hospitals, and there is a fund to deport such immigrants to northern states and cities, by the cruel, nasty, uncaring governor, who has ZERO compassion and empathy!

The Florida population, so accustomed to the need for such workers, is waking up to reality that the state will see tremendous shortages of workers that cannot easily be replaced, and they will have no one to blame but themselves, believing in a man who has no conscience!

Ron DeSantis’s War Against Truth, Facts, And Vulnerable Victims!

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, judged by many as a so called “Frontrunner” for the Presidency in 2024, is seen by decent people as a real threat to basic truth and facts, and as a person who promotes right wing groups and ideology to undermine the freedoms and rights of endangered Americans!

When one looks back to past demagogues, DeSantis comes closest to the late Alabama Governor George Wallace, who gained the backing of one seventh of the American people in his third party Presidential campaign of 1968, railing against African Americans and basic civil rights. But the danger is that DeSantis actually could end up the nominee of the Republican Party in 2024!

DeSantis has shown his demagogic tendencies by promoting censorship of educational curriculums in public schools, as well as at Florida public universities and colleges. DeSantis wants to prevent the teaching of the truth and facts about white supremacy, the reality of slavery and Jim Crow segregation, because of his assertion that it might upset some young white children!

He also wants to suppress the reality of sexuality, including the facts and truth about students, who are gay, lesbian, or transgender, endangering their emotional stability, as he demands teachers and counselors refuse to consult regarding the turmoil many young people are going through daily!

DeSantis has also made undocumented immigrants another target, sending some from Texas borders to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts without notice, a clear political stunt that promotes fear and hatred of those escaping persecution and crime in the nations of Central America!

Ironically, today is the 100th anniversary of the Rosewood Massacre in Northern Florida, where a massacre of horrendous proportions occurred, destroying an African American town, and little was done to compensate victims, and a decision to cover up the reality of what had happened, until 1993.

Thirty years ago, Democratic Governor Lawton Chiles arranged for some reparations for the few surviving elderly people who were still alive 70 years later, and for descendants of those who were victims, to be given financial support for a college education.

But will Ron DeSantis acknowledge it in 2023, when he seems so concerned that young white children might feel guilt, a totally preposterous assertion? It is the reason for his desire to suppress the history of racial discrimination, not only in Florida, but elsewhere, as part of his push to ignore the crimes against Native Americans and other people of color as well!

DeSantis is also emboldening ignorant and biased parents, to suppress through control of school boards and library boards, the enlightenment of children to confront the issues of racial discrimination and sexuality, and tolerance of immigration.

For public libraries to censor any literature or other material focusing on these matters is reprehensible, and does not allow for a true understanding of reality. Instead, DeSantis’s goal and that of the Right Wing Extremists that he supports, is to promote narrow minded bigotry and ignorance in a nation that needs to confront reality, not be taught propaganda that covers up truth and facts!

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!