DeSantis: The Authoritarian

Discussion in 'Politics' started by gwb-trading, Jun 20, 2022.

  1. gwb-trading

    gwb-trading

    Ron DeSantis is the most recent authoritarian being pushed forward by the GOP. However -- sadly for America -- DeSantis is more dangerous than Trump -- the other most recent example.

    Trump is totally inept, doesn't understand how to use the levers of government, and spent most of his days rage tweeting rather than actually enacting policy while President.

    DeSantis is different in that he understands how government works, and has a clear understanding of how to use the levers in government to undermine democracy while pushing extreme policy initiatives aligned with the MAGA base. Coupled with that he allows others to do his "rage Tweeting" for him while he focuses on his next step. Obviously a lot more competent than Trump -- and a danger to democracy in the United States.

    It is time to start outlining DeSantis' authoritarian streak and his actions which undermine democracy.


    In Florida, Ron DeSantis is creating a paradise of authoritarianism
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/19/desantis-paradise-of-authoritarianism/

    You may think of Donald Trump as the most committed authoritarian in the Republican Party, one who looks in admiration at foreign dictators and dreams of creating a strongman’s paradise here at home. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is giving him a run for his money.

    In recent days, DeSantis and his allies have been particularly active, as though they’re accelerating their effort to pull Florida not just to the right but toward a particular brand of authoritarian conservatism.

    We begin with voter fraud, which is vanishingly rare in Florida as it is everywhere (though The Villages, a sprawling retirement community near Orlando, seems to be the epicenter of the criminality that exists). This week, DeSantis proposed the creation of an Office of Election Crimes and Security, answerable to him, which would roam the state looking for phantom voter fraud.

    No other state has such a unit — the small number of voter fraud cases are easily handled by existing law enforcement agencies — and Democrats and voting rights advocates fear it would become more a tool of intimidation than a way to stop crime.

    Meanwhile, DeSantis’s bill to whitewash the U.S. legacy of white supremacy is moving through the legislature. It passed a state Senate committee on party lines and is no doubt headed for his signature.

    One fascinating aspect of the right’s war on the teaching of history in the name of stamping out critical race theory is how much concern many conservatives have expressed over the feelings of White students. The mere possibility that a White student somewhere might learn about racism and feel bad has them frantically drafting legislation to forestall such a horror. But only in a few places have the bills explicitly mentioned bad feelings as something that the law must address.

    DeSantis’s bill is one of them. In explaining what kind of discussions it wants to ban, it reads, “An individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race.”

    Needless to say, it was only when they began to fear that White kids might be uncomfortable that they decided to pass a law about it. The bill also requires teaching the virtue of “limited government” and mandates that American history “shall be defined as the creation of a new nation based largely on the universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.” Any history teacher tempted to include nuance in their lessons had better take note.

    But race isn’t the only topic on which employees of the state of Florida have to watch out when they stray from prevailing orthodoxy. That’s what Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, just learned.

    Pino sent an email to employees lamenting the lagging rates of covid-19 vaccination in their own agency and urging everyone to get vaccinated. This would seem as unremarkable as the head of the department of transportation telling her team to drive carefully or the department of sanitation chief reminding folks not to litter.

    But according to a statement released by the state, “the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Health is conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case.” Becausehe encouraged public health workers to be vaccinated.

    The law in question was one DeSantis signed that supercharged the right’s aversion to vaccine mandates, making it illegal for any organization in the state — local governments, private businesses — to require vaccines for employees or customers. An old-fashioned conservative might say that private companies should be able to make their own rules on such things without the heavy hand of the state deciding for them. But DeSantis has a very heavy hand.

    And of course, Pino didn’t impose a mandate on anyone. His email was asking, pleading, begging people to get vaccinated — not requiring them to do so. Nevertheless, the message was delivered: Anyone in public health who’s too enthusiastic about vaccines might just lose their job.

    The authoritarian impulse has been a hallmark of DeSantis’s tenure since the beginning. Last April, he signed an “anti-rioting” law that was one of the most sweeping attacks on the right to protest in memory. Among other things, it offers civil liability protection to those who mow down protesters with their cars, and would allow peaceful protesters to be charged with a felony if other people at a protest they attended committed an act of violence. He also signed one of the most draconian voter suppression laws in the country.

    In his State of the State address earlier this month, DeSantis called Florida “the freest state in these United States,” “freedom’s vanguard” and “the rock of freedom.” Unless, that is, the freedom you’re interested in involves encouraging people to get vaccinated, protecting your employees and customers from a pandemic, teaching history honestly, voting, protesting or anything else Republicans might not want you to do.

    We could argue about whether DeSantis’s authoritarianism is a truer version of conservatism than other varieties, but for now it’s what has made him the leading Republican contender for president in 2024 if Trump chooses not to run. Who knows what other policies he’ll be rolling out to solidify that position.
     
  2. notagain

    notagain

    The GOP is RINO inc.
    Information monopoly is useless when no one believes.
    Dems are pathological liars on the globalist payroll.
     
  3. gwb-trading

    gwb-trading

    Of course DeSantis is a Russia lover...
    He slams our allies while not mentioning Russia.
    Authoritarians love fellow authoritarians like Putin.


    Condemning ‘authoritarian rule,’ DeSantis slams allies, not Russia
    As an authoritarian adversary sparks an international crisis, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admonished U.S. allies, not Vladimir Putin.
    https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow...le-desantis-slams-allies-not-russia-rcna17676
     
  4. Bugenhagen

    Bugenhagen

    Amercia was flooded with immigrants post WWII, 1-2 generation now who see democracy as an unaffordable luxury. They lived under authoritarian rule and don't see it as that bad. It's a comfortable shoe.

    Ukraine deserves what it gets because its stupid to stand up to an authoritarian, look what they made daddy, sorry Putin do bla bla. The cycle of abuse continues through the generations.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2022
  5. wildchild

    wildchild

    DeSantis showed true leadership during the pandemic.

    You on the other praised Andrew Cuomo, who forced Covid patients into nursing homes.

    I suspect you are another paid trollster.
     
  6. Bugenhagen

    Bugenhagen

    He showed true authoratrian leadership, first thing he went for was the people compiling the data.

    Wildchild may be another slavic son type. ET is infested with wharf rats who are descended from a stock of people who never knew any better than authoratrians.

    The cream and the shit both float to the top.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2022
  7. LacesOut

    LacesOut

    LOL. Mass projection from the guy who anally rapes black people with a pistol. Allegedly.
     
  8. Isn't that one of his favorite pastimes?
     
    LacesOut likes this.
  9. Bugenhagen

    Bugenhagen

    No, you are damaged goods and that came from your dad/grandad. He descended from people that would not have survived had they not been comfortable looking down. Natural selection of the most suited to fickle authoratrian rule.

    You fantasise about that time I hilariously put the big guy's little gun in his prison wallet all the time. I killed a Russian back then too but you never mention that. You need a rescuer.

    You would worship me in real life. Its fucking weird when males show submissive behaviour. I used to get little things like bottles of beer, a fair sacrafice for men on the lowest imaginable wages left at my door sometimes when I did anything tough in the same area as the incident you admire.

    Some men just want to feel safe under a big strong man, the warrior who makes them feel less afraid.
     
  10. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

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    #10     Jun 20, 2022