Bragging rights of some new Floridians!

This meme so perfectly sums up the way we, and so many of our fellow Floridians (and DeSantis supporters, but I repeat myself!) feel about our State and perhaps those of us who are relatively new to The Sunshine State feel it even more keenly. But the column below from Powerline puts the numbers and data to the real phenomenon and those numbers are nothing short of remarkable! One line in that article really caught our eyes as discussed below.

As is obvious, I stole the title above from the Powerline piece (in the best plagiarism tradition of “our” “President”) but it fit too perfectly not to use it. The figures, from current census bureau data, speak for themselves and show that while the deepest blue of all the states, New York, California, Minnesota, and Illinois, are quite literally hemorrhaging population, Florida and Texas lead the country in population gain:

Current Census Bureau data speak for themselves:

Four of the nation’s top 10 metro areas with the highest population growth last year were in Florida — more than any other state, according to new US Census data.
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In addition, two Florida counties qualified for the top 10 percentage population growth list.
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Eight of the top 10 counties with the steepest numerical population declines were either in New York and California, according to the Census data.
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Los Angeles County lost the most residents with 184,000, while New York County shed roughly 117,000, the numbers released last week show.

Statewide, Florida’s population increased by 211,000 between July 2020 and July 2021, according to the census report — second only to Texas.

California, Illinois and New York registered the sharpest overall population losses last year.

Florida’s growth isn’t mainly retirees. It is a great place to do business:

The US Census also revealed this month that the Sunshine State accounted for more new business applications than any other state.

Here is the part which really caught our eyes as we were in the city mentioned only a few weeks ago (to attend a National Leadership Conference sponsored by Hillsdale College) and the author summed up the way we felt about that city perfectly:

I have been to Florida four times in the last four months, and can attest that the state is booming. You pretty much have to see Naples, for example, to believe it. It isn’t just economic prosperity, either–Florida has an atmosphere of fun, activity, and freedom that draws people from across the country.

As we are folks who love to explore restaurants and great dining and, in my case, wine lists (!), we found Naples to be one of the great dining venues we have ever had the incredibly good fortune to visit. It is, as the author intimates, an amazing place that really does have to be experienced fully to appreciate all its beauty, glamor, wealth (our poor little Honda CRV looked like a jalopy in comparison to all the Bentleys, Rolls, Porches, Lamborghinis, etc.) and near-perfect climate.

But, as the author points out, no account of this success story would be complete if it did not note the superior leadership of our Governor and the Republican-controlled Legislature:

Florida benefits, obviously, from excellent leadership. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican legislature have scored another win with the state’s anti-grooming law, which protects small children from being indoctrinated with LGBTQ+ theories in the public schools. Remarkably, liberals have chosen grooming as a hill to die on, as in the Oscars last night, even though polls show the Florida law is supported overwhelmingly by Florida Democrats, let alone Republicans and Independents.

As usual, DeSantis gets the last word:

During remarks ahead of the signing, DeSantis blasted Hollywood elites for repeatedly lying about the bill and claiming it is discriminatory.

“If the same Hollywood elites who upheld degenerates like Harvey Weinstein now oppose our efforts to protect parental rights, I wear that like a badge of honor,” DeSantis said.

The exodus of voters from blue states to red states is one of several demographic trends that bode well for conservatives in future decades.

Let me close this encomium to our adopted home State by posing the following questions about our national political scene, depressing though it is, as it relates to the 2024 Presidential Election. I would greatly appreciate any views anyone cares to offer as to the following issues which have been on my mind for quite some time and will move more and more to the forefront after the mid-terms as we move toward 2024:

• Will Trump run in 2024?
• Even if he does run, would DeSantis become the nominee?
• If he does not run, is there a likely candidate on the scene anywhere close to DeSantis at this point?

Whatever the answers to those questions may be, it is painfully clear our poor, beleaguered, battered, embarrassed, and depressed Nation has only one way to go!

God Bless America!