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DeSantis Must Be Over the Target
You might know that I am President of the Ron DeSantis fan club (or at least I should be). He has been fearless in fighting for the rights of Floridians in multiple areas of the state: the economy, health, education, and gender issues, just to name a few. You can read more of my writing about his work if you’d like to by going here, here, here, here, and here.
The current onslaught of attacks from the media (and yes, I am writing an opinion piece so I can be as outraged as I wish) appeared in this article of the Orlando Sentinel, which is usually behind a paywall. But for now, it can be found on an internet search.
The reason I’m writing today is the hysteria has reached a new fevered pitch. The writer of the article does a decent job of trying to demonstrate some objectivity about the governor’s actions; I suspect he believes that gives him permission to use hyperbole and distortion when telling his story (and I assure you that it is his story, not mine). This article was on the front page, top half of the Sunday newspaper, although it sounds nearly as frenzied as the opinion page. If you are curious about his particular style, that I think exceeds the bounds of respectable journalism, I’ll give you a few examples. In case you think I’m overreacting, I’m putting in bold those words or phrases that I think are inappropriate or extreme:
Gov. Ron DeSantis has mounted an all-out assault on what he calls “trendy ideologies in education, vowing to defund programs designed to increase minority enrollment and retention at the state’s universities and colleges as he considers a run for president in 2024. . .
This agenda and other new Florida measures he has pushed through. . .
Florida has become this petri dish of policies that other conservative states are looking at. . .
DeSantis has demanded from universities an accounting of all money spent on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, training and classes and critical race theory, promising that they would “wither on the vine” without state money. He has directed the Legislature to prohibit schools from funding such programs.
DeSantis escalated his attack by making an example of New College. . .
The frenzy of the last several weeks prompted Black lawmakers and civic leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, to march on Tallahassee on Wednesday in protest of not just DeSantis’ educational decisions, but also his administration’s steps to ban medical treatment for transgender youth.
There were more examples, but you can see where this writer was heading. He repeatedly left out key information and made no secret about what his preferences were.
The reasons I wanted to highlight this latest article are multifold: (1) they demonstrate that the state of journalism continues to skid off the rails; (2) there is no discernable distinction between the news sections and the opinion page; and (3) the attacks on DeSantis have increased in number and intensity in their tone, and yet he is not deterred. The bad news is that the general population, even in Florida, may believe the distortions presented.
On the other hand, the increased frenzy on the part of the media may reveal an anxiety, maybe even a panic, about what is transpiring in this state. My hope is that he continues to be successful with only minor setbacks, that more and more Floridians come on board, and more state Governors, particularly in red states, join the movement.
He is most definitely over the target.
Published in Politics
Be careful, Susan, he probably does. If not, he could always consult with Melania, who no doubt speaks German, along with the other 1/2 dozen or so other languages.
I’ve often said that the Clintons have so many scandals that it’s impossible to remember all of them. And this is a case in point: I completely forgot about Hillary’s remarkable investment in cattle futures.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the issue behind this laundered bribe was that Walmart wanted to be permitted to run tandem trailers on Arkansas’s inadequate highway system (this was the late 1970s).
At the time the Arkansas governor’s salary was only $33,000 a year. In other words, the southern Democratic machine expected that a public official would monetize his office.
I think OB was referring to DeSantis, not Trump. Melania probably wouldn’t be helpful. ;-)
I knew that Susan, but as long as this thread has gotten into crazy-world, I thought I would play along.