Governor Ron DeSantis is doing his best to crush academic freedom and the expression of views that differ from his own. He won a sweeping re-election victory in 2022, and his party has a super-majority in both houses of the legislature. Whatever DeSantis wants, the legislature will give him.
But that’s not enough. The Democratic Party is powerless and supine, but they have the nerve to speak out against the Governor’s authoritarian policies. He can’t tolerate any nay-sayers.
Fabiola Santiago, a journalist for the Miami Herald, wrote with incredulity about the GOP’s fascist ambitions:
Now, I can truly affirm that I have seen it all in Gov. DeSantis’ Florida.
The state’s Republican Party is no longer a fan of multiparty American democracy — and they feel no shame in saying so in public. Nor in proposing legislation to dismantle it.
When the Florida GOP’s tweet appeared on my Twitter news feed, I thought it was a joke or a parody. But what Republicans are up to this legislative season is no laughing matter.
After easily winning the gubernatorial election and obtaining a Republican super-majority in the Legislature that allows the party to act unimpeded, GOP chairman Chris M. Ziegler says he’ll take nothing less than eradicating the Democratic Party. His threat to give Democrats no seat at all at the table is very real.
Republicans are acting like the hemisphere’s evil regimes. They know it, but don’t care.
On February 25, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., the chairman of the Florida GOP, Chris Ziegler, posted a tweet @FloridaGOP in which he wrote:
from Chairman @ChrisMZiegler: “Until we get every Democrat out of office and no Democrat considers running for office, we’re going to continue to step on the gas and move forward in Florida.”
Chris Ziegler’s wife Bridget is the founder of the extremist group Moms for Liberty, which is deeply involved in protests against masks, in book banning, in fighting “critical race theory,” and in attacking gays and the teaching of Black history.
Santiago continues:
The U.S. Constitution and the system of checks and balances be damned. There was immediate pushback on Twitter.
A person identifying as @k_kojei answered Ziegler: “I disagree. We need dissenting voices. That’s what a democracy is about. The problem is not helped by a one-sided view of things. Polarization is just that, no matter who does it! There has to be dialog and balance or we remain only half represented!”
Ziegler doubled down.
“We are doing just fine not giving Democrats a seat at the table in Florida,” he said, mimicking what the planet’s dictators, who think countries are their personal fiefdoms, say about the opposition.
“I recommend other states to do the same!”
More people enter the conversation, at first, remarkably civil in tone, given the sewer speech Twitter attracts.
Some of the horrified were Republican.
“That is extreme and Totalitarian by definition. Not a good look!” tweeted a man who describes himself as a “patriot” with “a recently restored account after two years. Starting from scratch. Unapologetically Conservative American!! #MAGA”
“No, it’s DEMOCRACY!” retorts Ziegler, the kind of Florida man who lives in an alternate universe, and so dumb — or sure of his party’s power — that he accuses the Republicans who disagree with him of being “leftist.”
Finally, a ‘fighting for our republic” Floridian from the Treasure Coast brings a fitting hashtag to the conversation — #FloridaWhereFreedomDies. She posts a checklist of tactics Nazis used in their rise to power.
It’s eerily familiar, but nothing new to those of us who have visited museums in Israel and Germany. It all begins with religious, ethnic and lifestyle persecution, silencing the media and obliterating political opposition.
The Florida GOP and DeSantis’ ballyhooed platform is ticking off a whole lot of unimaginably undemocratic boxes.
TAMARA LUSH • AP
Pictured in this April 14, 2017 photo, Christian Ziegler, 33, a marketing professional from Sarasota, has become the Florida GOP chairman going into the 2024 presidential race. He made the constitutionally questionable vow to eradicate Florida’s Democratic Party and defended a one-party state. (AP Photo/Tamara Lush)
Legislator files bill
Unfortunately, talk is only the beginning.
Destroying the Democratic Party is no empty threat.
As if the new GOP chairman acting like a two-bit Third World dictator-wannabe wasn’t egregious enough, his words were quickly followed by legislative action.
Former GOP chairman, Blaise Ingoglia, 2015-2019, threw the law behind Ziegler’s words.
Now Ingoglia, a 52-year-old Spring Hills home builder — named one of Tampa Bay’s most influential politicians — filed Tuesday “The Ultimate Cancel Act,” SB 1248, creating the conditions to force the Division of Elections to declare the Democratic Party illegal in Florida.
Reading the dangerous gobbledygook contained in Ingoglia’s bill is an exercise similar to interpreting Cuba’s repressive laws, where the bureaucratic entwining of edicts achieves the goal of making the repression look reasonable to the outside world.
Ingoglia has concocted a ruse: Rule the Democratic Party racist, claiming it’s because Southern Democrats supported slavery in the 1800s, and order it dismantled the way Confederate monuments are forced to come down.
His legal maneuvering is purely a power trip. Sad to say, but it’s unnecessary. The inept Florida Democrats, the 2020 midterms showed, aren’t a serious political threat.
The GOP, however, should scare every Floridian — and, given DeSantis’ 2024 ambitions, every American. We’re just a stepping stone.
The Florida GOP is DeSantis’ party. Nothing happens behind his back. This hardened, fascist Florida is a carefully planned, if sometimes stupidly executed, plot to destroy the United States as we know it.
This isn’t unlike the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021, only the men leading the charge are in suits instead of camouflage.
What institution will defend Floridians from tyranny when the GOP has so cleverly staged a takeover of every sector in the state?
Emboldened Florida Republicans aren’t happy with simply winning by big margins.
They want what every dictator has: total domination over what people think, whom they love, what they read. Total political control over law and policy without organized opposition to offer an alternative.
Floridians must wake up. It’s imperative.
None of this is happening without DeSantis’s knowledge and support. It sounds insane and fascist, but it is real. Ron DeSantis shows his true colors.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
4,613,783 Floridians enabled and endorsed these “ideas” deliberately in order to stick to at least 3,105,469 of their fellow citizens. Don’t let them off the hook.
I smell Russian Rubles.
Does the ruble have hints of chamomille?
Fascism though and though with Nazis DeSantis in the lead. When do the Storm Troops hit the streets to round up the Democrats for the concentration camps?
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of time, effort, money that is being wasted in these partisan battles – and not just in school matters. Is this to distract the public from more important things that go neglected?
“Is this to distract the public from more important things that go neglected?” Yup! You hit the nail on the head!
After observing the GOP in action in Florida, I am not surprised by this plan. The GOP in general is anti-democratic. They try to suppress the vote at every opportunity, and they rarely put anything up to a vote. When the public does vote on something that does not agree with their agenda, as in the case of restoring the right to vote for convicted felons in FL, they come up with a scheme to avoid implementing it.
When I moved to Florida, Crist was governor, and the state was considered purple. Since the pandemic, the number of new GOP voters has increased at a higher rate than Democrats in the state. Florida is now a magnet for right wing extremists.
DeSantis is and always has been a right wing extremist. Sane, reasonable people need to keep him out of The White House. Other than the military, he regards the federal government with disdain. DeSantis does not have respect for democracy or anyone that thinks differently from him. He would do his utmost of rewrite The Constitution. In fact, some of the right wing extremists are already talking about it.
I believe the number of states left to qualify for a constitutional convention is now five or six. Desantis will look to lead this movement should he be given the levers of power. It seems like every day Florida pulls another extreme anti-democratic maneuver with no push back. this is becoming motivation for other Red States that are quietly implementing similar policies (See Ohio’s new voter ID law). I hope Disney leaves Florida because it would take such an earth shattering declaration to stymy Desantis. However, despite the law now wresting local determination from Disney, the corporation continues to give campaign contributions to the Governor. Will Desantis’ actions be the beginning of this divorce MTG advocates? I keep hoping for a “bridge too far,” but I can only pray that violence will not be the result.
Disney is not a portable company. Too much real estate. That’s why DeFascist can kick Disney around.
I think a better description is that Disney is bending over….
Five of the six members on Disney’s board are now held by DeSantis appointees. DeSantis is a despot.
Ironically, the Disney move will cost the people billions
The legislature structured the deal so that the local counties don’t bear the taxes or debt of Disney. The deal is that DeFascist appoints the five member board that controls the huge property that belongs to Disney.
Not Disney’s board. He appointed members to the board of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which he renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
The five members of the Disney control board are white Christian nationalists.
This is the board that oversees infrastructure on the land that Disney sits on. And yes, DeSatan has packed it with white Christian nationalists and is suggesting that the board will use its power to control what content Disney produces going forward. So, the Thought Police.
It would be insanely expensive for Disney to pull up stakes and relocate to civilization, but it should call the Governor’s bluff and do precisely that.
This insane proposal by Blaise Ingoglia reads like bad satire, it’s a total joke. The MAGA GOP reigns supreme in FL, our only hope is that the infighting between Trump and DeSantis will derail their national schemes.
Or that “lamestream” media stops reporting on Desantis as if he is some reasonable option.
Exactly so. The mainstream media treats DeFascist as the sensible alternative to crazy Trump. DeFascist is more dangerous than Trump.
I felt the same way about Cruz in 2016 except, for some reason, the conventional wisdom doesn’t seem to portray DeSantis as slimy as Ted. I think given that both Cruz and DeSantis are far more intelligent than Trump, they can use Trump’s crushing of “norms” as a template to obliterate what Bannon refers to as the “administrative state.” The willingness of corporate America and Wall Street to play along makes this a tough challenge.
My hope is that DeFascist or some other Republican wins the GOP nomination. Then Trump runs an independent slate and splits the party, because the nomination was “rigged.”
Events in Florida are more disturbing than the happenings in Venezuela under Chavez and Madero–that we were supposed to be frightened of or opposed to. This is real. Right here in America. So instead of involving ourselves in regime change around the world, let’s figure out how to do that in Florida. I’d love to go back to the lovely beaches, maybe visit the Everglades. But I won’t until democracy is restored to that nation…er state.
This theme to get rid of the Democratic Party and stop voters that vote Democratic runs deep. Marjorie Tayler Greene recently publicly stated that she thinks anyone eligible to vote that moves from a blue state to a red state should not be allowed to vote for five years.
What are Tea Party and MAGA RINOs planning/thinking behind closed doors — re-education camps (think Mao’s Cultural Revolution and North Korea all the time) in red states to reprogram those citizens that move from a blue state to make sure they only vote for theofascist candidates?
Is any of this legal?
The GOP wants to outlaw thinking.
They have obviously started by outlawing it amongst themselves.
And in more news of the INSANE BUT REAL:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/floridas-anti-political-blogging-bill-is-just-as-crazy-as-it-sounds
The presidential election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson was considered particularly nasty. The precedent they set was starting news papers that were basically arms for their propaganda. Although this practice certainly impacted the results, the reach of these rags was limited. What we are seeing with Fox, News Max et. al. is the impact of such propaganda when it can reach a wide audience through social media, streaming, and cable. DeSantis seems to be following Trump’s playbook in this regard while shutting down those who might resist. Fox, through Rupert Murdoch, has used their girth to promote this man as some paragon of conservative virtue while he effectively turns Florida into a Banana Republic with corporate blessing. What we see in the Washington media sphere is the likes of Joe Scarborough dismissing Desantis’ chances because he isn’t personable. They don’t seem to notice that Desantis deftly avoids scrutiny while reaching out to the media organizations and personalities he likes. the Republican Party has already said it is not committed to debates. Desantis won’t have to be a nice guy. He is even trying to punish NBC. Desantis is a profound threat to this country. He uses intimidation tactics and populist harangue similar to that of Huey Long to assert his power. He has a media apparatus at his finger tips that admires and promotes Vladimir Putin and Orban who share Desantis’ racist and homophobic perspectives. I, frankly, am worried about 2024 because if he wins he will more than likely usher in a Republican Congress that will end the filibuster to shut down the Democratic Party. It will then be too late for all of those retirees in Florida who have followed Desantis blindly when they discover Social Security and Medicare are no more.
Well said, Paul.
Paul, I agree. DeSantis is a greater threat than Trump because he is more ambitious and wants total control. Trump wanted money and unending paeans to his greatness. DeSantis wants total control of what everyone thinks, says, believes. He is our Mussolini…or worse.
The capacity for Human inequity is seemingly limitless. Just when we thought there could not be anything worse than Trump along comes De Santis and his court.