Mercedes Schneider points out that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis believes he can win over the Republican base by turning stuff he doesn’t like into felonies. With so many new laws on the books that carry criminal penalties, Florida will need more prison cells.
Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and the Republican supermajority in the Florida House and Senate are passing incredibly extreme, right-wing legislation, which will surely help DeSantis to curry favor with an extreme, right-wing Republican base in order for DeSantis to become Republican nominee for president in 2024….
Imposing felonies seems to be the legislative way in Florida of late; as a result of a new law in January 2023, the state’s teachers, librarians, and other school officials are packing up library books for fear of being charged with a third-degree felony for allowing the public access to non-government-approved books. But freedomand liberty.
The abortion ban cited above imposes possible third-degree felonies for any medical professional who assists, say, a woman who discovers at 10 weeks that her fetus has no skull. According to DeSantis’ law, since this woman’s life is not in danger, she should (must!) carry the pregnancy to term and give birth to a child without a skull (a child with a 5 percent chance of living one full week and no more).
Surely such cruelty is not good for any forthcoming DeSantis-as-Prez campaign.
A man who sneaks into town to sign such a bill into law under cover of darkness surely knows as much….
So, here’s the rub:
In order to get the Republican nomination, DeSantis needs all of this punitive, “felony” legislation. However, in order to win the presidential election, such fascist extremism is DOA.
Republican megadonors are noticing DeSantis’ extremism.
On April 15, 2023, the Financial Times published an article, entitled, “Top Republican Donor Sours on Florida Governor’s Stance on Social Issues.” From the article:
Top Republican donor Thomas Peterffy [worth $26B] is halting plans to help finance the US presidential bid of Florida governor Ron DeSantis due to his extreme positions on social issues.
“I have put myself on hold,” the billionaire told the Financial Times.
“Because of his stance on abortion and book banning . . . myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry.” …
In January, Peterffy told the FT that he was a fan of DeSantis and was “looking forward” to backing a presidential bid by the governor.
But now, he says: “I am more reluctant to back him. We are waiting to see who among the primary candidates is most likely to be able to win the general, and then put all of our firepower behind them.”
Ahh, the DeSantis quandary: How to sell out to the base and also win the general election?
Might be a good idea to sign into law Florida legislation that does not include the words, “third-degree felony.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The equally bad consequence of DeSantis’ politcal demise is that this increases the likelihood that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. Both would destroy our democracy. The majority of Americans have to realize that the Republican Party as it now stands is an autocratic cesspool. Republicans have to be defeated up and down the ballot.
“. . . is that this increases the likelihood that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee.”
Good!
Now the Dims need to get their shit together and nominate someone other than Biden who will whup up on the tRump.
Biden will be the Democratic nominee. No challengers.
The problem for him is that, at his age, people expect a VP ready to be President. There is not a lot of enthusiasm for Harris but no way for him to make a change.
“. . .but no way for him to make a change.”
Why not?
Biden chose Kamala to thank the Black voters who elevated him. How can he possibly dump her? I personally like her but she does not have strong support outside of Black base.
The right is split on Trump and DeSantis in Florida according to recent polls. It’s a choice between arsenic or hemlock. Some donors are pulling away from DeSantis because they believe his extremism won’t sell to most Americans according to the news today.
Paul,
I agree. DeSantis is a fascist who would silence or imprison anyone who disagrees. Trump is a con man who wants to make more money and create chaos in every sphere of government. They are both awful.
While we are hearing about DeSantis’ nonsensical fight over “woke” constantly, we hear very little about his play in the 5 billion increase to households’ energy costs or his insurance deal to make it more difficult for homeowners to sue insurance companies.
If you read through the other article about dark money in Florida, you will see that lots of campaign donations come from builders, contractors and insurance companies. I know DeSantis gets a lot of money from Florida Power and Light, although I didn’t see them specifically listed. They may be part of the many dark money PACS.
TECO (Tampa Electric) rates are up 62 percent since 2019, according to this story:
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/environment/2023-03-07/rate-hikes-approved-tuesday-for-tampa-electric-duke-energy-florida-and-florida-power-and-light
DeSantis wants voters to think about trans and drag queens, not electric rates, insurance costs, climate change.
This is how Fascists work.
from the same article:
The [Florida Public Service C]ommission also approved an increase of 15.1% spread over 21 months for Duke Energy Florida. Due to that longer time frame, the actual monthly increase visible on energy bills will be 3.8%.
In addition, Florida Power and Light will increase rates in their northwest territories by 8.3%, and in the peninsula by 10.3%.
The members of that commission are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the overwhelmingly Repugnican Senate.
The last paragraph, there, is my addition, ofc.
And this is how it works with Fascsts. They imprison a lot of people and make their cronies rich.
If you get a chance, read this article, it’s frightening.
https://jasongarcia.substack.com/p/how-ron-desantis-helped-florida-power
Bob,
Satire that refers to female genitalia as a T _ _ T is NEVER okay. Nor is the derogatory term used here as a reference to gay men.
Don’t anyone watch this under any circumstances!
Playing your Wheel of Fortune game, I come up with a word that doesn’t appear in Randy Rainbow’s song. And the notion that Randy Rainbow is being derogatory about gay men gave me a chuckle.
Clarity, I’m baffled. What is the objectionable word for female genitalia that is T—T? I watched twice and didn’t see it.
Also, I assume you know that Randy Rainbow (his real name) is flamboyantly gay. Again, I don’t know what derogatory term he used to describe himself. He does humor, satire.
Reblogged this on Politicians Are Poody Heads.