How Toxic Will DeSantis Be-- Not To Mention Trump-- For Down-Ballot Republican Incumbents In Florida?

 

COVID Ron with COVID Don

Polling shows that Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is the second most hated governor in the U.S. Just 29% of Floridians say he's handled the pandemic well (and that includes the 4% who think he's handled it "very well"). Who's worse? Iowans say Kim Reynolds, who only had 26% willing to say she's done a good job on the pandemic. As of yesterday, there were 685,439 cases in Florida-- 31,914 cases per million residents, the worst in the country outside of Louisiana. Florida has active 453,331 cases (worst in America by far), which means there will be more deaths added to DeSantis' already dismal 13,324.

DeSantis is one lucky-ducky he's not up for reelection in November. Still, he's dragging other Republicans down the drain even while not on the ballot. So yesterday, he took a cue from his lord and master and decided to play the Law & Order card. Reporting for CNN, Gregory Lemos and Allen Kim wrote that DeSantis released a sweeping set of proposals on Monday, probably unconstitutional, that would dramatically crack down on people who attend protests that turn violent or disorderly by threatening them with a mix of felonies and increased jail time.

DeSantis said the proposal, which was introduced at a Monday press conference-- called the Combatting Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act-- would impose stiff criminal penalties for actions such as blocking roadways, disrupting restaurants or toppling monuments.

"You see videos of these innocent people eating dinner and you have these crazed lunatics just screaming at them and intimidating them on a public accommodation," DeSantis said. "You aren't going to do that in state of Florida."

Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, responded to the proposal in a statement, calling it "undemocratic and hostile to Americans' shared values."

"This effort has one goal: silence, criminalize, and penalize Floridians who want to see justice for Black lives lost to racialized violence and brutality at the hands of law enforcement," Kubic said.

Among the proposals is a measure allowing motorists to be waived of liability should they happen to kill or injure a protester with their vehicles while "fleeing for safety from a mob."

The governor said the legislation also enables the state to use RICO liability against anyone who organizes or funds these kinds of "disorderly assemblies," and he cited the handling of Portland's protest as an example of what not to do.

...According to the governor's office, the next legislative session commences in March 2021 but committees will begin meeting later this year to begin the process of crafting the language of the bill and finding sponsors.

I asked some of the candidates running down-ballot how they think DeSantis' cooked up "law & order" scheme is likely to impact their own races. Janelle Christensen, president of the Florida Environmental Caucus, isn't a candidate but she sure was as disturbed by DeSantis' grandstanding as many across the state were. "As Floridians watch their homes flood in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally and are forced to evacuate in the middle of a pandemic," she said last night, "DeSantis ignores their plight. Instead, he moves to pass a law that potentailly violates our First Amendment rights and crushes home rule."

Adam Christensen (no relation-- other than their shared determination to protect the environment of the state they both love), is running for the congressional seat Ted Yoho has been pushed out of-- more on that anon. Adam got right to the point: "It’s like a 2 year old throwing a tantrum. The man wants to make murder legal as long as it’s done with a car.  We simply don’t have time for his foolishness."

Just north of Adam's congressional district, Joshua Hicks is favored to oust a Republican incumbent representing Nassau and part of Duval. Joshua told me that "This 'proposal' is just an election year stunt by the Governor because this team knows Donald Trump is in trouble in Florida. This attempt to silence the voices of Floridians across the state is a pathetic and unconstitutional attempt at a power-grab. Listen, protests should remain peaceful, as we demand justice and an end to systemic racism across the country. But this proposal simply has one goal: to silence and penalize anyone who wants to speak out. That's not okay. As a member of the state legislature, I will oppose this unconstitutional legislation from DAY ONE. My opponent would support it-- because he supports everything the Governor does. We need leaders; not followers. I believe the governor's attempt to silence our voices will actually do the opposite this November: it'll fire up more young voters to go to the polls, helping Democrats win up and down the ballot, and electing Joe Biden our next President."

And down at the southern tip of the state, Bob Lynch, is challenging Trumpist power-monger Daniel Perez in a swingy Miami-Dade district the Florida Democratic Party preferred to leave without a challenger. Today Lynch told me that "On one hand, it will be music to the ears of a sizable percentage of my district, which includes radically right-wing Cubans whose Spanish language propaganda and fear mongering about the socialist/communist,s rivals anything you will hear on Fox News, OANN, or evening QAnon. On the other, Latinos in Miami-Dade County are quickly starting to see through this bullshit. The state is falling apart, unemployment is a disaster, traffic is a mess, and DeSantis left older Floridians to die as a sacrifice to the economy. Castro and Chavez/Maduro were brutal dictators, they share far more in common with Trump, the Saudis, Erdogan, Netanyahu, and President Xi than anyone else.  The brutal scare tactics that Trump Mini-Me And Fisher Price Fascist, Ron DeSantis, is employing are a distraction from his disastrous time in the governor’s mansion. We need to focus on races like mine because taking out a sycophant like my opponent offers Floridians the opportunity to provide a crucial check on the incompetence and corruption of Ron DeSantis. All of the Florida Republicans fall in line with Trump/DeSantis and every less one of them in office means leas dead Floridians."

Professor Cindy Banyai is the progressive Democrat running for open congressional seat in southwest Florida-- and it didn't take much for her to see right through DeSantis' scam. "This is nothing more than an election year ploy from a floundering politician trying desperately to grease his way to favor with Trump. This clearly limits our Constitutional right to free speech and assembly and provides an unnerving amount of power to persecute critics. I'm also concerned about the encroachment on home rule with such state level budget mandates. Between this and Trump's DOJ declaring New York, Seattle, and Portland "anarchist jurisdictions" we should all be worried about the United States becoming a facist dictatorship under martial law. There has never been a more important time to elect countervailing voices to the Florida legislature and US national offices."