All Things DeSantis

[Smoove_B]

Missed this news last week:

Are you planning to take a road trip to Florida this summer? Take note of your driver’s license.

A law enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis July 1 declared certain driver’s licenses and learner’s permits from five states invalid in Florida. The restriction primarily affects undocumented immigrants and is part of a larger immigration law that critics argue is among the harshest in the country.

These are the five invalid licenses and learner’s permits with the conditions:

▪ Connecticut, “Not for Federal Identification”

▪ Delaware, “Driving Privilege Only” or “Not Valid for Identification”

▪ Hawaii, “Limited Purpose Driver’s License,” “Limited Purpose Provisional Driver’s License” or “ Not Valid for use for official Federal purposes”

▪ Rhode Island, “Not for Federal Identification,” “Driver Privilege Card” or “Driver Privilege Permit”

▪ Vermont, “Not for REAL ID Purposes Driver’s Privilege Card”

Kinda surprised NJ isn't on the list. We have the REAL ID law, but trying to get one has been a cluster f.

[Octavious]

The guy just flew off the rails the last year or so. Does he really think that crap is going to help him get elected? You have to get some swing votes... I really want to be frozen until the 2024 election is over and only unfrozen if things go well. Well in that we have a super old dude for 4 more years. I wonder if Trump would run again in 2028? I mean that would HAVE to be the last time he could run.

[Blackhawk]

Does this mean that they're withdrawing from the national agreement on licenses, invalidating Florida licenses in the rest of the Union?

And if not, we should tweak it so that it does. I mean, they're seceding little by little - why not help them along?

Spoiler:

No, I'm not asking that seriously. Just dreaming.

[Blackhawk]

I really want to be frozen until the 2024 election is over and only unfrozen if things go well.

I think I'd go with 'Unfreeze me when we don't suck.' I'd imagine it would be like the ending of AI.

[Octavious]

I didn't say it was the best idea. I'm already planning to take the day after the elections off. I will vote and then turn off all media. I sure as heck won't be watching the results come in.

[msteelers]

I didn't say it was the best idea. I'm already planning to take the day after the elections off. I will vote and then turn off all media. I sure as heck won't be watching the results come in.

I’ll be watching local news to keep an eye on the riots near me.

[Kraken]

Kinda surprised NJ isn't on the list. We have the REAL ID law, but trying to get one has been a cluster f.

I'm surprised MA is not. We just started issuing drivers licenses to undocumented persons last week.

[Holman]

I'm enjoying a huge amount of DeSchadenfreude at how weird and unlikable DeSantis shows himself to be.

[Smoove_B]

Didn't know this was happening in FL either, but apparently DeSantis tackled alimony:

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a measure that will overhaul the state’s alimony laws, after three vetoes of similar bills and a decade of emotional clashes over the issue.

The measure (SB 1416) includes doing away with what is known as permanent alimony. DeSantis’ approval came a year after he nixed a similar bill that sought to eliminate permanent alimony and set up a formula for alimony amounts based on the length of marriage.

...

The bill, which will take effect Saturday, also will set a five-year limit on what is known as rehabilitative alimony. Under the plan, people married for less than three years will not be eligible for alimony payments, and those who have been married 20 years or longer will be eligible to receive payments for up to 75 percent of the term of the marriage.

The new law will also allow alimony payers to seek modifications if “a supportive relationship exists or has existed” involving their ex-spouses in the previous year. Critics argued the provision is vague and could apply to temporary roommates who help alimony recipients cover living expenses for short periods of time.

[Kraken]

[Holman]

Trudeau missed a chance to have DeSantis' speech bubbles at half the height of everyone else's.

[Alefroth]

Did you see those heels?

[Holman]

Did you see those heels?

They're what inspired my comment.

[coopasonic]

I'm annoyed that it's a freaking thing that DeSantis might actually be 5'9". Of all the shit he has pulled we give a damn about his height. Does he wear lifts? Why does it matter? It matters because people think it matters. Height doesn't make you a leader. I was going to say I don't know why it annoys me so much, but I do know. It is pretty much the only space in which I am not in a position of privilege.I have so many other things going for me it doesn't matter, but it annoys me that for some people it does matter.

[Holman]

I'm annoyed that it's a freaking thing that DeSantis might actually be 5'9". Of all the shit he has pulled we give a damn about his height. Does he wear lifts? Why does it matter? It matters because people think it matters. Height doesn't make you a leader. I was going to say I don't know why it annoys me so much, but I do know. It is pretty much the only space in which I am not in a position of privilege.I have so many other things going for me it doesn't matter, but it annoys me that for some people it does matter.

It's fun because he's clearly uncomfortable about it. He does wear lifts, he poses on his toes, etc, because he's a weird guy who has trouble inhabiting his own skin.

[hepcat]

If you release homophobic campaign videos touting how manly you are, you'd damn well better be prepared for people to fight back at your level...

....which is apparently about table height.

[Zarathud]

DeSantis should be asked if public appearances by people in platform shoes should be banned. To protect the children from people who lie about their height on public records like their drivers license.

[Isgrimnur]

Veterans quit DeSantis’ Florida State Guard over militialike training

Many were told they would volunteer for a revived State Guard with a nonmilitary mission: help Floridians in times of need or disaster.

Instead, the state’s National Guard trained the volunteers for combat. Khakis and polos were replaced by camouflaged uniforms. Volunteers assured they could keep their facial hair were ordered to shave. And they were drilled on how to rappel with ropes, navigate through the woods and respond to incidents under military command.
...
Weeks into that inaugural June training, one volunteer, a disabled retired Marine Corps captain, called the local sheriff’s office to report he was battered by Florida National Guard instructors when they forcibly shoved him into a van after he questioned the program and its leadership.
...
Three former members told the Times/Herald the program veered from its original mission.

“The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” said Brian Newhouse, a retired 20-year Navy veteran who was chosen to lead one of the State Guard’s three divisions.

[Isgrimnur]

Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People

Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.”

After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

Dozens of Black residents were killed in the massacre, which was perpetrated to stop them from voting.

According to members of the board, that distorted portrayal of the racist massacre is factually accurate. MaryLynn Magar, a member of the board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said at the board’s meeting in Orlando on Wednesday that “everything is there” in the new history standards and “the darkest parts of our history are addressed,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

[Alefroth]

What next, the Holocaust built character?

[Carpet_pissr]

Going after InBev (parent company of BudLight) with a derivative lawsuit. Good luck with that.

CNN
—
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging the state’s pension fund manager to consider legal action against Bud Light’s parent company amid conservative backlash to the beermaker’s recent marketing efforts, the latest attempt by the Republican presidential candidate to inject himself and the state he runs into the country’s culture wars.

“This is not the first time DeSantis has threatened to use Florida’s $235 billion in pension investments as a cudgel in his political fights with corporate America. In early 2022, he threatened to hold Twitter shareholders accountable if they didn’t sell the social media company to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Later in the year, DeSantis pushed the state pension board to adopt new rules that banned its investors from considering the environmental and social good of a company or fund when deciding where to put Florida’s retirement assets, pushing back against the so-called ESG movement.”

[pr0ner]

Such conservatism. Much wow.

[Alefroth]

Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People

Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.”

After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

Dozens of Black residents were killed in the massacre, which was perpetrated to stop them from voting.

According to members of the board, that distorted portrayal of the racist massacre is factually accurate. MaryLynn Magar, a member of the board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said at the board’s meeting in Orlando on Wednesday that “everything is there” in the new history standards and “the darkest parts of our history are addressed,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

I know Twitter is a cesspool, but I'm still surprised how quickly and casually defending and justifying slavery became a thing.

[Holman]

What next, the Holocaust built character?

Plenty of Evangelicals believe that God sent the Holocaust in order to re-establish Jewish possession of Israel, a necessary condition for Christ's return.

[jztemple2]

I usually don't follow threads in R&P, but since I live in Florida I thought I'd contribute this article which was carried by our local news outlet. Enjoy

DeSantis cuts a third of his presidential campaign staff as he mounts urgent reset

Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis is cutting far more campaign staff than previously thought as he works to reset his stumbling campaign amid unexpected financial trouble.

DeSantis, long considered former President Donald Trump's chief rival in the GOP's 2024 primary contest, has cut a third of his campaign staff — or 38 people, according to campaign aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal campaign strategy.

The dramatic staffing cuts include the “less than 10” employees that the DeSantis team revealed letting go earlier in the month just as federal filings showed that his campaign was burning through cash at an unsustainable rate, even before launching a substantial paid advertising campaign.

“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden," DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck said in a statement. "DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”

Revelations about the staffing cuts came on the same day DeSantis was involved in a multi-car accident on a Tennessee highway in the midst of a fundraising tour. The Florida governor was not hurt, according to his campaign and law enforcement. A female staff member was treated for a minor injury.

The latest revelations mark a new low for a presidential candidate who entered the Republican primary this spring with sky-high expectations as Republican primary voters signaled a willingness to move on from Trump. Yet two months later, the 44-year-old DeSantis stands a distant second in most polls as GOP operatives and donors alike question his readiness for the national stage.

[Smoove_B]

I can't help but think he's been banking on the DoJ actually incarcerating TFG and/or the GOP officially eliminating him as a possible candidate - so he can swoop in and steal the throne. And since neither has happened, he has no way to sustain his efforts much longer - especially considering how poorly he's been received outside FL.

[Holman]

It's pretty clear that DeSantis believed his own press releases and expected to coast to the nomination as "Trump without the baggage." They took in a lot of money but spent lavishly on frills (too much staff, too many private jets) in the assumption that it would keep coming.

The first time I saw Mrs. DeSantis cosplaying as Jackie Kennedy at a political event, I knew they were out of touch with reality.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I'm sure it was all on his own:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign fired an aide this week who secretly created and shared a pro-DeSantis video that featured the candidate at the center of a Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists.

Driving the news: Nate Hochman, a speechwriter on the DeSantis campaign and a former writer for National Review, created the video on his own and shared it through a pro-DeSantis Twitter account, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The people that needed to see it have and that's all that matters. Releasing and deleting something is a strategy.

[LordMortis]

Yeah, I'm sure it was all on his own:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign fired an aide this week who secretly created and shared a pro-DeSantis video that featured the candidate at the center of a Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists.

Driving the news: Nate Hochman, a speechwriter on the DeSantis campaign and a former writer for National Review, created the video on his own and shared it through a pro-DeSantis Twitter account, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The people that needed to see it have and that's all that matters. Releasing and deleting something is a strategy.

DeSantis can just tell them to stand down, stand by.

[waitingtoconnect]

Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People

Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.”

After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

Dozens of Black residents were killed in the massacre, which was perpetrated to stop them from voting.

According to members of the board, that distorted portrayal of the racist massacre is factually accurate. MaryLynn Magar, a member of the board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, said at the board’s meeting in Orlando on Wednesday that “everything is there” in the new history standards and “the darkest parts of our history are addressed,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

I know Twitter is a cesspool, but I'm still surprised how quickly and casually defending and justifying slavery became a thing.

At this rate it will come back. We’ll have “me and my slaves” reality tv shows in no time where the slaves are taught valuable life skills like how to keep their mouths shut when master is speaking and how to avoid state troopers while attempting to make your way to a free state.

I don’t believe desantis when he says he had no hand in this.

He was a history teacher before politics.

A student claimed that, during a history class on the American Civil War, he had made arguments for the justification of slavery, saying: “He was trying to play devil’s advocate that the South had good reason to fight the war, to kill other people, over owning people – Black people.

He also allegedly argued that the civil war was competition between two competing economic systems not about slavery.

He believes this stuff.

[Kasey Chang]

The state guard DeSantis organized is basically a 100 million budgeted state militia with priority to "aid law enforcement with riots and illegal immigration" (with natural disaster relief a distant third). Recruits were subject to bootcamp conditions (6 AM bugle, 10AM lights out, wearing camo at all times, trained in weapons), and even disabled veterans were not given exemptions, and were summarily dismissed.

Initially sold as "disaster relief", it's clear state guard is turning into DeSantis' brown shirts.

[GreenGoo]

Recruits were subject to bootcamp conditions (6 AM bugle, 10AM lights out)

Draconian.

[Jaymann]

Apparently Fox News is De-Serting the sinking De-Santis tugboat. Now they are pimping Glenn Youngkin of VA, as a kinder, gentler TFG. Hilarious that they created TFG and now they have no alternative.

[Holman]

He believes this stuff.

Or he wanted students to believe it, at least.

[Holman]

[LordMortis]

Is that his idea of reaching across the aisle?

[Jaymann]

You gotta admit that's creative - an anti-vaxer in charge of the CDC.

[LordMortis]

You gotta admit that's creative - an anti-vaxer in charge of the CDC.

As creative as an anti public education heiress leading the Dept of Ed. My recollection TFG had a storied history of appointing Cartoonish Tazmanian Devils in charge of the hen houses?

[Jaymann]

You gotta admit that's creative - an anti-vaxer in charge of the CDC.

As creative as an anti public education heiress leading the Dept of Ed. My recollection TFG had a storied history of appointing Cartoonish Tazmanian Devils in charge of the hen houses?

Which reminds me - is that cretin who was removing mailboxes still in charge of the Postal Service?

[Kraken]

You gotta admit that's creative - an anti-vaxer in charge of the CDC.

As creative as an anti public education heiress leading the Dept of Ed. My recollection TFG had a storied history of appointing Cartoonish Tazmanian Devils in charge of the hen houses?

That goes back at least as far as Reagan appointing anti-environmental lobbyist James Watt as Interior Secretary.