It wasn’t so long ago that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by 19 points over his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist. DeSantis amazed some pundits by turning reliably blue counties red. It would seem like Floridians liked what the governor was doing and wanted more of the same.
And yet every piece you read about Florida in the mainstream media would have you believe it’s a fascist hellhole. Just “ask a gay” and they’ll tell you LGBTQ families are fleeing Florida for their lives. We’ve seen videos where every single book has been removed from the school library’s shelves. And now Disney has lost its self-governing privileges. DeSantis might have been OK during his first term, but now he’s gone too far, even with conservatives. Salon reports that “the situation in Florida” clearly represents a threat to American democracy. We thought it was good old American democracy that got DeSantis reelected, but democracy is only good when the liberals win.
"While DeSantis' anti-abortion and anti-woke policies have been popular with many Catholics and Evangelicals in Florida and around the country, there is evidence that he has gone too far, even with these communities," @MariaJStephan writes. https://t.co/7iW7FxcQMt
— Salon (@Salon) May 15, 2023
Wow, seven likes already from 932,000 followers. Clearly, the tide is turning against DeSantis.
Maria J. Stephan, co-author of “Why Civil Resistance Works,” writes in a really, really long piece:
There is significant pro-democracy organizing across Florida to build upon. Florida students led statewide protests against the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in 2020. They have joined forces with parents, educators, and civic groups like Equality Florida and the ACLU to file a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the state’s Board of Education. Groups formed after DeSantis’ hostile take-over of New College of Florida, including the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, Families for Strong Public Schools, and the Novo Collegian Alliance, have also been organizing students, teachers and alumni across the state, while organizations like Showing Up for Racial Justice have been organizing white Floridians to push back against DeSantis’ policies.
…
The situation in Florida clearly represents a threat to American democracy. The way DeSantis and the Florida legislature are operating is comparable to autocrats worldwide. While the situation is urgent, much can be done to mitigate the effects of DeSantis’ harmful policies in Florida and across the country, while preventing his authoritarian march to the White House.
It’s funny that Sephan points out so many wins for DeSantis, such as his “hostile takeover” of New College and his signing into law of the Parental Rights in Education bill. The ACLU and Showing Up for Racial Justice can take a hike.
Funnily enough, this piece forgot to mention that Florida is the fastest-growing state in the nation.
Who knew so many Americans would want to move to such a fascist dystopia?https://t.co/sWK1u2GiJ5
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
California and New York, on the other hand, have both broken all-time records for population loss since 2020.
…and guess where all those people are moving?https://t.co/jrULa8xzzi
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
Since 2020, California's population has shrunk by more than half a million people.
For the past three years, it's been the top state in the nation for outbound U-Hauls — so much so, in fact, that they literally ran out of trucks leaving the state:https://t.co/fFz32nNXGz
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
A 2019 poll found that about half of Californians have considered leaving the state.
And the middle classes are leaving at a higher rate than the wealthy, which has helped to make California — once a middle-class utopia — one of the most unequal states in the country. pic.twitter.com/BlCgDrCVx1
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
The only state that has lost *more* people than California over the past few years is New York, which logged a record-breaking population decline of 524,079 between 2020 and 2022.
Florida added a net 400,000 people from July 2021 to July 2022 alone.https://t.co/8fkX52oj6c
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
Progressives can pound the table about Florida's descent into fascist authoritarianism all they want.
But normal Americans—not just the rich, but working- and middle-class folks—prefer Florida, by overwhelming numbers, to the states that have embraced the Left's political model.
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
Normal Americans … yes, we’re out here.
I know it's obvious by now that "democracy" really just means "stuff the Left likes," but it's still amazing that the author can just gloss over @RonDeSantisFL winning by over *1.5 million* votes—and then pivot back to accusing him of undermining democracyhttps://t.co/fVceVSjVoW pic.twitter.com/21HaWeLAMi
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) May 15, 2023
Democrats' version of 'threats to democracy' just means whenever Republicans finally hit back on their baseless narratives.
— Kyle Lamb (@kylamb8) May 15, 2023
Been here since 2009 and absolutely loving the Fascism!
— Great Stockpix (Day Trader) (@Greatstockpix) May 15, 2023
But, Nate, it's really just the weather. Nothingggg else could possibly be of interest to them!
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 15, 2023
DeSantis must be over the target. The hit pieces on him are becoming more and more frequent.
The left (read real fascists) are terrified.
Good.— Mark 56 (@Mark56inFlorida) May 15, 2023
Salon stands on their heads and tells us we're upside down.
— Go-kart Mozart (@csingkofer) May 15, 2023
The follow up article can be titled “Flocking to Fascism”. LOL
— T Bierly (@tbierly) May 15, 2023
It turns out the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was pretty popular once citizens found out what it actually said. Most of what DeSantis is doing is pretty popular, which is why hit pieces like this one from Salon are so very common.
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Related:
Governor DeSantis signs higher education bill and it does not go unnoticedhttps://t.co/ZoLkvxhWRG
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 15, 2023
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