Is there no end to Ron DeSantis’ authoritarian rule? Is there no cure for his madness? You think we’re joking around, but you don’t know what he just said. He said that … God, we can’t even bring ourselves to write it here. You’ll just have to watch it and hear it for yourselves:
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) says “a school district would be totally within their rights” to confiscate students' cellphones during classes. pic.twitter.com/F8OEEWyzNh
— The Recount (@therecount) January 23, 2023
Can you even right now? You’ve literally just heard a sitting Republican governor call for teachers making students keep their cell phones in cubbies or something. During class, no less!
Actually, that sounds pretty reasonable. Really reasonable, even.
This is… not an own? They do this at my kid’s school in midnight blue Northern Virginia. https://t.co/whxyHaxeP3
— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) January 24, 2023
But it seems that NYU professor and MSNBC columnist and expert on authoritarians, fascism, and propaganda Ruth Ben-Ghiat would not agree:
https://twitter.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1617747804910399488
We wish for Ruth’s sake that she was just being funny. And technically, she is. It’s just not on purpose.
No, as an NYU professor and MSNBC columnist and expert on authoritarians, fascism, and propaganda, she’s being 150% serious when she says that Ron DeSantis suggesting that students put away their cell phones during class is dangerous and authoritarian.
Recommended
When I saw this tweet I braced myself for a ghastly example of DeSantis’s authoritarianism. Instead I heard a governor say school kids should put their cell phones in a cubby during class. https://t.co/nR8eqz3Cw1
— David Bernstein (@DavidLBernstein) January 24, 2023
For eff’s sake, Ruth. Calm down.
This tweet over telling teachers they can take kids’ phones away?
Lol. Lmao even.
— Hooch (@CompanyHooch) January 24, 2023
You wanna know the scariest part? There are actually people out there who actually agree with Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s take:
https://twitter.com/MyUSofWhatev3r/status/1617786144539971589
He gives me the creeps, everything about him oozes untrustworthiness and, indeed, depravity.
— Silly Billy (@SillyBi92928447) January 24, 2023
More disturbing is that we continue to see video of him calmly articulating his case. Outside of this website the pushback seems too quiet.
— Mark Klapper🌻 (@MarkKlapper) January 24, 2023
OMG! He’s too calm when making his case! He should be screaming and gesticulating wildly, which would be way more normal and way less scary!
https://twitter.com/newlibnewlab/status/1617749363702517766
Aparently he is loved. Floridians relelected him.
— ☮️Mad As Hell & Pro Choice. cynic💙 (@Vanja_si) January 24, 2023
See, now those tweets are way more terrifying than anything Ron DeSantis has done so far.
I thought I was being paranoid.
— Max Brane (@MaxBrane) January 24, 2023
Yeah, that’s because you are being paranoid. But keep it up, by all means. If nothing else, it’s highly entertaining for the rest of us.
Next thing you know these Nazis will ask kids not to chew gum in class. https://t.co/MRXTrjsyoa
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) January 24, 2023
You know who else hated cell phones in class?
Hitler.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member