Florida’s Wooden Puppet: Ron DeSantis
Call me crazy, but I have always put people in one of two boxes. A given person is either a reasonable, self-respecting, caring being or a non-thinking, unaware dolt with a lack of will or capacity to learn. The non-learners who are blind to the facts, data and advice from experts are hard to support, especially when their hands, legs and mouths are driven by a single man in D.C.
I live in Florida, and in 2018 we had an election for a new Governor. The battle came down to a 42-year-old Republican attorney, former naval officer and politician who ran against the Democratic nominee, Andrew Gillum, the Mayor of Tallahassee. Mr. Gillum, an African American, waged an excellent campaign and lost by a slim margin. The election propelled Gillum to “next Dem-star status” and a job as a TV political pundit, but his world was about to come crashing down.
Andrew Gillum was reportedly one of three men involved in a drug overdose at a Miami Beach hotel room. No arrests were made, even though the substance in that room was rumored to be crystal meth. In a September 2020 interview with ABC’s Tamron Hall, Gillum came out as bisexual. Thus, things ended for the would-be wunderkind. I share these details for context. Many Floridians think we dodged a bullet with Gillum, but the other guy is a hacksaw of ignorance.

Ron DeSantis has never secreted his love-affair with Donald Trump. He probably believes Trump’s support got him the win, but his obsession with that man has damaged him politically and hurt Florida’s fragile health system during the pandemic.
On May 20, 2020, Ron DeSantis was taking questions from the press about his administration’s handling of the COVID crisis in Florida. Standing next to Vice President Mike Pence, Governor DeSantis didn’t hold back, loudly blasting the press for their fearmongering and overall criticism of his state. DeSantis’ voice rose to a stressed and defensive pitch as he ranted, “Any insinuation otherwise is just typical partisan narrative trying to be spun and a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was going to be just like New York in two weeks… Well, hell, we’re eight weeks away from that and it hasn’t happened!”
Yes, at that time Florida was averaging “only” 724 new cases over a seven-day average, but by July 20th that figure had climbed to 11,000. The mercurial nature of the global pandemic would have been understood by anyone who took the time to learn about novel viruses, but DeSantis was too busy trying to defend doing nothing.
Above all else, DeSantis wanted to please President Trump and not anger him. Now, Florida has more than one million people infected and almost 19,000 dead. In the insanity of this situation our governor has remained frozen and clueless and, yes Mr. DeSantis, Florida has become just like New York.
Just yesterday, when asked about a mask mandate for Florida, DeSantis maintained his opposition. “How has that worked out in the states that have done it? Has that stopped an outbreak in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan. What about New Jersey? What about all these states where you have an explosion in cases? So, I mean, at some point, does the observed experience matter? I’m opposed to mandates. Period. I don’t think they work.” So, there you have it. Like ill-informed Donald Trump, DeSantis believes masks don’t work.
Support for DeSantis lies not in the major cities of Florida but in the panhandle, a much more conservative and pro-Trump region. Okay, but will there ever come a time when politicians stop the insanity of over-serving their base and direct their attention to the needs to of all the people?
We can make laws to prevent our leaders from doing bad things, but would it not make more sense to elect better people? During Ron DeSantis’ long rant about the press being the problem, he also said he was going to ask for criminal charges to be brought against Rebekah Jones, a scientist working on Florida’s coronavirus internet portal. Ms. Jones claims she was pressured to fudge the infection numbers to make the argument of reopening the state more convincing. Wouldn’t that mean that Ron DeSantis is corrupt?
As would be expected of Trump’s wooden puppet, Governor DeSantis sicced his dogs on Jones and called her a liar on social media. In the coming post-Trump era, we need better protections for whistleblowers. Of course, we must wait until 2023 to replace this hanging wall ornament named DeSantis, but he’s likely to do more damage between now and then. He has introduced a bill that would make it legal for a person to use their vehicle to run down protesters who are blocking a road. Really? That’s obviously against the First Amendment of the US Constitution, but I’m quite sure Ron “DeathSantis” has not read that document.
I wonder who will give DeSantis his orders after Trump is gone. Every discussion with Governor Ron sounds like an argument. I believe he avoids airtime on CNN and MSNBC not only because Trump wouldn’t like it, but because he fears the questions that might be asked. You know, queries like, “Do you regret yelling at the press when you were with Pence?”
A puppet becomes silent when their master’s arm is pulled out of their ass. Let’s hope that Puppet DeSantis learns to listen more, talk less and do the right things. Right now, he’s more concerned about reelection than what Floridians need to stay safe. Short of wearing makeup, it’s hard to tell Ron DeSantis from that other guy. What’s his name? Oh yeah, Donald John Trump, America’s biggest and worst loser ever.
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