Political Commentary Featuring Scott and DeSantis
Florida Senator Rick Scott will be running for
re-election in 2024. He is already
campaigning, speaking out against those things he opposes (Medicare, Social
Security, the Affordable Care Act, government regulation of anything, more
taxes on the wealthy, LGBTQ rights, gun control, abortion rights, … the list
goes on and on.)
Floridians were gullible, ignorant or stupid enough
to re-elect Governor Ron DeSantis in November who is pretty much against the
same things plus books in school libraries or classrooms with which he
disagrees and academic freedom. But more
about him further on.
In any political operative’s handbook, there should
be the rule that states that a candidate must not antagonize people whose votes
he or she wants. Therefore, it is a bad
tactic to call those who voted for DeSantis, and who undoubtedly will vote for
Scott, ‘gullible, ignorant or stupid.’
In their campaigns, DeSantis and Scott count on
the issues mentioned above that add up to a ‘culture war,’ to get the votes of
those who are indeed ‘gullible, ignorant or stupid’ but the Democrats cannot
attack them for doing that without antagonizing or even insulting those voters.
That’s a ‘no-no.’ They must try to follow Michelle Obama’s
advice to ‘go high, when they go low.’
Democrats or Independents who even argue with
Scott’s and DeSantis’ supporters, let alone with the two of them, end up
engaging them on the battlefield of their choice, the ‘culture wars,’ where
even if defeated, they will never admit it.
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| Scott and DeSantis |
No, scoundrels like Scott and DeSantis must be fought by stressing real issues, which serve the interests of the people: health care, education, jobs, voting rights, retirement benefits, the economic safety net, taxing everyone fairly and not favoring the very wealthy, the government’s responsibility to serve the people, regulation of financial markets, food, drugs, certain products and working conditions, the infrastructure, the environment and climate change. Stressing these areas disarms the ‘culture warriors,’ taking away their ‘home court’ advantage but it must be done powerfully, and with solid and well documented evidence. Going after their primitive ideas regarding abortion or gun violence will get you nowhere because that is returning to their battlefield of choice.
Getting back to Ron DeSantis, existing Florida law
calls for his resignation should he run for president. Undoubtedly, the legislature would not
hesitate to repeal that law if he asked them to. If he should run, I suspect it would be as a
‘culture warrior.’ While that might
suffice to get the votes of Florida’s ‘gullible, ignorant or stupid,’ such a
tactic would not work nationally as the 2022 mid-term elections illustrated,
where the Republicans, campaigning as ‘culture warriors,’ lost a Senate seat and
barely eked out a majority in the House, far less than they had anticipated.
If DeSantis remains a ‘culture
warrior,’ which he is, I believe he would lose a presidential race and might
not even be able to gain the Republican nomination. If he
chooses to campaign on real issues, where Republicans have no real constructive
agenda, only one of destruction and demolition of what Democrats have built
since the New Deal, he will lose that way too, since he will have nothing to
offer. The G.O.P. always turns to
‘trickle down’ economics, a tired tactic that people are now wise to. Tax breaks for the wealthy and businesses
just do not get poured back into economic growth.
Most Americans are not as ‘gullible, ignorant or
stupid,’ as are Floridians. Remember
that Joe Biden defeated his 2020 opponent by six million votes nationally, while
the defeated former president easily carried Floriduh. Florida is not the nation.
JL
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The Grammy Awards Signifying Change
Back in 1963, Bob Dylan sang about ‘the times they
are a changin’ and at the 2023 Grammies, that idea was validated by award
winner Harry Styles, in a shimmering sequined gown, singing ‘In this world … you
know it’s not the same as it was, as it was, you know it’s not the same.’
Right! You got it right, Harry!
The evening included deserved homage paid to ‘what
was’ with a rhythmic panorama of rock headlined by Stevie Wonder and a fiftieth
anniversary of hip-hop (which I have yet to understand as nothing more than socially
significant rhyming words spoken rapidly to a beat) led by Dr. Dre, both genres
seemingly headed, along with what’s left of country music, to spaces reserved
for them in the Grammy's attic of oblivion already occupied by the Great American
Songbook and Tin Pan Alley. I don't think hip-hop enthusiasts recognize this yet, but they will.
The entertainers’ and awardees’ attire was
unbelievable, even as Halloween costumes, and a world record was set for
displays of cleavage. The best and most
refreshing aspect of the 'change' was the emergence of Lizzo as an entertainer
who happily seeks the adulation of those who never will aspire to traditional
glamour, the antithesis of which she represents.
But someone buys those records or downloads the ‘music’ that the Grammies celebrate. Standing in the background, the camera occasionally panned over to Taylor Swift watching it all, who while still at the top of her profession, will soon also fall victim to the changes represented by Harry Styles and Lizzo. Change is good, and unavoidable. Those who do not accept it had better watch out. It is knocking at your door.
JL
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* * *
The Centerpiece of American Democracy, the 10th
Amendment?
In a recent posting, Professor Heather Cox Richardson made it clear that American democracy does not always provide its citizens with what is in their best interests and what repeated polling indicates they want. The issue she was addressing was the failure of Mississippi to participate in available federal Medicare benefits to enable health care to continue to be available to many in that State living below the poverty level.
In reality, this refusal extends much further into the nation’s
social and economic fabric, beyond Mississippi. For example, Richardson pointed
out that ‘the theory behind it also says that the government should also stay
out of the business of protecting civil rights, because state governments are
the centerpiece of American democracy.’
That is the crux of the problem. State governments are NOT the centerpiece of American democracy. The national government in Washington IS its centerpiece. Whatever 'theory' says otherwise is flawed.
That is why we had thirteen stars on the American flag in 1789
and fifty today, perpetuating the words of the Tenth Amendment. We should only
have one big star on the flag. Just as
Republicans in State legislatures ignore the first thirteen words of the Second
Amendment (as does the Supreme Court), they choose to ignore the final four
words of the Tenth Amendment, ‘or to the people.’
Compromises made for the benefit of slaveowners in 1789 are not pertinent today and must be remedied. So long as this misused belief in State governments persists, our democracy will rest on wet and shifting sands rather than upon solid rock.
And that means looking hard at the skewed composition of the Senate (two Senators from each State regardless of population) including the effect this has on the Electoral College, at the Second Amendment (intended to prevent the government from disarming slave States), and of course, at the Tenth Amendment.
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| The Founding Fathers said this was okay! |
JL
* * * *
The Debt Ceiling Explained
With all the talk about the debt ceiling that has been going on, it is time to clear the air. Catherine Rampell, an opinion columnist for the Washington Post, recently did this, along with discussing the opacity and complexities of our political system. Check it out at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/31/debt-ceiling-media-politicians/ Or Just Click here.
(Ms. Rampell is a ‘local girl’ for South Floridians, coming from a family prominent in the accounting profession here in Palm Beach County, as well as in many civic activities. She knows of what she writes.)
JL
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Thumbs Down on McCarthy
Up until now I have been polite in referring to House
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, even though he sold his soul to the extremist right-wing Freedom Caucus in exchange for their eventually having supported him in
his efforts to become Speaker. But that
has now changed.
Last Thursday, in a Capitol press conference, a reporter asked about his views concerning the death of Ashli
Babbitt, who died after being shot by Capitol Police on January 6, 2021. At the time, Ms. Babbitt had been struggling
with police officers after she broke into the Capitol building during the
invasion of that building by rioters trying to prevent the official tabulation
of President Biden’s electoral victory.
McCarthy’s reply was that ‘she was murdered.’ In doing their job of defending the Capitol
building against its invaders, the Capitol Police did not murder her, by any
stretch of the imagination. Getting
killed is a risk people take when they fight with outnumbered but armed officers of the law,
attempting to do them harm, as this lady was doing. Her death was thoroughly investigated, making it clear that calling it a 'murder' was only a fiction
present in the alternate reality that many Republicans inhabit, part of the
‘big lie’ foisted on them by the pathetic defeated former president.
His reply to the reporter does establish, however, once and for
all, that Kevin McCarthy is a total asshole of the first order. That designation is further firmed up by his
refusal to unseat George Santos (or whatever his name is), who lied and cheated
his way into winning a seat in the House of Representatives, and whose presence
there disgraces that body. Ultimately, McCarthy will be forced to unseat him so that
he may serve the prison sentence for election fraud which looms in his future. I am sorry, but there is no other way to
describe McCarthy other than referring to him as a total asshole.
I know he has been meeting with President Biden in
regard to the debt limit. I would hope
the White House staff disinfects any areas where McCarthy sat down or set foot.
JL
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