Political Irony

Florida is the state where tin-pot dictators go to die. Just ask Ronald D. DeSantis, who is about to have his future completely destroyed by Disney (the very model of a Mickey Mouse outfit). You don’t mess with the mouse!

You have almost certainly heard about the fight between DeSantis and Disney.

• DeSantis got Florida to pass a law prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, popularly called “Don’t say Gay”. Did DeSantis miss the memo that gays now have rights?
• Under pressure from their employees, Disney criticized that law.
• DeSantis makes a mistake, writing, “If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy.” He also started calling the company names, like “Woke Disney”.
• At the behest of DeSantis, the Florida legislature — which was previously heavily gerrymandered by DeSantis, so much so that the Republican-controlled legislature balked but was overruled by the governor — started targeting Disney with extremely hostile measures. First they took away Disney’s special tax district, something that is common in Florida (including Daytona speedway, The Villages, and hundreds of others).
• Then DeSantis pushed through an “oversight board” to control Disney World, which was filled with his lackeys.
• Disney quietly did an end-run around that board, which enraged DeSantis. The governor then went ballistic, threatening to reappraise the value of Disney World to raise its property taxes, imposing tolls on the roads that go there, and developing the surrounding land with annoying businesses, including a new state prison.
• So today, Disney sued DeSantis. In their complaint, they point out that the First Amendment means “In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”

Let me just point out that Disney is the linchpin that turned Orlando into an international tourist destination. Disney World is the largest private employer in the state with 75,000 employees, paid $1.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, and they are very popular in Florida.

And yet, DeSantis went on the warpath against Disney simply because they dared to criticize DeSantis for passing an unpopular law. Like I said, DeSantis is a tin-pot dictator. He wants to control what teachers can say, what books can be read, and to destroy the freedom of speech. Republicans are supposed to be for small government, not taking over private businesses.

The lawsuit says that DeSantis created a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint.” And all the evidence for this came right out of his mouth and pen.

I also want to point out that Disney is a huge company, and has some of the best corporate lawyers in the world. They held back to let DeSantis hang himself, and the governor and hopeful presidential candidate took the bait.

I can’t imagine any way that Disney doesn’t absolutely win this case, and on top of that, makes DeSantis look like the drooling idiot he is. Indeed, DeSantis is now taking heat from other Republicans. Even Trump wrote last week, “This is all so unnecessary, a political STUNT!” And (using a pejorative name), “DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney.” Whatever you call him, I believe that he will be out of politics entirely in a few years (partly because he is term limited as governor).

Yesterday morning, I published two cartoons about Donald Trump getting indicted. I actually wrote it the night before, but published it early the next morning. And lo and behold, a few hours later, Trump was indicted. Coincidence? I like to think not!

But I know what you are thinking. Trump has been able to wiggle out of just about everything in his life, and this time will be no different.

However, it is already different. Trump is now a loser. Since the Republicans became enthralled by Trump, they have lost the last presidential election, lost the Senate, and did much worse than expected in the House. I’d bet money that the majority of Republican politicians, who right now are screaming bloody murder about the indictment, are actually secretly hoping that Trump goes away forever. Their only concern is not upsetting his base.

Speaking of Trump’s base, note that there were no violent protests yesterday from the MAGA faithful. After all, after the 2020 election Trump incited them to riot and foment insurrection at the Capitol, and a bunch of them went to jail for it. And people died. Maybe they are thinking twice now.

In addition, even back in 2016, the thing that got Trump in the most trouble was the Access Hollywood tape, containing the famous line “Grab ’em by the pussy.” The current indictment is also all about Trump’s philandering ways. That will piss off some voters.

Also, this is the first time that Trump has been in serious jeopardy. This is a criminal indictment which contains more than 30 charges. Yes, Trump has been able to weasel his way out of civil lawsuits by settling out of court, and also out of political charges, including two impeachments (which are political, not legal). But the only thing that needs to happen here is for a jury to convict Trump of a crime. If this indictment doesn’t do the job, there are at least two more criminal indictments in Georgia and at the federal level, close to being announced, and which are slam dunks. After all, we have actual recorded phone calls of Trump attempting to overturn the election in Georgia, and the undisputed facts that Trump stole classified documents illegally, and then lied about it.

Today, Electoral-Vote has a very thorough article about why this time is different. If you don’t believe me, give it a read. You’ll be glad you did!

Even if Trump avoids going to jail (which I don’t think he can do), the indictments and the evidence that those indictments present will alienate more voters. Trump lost the 2020 election, and even in 2016 he lost the popular vote, and the electoral college was very close. If Republicans still nominate Trump for the next election, it is very likely he will not only lose (bigly!), but the Republicans will also lose control of both houses of Congress. Trump will continue to soak his base out of their money, but even they will tire of that.

So let’s celebrate the first indictment, and look forward to even more legal troubles for Trump.

Two stories paint a dismal picture of the good old USA. The first is a study that shows that while life expectancy around the world decreased in 2020 due to COVID-19, most countries were able to reverse the trend and increase life expectancy by 2021, while the US continued to drop precipitously, down to the level it was in the 1990s. Not stated was the reason for the decline in the richest nation in the world. Was it due to people refusing to mask or social distance? Injecting bleach into their bodies? Mass shootings? Suicide? Who can guess?

Second was a new poll, done by WSJ/NORC that compared results from a poll in 1998 to ones from today. The number of people who say that Patriotism, Religion, Having Children, and Community Involvement is “very important” to them is dropping rapidly. The only “value” that is increasing in importance is Money. What a sorry state of affairs.