DeSantis’ Miscalculation

As you might have heard by now, Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, flew some Venezuelan Asylum-seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The victims of his stunt (and that is what it was) were told they were being sent to Boston where they would find jobs. Unknown to these desperate passengers, instead he directed the plane to a small island off the mainland of this northeastern state, with no advance warnings to the social services there. He was sending these people to what he described as a playground for the rich liberals of the northeast to thumb his nose at Biden’s immigration policies. As usual, DeSantis is a “wannabe big player”, so he was following in the footsteps of fellow Republican Governors Abbott of Texas and Dacey of Arizona who actually have border crossings in their states (unlike Florida which may occasionally get some Haitians arriving by boats), but does not have an actual border with Mexico.

So, since those governors in recent weeks have been sending thousands of immigrants in busloads to northern cities, he wanted to get in on the action, it seems, so he borrowed some immigrants from Texas. Somehow, he does not understand that “borrowing people-even refugees or migrants” and taking them somewhere against their will can be called human trafficking or even kidnapping in any other circumstance, and might be called illegal in this one as well. But, this weekend, Governor Abbott dropped “his immigrants” at the gates to the residence of the Vice-President; one arrival was a newly born infant. Showing real class, there guv! They took this busload to a nearby church for food and shelter.

I read recently that herds of elk were resettled from their normal haunts in the western states to Virginia, where they are now doing well. However, although it should not be necessary, it must be pointed out that people are not herds of wild animals and should not be moved around in the same manner, that is taken from one state where there are many to another state where there are few.

But as pundits recently mentioned, it is getting close to election day, and the right is floundering for an issue to demagogue. Remember the caravans who were said to be coming ‘by the thousands’ back just before the 2018 midterms and which vanished in the days following the blue wave that swept the country then? Hey Fox, it did not work then, why are you guys promoting this stuff again? You know they seem to think that they are “sticking it to the Libs”, but it is so backfiring.

Michelle Norris, writing in the Washington Post today, described the welcome the Spanish- speaking planeload of arrivals received on the island. The islanders rushed to provide meals and clothing, tracked down students in island schools who were studying Spanish to use as translators, and welcomed their unexpected arrivals. She acknowledged the wealth on the island but noted the permanent residents were working people, as their home was a land of farmers and fishermen. There is little employment after the summer season ends each year on Labor Day, so the leaders there had few jobs or housing to share. But the state moved in and took the visitors to an Air Force base on nearby Cape Cod where it could supply housing and social services could step in. That is what Americans should do for refugees in their midst, not move people around like cattle herds or wild animals.

Although these despicable actions may get approval from the ever-shrinking base of MAGA supporters, editorials, and articles widely noted the disapproval of most Americans on newspaper pages across the country. From the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, and USA Today, to mention only a few, all the papers decried these actions, some accusing the Florida Governor of using people as props, and all mentioning the immigration and asylum systems as being broken. The President has been criticized, but he alone cannot fix the system. It will take a willing Congress, and for the last twenty years, there has not been a willing Congress, efforts in the border states to create a system for arrivals that differs from the last administration policy of asylum in Mexico, and a way to stop the flow by stabilizing the home countries of the refugees and immigrants. But, as we have seen, the President cannot even get the situation for Dreamers settled; President Obama tried this during his term and we thought then that this was on the way to a deal, but it is still not there yet.

However, right now, we are not doing so well at stabilizing our own country, are we?

There are still MAGA candidates around the country spouting the “Big Lie” and DJT recently claimed that he won, so he is not relenting, even though reality should have intruded upon his fantasies by now; but then he couldn’t raise money if he admitted the truth, right? Rolling Stone reported on the rally in Ohio where DJT candidate JD Vance is struggling. Some claims made by the former president were outlandish, as usual, such as saying that the authorities jailed some insurrectionists for supporting him, when in actuality they were jailed for the crimes they committed on January 6^th. At the rally, QAnon theme music blasted, its symbols shone, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who claimed he was the “one true leader” introduced the former president. Shades of fascism, anyone? The Department of Justice labeled QAnon as a domestic conspiracy group some time ago. In a hearing last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke of the difficulties with a conspiracy group that has no formally identified leadership and constantly changing shapes and players. They arrested several QAnon members with the January 6^th conspiracists. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) claims that QAnon is a wide-ranging right-wing conspiracy group by its definitions. An in-depth explanation of this group and its activities is on their website here:

One of the most striking beliefs is a distrust of government, with anti-Semitism, wild conspiracy theories about satanic cults, weird claims about child predators, and fervent adherence to proclamations from an unknown leader, yet it coincides with a significant membership that sat in Dallas for weeks expecting the return of President Kennedy and his son John, both of whom died tragically. I will not try to say I understand much of this; I also do not understand why these theories attract so many followers. Is it a distrust of what one knows so that subsequently allegiance is given to things that cannot be proven or defined? Are these groups a haven for those who believe that the governmental system does not work for them or has passed them by? That could explain the MAGA attraction as DJT has reached out to those on the fringes before. But what is now disturbing, while previously he flirted with QAnon saying “they seem to like him, even though he knew little about them”, now he is actively courting their approval and stoking their conspiracies. This is dangerous and I think he knows that.

In an opinion column today in the New York Times, authors Sean Illig and Zak Gershberg discuss free speech as a feature of our democracy that is being misused and note that this is not the first time this has happened. There were disruptions in the 1930s when groups and radio programs supported the Nazis during those unsettled times. They note the lies being spouted by the MAGA supporters and leaders and contrast that with the facts produced by the January 6^th Congressional hearings. These authors also state that the deluge, now of social media, collapsed the norms that established communication in the 20^th century and the population has not yet learned how to deal with this overflow of information, not all of which is true. They claim that to fortify democracy, our leaders will have to stand up for the Rule of Law, even as they must push back against those such as the MAGA crowd that would destroy it. The case in front of the Florida judge who expressed favoritism for the former president defies those standards and must be opposed. I hope that the eleventh Circuit Court will reverse her incoherent rulings in the concerns over the classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago. The authors believe that if there are indictments and the issues warrant a conviction, the former president should be convicted and thus prevented from further office. They conclude by saying: “The good news is that our system has shown itself to be resilient: Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election were repulsed on Jan. 6, 2021. That’s a victory for American democracy. But like every democratic victory, it was provisional. As long as there is democracy, there will be demagogy. And the ability to check power remains just that: an opportunity.”

Before I close tonight, I want to pay respects to the long life and stable reign of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. I am not a monarchist and am happy that we parted ways with the Crown centuries ago, but I recognize that our country and, even my heritage, have many commonalities with the British, so I say, rest now good lady, 96 years is a long time. Best wishes to your son, King Charles.

‘Til next week-Peace!