Desantits is also fine with with children not eating if they don't bow down to his whims. DeSantis reveals suspected motive This comes as DeSantis wages furious culture wars on a number of fronts, even playing chicken with a federal requirement that schools protect LGBTQ students' rights as a condition of receiving meal funding.
DeSantis loves far-right extremist ideology and flags that support it... A Florida license plate has reopened the debate over the 'Don't tread on me' flag NPR - https://tinyurl.com/7at77m4p When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently tweeted an image of what he said was a new state license plate featuring a coiled rattlesnake and the words "Don't Tread on Me," he said it sends a "clear message to out-of-state cars." The imagery of the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag dates to Benjamin Franklin but has, for many, come to symbolize a far-right extremist ideology and the "Stop the Steal" movement that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. "'Love, love, love' Florida Gov. DeSantis new license plate; 'Don't Tread on Me!'" one Twitter user said. "This is how we feel about our great country..that is right now being systematically destroyed by the radical Left." But such plates have gotten push back, not only in Florida, but in states such as Kansas, Missouri and Virginia, where similar plates have been available, in some cases for years, as fundraising tools for various organizations. "The state can't claim a lack of knowledge about what this image represents to most of the public," says Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research and analysis for the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center. She says it's become clearthat the flag has been used for some "really awful" causes, most notably the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, where violent protesters attacked police as part of an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Carroll Rivas compares it to a similar controversy over the use of the Confederate "stars and bars" flag on license plates. In 2009,the group Confederate Veterans, Inc., requested the flag on a specialty license plate, but Texas refused. The veterans group sued, and the case ultimately went to the Supreme Court. In 2015, in a 5-4 decision, the court held that such specialty plates (not to be confused with "vanity plates") were government speech and therefore states have the right to pick and choose what goes on them. The long history of 'Don't tread on me' Benjamin Franklin was the first to use the rattlesnake as a symbol of defiance against the British crown, says Marc Leepson, a journalist, historian and author of Flag: An American Biography. In 1775, Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina politician, "took that menacing rattle rattlesnake and put it on the flag," Leepson says. "One thing we can say about its origins, regardless of how it's used or who uses it or why it's used today, is that it really was just completely an anti-British [and] anti-colonial symbol," he says. The journalist Rob Walker, writing in The New Yorker in 2016, said, "The Gadsden design remained something of a Revolutionary relic for many years." However, "[by] the nineteen-seventies, it had some popularity in Libertarian circles, as a symbol of ideological enthusiasm for minimal government and the rights of individuals." A discarded Gadsden flag inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 Then came the Tea Party movement, which adopted the banner in 2010 as a sort of catch-all symbol of disgust with government. Since then, it has gone on to become a symbol for anti-government groups and individuals. Extreme or not, First Amendment scholars such as Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law say the Gadsden flag and the "Don't Tread on Me" motto are legitimate — and protected — speech, whether they are on a flag waving inside the besieged U.S. Capitol or on a vehicle license plate heading down a Florida highway. "We know that some people are upset by that slogan," Volokh says. But, "the government is perfectly entitled to take controversial stands or in this case stands that have become newly controversial because some very small group of people have ended up using a symbol for purposes that are very different" from what it originally signified. Plates in other states are also political Other political and potentially controversial slogans routinely appear on license plates across the country, says Matt Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. "I've seen some 'Live free or die' license plates in New Hampshire, which of course has been the state motto for decades," Dallek says. "You could argue that that certainly is a political statement" with a "fairly strong libertarian streak." District of Columbia plates, which have long sported an iteration of the Colonial-era rallying cry "No taxation without representation" are also in that vein, he says. "But I think that 'Don't Tread on Me' has different, more extreme connotations, and therefore is more political and certainly is much more politicized," Dallek adds. Politicized plates are available for other hot-button issues, as well. For example, "Trust Women/Respect Choice" is an option in Virginia, just as "Choose Life" is available on plates in Nebraska. In the states where "Don't Tread on Me" plates have been introduced, they appear to be top sellers. And that's good news for the Florida Veterans Foundation,a veterans' advocacy group that stands to get $25 per Gadsden flag license plate. But it hasn't been an easy road, says Chairman Dennis Baker. The choice of the Gadsden flag was made not by the group, but by a lawmaker pushing for the fundraising plate in 2019. "I think it was because other states were having such good success with it," he says. He says the money the foundation hoped to raise could go a long way toward helping Florida veterans. "Then January 6th happened and it was like, 'oh, s***,'" he says. By then it was too late, because Florida's legislature had already approved the design. Baker explains that a minimum threshold of 3,000 plates must be preordered before the state will begin producing them. The Gadsden plate approved for the foundation had been languishing, but got a sudden boost after Gov. DeSantis' tweet last month, he says. "I'm sure there's going to be at least a million people" who will now order one, says Baker. "I'm thinking there's that many people in Florida who would like to have the plate." Kansas adopted the plate after Jan. 6 and despite the governor's veto While Florida introduced the plate design in 2019, Virginia and Missouri did so a decade ago. Kansas approved the "Don't Tread on Me" plates only weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, when television images of rioters waving the flag were still fresh. Democrat Dinah Sykes, minority leader in the Kansas Senate, opposed the measure when it came up for a vote in March of last year. "Whatever the original symbology of [the Gadsden flag] was ... I think a lot of people would argue that it's become a symbol of the people who marched on the Capitol," she says. The plate design, meant to raise funds for the Kansas State Rifle Association, was subsequently vetoed by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, before the Republican-controlled legislature overrode it. "I don't think it's appropriate," says Sykes, who is the Kansas Senate minority leader. "When I see that, whether it's a flag or a license plate ... it's not a good feeling for me."
In Florida, loved ones of prisoners banned from wearing #visitsmatter T-shirts ORLANDO, Fla. — When Ann Beal Salamone went to visit her son in prison last week she wore a white T-shirt with “MY VISITS Matter” written in the center of a big red heart. On her way out, another visiting mother noticed the T-shirt and asked where she could get one as well. The two women began to chat and were joined by a correctional officer. “We were all there, I could tell you, thinking about how important it is for our loved ones to have family and friends that care and love them,” she said. An Aug. 5 email obtained by the Orlando Sentinel from FDC’s assistant deputy secretary of institutions, Hope Gartman, alerted employees that messages like the one on Salamone’s T-shirt are “a potential threat to security.”
Which is it, Ron? DeSantis rallies Florida GOP to Trump's defense after FBI Mar-a-Lago search https://www.tallahassee.com/story/n...-slams-fbi-raid-trump-mar-a-lago/10272933002/ An Old Clip Of Ron DeSantis Defending FBI Searches Has Resurfaced In The Wake Of The Mar-A-Lago Investigation https://uproxx.com/viral/ron-desantis-defending-fbi-searches-trump/
DeSantis, experienced with search-warrant "raids," misses chance to be voice of reason https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story...se-feeds-mar-lago-misinformation/10327370002/
The Authoritarian is flexing his muscles while doing his best to take down democracy. Ron DeSantis, unconstrained by constitutional checks, is flexing his power in Florida ahead of 2024 decision https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/10/poli...rida-political-power-2024-election/index.html When Gov. Ron DeSantis abruptly suspended Tampa's elected prosecutor last week, it was not accomplished in a late-night sacking or buried in a 5 p.m. Friday press release. Rather, DeSantis summoned reporters and cameras for a midday media event, as he does several times a week, stood before officers in uniform and elected allies and matter-of-factly walked through his decision to kneecap a twice-elected Democratic official. It was a striking scene, not just for its extraordinary outcome, but for how it had been choreographed. The event was premeditated to trigger — as his spokeswoman wrote on Twitter the night before — "the liberal media meltdown of the year." Pat Kemp, a Democrat who sits on the local Hillsborough County commission, described it as "our own Jan. 6th moment." The ruthless display of raw political power in removing Hillsborough County state attorney Andrew Warren, however brazen and unprecedented, was merely the latest example of a new reality in Florida: DeSantis is governing unconstrained by the traditional checks on executive authority. In the last eight months, DeSantis orchestrated a new law to exact revenge on Disney amid a political feud with the entertainment giant, bulldozed an aggressively partisan redrawing of congressional boundaries through the state legislature and pushed nearly every facet of state government to the front lines of the culture wars. And he has done it all with limited dissent from the Republicans who control the other branches of government in Florida. As he seeks a second term in November, and weighs a potential bid for president in 2024, the full weight of this amassed power is also beginning to crystalize. If reelected -- and with a nine-figure fundraising advantage, the odds are heavily in his favor -- there appears to be little to stop him from pushing through an agenda that would further transform Florida for an audience of future GOP primary voters. "DeSantis has a blank check," said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, a private school in Fort Lauderdale. "There is no part of the constitution now that is protecting democracy because the checks and balances on him have been completely eviscerated. If he wins, he'll spin it as a mandate and say, 'If Floridians didn't like any of what I did, they would've vote me out.' " DeSantis justified the removal of Warren as necessary to protect Floridians from an elected official who won't follow the law. Warren had pledged in a pair of letters to use prosecutorial discretion to not go after people who seek abortions or gender affirming care as well as those who provide those services. "That is not how a rule of law can operate and ultimately, you cannot have safe and strong communities," DeSantis said. His critics have bristled at these decisive and contentious actions as an overreach of his office. The two leading Democratic candidates for governor in Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Rep. Charlie Crist, likened DeSantis to a dictator after he suspended Warren. But they have also solidified DeSantis as the only Republican who consistently challenges former President Donald Trump in polls looking ahead to the 2024 presidential primary, and they earn DeSantis plenty of free airtime on conservative media. DeSantis went straight from Thursday's suspension announcement to an interview with Fox News digital. He then appeared on the network during prime time, where Fox host Tucker Carlson lauded DeSantis for "finally doing something more than whine." DeSantis is also building up his influence nationwide. This week, he blasted the FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, calling it a "weaponization of federal agencies." And next week, he'll headline rallies for GOP candidates in New Mexico, Arizona, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Charlie Kirk, the president of Turning Point America, the conservative organization that is hosting the rallies, called DeSantis "the model for a new conservative movement" when he announced the planned events. (Much more at above url)
Yeah.... it's pretty much outright bribery... Seminole Tribe gives $1 million to DeSantis after getting exclusive sports betting rights https://www.ocala.com/story/news/lo...-1-million-governor-ron-desantis/10308838002/
Yep... pretty much nails it... DeSantis is a ‘wannabe dictator,’ ‘undermining’ democracy, says suspended Florida attorney https://www.fox8tv.com/desantis-is-...ng-democracy-says-suspended-florida-attorney/
And some more pay to play action. Millions of no-bid dollars being paid for something Florida is not even using. Of course, it involves a big money DeSantis and GOP donor. Florida kept paying millions for a contact tracing app after DeSantis said contact tracing doesn’t work https://www.floridabulldog.org/2022...r-desantis-said-contract-tracing-doesnt-work/ Months after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said contact tracing doesn’t work, his administration has continued to pay millions of dollars in no-bid deals for a COVID-19 contact tracing app made by a company with ties to a prominent, billionaire Republican donor and represented by an influential Tallahassee lobbyist. “I think we have to admit that contact tracing has just not worked,” DeSantis asserted in March 2021. “I think it’s largely been ineffective.” Not long after the governor spoke, however, the Florida Department of Health inked a $6.7 million deal with Twenty Labs to continue providing a contact tracing app for the state called Healthy Together, records from Florida’s government contract database show. State officials made the first payment to the company for $550,676 on Sept. 17, 2021. The final two payments under that contract, totaling almost $1.2 million, were made on May 20 and June 1 of this year. A more recent contract worth $400,000 shows the state paid the company another $200,000 on June 15. Neither the governor’s office nor the Florida Department of Health responded to multiple requests for comment about why the administration continued to sign new contracts worth millions of dollars for a service the governor said does not work. The Florida Department of Health has also not provided copies of the contracts, nor has it posted copies of them to the public contract database as required by state law. The DeSantis administration previously signed more than $4 million in other no-bid contracts related to “contact tracing” software, despite Florida never having done business with the company before – and despite a rocky rollout of its app in Utah. DESANTIS AND PELTZ The CEO of Twenty Labs is Darren “Diesel” Peltz, the son of hedge fund billionaire Nelson Peltz. Twenty Labs originally registered its corporate headquarters with the state of Florida on the 41st floor of 280 Park Ave. in Manhattan. That’s also the address of Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners, a $6 billion investment firm with large holdings in companies like Procter & Gamble, Comcast and Wendy’s. The elder Peltz is a well-known backer of former President Donald Trump as well as a major Republican donor: He gave $250,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2020, along with $75,000 to Trump Victory over three payments in 2016 and 2017 and more than $10,000 in maxed-out contributions to the Trump campaign itself. His wife, Claudia Peltz, also gave $250,000 to the RNC in 2020. He later expressed regret for voting for Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 riot that breached the U.S. Capitol. Florida lobbyist registration records show that one of Twenty Labs’ lobbyists is Fred Karlinsky, a lobbyist and lawyer with the Greenberg Traurig law firm in Fort Lauderdale and Tallahassee. LOBBYIST KARLINSKY Karlinsky was among the entourage of lobbyists who accompanied DeSantis on his trip to Israel in 2019. Karlinsky is also chairman of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, which nominates shortlists of potential Florida Supreme Court justices for the governor to choose from. He did not respond to requests for comment. Despite the cost, the Twenty Labs app’s “contact tracing” functionality is more limited than the apps that 24 other states have used; those apps take advantage of an exposure notification system jointly developed by Google and Apple. Florida does not provide support for the exposure notification system, and the Florida Department of Health did not provide any explanation for why. The federal Government Accountability Office released a report in September reviewing the contact tracing apps used by those 24 states. The data collected in the report underscored the unusually high price tag of Florida’s app. Among nine sample states GAO officials worked with, app development costs ranged from freely provided by a nonprofit entity to $700,000. Marketing costs ranged from $350,000 to $3.2 million. Total payments to Twenty Labs for the contact tracing app have amounted to $10,585,569.87, according to online state fiscal records. TWENTY LABS’ CONTACT TRACING APP The state had originally given the firm no-bid contracts by using a DeSantis emergency executive order for the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended normal requirements to competitively solicit bids. In its more recent contracts, the administration has claimed that the contact tracing app is a “health service,” which provides a different exception to the competitive solicitation requirements in state law. State lawmakers wrote when they passed the law requiring competitive bidding for big state contracts that “such competition reduces the appearance and opportunity for favoritism and inspires public confidence that contracts are awarded equitably and economically.” The two most recent contracts came after FDOH agreed to shell out $449,566 as part of a settlement agreement to continue paying the company for the contact tracing app after the company’s previous $4.8 million contract with the state expired. A letter attached to the settlement agreement notes that the state began negotiating in June 2021 with the company to continue using the contact tracing app, but the previous contract had expired. FDOH then authorized Twenty Labs to “provide services without a purchase order in place,” the letter from deputy FDOH general counsel Christine Lamia states. FDOH signed its $6.7 million contact tracing app contract with Twenty Labs after that and started paying the company in September. Representatives for Twenty Labs did not answer questions about its recent contracts with the state of Florida. John Carter, a contracted public relations representative for the company, wrote in an email to Florida Bulldog that FDOH and the Florida Division of Emergency Management “engaged Twenty Labs to support thousands of workers and millions of Florida residents. The platform has been used to deliver over 30M (million) diagnostic test results, supported follow-on health and safety processes for over 500K residents, and received over 200K reviews across the App & Play Stores with an average of 4.9/5 Stars.”
Florida prosecutor sues DeSantis over ouster https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3605330-florida-prosecutor-sues-desantis-over-ouster/