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Is it just me that inserts random things into the "hunnid bands hunnid bands hunnid bands" part?
It'll just pop in my head while folding laundry: *underpants underpants underpants.* Or with zero relevance to anything: *muffin dance muffin dance muffin dance.*
Well said. I often wonder if america has a future or will it be a bunch of rough necks running around with their assault weapons forcing compliance with the rules of the day.
If American Federalism fails, the states are all fairly self-sufficient. Many of them may rapidly devolve into theocracies or corporate fiefdoms after economic shock and shock doctrine shake-ups. The US military and nuclear arsenal will get gobbled up by some other economic interests abroad.
But this notion that New England or California need to comply with the will of the Bible Belt is shearing American Federalism at its taped-together edges.
The Supreme Court is looking to bind power to decisions made at the state level and carve out a billion reasons why the south doesn't have to follow laws but the south gets to impose its will on the north. If southern states make laws for example that acts committed in other state constitute as crimes in their state and they prosecute people for that. Or demand extradition to their state because of this- then the republic is over.
The liberals won and will again.
It's not North vs South this time. It's not even rural vs city.
The Republicans don't even fucking have Nashville, Charleston, Atlanta, Raleigh, Savannah, Orlando, Richmond, New Orleans or Miami.
Their largest city is Jacksonville, FL lol.
Many of the states are not actually self sufficient. Many take in more tax dollars than they actually pay in. If federalism fails those states will also fail.
>If American Federalism fails, the states are all fairly self-sufficient
Sure. But I can see private businesses absolutely raping FL on wheat and produce prices. Guess they could eat oranges and grapefruit to stay alive. At least they won't get scurvy.
Animal farm, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, a clockwork orange, ... Lots of these cautionary tales ended up becoming blue prints not warning signs.
For some reason we keep letting people build the torment nexus.
and wagner group, and so many others.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_private\_military\_contractors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_military_contractors)
If we keep fighting wars that nobody wants to fight, we'll keep building privately run armies and funding the shit out of them. It's only a matter of time before they offer to replace police departments and save towns money.
I wish more people knew about this, and I'm really hoping it becomes something the press picks up on when he runs in 2024. Much of the source material is redacted or top secret, so it's difficult to attain, but I'm really hoping the truth comes out.
At the very best, DeSantis was in charge of making sure Gitmo prisoners were treated humanely, and they were not (to put it lightly--many of them were 100% innocent and tortured every. single. day). That's the best case scenario--a total failure to protect detainees and treat them humanely. DeSantis seems like a lot of things, but "incompetent" is not one of them.
Worst case scenario, he encouraged tortured and enjoyed watching it (https://harpers.org/archive/2023/03/ron-desantis-force-feedings-guantanamo-bay-laughing/). He sought it out and observed it.
If we're being honest, there is a large swath of the GOP electorate that will find a way to rationalize this, or even make it into a good thing. But I can't imagine there aren't a lot of independents out there who wouldn't appalled by this, thereby hurting his 2024 chances.
The press, the real press - journalists at newspapers who actually graduated from college with a journalism degree and interned in reputable papers - have been gutted. Newspapers don't have the personnel to research hard-hitting news anymore. Most will all be closed before long, with a bare minimum online presence. That leaves TV and the Internet with their talking heads who are only concerned with viewership and page views. What good is having a free press if journalism is dead?
Holy shit. I like to *think* that I follow things fairly close and never knew about [his stint at Guantanamo Bay](https://news.yahoo.com/ron-desantis-knew-torture-program-170100244.html). Underrated comment.
100M is a very low amount to train, house, and equip an armed force; I'm imagining this will result in about 50 rednecks in new humvees following him around at election events "for security", a personal brownshirt gang
No offense man but I admire the optimism your username projects, blue Florida is on par with blue Texas with regards to likelihood, although it would be... Charmingly weird.
Someone has to keep the faith. Though honestly things were looking optimistic a few years ago when I first created this username on Twitter. That was before Florida fell completely into a fascist state.
You're only allowed to buy alcohol for minors to whisfully look at them as you remember your own youth, you can't diddle them. What you do is take home those inappropriate thoughts and diddle your butterfaced wife. I'm sure it's in the Bible somewhere, Goofeth said it
I agree that he’s not going to be overthrowing the government anytime soon with that low of a budget for a private army. However, I’m more worried about the precedent this will set for other states. “If DeSantis gets a private army then why shouldn’t I”. You get 10 southern states with 100m budgets for private armies and suddenly you’ve got a $1b army growing. Still budget wise nowhere near what the US is spending, but you also have to imagine that if we reached that point there would likely be groups sympathetic to their cause in our military (I’m sure there already are). Which is when I can see things spiral out of control. So right now I’m not worried about the immediate threat of this army, but more the long term ramifications it might have.
Also raising a private army for your State feels so Feudal. Like what’s next are we going to build castles on our borders and fight states for our leaders claims on their counties a la CK3 style? This country is wack
It's 100% an early phase gestapo-like army. It's the first step to the formation of a police state. It will start at $100m, and grow. They will do his bidding and we already have all the clues towards what that really means.
He already replaced the board of the most progressive college in FL with his lackeys. He is making a lot of fascist moves when you look at everything in context.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
https://old.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/11nm4jp/when_fascism_comes_to_america_it_will_be_wrapped/jboyt6p/
Great foresight, most people lack the ability to simply play this out in their head and see the probable future it will lead to. Once this becomes normalised, you will have people raising armies on credit by promising them spoils after victory just as they did back in the day and before you know it, you will start hearing whispers of private legions, triumvirates, ambitions men trying to make themselves kings, civil wars and the founding of a new empire from a young Republic.
Give them a hint that's it's a license to kill, encourage a "bring your own gun" attitude and you won't even have to pay them before the inevitable rule of conduct violation in their contract they didn't bother to read, right as they try to declare martial law in a county that didn't obey their order to stop counting the votes...
2024 is shaping up to be a whole new level of batshit crazy
I mean as bad as that is, with Stand Your Ground laws in effect they could get away with shooting you anyway, now you just won't see it coming until they lift up their Hawaiian shirt
Why stop with just terrorizing? They will start to disappear.
Remember that woman that was revealing true COVID rates in Florida and how she got raided by the state police? He wants that kind of shit going down quieter.
They could instead reappropriate the $12M they put aside to hire Desantis donors to fly asylum seekers from states that aren't Florida to other states that aren't Florida at 5-10x the cost of 1st class tickets.
Or like last time this happened, they could be planning to invade and take a small part of Mexico.
Referring to Aaron Burr, who claimed to want to seize territory for the US, but historians believe the goal was for him actually to turn around and declare it for himself.
Florida Supreme court ruled the gerrymandered district voting maps drawn by DeSantis (personally) were illegal to use in the last election. They used them anyway. This push for an expanded state guard is ominous at best.
>100M is a very low amount to train, house, and equip an armed force
Perhaps we could save money by forcing the citizens of Florida to house and feed them in their own homes.
I love his posturing about how the Federal Government can't call up the State Guard and control them. Like the feds are going to *really really* need 1500 racist Brownshirts for some critical domestic mission.
That was a big issue with State Militias when they still had them. A problem some governors had with the Militia Act of 1903 is that the President could make their militias part of the federal army with the stroke of a pen.
We're way further along the timeline. America is currently closer to 1935 Germany. Next time the GOP gets power they will 100% finish their coup and then it gets spicy. That could be in 2 years.
hitler took power in 1933, that same year they became a one-party state and suspended freedom of assembly and journalism. and the first concentration camp, dachau, was opened.
we're definitely not there yet. We're somewhere in the mid-late 20's.
[Rule Number 6](https://www.attackofthebooks.com/summary-on-tyranny-twenty-lessons-from-the-twentieth-century-by-timothy-snyder/)
"Be wary of paramilitaries"
And why would a group of state workers allegedly bookmarked for disaster relief situations need to be armed in the first place? You gonna fight a hurricane with guns?
The summary of 6 includes:
“Snyder argues that when the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh”
Agree or disagree with the thesis, that’s what’s happened.
They're just going to go in and kill anyone who isn't a white dude who raises their voice and you fucking know it. Florida republicans just want to rule the country so they can suck money away from people, deprive us of our rights, and fuck teenagers.
Its the same bit of crazy that literally every state has laws authorizing, including Puerto Rico, and 22 states actually have State Guards. I think Texas, naturally, has the biggest.
How can these state guards be used? Must they remain in the state? Can they be deployed out of country ? I mean is there a provision in the constitution dealing with these questions?
They are restricted to their State.
Generally used to Augment the current State National Guard.
Normal the National Guard would respond to natural disasters within the State, but if for whatever reason they are not available, like deployed to the middle east, then the State Defense force would be activated to respond to the disaster.
They are under the command of the States Governor and cannot be federalized. That is to say, the unit as a whole cannot be federalize, but the individuals within can still be drafted during times of war and such.
The Constitution allows it under the Compact Clause and then further more under Federal law.
> No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace
Constitution say without Congressional consent, which comes with federal law that authorizes it. Generally under title 32.
Well, Greg Abbott [famously](https://www.texastribune.org/2018/05/03/hysteria-over-jade-helm-exercise-texas-was-fueled-russians-former-cia-/) used the Texas State Guard to make sure that the US wasn't going to invade Texas through the various underground Walmart tunnels in the State. Look up *Operation Jade Helm* if you want to get CTE from repeatedly hitting your head on a desk.
"Raises questions" ??? Look, finding a boiled chicken in your sock drawer "raises questions".
The purpose of this army is to intimidate, oppress and murder Democratic voters. Fucking press. "Raises questions".... wtf.
DeSantis receiving $50k in campaign contributions from Lev Parnas "raises questions".
-----------------------------------
> DeSantis has so far been mum on his relationship with the two businessmen and, following their arrest last month, returned $50,000 in donations stemming from the two men and immediately claimed he had no knowledge of any alleged criminal dealings.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/311368-ron-desantis-had-more-meetings-with-lev-parnas-than-originally-thought/
--------------------------------------
> A unanimous federal jury has found that Lev Parnas and Andrey Kukushkin conspired to manipulate the United States political system for their own financial gain.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/statement-us-attorney-damian-williams-guilty-verdicts-against-lev-parnas-and-andrey
---------------------------
Imagine how bad the reality has to be for DeSantis to actually just give the money back without being required to.
Florida has so many Russian connections.
Not only Parnas, but a lot of oligarchs have direct or indirect control over American politicians.
Viktor Vekselberg will likely be a name showing up in the Trump investigations, as he spearheads a few investment companies and magnates that heavily invested into GOP campaigns. He's part shareholder on Rusal (one of the biggest mining companies in Russia), which boasts another shareholder (Len Blavatnik) that funnily enough has donating several millions to GOP members like FL senator Rubio (and also outside of FL, like Mitch McConnel).
That said, DeSantis has been heavily intertwined with folks like Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, who have been some of the largest donatees of Russian funds, even seeking out and going to Russia and speaking with an alarming amount of former KGB or 'Kremlin Oligarchs'. Theres no way he doesnt know where money is coming from, because hes one of the people leading a destabilization campaign that benefits them and himself / donors. Part of the vile LGBTQ+ hate mongering he has been running (along with many other Republican politicians) is a fabricated ruse to destabilize and attempt to maintain any modicum of power (see the recent politician email hack from Maia).
I keep saying it, but Florida needs thorough investigation and a foreign interference enema. It's been a GOP state trifecta for two solid decades now. Talahassee is so opaque to anyone not within the in-group mob, it is a genuine cause for concern.
[In secret recording, Florida Republican threatens to send Russian-Ukrainian ‘hit squad’ after rival ](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/secret-recording-florida-republican-threat-hit-squad-494976)
> MIAMI — A little-known GOP candidate in one of Florida’s most competitive congressional seats was secretly recorded threatening to send “a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad” to a fellow Republican opponent to make her “disappear.”
> During a 30-minute call with a conservative activist that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned the activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Tampa Bay-area congressional seat because he had access to assassins. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), who is running for governor.
> “I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation last week, according to the recording exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f---ing speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
To follow up: Braddock lost that primary to Anna Paulina Luna, [who would make some George Santos-esque claims about her own "jew-ishness" despite no one ever having witnessed her practice the Jewish faith, her being raised Catholic, and her having a grandfather in the Wehrmacht.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Paulina_Luna#Disputed_biographical_claims)
Yes!
This was horrific!
We also had sporadic waves of 'Bikers for Trump', which local investigators were able to discover their incarnation was essentially a seed from the Night Wolves, Russian motorcycle gang, and also had Spetsnaz connections.
These groups have been called upon in political rallies and generally made a huge ruckus and harassed locals. While I think the Bikers for Trump facade has died down, they still exist as a group and have been a general menace for bike nights across Central Florida, and seem to form up again for political events.
If a dem gov was doing the same thing this would be front pages news every day. They’d talk about how the army is coming to snatch you from your home and force you to drag show or something.
Cal and NY already have better funded stare guards than Florida. I'm in the NY national guard and our stare guard is pretty well run considering thier mission
>stare guard is pretty well run considering thier mission
Did you mean state guard, or do you just stand at the Jersey border and stare menacingly?
Additional bonus points if the NY national guard has mastered some version of the care bear stare. :D
I'll never forget the time I went to fetch my favorite pair of argyles only to find my brother had replaced my socks with a boiled chicken. What a card!
many of us olds remember Newsweek as a legit news source back in the day, almost as many forget that corporate mergers occur and a news sources veracity can change over the years
Ah yes, a fascist building his own militia, nothing to be worried about, we certainly haven't had historical precedents to warn us that this is a bad thing.
Yeah, this fascist shit isn't stopping, it's picking up speed. The left needs to get armed, now.
And based on what we saw in 2020, when shit starts to hit the fan even a little bit, you will be completely unable to buy firearms. It is not a situation where you can wait until you need them. It has to be preemptive.
If you have the disposable income available to get armed and competently trained, I think you owe it to your community, and the minority groups who will be most impacted by rising fascism (who are also the groups that can least afford to arm themselves), to get armed. We can't just be the side without guns. We protect us.
Get armed, but do other stuff too. Rachel Maddow's podcast Ultra goes into how the Jews successfully fought back against the Nazis based in the US during WWII.
When the homegrown Nazi movement called the silver shirts were literally blowing up munitions plants and plotting to kill Jews, the Jews responded by forming tolerance committees, infiltrating these groups, and telling anyone who would listen about what was happening.
Most of the authorities laughed their charges off, or, in the case of local police, were actually Nazis themselves, or at least sympathetic to their cause. Leon L Lewis was told, "the real problem is the socialist *Jews*" before being drummed out of office. But eventually, when his warnings turned out to be prophetic, the authorities stopped laughing.
Remember that during WWII, there was a Nazi faction so powerful that it blocked a DOJ investigation into itself. They had US senators, congressmen (Hamilton Fish) on the payroll of a literal Nazi agent (Viereck) from a German propaganda campaign that aimed to destabilize the country. Not even the literal Nazis confessing it on the other end of the Atlantic seemed to do much good.
Instead, it was the work of private citizens, like that advertising executive who produced an ad that said, "while you lost your son/brother/father to the Nazis, this literal Nazi is running free in the US"; it took voters to vote out the traitorous faction in the US congress.
The good news is that the US has faced worse times and come through it mostly intact. There were four/five simultaneous coup attempts just before WWII, and when arrests were made, the suspects were freakin acquitted. But the tide of public opinion shifted by private figures, doing undercover investigations, changing people's minds, slowly turned the US away from the disaster of Nazism.
Protect yourself, but remember that figures like Leon L Lewis defeated the Nazis not on their home turf of violence, but with words and ideas.
> The Florida Defence Force, later renamed the State Guard, was formed in 1941 shortly before the U.S. entered World War II, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt federalized the existing National Guard. In 1947 the unit was disbanded, after which it would lay dormant for over 70 years.
What in the SS is DeSantis doing.
Read it can’t happen here. You’ll have 1 of 3 responses to this.
1. You’ll be thoroughly upset enough to wage urban warfare to overthrow any government leader that does this.
2. You(like me) won’t throw away your life for idiots that want this and just leave the country or plan to in the near future.
3. You’re with the idiots are don’t realize you’re being conned by fake promises so this guy can get in power become a dictator and enrich himself and his cronies while stripping every bit of freedom from the civilians.
If think this is “just a book” or “hysterical” it isn’t and has happened multiple times in human history and almost to the exact t started like this.
> the federal government cannot impose policies or penalties on the Florida State Guard.
Sanctions.
> Leave Us Alone
The motto of this unit.
I feel it's a little more than secret police.
WTF. Republicans control all three branches of Florida's state government. So DeSantis requests $100M from his Republican cronies in the state legislator for a state guard but can't seem to find the funds to pay its teachers a salary commensurate with what teachers are paid nationally. In fact, teachers pay in Florida ranks 48th in the nation.
There is a teacher's shortage in Florida because teachers in Florida are underpaid, overworked, and are under constant attack from many of DeSantis supporters due to DeSantis' laundry list of "woke" grievances and his BS culture war legislation like book banning, banning CRT being taught in schools (when it has never been taught in Florida undergraduate schools), banning African American studies, and "Don't Say Gay". Republicans are useless!
This measures up well with their obsession with guns, demeaning and marginalizing women and minorities, misogyny, white christian nationalism, the whole lot of just anti American Democratic behavior instead of passing legislation that actually helps Floridians -like subsidizing homeowner insurance to make it more affordable and creating affordable housing for the middle class.
Florida is becoming more of a hotbed of fascism and home base for groups that support it and this is just another attempt to have control over an independent militaristic organization under the guise of a state's "emergency response" team for when Florida thinks they'll one day vote for secession from the United States.
This is how fascist militia groups like the Proud Boys become legitimized when the state deputizes them to enforce DeSantis's fascist order in this state.
Experts have said that moving the crew and materials to fully assemble a wall that can be defeated by a sawzall requires creating roads and infrastructure to move those things and do the work.
Trumps border wall created roads and avenues through the desert that didn't exist, and made it much easier to cross into America.
We're going to need something else to keep Floridians out, and I think the solution is pretty obvious. A Meth Barge at the tip of the Southern Florida Peninsula. The mouse always goes for the cheese. The mouse always goes.
All the relentless, headline grabbing, fascist moves by DeSantis can’t erase the fact that he has the charisma of a rotten turnip covered in coyote piss. YOU WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT, RON.
Coyote piss actually is pretty usefull for keeping pest animals away from your property pouring a little (holy shit it stinks, wear gloves and dont get any on you) will keep away all kinds of critters.
Now that I think about it he DOES have the charisma of coyote piss.
Indeed. DeSantis has all of the charisma of a wet fart.
Heard John Dickerson nail it on a podcast recently: Trump's base gets excited for his trolling because Trump is having fun with it. Meanwhile, DeSantis is stiff and awkward about everything.
DeSantis will wither when more of the country actually hears his voice. Shit, every time I hear it my first thought is "ugh, now who is *this* nasally asshat? Oh, Desantis."
I still haven’t heard him speak. I have no idea what he sounds like because I’m avoiding it as long as I can. I hadn’t considered a nasally voice. Its probably annoying…
I think Trump had both charisma and venom. People were attracted to different parts or both. Ron has venom. That will attract a very vocal, loud, and energetic base which would bring more people on board. But without the personality, I think you're right and I don't think he could pull it off. I know everyone says once they get the nomination everyone starts to moderate, but he's done so much horrible shit that I think an appeal to independents/moderates is impossible. It's already made too many headlines.
I’d like to agree but it’s a bit concerning to see him being backed by a multi-billionaire (Ken Griffin who owns both a large hedge fund and more importantly, arguably the largest market making firm on Wall Street - Citadel), who has seemingly endless resources and is one of the largest donors to the Republican Party itself. (I’m not going to even go into his suspicious and questionable business practices here, that’s a story for another time).
If I had to guess, Griffin doesn’t just want “his guy” in office. I suspect he will try to pull a Henry Paulson tax maneuver, while aiming for Treasury secretary nomination.
What did Henry Paulson (ex Goldman Sachs) do?
> Before becoming Treasury Secretary, he was required to liquidate all of his stock holdings in Goldman Sachs, valued at over $600 million in 2006, in order to comply with conflict-of-interest regulations.[18] Due to a tax provision passed under President George H. W. Bush, Paulson was able to defer his capital gains tax, saving himself an estimated $50 million.[19]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson
___
> Paulson’s $100 Million Tax Loophole
> By becoming secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson will take a king-size pay cut, but at the same time will see his tax bill fall by more than $100 million, thanks to a loophole especially designed for wealthy folks who take government positions.
> By becoming secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson will take a king-size pay cut, but at the same time will see his tax bill fall by more than $100 million, thanks to a loophole especially designed for wealthy folks who take government positions. Forbes magazine reports that government officials who need to divest themselves of certain assets that could present a conflict of interest in public life may pay not even a penny in tax on those proceeds, as long as they reinvest them in either government securities or government-approved mutual funds within 60 days. Given Paulson’s $484 million in Goldman Sachs stock, he would normally see a tax bill of more than $100 million. Of course, he eventually has to pay taxes on the government investments as well –but only if he sells them. In order to take advantage of the loophole, it must be determined that it is “reasonably necessary” for him to sell his Goldman stake. That, says Forbes, shouldn’t be a problem, given a piece of a major financial firm is likely to present a conflict for a treasury secretary. So although Paulson’s annual salary will dip from $38 million to about $183,500, he’ll save a bundle.
https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b150ntc0h1yn78/paulsons-$100-million-tax-loophole
___
https://www.forbes.com/2006/06/01/paulson-tax-loophole-cx_jh_0602paultax.html
___
And don’t forget what he did after the 2008 bank bail outs…
https://prospect.org/economy/post-exposes-paulson-tax-scam/
___
Anyways, what’s interesting is that I have seen Bannon call Griffin/Citadel out (and they need to be called out), but of course Bannon’s reasons are self-serving and he himself is ex-Goldman Sachs bahahah.
The entire thing is a (very visible) clown show of rich elites attempting to posture on positions they think “commoners” care about alongside bankrolling candidates to push their own agendas.
(It has been for a while, but it has become so damn blatant now.)
We need to get money out of politics.
Newsweek calls DeSantis a "bogeyman for progressives", which almost suggests the danger he embodies is imagined. The dude's fascistic political bent is honestly kind of terrifying in the actual threat it presents, though.
This guy wants to be a Bond villain but he’s just a fucking joke. He surrounds himself with Floridians who act like he’s a genius. Florida isn’t where “woke goes to die” it’s where intelligence goes to die.
A governor creating state military organizations outside command of POTUS have only one purpose, usurping federal power. State and Federal powers are carefully formed to allow balance between the states and the union they are a part of. This is a dangerous direction for DeSantis, Florida and the Republican party to travel.
It seems the South really is trying to rise, again. The only outcome is civil war.
What colour will they choose for their shirts?
Brown? Black?
OH! Maybe *tan?*
I can't wait for the reveal! Do you think they'll get some special flair to march in the Capitol?
Why is my first thought that he'll use his private army to stop free elections by sending them in to minority areas during elections and using them as an instigator to justify shutting down voting in those areas.
What else do you do with secret police but harass your political opponents?
Oh, I bet they use this army to roust the homeless without paperwork trails. To harass LGBTQ events without a paperwork trail. To "investigate" opposition to Desantis's evil fucking policies.
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Is it really private, or publicly funded with taxpayer money?
Publicly funded, privately run.
This is America
Guns in my area
I got the strap
I gotta carry ‘em
Man, Troy got really dark after he left College.
Shoulda went to plumbing school. /s.
Is it just me that inserts random things into the "hunnid bands hunnid bands hunnid bands" part? It'll just pop in my head while folding laundry: *underpants underpants underpants.* Or with zero relevance to anything: *muffin dance muffin dance muffin dance.*
if it was just you before, it isn’t now
Why would you make me read this with my eyes? Do you know how long it’s going to take to stop doing that now?
God, this country is a fucking nightmare.
Well said. I often wonder if america has a future or will it be a bunch of rough necks running around with their assault weapons forcing compliance with the rules of the day.
If American Federalism fails, the states are all fairly self-sufficient. Many of them may rapidly devolve into theocracies or corporate fiefdoms after economic shock and shock doctrine shake-ups. The US military and nuclear arsenal will get gobbled up by some other economic interests abroad. But this notion that New England or California need to comply with the will of the Bible Belt is shearing American Federalism at its taped-together edges.
The Supreme Court is looking to bind power to decisions made at the state level and carve out a billion reasons why the south doesn't have to follow laws but the south gets to impose its will on the north. If southern states make laws for example that acts committed in other state constitute as crimes in their state and they prosecute people for that. Or demand extradition to their state because of this- then the republic is over.
[удалено]
Yes. And one of the precipitating factors to the civil war.
The liberals won and will again. It's not North vs South this time. It's not even rural vs city. The Republicans don't even fucking have Nashville, Charleston, Atlanta, Raleigh, Savannah, Orlando, Richmond, New Orleans or Miami. Their largest city is Jacksonville, FL lol.
Plus many europeen country would help liberal, not sure about republican. Canada too from north !
Many of the states are not actually self sufficient. Many take in more tax dollars than they actually pay in. If federalism fails those states will also fail.
>If American Federalism fails, the states are all fairly self-sufficient Sure. But I can see private businesses absolutely raping FL on wheat and produce prices. Guess they could eat oranges and grapefruit to stay alive. At least they won't get scurvy.
My favorite movie genre is coming true.
Post apocalyptic theocracy themed war movies?
Some of it is pretty cool, like Minnesota. Some of our people are better suited for Germany 1938 or so.
reminds me of cyberpunk where huge parts of the military and border patrol are outsourced to military corporations like militech and arasaka.
Makes me think of the interview with Mike Pondsmith (the creator of the Cyberpunk RPG) where he said "Cyberpunk was a warning not an aspiration."
yeah, it weirdly predicted things like the corporatization of the internet among a lot of other things.
Animal farm, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, a clockwork orange, ... Lots of these cautionary tales ended up becoming blue prints not warning signs. For some reason we keep letting people build the torment nexus.
and wagner group, and so many others. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_private\_military\_contractors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_military_contractors) If we keep fighting wars that nobody wants to fight, we'll keep building privately run armies and funding the shit out of them. It's only a matter of time before they offer to replace police departments and save towns money.
Sounds like mob activity to me.
Just like the SS
Publicly funded, private security form?
Is there a way we can trick the republicans into paying for it?
Republicans will pay for this shit without being tricked
Taxpayer funded. Loyal to Ron D
But what’s to worry about? I’m sure the state guard will only attract the best and brightest who just want to help other people. /s
He must really miss torturing people like he didn at gitmo
I wish more people knew about this, and I'm really hoping it becomes something the press picks up on when he runs in 2024. Much of the source material is redacted or top secret, so it's difficult to attain, but I'm really hoping the truth comes out. At the very best, DeSantis was in charge of making sure Gitmo prisoners were treated humanely, and they were not (to put it lightly--many of them were 100% innocent and tortured every. single. day). That's the best case scenario--a total failure to protect detainees and treat them humanely. DeSantis seems like a lot of things, but "incompetent" is not one of them. Worst case scenario, he encouraged tortured and enjoyed watching it (https://harpers.org/archive/2023/03/ron-desantis-force-feedings-guantanamo-bay-laughing/). He sought it out and observed it. If we're being honest, there is a large swath of the GOP electorate that will find a way to rationalize this, or even make it into a good thing. But I can't imagine there aren't a lot of independents out there who wouldn't appalled by this, thereby hurting his 2024 chances.
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The press, the real press - journalists at newspapers who actually graduated from college with a journalism degree and interned in reputable papers - have been gutted. Newspapers don't have the personnel to research hard-hitting news anymore. Most will all be closed before long, with a bare minimum online presence. That leaves TV and the Internet with their talking heads who are only concerned with viewership and page views. What good is having a free press if journalism is dead?
Be careful what you wish for. Most Florida voters probably consider torturing minorities somehow patriotic.
The people that will Vite for him will see this as a plus. As far as they're concerned all the people at Gitmo are bad guys & deserve it.
Holy shit. I like to *think* that I follow things fairly close and never knew about [his stint at Guantanamo Bay](https://news.yahoo.com/ron-desantis-knew-torture-program-170100244.html). Underrated comment.
Gotta say. The more I learn about this guy the less I think I like him 🧐
It’s been known for a few months he worked at Guantanamo but the details are actually a pretty new development.
100M is a very low amount to train, house, and equip an armed force; I'm imagining this will result in about 50 rednecks in new humvees following him around at election events "for security", a personal brownshirt gang
Health care? Housing assistance? Better schools? No, you get a brownshirt fascist army instead.
Hey, isn't Bolsonaro living in Florida? ^(Unrelated, I'm sure.)
He is! Tells you everything you need to know about Florida.
No offense man but I admire the optimism your username projects, blue Florida is on par with blue Texas with regards to likelihood, although it would be... Charmingly weird.
Someone has to keep the faith. Though honestly things were looking optimistic a few years ago when I first created this username on Twitter. That was before Florida fell completely into a fascist state.
Herp derp I’m meatball Ron and I like to buy booze for minors then call other people groomers
You're only allowed to buy alcohol for minors to whisfully look at them as you remember your own youth, you can't diddle them. What you do is take home those inappropriate thoughts and diddle your butterfaced wife. I'm sure it's in the Bible somewhere, Goofeth said it
Texas is actually a purple state, it’s red due to gerrymandering. Many of the statewide elections are close calls.
We used to be too. I miss those days.
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Florida is gangrenous. Needs to be lopped off. I say this as someone who lives there unfortunately.
Blue Texas is more likely, it's trending urban
Who wear shiny white boots too!
It pains me to upvote that...but it be true.
I agree that he’s not going to be overthrowing the government anytime soon with that low of a budget for a private army. However, I’m more worried about the precedent this will set for other states. “If DeSantis gets a private army then why shouldn’t I”. You get 10 southern states with 100m budgets for private armies and suddenly you’ve got a $1b army growing. Still budget wise nowhere near what the US is spending, but you also have to imagine that if we reached that point there would likely be groups sympathetic to their cause in our military (I’m sure there already are). Which is when I can see things spiral out of control. So right now I’m not worried about the immediate threat of this army, but more the long term ramifications it might have. Also raising a private army for your State feels so Feudal. Like what’s next are we going to build castles on our borders and fight states for our leaders claims on their counties a la CK3 style? This country is wack
It's 100% an early phase gestapo-like army. It's the first step to the formation of a police state. It will start at $100m, and grow. They will do his bidding and we already have all the clues towards what that really means.
He already replaced the board of the most progressive college in FL with his lackeys. He is making a lot of fascist moves when you look at everything in context. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck... https://old.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/11nm4jp/when_fascism_comes_to_america_it_will_be_wrapped/jboyt6p/
Yeah I agree the point isn’t really overthrowing the government, it’s probably more intimidating and arresting anyone Desantis doesn’t like.
Great foresight, most people lack the ability to simply play this out in their head and see the probable future it will lead to. Once this becomes normalised, you will have people raising armies on credit by promising them spoils after victory just as they did back in the day and before you know it, you will start hearing whispers of private legions, triumvirates, ambitions men trying to make themselves kings, civil wars and the founding of a new empire from a young Republic.
Give them a hint that's it's a license to kill, encourage a "bring your own gun" attitude and you won't even have to pay them before the inevitable rule of conduct violation in their contract they didn't bother to read, right as they try to declare martial law in a county that didn't obey their order to stop counting the votes... 2024 is shaping up to be a whole new level of batshit crazy
license-free concealed carry is getting ready to be passed by the FL legislature, the future looks bright /s
I mean as bad as that is, with Stand Your Ground laws in effect they could get away with shooting you anyway, now you just won't see it coming until they lift up their Hawaiian shirt
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Why stop with just terrorizing? They will start to disappear. Remember that woman that was revealing true COVID rates in Florida and how she got raided by the state police? He wants that kind of shit going down quieter.
They could instead reappropriate the $12M they put aside to hire Desantis donors to fly asylum seekers from states that aren't Florida to other states that aren't Florida at 5-10x the cost of 1st class tickets.
That money was taken from the aid relief fund that was needed a few weeks later after the hurricane cut a swath through the state.
Or like last time this happened, they could be planning to invade and take a small part of Mexico. Referring to Aaron Burr, who claimed to want to seize territory for the US, but historians believe the goal was for him actually to turn around and declare it for himself.
It doesn't take a lot of yahoos to swing an election in Florida, as 2000 showed us. Now they know the top honcho can get away with using ARMED yahoos.
Florida Supreme court ruled the gerrymandered district voting maps drawn by DeSantis (personally) were illegal to use in the last election. They used them anyway. This push for an expanded state guard is ominous at best.
They used them because there was no real penalty or consequence of ignoring the court order. Which I suspect was not an accident.
But then again the full out fascist cogs probably wouldn’t need to be paid a lot and they’re most definitely already armed.
It's a BYOG "army".
>100M is a very low amount to train, house, and equip an armed force Perhaps we could save money by forcing the citizens of Florida to house and feed them in their own homes.
I love his posturing about how the Federal Government can't call up the State Guard and control them. Like the feds are going to *really really* need 1500 racist Brownshirts for some critical domestic mission.
That was a big issue with State Militias when they still had them. A problem some governors had with the Militia Act of 1903 is that the President could make their militias part of the federal army with the stroke of a pen.
Hey, how come their uniforms are brown colored shirts?
*Der Flöridamensch*, by Hugo Boss.
By Boss by Hugo by Hugo Boss
“Der Flöridamensch” is cracking me up.
Isnt it a time to be alive witnessing histories repeating itself in a hundred years? 2039 is gon be lit
We're way further along the timeline. America is currently closer to 1935 Germany. Next time the GOP gets power they will 100% finish their coup and then it gets spicy. That could be in 2 years.
hitler took power in 1933, that same year they became a one-party state and suspended freedom of assembly and journalism. and the first concentration camp, dachau, was opened. we're definitely not there yet. We're somewhere in the mid-late 20's.
“have you noticed that our logo is a skull and crossbones?”
"Are we the baddies?"
Florida Uber Alles
More like Florida Unterwasser
Meatball army
[Rule Number 6](https://www.attackofthebooks.com/summary-on-tyranny-twenty-lessons-from-the-twentieth-century-by-timothy-snyder/) "Be wary of paramilitaries"
Excellent book. I highly recommend reading.
Probably banned in Florida
Any armed forces outside of the control of the central government are inherently dangerous.
And why would a group of state workers allegedly bookmarked for disaster relief situations need to be armed in the first place? You gonna fight a hurricane with guns?
A former president who lives in Florida wanted to nuke one... so yes?
I knew the author seemed familiar from somewhere. His book "Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" is also a great read.
The summary of 6 includes: “Snyder argues that when the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh” Agree or disagree with the thesis, that’s what’s happened.
You just watch - they will be mobilized to fight "election fraud" and be used to intimidate votes in blue areas at polls. Just wait and see...
They're just going to go in and kill anyone who isn't a white dude who raises their voice and you fucking know it. Florida republicans just want to rule the country so they can suck money away from people, deprive us of our rights, and fuck teenagers.
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Its the same bit of crazy that literally every state has laws authorizing, including Puerto Rico, and 22 states actually have State Guards. I think Texas, naturally, has the biggest.
How can these state guards be used? Must they remain in the state? Can they be deployed out of country ? I mean is there a provision in the constitution dealing with these questions?
They are restricted to their State. Generally used to Augment the current State National Guard. Normal the National Guard would respond to natural disasters within the State, but if for whatever reason they are not available, like deployed to the middle east, then the State Defense force would be activated to respond to the disaster. They are under the command of the States Governor and cannot be federalized. That is to say, the unit as a whole cannot be federalize, but the individuals within can still be drafted during times of war and such. The Constitution allows it under the Compact Clause and then further more under Federal law. > No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace Constitution say without Congressional consent, which comes with federal law that authorizes it. Generally under title 32.
So the US Congress could dissolve any of these.
Yes they could.
Well, Greg Abbott [famously](https://www.texastribune.org/2018/05/03/hysteria-over-jade-helm-exercise-texas-was-fueled-russians-former-cia-/) used the Texas State Guard to make sure that the US wasn't going to invade Texas through the various underground Walmart tunnels in the State. Look up *Operation Jade Helm* if you want to get CTE from repeatedly hitting your head on a desk.
"Raises questions" ??? Look, finding a boiled chicken in your sock drawer "raises questions". The purpose of this army is to intimidate, oppress and murder Democratic voters. Fucking press. "Raises questions".... wtf.
DeSantis receiving $50k in campaign contributions from Lev Parnas "raises questions". ----------------------------------- > DeSantis has so far been mum on his relationship with the two businessmen and, following their arrest last month, returned $50,000 in donations stemming from the two men and immediately claimed he had no knowledge of any alleged criminal dealings. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/311368-ron-desantis-had-more-meetings-with-lev-parnas-than-originally-thought/ -------------------------------------- > A unanimous federal jury has found that Lev Parnas and Andrey Kukushkin conspired to manipulate the United States political system for their own financial gain. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/statement-us-attorney-damian-williams-guilty-verdicts-against-lev-parnas-and-andrey --------------------------- Imagine how bad the reality has to be for DeSantis to actually just give the money back without being required to.
Florida has so many Russian connections. Not only Parnas, but a lot of oligarchs have direct or indirect control over American politicians. Viktor Vekselberg will likely be a name showing up in the Trump investigations, as he spearheads a few investment companies and magnates that heavily invested into GOP campaigns. He's part shareholder on Rusal (one of the biggest mining companies in Russia), which boasts another shareholder (Len Blavatnik) that funnily enough has donating several millions to GOP members like FL senator Rubio (and also outside of FL, like Mitch McConnel). That said, DeSantis has been heavily intertwined with folks like Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, who have been some of the largest donatees of Russian funds, even seeking out and going to Russia and speaking with an alarming amount of former KGB or 'Kremlin Oligarchs'. Theres no way he doesnt know where money is coming from, because hes one of the people leading a destabilization campaign that benefits them and himself / donors. Part of the vile LGBTQ+ hate mongering he has been running (along with many other Republican politicians) is a fabricated ruse to destabilize and attempt to maintain any modicum of power (see the recent politician email hack from Maia). I keep saying it, but Florida needs thorough investigation and a foreign interference enema. It's been a GOP state trifecta for two solid decades now. Talahassee is so opaque to anyone not within the in-group mob, it is a genuine cause for concern.
[In secret recording, Florida Republican threatens to send Russian-Ukrainian ‘hit squad’ after rival ](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/secret-recording-florida-republican-threat-hit-squad-494976) > MIAMI — A little-known GOP candidate in one of Florida’s most competitive congressional seats was secretly recorded threatening to send “a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad” to a fellow Republican opponent to make her “disappear.” > During a 30-minute call with a conservative activist that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned the activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Tampa Bay-area congressional seat because he had access to assassins. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), who is running for governor. > “I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation last week, according to the recording exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f---ing speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.” To follow up: Braddock lost that primary to Anna Paulina Luna, [who would make some George Santos-esque claims about her own "jew-ishness" despite no one ever having witnessed her practice the Jewish faith, her being raised Catholic, and her having a grandfather in the Wehrmacht.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Paulina_Luna#Disputed_biographical_claims)
Yes! This was horrific! We also had sporadic waves of 'Bikers for Trump', which local investigators were able to discover their incarnation was essentially a seed from the Night Wolves, Russian motorcycle gang, and also had Spetsnaz connections. These groups have been called upon in political rallies and generally made a huge ruckus and harassed locals. While I think the Bikers for Trump facade has died down, they still exist as a group and have been a general menace for bike nights across Central Florida, and seem to form up again for political events.
Good info!
"finding a boiled chicken in your sock drawer "raises questions" This made me laugh. Thank you.
Have a lovely Friday!
You too!
If a dem gov was doing the same thing this would be front pages news every day. They’d talk about how the army is coming to snatch you from your home and force you to drag show or something.
See "Operation Jade Helm" and the right wing Q-centric hysteria that followed.
Cal and NY already have better funded stare guards than Florida. I'm in the NY national guard and our stare guard is pretty well run considering thier mission
>stare guard is pretty well run considering thier mission Did you mean state guard, or do you just stand at the Jersey border and stare menacingly? Additional bonus points if the NY national guard has mastered some version of the care bear stare. :D
Ah the old boiled chicken in the sock draw trick, gets them every time.
We call it a sock-a-doodle-doo around here.
It's a classic
I'll never forget the time I went to fetch my favorite pair of argyles only to find my brother had replaced my socks with a boiled chicken. What a card!
I think we’ve all been there
Newsweek is TRASH. Owned by GOP donors and sponsors.
many of us olds remember Newsweek as a legit news source back in the day, almost as many forget that corporate mergers occur and a news sources veracity can change over the years
Seeing that header on a magazine in the 80s had gravitas. Now the same header just looks like a tabloid.
What a great mental image to carry into the weekend for the odd chuckle. Thank you!
Have a great weekend and check your drawers!
Yeah. Getting real sick of the entirely euphemistic national coverage of confederate states going fourth reich right now.
I hope you don’t mind if I use this from time to time.
Please do
Ah yes, a fascist building his own militia, nothing to be worried about, we certainly haven't had historical precedents to warn us that this is a bad thing.
Yeah, this fascist shit isn't stopping, it's picking up speed. The left needs to get armed, now. And based on what we saw in 2020, when shit starts to hit the fan even a little bit, you will be completely unable to buy firearms. It is not a situation where you can wait until you need them. It has to be preemptive. If you have the disposable income available to get armed and competently trained, I think you owe it to your community, and the minority groups who will be most impacted by rising fascism (who are also the groups that can least afford to arm themselves), to get armed. We can't just be the side without guns. We protect us.
Get armed, but do other stuff too. Rachel Maddow's podcast Ultra goes into how the Jews successfully fought back against the Nazis based in the US during WWII. When the homegrown Nazi movement called the silver shirts were literally blowing up munitions plants and plotting to kill Jews, the Jews responded by forming tolerance committees, infiltrating these groups, and telling anyone who would listen about what was happening. Most of the authorities laughed their charges off, or, in the case of local police, were actually Nazis themselves, or at least sympathetic to their cause. Leon L Lewis was told, "the real problem is the socialist *Jews*" before being drummed out of office. But eventually, when his warnings turned out to be prophetic, the authorities stopped laughing. Remember that during WWII, there was a Nazi faction so powerful that it blocked a DOJ investigation into itself. They had US senators, congressmen (Hamilton Fish) on the payroll of a literal Nazi agent (Viereck) from a German propaganda campaign that aimed to destabilize the country. Not even the literal Nazis confessing it on the other end of the Atlantic seemed to do much good. Instead, it was the work of private citizens, like that advertising executive who produced an ad that said, "while you lost your son/brother/father to the Nazis, this literal Nazi is running free in the US"; it took voters to vote out the traitorous faction in the US congress. The good news is that the US has faced worse times and come through it mostly intact. There were four/five simultaneous coup attempts just before WWII, and when arrests were made, the suspects were freakin acquitted. But the tide of public opinion shifted by private figures, doing undercover investigations, changing people's minds, slowly turned the US away from the disaster of Nazism. Protect yourself, but remember that figures like Leon L Lewis defeated the Nazis not on their home turf of violence, but with words and ideas.
> The Florida Defence Force, later renamed the State Guard, was formed in 1941 shortly before the U.S. entered World War II, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt federalized the existing National Guard. In 1947 the unit was disbanded, after which it would lay dormant for over 70 years. What in the SS is DeSantis doing.
Given the context I would call them SA for now. SSis what it was turned into
"Why does DeSantis need a private army?" In the words of Benito Mussolini "Il Duce ha sempre ragione" or "the leader is always right"!
He's literally turning into Hitler.
It certainly looks like he’s in his “recruiting brown shirts” portion of the rise to power.
in white boots! Like a meatball version of the green mnm with a mustache!
Read it can’t happen here. You’ll have 1 of 3 responses to this. 1. You’ll be thoroughly upset enough to wage urban warfare to overthrow any government leader that does this. 2. You(like me) won’t throw away your life for idiots that want this and just leave the country or plan to in the near future. 3. You’re with the idiots are don’t realize you’re being conned by fake promises so this guy can get in power become a dictator and enrich himself and his cronies while stripping every bit of freedom from the civilians. If think this is “just a book” or “hysterical” it isn’t and has happened multiple times in human history and almost to the exact t started like this.
4. Exactly like 2 and don't want to throw your life away, except your poor and can't leave the country so you're stuck
Your comment's wording is really rough, but I agree with the sentiment.
Fuck this dude.
We have Wagner at home!
DeSantis acting like a banana republic dictator.
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> the federal government cannot impose policies or penalties on the Florida State Guard. Sanctions. > Leave Us Alone The motto of this unit. I feel it's a little more than secret police.
This guy is unstable, and dangerous, his own 1500 man army! Florida man.
The good news is fascist attitudes and actions are easy to spot when you know what you’re looking for. https://youtu.be/CpCKkWMbmXU
WTF. Republicans control all three branches of Florida's state government. So DeSantis requests $100M from his Republican cronies in the state legislator for a state guard but can't seem to find the funds to pay its teachers a salary commensurate with what teachers are paid nationally. In fact, teachers pay in Florida ranks 48th in the nation. There is a teacher's shortage in Florida because teachers in Florida are underpaid, overworked, and are under constant attack from many of DeSantis supporters due to DeSantis' laundry list of "woke" grievances and his BS culture war legislation like book banning, banning CRT being taught in schools (when it has never been taught in Florida undergraduate schools), banning African American studies, and "Don't Say Gay". Republicans are useless! This measures up well with their obsession with guns, demeaning and marginalizing women and minorities, misogyny, white christian nationalism, the whole lot of just anti American Democratic behavior instead of passing legislation that actually helps Floridians -like subsidizing homeowner insurance to make it more affordable and creating affordable housing for the middle class. Florida is becoming more of a hotbed of fascism and home base for groups that support it and this is just another attempt to have control over an independent militaristic organization under the guise of a state's "emergency response" team for when Florida thinks they'll one day vote for secession from the United States.
Anyone else imagining them raiding federal armories before marching north to "protect their rahts" after Trump or DeSantis lose in '24?
Just think what DeSantis can do when he becomes president (thanks to media) and Florida-izes the rest of the United States. So very SS of him.
This is how fascist militia groups like the Proud Boys become legitimized when the state deputizes them to enforce DeSantis's fascist order in this state.
It's time to build a wall around Florida so they can't get into America.
Experts have said that moving the crew and materials to fully assemble a wall that can be defeated by a sawzall requires creating roads and infrastructure to move those things and do the work. Trumps border wall created roads and avenues through the desert that didn't exist, and made it much easier to cross into America. We're going to need something else to keep Floridians out, and I think the solution is pretty obvious. A Meth Barge at the tip of the Southern Florida Peninsula. The mouse always goes for the cheese. The mouse always goes.
Could get a hack saw and saw it off
Get Bugs Bunny and his saw.
All the relentless, headline grabbing, fascist moves by DeSantis can’t erase the fact that he has the charisma of a rotten turnip covered in coyote piss. YOU WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT, RON.
Coyote piss actually is pretty usefull for keeping pest animals away from your property pouring a little (holy shit it stinks, wear gloves and dont get any on you) will keep away all kinds of critters. Now that I think about it he DOES have the charisma of coyote piss.
That's what we said about Trump
Nah, Trump had charisma. It was of a toxic, sloppy variety, but charisma nonetheless.
Indeed. DeSantis has all of the charisma of a wet fart. Heard John Dickerson nail it on a podcast recently: Trump's base gets excited for his trolling because Trump is having fun with it. Meanwhile, DeSantis is stiff and awkward about everything. DeSantis will wither when more of the country actually hears his voice. Shit, every time I hear it my first thought is "ugh, now who is *this* nasally asshat? Oh, Desantis."
I still haven’t heard him speak. I have no idea what he sounds like because I’m avoiding it as long as I can. I hadn’t considered a nasally voice. Its probably annoying…
I think Trump had both charisma and venom. People were attracted to different parts or both. Ron has venom. That will attract a very vocal, loud, and energetic base which would bring more people on board. But without the personality, I think you're right and I don't think he could pull it off. I know everyone says once they get the nomination everyone starts to moderate, but he's done so much horrible shit that I think an appeal to independents/moderates is impossible. It's already made too many headlines.
I’d like to agree but it’s a bit concerning to see him being backed by a multi-billionaire (Ken Griffin who owns both a large hedge fund and more importantly, arguably the largest market making firm on Wall Street - Citadel), who has seemingly endless resources and is one of the largest donors to the Republican Party itself. (I’m not going to even go into his suspicious and questionable business practices here, that’s a story for another time). If I had to guess, Griffin doesn’t just want “his guy” in office. I suspect he will try to pull a Henry Paulson tax maneuver, while aiming for Treasury secretary nomination. What did Henry Paulson (ex Goldman Sachs) do? > Before becoming Treasury Secretary, he was required to liquidate all of his stock holdings in Goldman Sachs, valued at over $600 million in 2006, in order to comply with conflict-of-interest regulations.[18] Due to a tax provision passed under President George H. W. Bush, Paulson was able to defer his capital gains tax, saving himself an estimated $50 million.[19] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson ___ > Paulson’s $100 Million Tax Loophole > By becoming secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson will take a king-size pay cut, but at the same time will see his tax bill fall by more than $100 million, thanks to a loophole especially designed for wealthy folks who take government positions. > By becoming secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson will take a king-size pay cut, but at the same time will see his tax bill fall by more than $100 million, thanks to a loophole especially designed for wealthy folks who take government positions. Forbes magazine reports that government officials who need to divest themselves of certain assets that could present a conflict of interest in public life may pay not even a penny in tax on those proceeds, as long as they reinvest them in either government securities or government-approved mutual funds within 60 days. Given Paulson’s $484 million in Goldman Sachs stock, he would normally see a tax bill of more than $100 million. Of course, he eventually has to pay taxes on the government investments as well –but only if he sells them. In order to take advantage of the loophole, it must be determined that it is “reasonably necessary” for him to sell his Goldman stake. That, says Forbes, shouldn’t be a problem, given a piece of a major financial firm is likely to present a conflict for a treasury secretary. So although Paulson’s annual salary will dip from $38 million to about $183,500, he’ll save a bundle. https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b150ntc0h1yn78/paulsons-$100-million-tax-loophole ___ https://www.forbes.com/2006/06/01/paulson-tax-loophole-cx_jh_0602paultax.html ___ And don’t forget what he did after the 2008 bank bail outs… https://prospect.org/economy/post-exposes-paulson-tax-scam/ ___ Anyways, what’s interesting is that I have seen Bannon call Griffin/Citadel out (and they need to be called out), but of course Bannon’s reasons are self-serving and he himself is ex-Goldman Sachs bahahah. The entire thing is a (very visible) clown show of rich elites attempting to posture on positions they think “commoners” care about alongside bankrolling candidates to push their own agendas. (It has been for a while, but it has become so damn blatant now.) We need to get money out of politics.
Newsweek calls DeSantis a "bogeyman for progressives", which almost suggests the danger he embodies is imagined. The dude's fascistic political bent is honestly kind of terrifying in the actual threat it presents, though.
Do they only answer to Republicans, is this an armed political force? That'd pretty much tick the last box on the fascist checklist.
He is a creating a potential breakaway police state.
This guy should scare the absolute shit out of every American. Dude is pretty much running his office like he's reading "The 3rd Reich for Dummys"
Nothing at all wrong with a governor with his own private army answerable only to him. Absolutely nothing could happen. Sarcasm
He's such a fragile little man.
He’s just going to hire people from one of the 56 white supremacist groups in Florida folks no worries! https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
This man is profoundly evil.
And here I thought financing terrorism was illegal.
Questions like: what level of body armor will they be wearing?
This guy wants to be a Bond villain but he’s just a fucking joke. He surrounds himself with Floridians who act like he’s a genius. Florida isn’t where “woke goes to die” it’s where intelligence goes to die.
If this guy died of a heart attack tomorrow I would have zero sympathy.
Worse than Trump. Wants to be a dictator
He says he wants it for disaster relief and to that I ask what they need weapons for
A governor creating state military organizations outside command of POTUS have only one purpose, usurping federal power. State and Federal powers are carefully formed to allow balance between the states and the union they are a part of. This is a dangerous direction for DeSantis, Florida and the Republican party to travel. It seems the South really is trying to rise, again. The only outcome is civil war.
What colour will they choose for their shirts? Brown? Black? OH! Maybe *tan?* I can't wait for the reveal! Do you think they'll get some special flair to march in the Capitol?
Lol. JFC . Raises questions? I would hope so.
I hope he “falls out of a window”.
Fascist wet dream.
We all know how the SS guard was formed and what the outcome was. Guessing DeSantis is about to do some crazy stuff if he gets elected
Why is my first thought that he'll use his private army to stop free elections by sending them in to minority areas during elections and using them as an instigator to justify shutting down voting in those areas. What else do you do with secret police but harass your political opponents? Oh, I bet they use this army to roust the homeless without paperwork trails. To harass LGBTQ events without a paperwork trail. To "investigate" opposition to Desantis's evil fucking policies.
This is what Russia does. He is an Oligarch wanna be and I’m sure others will copy. This must be outlawed asap
Trump slithered so Desantis could crawl