Category: News & Comment

Steve Schmidt: Ron DeSantis’ Campaign Has Collapsed ‘under the Weight of His Disordered Personality’

Schmidt: 'It's Over'

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Excerpt from “The Warning” by Steve Schmidt Starts at 0:40:

Watching Ron DeSantis’ belly flop onto the empty concrete of the proverbially empty pool has been astonishing. It is very very rare to see a loss of 30 points. There hasn’t been a debate. The campaign hasn’t effectively started, and he’s collapsed under the weight of his disorder personality.

The newspapers are filled with stories. Ron DeSantis doesn’t like to talk to people. Ron DeSantis doesn’t like to make phone calls. Marco Rubio talked about the fact in the Wall Street Journal story that details the 30 point point collapse that he hasn’t talked to the governor of his state in months…

Not only does Trump have a score of congressional endorsements a few months later, while his behavior has become more outrageous, more dangerous and more unhnged. eight of those congressional endorsements are from the state of Florida.

Ron DeSantis just isn’t ready for prime time. He has no path to a comeback. He’s an extremely poor debater. It’s over.

Three Travel Advisories are in Effect for Florida Because of Its War on “Woke”

The Legislature Continues to Focus on Issues Gov. DeSantis Can Boast About on the Campaign Trail

Trish

Equality Florida logoA third travel advisory has been issued for Florida. Equality Florida, the state’s largest organization devoted to fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender idenity, is warning not to visit or relocate to Florida. The group joins The Florida Immigrant Coalition and state chapters of the NAACP in the same message:

Don’t come to Florida

The move comes in response to…the passage of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ community, restrict access to reproductive health care, repeal gun safety laws, foment racial prejudice, and attack public education by banning books and censoring curriculum.

Florida’s legislature continues to churn out culture war laws devised by Gov. Ron DeSantis. One source from within the body even told a Politico Florida reporter that the governor’s office must sign off on any changes to bills as they work through the legislature.

Florida’s elected Republicans find themselves ignoring serious problems like a crisis in homeowners insurance that is causing Florida residents to sell their homes. They have also produced no bills dealing with climate change even as the Fort Lauderdale airport had to be shut down from torrential rain and flooding. Instead, they focus on issues that Ron DeSantis wants to be able to boast about in his primary challenge to disgraced former Pres. Trump.

Trump Surge Comes at DeSantis’ Expense

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Graph GOP support Trump over DeSantis
Yahoo! News: “A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — one of the first conducted after former President Donald Trump was indicted Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star — shows Trump surging to his largest-ever lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his likely 2024 GOP primary challenger, as Republican voters rally around the only president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.

“In the previous Yahoo News/YouGov survey, which was conducted less than two weeks ago, Trump (47%) led DeSantis (39%) by eight percentage points in a head-to-head matchup among registered voters who are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. As recently as February, it was DeSantis who was narrowly ahead of Trump, 45% to 41%.

“But the new, post-indictment poll suddenly finds Trump lapping DeSantis by 26 percentage points — 57% to 31% — in a one-on-one contest. The former president even attracts majority support (52%, up from 44% previously) when pitted against a wider, 10-candidate field of declared and potential GOP challengers, while DeSantis plummets to 21% (down from 28%).”

Newsom Hits GOP’s ‘Authoritarian Leaders’

interviewed in Alabama by MSNBC's Jen Psaki

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Politico.com: “[California Gov. Gavin] Newsom sat down with [MSNBC’s Jen] Psaki in Alabama, while on a tour of Republican-led states including Arkansas and Mississippi. Newsom recently announced the launch of a new political action committee called Campaign for Democracy, aimed at calling out red state policies and ‘authoritarian leaders.’

“With Psaki, he lit into DeSantis, a frequent target of his ire who is expected to announce a run for the Republican presidential nomination at the close of Florida’s legislative calendar.

“‘[He’s] scared to death, scared of the people, scared of the public,’ Newsom said. ‘I think the majority of NRA members probably oppose that position.’”

Legislature in Tennessee, Birthplace of the Klan, Expels Two Black Lawmakers

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From left: Reps. Justine Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson
From left: Reps. Justine Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson

CNN: “In an extraordinary, emotionally charged session marked by tense exchanges and punctuated by boos and chants from onlookers, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to expel two Black lawmakers – but failed to oust a third [white] representative – a week after the three Democrats led a gun reform protest in the chamber.

“The crowd in the gallery erupted in boos and chants following both expulsions and loud cheers when the vote count turned up just short in the bid to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson. The session lasted seven hours.

“The vote over rules violations for Jones split along party lines 72-25, while the vote in Pearson’s case was 69-26. Johnson’s vote was 65-30. Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority of the total membership.”

Pro-Publica: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Has Enjoyed Unreported Luxury Vacations Paid for by Wealthy GOP Donor

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Clarence Thomas Harlan Crow Pro-Publica
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Pro-Publica: “In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.

“If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.

“For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.

“The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Ex-Democratic Assemblymember’s Defection to GOP Triggers Political Earthquake in North Carolina

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Traitorous NC Assemblymember Tricia_Cotham
Traitor: NC Assemblymember Tricia Ann Cotham (R) Email: Tricia.Cotham@ncleg.gov

 

Rep. Jeff Jackson, D-NC, on Reddit: “This morning there was a political earthquake in North Carolina. A legislator in the state House announced she was switching parties from Democrat to Republican. I want to make sure you understand how dramatic the impact of this one switch will be.

Rep. Jeff Jackson D-NC
Rep. Jeff Jackson D-NC

“Until today, Democrats had enough votes to sustain [Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s] veto – but only by a margin of one vote in the NC House. With this switch, Republicans now have a supermajority in both chambers, which means they have the votes to override any veto – which effectively just gave them full control of state government for the first time since 2017.

“I can’t overstate the policy consequences of this single switch. While we don’t know how she will vote on any given bill, dozens of bills that were essentially dead – from elections law changes to reproductive freedom to LGBTQ rights to education policy – may have just sprung back to life. And the state budget – which controls education funding – can now be passed entirely on the basis of Republican votes.

“In short, the decision by this legislator to suddenly switch parties will have consequences for millions of people.”

Keeping Track of the Trump Investigations

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mediumjessebravo.com
In case you’ve lost track, The Bulwark collects Donald Trump’s other legal problems in one place:

  • First, there is the investigation by the Department of Justice into the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
  • Second, there is DOJ’s investigation of the effort to stymie the transfer of power following the 2020 election, including the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
  • Third is the investigation — led by Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia — into election fraud in that state, arising from Trump’s having asked the Georgia secretary of state to “find” enough votes to hand him an Electoral College win there.
  • Fourth is the set of investigations (some criminal, some civil) into Trump’s various corporate enterprises. The attorney general of New York state, Letitia James, and the district attorney of Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, have each been leading probes.

    • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ain’t Done Much for Floridians

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    C. Jones claytoonz.com

    TIME magazine has an insightful piece on how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ focus on culture wars has obscured his terrible record on accomplishing much of anything positive for the residents of his state. The essay is written by William Kleinknecht, a political journalist and author of “States of Neglect: How Red-State Leaders Have Failed Their Citizens and Undermined America.”

    Here’s an excerpt from “No One Is Talking About What Ron DeSantis Has Actually Done to Florida”:

    Even a cursory dip into the statistics of social and economic well-being reveals that Florida falls short in almost any measure that matters to the lives of its citizens. More than four years into the DeSantis governorship, Florida continues to languish toward the bottom of state rankings assessing the quality of health care, school funding, long-term elder care, and other areas key to a successful society.

    Florida may be the place where “woke goes to die”—as DeSantis is fond of saying—but it is also where teachers’ salaries are among the lowest in the nation, unemployment benefits are stingier than in any other state, and wage theft flourishes with little interference from the DeSantis administration. In 2021, DeSantis campaigned against a successful ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage, which had been stuck at $8.65 an hour. Under DeSantis’s watch, the Sunshine State has not exactly been a workers’ paradise.

    Nashville’s Serial Lying Congressman Andy Ogles Sent Christmas Card Glorifying Assault Rifles

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    Yahoo News: “A Tennessee lawmaker who on Monday offered his ‘thoughts and prayers’ to families of the victims of a deadly school shooting in his district sent out a 2021 Christmas message featuring a photo of his gun-toting family.

    “Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican who represents part of Nashville, posted a statement on Twitter in response to the shooting that killed three children and three staff members at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville serving preschool students through sixth graders.

    In case you may have forgotten Rep. Ogle, he is the MAGA House member who lied repeatedly about his background. As was the case with his colleague in the House Liars Caucus Rep. George SAntos (R-NY), Ogle’s lies weren’t given much play in the press until after he was elected.

    […]