What's Going On in Florida?
A dark cloud is looming over the Sunshine State
168 is a newsletter emailed weekly on an unscheduled basis in which I share my thoughts on various topics for the purpose of discussion. Your comments are welcome so please feel free to post them. To view archived newsletters, please visit www.1hundredsixty8.substack.com.
Let’s be clear: Many states and regions of the United States have their own unique subcultures, their own customs, and even cuisines-New Mexico’s obsession with chile peppers, for instance, or Iowa’s use of caucuses rather than primary elections. However, none are as off-the-wall weird as Florida, the nation’s third-most populated state. The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis captures this wackiness in the opening paragraph of her article that looks at the state whose Governor thinks he should be President:
In the course of a single month this year, the following news reports emanated from Florida: A gun enthusiast in Tampa built a 55-foot backyard pool shaped like a revolver, with a hot tub in the hammer. A 32-year-old from Cutler Bay was arrested for biting off the head of his girlfriend’s pet python during a domestic dispute. A 40-year-old man cracked open a beer during a police traffic stop in Cape Coral. A father from East Orlando punched a bobcat in the face for attacking his daughter’s dog.
None of this inanity is surprising to those of us who have lived here for a sufficient period after moving from other states. You become accustomed that the standard dress for most males here in South Florida is shorts and tee shirts, whether dining in a pricey restaurant or piloting an overweight Harley-Davidson sans helmet. The state leads the nation in motorcycle-involved fatalities and, given that Florida drivers have a generally cavalier attitude towards safe driving, that should be no surprise. Drivers are inclined to regard stop signs and red lights are suggestions, not directives. And as for turn signals, the drivers here obviously don’t need no stinking turn signals since they rarely use them. Mix slow-reacting seniors into the driver pool and its bumper-car derby on the local streets.
Given the state’s near-seasonless subtropical climate, its miles of coastline (more than any other state except Alaska), and- bonus- no state income tax, Florida attracts retirees from the colder regions of the country: over 20 percent of the state’s population is over 65. It is home to The Villages, the sprawling retirement community (32 square miles and nearly 80,000 residents) in central Florida, which is, as myth has it, the STD capital of America. The Villages are also emblematic of the aging demographic in that, while the old folks may still party like it’s 1969, many of them favor conservative politics: there are more registered Republicans in the over 65 and older age bracket than Democrats. This is according to Pew Research, which also shows registered Republicans are a clear minority compared to registered Democrats in the 18-64 age groups. But a higher percentage of seniors usually turn out to vote than younger voters.
And that is why Florida has a Republican Governor and a Republican supermajority in each house of the state legislature. Combine this unrestrained political power in the weirdest state in the Union with a Governor with an expansive ambition to be President and the result is predictably bizarre.
The Free State of Florida Ain’t That Free
It’s been quite a carnival of crazy in Tallahassee as Governor DeSantis and his merry band in the legislature impose their view of freedom on the sun-fried brains of the citizens. DeSantis, who has yet to officially announce his entrance into the 2024 Presidential race, is fond of pointing out that Florida is the state “where WOKE comes to die”. Sadly, the consequences of poorly-crafted laws* driven by a noxious mix of cynicism, crackpot ideology, and small-minded authoritarianism are not likely to have much social or legal benefit. To paraphrase Ken White, a lawyer who writes The Popehat Report on this platform, “ambiguity kills free speech… and many laws”.
Florida’s recent legislation offers notable examples. School districts around the state have been removing any book that may overstep the vague guidelines as to what constitutes “prohibited material” outlined in the “Don’t Say Gay” Act. Recent changes to that law allow books to be removed upon receiving a complaint by a single taxpayer even before the review process determines if the text in question violated the law… Which is ambiguously worded, of course. Due process, anyone?
For extremists consumed by fever dreams of liberal indoctrination of children, this is their ticket to the ball: Local school boards now face a growing number of complaints about the subject matter of certain books used in instruction. And while the law is vague, the threat posed to teachers and school librarians for non-compliance is not: violators risk potential felony charges.
In true Florida fashion, this channeling of 1930s Germany reached a new level of absurdity last week when the principal of a publically-funded Tallahassee charter school was forced to resign after a 6th-grade class was shown a photograph of Michelanglo’s 16th-Century masterpiece “David” during a lesson on Renaissance art. Three parents complained and one called the statue, a 17-foot, completely-nude marble sculpture, “pornographic”. The irony is that the school, Tallahassee Classical School, uses a curriculum that emphasizes a classical education which includes classical works of art. [Note: It was reported on April 1 that Hillsdale College, the conservative Christian college that licenses its classical education curriculum to Tallahassee Classical, has severed its affiliation with the Florida school.]
The DeSantis blitzkrieg against free expression and critical thought has hit a few bumps in the road and one very large mountain. Provisions of the S.T.O.P. Woke Act that restricted instruction suggesting that “any individual, by virtue of their race, color, sex or national origin, bears responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress on account of historical acts of racism” were blocked by a Federal District Court last November. That decision was upheld by the Federal Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit last month. As for the banning of books, questions were raised about some of the titles removed** by local school districts and drew national media attention, the embarrassing kind.
The real blackeye for Never-Back-Down DeSantis came in his feud with The Walt Disney Company. Piqued by Disney’s public opposition to his anti-WOKE agenda last year, the Governor prodded the legislature to revoke the company’s special district status which allowed it to act as the de facto municipal government for the 24,000 acres encompassing its theme parks. After some revisions, the dissolution of the district occurred in March and a new board, appointed by the Governor assumed control of the newly-constituted district.
But, wait!
Prior to the new board taking over, the outgoing board, controlled by Disney, approved a development plan the company submitted that granted the company zoning, infrastructure, and air rights for 30 years. This was done at an open meeting in early February which had been previously advertised. The new board was left with very little ability to do anything except “maintain the roads” as one new member put it. Even this unforced error did not humble the testy DeSantis, who is choosing to double down by spending millions more taxpayer dollars to hire outside counsel to battle the mega-corporation’s high-priced legal team.
The lesson is to never mess with The Mouse.
Your tax dollars at work, Florida
With the new year came a new legislative session and new legislation the Governor and his Republican vassals in the legislature intend to enact. On the list in no particular order:
Allow Floridians who do not have felony arrests or certain arrests related to substance abuse to carry a concealed firearm without a permit or training.
Extend the school voucher program by making vouchers available for home-schooling, private tutoring, and other education-related expenses in addition to private and religious schools.
Allow a death sentence without a unanimous decision of a jury.
Reduce the permitted term for a woman to have an abortion from 15 weeks to 6 weeks.
Repeal the in-state tuition discount for Florida residents attending state colleges and universities who were brought into the country illegally as children.
Some touch-up work is also being done. DeSantis had already called a special session in February to deal with the fact that the Governor exceeded his authority when he charted planes to fly Venezuelan asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard- the 2022 budget provided only for the transport of unauthorized migrants out of Florida. The wording of this provision was changed to include states other than Florida.
There is also the matter of Florida’s “resign-to-run “ law that would require DeSantis to resign as Governor in order to run for President. Republican legislative leaders are considering tweaking the rules to allow DeSantis to remain as Governor if he announces his candidacy. A draft of a bill that would enable this change was filed with the State Senate hours after the announcement that former President Trump had been indicted in Manhattan.
All of these legislative hijinks mesh perfectly with a Governor who wrote in his recently published book, The Courage to Be Free, that, after winning the election for Governor in 2018, he requested his transition team draw up an “exhaustive list of all the constitutional, statutory, and customary powers of the governor. I wanted to be sure that I was using every lever available to advance our priorities.”
The question is whether Ron DeSantis’ priorities are the priorities of Floridians who are dealing with increasing housing and property insurance costs, who generally have a less restrictive view of a woman’s right to choose, and yet seem blind to the fact that, for all the talk of liberty and freedom, the Republicans running the state are restricting many of the very things a democracy equates with liberty: the right to free expression, a robust public education system, and tolerance of each other even when we disagree. After half a century of railing against the Big Government policies of the progressive Left, Florida is getting first-hand experience in Big Government, rightwing style.
Maybe there isn’t enough sunshine here.
Coda
No discussion of Florida can end without another example of the zany antics that characterize its politics. This is from the NBC News site on March 1:
A Republican in Florida's Legislature has filed a bill that, if enacted, would eliminate the Florida Democratic Party… “The Ultimate Cancel Act,” filed Tuesday by state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, would require the state’s Division of Elections to “immediately cancel” the filings of any political party whose platform had “previously advocated for, or been in support of, slavery or involuntary servitude.” The proposed legislation doesn’t explicitly mention the Democratic Party. But the party, throughout much of the early and mid-1800s, supported slavery. Southern Democrats in particular supported protecting slavery in the U.S.
Disclaimer: I have been a full-time resident of Florida since 2017.
*This refers to the Parental Rights in Education (“Don’t Say Gay”) and the S.T.O.P. Acts of 2022.
**Banned books included biographies of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, novels by best-selling author James Patterson, and a series of children’s books by Jodi Picoult.
Comedian John Oliver took a good look at Ron DeSantis a few weeks ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M81-GM0mTc4