We have not seen how the GOP primary ends, at least not in all its painful details. But we see right here and now how the political fortunes of Ron DeSantis end. Self immolation would be a good descriptor. Donald Trump doesn’t know much about anything, but television he knows. And knowledge of the dark arts of the tube is what got him where he got in life, both as a celebrity and pretend businessman and then as a politician.
Trump understands how to manipulate what Rod Serling called “a dimension of sight, a dimension of sound, a dimension of mind.” Serling started out in radio, which was a dimension of sound and of mind. The imaginative dimension of radio was wonderful. But even primitive special effects, raised the new medium of television into a force to be reckoned with in this world. Trump grew up on TV. He saw its power early on. He understood intuitively that reality and truth are not what’s important — but rather that what gets played on TV is perceived as reality and truth. Here’s Trump administering the coup de grace to DeSantis.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Donald Trump Truth Social Post 05:05 PM EST 11/12/23 pic.twitter.com/uUNonZEKKw
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 12, 2023
Well, there goes Republican Camelot, unless I miss my guess. Ron DeSantis is getting shot down right and left. You just saw Trump shoot him down, now listen to an expert on fascism take him to task.
'He wants to create a kind of passive, ignorant population' — Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat is sending out a warning about FL Gov. Ron DeSantis, comparing him to authoritarian leaders of the past pic.twitter.com/8ikuf27OQS
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 13, 2023
Here are some more good observations.
The state of the Grand Old Party in the year 2023. And this you’ll love. DeSantis is ready to level the Bahamas if need be. Whut? Read on, you’ll enjoy this. Florida Politics:
Ron DeSantis is telling Iowans that in the unlikely event the Bahamas got warlike and attacked South Florida, he would obliterate that island archipelago.
During an event Saturday in Muscadine, the Florida Governor and 2024 presidential candidate discussed the need to stand with Israel as it battles with Hamas. He floated the unexpected metaphor likening terror attacks on Israelis to the distant hypothetical threat of “rockets” from the Bahama Islands.
“What are you supposed to do? I mean, I used to say even when they would just fire the normal rockets because they’ve been firing these rockets for years and years. And I thought to myself, like, if the Bahamas were firing rockets into Fort Lauderdale, like, we would not accept that for, like, one minute. I mean, we would just level it. We would never be willing to live like that as Americans,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis has found creative analogues between the Palestinian people and countries one might not think about in recent weeks as he has spoken regularly about the Israeli war. One such example is when he asked why Gaza isn’t more like a “Singapore on the Mediterranean.”
“Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. They forcibly removed Israeli citizens from there. It was a very traumatic event, but the idea was, let the Gazans do kind of what they wanted. It’s actually a very nice stretch of coastline,” DeSantis told podcaster Victor Davis Hanson.
“Did the people of Gaza try to make the most of that and maybe create like a Singapore on the Mediterranean? No, they elected Hamas. And when people say in the media, oh, well, not every Gazan likes Hamas. Yeah, maybe not. But you know, a lot of them were cheering on Oct. 7 when this happened,” the Governor added.
Well, now let’s do a short review, shall we? Trump is kicking DeSantis’ ass, that’s nothing new. Local pundits in Florida think DeSantis is a clown, also nothing new. Leftist intellectuals are positive appalled by the man, ditto. The only one who thinks that Ron has what it takes is Casey — and we don’t know that, we are merely giving them both the benefit of the doubt.
It’s going to be an interesting January. We’ll see what happens in Iowa. DeSantis may win there. Again, and I know you’re tired of hearing it, so did Ted Cruz in 2016. And I am willing to bet you that that is going to be the first thing out of Trump’s mouth when and if he loses in Iowa.
As Lawrence O’Donnell put it, the primary is only something happening, “In case he [Trump] chokes on his cheeseburger.” Hell of a way to run a political party, eh what?
Since we have such a wonderful Governor, (NOT), who reported all the hospital patients admitted because of the Pandemic, but didn’t seem to mention all the fatalities from Coved19 … when the tests were finally issued to Iowa, about 10,000, she did not send them out to the retirement homes and hospitals, but directly to the meatpacking companies, where she also forgot to mention that part, and how she was determined to keep those operations active in spite of thousands of infections coming on line to ordinary citizens …
Iowa’s lawmakers have been over-run by huge-money-supported Republican newcomers …
The opposition to women’s deciding their own health plans with the advice of their own Doctors, a situation that has become more and more severe, the Republicans just stated that the heartbeat way was to be instituted in Iowa … a true heartbeat is proceeded by a little twitching cell or two, with new equipment, that little twitching could be called a heartbeat, even if there is not a viable fetus developed … a woman should be left alone with her Doctors care plan …
Now, we are seeing more and more Democrats getting voted in a blue wave of sorts, it will take a while to see the effects here in Iowa, the red colors around here are nasty … Trump, going down will be a relief in a way, the rag-tag GOP will follow him down the waterslide to hell …
The entertainment these months is wacky enough to bend all those polls and their takers, I imagine any truly accurate poll’s won’t be one sided for long … The GOP has been pulling so many stunts that backfired, they will need to invest in new fire extinguishers …
Those same heart cells will beat independently in a petri (peach tree?) dish containing the correct medium.
Is it a heartbeat? Technically yes. Is it life? No.
Not that facts matter to DeSantis or the rest of the GOP but the people in Gaza did NOT elect Hamas to govern the place. No, they were INSTALLED. By Bibi Netanyahu and his hard liners in Israel despite their being a terrorist organization backed by Iran all along. Why? Simple. To weaken the Palestinian Authority so more Israeli settlements could be created in the West Bank – to drive out Palestinians! (Note, from the time Israel was recognized as an independent State the U.N. secured an agreement the West Bank was the place that was the goal for where Palestinians could have their own State) The Palestinian Authority had gotten to a place of recognizing Israel’s right to exist. Hamas wants it destroyed and putting them in charge of the small Gaza strip created a conflict between the two major groups controlling Palestinian destiny. In effect, Bibi set up a “let them fight with each other so they will spend less time fighting us” scenario.
Cynical and cold-blooded but for a long time effective. However sooner or later it would bite Netanyahu and the Likud Party (and even more hard core Israeli factions) in the ass. “Sooner or later” has arrived. Changing leaders at the moment would be disastrous for Israel and Bibi and his gang should thank their lucky stars Hamas is doing everything wrong from a PR standpoint. Even the initial attack was boneheaded and indications are their benefactor iran was less than happy about it. Yes, there are reasons Iran would be pissed but it’s late and I’m too worn out to get into it. But the point is that when this is over, or as over as it will get Bibi and maybe the Likud Party will be f**ked. At least for a while. The Israeli people aren’t stupid and know damn well what the “strategy” of pitting Hamas against the Palestinian Authority was, and that too much settlement work in the West Bank and too fast was taking place. Most of the IDF was trying over there trying to keep a lid on things and that’s why there were so few at the base right next to the Gaza strip – leaving that area vulnerable.
As I mentioned back at the start, I’m still convinced Net the Yahoo knew what was coming and tacitly allowed it to o ahead.
The reason is simple – he was facing a trial and a probable custodial sentence, so he let a war break out to portray himself as ‘Israel’s Defender’ (and have the trial shuffled of to somewhere west of Gibraltar).
I agree that Bibi will be toast. His corruption trial.was going to sink his career. I don’t think he actually allowed the invasion to happen, so.much as regarded the intel.as too vague and concentrated on his own mess. In any case, he will be gone.
Well, bibi certainly says the intel was too vague-it certainly worked in his favor much like the “vague” intel leading up to 9-11. Wasn’t particularly vague and there was a lot of it but making w. into a wartime president got him re-elected. I doubt he had a chance without 9-11, the invasion of Afghanistan, and the invasion of Iraq (yes, as stupid as that was especially in the long run, it likely helped him in 2004).
The litter is cannibalising itself, by the looks of it. Go for it, full hog!