Florida. Where Governance Meets Performance Art

You know, Florida has been getting a shitload of media time lately, due to all of the goofy shit that’s been going on. But there’s something that has been driving me crazy. What was driving me crazy was that the shit was in the media because it was crazy, but on a fundamental level, it was also unconstitutional. So, Why bother? A law isn’t a law if a court overturns it.

And never has there been a steaming pile of shit more doomed to pass legal muster than pretty much the whole package of laws passed in Florida’s recent special session. Just a quick recap of each;

• It is a 1st Amendment violation to prevent students from talking about either themselves, their siblings, or their families just because either they or a family member are gay or trans. And you can’t prohibit teachers from participating either
• Even though the corrupt, runaway train Roberts court has banned gerrymandering cases based on political arguments, it’s still unconstitutional for gerrymandering to minimize minority representation in congress, or to dilute the strength of their vote to minimize them, both of which Pissantis’s personally redrawn may do
• It is unconstitutional for a government to bar a privately owned business from holding Racial diversity or workplace tolerance classes or seminars
• And it’s a first class violation of 1st Amendment rights for a government to take retaliatory actions against a citizen or private company for opposing one of its laws or rulings. And even if Disney doesn’t go that route, it can win simply by going into court and showing that it did nothing to violate its agreement with the Florida legislature, the move was purely retaliatory

So, again I ask, why bother to pass these mega turds to restrict individual and corporate freedom, only to have them overturned in court? You accomplished nothing except to waste time and taxpayer dollars. This is not governance. But what if actual governance isn’t the point? What if performance art is?

When you watch MSNBC or CNN, and they’re discussing GOP laws or plans, you keep hearing the same goddamn phrase repeated over and over again, The cruelty is the point. And they’re right. From where I’m sitting, the MAGA GOP of 2022 is basically equivalent to the German Nazi party of the late 1930’s. There to the cruelty was always the point.

The entire platform of the MAGA GOP is a racist fear and hatred of others, and a never ending list of white grievances. The MAGA Gop of 2022 has even cozied up to far right criminal gangs to hold the population in place, just as Hitler had his infamous brownshirts. And the party uses legal strictures to try to minimize minority participation, and try to scare people from taking part in the political process.

Ron Pissantis has no interest in actual governance, and never has. And he’s carried the Florida GOP legislature right along with him. Every idiotic law he has signed, and every moronic executive order he has signed have one thing in common. They all either marginalize an already oppressed group, or they seek to pressure private business to fall into line.

Disney isn’t the first one Pissantis has tried this with. Think back a little bit. When Covid finally started to fade, and vaccinations were rising, cruise lines were allowed to start operating again. The cruise lines, for safety’s sake, wanted mask mandates for unvaccinated passengers, and proof of vaccination to board unmasked. Pissantis had an instant Trumper tantrum, and threatened that if the cruise lines held those rules, he would sign an executive order barring them from docking at Florida ports. This was suicidal for Florida, when you look at the high amount of tourist dollars the cruise industry generates for the state every year.

Now the Disney kerfuffle. For simplicity’s sake, let’s ignore the various serpentine ways in which revoking Disney’s special status could cost the state millions, if not billions in tax revenue shortfall. Let’s look at the social issue for a moment. Pissantis and the GOP have made the vilification of Disney a nationwide media effort. So, how many faithful MAGA moron FUX News viewers out there do you think might just decide to boycott taking their family to Disney World this spring break or summer, since it’s filled with pedophiles and groomers. Last time I checked, quite a bit of that money he’s giving away would have flowed into Florida’s coffers.

But when we talk social issues, that’s when I realized it was nothing more than performance art, and gaslighting of the highest level. Every speech he has given, every executive order he has signed, every law he has signed has been for one purpose, and one purpose only. To quench his rabid MAGA base’s thirst for racism and victimhood. Six months from now, who cares if the laws get quashed as unconstitutional? His base has the memory retention of jellyfish, they live for the moment. And besides, he can always just blame it on activist liberal courts.

Ron Pissantis’s entire tenure as Florida Governor has been nothing more than a 4 year campaign video for his 2024 Presidential run. Pure performance art. And if he wins, he’ll just keep it up all the way to his campaign announcement in 2023. But the road is thorny. This Disney debacle is already attracting statewide media coverage to the fact that it might considerably raise taxes for all Floridians, especially property taxes in Orange and Osceola counties. Not something a GOP Governor wants to talk about in an election year. Don’t touch that dial.