Yet again there is the risk of appearing to be somehow a “Center-Right” apologist – respectfully chuckle – as a possible misread if I begin with the objective and neutral truth that Ron DeSantis is self-evidently and objectively either “qualified” or at least exponentially more qualified for a cabinet position than every other choice put forth. It would shock me if anyone outside of MAGAville would argue against such. The only possible exception is Marco Rubio due to his service in the Senate, especially in foreign relations, his Spanish-speaking background, and Hispanic – Western Hemisphere interest and expertise. Other than Rubio, DeSantis would be so obviously exponentially more qualified for every other position than any other nominee as be beyond argument.
And the replacement position is dangled, and dangled, and dangled, with Hegseth being so revoltingly and inexcusably disqualified, that it is an excruciating public humiliation to DeSantis that Trump still backs Hegseth instead of tapping Ron to be done with it and wipe their hands. Even going so far as to have Trump come out and openly fight for Hegseth as he did in the last two days (Which, objectively, I see as a terrible self-inflicted wound by Trump against his own interests but so be it – and no, that doesn’t mark me as a center-right apologist lol, only objectively hurts Trump). DeSantis’s pitiful public humiliation is now fair fodder with talking heads. Per Brandon Wolf of the Human Rights Campaign sets out what I agree is DeSantis’s terrible humiliation and even more disgusting attributes that he’s also obviously incorporated:
“I just have to start by saying it’s got to be really embarrassing to be Ron DeSantis in this moment because he’s gone from believing he would be the next president of the United States and chastising people in his own party for kissing the ring of Donald Trump to playing understudy to the Fox News host who may not get the job because he has a drinking problem.”
Yes, well – less so for losing to Trump, which looking back seems inevitable, and more for running such a comically inept campaign that it became its own issue independent of even losing. But, yeah, it’s not embarrassing to him that Trump made his own bizarre first choice in Hegseth. It is definitely embarrassing that Trump hasn’t pivoted to DeSantis as the obvious alternative once Hegseth became politically dangerous. This is especially true as DeSantis continues to be floated and DeSantis is safe for Trump.
As said above, DeSantis has the requisite baseline qualifications even though he carries about responsibility for human rights abuses used as tools to pump his own political bona fides among people who want human rights abuses heaped on some immigrants. It would seem that these stunts were done to no end, even the underlying horrific goal:
“You talked about it. Remember, he trafficked immigrants into empty parking lots to use them as campaign fodder. He used government agencies against businesses, small and large, who disagreed with the policies he was putting forward. He has built a political career on terrorizing marginalized people, not because he wants to make life better for people, but because he’s looking to amass and hold onto power.”
Just horrible, and it still didn’t work! How embarrassing. And yet he gets floated and floated anyway even as Trump just came out and really pulled for Hegseth? Wow. It surprised even me. Again, though – it cannot be said enough, DeSantis’s stunts belie a calculating and soulless person, a man blindly obsessed with only his own political power. An objective truth. It is just as objectively true that DeSantis, with a Yale law degree – JAG Corpr service – state representative and two term governor of one of the top three most powerful states is so obviously qualified based on experience alone as a measurement. It makes the humiliation worse, and his failure worse. It makes his human rights abuses worse… No, that’s not possible, and wouldn’t be any less unforgivable had they kept him popular. Among the MAGA right. So it’s, well – no excuse, obviously. That’s objective.
So from a political position, how is DeSantis supposed to respond in his best interests? He should assume that Rubio is already approved, already resigned from the Senate (Something I think is official, or soon to be official) and appoint himself as Florida’s next senator. If he is going to be humiliated as Trump’s pinata, why not go to the Senate and be a thorn in the side? Why not set himself up as someone to inherit a bit more moderate approach if and when there is a public backlash against Trump (From an objective position, I am not assuming backlash against Trump, even if it is statistically far more likely). If a big portion of Trump’s base pulled back, it would be better to be an independent DeSantis than a inextricably-linked Vance. It seems obvious that DeSantis should appoint himself to the Senate seat and go to Washington as his next self-serving stage – which looks to be his M.O.
Will he? Odds are that he will not. Experience as the governor of one of the most powerful states would tend to sway against becoming simply one out of one-hundred. But fighting for or against healthcare, foreign entanglements, and tariffs would be much more substantial to current events than fighting with Disney over DEI. DeSantis has established his terrible position with respect to human lives. He can live off that if he sees it as beneficial. Moderating everything else seems obviously beneficial to him long term.
It is also just as obvious that only long term considerations motivate DeSantis’s decision-making. Really obvious that Trump is either intentionally humiliating Ron or enjoying the side-effect of humiliating him. And that DeSantis should pull his own ass out of the self-defeating dynamic and just appoint himself, – but might be too chicken to actually do so.
Weird dynamic, but leave it to these two – and that’s the objective truth.
God Bless:Â I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak, and now only Bluesky
DeSantis = Descent is.