Goofy Unchained!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The political bosses of the national Republican Party stridently decry the evils of "woke" (educated) individuals and "cancel culture" which they see as efforts by other people to control the very few things in life that give them (Republicans) pleasure.  Oddly though, when just about any movement to radically alter culture in America surfaces, it is almost always a bitter minority of conservative Republicans who are behind it.

It has been Republicans who are promoting limits on what students can study, or even discuss, in public schools.  It has been Republicans who threaten funding to public libraries because they don't like other people having the option to check out books that they (Republicans) don't want them reading.  It has been Republicans who vociferously oppose other people having the autonomy to make their own health care decisions.  And it has been Republicans who, while blathering on about "backing the blue," continue to push policies and laws that pump more guns onto the streets and bring greater levels of danger to America's law enforcement officers.

Now, however, some Republican politicians are casting such wide nets in their efforts to control the rest of society, that they are proving to be more of an embarrassment than the party can endure.  This is true in Florida where the state's autocratic governor, Ron DeSantis, has somehow allowed his war on the civil rights of the LGBTQ community to bring him into conflict with the state's premier tourist attraction, Disney World, as well.

Last year DeSantis unbelievably retaliated against Disney World's long-standing support of gay rights and it outspokenness against his legislation to ban discussions of gender in public schools ("don't say gay"), by getting the state legislature to revoke its historic charter that allowed "The Magic Kingdom" to operate essentially free of state controls.  Since that time the state and Disney have been involved in a series of political skirmishes, some of which the state has lost, and all of which have made it look as though the state of Florida and its governor have something against good clean American entertainment and family fun.

And that is not a good look for the Republican Party.

Last week DeSantis made a remark within earshot of the press in which he suggested the possibility of Florida erecting a state prison next door to the popular theme park.  That petty and mean-spirited little comment by a petty and mean-spirited little man may have finally been more than other cancel warriors of the national Republican Party were willing to accept.  Republican donors appear to suddenly be rethinking their support for DeSantis, and the movement toward him (and away from Trump) by national politicians seems to be cooling.   Several members of the Florida congressional delegation have even endorsed Trump over DeSantis.

You had best cool your jet skis, Ron.  Sea levels are already rising, and it probably would not take much more from you to convince Goofy and the gang to pack up and move somewhere else.  They aren't your property - or your prisoners - regardless of how you transform the neighborhood.