Listening to Jamie Raskin in these hearings, I marvel again at his brilliance and oratory prowess! What a patriot. Let’s all send him whatever amounts to your version of prayer for his complete recovery.
OMG. I think that's what got his mother. I sure hope he's going to be OK. I will ask my brother, who is in his district. Although if you know anything about what type of cancer he has, and his condition, please tell me. He really is a tremendously skilled politician, and a very good human being, and that family has suffered a bigger tragedy than any family should have to suffer.
I’m not good at embedding links but I’ll try. Pamela Paul has a good op-ed in the NYT about Ron DeSantis. Basically she says we satirize him at our peril. Though he is heavy handed, cruel and promotes a Christian Nationalist agenda he is resonating with Florida voters including a lot of Latinos, and many others around the nation. He is far more intelligent than Trump and is sincerely on a mission. To me, the fact that he hasn’t announced his candidacy is a sign of his political prowess. A matchup (if this happens) between him and Biden will be difficult. One point Paul makes is that most people do not like their kids learning about gender and sexual preference in primary school. I don’t know if that was really happening in Florida schools or an isolated incident or book was pulled out to create conflict. I would need to depend on serious journalists to get to the bottom of that. Likewise, exactly what in the Black History AP course caught so much flack. Certain flashpoints have been mentioned but surely don’t tell the whole story. No matter what, if DeSantis can reach voters with his anti-woke messaging, Dems need to make sure we understand what these voters worry about and how we can address those concerns with understanding, not condescension.
Thanks for the link to the op-ed. I agree that we cannot dismiss DeSantis or any Republican candidate, which is why I frequently include "We cannot count on Republicans to defeat themselves." But I disagree with the op-ed on several points.
First, you say we "satirize DeSantis at our peril." In fact, I think that mocking DeSantis is a way of piercing through the air of invincibility that the media is trying to build around DeSantis. He is a stilted, angry, thin-skinned authoritarian. Humor and parody have long been used to provoke bullies into mistakes.
Second, the op-ed mischaracterizes DeSantis's election history. He barely eked out a win in 2018 and rode a red wave in Florida to victory in 2022. Most top-of the-ticket Republicans in Florida won by significant majorities, including DeSantis. to ascribe that victory as a sign of DeSantis's special strength mischaracterizes the situation.
As to his strength among "Latinos," that demographic is differently composed in Florida, including strong constituencies of Cubans and Venezuelans who are fleeing (or whose families fled) socialist regimes. It is true that DeSantis made headway with independent Latino voters as well (about 45% favorability). The main drivers of that support were inflation and abortion--again nothing special about DeSantis, but independent factors that skewed voters toward the GOP in 2022. Those same voters showed weakening concern for issues that DeSantis emphasizes--climate change and crime. https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2022/03/31/exclusive-poll-desantis-favorability-improves-among-latinos
Robert, I totally agree with you on these points. And may I add two more. (1) The Republican "machine" is a juggernaut here in Florida and the Florida Democratic party is almost non-existent. (2) So many right leaning Northerners moved here (500,000 I've read) because DeSantis enticed them with jobs for those who faced vaccine and mask mandates in the North.
Thank you for your view from "the front row," or "the front lines," depending on how you see it. I just had to comment on the sad fact that so many people moved to Florida to escape critical protections from a deadly virus. I never get used to that insanity.
I want to amend my comment. Satirizing him I agree would be good and hopefully annoying to him, but we need to take him and his ilk seriously. They are dead serious about gaining control.
I cringe at my own obsequiousness, but Robert, your comments fill me with gratitude and better understanding. I am grateful. Thank you very, very much.
I can’t speak with authority about the books that parents are referring to as being so threatening to their children in Florida or elsewhere but it is really difficult to see all of this as anything but what it is: an authoritarian-styled culture war whipping up fear and hatred. Books are being banned, there is a “don’t say gay” law, African American courses are being eliminated, companies are being punished for their free speech. These are the clearest signs of facism, and “othering” is the go-to device in the play book. They should not be tolerated, even for a second. Furthermore, the African American AP course is an elective! It’s not a mandatory course. Why in the world did the College Board cave to a heavy-handed state Governor? That is outrageous and should be investigated. Democrats, being generally a thoughtful bunch, tend to treat most things as being nuanced. NONE of what’s going on here is nuanced and should be countered, loudly and clearly. None of what is going on in Florida, and spreading elsewhere, is acceptable, full stop.
Well said. I would like to comment on one point made above. Parental awareness often lags behind their children. I guess that is the way of evolution. A young child who believes they are the opposite sex can have those ideas/beliefs very early. As another commenter wrote here, our genders are not clearly boy and girl but a continuum. My concern is for any child, for any reason, who is taunted because of differences.
No one is promoting gender fluidity in public schools. They are teaching that LGBTQ people are people who deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect as all other people. That does not constitute promoting gender fluidity.
Agreed, Robert, and DeSantis is using Fl kids to NOT promote dignity and respect. Valuable lessons to be learned from California.
“Frank Cerabino of the Palm Beach Post's charge that De Santis's use of kids on this occasion is an example of him "grooming" children might seem exaggerated, until you realize that the Stop WOKE Act aims to emotionally retrain young people on a mass scale.”
Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Ron DeSantis's Dystopian Vision for America's Youth
From the WaPo op-ed: The California guidelines are quite clear about what is to be taught and why. Page 45 of the K-3 guidelines states: “While students may not fully understand the concepts of gender expression and identity, some children in kindergarten and even younger have identified as transgender or understand they have a gender identity that is different from their sex assigned at birth.” The idea that 5-year-old children, can be trusted to “know” their gender identity is unbelievable; 4 year olds still exhibit firm beliefs in magic.
I have no problem with teaching that any group of people deserve the same dignity and respect as everyone else. In fact, I support it wholeheartedly. But I think teaching about LGBTQ in K-3 is far too early, probably before the vast majority of kids would be even faintly aware of this sort of thing. And I've read Christakis, and experienced enough that I know that social contagion is real. And some of the time that's a very good thing. When my friends are happy, I'm happy. But my reading suggests that there's a lot of social contagion around gender fluidity, and that a lot of bad is coming from medical treatment of people who think they are gender fluid in some way, and I know that in UK they've become much more wary about medically treating this sort of thing.
Your citation says nothing about "promoting" gender fluidity--your original proposition. It is an observation about how early some students identify with a different sex than one assigned at birth. You don't believe that assertion but provide no basis for your disbelief other than your opinion.
Please stop spreading misinformation. No one is "promoting" gender fluidity to students.
Believe it! Children who believe they are the opposite gender can do so at an early age. That does not mean they should have conforming surgeries early, but I don't think that is being done, at least not in my experience in social services. It seems to me you have some confusion with gender spectrum, LBGTQ, transgender, and transexual. "None of these things is the same as the other," which is why it helps to clarify.
I'm all for teaching that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. But I don't think kids who are young enough to be ignorant of most matters sexual should be taught anything about rare ways of being. I've read enough Christakis, and lived enough to realize that social contagion is real--and good in some cases (when my friends are happy, I'm happy) and not good in others. And I do believe that a lot of gender fluidity arises from social contagion.
Your facts are wrong. About 1% of the population does not fall neatly into XX / XY paradigm. About 1 in 1500 births each year are of infants who have ambiguous genitalia; if you add in genetic variations for extra chromosomes xxy, xyy, xxx, yyy, about 1.3% of the population is non-binary. 1.3% of the population is not a "rare way of being." That is roughly the same percentage of the US population that observes the Jewish religion or is Native American. Those are not "rare ways of being in the US."
The term "contagion" to describe gender orientation that is inherent in personal identity is offensive. Gender identity is not a disease, or a contagion. It is a human condition like the color of our skin, hair, height, weight, etc. We would not describe any of those as a "contagion."
This op-ed does not provide any proof that California seeks to teach kindergarteners about gender identity. It makes a factual statement for teachers about how early some students identify with a sexual identity different from that assigned at birth. Please stop spreading misinformation.
First of all, that’s an opinion piece picking and choosing to fit one’s narrative. Secondly, kids are curious, trying to understand a very confusing (and sometimes ugly) world around them…because there’s a discussion re gender identity, doesn’t “promote” that lifestyle (my point) nor more than a gay parent “promotes” their lifestyle on their own kids—which I would believe more compelling than talking about things at school? Lastly, it’s very worthy to note how adept kids are now with looking up info on the internet. I’d much prefer a conversation with a qualified teacher than much of the garbage kids see, hear and engage in there! I stand by my point of CA is *not* “promoting!”
Ya; I appreciate your being so open about your life and feeling. But!!! Kids are not being taught and ppl aren’t promoting. That may be your opinion but it just isn’t factual as per what is going…
First, know that I think some are truly transgender. I wrote to such a person after she had an op-ed in the NYT, to support her, and I got a very nice response from her.
But peoples' minds are often malleable, especially when they hear about stuff from authority figures, or even just people higher on the totem pole than they are. Gaslighting is one phenomenon where people can make other people think that they are wrong about something. And mass hysteria is a phenomenon where people can end up thinking and doing things that they otherwise would have thought were crazy (google it if you're curious).
In the UK, they are a lot more careful than they used to be about doing medical or surgical procedures to change peoples' gender, because they had a number of disastrous cases.
The link from the article from which I'm pasting in pieces will be at the end. Its written by someone who worked at a clinic that is part of Washington University. This is one of the accounts that made me quite upset--horrified, really--about the emotional and physical pain some people who shouldn't have had gender transforming procedures have gone through. I found this stuff so painful that I couldn't finish reading the article. Directly below are excerpts from the article, with the link at the end.
"Soon after my arrival at the Transgender Center, I was struck by the lack of formal protocols for treatment. The center’s physician co-directors were essentially the sole authority.
At first, the patient population was tipped toward what used to be the “traditional” instance of a child with gender dysphoria: a boy, often quite young, who wanted to present as—who wanted to be—a girl.
Until 2015 or so, a very small number of these boys comprised the population of pediatric gender dysphoria cases. Then, across the Western world, there began to be a dramatic increase in a new population: Teenage girls, many with no previous history of gender distress, suddenly declared they were transgender and demanded immediate treatment with testosterone.
I certainly saw this at the center. One of my jobs was to do intake for new patients and their families. When I started there were probably 10 such calls a month. When I left there were 50, and about 70 percent of the new patients were girls. Sometimes clusters of girls arrived from the same high school. . .
. . . Frequently, our patients declared they had disorders that no one believed they had. We had patients who said they had Tourette syndrome (but they didn’t); that they had tic disorders (but they didn’t); that they had multiple personalities (but they didn’t).
The doctors privately recognized these false self-diagnoses as a manifestation of social contagion. They even acknowledged that suicide has an element of social contagion. But when I said the clusters of girls streaming into our service looked as if their gender issues might be a manifestation of social contagion, the doctors said gender identity reflected something innate.
To begin transitioning, the girls needed a letter of support from a therapist—usually one we recommended—who they had to see only once or twice for the green light. To make it more efficient for the therapists, we offered them a template for how to write a letter in support of transition. The next stop was a single visit to the endocrinologist for a testosterone prescription.
That’s all it took. . .
. . . Bicalutamide is a medication used to treat metastatic prostate cancer, and one of its side effects is that it feminizes the bodies of men who take it, including the appearance of breasts. The center prescribed this cancer drug as a puberty blocker and feminizing agent for boys. As with most cancer drugs, bicalutamide has a long list of side effects, and this patient experienced one of them: liver toxicity. He was sent to another unit of the hospital for evaluation and immediately taken off the drug. Afterward, his mother sent an electronic message to the Transgender Center saying that we were lucky her family was not the type to sue.
How little patients understood what they were getting into was illustrated by a call we received at the center in 2020 from a 17-year-old biological female patient who was on testosterone. She said she was bleeding from the vagina. In less than an hour she had soaked through an extra heavy pad, her jeans, and a towel she had wrapped around her waist. The nurse at the center told her to go to the emergency room right away.
We found out later this girl had had intercourse, and because testosterone thins the vaginal tissues, her vaginal canal had ripped open. She had to be sedated and given surgery to repair the damage. She wasn’t the only vaginal laceration case we heard about.
Other girls were disturbed by the effects of testosterone on their clitoris, which enlarges and grows into what looks like a microphallus, or a tiny penis. I counseled one patient whose enlarged clitoris now extended below her vulva, and it chafed and rubbed painfully in her jeans. I advised her to get the kind of compression undergarments worn by biological men who dress to pass as female. At the end of the call I thought to myself, “Wow, we hurt this kid.”
There are rare conditions in which babies are born with atypical genitalia—cases that call for sophisticated care and compassion. But clinics like the one where I worked are creating a whole cohort of kids with atypical genitals—and most of these teens haven’t even had sex yet. They had no idea who they were going to be as adults. Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist.
Being put on powerful doses of testosterone or estrogen—enough to try to trick your body into mimicking the opposite sex—-affects the rest of the body. I doubt that any parent who's ever consented to give their kid testosterone (a lifelong treatment) knows that they’re also possibly signing their kid up for blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, and perhaps sleep apnea and diabetes.
You’re right. It should not be tolerated but we still need to reach out to conservatives to see how to answer their concerns. Just telling the truth these days is unfortunately not enough.
What are their concerns? That their children are learning about the fact that there are differently-gendered children that don’t fit into their neat “boy,” “girl,” classifications and that people can love other people who are not “approved” by the religious right?
Reaching out to true Independents (there are a lot) is worthy of our efforts.
Making any attempt to communicate with or "understand" the concerns of "Conservatives" is more than a waste of time. It assigns them validity as the "loyal opposition". They are not loyal. They are racist thugs who teach and preach bigotry, hate and intolerance. They are traitors to this nation. They attempted a coup.
Instead we need to point out their evil ideas as the fascist threats they are. We need to condemn them, shun them, marginalize them, embarrass them, reveal their dark souls and mostly - out vote them.
Can we say that identifying the concerns will help us counter them? Not sure demonizing is a good strategy as enticing as it is. But maybe it’s the only strategy. Honestly I don’t know.
Yes, we can identify their concerns. So we know the full nature of the enemy. But my point is that we have 24 hours a day. We have X amount of energy. Let's use it effectively with reasonable people. Put the energy there.
And....
The folks launching culture wars are anti-American, anti-diversity, anti-anything other than them.
People who used to hide under rocks are now saying publicly hateful things. We need to show them they still belong under rocks. Then ignore them.
Orlando journalist Scott Maxwell will ask a “conservative” if they’ve read the entire book they identify as “pornographic” . Of course the answer is no. He points out that appropriateness of books is to be based on its entirety/ message. Perhaps a place to start (or NOT) a conversation with a book banner.
Pamsy-Given that politics are involved in the neutering of the African-American AP course, one has to wonder if $$$ was involved in the College Board's decision.
I was furious. The op ed sanitized DeSantis. It made him look like just another Conservative never mentioning his fascist tendencies, anti-women and minority programs, anti-free and fair public education and the icing on the cake his election police.
My comment to the NYT in reply was that Ms. Paul sanitized a fascist.
May I interject: Ron DeSantis is a really weird guy, say professional journalists who have tried to interview him. He allows interviews only by local publications, through which he can relay political and policy messages to his state, and the wider electorate, without getting tripped up and having to walk back anything he says. The bigger news publications can only quote the local coverage, he gets his points out, and no gaffes and snarls to explain.
Ron may be way smarter than the Orange Buffoon, but purportedly, he is a sight more weird.
Controlling the media is a hallmark of a fascist. He knows the main stream media will challenge him and is afraid. DeSantis isn't smart. He is a bully and will never last on the national stage.
NC Heikin, the most important point in your post is that we cannot take anything for granted or see what we want to see in Florida or any other state when we know there is an incredible percentage of voters who are open to what many of us see as absurd. Stay focused. Vote in 2024! Get others out to vote! And get a good message out about the positive impact of governance for the people. Thanks.
I have lived in Florida since 1956 when I was 9.......Educated in Florida 4th grade through graduate school. I taught in the public schools in Florida for 27 years and worked with teachers another 11 years. I then started a publishing company writing test prep books for the Florida mathematics assessments grades 2 through 8, Algebra 1, Geometry, grade 10, and Biology.
I am TOTALLY ashamed, terrorized, saddened, and demoralized by what DeSantis (aka DeShittis in my house) is doing to the state of Florida in education and in everything else!!!!
There are many in Florida who feel as I do!!!!!! And we vote!!!!!
I lived in south Florida for three years 4, 5, 6th grades (from NYC) in the late 70s. My math skills took such a hit moving down there, they never recovered. It was the worst three years of my life. I nearly kissed the ground when I moved back to NYC the summer before 7th grade at 12-years old. I've been there several times in the last 40 years, but not since January 2019. And for MANY reasons, I will never return again (even with elderly family down there). Be safe.
put Pence up for charges of misprision of a felony since he knew enough that Trump was engaged in a seditious coup attempt and has been sitting on it all this time
BUT
drop the charge if Pence cooperates and testifies to all the criminality now, rather than delay through exec priv claims in the courts.
RICH! How I would dig a grammar usage newsletter, right when I thought civilization beyond politics was dead. The exchange over Twitter is pathetic. I have thought for some time that FLA had moved into the Texas column of potential secessionists, and DeSatis has proved this is so. What a great newsletter you write,Robert.
I watched two tirades by Representatives Boebert and Greene against a Twitter employee (former, I think). I believe in the Greene one, the witness did not say even one word—she just yelled at him the entire time.
Is this legal? A private citizen can be forced to appear before Congress and have to sit and be yelled at, on nationwide TV, no less?
I saw this, too. In my view, Greene, again, made a fool of herself and, focusing only on herself, contributed nothing to this faux investigation.
I was happy when the next Democrat to speak gave the gentleman from Twitter an opportunity to respond and explain why Greene’s Twitter account was suspended. Greene then interrupted and during her interruption said to the Twitter representative, who continued to maintain his composure, “I’m in Congress, and you’re not.” What a childish, idiotic fool she is.
I heartily agree with your phrase “Make Florida America”. As a Floridian trans plant from NY the news here is one of liberties reversed. There is a cruelty in our state legislature that is horrific to witness. This is no place to emulate.
Keith Olbermann, on Twitter, skewers the committee. I was reading a good mystery (One Perfect Shot) but came to a standstill when the author used 'dour'. I decided it was OK to accept my lifelong pronounciation ala 'sour' so I could continue reading.
Two points, the first is minor and relates to your pronunciation of "dour." I had never heard it pronounced as you did, to rhyme with "tour," so was somewhat surprised by it, but I accepted it. Why? Because I do the same thing with the word HARASS or HARASSMENT. In a high school vocabulary class I learned that the "original" pronunciation was with the stress on the first syllable, thus sounding like "Harris" and "Harrisment." That's the pronunciation I have chosen to use throughout my life. This simple vocabulary lesson opened my thinking to alternate pronunciations of words. (to-may-to, to-mah-to, if you will!)
Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, I want to talk about the DeSatan bumper sticker. I am a Floridian. I love my state. I am consistently embarrassed and infuriated by my state's government. Ron DeSantis is evil. I do not say that lightly. I mean it in every sense of the word. He has become emboldened and enabled by a spineless Florida legislature and Courts, to march, seemingly unchallenged toward becoming a dictator. (The cow-towing of the Florida legislature to DeSantis is exactly the same as what we have seen nationally between Republicans and Trump.) So when I saw your "Concluding Thoughts" piece on the bumper sticker appearing in San Diego, a gagging lump immediately came to my throat! The very thought that anyone in California (or anywhere in this country) would want to recreate what Florida has become under this dictator wannabe took me by dismaying surprise. Just follow the headlines in some of Florida's major newspapers (I suggest the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald, but there are others that will give you the same understanding) and you will quickly see why I say this. His thirst for absolute control is insatiable. I hold hope that, once he is faced with national exposure that he will be revealed for what he is, a small man with a natural bend toward racist, fascist, and dictatorial impulses. In Florida he is, sadly, unchallenged. But, once on the national scene, I am confident he will not go unchecked or unchallenged.
wow I did not see the DeSantis sticker. I am in marketing - not a great idea - whoever thought of that must be in 3rd grade or maybe MTGreen is involved!!!
I still cannot get over the visual of her kindergarten antics and beyond the imagination during Biden's State of the Union speech. She showed the MAGA true colors and did them no favors. She certainly helped make Biden look amazing and he rose to the occasion.
"Make America Florida?" Wet, humid, temperatures in the 90s that feel hotter, and in danger of increasingly dangerous hurricanes and being reclaimed by the ocean.
Bugs. Lotsa bugs. Florida has python hunting contests, and the pythons are winning. Hurricanes, book burnings equivalents, and stand your ground gun laws.
The other 49 states are just dying to become Florida.
I read a comment recently that referred to the Republican Party as the "GQP." At first I thought the writer had hit the wrong key, but on reflection, GQP seems to be an apt name for the Party that embraces QAnon AQueen Marjorie Greene Taylor.
In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum exposes how the far-right in Europe exploited social media to advance conspiracy theories, lies, and personal/racial ad hominems to galvanize rage and fear. Left unchecked, these political forces filled a vacuum and gained power.
It is reassuring that the Democrats in the House are vigorously pushing back and presenting a counter narrative of truth. The Biden Administration has also been masterful at exposing the duplicity of the far right as well as asserting the real, tangible benefits of Democratic leadership. Contrasting our lived democratic order from the far right's nostalgic, mythological historical fantasies must be continuously and aggressively challenged and exposed.
Excellent analysis as usual tying all the threads of events into a digestible treat 👍 Just keep our fingers crossed 🤞 that the radicals like DeSantis and Huckabee Sanders keep shooting themselves in the foot launching their ideologies, same for the weaponized clown 🤡 committee 😀 while Jack Smith makes hay 😀 😄 😉
This is a young women who is in over her head, more suited for junior high or, maybe, high school - if not in student government maybe theater if they are doing a comedy.
Listening to Jamie Raskin in these hearings, I marvel again at his brilliance and oratory prowess! What a patriot. Let’s all send him whatever amounts to your version of prayer for his complete recovery.
Compare and contrast the gravitas of Daniel Goldman https://twitter.com/RepDanGoldman/status/1623430210589757440 with the comical sideshow of Boebert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYOf7lC5-k
He is as you say. What happened to him?
Fun fact: I knew his mother. She's long gone, but she'd be proud.
He is undergoing cancer treatment.
OMG. I think that's what got his mother. I sure hope he's going to be OK. I will ask my brother, who is in his district. Although if you know anything about what type of cancer he has, and his condition, please tell me. He really is a tremendously skilled politician, and a very good human being, and that family has suffered a bigger tragedy than any family should have to suffer.
Thank you Janet! That family has had enough tragedy, and they are so deserving of the good in the world.
I’m not good at embedding links but I’ll try. Pamela Paul has a good op-ed in the NYT about Ron DeSantis. Basically she says we satirize him at our peril. Though he is heavy handed, cruel and promotes a Christian Nationalist agenda he is resonating with Florida voters including a lot of Latinos, and many others around the nation. He is far more intelligent than Trump and is sincerely on a mission. To me, the fact that he hasn’t announced his candidacy is a sign of his political prowess. A matchup (if this happens) between him and Biden will be difficult. One point Paul makes is that most people do not like their kids learning about gender and sexual preference in primary school. I don’t know if that was really happening in Florida schools or an isolated incident or book was pulled out to create conflict. I would need to depend on serious journalists to get to the bottom of that. Likewise, exactly what in the Black History AP course caught so much flack. Certain flashpoints have been mentioned but surely don’t tell the whole story. No matter what, if DeSantis can reach voters with his anti-woke messaging, Dems need to make sure we understand what these voters worry about and how we can address those concerns with understanding, not condescension.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/ron-desantis-democrats.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
What Liberals Can Learn From Ron DeSantis
Thanks for the link to the op-ed. I agree that we cannot dismiss DeSantis or any Republican candidate, which is why I frequently include "We cannot count on Republicans to defeat themselves." But I disagree with the op-ed on several points.
First, you say we "satirize DeSantis at our peril." In fact, I think that mocking DeSantis is a way of piercing through the air of invincibility that the media is trying to build around DeSantis. He is a stilted, angry, thin-skinned authoritarian. Humor and parody have long been used to provoke bullies into mistakes.
Second, the op-ed mischaracterizes DeSantis's election history. He barely eked out a win in 2018 and rode a red wave in Florida to victory in 2022. Most top-of the-ticket Republicans in Florida won by significant majorities, including DeSantis. to ascribe that victory as a sign of DeSantis's special strength mischaracterizes the situation.
As to his strength among "Latinos," that demographic is differently composed in Florida, including strong constituencies of Cubans and Venezuelans who are fleeing (or whose families fled) socialist regimes. It is true that DeSantis made headway with independent Latino voters as well (about 45% favorability). The main drivers of that support were inflation and abortion--again nothing special about DeSantis, but independent factors that skewed voters toward the GOP in 2022. Those same voters showed weakening concern for issues that DeSantis emphasizes--climate change and crime. https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2022/03/31/exclusive-poll-desantis-favorability-improves-among-latinos
More later.
Robert, I totally agree with you on these points. And may I add two more. (1) The Republican "machine" is a juggernaut here in Florida and the Florida Democratic party is almost non-existent. (2) So many right leaning Northerners moved here (500,000 I've read) because DeSantis enticed them with jobs for those who faced vaccine and mask mandates in the North.
Thank you for your view from "the front row," or "the front lines," depending on how you see it. I just had to comment on the sad fact that so many people moved to Florida to escape critical protections from a deadly virus. I never get used to that insanity.
I want to amend my comment. Satirizing him I agree would be good and hopefully annoying to him, but we need to take him and his ilk seriously. They are dead serious about gaining control.
I cringe at my own obsequiousness, but Robert, your comments fill me with gratitude and better understanding. I am grateful. Thank you very, very much.
I can’t speak with authority about the books that parents are referring to as being so threatening to their children in Florida or elsewhere but it is really difficult to see all of this as anything but what it is: an authoritarian-styled culture war whipping up fear and hatred. Books are being banned, there is a “don’t say gay” law, African American courses are being eliminated, companies are being punished for their free speech. These are the clearest signs of facism, and “othering” is the go-to device in the play book. They should not be tolerated, even for a second. Furthermore, the African American AP course is an elective! It’s not a mandatory course. Why in the world did the College Board cave to a heavy-handed state Governor? That is outrageous and should be investigated. Democrats, being generally a thoughtful bunch, tend to treat most things as being nuanced. NONE of what’s going on here is nuanced and should be countered, loudly and clearly. None of what is going on in Florida, and spreading elsewhere, is acceptable, full stop.
Well said. I would like to comment on one point made above. Parental awareness often lags behind their children. I guess that is the way of evolution. A young child who believes they are the opposite sex can have those ideas/beliefs very early. As another commenter wrote here, our genders are not clearly boy and girl but a continuum. My concern is for any child, for any reason, who is taunted because of differences.
No one is promoting gender fluidity in public schools. They are teaching that LGBTQ people are people who deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect as all other people. That does not constitute promoting gender fluidity.
Agreed, Robert, and DeSantis is using Fl kids to NOT promote dignity and respect. Valuable lessons to be learned from California.
“Frank Cerabino of the Palm Beach Post's charge that De Santis's use of kids on this occasion is an example of him "grooming" children might seem exaggerated, until you realize that the Stop WOKE Act aims to emotionally retrain young people on a mass scale.”
Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Ron DeSantis's Dystopian Vision for America's Youth
https://lucid.substack.com/p/ron-desantiss-dystopian-vision-for
From the WaPo op-ed: The California guidelines are quite clear about what is to be taught and why. Page 45 of the K-3 guidelines states: “While students may not fully understand the concepts of gender expression and identity, some children in kindergarten and even younger have identified as transgender or understand they have a gender identity that is different from their sex assigned at birth.” The idea that 5-year-old children, can be trusted to “know” their gender identity is unbelievable; 4 year olds still exhibit firm beliefs in magic.
I have no problem with teaching that any group of people deserve the same dignity and respect as everyone else. In fact, I support it wholeheartedly. But I think teaching about LGBTQ in K-3 is far too early, probably before the vast majority of kids would be even faintly aware of this sort of thing. And I've read Christakis, and experienced enough that I know that social contagion is real. And some of the time that's a very good thing. When my friends are happy, I'm happy. But my reading suggests that there's a lot of social contagion around gender fluidity, and that a lot of bad is coming from medical treatment of people who think they are gender fluid in some way, and I know that in UK they've become much more wary about medically treating this sort of thing.
https://www.thefp.com/p/i-thought-i-was-saving-trans-kids
Your citation says nothing about "promoting" gender fluidity--your original proposition. It is an observation about how early some students identify with a different sex than one assigned at birth. You don't believe that assertion but provide no basis for your disbelief other than your opinion.
Please stop spreading misinformation. No one is "promoting" gender fluidity to students.
Believe it! Children who believe they are the opposite gender can do so at an early age. That does not mean they should have conforming surgeries early, but I don't think that is being done, at least not in my experience in social services. It seems to me you have some confusion with gender spectrum, LBGTQ, transgender, and transexual. "None of these things is the same as the other," which is why it helps to clarify.
I'm all for teaching that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. But I don't think kids who are young enough to be ignorant of most matters sexual should be taught anything about rare ways of being. I've read enough Christakis, and lived enough to realize that social contagion is real--and good in some cases (when my friends are happy, I'm happy) and not good in others. And I do believe that a lot of gender fluidity arises from social contagion.
Your facts are wrong. About 1% of the population does not fall neatly into XX / XY paradigm. About 1 in 1500 births each year are of infants who have ambiguous genitalia; if you add in genetic variations for extra chromosomes xxy, xyy, xxx, yyy, about 1.3% of the population is non-binary. 1.3% of the population is not a "rare way of being." That is roughly the same percentage of the US population that observes the Jewish religion or is Native American. Those are not "rare ways of being in the US."
The term "contagion" to describe gender orientation that is inherent in personal identity is offensive. Gender identity is not a disease, or a contagion. It is a human condition like the color of our skin, hair, height, weight, etc. We would not describe any of those as a "contagion."
All fine; think I get how you feel re. But, being from California and an educator—you are flat wrong using the word “promoting!”
…” with promoting this gender fluidity…”
Understanding, supporting, caring about gender identities, is not promoting!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/13/california-wants-teach-kindergartners-about-gender-identity-seriously/
This op-ed does not provide any proof that California seeks to teach kindergarteners about gender identity. It makes a factual statement for teachers about how early some students identify with a sexual identity different from that assigned at birth. Please stop spreading misinformation.
First of all, that’s an opinion piece picking and choosing to fit one’s narrative. Secondly, kids are curious, trying to understand a very confusing (and sometimes ugly) world around them…because there’s a discussion re gender identity, doesn’t “promote” that lifestyle (my point) nor more than a gay parent “promotes” their lifestyle on their own kids—which I would believe more compelling than talking about things at school? Lastly, it’s very worthy to note how adept kids are now with looking up info on the internet. I’d much prefer a conversation with a qualified teacher than much of the garbage kids see, hear and engage in there! I stand by my point of CA is *not* “promoting!”
Someone’s opinion is not policy or fact.
Ya; I appreciate your being so open about your life and feeling. But!!! Kids are not being taught and ppl aren’t promoting. That may be your opinion but it just isn’t factual as per what is going…
First, know that I think some are truly transgender. I wrote to such a person after she had an op-ed in the NYT, to support her, and I got a very nice response from her.
But peoples' minds are often malleable, especially when they hear about stuff from authority figures, or even just people higher on the totem pole than they are. Gaslighting is one phenomenon where people can make other people think that they are wrong about something. And mass hysteria is a phenomenon where people can end up thinking and doing things that they otherwise would have thought were crazy (google it if you're curious).
In the UK, they are a lot more careful than they used to be about doing medical or surgical procedures to change peoples' gender, because they had a number of disastrous cases.
The link from the article from which I'm pasting in pieces will be at the end. Its written by someone who worked at a clinic that is part of Washington University. This is one of the accounts that made me quite upset--horrified, really--about the emotional and physical pain some people who shouldn't have had gender transforming procedures have gone through. I found this stuff so painful that I couldn't finish reading the article. Directly below are excerpts from the article, with the link at the end.
"Soon after my arrival at the Transgender Center, I was struck by the lack of formal protocols for treatment. The center’s physician co-directors were essentially the sole authority.
At first, the patient population was tipped toward what used to be the “traditional” instance of a child with gender dysphoria: a boy, often quite young, who wanted to present as—who wanted to be—a girl.
Until 2015 or so, a very small number of these boys comprised the population of pediatric gender dysphoria cases. Then, across the Western world, there began to be a dramatic increase in a new population: Teenage girls, many with no previous history of gender distress, suddenly declared they were transgender and demanded immediate treatment with testosterone.
I certainly saw this at the center. One of my jobs was to do intake for new patients and their families. When I started there were probably 10 such calls a month. When I left there were 50, and about 70 percent of the new patients were girls. Sometimes clusters of girls arrived from the same high school. . .
. . . Frequently, our patients declared they had disorders that no one believed they had. We had patients who said they had Tourette syndrome (but they didn’t); that they had tic disorders (but they didn’t); that they had multiple personalities (but they didn’t).
The doctors privately recognized these false self-diagnoses as a manifestation of social contagion. They even acknowledged that suicide has an element of social contagion. But when I said the clusters of girls streaming into our service looked as if their gender issues might be a manifestation of social contagion, the doctors said gender identity reflected something innate.
To begin transitioning, the girls needed a letter of support from a therapist—usually one we recommended—who they had to see only once or twice for the green light. To make it more efficient for the therapists, we offered them a template for how to write a letter in support of transition. The next stop was a single visit to the endocrinologist for a testosterone prescription.
That’s all it took. . .
. . . Bicalutamide is a medication used to treat metastatic prostate cancer, and one of its side effects is that it feminizes the bodies of men who take it, including the appearance of breasts. The center prescribed this cancer drug as a puberty blocker and feminizing agent for boys. As with most cancer drugs, bicalutamide has a long list of side effects, and this patient experienced one of them: liver toxicity. He was sent to another unit of the hospital for evaluation and immediately taken off the drug. Afterward, his mother sent an electronic message to the Transgender Center saying that we were lucky her family was not the type to sue.
How little patients understood what they were getting into was illustrated by a call we received at the center in 2020 from a 17-year-old biological female patient who was on testosterone. She said she was bleeding from the vagina. In less than an hour she had soaked through an extra heavy pad, her jeans, and a towel she had wrapped around her waist. The nurse at the center told her to go to the emergency room right away.
We found out later this girl had had intercourse, and because testosterone thins the vaginal tissues, her vaginal canal had ripped open. She had to be sedated and given surgery to repair the damage. She wasn’t the only vaginal laceration case we heard about.
Other girls were disturbed by the effects of testosterone on their clitoris, which enlarges and grows into what looks like a microphallus, or a tiny penis. I counseled one patient whose enlarged clitoris now extended below her vulva, and it chafed and rubbed painfully in her jeans. I advised her to get the kind of compression undergarments worn by biological men who dress to pass as female. At the end of the call I thought to myself, “Wow, we hurt this kid.”
There are rare conditions in which babies are born with atypical genitalia—cases that call for sophisticated care and compassion. But clinics like the one where I worked are creating a whole cohort of kids with atypical genitals—and most of these teens haven’t even had sex yet. They had no idea who they were going to be as adults. Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist.
Being put on powerful doses of testosterone or estrogen—enough to try to trick your body into mimicking the opposite sex—-affects the rest of the body. I doubt that any parent who's ever consented to give their kid testosterone (a lifelong treatment) knows that they’re also possibly signing their kid up for blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, and perhaps sleep apnea and diabetes.
https://www.thefp.com/p/i-thought-i-was-saving-trans-kids
https://www.wpr.org/superior-school-board-upholds-decision-allowing-gender-identity-be-taught-fifth-graders
Follow the $$$. It was reported AP has been losing money and Florida often leads in AP placement.
DeSantis' popularity proves that the average American was born with their head up their ass - but we knew that back in high school.
You’re right. It should not be tolerated but we still need to reach out to conservatives to see how to answer their concerns. Just telling the truth these days is unfortunately not enough.
What are their concerns? That their children are learning about the fact that there are differently-gendered children that don’t fit into their neat “boy,” “girl,” classifications and that people can love other people who are not “approved” by the religious right?
Reaching out to true Independents (there are a lot) is worthy of our efforts.
Making any attempt to communicate with or "understand" the concerns of "Conservatives" is more than a waste of time. It assigns them validity as the "loyal opposition". They are not loyal. They are racist thugs who teach and preach bigotry, hate and intolerance. They are traitors to this nation. They attempted a coup.
Instead we need to point out their evil ideas as the fascist threats they are. We need to condemn them, shun them, marginalize them, embarrass them, reveal their dark souls and mostly - out vote them.
Can we say that identifying the concerns will help us counter them? Not sure demonizing is a good strategy as enticing as it is. But maybe it’s the only strategy. Honestly I don’t know.
Yes, we can identify their concerns. So we know the full nature of the enemy. But my point is that we have 24 hours a day. We have X amount of energy. Let's use it effectively with reasonable people. Put the energy there.
And....
The folks launching culture wars are anti-American, anti-diversity, anti-anything other than them.
People who used to hide under rocks are now saying publicly hateful things. We need to show them they still belong under rocks. Then ignore them.
Right on!!
Orlando journalist Scott Maxwell will ask a “conservative” if they’ve read the entire book they identify as “pornographic” . Of course the answer is no. He points out that appropriateness of books is to be based on its entirety/ message. Perhaps a place to start (or NOT) a conversation with a book banner.
Pamsy-Given that politics are involved in the neutering of the African-American AP course, one has to wonder if $$$ was involved in the College Board's decision.
I was furious. The op ed sanitized DeSantis. It made him look like just another Conservative never mentioning his fascist tendencies, anti-women and minority programs, anti-free and fair public education and the icing on the cake his election police.
My comment to the NYT in reply was that Ms. Paul sanitized a fascist.
Agree 100%.
I wish I could double like this comment.
me too!!!!
Thanks for setting me straight!
Good for you. We cannot stand silent and let that happen!!
May I interject: Ron DeSantis is a really weird guy, say professional journalists who have tried to interview him. He allows interviews only by local publications, through which he can relay political and policy messages to his state, and the wider electorate, without getting tripped up and having to walk back anything he says. The bigger news publications can only quote the local coverage, he gets his points out, and no gaffes and snarls to explain.
Ron may be way smarter than the Orange Buffoon, but purportedly, he is a sight more weird.
Controlling the media is a hallmark of a fascist. He knows the main stream media will challenge him and is afraid. DeSantis isn't smart. He is a bully and will never last on the national stage.
Your keyboard to God's ear, Barbara M.
We need to take every opportunity to slam this guy. The fascist arm of the Republican Party loves him.
NC Heikin, the most important point in your post is that we cannot take anything for granted or see what we want to see in Florida or any other state when we know there is an incredible percentage of voters who are open to what many of us see as absurd. Stay focused. Vote in 2024! Get others out to vote! And get a good message out about the positive impact of governance for the people. Thanks.
It’s hard to win a battle if you don’t know your enemy. That’s why in football, offensive coordinators study opposing defenses and vice versa.
Robert
I have lived in Florida since 1956 when I was 9.......Educated in Florida 4th grade through graduate school. I taught in the public schools in Florida for 27 years and worked with teachers another 11 years. I then started a publishing company writing test prep books for the Florida mathematics assessments grades 2 through 8, Algebra 1, Geometry, grade 10, and Biology.
I am TOTALLY ashamed, terrorized, saddened, and demoralized by what DeSantis (aka DeShittis in my house) is doing to the state of Florida in education and in everything else!!!!
There are many in Florida who feel as I do!!!!!! And we vote!!!!!
Barbara Nunn
Coral Springs, Florida (suburb of Ft Lauderdale)
I lived in south Florida for three years 4, 5, 6th grades (from NYC) in the late 70s. My math skills took such a hit moving down there, they never recovered. It was the worst three years of my life. I nearly kissed the ground when I moved back to NYC the summer before 7th grade at 12-years old. I've been there several times in the last 40 years, but not since January 2019. And for MANY reasons, I will never return again (even with elderly family down there). Be safe.
Here's a suggestion for Jack Smith:
put Pence up for charges of misprision of a felony since he knew enough that Trump was engaged in a seditious coup attempt and has been sitting on it all this time
BUT
drop the charge if Pence cooperates and testifies to all the criminality now, rather than delay through exec priv claims in the courts.
TERRIFIC suggestion. I know misrprison of felony is a crime in some states; is it a federal crime?
RICH! How I would dig a grammar usage newsletter, right when I thought civilization beyond politics was dead. The exchange over Twitter is pathetic. I have thought for some time that FLA had moved into the Texas column of potential secessionists, and DeSatis has proved this is so. What a great newsletter you write,Robert.
I watched two tirades by Representatives Boebert and Greene against a Twitter employee (former, I think). I believe in the Greene one, the witness did not say even one word—she just yelled at him the entire time.
Is this legal? A private citizen can be forced to appear before Congress and have to sit and be yelled at, on nationwide TV, no less?
I’m not a lawyer, but this seems not okay.
Sadly, it is conduct that must controlled by the Chair of the Committee--Jim Jordan.
Gym
I saw this, too. In my view, Greene, again, made a fool of herself and, focusing only on herself, contributed nothing to this faux investigation.
I was happy when the next Democrat to speak gave the gentleman from Twitter an opportunity to respond and explain why Greene’s Twitter account was suspended. Greene then interrupted and during her interruption said to the Twitter representative, who continued to maintain his composure, “I’m in Congress, and you’re not.” What a childish, idiotic fool she is.
Childish, absolutely. She is repulsive.
Think of the McCarthy Hearings. Insults and disdain were heaped on witnesses to try to shame them into talking.
I heartily agree with your phrase “Make Florida America”. As a Floridian trans plant from NY the news here is one of liberties reversed. There is a cruelty in our state legislature that is horrific to witness. This is no place to emulate.
From Denialad: donbialostosky.substack.com
The Dems on Oversight pitched a no-hitter
Against Republican claims that Twitter
Deliberately suppressed the Hunter story
‘Cause Biden said it was derogatory—
Part of a pattern real but unofficial
That toward the right they said was prejudicial.
The Twitter monitors all testified
That Biden in no way had ever tried
To stop the story and that their delay
In linking it for just a single day
Came from concerns that it had come from hacking—
No there there in Republicans’ attacking!
But questions raised by the Committee Dems
Uncovered a couple of damning gems.
The monitors revealed Trump asked to ditch
A Tweet that called him a “pussy ass bitch”
(The Tweet had answered his Tweet on the Tweeter
That had been a crude, mean way to treat her).
And having thus neatly turned the tables
On who deserved the Tweet-suppressing label,
Another Dem, this time Rep. AOC,
Displaying a Trump Tweet for all to see,
Then led a Twitter witness to agree
That it had modified its policy
To let an ugly Trump Tweet go out
And then to’erase the rule he chose to flout
That disallowed Tweets treating folks like scum
Who “should go back to where they had come from.”
Far from suppressing Tweets serving the right,
The Twitter bosses gave them a green light!
Unless McCarthy kicks off all the Dems
From committees, they’re going to’expose these shams.
Keith Olbermann, on Twitter, skewers the committee. I was reading a good mystery (One Perfect Shot) but came to a standstill when the author used 'dour'. I decided it was OK to accept my lifelong pronounciation ala 'sour' so I could continue reading.
Two points, the first is minor and relates to your pronunciation of "dour." I had never heard it pronounced as you did, to rhyme with "tour," so was somewhat surprised by it, but I accepted it. Why? Because I do the same thing with the word HARASS or HARASSMENT. In a high school vocabulary class I learned that the "original" pronunciation was with the stress on the first syllable, thus sounding like "Harris" and "Harrisment." That's the pronunciation I have chosen to use throughout my life. This simple vocabulary lesson opened my thinking to alternate pronunciations of words. (to-may-to, to-mah-to, if you will!)
Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, I want to talk about the DeSatan bumper sticker. I am a Floridian. I love my state. I am consistently embarrassed and infuriated by my state's government. Ron DeSantis is evil. I do not say that lightly. I mean it in every sense of the word. He has become emboldened and enabled by a spineless Florida legislature and Courts, to march, seemingly unchallenged toward becoming a dictator. (The cow-towing of the Florida legislature to DeSantis is exactly the same as what we have seen nationally between Republicans and Trump.) So when I saw your "Concluding Thoughts" piece on the bumper sticker appearing in San Diego, a gagging lump immediately came to my throat! The very thought that anyone in California (or anywhere in this country) would want to recreate what Florida has become under this dictator wannabe took me by dismaying surprise. Just follow the headlines in some of Florida's major newspapers (I suggest the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald, but there are others that will give you the same understanding) and you will quickly see why I say this. His thirst for absolute control is insatiable. I hold hope that, once he is faced with national exposure that he will be revealed for what he is, a small man with a natural bend toward racist, fascist, and dictatorial impulses. In Florida he is, sadly, unchallenged. But, once on the national scene, I am confident he will not go unchecked or unchallenged.
The "sour/dour" debate was an excellent way to see how closely we read Robert's daily installment: Pretty darn closely!
I think "Make America Florida" is a hoot! It's as big a miss as possible!
wow I did not see the DeSantis sticker. I am in marketing - not a great idea - whoever thought of that must be in 3rd grade or maybe MTGreen is involved!!!
I still cannot get over the visual of her kindergarten antics and beyond the imagination during Biden's State of the Union speech. She showed the MAGA true colors and did them no favors. She certainly helped make Biden look amazing and he rose to the occasion.
"Make America Florida?" Wet, humid, temperatures in the 90s that feel hotter, and in danger of increasingly dangerous hurricanes and being reclaimed by the ocean.
and don't forget the horrible big bugs (insects and humans)
Bugs. Lotsa bugs. Florida has python hunting contests, and the pythons are winning. Hurricanes, book burnings equivalents, and stand your ground gun laws.
The other 49 states are just dying to become Florida.
I read a comment recently that referred to the Republican Party as the "GQP." At first I thought the writer had hit the wrong key, but on reflection, GQP seems to be an apt name for the Party that embraces QAnon AQueen Marjorie Greene Taylor.
In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum exposes how the far-right in Europe exploited social media to advance conspiracy theories, lies, and personal/racial ad hominems to galvanize rage and fear. Left unchecked, these political forces filled a vacuum and gained power.
It is reassuring that the Democrats in the House are vigorously pushing back and presenting a counter narrative of truth. The Biden Administration has also been masterful at exposing the duplicity of the far right as well as asserting the real, tangible benefits of Democratic leadership. Contrasting our lived democratic order from the far right's nostalgic, mythological historical fantasies must be continuously and aggressively challenged and exposed.
Excellent analysis as usual tying all the threads of events into a digestible treat 👍 Just keep our fingers crossed 🤞 that the radicals like DeSantis and Huckabee Sanders keep shooting themselves in the foot launching their ideologies, same for the weaponized clown 🤡 committee 😀 while Jack Smith makes hay 😀 😄 😉
This is a young women who is in over her head, more suited for junior high or, maybe, high school - if not in student government maybe theater if they are doing a comedy.