King Ron???

Every day there is something new that DeSantis or his henchmen have done to further stifle civil rights, human rights.  The latest is the board of trustees 9-3 vote to shut down one college’s diversity office.  Others will no doubt follow.  Seems to me that we can all see where this path ends.

Also in Florida there is Senate Bill 1316, titled Information Dissemination.  The bill would, in part, require political bloggers such as myself and some of you, to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics, else be subjected to a fine.  WHOA … think about that one for a minute.  Freedom of speech???  First Amendment???

Within the next 18 months, it is almost certain that DeSantis will have turned Florida into an authoritarian state where only straight, white, male, Christian people are welcome.  Why not just do it all at once?  Why doesn’t he just step up to his podium and say to the world …

“I hereby declare that the people of Florida are no longer free citizens, but wards of the state who will be strictly guided by the rules I and my brownshirts impose.  Those found in violation will suffer the harshest of penalties.  All federal laws are hereby revoked in the state of Florida and I will make all decisions from this point forward.”

Given his popularity in Florida and elsewhere, it would seem that a good number of people in this country are yearning for exactly such a dictatorship.


Meanwhile in Texas, U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales is facing censure by the Texas Republican Party.  Why?  Because he voted in support of the gun legislation last year that received bipartisan support in the wake of the mass shooting of children in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers.  Gonzales may also face ‘censure’ for his support of a bill to codify same-sex marriage.  I guess Texas plans to join Florida in being “the place ‘woke’ goes to die.”


Is all of this really what the people of this nation want?  If not, then why aren’t the people of Florida holding protests daily in front of the Governor’s mansion in Tallahassee?  Why aren’t they writing countless letters to their newspapers, peacefully making their voices heard?  By the time the nation wakes up, it may be too late.

My View: There Are Not “Two Sides” on Ukraine

I do not like censorship. I believe that free speech, within certain limits, is an integral part of any democratic nation. That said, I struggled last week with a decision to moderate comments from a couple of readers. One such reader has been disrespectful to other readers, and both promote blatant lies and conspiracy theories in their comments. I did not make that decision lightly nor happily, but after much inner debate (those conversations between me, myself, and I sometimes get volatile!), I decided it was the right thing to do. I am obviously not alone in making this decision, as fellow blogger Diane Ravitch writes in her latest post.  Thanks, also, to Bob Shepherd for pointing me to Ms. Ravitch’s blog!

Diane Ravitch's blog

As regular readers know, I have received and posted several comments complaining that I don’t write posts showing “both sides” or “different sides” on Ukraine. They disapprove of my support for Ukraine and my criticism of Putin.

In some cases, the commenters have included links to articles or videos claiming that Putin had no choice but to invade Ukraine because…he felt encircled by NATO, or he needed to protect Russians in Ukraine, or Ukraine is overrun by Nazis, or some policy analyst warned that NATO’s expansion would provoke Putin. Other commenters claim that I should not post anything sympathetic to Ukraine unless I post equally sympathetic commentaries about places where the U.S. brutalized the local population or where other nations are suffering.

Let me explain. This is my blog. It is not CNN, FOX, MSNBC, or a network station. The articles I post are my choice.

My choice is to…

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