The easiest way to cut through the pretending nonsense is to ask the obvious question, ‘Why now?‘

The Florida Republican Legislature is changing the Sunshine Laws in Florida to block people from reviewing the travel records of the Florida Governor. [HB1495 Link]

The claimed justification is security, to protect the governor and high-ranking state officials.  However, the obvious timing of Ron DeSantis pending run for the White House, in combination with his administration refusing to give details on who/how the funding for his private charter flights have been taking place during the “book tour,” makes the new law much more suspicious as constructed.

As noted within a Politico article on this subject: […] flight tracking records show that a private chartered jet last week flew from Austin, Texas, to Japan to South Korea to Israel to London and then, over the weekend, stopped in Boston before finally winding up in Tallahassee. Those stops coincide with the governor’s movements for the past week.

No reply at all — It has been previously stated that this trip is being paid by private donations to Enterprise Florida, the public-private economic development agency that is about to be dismantled by the Legislature. But a spokesperson for Enterprise Florida has not responded to questions as to why a chartered jet — which is likely to be tremendously expensive — was used for DeSantis’ trip. The agency was also asked about how much this will ultimately cost.  (read more)

If we stop playing this silly game of pretending, we will accept the billionaire donors who are funding the ‘STOP TRUMP’ operation are likely the same donors who are funding the ‘BOOK TOUR’; who are the same donors who funded the new branding and consulting group in 2022; who are the same donors funding the apparatus of the DeSantis stealth campaign.  More succinctly, his control handlers.

The need for control is a reaction to fear.

The professional Republican apparatus in Florida needs to control what is visible about the construct of Ron DeSantis 2024.  If you ask my opinion, I will tell you from all appearances this fear is connected to a reality that Ron DeSantis ’24 was planned long, long ago.  Likely before the 2020 presidential election year.

As a result of decades of grassroots activist work in the state of Florida, much of it led by the patriotic Tea Party movement, the sunshine state has/had some of the most transparent public information laws in the country.  Florida is/was well known for the ability of citizens and media to keep government officials in check through public records requests.  I have personally used them and will attest to the sunlight process that was always available.

Ever since the people behind Governor Ron DeSantis began conducting a stealth presidential campaign based on fraud, deception, brand imagery and pretense, those same Florida Sunlight Laws are viewed as a risk.   The arc of this DeSantis legacy, including the legislative changes he champions as good for the state, does not end in a good place.

If you follow the process to its natural conclusion, what’s predictable is a voter swing in the other direction. Then Democrats will have a lot of powerful tools they can weaponize against their opposition.  Tools, currently created by DeSantis, will be used by a host of carpetbagging non and new-Floridians who are putting the state on a path for future misery.

You only need to look at what took place on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives today to get a sense of the legislative crisis they are gleefully creating.  This is what DeSantis leadership in the state looks like right now:

HAPPENING NOW: Florida lawmakers dance on House floor pic.twitter.com/nvEga2tJkL

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) May 2, 2023