Ron DeSantis's Vague Military Resume May Be Clearer Now
February 28, 2023 10:20 AM Subscribe
A witness speaks. Ron Desantis was at Guantanamo and Fallujah. What was he really up to...
A former Guantanamo detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, has now spoken up about what he experienced at that prison during a food strike among some of the detainees when the US government decided to end the strike and force the detainees to eat. DeSantis was a JAG lawyer in the Navy assigned there, supposedly as just an observer of the conditions of the detainees. Mansoor Adayfi says he was an active participant in the torture involved. And he was at Fallujah too. I saw this in the current issue of Harpers Magazine. That led me to look on the internets as this was something I had never heard of... Almayadeen site. DeSantis himself on Facebook. More Desantis. Desantis's vague military career described. Though now this is based on the testimony of one man, maybe there should be more investigation of this claim.
A former Guantanamo detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, has now spoken up about what he experienced at that prison during a food strike among some of the detainees when the US government decided to end the strike and force the detainees to eat. DeSantis was a JAG lawyer in the Navy assigned there, supposedly as just an observer of the conditions of the detainees. Mansoor Adayfi says he was an active participant in the torture involved. And he was at Fallujah too. I saw this in the current issue of Harpers Magazine. That led me to look on the internets as this was something I had never heard of... Almayadeen site. DeSantis himself on Facebook. More Desantis. Desantis's vague military career described. Though now this is based on the testimony of one man, maybe there should be more investigation of this claim.
Mod note: "up too.." changed to "up to..."
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 10:27 AM on February 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 10:27 AM on February 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
Investigate, yes – but DeSantis's fans will like him more for such things, not less.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 10:41 AM on February 28, 2023 [32 favorites]
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 10:41 AM on February 28, 2023 [32 favorites]
A hopefully unlocked version of the Harpers article, which is a transcript of the podcast.
posted by njohnson23 at 10:45 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 10:45 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
If his fans would love it, why is he hiding it?
posted by njohnson23 at 10:51 AM on February 28, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 10:51 AM on February 28, 2023 [12 favorites]
Because everything that happens at gitmo is one level of classification or other, and there are serious penalties for talking publicly about it for those that were stationed there.
This works out better for him anyway. The people that think gitmo is great will love him more, and since he can't confirm or deny anything anyway, that gives plausible deniability for the people that like him but might be squeamish about, yanno, torture.
posted by Vigilant at 11:17 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
This works out better for him anyway. The people that think gitmo is great will love him more, and since he can't confirm or deny anything anyway, that gives plausible deniability for the people that like him but might be squeamish about, yanno, torture.
posted by Vigilant at 11:17 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ron DeSantis is an anagram of Satan's Drone.
Well, close enough.
posted by chavenet at 11:21 AM on February 28, 2023 [13 favorites]
Well, close enough.
posted by chavenet at 11:21 AM on February 28, 2023 [13 favorites]
If his fans would love it, why is he hiding it?
So The New York Times and other on-side liberal establishments can still plausibly support him in his presidential bid.
posted by Artw at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2023 [25 favorites]
So The New York Times and other on-side liberal establishments can still plausibly support him in his presidential bid.
posted by Artw at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2023 [25 favorites]
He seems to suffer from a lack of empathy for his fellow humans. Perhaps it is trauma from what he saw or did in war. Perhaps he’s just always been this way.
posted by interogative mood at 11:34 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by interogative mood at 11:34 AM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
So The New York Times and other on-side liberal establishments can still plausibly support him in his presidential bid.
They've had two opeds in as many weeks saying that he's not as bad as people think, and besides, he's fighting the woke excesses of the left, which as every good centrist knows, are obviously the real threat to free speech and human rights.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 11:36 AM on February 28, 2023 [48 favorites]
They've had two opeds in as many weeks saying that he's not as bad as people think, and besides, he's fighting the woke excesses of the left, which as every good centrist knows, are obviously the real threat to free speech and human rights.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 11:36 AM on February 28, 2023 [48 favorites]
The media did not adequately cover Trump's past as someone indebted to Russia and as a probable rapist until it was safe to do so, after February 2021, when that reporting was of no help to anyone.
If there's anything to be learned from the failures of 2016, maybe it is better to push the mainstream media to investigate and report as much detail as possible now, before someone like DeSantis gets anywhere near a general election.
People who will vote for him will do so anyway, so it may not be a good use of time and energy to worry about them. But more of those on the fence would have to vote for a probable torturer with eyes open. Those are the folks to reach.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:39 AM on February 28, 2023 [34 favorites]
If there's anything to be learned from the failures of 2016, maybe it is better to push the mainstream media to investigate and report as much detail as possible now, before someone like DeSantis gets anywhere near a general election.
People who will vote for him will do so anyway, so it may not be a good use of time and energy to worry about them. But more of those on the fence would have to vote for a probable torturer with eyes open. Those are the folks to reach.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:39 AM on February 28, 2023 [34 favorites]
Florida is full of these people, and psyops, and secret sites, and personnel who don't even know who they really work for. The 9-11 "pilots," trained there. It is a banarepublican / intelligence cesspool of covert actors, who serve shadow masters. De Santis is the devil's go to guy. Trump knows better than to run against him, but DeSantis may try to ensure his victory, by making Trump HIS veep. Trump,the ultimate poison pill.
posted by Oyéah at 11:40 AM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 11:40 AM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Trump knows better than to run against him
Doubtful.
posted by axiom at 11:48 AM on February 28, 2023 [21 favorites]
Doubtful.
posted by axiom at 11:48 AM on February 28, 2023 [21 favorites]
They are all sociopaths. Every single repub candidate. Some are more personally sociopathic with the people that have had the unfortunateness to encounter them in person. All support all of the hideous, evil -isms that their party espouses.
The question is. What odds would people take:
65% Chance Desantis as prez
40% Chance Trump as prez
(picl your own numbers, but if they are more than ±10% off those numbers, I'd be fascinated why you said that)
The markets and big biz that went for biden because trump was too batshit are absolutely fine with a desantis presidency. I'm gonna bet my bottom dollar that this gets whitewashed (emphasis on white). "This was in the past / it was war /boys will be boys / why do you care, don't you want someone strong/ sounds like a liberal whiner".
posted by lalochezia at 11:50 AM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
The question is. What odds would people take:
65% Chance Desantis as prez
40% Chance Trump as prez
(picl your own numbers, but if they are more than ±10% off those numbers, I'd be fascinated why you said that)
The markets and big biz that went for biden because trump was too batshit are absolutely fine with a desantis presidency. I'm gonna bet my bottom dollar that this gets whitewashed (emphasis on white). "This was in the past / it was war /boys will be boys / why do you care, don't you want someone strong/ sounds like a liberal whiner".
posted by lalochezia at 11:50 AM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
The image of the man puking Ensure all over Goober DeathSantis will stay with me forever.
Really: just fuck that motherfucker.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 11:51 AM on February 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
Really: just fuck that motherfucker.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 11:51 AM on February 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
DeSantis is the living embodiment of "the cruelty is the point." Literally everything he does in his capacity as governor of Florida is exquisitely calculated to maximize the suffering of people who aren't exactly like him, or who don't sufficiently kowtow to him. It's his whole mission in life. And all the bullies just eat it up with a spoon.
posted by Daily Alice at 12:02 PM on February 28, 2023 [36 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 12:02 PM on February 28, 2023 [36 favorites]
Trump knows better than to run against him, but DeSantis may try to ensure his victory, by making Trump HIS veep.
This seems like an overestimation of DeSantis's juice with Republican voters as well as an underestimation of Trump's.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:02 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
This seems like an overestimation of DeSantis's juice with Republican voters as well as an underestimation of Trump's.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:02 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
It was 2009. I was sitting around a fire pit (not one of the bad ones; I was lucky that way), smoking cigars and swapping war stories and other lies. One of my buddies' buddies had done a stint at Guantanamo. He told a story about an interrogation he'd been part of, and the story was... I won't say troubling, but he definitely didn't want to tell the entire story either. Then it occurred to me that I didn't know he'd ever been an MP, or MI, or anything else that would logically be performing an interrogation. So I asked a few indirect questions that led me to realize that it was utterly standard practice at Guantanamo to just haul anyone in on interrogations. And that they didn't do it because they were short of people. They did it for the same reason that mobsters make guys they suspect to be undercover cops commit crimes. Same reason that fraternities make pledges pose for embarrassing pictures. Same reason Trump makes people say things that are obvious lies.
posted by Etrigan at 12:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [74 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 12:04 PM on February 28, 2023 [74 favorites]
65% Chance Desantis as prez
40% Chance Trump as prez
what?
I mean, I wouldn't say I'm an optimist, but if you really think the odds of anyone but those two being president two years from now are less than zero, I'd humbly suggest that a bit of sunlight and fresh air might be helpful.
posted by Not A Thing at 12:21 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
40% Chance Trump as prez
what?
I mean, I wouldn't say I'm an optimist, but if you really think the odds of anyone but those two being president two years from now are less than zero, I'd humbly suggest that a bit of sunlight and fresh air might be helpful.
posted by Not A Thing at 12:21 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Those odds are vs Biden or generic unimpressive dem. Ie if desantis or trump are candidate
posted by lalochezia at 12:26 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by lalochezia at 12:26 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
PredictIt has its own ideas.
On another note, does anyone else, and hear me out, feel like Ron DeSantis is not very good at, like, being a person in the physical world? Every picture I see of him, it seems like his hands are doing something weird, or his facial expression is off, or... something. Is this just my imagination?
posted by box at 12:43 PM on February 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
On another note, does anyone else, and hear me out, feel like Ron DeSantis is not very good at, like, being a person in the physical world? Every picture I see of him, it seems like his hands are doing something weird, or his facial expression is off, or... something. Is this just my imagination?
posted by box at 12:43 PM on February 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
He always reminds me of the colonel in Full Metal Jacket who verbally abuses Joker in the "duality of man" scene, but he comes across as a whiny imitation of R. Lee Ermey.
posted by credulous at 12:49 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by credulous at 12:49 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
DeSantis is one of many, many Republican politicians who look EXACTLY what Republican politicians look like in movies, in what has become a chicken/egg situation over time. Fred Thompson even more than Reagan was the living personification of this phenomenon, but DeSantis has that whole Greg Stillson vibe going on.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:15 PM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:15 PM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
On another note, does anyone else, and hear me out, feel like Ron DeSantis is not very good at, like, being a person in the physical world?
Which explains his ongoing project to convert Florida into a space much more appealing to demonic entities. The issue, of course, is that he plans to extend the project into the rest of the country.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:16 PM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
Which explains his ongoing project to convert Florida into a space much more appealing to demonic entities. The issue, of course, is that he plans to extend the project into the rest of the country.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:16 PM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
> PredictIt has its own ideas.
That is a grim, grim lineup. Some of those people I barely know anything about, but it looks like if they were my only choices I'd go with...Tim Scott, I guess? Either him or Romney, who seemed like the Antichrist compared to Obama?
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
That is a grim, grim lineup. Some of those people I barely know anything about, but it looks like if they were my only choices I'd go with...Tim Scott, I guess? Either him or Romney, who seemed like the Antichrist compared to Obama?
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Knowing this clown is going to portray being a rear echelon lawyer into being "an American hero" is going to piss me off.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:29 PM on February 28, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:29 PM on February 28, 2023 [14 favorites]
From breaking hunger strikes to attempting to break FL education unions...the elite always have room for someone who can undermine collective mass action that interferes with their power and status.
I think empathy is precisely where DeSantis and his ilk gain their power. He has a refined sense of empathy for reactionary social grievances, which is part of why he's able to tailor his political activity to excite his base. He probably has a decent sense of empathy for "progressives", which helps him generate the right sort of controversy and criticism. And if you want to be a good torturer, empathy is a necessity.
posted by Hume at 1:33 PM on February 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
I think empathy is precisely where DeSantis and his ilk gain their power. He has a refined sense of empathy for reactionary social grievances, which is part of why he's able to tailor his political activity to excite his base. He probably has a decent sense of empathy for "progressives", which helps him generate the right sort of controversy and criticism. And if you want to be a good torturer, empathy is a necessity.
posted by Hume at 1:33 PM on February 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
Liberals who think Desantis is not electable are yet again going to be in for the shock of their lives.
posted by sibboleth at 1:35 PM on February 28, 2023 [34 favorites]
posted by sibboleth at 1:35 PM on February 28, 2023 [34 favorites]
Liberals in the sense of “not conservative” or liberals in the “NY Times opinion columnist” sense? I suspect most in the firmer group consider it all too possible, the later group would welcome it.
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on February 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:49 PM on February 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
On another note, does anyone else, and hear me out, feel like Ron DeSantis is not very good at, like, being a person in the physical world? Every picture I see of him, it seems like his hands are doing something weird, or his facial expression is off, or... something. Is this just my imagination?
This is true, but it didn't stop Tony Abbot and it won't stop DeSantis. Conservatives like these humanesque men for some reason.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:49 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
This is true, but it didn't stop Tony Abbot and it won't stop DeSantis. Conservatives like these humanesque men for some reason.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:49 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Liberals who think Desantis is not electable are yet again going to be in for the shock of their lives.
Hopefully some lessons are learned from 2016.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:59 PM on February 28, 2023
Hopefully some lessons are learned from 2016.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:59 PM on February 28, 2023
Hopefully some lessons are learned from the FL governor race of 2022. Underestimating HerrSantis got Crist creamed.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 2:03 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 2:03 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I've been down in Florida for months at a time on and off for about the past year and wow, this guy is absolutely freaking frightening to me. It really feels like another country down here, along the lines of what you hear goes on in Hungary or whatever. The entire state feels totally under this guy's control with no apparent or meaningful opposition at all. I mean, he's going after local queer bars' liquor licenses, he's going after teachers and teachers unions, he's going after freaking Disney (!!), he's going after trans kids of course, he's going after all kinds of institutions like the Orlando Philharmonic (another queer/liquor license thing), he's going after local Democratic politicians and DAs, etc etc etc.
Meanwhile Nazis and white supremacists (many of who are actually from out of state including my own SF Bay Area, so let's not get too smug about "crazy Florida Man") march through the streets attempting to intimidate the local left, queer and Jewish communities. Republican-run school boards in cahoots with the local police and sheriffs departments are "cracking down" on, if you believe the local news media, an epidemic of juvenile delinquency (otherwise known as black and brown kids existing). I could on, but suffice it to say, it's just really insane down here in Florida at the moment.
Anybody who underestimates this guy is an absolute fool.
posted by flamk at 2:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [45 favorites]
Meanwhile Nazis and white supremacists (many of who are actually from out of state including my own SF Bay Area, so let's not get too smug about "crazy Florida Man") march through the streets attempting to intimidate the local left, queer and Jewish communities. Republican-run school boards in cahoots with the local police and sheriffs departments are "cracking down" on, if you believe the local news media, an epidemic of juvenile delinquency (otherwise known as black and brown kids existing). I could on, but suffice it to say, it's just really insane down here in Florida at the moment.
Anybody who underestimates this guy is an absolute fool.
posted by flamk at 2:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [45 favorites]
Hopefully some lessons are learned from 2016.
Yeah, idk just when you think people could be on the same page a Harry Potter video game comes out and you find out in the most absurd way how completely unreliable "well-meaning" people are in the face of being challenged about something they think they should have.
I am making plans to leave Florida, where all of the above stuff is happening at a terrifying speed and the GOP appears immovable. Running Crist was so laughably futile.
posted by sibboleth at 2:27 PM on February 28, 2023 [14 favorites]
Yeah, idk just when you think people could be on the same page a Harry Potter video game comes out and you find out in the most absurd way how completely unreliable "well-meaning" people are in the face of being challenged about something they think they should have.
I am making plans to leave Florida, where all of the above stuff is happening at a terrifying speed and the GOP appears immovable. Running Crist was so laughably futile.
posted by sibboleth at 2:27 PM on February 28, 2023 [14 favorites]
Just to fact check slightly, yesterday's NYT opinion column (pitched by its author, not the newspaper) is very clearly not endorsing DeSantis for president.
Mr. DeSantis is a bully who’s ready and willing to trample freedom of speech and expression, voting rights and common decency to win the applause of the Republican base so he can win office and advance the G.O.P. dream of gutting the social safety net in return for tax cuts that benefit wealthy right-wing donors.
posted by Winnemac at 2:41 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Mr. DeSantis is a bully who’s ready and willing to trample freedom of speech and expression, voting rights and common decency to win the applause of the Republican base so he can win office and advance the G.O.P. dream of gutting the social safety net in return for tax cuts that benefit wealthy right-wing donors.
posted by Winnemac at 2:41 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
My assumption is DeSantis essentially ran unopposed.
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Heartless bastard is gonna be a heartless bastard, it seems.
posted by TedW at 2:48 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 2:48 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
It’s the fact that this guy has enough juice in Florida to push Disney around that really puts this into perspective. I mean, obviously in many ways that’s the least of his evils but it shows he’s willing and able to punch both up and down. Republicans usually stick mostly to down.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:55 PM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:55 PM on February 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
Just to fact check slightly, yesterday's NYT opinion column (pitched by its author, not the newspaper) is very clearly not endorsing DeSantis for president.
It’s more that he’s excoriating liberals for thinking DeSantis is potentially worse than Trump. So, yeah, not an outright endorsement. That said, there’s more than a little “relax, children, if he wins it’s be okay” air to the piece.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:07 PM on February 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
It’s more that he’s excoriating liberals for thinking DeSantis is potentially worse than Trump. So, yeah, not an outright endorsement. That said, there’s more than a little “relax, children, if he wins it’s be okay” air to the piece.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:07 PM on February 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
It’s the fact that this guy has enough juice in Florida to push Disney around that really puts this into perspective.
It definitely helps to have a compliant legislature and judiciary in his pocket, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:09 PM on February 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
It definitely helps to have a compliant legislature and judiciary in his pocket, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:09 PM on February 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
He always reminds me of the colonel in Full Metal Jacket who verbally abuses Joker in the "duality of man" scene
Bruce Boa, a.k.a. General Rieekan in The Empire Strikes Back and the American who wanted a Waldorf salad on Fawlty Towers
posted by The Tensor at 3:13 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Bruce Boa, a.k.a. General Rieekan in The Empire Strikes Back and the American who wanted a Waldorf salad on Fawlty Towers
posted by The Tensor at 3:13 PM on February 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Trump knows better than to run against him
Doubtful.
When Donald Trump became president*, little did he know.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:15 PM on February 28, 2023
Doubtful.
When Donald Trump became president*, little did he know.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:15 PM on February 28, 2023
He always reminds me of the colonel in Full Metal Jacket who verbally abuses Joker in the "duality of man" scene
Bruce Boa, a.k.a. General Rieekan in The Empire Strikes Back
Good lord. So it is.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:16 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Bruce Boa, a.k.a. General Rieekan in The Empire Strikes Back
Good lord. So it is.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:16 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just to fact check slightly, yesterday's NYT opinion column (pitched by its author, not the newspaper) is very clearly not endorsing DeSantis for president.
Gonna agree to disagree, with the understanding that I’m indulging in all the paranoid reading between the lines and assumptions of weasel backstabbing that having watched the times in 2016 and up through now might incline a person to.
posted by Artw at 3:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Gonna agree to disagree, with the understanding that I’m indulging in all the paranoid reading between the lines and assumptions of weasel backstabbing that having watched the times in 2016 and up through now might incline a person to.
posted by Artw at 3:25 PM on February 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Outlaw The Democratic Party
Is it Time to Ban The Democratic Party?
Today: Florida senator introduces bill to abolish the Florida Democratic Party -- and any other party that has ever officially supported slavery.
I backed off of my comment in another thread, joking I almost added "It's the Chicago Way" to my argument and that was going too far. But the other side itself seems long past being restrained by human decency.
I fear that the enemies of this ongoing and intensifying Christian Nationalist pogrom will eventually be faced with the stark choice of surviving by any means necessary vs. not violating their humanist principles.
posted by zaixfeep at 4:36 PM on February 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
Is it Time to Ban The Democratic Party?
Today: Florida senator introduces bill to abolish the Florida Democratic Party -- and any other party that has ever officially supported slavery.
I backed off of my comment in another thread, joking I almost added "It's the Chicago Way" to my argument and that was going too far. But the other side itself seems long past being restrained by human decency.
I fear that the enemies of this ongoing and intensifying Christian Nationalist pogrom will eventually be faced with the stark choice of surviving by any means necessary vs. not violating their humanist principles.
posted by zaixfeep at 4:36 PM on February 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
> It definitely helps to have a compliant legislature and judiciary in his pocket, though.
Certainly! But I feel like ten years ago trying to bully Disney would have been a losing play, given the amount of money the company brings into the state and their cultural sway. Now all you have to do is shout "groomer!" and you can do whatever you want with the mob at your back.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:58 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Certainly! But I feel like ten years ago trying to bully Disney would have been a losing play, given the amount of money the company brings into the state and their cultural sway. Now all you have to do is shout "groomer!" and you can do whatever you want with the mob at your back.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:58 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
So it came to light finally that DeSantis did some awful stuff for an awful administration during an awful war. Imagine if he pissed off a large movie company recently that had the resources to make a movie about that through one of it's subsidiaries.
posted by inthe80s at 5:03 PM on February 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by inthe80s at 5:03 PM on February 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
Imagine if he pissed off a large movie company
They're not so pissed off that they're willing to shoulder the cost of doing the one thing that would really hurt him, which is pull out of Florida.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:07 PM on February 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
They're not so pissed off that they're willing to shoulder the cost of doing the one thing that would really hurt him, which is pull out of Florida.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:07 PM on February 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
As far as I can tell Disney is still planning to relocate a huge amount of its staff to Florida by 2026, so they’re probably just fine with all this or at least find it bearable.
posted by Artw at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
DeSantis, A Physical study: He looks like someone who is going to call the cops on some kids he is scared of. He's the guy you warn new neighbors about or a guy who cheers on a felony at a frat party.*
He is generally frowning, even when at rest or speaking about something that should make him look happy. He is not even ugly, just looks perpetually irritated and this hurts his decent facial features.
Like some politicians, he is suprisingly bad at conveying real, secure authority in his voice, posture, or body language.
The Clintons and 2 generations of Bushes, look generally happy to meet people or listen to others speak, no matter how you feel about them.
*Note: I'm drunk right now, but have felt increasing annoyance with him for years.
posted by Freecola at 6:13 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
He is generally frowning, even when at rest or speaking about something that should make him look happy. He is not even ugly, just looks perpetually irritated and this hurts his decent facial features.
Like some politicians, he is suprisingly bad at conveying real, secure authority in his voice, posture, or body language.
The Clintons and 2 generations of Bushes, look generally happy to meet people or listen to others speak, no matter how you feel about them.
*Note: I'm drunk right now, but have felt increasing annoyance with him for years.
posted by Freecola at 6:13 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Imagine if he pissed off a large movie company recently that had the resources to make a movie about that through one of it's subsidiaries.
Judging from the number of Desantis ads I saw on Hulu (owned by Disney) this last election cycle (every single commercial break) vs. the number of Crist ads (zero) I think they've already decided to bend the knee. Remember that any random Utah brewpub has a more accommodating dress code than Disney Parks.
posted by credulous at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Judging from the number of Desantis ads I saw on Hulu (owned by Disney) this last election cycle (every single commercial break) vs. the number of Crist ads (zero) I think they've already decided to bend the knee. Remember that any random Utah brewpub has a more accommodating dress code than Disney Parks.
posted by credulous at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
The news source of this article is new to me. Right now anti-DeSantis propaganda, is likely pro-Trump, out of some deep dirty tricks department. This spin is Bannonesque. Not that I have sympathy for any of them. Florida is a deeply corrupt situation, the home base for most of our most dodgy meddling. Ron DeSantis is like a lab made social disease. Some of the grossest influences and powers that be, have been brewing him for at least three generations. He is a classic fascist military industrial criminal, so contorted by powerful and conflicting inner, and powerful outer influences, he can barely sit in a chair, chooses to wear white rubber abattoir boots to a photo shoot, doesn't know what to do with his hands, looks like he is disassociated from what he has been tapped to do. He is like a hate fire-hose, pretending a choirboy performance. The man is deeply disturbed.
posted by Oyéah at 8:52 PM on February 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 8:52 PM on February 28, 2023 [11 favorites]
Metafilter: I'm drunk right now, but have felt increasing annoyance
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:34 PM on February 28, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:34 PM on February 28, 2023 [7 favorites]
If his fans would love it, why is he hiding it?
So The New York Times and other on-side liberal establishments can still plausibly support him in his presidential bid.
The Guardian, too. They ran a story this week (that I'm not going to link to) that talked about DeSantis as some sort of tough guy ballbuster that felt so absent critique and so full of obvious talking points from his team's writing group that I imagine it's not very different from a news release for his TBA campaign that ended up in the hands of the editorial office. Big publishers are downright salivating for New Trump rage click ad revenue.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:39 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
So The New York Times and other on-side liberal establishments can still plausibly support him in his presidential bid.
The Guardian, too. They ran a story this week (that I'm not going to link to) that talked about DeSantis as some sort of tough guy ballbuster that felt so absent critique and so full of obvious talking points from his team's writing group that I imagine it's not very different from a news release for his TBA campaign that ended up in the hands of the editorial office. Big publishers are downright salivating for New Trump rage click ad revenue.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:39 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
One of my favourite writers is Carl Hiaasen, truly the ultimate chronicler of Florida and its weirdness, politics and environments
Not sure that even Hiaasen can deal with DeSatan
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 4:06 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Not sure that even Hiaasen can deal with DeSatan
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 4:06 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
So it came to light finally that DeSantis did some awful stuff for an awful administration during an awful war. Imagine if he pissed off a large movie company recently that had the resources to make a movie about that through one of it's subsidiaries.
pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease
letthemfight.gif
posted by lalochezia at 5:05 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I did not understand when I was younger both how fragile and how meaningful was the pretense that the American people agreed on tolerance as a core value. At the very least it operated as a mild brake on public expressions of intolerance.
It was a poorly-maintained and often ignored pretense then, but it seems to have been completely abandoned now.
posted by allium cepa at 6:13 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
It was a poorly-maintained and often ignored pretense then, but it seems to have been completely abandoned now.
posted by allium cepa at 6:13 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I wrote President Obama to say that those responsible for using torture must be prosecuted. He wrote me back saying, “Our intelligence professionals are patriots, and we are safer because of their heroic service and sacrifices.” He concluded,
posted by ob1quixote at 7:38 AM on March 1, 2023 [15 favorites]
“Rather than provide another reason to refight old arguments, I hope the report can help us leave those techniques where they belong—in the past. Upholding the values we profess doesn’t make us weaker, it makes us stronger. The United States must and will remain the greatest force for freedom and human dignity the world has ever known. Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts.”Yes, I am still angry with him.
posted by ob1quixote at 7:38 AM on March 1, 2023 [15 favorites]
Trump knows better than to run against him, but DeSantis may try to ensure his victory, by making Trump HIS veep
DeSantis has no cachet outside of Florida. He's not quotable, he's an annoying dork who can't provide short, quippy answers to anything. He's not The Guy. The Jeb Bush endorsement was the funniest / saddest thing I've seen in a while.
Offering Trump VP is something only a person who fails to understand Trump at a basic level would suggest. You'd make an enemy for life by suggesting he be your number two. In his mind he has never lost at anything, and you're going to offer him second place?
posted by Dark Messiah at 8:37 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
DeSantis has no cachet outside of Florida. He's not quotable, he's an annoying dork who can't provide short, quippy answers to anything. He's not The Guy. The Jeb Bush endorsement was the funniest / saddest thing I've seen in a while.
Offering Trump VP is something only a person who fails to understand Trump at a basic level would suggest. You'd make an enemy for life by suggesting he be your number two. In his mind he has never lost at anything, and you're going to offer him second place?
posted by Dark Messiah at 8:37 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
I will be interested to see if this has legs in respected news outlets or gets raised on the campaign trail. If so, it’s a bombshell. I don’t doubt he’s capable of it, but Harpers is the only outlet above I know about, and it’s still just one prisoner’s account. I’d love to see a real investigative piece that corroborates the allegations.
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:21 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by caviar2d2 at 9:21 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Florida resident here. DeSantis is a full-blown sociopath. He enjoys inflicting harm on people through his policies, and he won't miss a chance to punch down when it presents itself.
Still, as immensely popular as he is here, I continue to have my doubts about his national appeal. He is a terrible, uncharismatic public speaker - and I don't feel like his burn-it-all-down culture war is going to garner excitement from housewives that just want to keep the status quo.
posted by gnutron at 9:37 AM on March 1, 2023 [8 favorites]
Still, as immensely popular as he is here, I continue to have my doubts about his national appeal. He is a terrible, uncharismatic public speaker - and I don't feel like his burn-it-all-down culture war is going to garner excitement from housewives that just want to keep the status quo.
posted by gnutron at 9:37 AM on March 1, 2023 [8 favorites]
lol, DeSantis offering Trump a VP slot would be the harshest diss of all time. I fucking hate DeSantis and everything he stands for, but that would be hilarious.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:30 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:30 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
The NYTimes is so, so up for the DeSantis “anti-woke” crusade, they are practically salivating for it.
posted by Artw at 1:34 PM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:34 PM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
The NYTimes is so, so up for the DeSantis “anti-woke” crusade, they are practically salivating for it.
Oh, a story about how conservatives are being silenced, the same week that Florida state senator Blaise Ingoglia proposes banning the Democratic Party in Florida.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:53 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Oh, a story about how conservatives are being silenced, the same week that Florida state senator Blaise Ingoglia proposes banning the Democratic Party in Florida.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:53 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I don't know what to say. It's frightening to live here right now. Everyone absolutely loves this guy, and they would love him no less for being a torturer. On a national level, I can easily see centrists being fooled by mass media presenting both sides as equal, as always, if they care to weigh the issue in their minds at all. I find it startling how readily people believe whatever they are told by social media and newspapers, but they believe it nonetheless.
Trump was a terrible speaker and a complete mess physically and behaviorally. He still won, and is still beloved by a huge number of people in this country. It's easy to forget that; I wish we wouldn't.
posted by the liquid oxygen at 5:05 PM on March 1, 2023 [7 favorites]
Trump was a terrible speaker and a complete mess physically and behaviorally. He still won, and is still beloved by a huge number of people in this country. It's easy to forget that; I wish we wouldn't.
posted by the liquid oxygen at 5:05 PM on March 1, 2023 [7 favorites]
Trump knows better than to run against him
One of those men is declared candidate for 2024, and one is not.
but if you really think the odds of anyone but those two being president two years from now are less than zero, I'd humbly suggest that a bit of sunlight and fresh air might be helpful.
I've been away from MeFi for a number of years, but happy to see that the "Biden couldn't win his way out of paper bag" discourse is still going on 2 years into the actual Biden Administration.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 6:28 PM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
One of those men is declared candidate for 2024, and one is not.
but if you really think the odds of anyone but those two being president two years from now are less than zero, I'd humbly suggest that a bit of sunlight and fresh air might be helpful.
I've been away from MeFi for a number of years, but happy to see that the "Biden couldn't win his way out of paper bag" discourse is still going on 2 years into the actual Biden Administration.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 6:28 PM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
Eh, Florida is a shoal and the water is rising. Maybe they'll both be neck deep and struggling with pythons and alligators by then.
posted by Oyéah at 7:12 PM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 7:12 PM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Trump knows better than to run against him, but DeSantis may try to ensure his victory
Here is the problem with this theory: Donald Trump leads Ron DeSantis in practically every poll for the GOP candidacy right now. Desantis has only eked out a small victory in two polls in 2023 (California and Hew Hampshire primary polls) and everywhere else Trump is thumping him, and this is before people really get a good look at Ron DeSantis, who is a lousy speaker, looks awkward as hell and generally has the charisma of a dead fish. State politics is small ball compared to the national stage - Scott Walker and Jeb Bush both proved that pretty conclusively.
There are plenty of Republicans who recognize that Donald Trump makes the party's chances worse and want someone else to be the candidate. Their issue is pretty much the same as it was in 2016: only one Republican gets to be the presidential candidate, and they can't agree on who it should be, and if they can't all get behind a single candidate then Trump will most likely thump the field by winning primaries while they're divided, at which point some of the Trump-opposers will start deciding "well I guess he's winning again, better fall in line now so I can get some stuff if he wins" and then it really will be over, because those Republicans' objection to Trump is not substantive but rather aesthetic.
Donald Trump is the favorite to win the Republican presidential candidacy in 2024 right now. That doesn't mean he will win - shit can always happen - but to pretend otherwise is simply wishful thinking or assigning popularity to Ron DeSantis that he simply does not have.
posted by mightygodking at 7:48 AM on March 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Here is the problem with this theory: Donald Trump leads Ron DeSantis in practically every poll for the GOP candidacy right now. Desantis has only eked out a small victory in two polls in 2023 (California and Hew Hampshire primary polls) and everywhere else Trump is thumping him, and this is before people really get a good look at Ron DeSantis, who is a lousy speaker, looks awkward as hell and generally has the charisma of a dead fish. State politics is small ball compared to the national stage - Scott Walker and Jeb Bush both proved that pretty conclusively.
There are plenty of Republicans who recognize that Donald Trump makes the party's chances worse and want someone else to be the candidate. Their issue is pretty much the same as it was in 2016: only one Republican gets to be the presidential candidate, and they can't agree on who it should be, and if they can't all get behind a single candidate then Trump will most likely thump the field by winning primaries while they're divided, at which point some of the Trump-opposers will start deciding "well I guess he's winning again, better fall in line now so I can get some stuff if he wins" and then it really will be over, because those Republicans' objection to Trump is not substantive but rather aesthetic.
Donald Trump is the favorite to win the Republican presidential candidacy in 2024 right now. That doesn't mean he will win - shit can always happen - but to pretend otherwise is simply wishful thinking or assigning popularity to Ron DeSantis that he simply does not have.
posted by mightygodking at 7:48 AM on March 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state
Florida really has the 1940s Germany but with palm trees thing going on.
posted by Artw at 1:42 PM on March 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
Florida really has the 1940s Germany but with palm trees thing going on.
posted by Artw at 1:42 PM on March 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
> Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the stateThis bill seems specifically written to be appealed all the way to SCotUS, where it will get overturned by the conservative-controlled court... and HerrSantis, his campaign contributors, groups like the Koch Brother and Mercers, and more than a few Democrats, will all happily pop open the champagne.
Florida really has the 1940s Germany but with palm trees thing going on.
Sure, it'll be another tool to harass bloggers and journalists that Meatball Ron doesn't like, because how many have the financial means and free time to fight this bad law. But the bill labels bloggers as "lobbyists", forcing them to register themselves and their "backers" with the state. When DeathSentence or his GQP gubernatorial successor appeals this all the way to the Supremes, it'll be not only overturned; the illegitimate court will also gleefully gut the laws regulating actual lobbyists. Likely that means we won't know anymore who they are and know who is paying them, so we won't have an inkling of what they're pushing through. SCotUS's ruling will will further strengthen the power of dark money laid down by Citizens United.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 10:49 AM on March 3, 2023
‘Very intimate knowledge’: What Ron DeSantis saw while serving at Guantánamo. A detailed article from the Miami Herald exploring what DeSantis' career as a JAG at America's torture facility would have been like.
I've been waiting for the Adayfi interview to have more impact but it seems to have gotten no pickup. Maybe no other media can fact-check what Adayfi is saying? This Miami Herald article is a serious effort to get at the DeSantis story from another angle. It talks about Adayfi's testimony, also has a lot of information sourced to Abdel Aziz, another detainee.
posted by Nelson at 8:57 AM on March 9, 2023
I've been waiting for the Adayfi interview to have more impact but it seems to have gotten no pickup. Maybe no other media can fact-check what Adayfi is saying? This Miami Herald article is a serious effort to get at the DeSantis story from another angle. It talks about Adayfi's testimony, also has a lot of information sourced to Abdel Aziz, another detainee.
posted by Nelson at 8:57 AM on March 9, 2023
DeSantis tried to portray his time in the navy as if he was maverick in top gun, when in fact he was a lawyer. According to recently released military records ones of his duties was as “assistant urinalysis collector”. I suspect this part of his military service will cause him more grief with Republicans.
posted by interogative mood at 12:32 PM on March 9, 2023
posted by interogative mood at 12:32 PM on March 9, 2023
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posted by njohnson23 at 10:26 AM on February 28, 2023