I understand the idea behind saying that some paid bloggers are really lobbyists. Some bloggers are probably paid lots of money by political parties in order to promote or denounce policies and politicians. It's probably frustrating that these folks hide behind the First Amendment the same way mass shooters hide behind the Second Amendment. Jason Brodeur, who would also be off-limits for bloggers who don't register with the FLestapo, has proposed a bill that would fine anyone who has gotten paid or will get paid for a blog post about DeSantis or any of his pets in office. Not journalists, supposedly. But then again, with DeSantis's view mainstream media being partisan, isn't everyone from USA Today to the Miami Herald just writing for blogs nowadays? And what about editorial opinions from newspapers?
I realize I'm not the target here. No one "pays" me to write my posts. I might make a little money from ads on my website. In general, however, if I wanted to start a blog, like desanctimonious.com and write hard news, fake news, satire, or even poetry about Ron Desantis (while getting paid by Donald Trump or George Soros), it's actually OK for me to do that. In Russia, I might go to jail, but even though we also border Georgia, this ain't Russia. Yet.
Most of this stuff, I don't really care about. We've got property appraisers and school board members getting Desantis backing. Disney taking it up the Astro Orbiter. Or AP taking it lying down. College professors, teachers, and students being told what to teach and learn. Unions getting busted (except police). Ex-cons who were told to vote by the state being sent to jail for voting and politicians who question RD's buddies in The Villages being sent to jail on trumped-up Sunshine law charges. And you can't have a meeting at the Capitol without a sponsor. Or a peaceful protest. But we sure as shootin can all carry concealed weapons, especially those in the new Florida secret police force. We even have guards at library voting stations. And what will we ever know about Kent Stermon or how Mike Williams kept his retirement or which donors have which construction/road project? Or why millions of our dollars are being used in Texas to send illegal immigrants north.
Ron Desantis, whose name I can say, is a one-trick pony who happened to open Florida up at the right time, and that might have warranted him a second term as governor. But he really seems to be an icky person who is trying to create new world order in Florida that limits more rights than it offers, all while hoping to control who can even write about him or talk about him.
If you're not a racist truck driver/housing developer, you can probably agree that Ron Desantis has taken taken things too far in at least a half-dozen ways. But there's no state legislature or state supreme court to check him, so we're kind of stuck with whatever plans he cooks up in his lair. I've lived in states with Republicans and Democrats as governor, and normally I agree with some policies and disagree with some policies. With Captain Ron, I agree with some, disagree with some, but for a vast majority, I am kind of in disbelief. I suppose his supporters would say I was indoctrinated as woke for too many years, but that's just not true. I don't agree with paying reparations and trans stuff makes me uncomfortable. I don't like illegal immigration or illegal voting. But I do believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I also believe that those who feel bullied become the worst bullies. Ron Desantis plays off the fear we all have of being bullied. Real or perceived, and from one perspective. You can look through history to find other leaders who led with that fear. Sure, our Founding Fathers might fit the description, but they also established our Bill of Rights that included free speech. It's the other leaders throughout history who tried to suppress rights that worry me. And those are the leaders that worried those who created our country.
