DeSantis's March Towards Fascism

Growing up as a Jew in America, only two generations removed from the Holocaust that my grandparents escaped, but their parents didn’t, fascism is far from a foreign concept to me. Until recently it was at least an abstract concept, rooted in a deeply ingrained history, but a history nonetheless.

"Never forget" was instilled in me from a young age, and not just the history of what happens when anti-semitism and fascism intersect, but the necessity to be vigilant that it never happen again.

Now as a Jew growing up in Tallahassee and practicing law in the Florida Panhandle, I've seen my share of light-to-moderate anti-semitism over the years. I've been on the receiving end of it, and I've actively fought against it. But fascism remained abstract. That it could take root on American soil, even more so.

Even Trump, for all his various lurches towards hate speech, authoritarian sympathies, and incitement towards political violence, did not appear to represent an actual fascist threat, more so a wannabe tinpot (and tinhat) dictator. But his tenure of grievance, culture war division, misinformation and articulated racism have laid the pathway forward for another ambitious man with a clearly defined vision for a modern, American Fascist.

In Florida, with less than two weeks to go before the midterm elections, we are on the precipice of re-electing (by what is projected to be a healthy margin) that man who I believe, and who mounting evidence and actions suggest, presents a true, fascist threat to the people of this state - and to the nation, as Ron DeSantis plots a run for President while campaigning for reelection.

Since "fascism" is such a loaded term, and one so intertwined in the public conscious with Nazism, we need to define and contextualize what it really means. The late Madeline Albright warned of the rise of global fascism in her last book, and usefully defined it thusly, "fascism is not an ideology; it’s a process for taking and holding power. A fascist is somebody who identifies with one group — usually an aggrieved majority — in opposition to a smaller group. It’s about majority rule without any minority rights."

"The important thing is that fascists aren’t actually trying to solve problems; they’re invested in exacerbating problems and deepening the divisions that result from them. They reject the free press and denounce the institutional structures within a society — like Congress or the judiciary."

In these weekly missives, I will seek to demonstrate why, and how, DeSantis is meeting that definition as his pursues a deliberate and well plotted agenda towards fascist rule here in Florida, and how he could take his agenda to the White House.

Curiously, DeSantis didn't initially present as the sort of threat to democratic values as he does today. When he first took office in 2019, he seemed to most like a refreshing change of pace from eight years of Rick Scott, and some of his opening salvos as governor involved legalizing the smoking of medical marijuana, shaking up the South Florida Water Management District, and taking actions on environmental threats to Florida waterways.

But some deft observers, like my friend and former candidate for Governor, Gwen Graham, saw DeSantis early on for who he truly was. In a tweet* in September, 2019, she warned, "“Do not believe the @Gov.RONDESANTIS bipartisan spin. He is a mini@realDonald Trump. To the Floridians (Rs, Ds, Is) who have said, ‘He isn’t as bad as I thought he would be.’ I say, ‘No, he is worse.’ Pay attention, Florida. Actions speak louder than words.”

*

Gwen Graham @GwenGraham

Do NOT believe the @GovRonDeSantis’ bipartisan spin. He is a mini @realDonaldTrump. To the Floridians (Rs, Ds, Is) who have said, “He isn’t as bad as I thought he would be.” I say, “No, he is worse.” Pay attention, Florida. Actions speak louder than words.

floridapolitics.comRon DeSantis enters impeachment fray, raising money to ‘protect’ Donald TrumpThe Governor is encouraging donations to the newly launched Presidential Protection Fund.

She was right. He is worse. Worse than we thought back then, but also worse than Trump.  

Earlier this year, in a speech to Boy's State (a venue where I clashed with Nazi sympathizers some 30 years ago, in one of those aforementioned brushes with anti-semitism), DeSantis laid out his philosophy for the exercise of power since the first days of his governorship.

“I had my transition folks give me a list of all the powers of the governor. The constitutional powers, statutory powers, customary powers. What can I do on my own? What did I need the Legislature for? … What would the courts have to check? Just really get a good idea.” he said.

“And I knew most of it, but just every little nook and cranny I wanted to know. And then, when you’re trying to pursue an agenda, you’ve got to be cognizant of where all these pressure points are within the system."*

*https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/06/21/desantis-offers-insight-into-how-he-approaches-politics-in-boys-state-speech/

He was and remains deliberate in his seizure and execution of power. Left unsaid in his remarks to Boy's State, is that since identifying those "checks" and "pressure points" in the system, DeSantis has set about (largely successfully) bulldozing them, and effectively bending all political power in Florida within the purview of the governor.

The Florida courts, which for years have been the only thing standing between Republican governors and the Florida constitution, are now packed - from circuits to supremes - with ultraconservatives that would make Clarence Thomas blush. The Florida Cabinet no longer meets, for all intents and purposes delegating by default its authority to the governor. The lone Democratic cabinet member, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, is on her way out, and saw her office's budget slashed shortly into her tenure. And the Florida Legislature, majority Republican in both Houses for over two decades, has bent over for the Governor on issues large and small, most notably his unconstitutionally racist congressional maps, and the legislation stripping Disney of its special tax district.

As DeSantis has effectively stamped out any potential internecine dissent or checks on his power, he has pursued an aggressive campaign of exercising that power to likewise blunt any sort of external pressures on his agenda.

DeSantis has, in the last four years and in no particular order:

- Mounted a full frontal assault on public education from kindergarten to the public university system, adjudicating and stifling speech with measures like the "Stop WOKE Act" and the "Don't Say Gay" bill, appointing an education commissioner set on gutting public schools, banning books and attempting to install right-wing ideologues on local school boards;
- Removed lawfully elected officials like Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren from public office based on political disagreements;
- Glommed onto Trump's "Big Lie" about election fraud by establishing a gestapo-like "election police" force that so far has found little fraud, but nonetheless rounded up a handful of unsuspecting, mostly black, voters and charged them with flimsy accusations that seem as likely to intimidate Democratic-leaning voters as they do unlikely to succeed in court;
- Pushed through radically partisan congressional districts in an unprecedented case of usurping legislative power, while also betraying the "Fair Districts" language voters placed in the Florida Constitution in 2010;
- Waged a political and economic war against one of the largest corporations in the state, Disney, for the sin of disagreeing with him on his anti-LGBTQ+ culture war crusades;
- Illegally and unethically appropriated state funds to use Venezuelan migrants - in another state! - as human chattel and props in a bid to score points on Fox News and OWN the libs'.

In future editions of this newsletter, I will take you on a deeper dive into each of these instances of DeSantis' steady march towards modern fascism. History shows that fascism does not take hold by dint of a sudden uprising, but rather as a slow creep towards an authoritarian state. Florida is the state, and Ron DeSantis is most certainly the creep.