Hurricane Milton, a Lack of Leadership, and Election 2024

Milton may turn out to be the real October surprise.

by Leesa K. Donner | Oct 8, 2024 @ Liberty Nation News, Tags, Articles, Opinion, Politics

The Gulf Coast of Florida is bracing for what is being billed as an historic weather event as Hurricane Milton strengthens to a Category 5 storm with winds up to 150 mph. Coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene – which has devastated parts of Georgia and North Carolina – Milton may just be the defining moment of Election 2024. After all, what is the government’s purpose if it does not come to the aid of its citizens in moments of hardship? Right now, a lot of Americans are hurting, and when Milton makes landfall tomorrow (Oct. 9), more people will be in desperate need of help. Will the Biden-Harris administration step up to the plate? If the response to Helene is a harbinger of things to come, it’s unlikely.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) ineffectiveness has been a cornerstone of criticism regarding the lack of aid to people suffering in the aftermath of Helene. Yesterday (Oct. 7) on Fox & Friends, GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance suggested the federal government’s poor response was due to a lack of leadership: “I think the fundamental mistake the Kamala Harris administration has made here … was that from the get-go you should have imposed military-style command and control.”

Vance asserted that an organized military approach would have cut back on the red tape and delivered goods and services to those most in need in a targeted fashion. Helicopter and airplane landings could have been coordinated, as well as food and water distributions. As it is, he said, “The problem here, I really believe, is it’s like the DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles] at industrial scale, and because of it, a lot of folks in North Carolina are suffering unnecessarily.”

Thus far, FEMA has been in the eye of the poor response storm, and those affected by the first hurricane are hopping mad about it. Residents of the two states have been begging for government assistance. However, it appears that those stepping up are private organizations and community relief efforts. As Liberty Nation’s Sarah Cowgill reported, “[H]eartlanders are deploying whatever resources they must to help their neighbors.” Meanwhile, hurricane survivors continue to hang on for the broke and illusive organization that could easily be dubbed the Federal Emergency Migrant Assistance program – the all-new FEMA.

On Fox, Will Cain asked Vance how he and former President Donald Trump would put Americans first in this situation:

“[T]he fundamental point [is] that the Biden Harris administration has turned FEMA effectively into an agency that helps to resettle and helps to deal with illegal immigration. That is just fundamentally going to distract focus from their core job of helping American citizens in their time of need. “

However, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell vociferously disagreed with the Republican assertion that FEMA has used its funds for the illegal migrant population. USA Today quoted Criswell’s interview on ABC’s This Week news program:

“Criswell defended FEMA’s response and shot down Trump’s claims that the agency is short on disaster relief funds because money has been diverted to help undocumented immigrants and that help is being withheld from Republican areas, calling such assertions ‘frankly ridiculous and just plain false.’”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) made an effort to clear up the matter on Fox News Sunday. “The streams of funding are different, that is not an untrue statement, of course.” But the Biden-Harris administration, under the direction of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, has been putting federal money toward the resettlement of those who have crossed the border illegally. Johnson added, “That’s what the Biden administration, Kamala Harris and Secretary Mayorkas have been engaged in.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mission is to help people in times of natural disaster, and whatever the reason its response has been neither timely nor well-coordinated.

Hurricane Milton — Its True Cost Will Be at the Polls

No matter which cache of federal funds was used, those whose homes and lives have been destroyed by Helene and those who will suffer the same fate when Hurricane Milton lands likely don’t care. What concerns them is Mayorkas’ statement that FEMA is broke. Meanwhile, yesterday (Oct. 7), “[T]he Inspector General for Homeland Security released a report saying FEMA is sitting on at least $8.3 billion in untapped, unspent funds.”

Bored? Check This Out!

While this political game of verbal gotcha takes place, hurricane victims are left holding the bag. Fortunately, Sunshine State residents have Gov. Ron DeSantis as their failsafe. DeSantis has proven to be a tried-and-tested leader when it comes to dealing with hurricanes. And it could be said that leadership – even more than money — appears to be what is sorely lacking in this challenging time.

But make no mistake: These unplanned events will affect the upcoming election as thousands of people are likely to express their displeasure with those who didn’t step up to assist their fellow Americans when they were in desperate need.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

Read More From Leesa K. Donner

Far-Left Courses Get Axed at Harvard – Will More Follow?

Is this the beginning of a shift in academia, or much ado about nothing? 

By Corey Smith | Oct 6, 2024, @ Liberty Nation News, Tags: Articles, Opinion, Politics

(Photo by: Sergi Reboredo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Just as the school year was about to get underway, Harvard University canceled more than 30 courses. History and literature were affected the most. Many were far-left classes like “Global Transgender Histories,” in which students would’ve learned about “the lives of ancient and medieval people who crossed boundaries of sex and gender” and “the historical overlaps between cross-dressing, queer sexuality, and gender non-conformity.”

Little has been said about why the last-minute cancellations happened. Some were supposedly scrapped because five lecturers were no longer available to teach them. Others moved on to other studies, departed for medical reasons, or changed jobs. Low enrollment is likely the reason for shutting down many of these courses, though it’s hard to believe not enough students wanted to study “the historical impacts of … medicalization on gender identities.”

Perhaps this is another effort to scale back anything nearly related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). If so, as the school year progresses, will Americans see other colleges dropping such courses?

Harvard’s Path: Derailed or a New Trail?

A quick synopsis is in order. Elite universities nationwide have attracted much attention in the last decade. Visiting speakers, typically people with right-leaning views, have often been forced to leave mid-speech or been asked not to come, a product of being strong-armed by clamorous students protesting against speakers whose political identities they disagree with and opinions they want to silence. Demonstrations expressing outrage among college campuses have been an issue for years but have become more contentious and vitriolic since the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7. Things got so bad for Harvard that its former president, Claudine Gay, alongside two other Ivy League presidents, had to travel to DC last December and answer questions concerning how they handled the pro-Palestinian encampments on their respective campuses. In January, Gay, who also faced plagiarism allegations, resigned.

In June, Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) stopped “requiring a diversity, inclusion, and belonging statement as part of its faculty hiring process.” This decision came just a year after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which resulted in colleges no longer being allowed to use race-based affirmative action programs in their admissions processes. The push to abandon the diversity statements was primarily encouraged by faculty, including the eminent psychologist and author Steven Pinker, a Harvard professor. In December last year, he wrote an op-ed, published in the Boston Globe, arguing against mandatory diversity statements, which he claimed, “[P]urge the next generation of scholars of anyone who isn’t a woke ideologue or a skilled liar. … Universities should stanch the flood of DEI officials, expose their policies to the light of day, and repeal the ones that cannot be publicly justified.”

Before Harvard dropped its diversity statement, though, many colleges had already changed or eliminated their DEI statements and offices.

Harvard Isn’t Alone

Numerous colleges have slowly stepped back from DEI efforts. One news publication, The Chronicle of Higher Education, has been tracking the “dismantling” of DEI on campuses since January 2023. So far, its documentation includes 203 colleges across 31 states.

Eliminating DEI statements from hiring and admissions seems like a theme among many colleges. Several campuses have even shut down their DEI offices, some in response to legislative action and political pressure. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last year banning DEI offices, diversity statements, and “identity-based preferences in hiring at public colleges.” Other Red states have passed similar laws.

Another ongoing theme is the name changes. California changed its “Office of Multicultural Affairs to the Office of Belonging and Inclusion.” What’s the difference? The University of Iowa replaced the name of its DEI office with the “Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity” and cut “five unfilled DEI-related positions.” It also no longer requires “students, faculty, and staff to share their pronouns.” Not far away, Northern Kentucky University lost its chief diversity officer, who resigned, and it now plans to close its Office of Inclusive Excellence. The list goes on and on.

Some of these moves appear to be changes that aren’t really changes but slight alterations to disguise DEI offices and statements as something else, though the language often used is telling – and the disguises can look like mere variants of their originals.

The Chronicle’s last update to this page was September 27. There’s no mention of colleges canceling courses, though perhaps that’s outside the DEI scope. Or maybe nobody is paying attention to it. Either way, if other colleges have removed such classes, they’re doing so quietly. It’s unclear whether Harvard’s cancellations are permanent or if they will return in the spring. But according to its course list, which may or may not be current, plenty of niche classes remain for those interested in far-left topics, such

• Queer Archives
• Sin, Sex, and Race
• Queering Education
• Gender in Byzantium
• Feminism in the Age of Empire
• Street Dance Activism: Co-choreographic Praxis as Activism
• Race and Racism in the Making of the United States as a Global Power
• Queer Nation: LGBTQ+ Protest, Politics, and Policy in the United States
• Power to the People: Black Power, Radical Feminism, and Gay Liberation

Compared to other universities, Harvard was late in cutting diversity statements and likely didn’t do so because it suddenly decided not to advocate for its preferred ideological culture. It still has an Office for Gender Equity (if its website is up-to-date), so to say it’s making a strong effort to change its DEI-like ways might be an overstatement. Perhaps canceling these courses lies along the same lines: not something it wants to do but has to do. Because of its elite status and constant publicity, more bad than good nowadays, it appears to be doing whatever it can to maintain its status and initiatives to keep the machine running with as little criticism and backlash as possible – all while receiving millions in government funds.

Dig Deeper into the Themes Discussed in this Article!

Liberty Vault: Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

 

 

Read More From Corey Smith

Global Warming is All About Global Governance, and Global Tyranny

By Rich Kozlovich

If you favor globalization it means favoring global governance, if you favor global warming and this net zero insanity, you favor world tyranny, since that’s the intent behind globalization and this global warming farce. 

Here’s reality. If you play straight with cheaters, you lose, whether it involves economics, the environment, or politics. If countries or activist groups aren’t playing straight, then don’t play!  Because if you do, they get bigger, richer and more dangerous, and the straight shooters get poorer, smaller and defenseless.  

Nixon's  and Kissinger's bringing China into the world's economy is the perfect example. After Mao’s Cultural Revolution China’s economy, and the Chinese Communist Party, were heading for the ash heap of history. Nixon prevented that by opening China to world trade, and now we’re seeing the consequences.  

China is now a superpower, and opening up to world trade didn't generate liberal democracy in China nor any other dictatorial/socialist nation.  Now the democratic nations of the world world are groveling at the feet of the Chinese Communist Party.  And these tyrannous nations became all the more dictatorial because they've now been provide with the economic wherewithal to do so.  Now they're a threat to western civilization.  

China now has the largest navy in the world, and has a massive military.  The west is funding all this.  And what does China want?  The destruction of the United States, and Chinese hegemony over western civilization with a form of world governance they dominate. 

The western world's nations are helping them to do that by committing economic suicide in their efforts to go green, insisting this is absolutely necessary to save the world. No more drilling for oil, no more coal, no more nuclear power, total and complete submission to the secular worship of "alternative renewable energy".

Wind and solar energy are totally incapable of providing the necessary energy for humanities needs, both of which are environmental nightmares.  And batteries aren't the answer, not to mention they're really dangerous.   

As for these economic "carbon offset" schemes, Olivia Murray notes, were ‘probably junk’ that did nothing to negate pollution.  And the scam continues, lucratively I might add.   Olivia Murray asks, have the greenies ever heard of these crazy things called trees?  Yeah they've heard of them and in order to generate clean energy’ California is going to "bulldoze 3,500 Joshua trees, so coastal homes can go ‘carbon neutral’

Let's delve into this suicidal pact for the fantasy of Net Zero.  Milt Davis in his article,  The Other Side Of The Climate Change Coin, states:

At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year, a group of influential individuals suggested that implementing carbon taxes is necessary. They also mentioned that the required framework to implement these taxes is already in place and must be implemented. It was also noted that obtaining more funding and reaffirming the global necessity to combat climate change will be crucial at the upcoming COP29 and COP30 events. However, the previous climate forum, COP28, faced challenges as the meeting's president acknowledged that there was no scientific basis for the fast-paced fossil fuel phaseout agenda.

There is an expression that says if you tell a lie long enough and often enough, people will believe it. By their own admission, there is no scientific basis for the fast-paced fossil fuel phaseout agenda. In other words, the entire story is being fabricated.

In a run away power grab WHO wants to tie all pandemics to global warming, and it's all a fraud.   In 1989 it was predicted by the year 2000 entire nations would be wiped off the face of the Earth, and the nation's of the world only had ten more years to solve the problem of "green house gases" because all the polar icecaps would then be melted causing the world oceans to rise covering islands and coastal cities.  Oops! 

By now the and Antarctic was supposed to have melted to such a degree it would flood the coastal cities.  That was a load of horsepucky, and once again, time and truth are on the same side.  Time and again when you look at their claims of disaster they're invariably fraudulent, and an obfuscation of truth, and in spite of all the evidence of how fraudulent this all is, this propaganda is still being fed to college students working for academic degrees that would stop "phony climate calamities."  

The nation needs cheap, reliable, readily available energy, and that means drilling, hydro power, nuclear power, coal, and natural gas.  Energy independence is essential to any nations well being, and that's what Trump gave America, and that's what Biden took it away.  

The issue isn't global warming, that's the excuse.  The issue is global governance, and there will be no end to the impositions that will be placed on humanity.  And make no mistake, controlling our lives is who and what they are.  The leftists have politicized everything to that end, "because they know best".  

You don't have enough intelligence or depth of understanding to make you're own life choices, so, a tyrannous worldwide system of government is necessary  imposing deep state tyranny.  You will own nothing, you will eat bugs and you will like it....or else!

Funny though, I can't find one Marxist/Socialist successful society that's successful, and China isn't successful, it's being catered to.  I think you will find this article by Mark Lewis, Marx and the Democrats to be profound!

Perhaps you would like to review my  file.  You will find it illuminating in light of what's going on in the world. 

DeSantis Gives Up, Throws His Support to Trump

DeSantis Gives Up, Throws His Support to Trump Florida governor says he can't see a path to victory 

 By Bob Cronin 

 Two days before the nation's first primary, Ron DeSantis abandoned his struggling Republican presidential campaign and endorsed the front-runner. "It's clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance," the Florida governor said in a video posted Sunday on X announcing the suspension. "If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it," DeSantis said, per NBC News. "But I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources. We don't have a clear path to victory".....To Read More....

 

The Republican Debate Was Unsatisfying Because No One Addressed The Most Important Issue

August 30, 2023 By Greg Salsbury

The first Republican debate was a disappointing disaster—for the candidates and America. Not one of the questions addressed the elephant in the room. In fact, the list of questions selected by Fox News, which likely received enthusiastic approval from the Democrat Party, helped highlight the elephant. Candidates were asked about a viral blue grass song, inflation, Ukraine, China, Israel, and other foreign relations issues, crime, energy, the border, climate change, abortion, and more. But as important as these things are, they pale by comparison to the single most important issue, the one posing the greatest threat to our Republic since the 1850s.

The greatest threat to our Republic, to our democracy, to our country as we know it is the unholy alliance that has been exposed between the Democrat Party, federal agencies, and the media—resulting in the greatest level of corruption we have ever witnessed.................Russiagate was not an isolated scandal that is now old news. Rather, it was a very large signpost showing a deep level of corruption within our government. That corruption has not faded away. Quite the contrary.............To Read More............

Pompous Pence’s Rewriting of His January 6 Heroism - As he makes his actions on January 6 the centerpiece of his campaign, Pence appears to have a different recollection than those of his top aides. But Pence appears to be rewriting the history of what he did on January 6. Contrary to his portrayal as one of the good guys on January 6, in reality, Pence is one of the bad guys. He intentionally delayed release of a letter outlining why he did not have the authority to reject electors from contested states. Rather than publish the statement the day before or early on January 6, Pence made it public right before the joint session of Congress convened at 1:00 p.m. (He claimed Trump caused the delay since Pence wanted to wait until the president was done speaking at the Ellipse before sending the letter. Trump took the stage about an hour later than planned.)............

Why Mike Pence Is No Hero - - Pence was a failed governor of Indiana headed to obscurity when rescued by team Trump. He was largely undistinguished as vice president, culminating with his losing debate performance to, of all people, Kamala Harris. His overt religious zeal, while commendable, is often excessive. He did however have an appropriate loyalty to the Trump administration, at least up to the end when it counted the most.   At the debate, in between taking unjustified bows for Trump successes, he answered questions about the activities of Jan. 6 by simply saying, “I followed the Constitution.” But of course, in this day of lazy journalism, this follow up question was never asked: “Sir, tell us, which section of the Constitution did you follow?”............     

Post-Indictment Poll: Trump Holds Enormous Lead over GOP Rivals in Georgia, DeSantis’s Slide Continues - Former President Donald Trump is closing in on 60 percent of support among likely Republican primary voters in Georgia and towers over the rest field, according to a poll taken after his indictment in Fulton County. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, conducted by the School of Public & International Affairs (SPIA) at the University of Georgia, finds that 57 percent of likely primary voters support Trump for his third consecutive nomination. He gained six points of support since the SPIA’s April poll when he pinged at 51 percent...........

Trump Open to Ramaswamy as Vice President: 'I Think He's Great' - Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy when asked if he would consider the 38-year-old biotech engineer as a running mate. "I think he's great," Mr. Trump told conservative talk show host Glenn Beck. "Look, anybody that's said I'm the best president in  a generation ... and he said it a couple of times ... I have to like a guy like that............

My Take - I hope that's rhetorical and not actual because I have some serious misgivings about this guy.  

Jon Voight Slams Biden’s ‘Corrupt’ Admin: ‘This Is a Civil War’ The current administration is a “corrupt mob” perpetrating a “disgusting scheme” against former President Donald Trump, according to Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight, who warned of a “civil war” taking place against “all of us.” In a slightly over two-minute clip posted Tuesday, the Hollywood legend — featured against the backdrop of an American flag — began by questioning if we have become a “nation of destructive behavior.”  .........

Grading the DeSantis Economic Plan

August 1, 2023 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

During the 2016 presidential cycle, I graded the tax reform plans of various presidential candidates based on factors such as marginal tax rates, double taxation, and fairness.

For the 2024 cycle, candidates have been disappointingly reluctant to make specific proposals about tax policy. Heck, most of them have very little to say about economic policy in general.

So I was excited when I read that Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, was unveiling an economic plan. The good news is that he seems to favor a smaller burden of government. The bad news is that he is not very specific.

His theme is to have a Declaration of Economic Independence.

There’s a lot to like on the above list, but also some items that may cause heartburn.

But my main reaction is that we don’t see details. Even if you go to the DeSantis website, there are very few specific policy proposals (though the ones I did find – such as support for full expensing and opposition to a central bank digital currency – are admirable).

The Wall Street Journal editorialized about the DeSantis plan and found many positive features.

Mr. DeSantis’s economic plan calls for “ambitious tax and regulatory reform,” including making permanent “full immediate expensing” for businesses. Ditto for today’s tax rates on personal income. …he says he’d simplify the tax code further, while purging “K Street carveouts and loopholes.” This is the right instinct, though we await specifics. …It says Mr. DeSantis’s appointee to lead the Federal Reserve would “focus on maintaining a stable dollar instead of the political pressures of the day.” Stable money is essential to rising incomes, and GOP candidates should make it the basis for any economic program. …The plan says he’d “support school choice nationwide…” As for college, he wants to stop government subsidies for “useless degrees” by making “universities, not taxpayers, responsible for the loans their students accrue.”

But the editors also worried that the Florida governor is using populist rhetoric…and perhaps even supporting populist policies.

Sometimes Mr. DeSantis sounds like an optimistic believer in economic freedom, arguing that the way to produce broad prosperity is to get government out of the way. With the next breath, he’s a Trumpian who wants industrial policy, speaks ominously of “large corporations,” and pits the middle class against “elites.” The Governor is trying to advance conservative policy while simultaneously appealing to Mr. Trump’s base. …He needs a vision for American renewal that transcends Mr. Biden’s plans to use big government for income redistribution and Mr. Trump’s desire to use it for political “retribution.”

Probably the most disappointing feature of the DeSantis plan is that absence of any plan to restrain the burden of government spending.

My former colleague Brian Riedl is similarly frustrated (though he focuses more on red ink while I care about excessive spending).

For what it is worth, DeSantis got very high scores for fiscal policy from both the Club for Growth and the National Taxpayers Union while serving as a Congressman last decade.

So I suspect he knows what should be done (including genuine entitlement reform), but is afraid Trump will attack him from the left.

Which is strange since he has a great opportunity to attack Trump from the right by pointing out his bad track record on spending (and bad future agenda on taxes).

 

NYT Details What Happens When There's a 'Right-Wing' Takeover at a College

Matt Vespa May 02, 2023

The liberal media’s obsession with Ron DeSantis has been well-established. DeSantis is catching hell from all sides, though more so from the Trump camp, as he’s a potential 2024 presidential candidate. The New York Times opinion section has an axe to grind with him because he’s turning Florida into an economically vibrant conservative oasis. It’s the state where far-left activism dies a quick death. His latest move involves remaking the board of trustees at a public college, with liberal writer Michelle Goldberg offering warnings for what happens when conservatives take over a higher learning institution. Spoiler alert: nothing changes. Even students and faculty interviewed admit the campus hasn’t changed, though they fear it will become Nuremberg c. 1939. The school we’re talking about is the New College of Florida in Sarasota, where DeSantis appointed multiple members to the board, which forced its president to resign and other faculty to consider transfers (via NYT): .........To Read More...

There Are Compelling Pragmatic Considerations Behind Supporting Trump Or DeSantis

March 22, 2023 By Robin M. Itzler @ American Thinker

Visit Facebook, Truth Social, and other social media sites and, overall, there is respectful chatter between Trump and DeSantis supporters. Both camps are filled with America First patriots who earnestly believe that their guy is America’s only chance at saving the country from Joe “Big Guy” Biden and the Marxist-leaning Democrat party. While the jockeying between and the prospects of both men in a 2024 presidential campaign are fascinating, without election integrity, none of that will matter.

It’s still very early in the cycle, but my guess is that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will not run for president. Many voters do not like a governor who was just re-elected walking away from the job, especially when the election was a few months before the announcement.

In Florida, officeholders running for federal office must resign their position. It’s being reported that the legislature is quietly preparing to change the law. Although Florida Statute 99.012 has wiggle room, having it changed solely to benefit DeSantis would be seen by many as an unethical perversion of legislative power. Should DeSantis resign, Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez would become governor. Those relocating to Florida primarily because of how DeSantis runs the Sunshine state should start researching Nunez.

There’s also too much risk of DeSantis being branded a loser.

Unfair or not, some believe Trump has the taint of a loser, although most supporters believe the 2020 election was stolen from him. Still, win or lose in 2024, that would be Donald Trump’s final political campaign. To many (and history), he will always remain one of America’s best presidents.

However, 2024 would probably not be DeSantis’ final political campaign. He’ll have a problem, though. If he runs in the primary and doesn’t win the nomination, he has “loser” on his resume. Should he win the nomination but lose the 2024 election, “loser” becomes his brand. Is that something a 44-year-old politician wants when right now he is seen as a knight in shining armor, beloved by many?

Let’s not forget that DeSantis needs Trump supporters to win. If he runs in 2024, it will anger MAGAs, many of whom would then refuse to support DeSantis four years later.

DeSantis is having a blast being heralded as America’s best governor. He draws “yuuuge” crowds around the country, where his speeches highlight his many successes. He also enjoys gleefully chastising progressive mayors and governors, especially California’s Governor Gavin “Hair Gel” Newsom, all while selling his autobiography, The Courage to Be Free.

Wherever DeSantis goes, the news media hangs onto his every word for signs of “will he or won’t he run?”

Privately, DeSantis probably doesn’t want Trump arrested and perp-walked in handcuffs. If arrested, Trump immediately surges to a solid first place when he says “not guilty” in Manhattan Criminal Court to fallacies charges alleging under-the-table money paid to a porn star. As Robert Spencer explained in “It Looks as if Trump Will be Arrested Next Week, and That’s Not Even the Worst of It,”

All this means is that Trump’s arrest will be a piece of political theater for the ages, and that’s altogether fitting, as it will be the culmination of America’s long decline into banana republic status. The arrest of Trump, particularly while Hunter Biden, Old Joe, Nancy “Insider Trading” Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton, along with a host of other Leftists, remain uninvestigated, will demonstrate that America is now a place where corrupt governing officials use the full weight of the law to persecute and prosecute opposition leaders and silence dissent.

Most Republicans will come out against Trump’s arrest, and that will look like the party is solidifying behind him. You can be sure that millions of MAGAs will send in a contribution just as they did after the political Mar-a-Lago raid that confirmed America has two tiers of justice—one for Republicans and another for Democrats.

On March 17, Elon Musk tweeted about Trump’s potential arrest: 

(Editor's Note:  There is a Twitter link I can't reproduce. Follow the link.  RK)

Dilbert creator Scott Adams thinks the same: 

(Editor's Note:  There is a Twitter link I can't reproduce.  Follow the link. RK)

But here’s the real question: Does any of the above maneuvering and calculation matter without election integrity?

An arrest or not, many patriots respect both Trump and DeSantis and would gladly vote for either man. But they also think that without election integrity, it does not matter whom the Republican party nominates for president. They believe Democrats plan to steal the 2024 presidential election just as they did in 2020. And through it all, they are convinced that the UniParty GOP will have done little to nothing before, during, or after.

Patriots must contact their local and state GOPs and ask what they are actively doing to promote fair and honest elections. If they respond that they have an election integrity committee, patriots must pin them down with some questions:

• How many are on the election integrity committee?
• How often does the committee meet?
• For how long do they meet?
• What have they recently accomplished?
• What are the committee’s election integrity plans for 2024?

Many local and state GOPs form election integrity committees that rarely or never hold meetings. Instead, these committees were created primarily to make Republicans think the GOP is doing something. Then the GOP uses the nearly non-existent election integrity committee for fundraising.

Without faith in fair elections, many Republicans in deep blue states like California, Illinois, and New Jersey will sit home. Or maybe those Republicans will be too busy to vote because they are packing for their move to Florida, Texas, and Tennessee.

Trump or DeSantis? Guilty or not guilty? From the 2020 presidential election to the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, it doesn’t matter without election integrity. Except for the military, this means voter ID on Election Day to vote with paper ballots.

Otherwise, the American public will be doing the perp walk toward Marxist anarchy.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.

Is Ukraine DeSantis’s First Big Mistake?

Posted on March 18, 2023 by John Hinderaker in 2024 Election, Republicans, Ron DeSantis, Ukraine

Ron DeSantis struck a moderate note in his recent comments on the war in Ukraine, drawing criticism from many Republicans. The Wall Street Journal headlines: “Pence and Other Potential GOP 2024 Rivals Pounce on DeSantis Over Ukraine Aid.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence, without mentioning Ron DeSantis by name, rebuked the Florida governor Saturday for his isolationist approach to the war in Ukraine.

Isolationist approach? Seriously?

A sharp divide inside the GOP over U.S. involvement in Ukraine has made Mr. DeSantis the target of widespread Republican criticism for suggesting America should focus on problems closer to home.

The Journal quotes a number of Republicans, and some “Republicans” like Bill Kristol:

Bill Kristol, co-founder of the now-closed conservative Weekly Standard magazine and a critic of Mr. Trump, said he thinks there is room in the GOP primary for a candidate more supportive of Ukraine, and more critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, than are Messrs. DeSantis and Trump.

No doubt that is true, and that lane is already filled by Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, and no doubt others in due course. But what did DeSantis actually say that has generated such controversy?..........To Read More...

Revolting: White children beaten to their knees on the playground to emphasize Black importance

March 4, 2023 By Olivia Murray

 

Sometime in mid-January, under the direction of Ron DeSantis, Florida’s state department of education dispatched a letter to the College Board, informing the organization that a certain course was prohibited from being taught in the state’s schools: AP African American studies.  The course covers topics like “Black queer studies” and “racial capitalism” — obvious leftism — but despite that, DeSantis’s move caused outrage among leftwing Black supremacists and academics. Today, The Guardian published an exclusive interview-type story with Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor and “leading voice” on critical race theory. Crenshaw declared the move to prohibit revisionist history as “just the tip of the iceberg” of a renewed campaign to subjugate Black Americans, warning the readers of “make America great again” extremists. From the article:

[Crenshaw] warned that the rightwing battle against racial justice education not only threatens US democracy, but encourages a revival of segregationist values and policies.

Someone get this lady a real history book! A “revival of segregationist values”? Remind me again which president re-segregated federal agencies? Oh, that’s right — Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat. What party was responsible for Jim Crow laws? Democrats. Who said he didn’t want his children growing up in a “racial jungle”? None other than Joe Biden. I could go on and on….She’s steeped in misinformation, and it really is dangerous…. Yesterday, the Daily Mail reported the following:”.............. To Read More

How a Liberal White Teacher Became a Race Realist - "I came from a “do-gooder” family and was fed the story of black victimization for years. I truly believed it with all my heart and decided to become an inner-city teacher. I was determined to help right the wrongs done to these poor kids by “institutional racism” and do my part to educate them and help them escape from the yoke of oppression. Boy, oh boy, was I in for a rude awakening! From day one, my work life was a living hell. The young teens destroyed property, brutalized one another, and intimidated the staff. I caught teenagers smoking crack, 13-year-olds having sex in the bathroom, and kids bringing guns to school. Anyone who tried to learn and behave was beaten for “trying to act white,” and several girls who were known to be virgins were sexually harassed by boys and bullied by other girls until they would have sex. Neither the teens nor their parents placed any value on education, bettering themselves, or moving ahead in life. They were convinced that the white man was “keeping them down,” and that it was no use bothering, anyways. I eventually stopped insisting on parent-teacher conferences for the black students because not a single parent would show up. Ever.............

 

Far-Left Activists Mob Ben Sasse’s Office On His First Day As University President

By Alexa Schwerha 

Approximately 100 protesters gathered at the University of Florida (UF) Monday to Ben Sasse during his first day as university president.   The protesters, led by the school’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, waited outside Sasse’s office to deliver a list of demands including commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and tenure for university professors.  “This group of students … has been protesting since October — their voices have been heard and it appears that the university is not going to bend the knee to them,” Emily Sturge, a UF student, told the Daily Caller News Foundation...........To Read More.....

My Take - Since these misfits think their rights are being crushed, and they're tired of it, kick these misfits out and let the go to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or one of the many other institutions committed to leftist insanity.  Or even better yet, one of those marvelous universities in Venezuela.  See, problem solved.  

One more thing, the resolution for all this starts in Kindergarten, and there's a group known as Moms for Liberty, who are taking this battle seriously, and doing it nationwide.

•  The University of Pennsylvania Has Become the Poster Child for ‘Woke’ Brainwashing
•  American Students -- Dumber and More Woke Robert Weissberg - Judged by the standards of evolution, American students may be going backwards. More
• Diversity professor verbally attacks student after being triggered by term 'terrorist attack': complaint
• Lessons in Preferred Pronouns Should Start in Pre-K, Largest Teachers Union Says 
• ‘Career Suicide’ to Speak Out Against University’s ‘Obsession’ With DEI, Climate Initiatives Due to ‘Rise in Illiberalism,’ Says Departing Science Professor
•  BOOM: DeSantis Removes Marxist “African American Studies” From State Curriculum — Democrats Come Unglued
•  Father Lashes Out At School Board Meeting Over Sexually Explicit Book Being Taught to 7 Year-Olds 
• Progress Toward Terminal Dumbness Anthony J. DeBlasi Young people are being discouraged from thinking in this day. More
•  American School Children Can't Read
• Dumbing Down Young Americans to a 6th-Grade Level

Time For The Rest Of The Red States To Follow The DeSantis/Rufo Lead

February 01, 2023/ Francis Menton @ Manhattan Contrarian

It was only six days ago, on January 26, when I wrote a post containing a list of proposals for Christopher Rufo and the other new trustees of New College of Florida to take back control of the institution from the insane left. In an uncanny development, as if they having been reading the Manhattan Contrarian blog, Rufo and his fellow trustees, along with Governor Ron DeSantis, have already implemented the first proposal, and are well along on implementing the second.

How about all you other red states? Why can’t you do the same things?

My first proposal was: “Replace the President.” It took them all of five days. From ABC7 Sarasota, yesterday (January 31) evening: “New College President Okker terminated by Board of Trustees.” The newly designated President, according to ABC7, is a guy named Richard Corcoran, a Republican who served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2018. Good start!

My second proposal was: “Fire the entire ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ staff.” The new trustees aren’t wasting a lot of time on that one either. Again from ABC7 Sarasota: 

“The board offered to hold off on abolishing the school’s Office of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence, instead opting to terminate four positions within the office.” 

OK they didn’t fire them all at once, and they are “holding off” on abolishing the office altogether. But they should not wait long to finish the job.

Actually, it may not matter so much what these trustees do on this issue, because Governor DeSantis is separately taking on the job himself. From The Independent Florida, January 31:

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he will completely defund diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Florida universities during a press conference Tuesday morning. DeSantis addressed what he called “DEI bureaucracies,” or departments within universities that promote diversity, equality and inclusion, which he said impose a liberal agenda on university students and faculty. “These bureaucracies are hostile to academic freedom, and really they constitute a drain on resources and end up contributing to higher costs,” he said.

DeSantis’s defunding initiative requires approval by the legislature, which will begin its session in March. But with large Republican majorities in both houses (28-12 in the Senate and 84-35 in the House), I would expect the proposal to pass easily.

My other suggestions for Rufo, et al., boil down to bringing prominent conservatives to campus and seeing if the radical leftists will engage in violent conduct for which they can be disciplined. Those ideas will take a little more time to implement. But it seems like the new trustees and the Governor are not taking the slow route.

Meanwhile, there are around 25 other red states out there, essentially all of which have let their university systems rot while blindly funding them with ever-increasing piles of taxpayer cash. Can any of them learn any lessons here?

In looking around for evidence of any Republican state showing the kind of backbone that is evident in Florida, I find only a few early glimmers of activity. According to Oklahoma’s News on 6 from January 30, the Secretary of Education there has just requested each unit of the state university system to report on how much is being spend on “diversity, equity and inclusion” matters:

The Oklahoma Secretary of Education wants to know how much universities are paying for Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs.  Ryan Walters said that money should be funneled elsewhere. News 9’s Feliz Romero sat down with both sides of the argument to gather the story.  “We need to move away from DEI programs and move into workforce initiatives,” said Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma Secretary of Education. 

Requesting information on the level of spending is a good precursor to having the legislature cut the spending, and admittedly that is the exact route that DeSantis has taken. On the other hand, why has it taken Oklahoma’s Secretary of Education until now to get around to this?

Over in Texas, I can’t find anything yet about similar initiatives from the government; but a Report just out from the National Association of Scholars shines a light on the DEI programs at the University of Texas at Austin as “espousing a clear ideological agenda.” From The Texan, January 24:

A new report by the National Association of Scholars (NAS) finds the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin “espouse a clear ideological agenda.”

And from the NAS Report:

Consistently, the initiatives amplify controversial claims about race, gender, oppression, and privilege. Under the banner of DEI, the university has trained faculty and students in “critical race theory,” promoted the thinking of Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, and implemented curricula laden with the watchwords of identity politics, such as “microaggressions,” “systemic racism,” and “intersectionality.”

The crazy left has gone so far with these DEI programs that at this point they are huge soft targets. It is long past time to go after them.

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Florida Education is Going to Get Much Better!

By Rich Kozlovich

As regular readers know I've decided to feature the theme "Fixing Education in America is Job One" in P&D throughout this coming year.   In line with that I published a piece from Francis Menton who publishes the , who gave me permission to publish his work some time back.  He's published some great information on global warming, alternative energy, etc.  He recently published this piece, Some Suggestions For Christopher Rufo And Company To Fix New College Of Florida, (I recommend reading the whole piece) saying:

Over the past several years, Republicans have very gradually acquired some backbone in pushing back against progressive idiocy. But a glaring example of failure to push back remains in the state university systems, very much including those of the red states. In essentially all of those states, Republican governors and legislatures have allowed the very worst of Marxist and racist monoculture to fester and metastasize not only without opposition, but with ever-increasing taxpayer funding.

Well, count on Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida to be the one to finally step up and do something about it. On January 6, DeSantis announced the appointment of six new trustees to the board of a unit of the Florida state university system called New College of Florida. New College, located in Sarasota, is supposed to be a “top-ranked public liberal arts college” and the “Honors College” of the Florida state university system, with special programs for the very best students. But in recent years it has become, in the words of the Tampa Bay Times, “one of the most progressive higher-education institutions in the state” — in other words, it has been taken over by the extreme progressive Left.

Well, Governor DeSantis has decided to put this to a halt and appointed six new Trustees to the Board, and these leftists resent it and will do anything they can to stop their efforts, including stopping any and all public discourse over this.  He sent me a link to this John Hinderaker article, Standing Up to the Leftist Mob, saying:

Several years ago, I saw a cartoon that went something like this: a liberal college administrator tells a conservative speaker that his event is being canceled because there have been threats of violence. The conservative asks, who are the threats coming from? and the liberal administrator answers, “Us.”

This is, in fact, one of the Left’s favorite ploys to shut down conservative speech. It happened at Florida’s New College last week. As we wrote here, New College of Florida is a tiny, failing far-left public school that Governor DeSantis has set out to save by appointing Christopher Rufo and other conservatives to the school’s board of trustees, with a view toward making New College the “Hillsdale of the South.” You can imagine how the college’s far-left administrators and faculty feel about that.

A meeting open to all is anathema to the Left, so the inevitable death threats followed. The Federalist has the story, via InstaPundit. The climactic moment came when New College’s Provost, Suzanne Sherman, demanded that the event be shut down and encouraged students not to attend. The excuse was a “credible” death threat against conservative trustee Eddie Speir, who of course wanted to go forward. Rufo has the tape:

 

Here is the exchange between Rufo, the new board of Trustees, and the administration, who don't seem to understand, they're not in charge of the Trustees.  Leftist arrogance has no boundaries, and they need to be taught an important lesson.  They're hired help! 

 

I think the suggestions by Francis Menton makes it clear the best way to drive home that message in as strong of terms as possible is to fire them!  Not just a few of them, fire all of them!  Not only administrators, professors also. Leave no contamination behind to reinfect that institution.  

Some Suggestions For Christopher Rufo And Company To Fix New College Of Florida

January 26, 2023 Francis Menton @ Manhattan Contrarian

Over the past several years, Republicans have very gradually acquired some backbone in pushing back against progressive idiocy. But a glaring example of failure to push back remains in the state university systems, very much including those of the red states. In essentially all of those states, Republican governors and legislatures have allowed the very worst of Marxist and racist monoculture to fester and metastasize not only without opposition, but with ever-increasing taxpayer funding.

Well, count on Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida to be the one to finally step up and do something about it. On January 6, DeSantis announced the appointment of six new trustees to the board of a unit of the Florida state university system called New College of Florida. New College, located in Sarasota, is supposed to be a “top-ranked public liberal arts college” and the “Honors College” of the Florida state university system, with special programs for the very best students. But in recent years it has become, in the words of the Tampa Bay Times, “one of the most progressive higher-education institutions in the state” — in other words, it has been taken over by the extreme progressive Left.

Are the new trustees going to be able to make significant changes in a short period of time? You may think at first that rapid changes will be impossible because the new trustees will face unified and vitriolic opposition from the existing faculty and students. Most of the faculty are tenured and cannot be fired, certainly not for political beliefs or speech. So won’t the new trustees get stymied and be forced in short order to back down?

My view is that there are steps that the new trustees can take that should be able to turn things around much more quickly than you might think. In this post I provide some of my suggestions.

But first, a review of the governance situation at New College. The Board has 13 members. DeSantis has just appointed six, which is one short of a majority. Four of the six — Christopher Rufo, Matthew Spalding, Charles Kessler, and Mark Bauerlein — can fairly be described as conservative activists in the education space on the national stage. The other two (Debra Jenks and Jason Speir) are based in Florida and don’t have national reputations, but undoubtedly are well-known to and vetted by DeSantis and his people. All six, according to the Tampa Bay Times, were selected by DeSantis as part of his effort to fight what he calls “philosophical lunacy” in Florida universities.

Here’s a picture of me with Christopher Rufo at a Manhattan Institute event back in 2021:

The six new trustees are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. Given that Republicans currently hold 28 of 40 seats in that body, I suspect that confirmation will not be a problem. However, I am certainly not an expert on local Florida politics.

But how about the other seven trustees? According to the New College website, those seven consist of the “chair of the faculty,” the “president of the student body,” and then five others appointed by something called the Florida Board of Governors. I would assume that the faculty chair and student body president will be dead set against what DeSantis is trying to do. However, it turns out that the Florida Board of Governors is a seventeen member body of which fourteen are appointed by the Governor, for seven year terms. That means that by this time all of the fourteen should be appointees of DeSantis or his predecessor, Republican Governor Rick Scott. While I don’t recognize any of their names, nor the names of the New College trustees they have appointed, I would have to think that at least one or two, and maybe more, of the Board of Governors-appointed trustees at New College would be supportive of the initiatives of the new trustees to turn things around.

So for what follows, I’m going to assume that with the six new appointments, the conservatives now have a working majority of the New College board. Here are my suggestions:

• Replace the President. The current President, Patricia Okker, is a specialist in women’s and minority literature. That can’t be good.
• Fire the entire “diversity, equity and inclusion” staff. As with essentially all universities and colleges today, the website makes clear that DEI is currently a major focus of the institution. These DEI people are toxic. And they don’t have tenure. In addition, firing them will free up substantial budget funds, some of which will be needed for other initiatives. While you’re at it, fire all the other non-tenured sub-deans and vice-deans and associate deans who dabble in progressive orthodoxy enforcement in any respect.
• Replace the “diversity, equity and inclusion” bureaucracy with one person of a known conservative bent and a title something like “Dean of Students.”
• Promptly institute a clear and definitive “free speech” policy that defines freedom of speech as a core value of the community, even if the speech is found unpleasant or even “hateful” by some. State clearly that disruption of invited speakers is not permitted, and outline exactly what the punishment will be for violation.
• Then start a college-sponsored speakers program featuring prominent speakers of national reputation, from both left and right. By all means invite a fair representation of speakers from the left. But from the right, be sure to invite some of the people who are serious and rational but have been known to provoke protests, some violent, from the Left. People like Heather Mac Donald, or Charles Murray, or Abigail Shrier, or Ryan Anderson.
• When a “controversial” speaker from the right comes, do not allow threats of protest to force cancellation under any circumstances. Instead, hire overwhelming security for the event. You will have plenty of money as a result of firing the DEI bureaucracy. There should be only one rule on attending the events — no masks. Other than that, you want the protesters to come, and you want them to protest. When they protest and disrupt the event, you film them, make sure to get clear identification, and have them arrested promptly and escorted out. Under all circumstances, the event proceeds. Do not back down on this.
• Impose swift and sure punishment on the disrupters. I suggest, for the first offense, suspension for the semester with a grade of F for all courses in progress. If the offender comes back after that, the second offense should earn a permanent suspension. And how about permanent disqualification from in-state tuition discounts for Florida residents at the entire university system? (That one may take legislative authorization.)
• Institute one required course for all students, with a name something like “Current Issues In American Politics.” The class will meet once per week to discuss a hot button issue in the current political debate — climate change one week, transgenderism the next, urban crime the next, and so forth. The class should feature speakers to fairly represent both the conservative and liberal position on each subject, brought in from outside if necessary.
• If any students claim they are offended or “harmed” by having to sit through a course like this, they should be called in for a chat with the Dean of Students, where it will be politely suggested that “this school may not be right for you.” If any students protest or disrupt the class, they should be treated the same as protesters at the speakers program. Again, security should be overwhelming and clearly sufficient to clear any protesters promptly so that the class can proceed.
• The tenured faculty should not be fired except perhaps in the most extreme cases. Tenure is actually important to protecting voices on the right at many universities, and the new trustees should be careful not to impose rules that they would not support if the shoe were on the other foot. However, radical tenured faculty do not need to be offered additional perks like plum committee assignments, or a prominent role in admissions. There is no reason why Marxism cannot be met with scorn and derision.

I think that just these steps should be sufficient to largely cure the wokism problem at New College within one year, two at most. Of course one effect may be to cause the radical leftists to feel unwelcome at New College and seek refuge elsewhere in the Florida State University system. To head off that problem, the same series of steps will need to be implemented at the other colleges and universities in the system.

So I wish Mr. Rufo and his colleagues the best of luck in their new venture. The key point is, don’t back down!

 

Governor DeSantis is picking a fight with the academic left, and it’s a shrewd move.

January 8, 2023 By Thomas Lifson  January 8, 2023

I am thrilled that Ron DeSantis is putting in place people who want to reverse the woke academic coup d'état at one state-run institution of higher education. New College of Florida is a rarity: a public liberal arts small college (675 students) that is part of the State University System of Florida, where in-state tuition is under $7000 a year.

Zac Anderson of the Sarasota Herald Tribune writes:

Gov. Ron DeSantis began the process Friday of transforming Sarasota's New College of Florida into a more conservative institution, appointing six new board members, including conservative activist Christopher Rufo, a dean at conservative Hillsdale College and a senior fellow at The Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank.

"It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida's classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the south," Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said in a statement.

The shakeup of the 13-member board is certain to create major tensions at New College, an institution that started as a progressive private school before becoming the state's liberal arts honors college. The small school's student body and faculty have a reputation for leaning left politically.

Factor in the palpable fear and loathing on the left of Ron DeSantis, the new Trump-Hitler. And he is throwing down the gauntlet.........To Read More..... 

 My Take - Fixing education should be job one in America. It's foundational to prevent this planned scheme by leftists to Balkanize America in order to destroy the American culture, the American identity, the American economy and ultimately the Constitution, in order to impose a tyrannous socialistic system of world governance.

Sending these young minds into these vipers nests of intellectually and morally corrupt leftist nitwits and misfits is national suicide, and this reconstitution of America education needs to start in Kindergarten and continue through post graduate studies.

Let's start with elimination of the Department of Education and end all funding to "higher" education, including the end of student loans. Return power to the states and local school boards, which time is showing the insane tyrannous behavior of these school boards can easily be stopped by parents voting them out of office.

If people really think funding education is worthwhile, then fund those going to trade schools. At least they'll graduate with jobs that actually pay well, and will absolutely benefit them and society as a whole.