Florida’s Fought Back, The DeSantis Debate & The Cage Match That Wasn’t – Top 3 Takeaways – August 8th, 2023
- In Florida we’ve fought back. As former, and perhaps future, President Trump was once again in focus Monday for legal wranglings with the Department of Justice over their desire for a protective, or gag, order pertaining to the January 6th criminal case Trump was indicted on last week...in addition to being placed on indictment watch in Fulton County, Georgia where security was stepped up around the courthouse in advance of what’s expected to be a 4th indictment of Trump in as many months...Governor DeSantis was once again on the trail trying to find traction. As part of his recent campaign “reboot” he’s opened himself up to legacy news outlets, and in turn, they’ve been opening up to him just a bit as well. Monday’s opinion piece in USA Today was penned by Ron DeSantis and it made an impassioned plea for support for his campaign. Quoting DeSantis: America is in a state of decline – militarily, culturally and economically – and the American dream is slipping away from our nation’s middle class. Federal government policies – COVID-19 lockdowns, reckless borrowing, printing money and deficit spending – have escalated the costs of living so much that buying a home, purchasing a car or starting a family is too expensive for many Americans. Even being able to afford groceries has become more difficult. Despite these challenges, entrenched Washington politicians in both parties and the elites who implemented the policies responsible for our malaise refuse to change course. In Florida, we’ve fought back. From there the governor laid out an overview for how he intends to revitalize America’s economy a la Florida’s hitting on the themes he recently laid out in his declaration of economic independence plan. Most notably, in the governor’s opinion piece, the word woke wasn’t used once and to the extent he touched on cultural issues it was under the heading of “reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy” by ending federal ESG and DEI programs. As he said... I don’t care if someone is trying to sell fossil fuels, firearms or French fries, there will be no ideological litmus test for getting a loan, establishing a bank account or running your business. I don’t know if it’ll move the needle, I don’t know if it’s already too little too late for DeSantis, as some GOPers seeking a top non-Trump candidate have already moved on from him. It was, in my opinion, the most effective messaging of his presidential campaign thus far. Speaking of DeSantis...
- No wonder Trump is kicking his ass. Just when it seemed like a funky debate between America’s Governor and California’s Hair might actually take place...that statement happened. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s spokesperson made the aforementioned comment about DeSantis in rejecting the debate counteroffer by our governor. Quoting Newsom’s spokesperson to Politico... What a joke. DeSantis’ counterproposal is littered with crutches to hide his insecurity and ineptitude – swapping opening statements with a hype video, cutting down the time he needs to be on stage, adding cheat notes and a cheering section. Ron should be able to stand on his own two feet. It’s no wonder Trump is kicking his ass. So, what actually happened here? After DeSantis’ appearance with Sean Hannity last week in which he said in response to Hannity’s question about whether he’d accept Newsom’s offer to debate... Absolutely, I’m game. Let’s get it done. Just tell me when and where – we’ll do it. In response Newsom’s team offered a formal debate proposal to DeSantis’ team. DeSantis’ team countered with one in which they’d have a two-minute opening video in place of opening remarks and that the debate take place in front of an audience. The reason Newsom’s team likely balked at that idea, while opting for a cheap shot in the process... In addition to Sean Hannity being the moderator for the debate – which Newsom had already agreed to – the audience would be one of Hannity’s usual studio audiences which one might imagine would favor a particular political team. Additionally, the intro video would be approved in advance by Fox News – probably not team Newsom’s go to for news. So, it looks like the prospect of having the country’s two highest profile governors going toe-to-toe on a debate stage for the sheer sake of debating with each other in their years long rivalry is off again. It’s too bad. I had been looking forward to the prospect of a bottle of hair gel on a debate podium. In current political reality, there’s only one debate DeSantis currently needs to be concerned with and it’s just 15 days away. He desperately needs a strong performance in the Republican Presidential Debate because Trump really has been kicking his... Speaking of highly anticipated showdowns that appear to be shutdown...
- Neck and back surgery? On Sunday Elon Musk “posted” (that’s the new term for what had been a tweet on the platform X, which was formerly known as Twitter), that the Zuck vs. Musk cage fight battle royale for the ages (that’s my elaboration not Musk’s), would be live streamed on X with all proceeds going to a charity benefitting veterans. With Zuck having previously offered up a proposed date of August 26th for the cage match, and with Musk talking about the live streaming of the event, it started to feel a bit more real. But then Monday happened. And Elon posted this: I’m getting an MRI of my neck & upper back tomorrow. May require surgery before the fight can happen. Well, that’s quite the quick change of events. And that came not long after having posted this: Am lifting weights throughout the day, preparing for the fight. Don’t have time to work out, so I just bring them to work. That didn’t sound like the best plan in the first place, and it doesn’t sound like its worked out too well so far. Neck and back surgery is no joke, but something tells me it just might be better than what might have happened (or theoretically could still happen?) inside the cage.