The Disgusting Reality Behind Ron DeSantis .’s New ‘Army’

As governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis is a man who cares about opinionated people.

He had a gator symbol with the words “Don’t read in Florida” pinned to a sign he unveiled in October calling for a special session of the legislature. against federal COVID-19 vaccine regulations.

And his office has that man’s twin on another sign with the words “Leave Us Alone” posted on the podium at a National Guard armory in Pensacola on Thursday. The set-up was completed with a giant American flag and dozens of National Guardsmen watching as DeSantis entered.

“Comfortable,” he told them quietly.

The soldiers immediately obeyed, as they were under his command unless nationalized by order of the president. He was there to announce an increase in funding for the Florida National Guard.

But he also knew a plan to revive a state military unit with uniforms that would say FLORIDA more than OUR MILITARY like the clothes worn by the soldiers who stood comfortably behind him as he now stepped onto the platform. No matter what the president may want, the Florida State Guard will answer only to the governor – that is, DeSantis.

Call it Ron’s army.

“The Florida State Guard will operate as a civilian volunteer force capable of supporting the national guard during state-specific emergencies,” DeSantis said.

It will only have 200, so it’s hard to see the real difference it can make beyond 12,000 protection members.

But that was not the true mission of the Ron Army.

Back at the start of World War II, the federal government authorized the states to create military units to supplement the National Guard, which was incorporated into the U.S. military to fighting in Europe and the Pacific. The Florida Guard was formed in 1941. Its slogan, “Leave Us Alone,” promoted allegiance to Florida, not to the United States, although this was a time to call for unity. unite the nation against a common enemy.

Those three words appeared on a flag that Florida’s first governor, William Moseley, flew at his inauguration in 1841. But, perhaps because Florida’s leading business people were actively engaged in commerce. With people from beyond its borders, the state senate made a verbal exception and never formally approved the flag.

These words resurfaced on April 8, 1861, when members of the Florida militia took control of Fort Clinch in Fernandina Beach. That was four days before the Battle of Fort Sumter in South Carolina marked the beginning of the Civil War.

“Come to Florida, Leave Us Alone,” the banner reads.

Armed conflict could have broken out three months earlier when another banner – a modified American flag with just a large star modeled after the Texas navy standards – was hoisted by a civilian force. Florida army commanded by a planter on a fort at Pensacola. The attacks were temporarily halted when the militia agreed not to attack if the federalists promised not to send reinforcements.

Florida had a population of 140,000 at the time, just under half of whom were slaves. About 14,000 Floridians fought for the Confederacy in the war that followed. And 5,000 people died.

Conflict was resolved only by force, and the former states’ resentment of federal control persisted for generations among some whites in Florida. That is evident in the motto of the defender of the state even though their unit was established to represent those who fight for the nation.

But following the return of the Florida National Guard, the state guard was disbanded in 1947. Most states did, but two dozen state guards were revived in the early 1980s during the Reagan administration. The Utah State Guard was purged in 1987, after journalist Jack Anderson reported that it allegedly “had ties to neo-Nazis, felons, and the mentally ill.” The Virginia State Guard was investigated amid rumors that some of its members were trying to raise enough money to buy a tank. And the New York Guard is said to have financed its operations by awarding general-level posts to influential politicians, some of whom had never served in the military. team.

Even so, the New York Guard is one of 12 state councils that have responded during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the fight against the virus. DeSantis didn’t point out that Ron’s army would advance similarly if his state was hit by another deadly surge.

In fact, DeSantis itself hasn’t done much to combat the virus other than bragging that Florida currently has the lowest infection rate in the nation. Never mind that as of Thursday, it has achieved the third-highest number of infections, 3,730,395. It also has the third highest death toll, 52,647.

DeSantis responded to that body count — more than four times Florida’s Civil War damage — by hiring Dr. Joseph Lapado as his general surgeon. Lapado already exists lies about masks and vaccines. The truth is the stabbing and covering the face saved lives. And to prevent people from seeking that protection, they put themselves in undue danger.

So it’s clear that DeSantis hasn’t decided to revive the state guard in response to a new variant that further complicates the ongoing national emergency that has killed 786,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands more. other disabled. He told the crowd at the armory on Thursday that Biden should basically do nothing, not even something as simple as restricting air travel.

“I think all it will do is cause a lot of problems,” DeSantis said at the armory. “I don’t think they should impose any mandate on air travel or anything that they did. I think it’s not anything that really makes much of a difference. I think it inconveniences a lot of people. I think that has inhibited people’s willingness to travel. “

All of which begs the question of what DeSantis intends to do with something so small as Ron’s Army.

It’s not because there’s no such thing as “Leave us alone” and the gator is attached to that podium. For nothing are the twins of the gator and the “Don’t Tread on Florida” on those signs.

The real mission of the Ron Army is to capture that before-after-country sentiment, along with the personal pre-marital affection that fills the MAGA base. Ron’s army certainly looks like part of DeSantis’ long-term plan to become the commander-in-chief of the whole country.

Faced with that prospect, no one should feel comfortable.