ABC obtained recordings of DeSantis’ debate prep in 2018. DeSantis. It’s clear he hasn’t improved in the last five years. The man is, as we’ve seen, unlikable and thin-skinned. It’s interesting though, that he’s always been very concerned about not “pissing off” Trump voters. He’s not alone, of course. Every Republican office holder is almost incontinent at the mere idea of such a thing. Anyway, here was Ron DeSantis getting ready to debate Andrew Gillum in 2018. Note that the two Florida Republicans helping him have already endorsed Donald Trump: During his first bid for statewide office in 2018, Ron DeSantis was grappling with a key issue that he could soon face again during his potential 2024 bid for the White House: how to not alienate Donald Trump’s base. “Is there any issue upon which you disagree with President Trump?” DeSantis was asked by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz in footage exclusively obtained by ABC News of the team’s mock debate sessions during DeSantis’ 2018 run for governor.
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The GOP policy on gun violence WTH???? IN THE WAKE of yet another mass shooting — this time at a mall in Allen, Texas, where a gunman killed at least eight people — a Fox News guest recommended that Americans who fear they may be a victim of the next shooting should “be polite and professional, but plan to kill everyone you meet.” Alex Coker, a television host and former police officer, was quoting a line that General James Mattis reportedly told troops in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. But Coker now thinks that this kind of mindset is healthy for people in America. “What do you say to folks who live in neighborhoods maybe like Allen, Texas, where they don’t think crime will ever hit them, and they don’t need to prepare? What would you tell them?” host Lawrence Jones asked Coker on Saturday night’s episode of Lawrence Jones Cross Country. “Run away like your life depends on it. You need to be physically fit, and run fast,” Coker said. “So move move, move. Second thing is to barricade. Try to put something between you and that gunman.
Despite being an American with no interest in living under a monarchy, I confess that I spent some time watching that astonishing medieval ritual of the coronation yesterday. It’s fascinating, although I resent the fact that the commentary was almost all blabbing about Harry and the balcony and almost none of it was devoted to discussing the historical context of the ceremony and explaining what it all meant, which I would have been interested to know. However, all of that is basically an entertainment pageant and as fun as it is to watch, there’s something much more important happening in Britain as this piece by David Frum points out: If you walked into a British supermarket this past winter, you were likely to see bare shelves in the salad aisle. Customers might have been limited to purchasing lettuce and tomatoes, if there were any lettuce or tomatoes to be found in the first place. Ask the grocers, and you’d hear technical explanations for the scarcity. High energy prices raised costs at British greenhouses; imports from warmer countries were curtailed by bad weather in Southern Europe.
I’m not entirely sure what Abbott was talking about when he claimed that California has more gun deaths (recent mass shootings? total deaths?) but perhaps he doesn’t realize that California has a much bigger population than Texas. The statistical difference in gun deaths between California and Texas is quite large. California’s death rate per capita is 9 per 100,000. Texas’ is 15.6. California has the 8th lowest rate of gun deaths in the country. Texas has the 25th. As for he general point that both blue states and red states have gun violence, it’s absolutely true. But it’s the red states that really get the bang for the buck: A new study published in Journal of the American Medical Association’s Surgery found that firearm deaths are more likely in small rural towns than in major urban cities, adding to research that contradicts common belief that Democratic blue areas have higher incidences of gun-related deaths than do Republican red districts.
“the price of freedom”? “For years now, after one massacre or another,” writes Heather Cox Richardson this mourning, “I have written some version of the same article, explaining that the nation’s current gun free-for-all is not traditional but, rather, is a symptom of the takeover of our nation by a radical extremist minority.” A minority that, like Bill O’Reilly, considers daily slaughter “the price of freedom.” None of that was normal until about the time Ronald Reagan and Movement Conservatism arrived in full. Fueled by National Rifle Association money, the right twisted the Second Amendment into an “unfettered right to own and carry weapons.” They’ve turned America into a place Old West residents of Tombstone and Dodge City would not recognize. At least eight dead and nine injured at a suburban Dallas, Texas outlet mall (Washington Post): Six of the eight people killed were found dead at the scene. At least nine people injured in the shootingwere taken to hospitals by the local fire department, Allen Fire Chief Jon Boyd said.
Is unsorting America even possible? Bill Bishop’s “The Big Sort,” considered Americans’ tendency to self-segregate into communities “with people who live, think, and vote like we do.” There are also economic consequences to that. Inequality follows. American society has “become less random” as it has “become more unequal,” observes Princeton sociologist Dalton Conley. He offers a quirky thought experiment in The New Yorker on how, had we the will, we might tackle inequality resulting from geography and the birth lottery. His answer to the problem that “when rich people are asked to pay more in taxes, or to send their children to school with poorer kids, they tend to move,” is a lottery of another sort. But is inequality a problem for most Americans? Or do they see inequality as “the way things are.” Meritocracy, the prosperity gospel, and royalist sentiment argue vigorously for the status quo. Whatever. Conley’s is a thought experiment: The core issue is that our social contract is based on place: we make decisions and fund our government in a fundamentally local way.
He already did Bill and you helped. For four long years we put up with his antics and he’s trying for another four (or more.) And Bill Barr as much as anyone in the whole GOP establishment helped him do it. The way he handled the Mueller Report and the various cases against Trump associates showed him to be a top henchman and accomplice. He’s right, of course. But most of us have known that from the beginning. Barr thought he could use him to advance his own pet causes so he was willing to put with it. Then he lost and staged a coup and Barr said to himself, “Huh, maybe I should desert this sinking ship before I go down with it.” He has a whole lot to answer for and just stating the obvious isn’t going to do it.
A tough week for the narcissistic autocrats That’s both here and abroad. Is this a game-changing week for Ukraine? Associated Press: Ukraine’s air force claimed Saturday to have downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems, the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow’s most modern missiles. Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a Telegram post that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was also the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense systems. “Yes, we shot down the ‘unique’ Kinzhal,” Oleshchuk wrote. “It happened during the night time attack on May 4 in the skies of the Kyiv region.” Oleshchuk said the Kh-47 missile was launched by a MiG-31K aircraft from the Russian territory and was shot down with a Patriot missile. Then there was the unidentified drone exploding this week over the Kremlin.
From the front lines in NC North Carolina Democrats’ new state chair, Anderson Clayton, is drawing national press, including a New York Times profile this week. She rallied supporters last month to win a Daily Kos poll for which “ ‘super swing state’ deserves Daily Kos’ help the most.” (I’m biased.) DKos sent out mailings last week asking members to contribute $15 to the fight. Clayton is not shy about painting the challenge North Carolina Democrats face in 2024. One would be the leading Republican contender for governor. In case you need reminding, Clayton’s talking about this guy: “Tell our enemies on the other side of the aisle that would drag this nation down into a socialist hellhole that you will only do it as you run past me laying on the ground choking on my own blood — Christian patriots of this nation will own this nation and rule this nation.” AG Josh Stein, Democrats’ leading contender for governor, has a close race on his hands in a political environment that is terra incognita for Democrats.
His Trump impression needs work.