Florida politics has become so routinely ridiculous that you might be prone to tune out a lot of it, figuring it’s just typical theatrics.
But you should never ignore politicians who are trying to strip you of your Constitutional rights. And that is happening time and again in Florida.
Not according to me, but according to courts packed with conservative judges who have repeatedly ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP legislators have tried to pass blatantly unconstitutional laws.
The politicians have tried to use the power of government to silence critics — sometimes even have them arrested. And the only thing stopping them are conservative judges who have more principles, patriotism and respect for the Constitution.
The most recent ruling blocked DeSantis’ attempt to silence discussions he disliked inside private companies through the “Stop WOKE” act. The decision was authored by a judge who worked for George W. Bush, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and was appointed by Donald Trump.
The three-judge panel — which also included another Republican member of the Federalist Society — said Florida politicians violated the basic principles of free speech when they tried to tell companies that they couldn’t hold employee-training sessions that espoused ideas DeSantis disliked.
See, it doesn’t matter if Walmart wants to hold training meetings where it tells employees that unicorns are real. In the United States of America, private companies and private individuals are allowed to believe anything they want — and express those beliefs.
In this case, though, DeSantis and GOP lawmakers weren’t worried about unicorns. They wanted to stop companies from talking about things like racism, sexism and discrimination. They wanted to make it illegal for companies to say things that might make people (particularly white people) feel “guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress.”
This law would’ve been better named the “Snowflake Protection Act.” It was meant to protect weak minds from hearing dissenting thoughts.
DeSantis described those thoughts as “corporate wokeness,” and GOP lawmakers claimed they weren’t suppressing speech they disliked — only the mandatory employee meetings where those ideas were espoused.
The conservative court, however, eviscerated that argument, since the law only banned meetings where certain topics were discussed, meaning it targeted only “certain viewpoints — the greatest First Amendment sin.”
Their ruling cited “firmly settled” precedent that said “the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some of their hearers.”
In other words: Just because you’re scared of hearing words that make you mad or sad, you can’t ban them. This seems to be a concept our governor can’t grasp. If he wants to win a debate, he should try articulating better arguments — not silencing those who disagree.
If you want to live in a country where government controls what you can say, try China.
The conservative judges explained that “the First Amendment keeps the government from putting its thumb on the scale” of public discourse.
These federal judges who handed down this ruling had genuine conservative principles and respect for the Constitution. The Florida politicians who passed this law did not. Neither do the citizens who still defend these authoritarian actions.
I am baffled by people who cheer for politicians trying to strip them of their rights. These simps get precisely the freedom-throttling government they deserve. The problem is: The rest of us would get it, too … if there weren’t still judicial checks and balances.
It’s important to note that Florida Republicans knew this law was unconstitutional. Not only did legal experts say so, the Legislature’s own analysts warned them: “The First Amendment to the United States Constitution generally protects the right to free speech.”
But the politicians didn’t care. They passed it anyway — and then paid lawyers $725 an hour to defend a case they knew they’d lose.
These people have no more respect for your tax dollars than they do the Constitution they swore to uphold.
As of this week, the attorney general’s office said the state had spent $484,000 on this one suit.
That’s nearly half a million dollars in a state that claims it doesn’t have enough money to serve more than 20,000 families with disabilities stuck on a years-long waiting list for basic services.
22,435 Floridians with disabilities remain on years-long wait list for services | Commentary
This past week’s legal smackdown was only the latest of its kind. Millions more tax dollars have been spent on other legal battles.
There was the time a federal judge — again, very conservative, appointed to posts by both Donald Trump and Rick Scott — invalidated a law where Florida Republicans wanted the power to arrest citizens for donating to petition and amendment drives.
Florida pays lawyers $675/hour to defend unconstitutional legislation. They keep losing | Commentary
And the time DeSantis’ own Supreme Court appointees ruled he couldn’t appoint a justice who hadn’t met the constitutional requirements for serving on the state’s highest court. Courts have also struck down attempts to regulate everything from social media to drag queens — with taxpayers funding these losing legal battles every step of the way.
Even worse, this administration often refuses to divulge how much of your money they’ve spent trying to strip you of your rights. Media and watchdog groups have had to fight for those public records.
DeSantis and his staffers love to talk tough on social media. But if you ever want to shut them up, ask them two simple questions:
How many of the governor’s laws have been ruled unconstitutional?
And how many tax dollars have you spent defending them?
They know how awful the answers would sound. So they revert to owning-the-libs insults and hope nobody notices that the people stopping them from advancing their authoritarian, culture-war agenda aren’t flaming liberals — but rather true conservatives who actually respect the United States Constitution.
