Sharing a trio of great stories, all from Florida Substack writers and reporters
Journalism and commentary from Florida for all Americans
Florida’s lame-duck governor, Ron DeSantis, has a questionable history of secretly shifting taxpayers’ dollars to support his pet projects and publicity stunts.
This is the same governor, investigative journalist Jason Garcia notes in his most recent post, who:
Took state funds reserved for the removal of undocumented immigrants from Florida and, instead, used them to round up asylum seekers in Texas and fly them on charter aircraft to Martha’s Vineyard.
Rerouted hundreds of millions of dollars designated for responding to natural disasters and used the money to help build his barbaric concentration camp in the Everglades, Alligator Alcatraz.
And who grabbed $10 million from a Medicaid settlement, funneled it through his wife’s charitable foundation, and used it to propagandize against ballot initiatives he personally opposed.
Is he doing it again in his effort to support his pet property-tax “relief” ballot proposal that would cripple local communities and further concentrate political power in Tallahassee?
You can read the full report here:
Trump pushing deeper into media battlefield
As Donald Trump’s approval ratings crater, the key pillar of his thin grip on Congress and the federal government in general is his MAGA tribal loyalty. He feeds his MAGAs a steady diet of attacks on “fake news,” “stolen elections” and a flood of conspiracy theories to keep his followers locked in. His opponents are “deranged” and “losers.”
But with Congress largely walking away from its Constitutional duties, much of the mainstream news media have earned his ire by standing up to Trump as his blizzard of falsehoods and his growing unpalatable actions …
It’s all “fake news” in Trump’s eyes, perpetrated by the “corrupt media” and the “failing New York Times.” And MAGAs are conditioned to believe that it’s all another attack from the “fake news media.” Then they pivot back to “What about Hunter Biden!”
That’s why mainstream news media in Trump’s mind have become the “enemy of the people,” at least the enemy of him and his MAGAs, pollster Mark Schulman notes.
As Trump’s anger churns, he has many tools for attacking his “enemy.” But the most immediate threat to press freedom is the growing media ownership concentration. With new ownership on the way, promised editorial direction often shifts to win Trump’s regulatory “approval.”
And that’s a real threat to democracy.
You can read Schulman’s further take on this here:
It’s a rainbow rebellion in Key West
A Key West couple has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Key West alleging officials selectively enforced historic district regulations after they painted rainbow-colored fence pickets in protest of the city’s removal of the Duval Street rainbow crosswalks.
Installed in 2015, the rainbow crosswalks became one of Key West’s most visible symbols of support for the island’s LGBTQ+ community, but the crosswalks became caught in a widening statewide political battle last year after the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis warned local governments they could face financial penalties if they retained unauthorized roadway markings and Pride-related street art.
All part of DeSantis’ anti-Woke campaign.
The Florida ACLU has taken the case. It is still early days, and no trial date has yet been set. But Key West’s most prolific reporter, Ted Lund, is keeping tabs on it. Here’s his initial report on the lawsuit:
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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog. That includes lifting up stories like those in today’s post from other writers.
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J.C. Bruce
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