One of the prominent papers in the state of Florida is South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and last Wednesday the paper offered up a piece from the Editorial Board that scorched DeSantis on a number of perceived aggressions. After referring to him as a “dictator” (a headline that was surreptitiously changed) the op-ed listed a number of examples of their charge, including opening the state for the citizens, removing lockdown restrictions on a local level, and signing a number of problematic bills.
Sure, nothing describes a tyrant better than granting people liberty and rolling back government mandates.
Then the next day saw the governor acting in a fashion that made the press lose their collective minds. DeSantis signed the voter integrity law during an appearance on the morning show Fox & Friends, and he did not announce this event to the press. Those journalists racing to the scene found the doors locked, forcing them to peer through windows to watch. The journalists howled over this aggression towards freedom of the press, and many state Democrats expressed outrage at his display of authoritarian rule.
Watch as his potential Dem challenger in the upcoming election, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, becomes unglued over this alleged abuse of the press.
She sounds as imbalanced as a jilted stalker arrested for breaking into a home to steal hair from a shower drain and blaming her target for the arrest.@RedBroward @DeebsFLA https://t.co/7BsxKQmKC8
— Brad Slager- AKA 'Brad Eagle', formerly 'The Crow' (@MartiniShark) May 9, 2021
One thing to note here about her accusation -- Fried had gripe with a compliant media when the Miami Herald ran her op-ed raging about DeSantis just one day earlier.
Here is where the unhinged minds start exposing themselves in many ways. As Fried, Rep. Askamani, and many press members wailed about DeSantis signing this bill “in secret” and shutting out the media, this was all a foregone conclusion. The bill was debated in the media for months, DeSantis was known long ago to support it, and the only thing left was a ceremonial signature. Instead those resorting to loud hysterics over this hidden signing of the bill have to ignore he did so on live television, in front of a national audience. You cannot find another bill this year he signed to a larger set of eyes.
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All of this hair set aflame in outrage follows the insipid commentary seen regarding this bill for months now. The press has been in such full-throated screeching that it is quite surprising that we have not heard the Biden-descriptor of Jim Crow legislation -- but they have proven adept at not reading the law, or the intentions of the voters.
One example, The League of Women Voters of Florida opposes the new law:
“The legislation has a deliberate and disproportionate impact on elderly voters, voters with disabilities, students and communities of color. It’s a despicable attempt by a one party ruled legislature to choose who can vote in our state and who cannot," said its President Patricia Brigham.
You will note there are no specifics as to what aspects of the law makes this choice. Here is what is interesting; somehow those with disabilities are declared exclusive Democrat voters. As for the elderly, they are long-established to be predominantly GOP backers, so her complaint here is beyond curious.
Also curious is another claim made by the Sun-Sentinel, one that refutes the many column inches claiming this law is a Republican power grab. The paper came up with a study that revealed, Vote-By-Mail Favored By Older, Affluent Voters. They go on to state, Many down-ballot Republicans fared well under mail-in voting, and the new survey data confirm that some Republican-leaning groups were more likely to take advantage of casting their ballots by mail. Well this is a convenient way for the Sun-Sentinel to both contradict itself and prove that the GOP is not targeting the Democrats exclusively.
The law as written allows for the infirm and the disabled to have their ballot access aided by family members, or even friends. The one thing the law restricts is the mass gathering of ballots by outside operatives -- ballot harvesting. This is a standard a majority of voters support, a small detail the press chooses to overlook in its howling coverage.
Also intentionally ignored -- the support for voter ID requirements on mail-in voting requests. With this law there is no other restriction placed on the mail-in ballot request that has not already been in place for years. Numerous polls reveal voters across demographics are heavily in favor of voter ID requirements. One Associated Press poll, taken just last month, shows even Democrats favor this measure by over 50%, more than double those who oppose it, with a +30 percent margin.
This data point reveals the gambit. Democrat politicians, and those in the media, continue to make the insistence that all of this is “voter suppression," “an attack on voting rights," and every other false claim. This is something CNN’s fact-check guru, Daniel Dale resorted to when covering this law -- false claims.
Florida law:
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 7, 2021
- New drop box limits
- More work to get mail ballots
- New limit on delivering others' ballots
- Ban on universal mail ballots
- New mail-vote ID rule
- More rights for partisans, more power for governor, harder line on registration groups https://t.co/jNrsb8TgE2
The dropbox measure is for monitoring to ensure bulk ballot drops do not take place, with 30 day notification of locations being made. Also Daniel, mailbox use is still permitted. His “more work” whine is because requests for a mail-in ballot need to be made every 2 years. Consider the oppression. He seems to favor ballot harvesting, and the “ban” on universal mail-in ballots is not new; Florida never had this. His claim there are “more rights for partisans” is the section allowing for bi-partisan ballot count monitoring. Apparently Dale does not believe in transparency in the recount process. He should be asked why that is, or why he perceives this as a problem. But hey, he is a fact-checker -- we all know he is above being held to a standard regarding his own facts.
Same applies to the rest of the media, according to them. Do not expect them to provide actual evidence of the claims they are making. If you ask for proof you could possibly be considered a dictator.
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