Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis thought his new task force had found 20 people who voted illegally in 2020.
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 31, 2022
Now we're learning the rest of the story: Florida officials apparently told these people they could vote. - @MaddowBlog https://t.co/0uapuxrfoR
I've long been of the opinion that the authoritarian in part craves total control because they aren't really good at keeping things in line. The trains aren't really being kept on time, but you can wail the hell out of people who claim otherwise and it's about as good. When I see, say, Gov. Abbott send immigrants in busses off to NY or post TX National Guard at the border, it's obviously for show, but there's an underlying administrative failure there:
Is this the best use of his state's resources to deal with an issue, or is it just an ostentatious abuse of power to bolster his own public image, at the public's expense? Is the show to hide the incompetence, or is the incompetence the point that establishes the need for the show?
The same thing goes for DeSantis--if his own state's officials created the mess where former felons believed it was fully correct to register and vote, was it incompetence that he's now capitalizing on, or was it entrapment? Did he help create the situation he's now punishing them for because his government is inept or is he a devious monster?
As with any "state of mind arguments" (like the ever popular "ignorant or lying" question regarding politicians' pronouncement) I would say it's terrible either way. But if DeSantis did set up people just to create a voter fraud narrative, that is heinous. And if he continues to prosecute people for an administrative cock-up of his own officials--ditto.
He's a little would-be tyrant and not as "normal" a politician as his supporters want us to believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment