(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . I See Myself in Ron DeSantis [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-19 What it feels like to see yourself mirrored in DeSantis (cartoon generated by craiyon) Middle-aged white men struggle with the lack of social power they were promised. Few of us look at Ron DeSantis and like what we see… Well, that's not true. Apparently a terrifying number of us look at the governazi and like what we see. I do not. And when I look closer at Ron DeSantis, when I really focus, I like what I see even less. I look at that smug, bitter face --and I see a reflection of myself. It's one thing to look at him and feel fear, dread, and loathing. It's somehow worse to look into those soulless eyes and find…oneself. It's not that we're both 44-year old white men. That's not what disturbs me. It's not the unhinged political ambition. I don't have that. It's not the vilification and denigration of minorities of all kinds. The overtly racist, sexist, homophobic,and transphobic principles and policies. I neither identify with nor see myself reflected in any of these. It's something else. It's the anger, the need to control, the use of coercion. The tyrannical tendencies. I see these in DeSantis and in them, in him, I see something of myself. I see my own intolerance. And I don't like what I see. If I were governor,I would not ban black history, abortion, talk of gender and sexuality, or trans rights. If anything, I'd promote these noble causes. But it's not in my support for the inclusion and consideration of these marginalized and subordinated people that I resemble DeSantis. It is an entirely false equivalency to place the support for minorities and the support for those who hate them on equal footing. The defense of the oppressed should never be equated with the defense of the oppressors. No, my disconcerting similarity to DeSantis lies elsewhere. If I were governor, you see, there are things that I would oppose as vehemently as DeSantis opposes his scapegoats. -DeSantis doesn't want anyone to have to hear talk of gender and sexuality, at least in public schools. At least for now. -I don't want anyone to have to hear speakerphones in public places. I'm as riled up by the new trend of broadcasting one's music, videos, and conversations into our shared spaces as he is by the discussion of sexuality and gender identity. -DeSantis doesn't want people to be able to choose to stop their pregnancies, except perhaps in certain emergency exceptions. -I don't want people to be able to turn on their hazard lights and stop their cars in the roadway without there being an emergency to warrant it. -DeSantis doesn't want people to hear the uncomfortable history of this country, especially the continuing history of its treatment of black people. -I don't want to hear barking dogs--and I love dogs--and think their owners should be as responsible for their barking as for their biting and pooping. -DeSantis doesn't want trans people to be able to be trans, including even drag queens. -I don't want people who use their phones when driving to be able to use their phones when driving, including even at red lights. Our causes are not the same. But what I find disturbingly similar is our motivations and, if I had comparable authority, our tactics for suppression. If I had the power, I'd probably pursue text-and-drivers, speakerphone users, barking dog owners, and hazard light stoppers as zealously as he pursues the black, the gay, the female, the trans. That's what worries me. -I'd enforce a speakerphone ban as strict as his ban on saying 'gay'. -I'd be as punitive toward the inconsiderate owners of barking dogs as he is toward the conscientious teachers of African American studies. -I'd be as intolerant of people who text and drive as he is of people who do not identify their gender with their sex at birth. -I'd be as unsympathetic to people who choose to stop their cars in the roadway as he is to people who, for whatever reason, choose to stop their pregnancies. And what also concerns me is that there is something similar in our reasoning. I see in the emergence and acceptance of barking dog owners, speakerphone users, texting drivers, and roadway stoppers the same threat to the future of civilized society that he probably sees in black, gay, trans, and women's rights. The way I think about society in terms of the social contract and say to myself, 'wait, I didn't agree to live like this," is probably not unlike the way he and his supporters think. Of course, I think my position is rationally justified while his is religious prejudice. That my grievances are against failures of self-control, disrespect for others, and lack of common decency. But he probably thinks that his are too. Still, I'm convinced I'm right. I'm convinced that these are objectively inconsiderate actions. So inconsiderate that they act as immoral attacks on the shared existence that constitutes functional society. And, if it was in my power, I'd probably do whatever was necessary to arrest the development of these new and troubling trends. And it is in this that I see myself reflected in Ron DeSantis. And I don't like what I see. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/19/2164715/-I-See-Myself-in-Ron-DeSantis Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/