(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Break out the white boots: DeSantis says he's 'authorizing rescue operations in Israel' [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2023-10-13 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is quite the tough guy—in his tweets. “Today I signed an executive order authorizing rescue operations in Israel to bring Floridians home and transport supplies to our allies,” he tweeted Thursday. “We will not leave our residents behind. To the many Floridians who are stuck in Israel, trying to get home — help is on the way.” ”Rescue operations” makes it sound like a commando team charging in, doesn’t it? Top Gun DeSantis is the steely-eyed commander intent on rescuing his people no matter the danger. But while the executive order is silent on details, referring to only “logistical, rescue and evacuation operations,” what he’s probably talking about is charter flights. Which the Biden administration is already setting up. DeSantis’ order, which came hours after the Biden administration announced its plan to charter flights, accused the administration of having “failed to launch any form of rescue or evacuation operations for Americans, including Floridians, stranded in the region, and has failed to provide information requested by the State of Florida about any plans for such operations.” It’s no surprise that DeSantis didn’t let the Biden administration arranging charter flights get in the way of him complaining that the Biden administration wasn’t doing so. There are still some commercial flights going out of Israel, although many have been canceled, leaving people scrambling to find available flights and facing inflated prices. The Biden administration plan is for charter flights from Israel to locations in Europe. It’s a big logistical lift that DeSantis may find more difficult than, say, arranging for a plane from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis was entirely silent on the Americans who are stuck and in imminent danger: Palestinian Americans in Gaza have no way out amid both an Israeli bombing campaign and an order to evacuate 1 million people from northern Gaza to southern Gaza—an order the United Nations has called “horrendous.” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters at White House press briefings on Wednesday and Thursday that the Biden administration is in talks with Israel and Egypt on that issue. “The first and most important thing that we’re trying to do is — is, as I mentioned yesterday, allow for safe passage,” he said Thursday. “But right now, they — they can’t leave. So, we would have no physical means of permitting that transit out. And so, that’s why we’re so actively having conversations with the Israelis and the Egyptians about a safe passage corridor so that people who want to leave can leave.” That’s a much more difficult job than getting people out of Israel. DeSantis isn’t interested. Ron DeSantis just wants to seem tough. Wants to seem like he’s getting things done when the president isn’t. Even if he gets it together to arrange a charter flight, that’s not what he wanted voters to envision when he tweeted about “rescue operations in Israel.” He wanted people imagining the last helicopter out of Vietnam or the Dunkirk evacuations. Reality is much more complicated—and not always dramatic enough for self-aggrandizing politicians. Get out the vote in 2023, and help us defeat Donald Trump in 2024. Check out the Daily Kos GOTV page to get plugged into all the effective volunteer opportunities available. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/13/2199112/-Break-out-the-white-boots-DeSantis-says-he-s-authorizing-rescue-operations-in-Israel?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web 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/