America's Cruelest Joke
I have not yet begun to ... make fun of Florida and it's terrible governor.
I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality of American politics. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to subscribe, you can sign up here.
Two housekeeping notes. First, I’ll be Zoom chatting this Friday (link is here), and second, a quick apology for the radio silence from Truth and Consequences World Headquarters the past few days and a public service announcement. Yesterday, my feet got tangled up with my nine-year-old and a razor scooter, and I did a chest-first pratfall onto a New York City sidewalk. I bruised my ribs — and my ego. Here’s a piece of advice: don’t bruise your ribs because, literally, every move you make brings with it searing pain (also, don’t crack them because I hear that’s far worse).
America’s Hot Mess Revisited
Over at MSNBC, I revised and extended my thoughts on what’s unfolding these days in Florida. With a series of culture war attacks against LGBTQ Americans, the Disney Corporation, the first amendment, public school teachers and librarians, academic freedom, and women’s reproductive rights, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (and his rubber-stamp GOP-dominated state legislature) is pushing a policy agenda “defined largely by pettiness, cruelty and a disturbing disregard for basic democratic norms.”
But wait, there’s more!
What’s unfolding in Florida this month has more to do with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and all the other states where Republican voters will be choosing the party’s next presidential nominee.
DeSantis’ moves are a transparently cynical ploy to win over Republican voters who enjoy nothing more than angering liberals with culture war divisiveness. But that doesn’t make it any less deplorable (and what else can one say of voters who take such pleasure in legislation purposely aimed at enraging, enflaming and endangering their political opponents).
Rather than hurt DeSantis’ odds of winning over GOP votes, every one of these moves has been precisely calibrated to boost his chances. This self-serving demonstration of partisan power, unmoored from ideology and foundational constitutional principles, is not a bug for self-identified conservative Republicans — it’s a feature.
Two things are particularly remarkable/disturbing about what DeSantis is doing. First, for all his quasi-authoritarian, anti-democratic moves, he is still arguably the least quasi-authoritarian, anti-democratic candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential field. That honor still falls to former president Donald Trump. I suppose you could make the case that “Meatball Ron” has passed Trump, but until he organizes and incites an insurrection (and tries to undo a free and fair presidential election), I’m giving the nod to Trump.
The disturbing part is that there is no reason to believe that the Florida GOP’s assault on basic constitutional principles is merely a one-off. On the contrary, this is a preview of what would come if DeSantis were elected president. After all, if the last few years of Republican politics have taught us anything, it is that GOP voters need a steady diet of “liberal tears” in the same way that you and I require oxygen, iron, and riboflavin. It is essential to their being, and a “President DeSantis” (let those words sink in) would be under enormous pressure to produce them via executive fiat or federal legislation. So while I tend to avoid catastrophizing in my writing (and co-wrote a whole book making the case against it), what’s happening in Florida right now should terrify you.
When a politician flagrantly and publicly boasts about violating bedrock democratic norms — and gleefully targets the most vulnerable members of American society — that’s what we in the business call a tell. It shows either they will do anything to acquire and maintain political power or that they intend to do terrible things if they move further up the rungs of political power. This is why I always counsel people to give up the game of trying to guess what a politician truly believes. Successful politicians only believe in one thing — achieving their political ambitions. The compromises they are willing (and not willing) to make to further those aspirations are really all you need to know about them.
My First and Definitely Last Post About Marianne Williamson’s Presidential Campaign
Unfortunately, the constituency within the Democratic Party of anti-vax, crystal-loving devotees is too frustratingly small for me to take her seriously as a presidential candidate. Also this …
Guess Who Said It!
Here’s a quote from a major media personality about Donald Trump!
“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” He added, “I hate him passionately.”
*answer below
What’s Going On
Michael Kazin makes a strong argument for why liberals should be wholeheartedly supporting Ukraine. As far as I’m concerned, this is a no-brainer, and that there’s any question about liberal support for Ukraine is likely a by-product of often knee-jerk (and sometimes legitimate) opposition to any war in which the US gets involved. But as Kazin points out, the situation in Ukraine isn’t all that complicated — “a massive nation led by an authoritarian ruler with one of the world’s largest militaries at his disposal is seeking to conquer and subjugate a smaller and weaker neighbor.” He’s 100 percent correct that “if American leftists take seriously their commitment to self-rule and loathing of foreign aggression, they should shed their ambivalence about supporting Ukraine.” If anything, it is liberals that should be at the forefront of supporting Kyiv.
At the same time, we should not lose sight of the fact that the war in Ukraine is also a tragedy for Russia — particularly the Russian soldiers who have become cannon fodder for Putin’s imperial ambitions.
I’m glad I wasn’t eating cereal when I read this sentence in a Washington Post profile of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s legislative aide responsible for negotiating a debt limit deal. If I had, I fear I would have shot milk out my nose.
“The party’s demands for spending cuts have also become increasingly outlandish … As Meyer told his friend, McCarthy is in a nearly impossible bind, having vowed to advance a budget proposal that eradicates the deficit in a decade without touching Medicare and Social Security or increasing taxes.” Jeez, can’t imagine how this happened.”
This 3-minute clip of Chris Hayes talking to a Texas woman about her experience with the state’s current abortion law is worth your time.
I watched Tar over the weekend, and I think this review gets it exactly right.
Answer: it’s Tucker Carlson! I honestly can’t imagine what it’s like to go through life with absolutely no sense of shame.
Musical Interlude
This might be Elvis Costello’s most underrated album.
Ya brought the spice, and I am here for it!
What time is your zoom on Friday?