The good folks of Florida awoke on Independence Day to a carpetbagging attack on their state. Instead of preparing to celebrate their freedoms after a bracing cup of something steamy to get the day started, they were instead assaulted by the face of California’s very own Governor Gavin Newsom in a series of television ads against the Republican-controlled Sunshine State that made absolutely no sense to anyone with half a mind.
Granted, it was a plucky move by Newsom, as the advertisement began with the governor saying, “It’s Independence Day – so let’s talk about what’s going on in America. Freedom is under attack in your state.”
Is that so? Many Floridians think Newsom got that backward at best. But he persisted with a shocker to the ears of those who didn’t already switch channels: “Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors.”
This was even more confusing, as Florida and conservatives aren’t the people trying to change history, quash the First Amendment, or even stop a woman from choosing what’s right regarding her health care. That would be Democrats and their radical progressive sect attacking the foundations of this constitutional republic.
About Those Books
Ron DeSantis (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
March of this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law HB 1467, which gives parents and members of the public access to the selection of public-school library books and instructional materials. The explicit Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, the graphically sexual and violent adult book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, and Iris Chang’s critical yet disturbing The Rape of Nanking are works that many Florida parents do not believe are appropriate for school-aged children.
The Florida Department of Education also rejected several math books for use in the curriculum. Those were laden with critical race theory, common core, and the unsolicited Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.
To compare, California banned the following books: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. No graphic sex, no outward violence, just accounts of the history of the time.
And one might surmise that Newsom’s reference to restricting speech in classrooms is progressive code for “We can’t push alternate sexual practices and lifestyles on other people’s kids.”
Desperate Much?
Gavin Newsom (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
One must ask: If Florida is so awful and California so free, why are so many Golden Staters changing their residence and identification to Sunshine Staters? Are they misguided? In 2021, California – under Democratic Party rule – lost 337,000 residents to other states. And it’s largely because of oppressive regulations and laws, state and local taxes, and the soaring cost of living.
So Newsom roughly lost the equivalent population of Cleveland, OH, and DeSantis gained 221,000, about the size of San Bernadino. No wonder Newsom is running ads in Florida. His sheep went rogue and jumped the fence.
“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight. Or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom — freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate, and the freedom to love,” Newsom bleated to his missing flock. But even those who love and live and fight for California couldn’t believe the audacity of the man trying to flip the narrative to fit his ambitions – whatever they may be.
California Republican legislator Kevin Kiley tweeted: “Newsom is branding us ‘the real Freedom state of CA.’ Keep in mind this is a state that bans plastic straws.” Will anyone drink Newsom’s milkshake?
