To “Own the Libs,” Ron DeSantis Overpaid

​Well, I must say that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) smuggling migrant families to Martha’s Vineyard was certainly a notable event yesterday.  I know that his administration thought this was a great way to “own the libs” – especially since it was something his director of rapid response Christina Pushaw spent all day spitting out snarky comments to critics on her Twitter feed page.

ProTip:  when you don’t offer any substantive explanation of your actions and only try to ridicule others, then your showing that you don’t have any defense or substantive explanation for your actions.

Also, though one’s title might be “rapid response,” you’re still allowed to think before you respond.  In one of her most-weird responses, Ms. Pushaw suggested that we do a search of Barack Obama’s “mansion” to see if there were any illegal migrants there.  Now, first of all, how on earth former president Barack Obama got dragged into the Ron DeSantis Story is something Christina Pushaw will have to explain on her own, but why she thought doing so was a Really Good Idea is another matter entirely.  But it was her use of “mansion” that took her weirdness to another level, since if she thought that saying he had big, expensive home would be demeaning, she overlooked the obvious comparison in her own Florida backyard of Trump living on an actually, sprawling resort.  And furthermore, it’s a resort which is on the record for having actually, really hired undocumented workers.  Which she only draws additional attention to by suggesting we search the Obama home.  I am quite sure that Mr. Obama would not only happily open his home to a search for undocumented workers and even lead the tour himself, as long as Trump would do the same.  Besides which – and yes, there’s more to Ms. Pushaw’s reluctance to think things through – begging for searches of a former president’s home can only serve to remind everyone of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, and the volumes of classified documents that Trump stole.

So, maybe “rapid response” isn’t always the best way to fly.

I actually read a lot of the Christina Pushaw’s Twitter feed yesterday.  It got me to respond to far more things she wrote than I’d have preferred.  But each one drew your eyes to the next, and that one too demanded you not walk away without coming to the defense of her outrageous attack against people who were saying nothing more than what the governor did was against human decency.  Not wanting to put anyone else through that experience of checking out her page, let’s just say it's frantic and creepy.  And I could find no attempt to even defend her boss’s human trafficking.  Because, honestly, there’s really no defense.  It was just a cold, callous use of power against helpless people being treated as political pawns for no gain.

Among other things, the “rich people” on Martha’s Vineyard who kept getting referenced all day vacation there during the summer, which is now over, and they’re long gone.  Those remaining there are local residents who have regular days jobs.

Further, DeSantis spent $12 million by most accounts to do his little “own the libs” dance.  Which is a whole lot of taxpayer money to buy a few libs.

And “a few” is pretty all it was, since only 15,000 people live on Martha’s Vineyard.  And what DeSantis did was suggest that this small community had more resources to support the migrant families than the third most-populous state in the union did.

But mainly, it was the cruel, cold, callousness of the DeSantis action (which may well have been illegal, even to the point of human trafficking, and it appears that that question is at least being looked into) to take poor, immigrant families who had fled oppressive conditions in their homeland and rip them away from their homes here in Florida that they knew – by lying to them about jobs and final paperwork that awaited them in Boston.  (Not Martha’s Vineyard…)  All, they said, to help the migrants.

And even more, they never informed officials in Massachusetts, let alone Martha’s Vineyard, which would have allowed those in charge to prepare and have a plan in place to deal with the new arrivals.  Instead, DeSantis just had them dumped off.  With a videographer along to document the intentional cruelty.

Apparently Ron DeSantis and Christina Pushaw and all their circle didn’t learn the lesson of the Trump administration outrage of tearing about immigrant families and putting children in cages, an action that infuriated the majority of the public.

All to “own the libs.”  To own the rich libs.  The "billiionaires" is how Christina Pushaw kept putting it.  Because, yeah, every lib on Martha's Vineyard is a billionaire.  All 15,000 of them.

And the cost to "own the libs" by flying 50 migrants away from Florida was $12 million. 

By the way, you could book a one way flight from Miami to Boston today on Spirit Airlines for $88.  For 50 people, that comes to $4,400.  (And with a group that large, you might have been able to get a group rate.)  It turns out that Ron DeSantis is really awful at fiscal responsibility.  Or great at snookering the people of Florida.

On the good side, from all accounts, the migrants are being welcome by Martha’s Vineyard (where a friend of my lives) with graciousness. 

And also good news, it was so refreshing to see a story about Martha’s Vineyeard that did not include anything about Alan Dershowitz whining that he wasn’t invited to a party.  And addition good news that when ripping the migrants from their home, Florida didn’t put anyone in cages.  But the best news is that when the Germans did this 80 years ago, the destination wasn't as friendly and welcoming as Martha’s Vineyard. And they used trains, so the ride was longer.