‘The New Mainstream Satan’ - HiFi on DeSantis
‘The New Mainstream Satan’ - HiFi on DeSantis
A Q & A with my podcast partner High Fidelity on the newly anointed fascist leader
Me: So, HiFi - why do you call Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the new mainstream Satan?
HiFi: He is the newly anointed fascist leader. Because of January 6, Trump is damaged goods and the ‘smart’ money, which is being spent to consolidate power at the top and to destroy our ecosphere, is on DeSantis.
Me: We learned from Nadine Smith almost a year ago, DeSantis is trying to outflank Trump to the right, and he’s been out-raising Trump. We know his former press secretary - now a campaign director - is a registered foreign agent. So DeSantis is trying to go for that Koch-Kremlin cadre cash. He has been committing so many human rights’ violations in Florida it’s dizzying, so explain to our audience how someone like Jeb Bush - who at one point represented the trad GOP - can come out in favor of DeSantis?
HiFi: Jeb Bush is a test. Obviously, with Jeb backing DeSantis, he will be attacked by the Trump and MAGA machinery. So it’s a test by Republicans who want to back DeSantis to see how badly Jeb Bush is attacked. Also keep in mind, he's normalizing the idea of backing DeSantis, right. So he's a test - a sounding rod.
Me: I realized that Nancy McLean told us that the Republican party no longer exists, and as we have proven time and time again, it is more of a christofascist radicalized cult. But I feel like for those who might not understand that yet, seeing Jeb Bush back DeSantis, shouldn't that now be clear?
HiFi: Here's the thing - when people talk about cults, what they're often referring to are the members of the cult. And what a lot of people seem to forget, is there are a huge number of people who are in support roles to the leader, who understand that they are manipulating followers, who understand that they're working with the leader - and the leader is replaceable. And that's what this is. It's that second layer, the third layer, the manipulators of the control of the cult - manipulating and pulling levers and testing out the next leader.
Me: I have been writing about the auditions currently taking place to be the new avatar for this anti-science, anti-human rights death cult party - let's just face it, that’s what it has become. And as I wrote in The Fascists Have No Clothes, we've known for some time that it more than likely would not be Trump. But it seems to me that when we talk about the Overton Window, which was pushed so far under Trump, that he now represents almost the center, so now, we are just dealing with one extremist after extremist.
HiFi: If you look at what is happening to our country, Ron DeSantis will be our next Jefferson Davis…
Me: You know what Ruth Ben-Ghiat just tweeted: “Ron DeSantis will destroy our democracy with deadly precision. I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous he is.” That was her response to Ron Filipkowski’s tweet-clip of Jeb Bush endorsing DeSantis.
DeSantis starts with the weakest group - trans kids, gay kids, and then it's teachers, and school unions, and it's black people getting arrested for voting … and on and on … until he comes for everyone.
HiFi: It’s exactly what Hitler did, exactly what Pol Pot did, exactly what Mao did, exactly what Lenin did - it's the exact same thing over and over again - they go after everyone. That's their deal. Everyone, everyone.
Me: It’s this ephemeral us vs the shadowy them - the ‘them’ always in the shadows. How do we wake people up to understanding your original point that Ron DeSantis is the new mainstream Satan?
HiFi: Why hasn't he been brought up on kidnapping charges related to taking immigrants from another state and moving them elsewhere? It's malfeasance in office - a misuse of taxpayer money for a publicity stunt.
Me: How dangerous is it that Jeb Bush is endorsing him?
HiFi: Bush is to DeSantis what von Hindenburg was for Hitler. Paul von Hindenburg was a German general who gained renown during World War I, and later was the president of the Weimar Republic. He is most relevant to Holocaust history through his dealings with Hitler, although he did not approve of Hitler or his politics. But Hindenburg became the man who made Hitler chancellor of Germany, enabling the Nazis to take power.
Me: (I read HiFi Trump’s latest psychotic rant). What the f**k is he talking about?
HiFi: He's flailing because he knows that those who truly control the cult are moving the cult away from him.
Me: Okay. Final words about DeSantis and why this is just so frickin rotten.
HiFi: Just because the attempted coup now flies a different flag doesn't mean it's not still an attempted coup.
Me: (I read HiFi Jeb’s words - his preprogrammed propaganda about DeSantis - pure fascist playbook stuff - virility, unreality, mythic past, strongman bullshittery - I refuse to parrot the propaganda in print in Bette, but it’s bad and extremely dangerous). ‘Florida as a model for the future’ - gimme a break. All fascist tropes.
HiFi: They hide the truth in their words, but they showed the truth in their actions. They use coded language. They signal. For a year now, we have pointed the compass of warning directly at DeSantis and still, people do not realize that truly independent journalists like us get it right.
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I have been gone so long I miss you, and you all, badly and goodly. I have a lot of catching up to do, but am glad to see the form of "trafficking in propaganda" coming into shape. I have to go back to look at that date when I was so excited about that specific legal language utilized in the Dominion case. I think my text read something like, "Trafficking in Propaganda! That's it! That's the correct language!" We are moving now.
Am shocked.