Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida
By Jim Turner
A former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida caused a kerfuffle this week when he filed legislation that would do away with the state Democratic Party.
Former Chairman Blaise Ingoglia, a state senator from Spring Hill, proposed a bill (SB 1248) that would direct Secretary of State Cord Byrd to “cancel” the registration of any political party that has ever supported slavery.
Ingoglia pointed to the Democratic Party’s support of slavery before and after the Civil War and said the proposal is a reaction to liberal activists pushing to remove statues and memorials based on past comments or actions.
“What I think the Democrats are doing is trying to gloss over the fact that they did adopt pro-slavery positions in their party platforms,” Ingoglia said Wednesday. “So, according to cancel culture itself, they should be canceling themselves.”
Nikki Fried, the newly elected chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, blamed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for the proposal.
“This is what a dictator does,” Fried said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “A dictator goes after those who oppose his policies, those who stand in his way of ultimate power.”
Fried also criticized what she called the “radical Republican Party” for opposing freedom of speech and the freedom to organize. On Wednesday, the Democratic Party called the measure “unserious” and a publicity stunt by Republicans.
“The sooner DeSantis and his puppets in the Legislature learn that Florida is a democratic republic and not a banana republic, the better it will be for all Floridians,” the party said in a news release.
Under Ingoglia’s proposal, Democratic voters would see their registrations changed to “no party affiliation.” The Democratic Party would be allowed to re-register in the state but with a “substantially” different name.
While Republican President Abraham Lincoln led the fight to end slavery amid opposition from Democrats, Black voters are now a core constituency of the Democratic Party. Also, many Democrats have backed removing statues and building names tied to the Confederacy.
In 2020, for example, the U.S. House voted 304-113 to remove all Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol, with 72 Republicans joining Democrats in the effort. The proposal didn’t pass in the U.S. Senate.
Among the Republicans who opposed the measure was Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, who that year unsuccessfully proposed resolutions that called for removing portraits and references to any political party that ever supported slavery or the Confederacy. And, similar to Ingoglia’s proposal, he sought to ban from Congress any political party that ever supported slavery or the Confederacy.
PROTESTING THE PROTEST RULES
While anticipating a “full frontal assault on free speech” in the upcoming legislative session, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is tracking new rules that provide another hurdle to holding protests at the state Capitol.
Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, said the group is reviewing options over the rewrite of the rules of engagement. It is looking at how the rules affect common areas such as the Capitol’s fourth-floor rotunda, the Old Capitol steps and the Capitol courtyard.
“These new rules empower law enforcement to remove individuals participating in peaceful protests and exercising the right to free speech and assembly,” Gross told reporters in a conference call Wednesday. “They’re overbroad. They’re vague, and they’re unclear.”
The Department of Management Services, which oversees state facilities, has limited the use of space to organizations that can draw sponsorship from an executive-branch agency head, the House speaker or any member of the Senate and requires activities to “align with state agency missions.”
NO CHILLING EFFECT
Ice-cream giant Ben & Jerry’s apparently hasn’t melted since Florida Republicans in 2021 banned state investments and contracts with the company for halting sales in the West Bank and Gaza.
In celebrating Black History Month, the liberal-leaning ice cream maker announced, “We’re calling out the movements to censor the teaching of Black history and the celebration of Black culture in the classroom and beyond.”
The statement focused on Florida, while saying efforts are underway in Florida and other states to block teaching of “critical race theory,” to ban books by and about Black people, to restrict what teachers can say about racism in classrooms, to block an Advanced Placement African-American studies course and to ban “implicit-bias training.”
“The (Florida Department of Education) absurdly claimed that the college-level (Advanced Placement) course — which comprehensively surveys Black history and culture — violates Florida law, is not ‘historically accurate,’ and ‘lacks educational value,’” Ben & Jerry’s said on its website.
In 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody backed banning state investments in Ben & Jerry’s and parent company Unilever PLC after the ice-cream maker said it would no longer sell products in “occupied Palestinian territories,” but would remain in Israel through a different business arrangement.
Ben & Jerry’s said the decision was consistent with its values and “concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.” The company also disagreed that it is part of the “boycott, divestment, sanctions” movement.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: “I’m glad we’re picking this fight with left-wing academics and forcing them to reveal their hand: they want to replace freedom with ‘diversity’ — and now they’re openly admitting it. They’re setting the stage for us to abolish the DEI bureaucracies and restore freedom and equality.” — New College of Florida Trustee Christopher Rufo (@fealchrisrufo).