
<p>Florida State Senator Blaise Ingoglia is proposing a bill that would essentially outlaw the Democratic Party in the Sunshine State. It does not mention the Democratic Party, but it would put it into the category of political parties banned in Florida.</p>



<p>It has attracted a lot of hyperventilating criticism from folks on the left – calling the bill more craziness from the right. ; But then, the left is not known for having a sense of humor or an appreciation of irony.</p>



<p>Congresswoman and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was quick to file her protest on Twitter. ; She wrote” “Tyrants dictate one-party states. ; The list of dictators who did it is long and very ugly. ; Ask anyone who fled Cuba, Russia, or Germany. ; Now the @FloridaGOP want to add Florida to that list? ; These radical extremists can’t be serious.” ; Maybe they are not, Debbie.</p>



<p>Officially outlawing the Democratic Party in Florida may be a moot issue since, in the past couple of elections, the good citizens of Florida have essentially cancelled the Party on their own. ; With the Republican sweep in 2022 – and the landslide victory of Governor Ron DeSantis – the Democratic Party has no state-level power. ; No state offices. ; No control in either chamber of the State Legislature. ; Democrats lost in two strongholds – Palm Beach and Broward counties. ; They lost the Hispanic vote. ; It seems like putting the Democratic Party legislatively out of business is just adding insult to injury.</p>



<p>It is only when you look into the reasons for cancelling the Democratic Party – among other potential political groups &#8212; that you see the clever irony. ; Maybe the effort to cancel the Party is not as serious an effort as the critics suggest – or as the sponsor intended. ; Maybe it is a joke with a point.</p>



<p>Perhaps the title of the bill (SB 1248) should have given a hint. ; It is called “The Ultimate Cancel Act.” ; It requires the Florida Division of Elections to immediately and summarily cancel the filings for political office of ANY party that does not meet certain conditions.</p>



<p>And what might those conditions be, you ask?</p>



<p>Well … SB1248 states that NO PARTY shall be allowed to appear on a ballot in Florida “if the party’s platform has previously advocated for, or been in support ; of, slavery or involuntary ; servitude.”</p>



<p>If passed and enacted into law, it would take effect on July 1, 2023. ; (Methinks that July 4<sup>th</sup> would have been a better commencement date, but no one asked me.)</p>



<p>If the bill becomes law, the Democratic Party will have to re-register no later than six months before the party would submit petitions to appear on the ballot – and only under a new name that is “substantially different” than the old. ; It will also be required to submit a certificate indicating the new party’s constitution, bylaws, rules, and regulations.</p>



<p>The idea of cancelling the Democratic Party for its support of slavery 150 years ago seems ludicrous on the surface – that is, until you see the principle involved. ; It is a principle that Democrats and the left have embraced as the core of their woke policies.</p>



<p>Owning slaves is sufficient reason for left-wingers to tear down the monuments and reputations of the nation’s Founders and early presidents – excluding Democrat Andrew Jackson, the worst of them all. ; ;</p>



<p>They want American taxpayers to pay reparations even though no one today owned or supported slavery – and the reparations would go to individuals who were never slaves or even know their ancestors who were.  ; They also want today’s businesses that may have profited from slavery in the early 1800s to pay reparations. ; They want all the statues of the leaders of the Confederacy to be torn down and their history eradicated from textbooks.</p>



<p>If retroactive reparations are to be paid, I have long suggested that they be paid by the Democratic Party – not Republicans who fought against slavery or the progeny of immigrants who were not even in America during the era of slavery.</p>



<p>Whether SB1248 ever gets passed or not, it does serve to shine the light on the hypocrisy and nuttiness of the left’s attempts to cancel history, rewrite the early chapters, and hold folks today accountable for the slavery of which they have zero responsibility. ;</p>



<p>It is no small irony that the political party that is most guilty for the preservation of slavery and another 150 years of oppressing black folks are not cleaning out their own house. ; I am talking about such racist figures as Andrew Jackson (the founder of the modern Democratic Party and the namesake of hundreds – maybe thousands &#8212; of Jackson Day Dinners as fundraisers), Woodrow Wilson (the racist President who segregated the military, the Executive Branch of the federal government and praised the Ku Klux Klan) or Franklin Roosevelt (who constructed a New Deal to transfer jobs from black folks to unemployed whites).</p>



<p>I see the Florida bill as one of those goose and gander situations. ; If I were in the Florida legislature, I would be inclined to vote against the bill, but I would promote it in the public commons to reveal the hypocrisy of wokeness – and those who embrace it as their core policy.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Florida Moves to Ban the Democratic Party … and I Am Laughing
