🇺🇸 DeSantis's Suspension Tension

Good morning, and happy Monday. In colorful clogs and a blue hat to match her Walmart team vest, 86-year-old Mary Ruth Robinson is a greeter at the Carrollton, Kentucky Walmart. Her infectious personality brings joy, love, and connection to everyone coming into the store. 

Plus, Italy has found itself in a crabby predicament. Aggressive blue crabs have invaded their shores, messing with the local ecosystems. How much is it costing the country to fix? 

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Left: Pence "doesn't recall" election scheme Kelly McClure, Salon

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Left: The Supreme Court is taking a wrecking ball to the wall between church and state Ian Millhiser, Vox

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Business: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried jailed (Axios)

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CRIME

DeSantis's Suspension Tension

Last Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended the top prosecutor in Orlando, State Attorney Monique Morrell, again wielding his executive power over local government in taking on a contentious issue in the 2024 presidential race.

Reporting from the Right: DeSantis Removes Another Soros-Backed Florida Prosecutor, Alleging She Is Too Soft on Criminals (The Sun)

Reporting from the Left: DeSantis suspends Orlando-area state attorney in second sacking of democratically elected prosecutor (CNN)

From The Flag: It’s the second time DeSantis has removed a Democratic state attorney. Worrell sharply criticized the governor, saying the removal was purely political and not about her performance. Here’s how both sides are responding.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Worrell Is an Ineffective, Soros-Backed Prosecutor

• DeSantis made the right decision to remove Worrell as she has been derelict in her duty, and her temper tantrum is meaningless.

• Worrell has a history of being soft on crime and skewing her charging decisions so offenders can avoid minimum sentences.

• The criticism levied at DeSantis by Worrell is only meant to distract from the fact that she has not upheld her duties to a high standard.

Soros-backed prosecutor suspended by Gov. DeSantis throws temper tantrum Vivek Saxena, BizPac Review: “A Soros-backed prosecutor who’s been suspended is raging mad at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for holding her accountable. In fact, according to State Attorney Monique Worrell, her suspension at DeSantis’ hands makes him a veritable dictator. … She reportedly continued by claiming her ouster was political. Yet in announcing Worrell’s suspension, the governor made it clear that it had everything to do with her soft, lax approach toward crime. … During his own Wednesday press conference, he went through Worrell’s history of failing to prosecute criminals, including repeat offenders. He also announced her replacement: Judge Andrew Bain. … The governor’s move is backed by local police unions that have accused Worrell of being ‘soft on crime.’ Indeed, in a Facebook post published over the weekend, one local union slammed her for releasing a child molester who later went on to shoot two cops.”

Orlando Prosecutor Suspended by DeSantis Has Long Record of Leniency toward Drug Traffickers, Violent Offenders Caroline Downey, National Review: “The progressive state attorney who was suspended on Wednesday by Florida governor Ron DeSantis has a history of downgrading or dropping charges in serious criminal cases, resulting in multiple incidents of offenders committing more egregious crimes upon their release. … Worrell is accused of skewing her charging decisions in order to ensure that offenders would avoid mandatory minimum sentences for drug-trafficking and gun crimes, allowing juvenile offenders to avoid serious charges or incarceration altogether, and limiting charges for child pornography. In three cases cited in the executive order, Worrell’s charging decisions and the resulting sentences allowed criminals who might otherwise have been behind bars to inflict more harm on the community. … Worrell also effectively inhibited or discouraged her assistant state attorneys from obtaining meritorious minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes, the executive order alleges. Mandatory minimum sentences for use of a firearm during a violent felony range from ten to 25 years under Florida law.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Woke Prosecutor Fumes At ‘Evil’ ‘Dictator’ DeSantis For Booting Her From Office: ‘Destroyed Democracy’ Ryan Saavedra, The Daily Wire

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

This Was Political and Destructive to Democracy

• DeSantis has done this before and he will do it again. This move was unsurprising, and shows exactly the kind of president he would be.

• This was purely political, and DeSantis is looking to score points with Republican voters as his president campaign continues to struggle.

• This authoritarian decision was a clear attack on democracy, with DeSantis unilaterally removing an elected official from office.

In Another Sign of Florida’s Democratic Decay, DeSantis Suspends an Elected Prosecutor Pema Levy, Mother Jones: “The move was unsurprising: Since winning the state’s top job in 2019, he has sought to make political hay by booting multiple Democrats from office, in contravention of the voters who put them there. Worrell’s suspension is part of a mounting pile of evidence that a key aspect of DeSantis’ tenure is a disregard for democracy, alongside his desire and ability to govern Florida without accountability from other branches. That record is why his critics warn that he will rule as an autocrat if he manages to reach the White House. DeSantis’ decision to remove Worrell demonstrates that he believes he can act with impunity when it comes to suspensions, even if they go beyond his powers as governor. … The result is that DeSantis, at a moment he desperately needs to rehabilitate his national prospects, feels he can take another Democratic scalp without facing repercussion over an unconstitutional act.”

‘Weak Dictator’ Ron DeSantis Ousts Another Prosecutor He Dislikes Jose Pagliery, Daily Beast: “The Orlando-area prosecutor ousted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday hit back at the shock suspension, calling the stunt a ‘smokescreen’ to distract from DeSantis’ spiraling presidential campaign. Monique Worrell is now the second democratically elected state prosecutor to lose her job to a DeSantis power grab. The governor attributed Worrell’s suspension to her being too forgiving on crime, despite her comfortably winning 67 percent of the vote in Orange and Osceola counties in 2020. … Worrell had long been on DeSantis’ target list, according to government emails that were exposed in Warren’s case. She had also clashed regularly with Orange County Sheriff John Mina, who claimed she was too soft on crime and didn’t pursue harsh enough charges for repeat offenders. … In recent months, [DeSantis’s] office has taken increasingly extreme rightwing positions that seem to be a ploy to energize angry Republican voters by showing his zeal for harming progressive causes.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: 'Attack on democracy': Prosecutor suspended by Ron DeSantis speaks out Matthew Chapman, Raw Story

FLAG THIS

DeSantis vs. Trump

While some polls from July 2023 suggest Trump's lead may be slipping, DeSantis remains a distant second with data putting him 29 percentage points behind the former president in national polls of Republican voters (Newsweek).

DeSantis’s favorability has also not faired well in recent months. While some polls indicated he was viewed more favorably than unfavorably in the first quarter of 2023, DeSantis has gradually become more unfavorable since April. As of August 10, 46.2% viewed him unfavorably, which is 11.6 points greater than the 34.6% who see him favorably (FiveThirtyEight).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Social Security Begins, Plastic Straws, Electric Cars

On This Day in 1935: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law. Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR, flanked by ranking members of Congress, signed into law the historic act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a “patriotic” act.

Vox: Don’t schedule meetings after 4 pm

Grist: Did plastic straw bans work? Yes, but not in the way you’d think.

Condé Nast Traveler: The 50 most beautiful small towns in the world

Today I learned electric cars are not a modern invention. In the early 1900s, electric vehicles accounted for about a third of all vehicles on the road and were popular due to their quiet and clean operation, especially in urban areas.