Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Demovictory9

(32,456 posts)
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 12:47 AM Oct 2018

GOP nominee for Florida governor (Desantis) revealed as author of book excusing slavery

https://shareblue.com/florida-republican-ron-desantis-slavery-apologist/


In addition to defending slavery, Florida Republican Ron DeSantis also railed against women's rights and anti-discrimination laws.

Ron DeSantis, the GOP nominee for governor of Florida who kicked off his campaign by hurling dog whistles at his African-American opponent, is once again under fire for making racist remarks.

This time, however, he wrote the comments in a book.

During his 2011 bid for a congressional seat in Florida, DeSantis penned a little-noticed book focused almost entirely on attacking America’s first black president, arguing that President Barack Obama’s worldview was incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.

But in between the pages taking aim at President Obama’s biracial heritage and questioning his Christianity was an even lesser known section in which DeSantis jumped headfirst into a disturbing justification of slavery.

The discovery was first reported this week by the American Ledger, an American Bridge project.

In the book, “Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama,” DeSantis defended the Founding Fathers for ratifying slavery in the Constitution.

DeSantis even argued that the Three-Fifths Compromise — which held that slaves could be counted as three-fifths of a free citizen for the purpose of representation in Congress — was really an “anti-slavery” move.

Framing his argument as a defense of the Constitution, DeSantis wrote that the Founding Fathers were compelled to ratify slavery, and that the Constitution wasn’t flawed just because it allowed slavery in the first place. Rather, DeSantis argued, the Constitution was perfect from the get-go because it enabled the abolition of slavery (75 years later, after a bloody civil war
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
GOP nominee for Florida governor (Desantis) revealed as author of book excusing slavery (Original Post) Demovictory9 Oct 2018 OP
How did no one know he wrote a book? Beakybird Oct 2018 #1
It appears to have been self-published... Princess Turandot Oct 2018 #3
HE went to Harvard! Jesus I know conservatives come out of there but this guy is so extreme flygal Oct 2018 #8
Little Oppo research . . . peggysue2 Oct 2018 #2
Unfortunately for his voters, they see this as a plus Drahthaardogs Oct 2018 #5
K & R for exposure. SunSeeker Oct 2018 #4
He is a well known racist malaise Oct 2018 #6
I haven't seen this in the MSM yet. It needs to go viral. Vote Gillum and Nelson! OrlandoDem2 Oct 2018 #7
Sorry, but nothing in florida surprises me anymore. lindysalsagal Oct 2018 #9
K&R Scurrilous Oct 2018 #10
I haven't read this, and if unruly mentality helps Gillum, Hortensis Oct 2018 #11

Princess Turandot

(4,787 posts)
3. It appears to have been self-published...
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 01:49 AM
Oct 2018

...using one of the outfits ('co-publishers') that facilitate doing that.

The original article from American Ledger said:

DeSantis, a Harvard-educated lawyer who served as a Navy judge advocate general until 2010, co-published the book in 2011 with a small Florida company to bolster his House campaign. He was running for an open seat on Florida’s northeastern coast after redistricting forced the incumbent Republican to run in a different district.


There's an entry for it on Goodreads, which identified the publisher as HPH Publishing in Jacksonville Beach, Florida (not to be confused with a company in South Africa by the same name that publishes coffee table and guide books of animal photography.)

flygal

(3,231 posts)
8. HE went to Harvard! Jesus I know conservatives come out of there but this guy is so extreme
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:59 AM
Oct 2018

how does such a top school not weed out the racists?

peggysue2

(10,829 posts)
2. Little Oppo research . . .
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 01:24 AM
Oct 2018

being released, perhaps? Let the October surprises roll in on these whack jobs!!

And yes, I'm sure everyone is on the slavery-defense bandwagon. And stripping women's rights and damning anti-discrimination policies? DeSantis, a man of the Confederacy. Too bad it's 2018.

Good to know.

OrlandoDem2

(2,065 posts)
7. I haven't seen this in the MSM yet. It needs to go viral. Vote Gillum and Nelson!
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 05:48 AM
Oct 2018

And vote Democrat down the ballot!

Democrats, please do not stay home this year!

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
11. I haven't read this, and if unruly mentality helps Gillum,
Wed Oct 10, 2018, 08:57 AM
Oct 2018

it's better than a DeSantis win. But truth is truth, whatever it is.

It's hard to imagine a racist like DeSantis wrote on this subject without spilling plenty of poison insidiously, and we see it in that perfidious "perfect as written" theme. Kick him for that, also because it's about getting rid of many civil rights protections, Social Security and privacy rights such as abortion, among many other things, but let's be careful not to deny history itself, only the twisting of it to create lies.

There was a great deal of compromise on slavery, both sides understanding they would have to continue to fight for what they believed in or had to have in future.Notably, that same constitution granted congress authority to abolish the importation of slaves after 20 years, and in 1807 congress promptly did exactly that. Some states had already outlawed slavery and before even joining the union, of course, and some states abolished slavery after the constitution was adopted. Of course, the despicable fugitive slave provision effectively extended slavery into even those states that had made it illegal and enforcement was reinforced by federal law in the 1790s. But all truth.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»GOP nominee for Florida g...