But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters… and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me??”
—from Acts: 9, 1-3, The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Oxford University Press (1962)
Our new governor, Ron DeSantis, on his road to Tallahassee, may not seem like a sensible subject for a biblical comparison. He squeaked by a seemingly more qualified candidate, Andrew Gillum, mainly by clinging to Donald Trump’s shirt-tails like a suckerfish, adopting Trump’s habit of using race-baiting dog-whistles and then looking shocked when it was brought up. “Don’t let Gillum monkey this up,” he’d say, innocently, to great applause. He’d also go after Hillary Clinton in the attack mode, throwing in Maxine Waters (the black congresswoman from California) for emphasis. Hey, why not? This is politics. And, like Trump, he has a gift for colorful hyperbole: “Andrew Gillum is a failed socialist soft on crime!” Yay.
But all of a sudden, everyone’s scratching his or her head and thinking, “Is this the same guy? Hit by lightning or something?” As a congressman he attacked Robert Mueller’s probe into Donald Trump’s ties with Russia, proposing an amendment that would prevent funding it. He dismissed global warming as something he didn’t want to deal with, sounding very much like ex-Governor Rick (the Ostrich) Scott, who told Florida’s legislators not to even mention the words.
Now, in his first few speeches, DeSantis has proposed a $91.3 billion budget that seems sensible. He’s been calling for $2.5 billion to protect Florida’s water. He wants to appoint a “chief science officer” to coordinate scientific research about the weather’s effect on our landscape. He’s proposing millions of dollars for technical education to upgrade Florida’s workforce, and a transparent review of our schools’ basic standards. This is good news, although it’s a suspiciously quick and Trumplike turnabout from former statements.
He’s also asked our lawmakers to pay attention to Florida’s voters (which Scott didn’t do) who strongly supported legalizing medical marijuana, and canceled pending legislation aimed at making it harder to get. Plus, he corrected Scott’s race-tinged ignorance by posthumously pardoning the Groveland Four, black men falsely convicted of sexual assault in 1949. A fine start, and everyone’s praising him; but we shouldn’t drop our guard.
For one thing, DeSantis has appointed three new judges to the Supreme Court, and Florida now has perhaps the most conservative Supreme Court in the country, with all seven judges chosen by Republicans. Robert Luck, Barbara Lagoa, and Carlos Muñiz all seem like honest citizens, but the future looks dim for Democrats in Florida’s courts.
Also looking dim are Florida’s already lackluster public schools, with DeSantis’s appointment of Richard Corcoran, a loud supporter of charter schools at the expense of public ones. I suppose in general we should be happy that DeSantis is better than Scott or Trump, but this is cold satisfaction. It’s hard to know if this “new” Ron will stay with us. In the Bible, Saul’s name changed to Paul, after which he became a revered saint. I’d feel more optimistic about DeSantis if people start calling him Don.
It may seem strange that our governor meandered into my mind along the ancient Syrian path to Damascus, which today is suffering under truly biblical destruction (“I will lay waste your cities”: see Sodom and Gomorrah, Jericho, et al.). But, as wise people tell us, what goes around comes around; and as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Bless us all.
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened… And all who heard him were amazed, and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called on this name?
—from Acts: 9, 18-21, The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Edition, Oxford University Press (1962)
This article appears in Feb 7-14, 2019.