Ron DeSantis Sticks It To Martha's Vineyard Libs, By Throwing Terrified Migrant People At Them
Ron DeSantis Sticks It To Martha's Vineyard Libs, By Throwing Terrified Migrant People At Them
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they'll know we are Christians by our love.
Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona GOP Governor Doug Ducey have lately been sending plane loads of migrants to Union states — mostly Democratic bastions like New York, Chicago, and Washington DC — as some sort of "gotcha," seemingly motivated by the racist white belief that all privileged people are secretly as bigoted as they are, they're just scared to say it out loud. "We'll see what kind of tune these liberals with their so-called sanctuary cities sing about migrants now," they seem to be saying. "Alakazam! Here are some brown-skinned people!"
They think this is a big dick move. All normal people see it and say "bless your heart."
CNN reports that now, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is "claiming credit" — haha, like it's a terrorist attack, against America, which is apropos if you consider his motivations — for sending planes to Martha's Vineyard yesterday with migrants on board.
“Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” the statement said.
“States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies.”
Zinged! Gotcha-ed! They never saw it coming! Bet you'll sing a different tune when MIGRANTS!
We should note that while Florida is saying it sent two planes, Martha's Vineyard says it was just one, so Ron DeSantis might be exaggerating a tiny.
To really get a sense of what we're talking about, what a deep place of xenophobic hatred people like DeSantis are coming from, watch this clip of Jesse Watters and Mike Pompeo on Fox News yesterday. Watters notes that the Obamas have a house on Martha's Vineyard, as do Oprah and Beyoncé and James Taylor, who will now be seeing "fire and rain and MIGRANTS!" Mike Pompeo chimes in: "These are all sanctuary cities until they're in their sanctuary!"
Is that how it is? Or is that how white supremacists fantasize that it is?
“Mike Pompeo getting a laugh in over Desantis’s stunt flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard today.”
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦) 1663200122
Oh, they cling so desperately to their beliefs that those liberals — those hypocritical liberals! — will be just as hateful as a common Fox News viewer when confronted by migrants. They cling to it like a gun or a Bible or their teeny weeny dicks.
That's what they hope happens. And let's be clear: Part of that goal is that the migrant human beings they're using as pawns suffer as a result. Because to white fascists, those migrant human beings are not human beings. Some of them were children. Ron DeSantis tried to hurt children yesterday, to own the libs.
Instead, here is what happened:
“The island scrambled to respond,” [said Massachusetts Democratic state Sen. Julian Cyr.] “They essentially set up shelters, the equivalent of a hurricane or Nor’easter. They set that up in a matter of hours and these families received a meal. They were Covid tested and are spending the night in shelters at several churches on the island.”
To the New York Times, Cyr said that the Vineyard “really moved heaven and earth to essentially set up the response that we would do in the event of a hurricane."
Dukes County flew into action:
“Due to an unexpected urgent #humanitarian situation, #DCEMA are opening #Emergency #Shelters tonight on #MarthasVineyard. If you’re willing & able to volunteer in a clinical or non-clinical role, contact @DukesOffice at 508-684-8015 #VolunteersNeeded #HumanitarianAid #DukesCounty”
— Dukes County Emergency Management Association (@Dukes County Emergency Management Association) 1663203240
At first they really didn't know who sent these people to their island — the migrant people said they were in San Antonio earlier in the day, and that they had been "lured" onto the plane and told they were going to Boston, with promises of help and work when they got there. But then the plane went to Martha's Vineyard instead and DeSantis pointed to his peener and said, "Look this! My peener!"
Martha's Vineyard just helped anyway.
“Our island jumped into action putting together 50 beds, giving everyone a good meal, providing a play area for the children, making sure people have the healthcare and support they need. We are a community that comes together to support immigrants.”
— Dylan Fernandes (@Dylan Fernandes) 1663205532
A man from Venezuela named Leonel told the Times he “had never seen anything like it" and that they gave him new shoes:
“I haven’t slept well in three months,” said Leonel, who does not have any relatives or friends in the United States. “It’s been three months since I put on a new pair of pants. Or shoes.”
As many have noted, Martha's Vineyard is a summer destination, and so after Labor Day many of the "second home"-type people are gone. (Which is good, because these people have been traumatized enough, they don't need to be running into a nudist Alan Dershowitz standing in the middle of the road complaining that the library has canceled his summer lecture series.) These are the year-round population, dropping everything to help.
And it is hard. People slept in the Episcopal church in Edgartown last night. The homeless shelter on Martha's Vineyard only has room for 10. Most of the migrants only speak Spanish. High school kids taking Spanish classes have been helping. The migrants don't know where they are.
Edgartown Police Chief Bruce McNamee said many of the migrants were confused.
"We have talked to a number of people who've asked, 'Where am I?' And then I was trying to explain where Martha's Vineyard is."
As hard as this is for a place like Martha's Vineyard, it's hard for much larger places with more infrastructure too. The Times quotes Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, who had to issue a disaster proclamation this week over migrants shipped like animals by Greg Abbott. But Pritzker added that they will help. “While other states may be treating these vulnerable families as pawns, here in Illinois, we are treating them as people," he said.
Dylan Fernandes, the Democratic state senator from Martha's Vineyard whose tweet is above, had some comments about how disgusting DeSantis's actions were, not because they don't want to help people, but precisely because of how DeSantis was treating these human beings like animals:
"We have the governor of Florida ... hatching a secret plot to send immigrant families like cattle on an airplane," said state Sen. Dylan Fernandes, who represents Martha's Vineyard. "Ship them women and children to a place they weren't told where they were going and never alerted local officials and people on the ground here that they were coming. It is an incredibly inhumane and depraved thing to do."
Inhumane and depraved? That does sound like Ron DeSantis.
Florida Democrats were disgusted. State Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz called it a "new low" and said "there is nothing that DeSantis won't do, and nobody that he won't hurt, in order to score political points." DeSantis's November opponent Charlie Crist noted that "the 4.5 million immigrants who call Florida home must be wondering if they're next."
Oh hey, did y'all hear Greg Abbott pulled his own stunt last night? DeSantis at least sent migrant people to a town with people in it, a town where people might fly into action to help, which is what they did. Abbott just sent busloads of people to Vice President Kamala Harris's residence, and a greasy Fox News reporter was there waiting. After all, if Vice President Harris doesn't invite all these people in for dinner, WHERE'S YOUR COMPASSION NOW, LIBS?
“BREAKING: Two buses of 101 migrants mostly from Venezuela arrive outside @VP Harris house in DC sent by @GregAbbott_TX - one migrant telling me he believes the border is “open” @FoxNews”
— Griff Jenkins (@Griff Jenkins) 1663242542
All of this might play well with the kinds of unfeeling garbage that propels Republican primary victories, but among caring humans, it just looks disgusting. DeSantis and Abbott are two men who claim to be Christians, but if you're searching the Bible for scriptural backup for shitting on migrant families and sending them away, there are thousands of Bible verses ready to punch you in the dick over that one. In many of them, Jesus is personally doing the dick-punching.
What's that Christian song again? "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they'll know we are Christians by our love." Ron DeSantis's kids have probably sung it in Sunday school.
Hope they know it's not about their dad.
Here's a news report that shows the people of Martha's Vineyard acting like human beings toward other human beings. Flawless victory, Ron DeSantis!
[ CNN / New York Times / NPR ]
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