As I See It: Florida’s Moral Math Under Ron DeSantis Doesn’t Add Up

Florida is running a stress test on democracy, and under Gov. Ron DeSantis, the results are not inspiring. From classroom censorship to policing culture wars and bending the rules around public money, the throughline is power over people. And yes, that includes the First Lady, Casey DeSantis, and the now-infamous “missing” $10 million that still hasn’t been credibly explained to the public’s satisfaction. 

Let’s start with the $10 million. In 2024, money from a $67 million Medicaid settlement with Centene was routed by the DeSantis administration to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity aligned with Casey DeSantis. Soon after, Hope Florida issued two $5 million grants to nonprofits that, in turn, sent large sums to a political committee tied to the governor’s orbit. That chain set off alarms about whether charitable funds were being used to advance political aims. Prosecutors opened an investigation; reporters and watchdogs are still digging. The governor says there’s “no basis” for a probe. I say if there’s nothing to hide, show every receipt—now. (Miami Herald, The Washington Post, AP News, WUSF) 

Meanwhile, this administration keeps pushing a culture-war agenda that stifles learning. Florida has led the nation in book bans, pulling thousands of titles—disproportionately by Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ authors—off classroom shelves. That’s not “parental rights,” that’s political censorship in the stacks. (PEN America) 

It doesn’t stop there. The state’s African American history standards remain stained by language suggesting enslaved people “benefited” from slavery—an insult to history and to Black Floridians whose ancestors survived a crime against humanity. Educators and historians have condemned these standards for good reason. (Education Week) 

Courts keep flagging Tallahassee’s overreach, too. A federal appeals court ruled the governor’s so-called Stop WOKE Act unconstitutional as applied to workplace training, calling it a First Amendment violation. When your big “free speech” crusade gets tossed for violating free speech, maybe the problem isn’t the professors and HR trainers—it’s the policy. (AP News) 

On bodily autonomy, the state slammed the door with a six-week abortion ban that took effect May 1, 2024—before many know they’re pregnant, and far from the “freedom” Florida’s tourism slogans love to sell. Doctors warned it would cost lives and push care out of reach for millions. (AP News) 

And this week, the governor doubled down on hardline immigration theatrics, announcing a second state-run migrant detention center at the shuttered Baker prison—after the first “Alligator Alcatraz” site in the Everglades triggered lawsuits and environmental outrage. The state is plowing ahead even as the first facility faces legal scrutiny. If the policy goal is deterrence, the human cost is the point; if the goal is good governance, this is a very expensive press release. (The Washington Post, Politico) 

Here’s the bigger picture as I see it: when public money can boomerang through a First Lady’s signature charity and wind up fueling politics; when books are yanked instead of read; when courts keep blocking your “freedom” laws for trampling actual freedoms; when women lose healthcare and migrants get cages—Florida’s brand of “freedom” looks a lot like control.