Shades of the CruzCrew2016. Will end the same way. pic.twitter.com/gDeL7yJsjC
— Jim Swift (@JimSwiftDC) June 21, 2023
I… kinda *hope* this is a parody? But I can see Ron making his ‘alien about to engulf human infant whole’ happy-face when presented with either one. Just before Casey takes it away from him and has it set on fire in the mansion’s backyard grill, using the unfortunate intern responsible for the idea as fuel.
Broke: Ron DeSantis hates basketball because he’s racist
Woke: Ron DeSantis hates basketball because he’s 5’7 https://t.co/r5XW0MQfQn— Gas Stove Prayer Warrior (@canderaid) June 21, 2023
A wealthy donor paid to have a high-priced golf simulator installed in Ron DeSantis’s pool cabana, according to state records reviewed by @Reuters. The donation, previously undisclosed, was never reported as a gift https://t.co/HT687sEsTw @AramRoston @JTanfani pic.twitter.com/c3iijbOoEW
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 22, 2023
After Ron DeSantis, an avid golfer, moved into the Florida governor’s mansion in 2019, workers installed a golf simulator worth tens of thousands of dollars in the private pool cabana so he could practice his game.
But DeSantis did not pay for the simulator. Neither did the state government. Instead, it was funded by a wealthy donor and prominent businessman, Morteza Hosseini, according to four sources familiar with the matter and state government records…
However, the golf simulator transaction appears to have been structured to avoid Florida’s rigorous ethical disclosure requirements, said two governance experts in Florida. A third expert characterized the donation as appropriate under state laws.
Florida state law requires public officials to file quarterly reports listing all gifts received with a value over $100. But DeSantis has never filed a gift disclosure in his four and half years in office, said Lynn Blais, administrator of the Florida Commission on Ethics. The commission oversees compliance by state officials with government ethics laws…
The golf simulator was technically donated to the Mansion Commission, a state agency that oversees the governor’s mansion, according to records related to the donation, including correspondence between DeSantis’ office and Hosseini. The records were received in a freedom-of-information request.
James Uthmeier, at the time DeSantis’ deputy general counsel, said in a Sept. 13, 2019, letter to Hosseini that the simulator would be considered “on loan” to the Mansion Commission for an “undisclosed term” and would be returned to Hosseini “immediately upon request,” the records said.
Uthmeier wrote that the loan was “permissible” according to state law and the Governor’s Ethics Code. Uthmeier, now DeSantis’ chief of staff, did not respond to a request for comment…
The simulator was fitted in DeSantis’s cabana months after the Washington Post reported that then-president Trump had installed a high-end golf simulator in the White House, replacing a model used by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Trump paid for his own golf simulator, according to the Washington Post. DeSantis, however, does not have comparable wealth, state disclosure records show. DeSantis sold his own home in Florida for less than $500,000 shortly after moving into the governor’s mansion, and his most recent financial disclosure, filed in December 2021, says his net worth was $319,987, including his retirement funds…
I guess Ron could hope for a SC(R)OTUS appointment, if (once) he fails to take the presidential nomination…
i bet the seats on those flights would have otherwise been unoccupied. https://t.co/GezM3nJsGq
— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 21, 2023
… According to campaign finance disclosures reviewed by The Post, Hosseini also lent DeSantis and his wife use of his private plane on at least 12 occasions, including as recently as February. In 2018, Hosseini took DeSantis to play at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia — which boasts an exclusive membership and is home to the storied Masters Tournament — according to internal memos reported by the Tampa Bay Times and Politico. DeSantis attended the Masters in 2019. In 2021, he appointed the Augusta club’s chairman, Fred Ridley, to join Hosseini on the university board.
This year, DeSantis set up his presidential bid by introducing himself as “blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth” — someone who “was given nothing” and “entitled to nothing.” “Ron DeSantis can’t be bought,” tweeted Dave Vasquez, a spokesman for the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down…
Standard rejoinder: But he can be rented, at surprisingly reasonable rates!
Baud
Probably likes to vacation in an RV.
Martin
@Baud: But only in Walmart parking lots.
trucmat
Ha ha. Points at short man. Ha ha.
Just low. Find someone calling him fat for the real humor.
prostratedragon
He must mean something other than height;-|
Spud Webb: how it started|; how it was going 25 years later.
mrmoshpotato
What is with these shitstains and golf?
They need to be
visitedpunched in their sleep by the ghosts of George and Robin.mrmoshpotato
@trucmat:
If he
debatestrades insults with the orange shitstain, Putin’s orange bitchboy will probably call him fat.Betty Cracker
I also prefer baseball to basketball. The constant annoying squeak of sneakers on the hardwood drives me nuts.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I used to be into football more but now I’m more of a baseball guy. Nothing wrong with basketball, but I never got into it.
eversor
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/06/22/musk-picks-vegas-for-zuckerberg-cage-match-challenge.html
Musk vs Zuck MMA in Vegas.
Baud
@eversor:
May fighting a cage match become the new jumping the shark.
The Thin Black Duke
This reminds me of back in the day when racist white assholes used to say that black athletes weren’t smart enough to play QB.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I enjoy baseball’s pace. So far, 2023 has been great for my teams. The Rays have the best record in MLB, and the Gators just made the College World Series finals. :)
My sister was a multi-sport high school athlete, and I went to her games when I could, including basketball. Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Just drives me nuts!
eversor
@Baud:
I don’t think I’d call this a “fight”. This is going to be some pathetic ass bitch slap fast between two skinny fat dudes with bellies.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I have been pleasantly surprised by how much the pitch clock has improved the game.
The Thin Black Duke
@eversor: I suppose their spin doctors told these zillionaires that this bullshit will make them more relatable to us reg’lar “salt of the earth” types.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
Us and DeSantis.
Gvg
I enjoy basketball. Baseball has always bored me. So what? People can watch what they want. What kind of politician goes out of his way to insult new groups of fans of various hobbies and entertainments? This guy does not have good political instincts except possibly on a very small local scale. I don’t get how he made it to Governor even. He can not have run this dumb before? He must really be trying to emulate Trump without noticing that Trump never had a majority and did have some real luck the first time that was rather flukey due to the electoral college. There is no need to pick a fight with a set of athletic fans. Frankly, there tends to be a lot of overlap, and at least around here, people follow several sports. He needs to shut up.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Same here! My hubby is a baseball purist who was reflexively opposed to the change, but even he has now admitted it’s an improvement. We’re still getting used to the pizza box bases but enjoying all the extra stealing!
Baud
@Gvg:
Basketball= black people for DeSantis and the people he’s dog whistling to.
piratedan
while I’m not a fan of slinging insults based on stature (or lack thereof), the Tallahassee Tyrant and his Manchurian Candidate Spousal Unit controller need to retire to a HOA board that consists of trailer park residents but upon reflection, why should anyone have to put up with that prick seems a bridge too far.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
Not sure why but Baseball is the subject of the best sports movies
Bad news bears
Moneyball
Major league
The sandlot
Angels in the outfield
Bang the drum slowly
Bingo Long
Naked gun
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: I bet DeSantis won’t say shit about the NFL.
Tony Jay
STAFFER – “Got a minute to pick a shirt, Governor?”
RoDS – “Why?”
STAFFER – “It’s for the big branded merch roll-out. The one we agreed last month? We’ve got a whole range of outfits ready to go. Caps, socks, biker jackets; you name it, we’ve put the Ron De Santis brand on it.”
RoDS – “Why?”
STAFFER – “Why..? It’s… this is what campaigns do, Governor. We get your name up in lights, give your supporters an opportunity to wear the team colours and put money in the bank. Yeah? It’s just branding.”
RoDS – “Brand-ing? We burn them?”
STAFFER – “What? No! What..?”
RoDS – “Mark flesh.” (Pulls up his shirt to reveal a deep, shiny Solar Disc scar covering where his belly button should be) “Traditional Ownership Model. You burn it, you bought it. Heritage!”
STAFFER – “Oh My God! Governor, who did that to…?”
RoDS “You not like Casey Sunshine Brand?”
STAFFER – “……”
RoDS – “You like Casey Sunshine Brand?”
STAFFER – “I… I love it, Governor.”
RoDS – (Tucks in shirt) “We burn support now?”
STAFFER – “Let’s… uh… let’s go with the braaaahhhbelling. The, uh, the labelling. The shirts and caps and… stuff.”
RoDS – “No burn?”
STAFFER – “Not today. Maybe when you’re actually in the White House that can… we can look into that.”
RoDS – (Nods vigorously) “Burn whole nation. Await instructions.”
STAFFER – “Definitely,” (holds up blue and yellow shirts) “but these first. Which colour?”
RoDS – (Points at both shirts) “Grey one.”
STAFFER – (sighs) “I’ll go ask Casey.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
That choice of shirts should have included one with extra-long sleeves that tie around the back. Or if they’re going to stick with short-sleeved shirts, then I’d vote for one in bright orange with a number stenciled on it.
eversor
@Gvg:
All types. Hobbies are insulted all the time. It never ends well. One of the things not talked about regards to some Democratic losses is Hillary Clinton launched a crusade against violent video games. She proposed treating them like alcohol/tobacco/pornography. Proposed criminalizing their sale to minors, and sending in secret shoppers to run sting operations on game stores. She was a senator at the time.
That’s still a generational issue for my age group and it hasn’t been let go of to this day by a lot of people. But this cannot be ever brought up.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/hillary-clinton-americas-video-gaming-kids-await-your-apology-168818/
The Thin Black Duke
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Yeah, but Any Given Sunday has the best locker room speech.
Chyron HR
@eversor:
Ah yes, America’s most well-adjusted demographic: Gamers.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
🤔
Baud
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
The conspiracy is bigger than we thought!
Geminid
This morning’s Politico Playbook leads with a lot of material on Indian Prime Minister Modi’s White House visit. The reporting includes a Jake Sullivan quote, “Biden is playing the long game,” which could mean a lot of things, but in this context could imply that Biden will not press Modi very strongly on his authoritarian actions at home.
Another item: Representative Ocasio-Cortez announced that she would join fellow Democrats Omar and Tlaib’s boycott of Modi’s address to Congress.
eversor
@Chyron HR:
You’re making the Hillary mistake. Everyone for a few generations now grew up with a Nintendo. It’s not a “white neckbeard basement dwelling fat nerd” demographic by any stretch. It’s a generational item.
But there is a wide swath of people who could be voters but remember the late 90s or early 2000s where Clinton and Liberman were leading a crusade against their hobby, trying to criminalize it, and demonizing them.
It was a stupid mistake. All the more because it was obviously cynical and stupid. Clinton and Liberman lead to the charge to blame school shootings on video games. Wasn’t guns that were bad, it was video games.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@The Thin Black Duke: Thanks for reminding me. That is great.
Other great sports movies include
Fast break
Blue chips
North Dallas 40
Paper lion
The longest yard
One on one
Breaking away
Princess
I know why he’s chosen basketball to diss but, really Ron, lots of white people love basketball too. Right wingers even.
Roger Moore
Ron DeSantis can’t be bought because his current owners aren’t interested in selling him.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Cool Runnings
Point Break
And surely some Canadian has made a great inspirational movie about curling.
(Yes, actually. 30 seconds with Google turned up Men with Brooms)
mrmoshpotato
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: But it was signed by Babe Ruth!
Yeah, you keep telling me that! Who is she?
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yes! Why of course!
Now that you mention Canada that reminds me “Slap Shot” is an all time great sports film.
Also “Grand Prix” (1966)
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@mrmoshpotato: Squints smooching the lifeguard steals the show
Roger Moore
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Bull Durham
Pride of the Yankees
42
The Natural
Eight Men Out
p.a.
If you’re into elitist sports the Int’l Lacrosse Championship just started in San Diego. US & Canada are the favorites, but root for Canada or Haudenosaunee over the prep school princelings from the US if you want.
#tonguefirmlyincheek
#dontpaintwithabroadbrush
Dorothy A. Winsor
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: A League of Their Own
SFAW
@eversor:
I can’t decide whether I’m relieved that you’ve switched hobbyhorses. Although I guess you might be able to multitask.
H.E.Wolf
THANK you! :)
Ken
Will this be the only scandal involving the DeSantis pool cabana? History suggests not.
Kathleen
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Field of Dreams!
Oh, and Huzzah to “Wincinnati” Reds (h/t MLB web site). We are HOT!!! I love this team.
NotMax
@Ken
Cabanagate?
//
Paul in KY
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: I do think that the fact that baseball is the most ‘whitey’ sport probably played a part in the number of baseball movies that are/have been made.
SFAW
@Ken:
Any truth to the rumor that the DeathSantises “pool boy” was Giancarlo Granda?
NB: I haven’t actually heard/read that rumor, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate.
tokyokie
@Roger Moore: Thank you for including Eight Men Out.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t add Sugar, about a Dominican kid trying to adjust to life in the low minor leagues.
And in my opinion, the greatest sports movie of all time is Lindsay Anderson’s This Sporting Life. OK, so it’s about rugby. And it’s a feel-bad movie. But it has Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts at the top of their games, so to speak.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@The Thin Black Duke: I admit to being partial to the impromptu on-field speech Keanu Reeves gives in the last game of The Replacements.
Yutsano
No one’s going to mention Brian’s Song?
Really?
Mike in NC
Corrupt Republicans on the take. Film at 11.
Citizen Alan
@Betty Cracker: I actually find basketball to be triggering. When I was a little kid, my older sister played HS basketball. And so 8yo Citizen Alan, with his undeagnosed anxiety disorder, was dragged to every single game she played in a overcrowded, stifling-hot Mississippi gym. When I watch basketball on tevie, I immediately feel claustrophobic. And yes, the sound of sneakers squeaking on a gym floor causes the exact same response in me.
Citizen Alan
@Gvg:
The first time, he was running against a black democrat with ethics scandals in his background. The second time he was running against charlie crist.
Citizen Alan
Also, the thing that really troubles me about this post is that I wear Hawaiian shirts, like, a lot. And if this dumb, nazi SOB turns the hawaiian shirt into a tribal marker for dumb nazi SOBs, I’m going to be absolutely furious. Bad enough I had to shave off the goatee I’d had for twenty years because it was the official grooming style of the male MAGA voter.
NotMaxn
@Yutsano
i suppose The Chosen should also be given a nod.
Manyakitty
@eversor: is it wrong to root for a meteor to crash into the venue for this? 😀
scav
@Citizen Alan: Haven’t some idiot bugabears, boogaloos, bougerbearers out wandering about already made Hawaiian shirts dicey? Not to forget the tan or whatever chinos and polos sported by rival wannabes. There’re fewer and fewer options available for non fashion forward but sane men to wear.
I’m still not seeing option #2 flying in Peoria though, let alone in Idaho.
H-Bob
Bootsies is dissing hoops even though the Miami Heat were in the finals!
SWMBO
Gumball Rally.
It was on tv the week we brought our daughter home from the hospital. I laughed until I nearly popped a stitch. When I had my second C-section two years later, we did not watch funny movies the first week.