Ron DeSantis ends presidential campaign before New Hampshire primary

SGT Charlie Lee - As with Registered "Marxist" Billary Clinton's "Deplorables", MAGA POS is just a sign of how Scared you are, Love and Kisses your way sweety

Sorry, should have gone to "If you live in Florida you totally understand why this is good for the nation." comment. Although I did not like Desantis disloyalty, he seems to be doing a good job in Florida and would have been on the VP list, but not now after his comments about President Trump

SGT John Schmelzkopf Love to you too

MSG Joseph Cristofaro - Well put!

He ran into the irresistible force that is Trump right now. Look to 2028 and learn from this Governor.

1.) Ron DeSantis
State guard set up by DeSantis is being trained as personal militia, veterans say

Veterans resign from force established as civilian disaster relief, citing concerns over ‘militaristic’ training and ‘abuse’
Richard Luscombe in Miami
@richlusc
Sat 15 Jul 2023 13.54 EDT

A Florida state guard established by the rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, under the guise of a civilian disaster relief force is instead being trained as an armed, combat-ready militia under his personal command, according to military veteran recruits who have quit the program.

Several veterans resigned after an encampment last month having become concerned at the “militaristic” training and “abuse” one disabled veteran suffered at the hands of instructors, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.

Promoted by DeSantis as an “emergency focused, civilian defense force” when it was established in June 2022, the state guard has quickly morphed into something quite different, the report found.

Volunteers have been trained for military combat, including the use of weapons; khaki polo shirts and pants were replaced by camouflage uniforms; and recruits were “barked at” by boot camp instructors at the joint training base who woke them before dawn and imposed lights-out by 10pm.

Additionally, DeSantis’s compliant, Republican-led state legislature has contributed to the change of direction, this year approving a massive expansion in the force’s funding, size and equipment. Its budget increased from $10m to $107.5m, and its maximum size more than tripled from 400 recruits to 1,500.

On the governor’s shopping list were helicopters, boats, police powers and reportedly even cellphone-hacking technology for a force outside of federal jurisdiction, and accountable directly to him.

“The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” Brian Newhouse, a retired navy veteran with 20 years’ experience, told the reporters.

Newhouse was originally chosen to lead one of the state guard’s three divisions, and said he was removed from the base near Jacksonville on the first day of training after raising his concerns with national guard staff who were acting as instructors.

SOURCE : https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/15/ron-desantis-florida-state-guard-militia-veterans-quit