If politics and society mirror the natural world, then we might conclude that for every phenomenon there is a counter-phenomenon there to balance things out. In the context of our weekly tribute to stupidity, therefore, we would declare that for every knucklehead, there is an anti-knucklehead. That theory might not hold true in every instance, but it certainly holds true in this situation. Andrew Warren, an elected prosecutor in Hillsborough County Florida, inexplicably determined that he wasn’t merely elected to enforce the laws, he was there to write and adjudicate them as well. And then Warren ran into anti-knucklehead extraordinaire: Governor Ron DeSantis.
Winner: Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren gets publicly spanked by Governor Ron DeSantis, and provides a pitiful response.
Mr. Warren, who is a Democrat, apparently didn’t approve of the laws passed by the Florida State Legislature, an elected branch of government tasked with the sole responsibility of making laws… that’s why they’re called lawmakers. And Warren evidently didn’t care that the head of the Executive Branch of the state government, namely Ron DeSantis, had signed those bills sent to him by lawmakers, which established them as laws. Both DeSantis and the majority of the legislature are Republican, incidentally.
Included in the laws with which Warren has publicly stated his disagreement and has promised not to enforce are laws restricting abortion, banning transgender surgeries for children, and various other laws which Warren feels are too tough on criminals.
Indeed, it seems that Warren, whose campaign was largely financed by far-left billionaire activist George Soros, felt that he could simply pick and choose which laws he enforced and which laws he ignored. That was Andrew Warren’s approach to his job, until Thursday when DeSantis suspended Warren by explaining:
“When you flagrantly violate your oath of office, when you make yourself above the law, you have violated your duty. You have neglected your duty, and you are displaying a lack of competence to be able to perform those duties.”
Makes sense, doesn’t it? As it turns out, DeSantis, who graduated from Harvard Law School and was a practicing attorney prior to holding elective office, unquestionably has the constitutional authority to suspend Warren and name his replacement, who in this case will be Judge Susan Lopez. The Florida constitution explains that DeSantis can suspend any state attorney for “misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony.” Yup, that covers it.
Additionally, DeSantis added insult to injury by not only showing Warren the door but by having police officers there to escort him out of it. DeSantis wanted to ensure that neither Warren nor his team would be able to destroy records or potential evidence on their way out, so DeSantis sent the state police in to oversee Warren’s departure. A brilliant move by the anti-knucklehead, Governor DeSantis.
That leads us to Mr. Warren’s response, which went as follows:
“Today’s political stunt is an illegal overreach that continues a dangerous pattern by Ron DeSantis of using his office to further his own political ambition. The people have the right to elect their own leaders—not have them dictated by an aspiring presidential candidate who has shown time and again he feels accountable to no one.”
Later, Warren explained:
“[DeSantis] does not have the authority to suspend me … the people elected me to serve in this position and I am going to continue doing it.”
Good luck with that one, genius.
First, Mr. Warren, that wasn’t a stunt. You’re no longer the prosecutor, you’ve been replaced, and you can complain and go to court all you want, but you’re currently unemployed. Stunts tend to be for show, but your current employment status illustrates that there was more than optics at play with DeSantis’ move.
Second, and most importantly, you are indeed correct: the citizens of Florida do have the right to elect their own leaders, and they did. Those leaders are now in the state legislature in Tallahassee, and Governor DeSantis is in the governor’s mansion nearby, known as “The People’s House of Florida.” They were duly elected by the voters of Florida to serve in those roles.
On the other hand, you, Mr. Warren, were elected to enforce the laws passed by those lawmakers and signed into law by DeSantis. You weren’t elected to write laws. You weren’t elected to approve them. You were elected to simply ensure they are properly applied and executed. But that was clearly too much to ask, so now you don’t have a job. And for that reason, sir, you are a knucklehead.
Honorable Mention #1: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who claims to be “a woman of faith,” has a bizarre justification for being pro-abortion.
Abrams is well on her way to losing the Georgia governor’s race in November. Again. And part of the reason might be her inability to explain her indefensible positions. Regarding her unabashed support for abortion this week, Abrams gave the following justification:
“As a woman of faith, I know that my faith should never be used as a sword to strike down others but instead as a shield to protect. I cannot strike down another person’s rights simply because I don’t agree.”
Um… wait, what? You’re using your sword as a shield to ‘protect?’ What sword, and what shield? To protect whom, exactly? We’ll have to assume you’re not referencing people who need protecting the most, which are babies. So, we’ll have to assume you’re referring to someone else. We’ll be waiting for clarification on your statement, Ms. Abrams, but we won’t be holding our breath in the meantime.
Honorable Mention #2: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), trailing by over twenty points, receives a Hollywood endorsement and then crows about it.
It’s been clear for a while that voters, in general, don’t appreciate holier-than-thou Hollywood celebrities weighing in on political candidates. But when we narrow down those voters in question into Republican voters, that point becomes even more clear. GOP voters overwhelmingly believe Hollywood types should shut up and act.
On Monday, Liz Cheney proudly posted a photo of actor Kevin Costner sporting a t-shirt proclaiming, “I’m for Liz Cheney” on her Twitter account with the caption, “Real men put country over party.” Cheney apparently thought the post was a good idea. It wasn’t.
So, Kevin Costner is a “real man,” even though he gets paid to pretend? Is that how this works, Liz? And anyone who disagrees with you is apparently not a “real man?” It will be interesting to see the results in the next polls. Let’s see how many real men and women voters are swayed by Costner’s endorsement. Our bet is that you’ll be able to count them on one hand… and that you’re going to get absolutely clobbered at the ballot box in two weeks.
PF Whalen
P.F. Whalen is a conservative author at TheBlueStateConservative.com. His work has appeared in multiple publications, including Human Events, the Western Journal, and American Thinker. Follow him on GETTR; he does not do Facebook and Twitter.
Enjoy HUGE savings at My Pillow with promo code BSC
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Blue State Conservative. The BSC is not responsible for, and does not verify the accuracy of, any information presented.
Notice: This article may contain commentary that reflects the author’s opinion.
This story syndicated with permission from The Blue State Conservative