Sometimes, when I contrast the strong, instinctive, protective leadership of the great Florida governor Ron DeSantis with the ghost who inhabits the White House, materializing on occasion to slur through the platitudes on his teleprompter or in his earpiece, I want to cry. With the once mighty United States manifestly adrift and headed for the rocks, the rest of the world seems to be descending into violence and chaos. It’s a harrowing situation. So a man like Gov. DeSantis is all the more striking and comforting in his manly leadership.
On Thursday afternoon, DeSantis signed an executive order, putting his state and all its agencies and resources on an emergency footing. “Today I signed an executive order authorizing rescue operations in Israel to bring Floridians home and transport supplies to our allies,” the magnificent leader announced on X. “We will not leave our residents behind. To the many Floridians who are stuck in Israel, trying to get home — help is on the way.”
Today I signed an executive order authorizing rescue operations in Israel to bring Floridians home and transport supplies to our allies.
We will not leave our residents behind.
To the many Floridians who are stuck in Israel, trying to get home — help is on the way.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 12, 2023
In the preamble section of his executive order, DeSantis delineated the extreme danger in which thousands of Americans, especially Jewish Americans, currently find themselves, at home and especially in Israel. And he called out the massive, inexcusable deficiencies in national leadership in this precarious situation.
The order notes that “there are more than 20,000 Americans, including many Floridians, in Israel who wish to return home but have been prevented from doing so because of commercial flight cancellations and other travel and logistics disruptions due to the ongoing war in the region.” Just like during its Afghanistan debacle, the Biden administration is utterly negligent in assisting U.S. citizens and allies. Unbelievably, “[U]nlike the governments of other countries, the Biden Administration has failed to launch any form of rescue or evacuation operations for Americans, including Floridians, stranded in the region, and has failed to provide information requested by the State of Florida about any plans for such operations.”
DeSantis revealed that Floridians trapped in Israel have been desperately reaching out for help “from the Executive Office of the Governor and from nearly every member of Florida’s congressional delegation, because they are not receiving timely assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Israel and are not receiving any follow-up after enrolling in the U.S. Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.”
And the great governor is also shoring up defenses within his state. “Florida is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the world, including large numbers of dual Israeli-American citizens and Floridians with relatives and businesses in Israel,” he notes. But “the attack on Israel has prompted demonstrations and fundraising campaigns throughout the United States, including Florida, intended to intimidate and threaten the Jewish population and to support Hamas, a U.S. Secretary of State-designated foreign terrorist organization.”
DeSantis’s order is a masterwork of emergency response and coordination as well as a framework for taking action to keep his state’s citizens safe. Domestically, it surges law enforcement “to prevent violence at these demonstrations and to protect the Jewish population in their schools and places of worship.” And internationally, it comes to the aid of stranded Floridians abroad. Independent news site Florida Voice reports:
Under the order, Florida will be dispatching planes to rescue Floridians.
It enables the Florida Division of Emergency Management to help ensure Floridians return home safely, along with transporting necessary supplies to Israel, according to the governor’s office.
“We will not leave our residents behind,” DeSantis said Thursday. “To the many Floridians who are stuck in Israel, trying to get home — help is on the way.”
DeSantis said the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard have been ordered to be activated “as needed” to assist in responding to the emergency.
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Leadership. Know-how. Foresight. Coordination. Responsiveness. And protecting one’s citizenry — simply breathtaking.
Can Gov. DeSantis please be president? Can he start today?
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