THE COLUMN: The Shadow President

Michael Walsh11 Apr, 2022 7 Min Read
Which way to go: backward or forward?

Under the British parliamentary system there is something known as the Shadow Cabinet, which consists of the leadership of the Out party, whichever it may be. Right now, with Boris Johnson having hung onto his prime ministership despite ample reason for the Tories to have dumped him when they had the chance, and should have, the shadow PM is Keir Starmer, the former editor of a radical Trotskyite magazine Socialist Alternatives, although he seems to have modified his fire-breathing leftism since his college days and is now considered "soft Left." As such, Starmer is Leader of the Opposition, and stands at the head of an entire replacement cabinet; should the current government fall or be voted out at the next scheduled election in May of 2024, the British public already knows who's going to be in charge and what they're going to get.

Here in the U.S., the picture is far less clear. Our cumbersome presidential election system, which now begins the day after the midterms and drags on for nearly two years of jockeying and primaries and media flaps and get-out-the-vote shenanigans, and even then doesn't end on Election Day, produces nothing but a single candidate by the spring of the election year. Then more mystery: who will be the running mate? Which rivals or friends or party hacks might wind up in the prospective cabinet? Nobody knows for sure until the announcements are made, the veep before the vote and the others afterward if the ticket is successful. Even then, there is still a nearly three-month "transition" phase before any of this can legally take effect; by the time Inauguration Day rolls around, half the country is already heartily sick of the new guys and the media is openly wondering who'll be running four years later.

The clock is ticking, Joe.

This cycle, things are a bit different. With the Biden administration visibly failing—the hero's welcome given to former president Barack Obama recently spoke volumes about where the real power in Washington lies these days—and speculation rife about whether or even how quickly a senescent, feeble president can be replaced and by whom, the time has never been riper for the Republicans to have a shadow president of their own. As it happens, they have two. 

First, of course, is Donald Trump, the recent president, who appears to be determined to get his old Oval Office back, running on a campaign of I-wuz-robbed grievance. The final three months of the Trump administration were an epic mess, beginning on Election Night when the nation went to bed with Trump comfortably ahead in all the swing states he needed to win to put him over the top, and waking up to one of the most extraordinary reversals of fortunes in our history. 

The mishegoss continued with the flurry of rejected lawsuits seeking in effect to overturn the posted results, including the Supreme Court's disgraceful refusal to hear the one constitutionally based suit, brought by the state of Texas contesting the results in four battleground states (Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin), they were absolutely obligated to hear. But the Roberts Court dodged the issue, saying that Texas "lacked standing" to bring the case.

The icing on the cake was the Jan. 6 demonstration during which Trump said: "We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." And the rest, as they say, is ongoing history. Trump may feel he is "owed" support because of his loss or his endorsement of various candidates, but as they say in Washington, if you want a friend, get a dog. 

I wuz robbed.

The other is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a former Congressman who won a squeaker election against, in retrospect, a manifestly unsuitable Democrat candidate in Andrew Gillum, whom DeSantis beat by half a percentage point. Following the election, "Gillum was found inebriated and with a man, who had identified himself on websites as an escort, who was treated on scene for a possible overdose. Crystal meth also was reportedly found at the scene." Florida thus dodged a bullet, DeSantis got a leg up on the other politicians of his generation (he's 43, Trump is 75), and in just a couple of years has transformed himself into a national figure. How did he do it?

As the old saying goes, it's better to be lucky than good, but DeSantis has been both. Practically since he took office, events have broken his way, starting with the unnecessary hysteria over Covid-19 that, in the final analysis, was the thing that destroyed the Trump administration. After briefly flirting with lockdowns, DeSantis reversed course, bit the bullet, ignored media flapdoodle over "cases," and made Florida the free-state alternative to such draconian fascist entities as New York and California. Florida boomed as its rivals faded, hemorrhaging population and losing economic and political clout while the Sunshine State and also Texas happily welcomed the refugees.

DeSantis has been lucky in his enemies as well. Incredibly, the now-"woke" Walt Disney Company—the embodiment of family friendly entertainment since its founding in 1923 through its founder's death in 1966 and up until recently—has decided that the Florida Parental Rights in Education bill (which DeSantis enthusiastically signed) preventing state teachers from discussing human sexuality, sexual orientation and "gender identity" with children in kindergarten through third grade is the hill the company wants to die on

“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the statement reads. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”

Disney’s public opposition to the law follows an employee walkout in protest of CEO Bob Chapek’s mishandling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Don't say it. Don't even think it.

Disney, however, is a private company operating under an extremely generous sweetheart deal with the state of Florida regarding its theme park and environs in Orlando, so you'd think its corporate executives like Chapek wouldn't want to poke the alligator that protects them. But Woke is just another name for Stupid, so naturally Disney blundered right into the governor's wheelhouse.

An escalating fight between Disney and Florida over the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill has pushed state lawmakers to threaten to strip the company of special privileges that essentially give it the sovereignty to act as its own government. Backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, some Republican lawmakers have called for the repeal of a 1967 law permitting the creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The legislation affords Disney the authority to act as its own county with the ability to impose taxes, adopt ordinances and provide emergency services on land that’s home to its sprawling theme park resort, among other powers of self-government.

“As a matter of first principle, I don’t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful,” DeSantis said March 31 at a news conference. “They’ve lost a lot of the pull that they used to have, and honestly, I think that’s a good thing for our state. You should not have one organization that is able to dictate policy in all these different realms, and they have done that for many, many years. If that stops now, which it should, that would be a good thing for Florida.”

That's not all. For years, Disney has been given super-duper-special treatment in Congress over its copyrighted characters like Mickey Mouse, which should have reverted to the public domain as long ago as 1984, but have been steadily extended through 2024 as an act of favoritism to Disney. Now Congress is taking another look

A number of Republican lawmakers have signalled they may block Disney from renewing copyright on an iconic Mickey Mouse cartoon as punishment for the company’s stance on Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. Rep Jim Banks, chair of the Republican Study Committee, is circulating a letter among the GOP caucus in which he tells Disney CEO Bob Chapek of his intention to oppose any future extension of Disney copyrights, National Review reports. Disney’s rights to its Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse, first seen in a 1928 short film, are due to expire on 1 January 2024, although more recent depictions will remain protected by separate copyrights.

No matter how agitated Disney's woke workforce is, this is a fight Disney can only lose and DeSantis can only win. Disney and other work corporations exist in a fantasy-fueled Twitterverse in which nothing is more important than extending the Left's fetish about sexual license unto the generations. That Disney's core audience—the suckers who shell out a fortune to partake of the dubious joys of Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida—is dead set against the sexualization of children is just another reason to do it. The usual suspects in the media, naturally, are overwhelmingly in favor of the law's repeal, as a glance at Google will readily confirm, and as can be seen by their insistence on siding with the Democrats and calling it the "Don't Say Gay" bill—three words that aren't in the bill and certainly not in the title.

With enemies like the company that bought Harvey Weinstein and the mainstream media, DeSantis doesn't need friends. Meanwhile, the governor has the wind at his back: more than a dozen states are considering similar bills, putting the Florida governor in the de facto driver's seat on the issue. From Covid to the Chinese suborning of America's institutions to the sitting daffy duck called Disney, DeSantis has staked out positions in direct opposition to the Biden Democrats—exactly what you'd expect from a Shadow President who's looking forward, not backward. 

Obama was 47 years old when he became president; DeSantis, should he run, and win, would be 46. Trump will be 78. You do the math. 

Michael Walsh is a journalist, author, and screenwriter. He was for 16 years the music critic and a foreign correspondent for Time Magazine. His works include the novels As Time Goes By, And All the Saints, and the bestselling “Devlin” series of NSA thrillers; as well as the nonfiction bestseller, The Devil’s Pleasure Palace and its sequel, The Fiery Angel. Last Stands, a study of military history from the Greeks to the present, was published by St. Martin's Press in December 2019. He is also the editor of Against the Great Reset: 18 Theses Contra the New World Order, published on Oct. 18, 2022. Follow him on Twitter: @theAmanuensis

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11 comments on “THE COLUMN: The Shadow President”

  1. First, the "radical left" isn't the reason Trump lost. If you need to blame a political group it was the Republican Establishment . Did you know that in 2018 midterms, GOP House Speaker Ryan left 38 House races with no Republican on the ballot? Only 3 races lacked a Dem. Ryan wanted Democrats to win back the House so he could go on Fox News and blame Trump, which is what happened. Trump complained for a year that Dems would steal the election, but took none of available steps to keep that from happening. The Trump I voted for in 2016 once elected became the opposite of his campaign. I watched that for 4 years. I found out that his "fighting" or "strong" sounding words are fake. Everyone knows he always caves. No one fears him. In spring 2017 he publicly surrendered all this Commander in Chief duties to the Pentagon. They had ignored him completely, so he pretended it was his decision. He nullified his own election. But all this is secondary. Most important is that Trump made Jared de facto president. Jared is strictly Davos, despised 2016 Trump voters, was at all the important meetings about Covid, and cut off and silenced the few people who had good and important information. Jared ran the 2020 campaign, set up family shell companies within it which siphoned off a lot of cash . Led by Jared, Trump fundraising merged with the RNC and Winred. Trump is only a front man for Jared. Jared staffs the Trump political network with open borders globalists like himself. Jared is a business partner of Soros and accepted a $250 million credit line from Soros in 2015.

  2. Well written Michael and I'm in the camp that Trump not only wants to make a comeback but with a vengeance and righteous anger against the radical left who sabotaged his election victory.... I just can't see Trump backing down like when Obama famously insulted Trump with glee during that dinner party ... Trump knows how to fight the radical base and is the strongest person the Patriot Party has...Trump spent his time out of office organizing a Red Tsunami with... 🇺🇸

  3. I love DeSantis, but has he shown the forsight that Trump showed, re: Russia, China, North Korea, Israel, NATO, re-industrializing the U.S., Nordstream II?
    DeSantis is a winner domestically, but Trump plays on a bigger chess board.
    I'd take Trump, given the choice.

  4. The Trump-Desantis ticket congealed as my best case scenario as well, but we all know how fantasies materialize -- not likely. Speaking of fantasies, a fair media, that's the fantasy part, the prospect of the first ever Hispanic President or Vice President would get non-stop halleluiahs. In our world history only happens if it's about a Democrat. Ask Justice O'Conner, or Colin Powell.

  5. Which one will move out of Florida, A Presidential candidate and the Vice Presidential candidate on the same ticket can not reside in the same state. Who will move? I would expect that President Trump would have to move and where would he move to? So I don't think DeSantis will be Trump's VP.

    1. Not quite true, but it could seriously damage the ticket in the Electoral College (the provision has to do with electors' votes). DeSantis will never be anybody's veep.

  6. I think Trump is best viewed as akin to a Moses-like figure for the GOP; he has shown us the way to the Promised Land but he won't be there with us when we reach it. Trump's critical flaw is his complete inability to refrain from bomb-throwing even when it would be in his best interest to do so. He can no more ignore an insult than fail to breathe. What we need is Trumpism without, or perhaps beyond, Trump, and I think DeSantis brings this to the GOP. He's figured out how to respond without being childish and thus goading his opponents to be childish in their overreaching responses.
    So, the 2024 election is a test for the country, for the GOP, and for Trump. Will the country still be swept by media-fuled emotion in an ignorant disregard for what's actually happening or will voters wake up to the train wreck that is the Democrat Party? Will the GOP stop being its own enemy, end their habit of never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity, and start realizing that nothing is possible without winning? And, will Trump realize that, despite his best intentions and because of his actions, he has become as polarizing to voters as Hillary Clinton, that no one is neutral about him, that regardless of the fairness or lack thereof he experienced as a candidate, as a president, and then during the 2020 election, what's done is done and the best vindication he can get is to ensure Trumpism endures after Trump is out of the picture? After all, success is the best revenge... and he would be far more effective as an elder statesman, trusted counselor and mentor to a new GOP as the Democrats implode than as a re-elected president with the same pack of wolves looking to bring him down at every opportunity.

  7. Ron De Santis is twice as smart as Trump. The former president is grossly immature--and would shun any ticket including anyone significantly more intelligent than himself.

  8. We love Gov. DeSantis here in Florida, where for the first time ever, registered Republican voters now outnumber Democrats, but I'm glad you pointed out how we dodged a bullet when he won by only 33,000 votes out of over 8 million cast.

    By the way, I don't usually see the term mishegoss used in articles of general interest--especially by someone name Michael Walsh. 🙂

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