Hellscape yeah!
An editorial makes the news
“The people have spoken, the bastards.”
—Mo Udall
EXCEPT that Mo Udall, that card, was kidding. U.S. Rep. Udall, of the Arizona Udalls, was known for his sense of humor. (“Too funny to be president,” according to one columnist.)
But the editorialist down Florida-way didn’t appear to be joking. Ooohwee!
An American editorial made the news last week, and not for “Whither NATO” or some other mouth-breather.
The Sun Sentinel newspaper was all over the TV and social media outlets for its editorial after Ron DeSantis won re-election as the state’s governor. The editorial board wrote, in part: “Nice knowing you, Florida.” And: “After Tuesday’s stunning election results, the state’s political transformation is now nearly complete, from deep purple battleground to crimson hellscape, an ideal launch pad for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential aspirations.”
Dispatches say the newspaper later replaced the word “hellscape” with “landscape.”
Aww. Just when it was getting good. “We now await,” the editorial continued, “a second-term agenda that may feature an open-carry gun law, tighter abortion restrictions, new strategies to suppress the vote and more charter flights for out-of-state migrants, presented with even more of the governor’s trademark hubris.”
If Florida is lucky! And if by “suppress the vote” the editorialist is talking about keeping the vote honest and widely trusted by voters. And if by “migrants” it means illegal aliens.
But that’s just detail. The big news is that an editorial board—in an American newspaper!—has taken a stand. Somewhere H.L. Mencken is smiling.
In our experience, editorial boards aren’t as interested in saying something as much as gaining consensus among the board members. Which is why so many editorials in American newspapers read like milksop. Because whoever is writing the damnable thing has to make happy four to six to maybe a dozen different people. Which means that only middle-of-the-road, mushy, milquetoast opinions may be had.
Abortion should be rare! (Yes, well, everybody thinks that. The question is whether the procedure kills a human being, or is it just the removal of an unwanted growth.)
Do the crime with a gun, do the time! (Yes, well, that’s the NRA’s slogan. Could anybody other than a mafia don disagree?)
Whither NATO? (And the phrase that often accompanies such an editorial: Attention should be paid!)
But to have an editorial cause such ruckus, well now. We are reminded of what Paul Greenberg used to say when his stuff caused an uproar: “The article appears to have traction.”
It warms inky hearts to see an editorial writer, and the board that supervises the page, take a stand. Any stand. And say something that might could possibly offend. And shake things up that it all but invites criticism and opposing views.
And for an example of that opposing view:
The people of Florida, who barely elected Ron DeSantis four years ago, were so pleased with his performance as governor that they re-elected him overwhelmingly, and may have given him a head-start on the presidential nomination sweepstakes, maybe even pushing him ahead of another Florida resident of note. The map of Florida counties looks red from the panhandle all the way past Miami. With only a few blue islands in Orlando and Tallahassee. What a state. What a country. What a democracy.
Even if the voters offend certain Ivory Tower types.