Originally published at: The Mysterious Roads of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender 
There may or may not be a stretch of pavement in the Everglades that exposes an alleged lie about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” detention camp. Florida attorney general James Uthmeier, who was previously DeSantis’ chief of staff and the manager of the governor’s…
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Saturday’s Heather & Paul;
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“TNT site”, surely that pun was not intended.
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As I’ve posted here before, I’m very familiar with the Dade-Collier airport area. Years ago when I lived in Miami, our astronomy club used the site for deep sky observing on moonless nights, because it’s halfway between the light pollution domes of Miami and Naples. The kind of place where the Milky Way is an unmistakeable band of glittering stars overhead, and with a large enough amateur telescope you can go naked eye galaxy hunting. There was no barrier to entry, we just drove out on the dirt roads and set up near one of the fill lakes, spending all night there if the skies were clear.
So this new concentration camp out there is doubly heartbreaking, for both humanitarian and environmental reasons. The camp is now lit up like a baseball stadium at night, affecting both the nocturnal wildlife in Big Cypress Reserve, and also destroying one of the best observing sites in the area for amateur astronomy.
I sold our big 18" Dobsonian telescope when we moved to the Pacific Northwest (it used a motorized tracking table that wouldn’t work at that latitude), but I kept a pair of 4" apochromatic binoculars with angled eyepieces and a nice alt-azimuth tripod mount. I thought my wife and I might join the club again, do some low-power observing.
Not any more, with this abortion out there. The only positive thing I can imagine for the future, is that what’s been built there can be removed some day, restoring the dark skies that this part of the Everglades should have.
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On Wednesday, we published an exclusive reportthat used documents that were obtained and analyzed via the Florida Accountability Contract Tracking System (FACTS) to show that DeSantis’ office spent billions of dollars and diverted “disaster preparedness” resources to build the detention camp.
It’s a good thing then that Florida doesn’t suffer from any natural disasters like, oh, hurricanes and floods. Okay, that part is sarcasm, but this next part isn’t.
It’s horrible governance that’s based on hate and evil instead of caring for the citizenry, but unfortunately, I won’t believe Republicans in Florida will pay a political price until they actually do. Until the Republican base there actually show some self-respect.
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DeSantis and other Republicans have reveled in the idea the camp has harsh conditions by giving it a gruesome nickname and even launching a merch line.
There is more than one sick fuck in the republican heirarchy.
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Its easier to count the non sick fucks.
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Good piece by Margaret Sullivan.
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Oh?
I actually think that, over time, if we have a more partisan appropriations process for a time, it will lead to more bipartisanship.
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The hits just keep on coming. NYT (paywall):
The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that it would eliminate its scientific research arm and begin firing hundreds of chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, after denying for months that it intended to do so.
The move underscores how the Trump administration is forging ahead with efforts to slash the federal work force and dismantle federal agencies after the Supreme Court allowed these plans to proceed while legal challenges unfold. Government scientists have been particular targets of the administration’s large-scale layoffs.
The E.P.A.’s science office provides the independent research that underpins nearly all of the agency’s policies and regulations. It has analyzed the risks of hazardous chemicals, the impact of wildfire smoke on public health and the contamination of drinking water by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Its research has often justified stricter environmental rules, prompting pushback from chemical manufacturers and other industries.
Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, has boasted about cutting dozens of environmental regulations, saying he wants to make it cheaper and easier for industries to operate.
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In other words, I killed bipartisanship in order to save it.
Yeah, not buying it.
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FL is counting on largesse from Trump when a disastrous Hurricane hits, which is bound to occur at some point. Trump effectively controls all allocations and disbursements now and will do so until the House (at least) is flipped, whenever that happens.
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Let me see if I can predict the outcome here.
Lawsuit incoming. District Court puts a hold, then ultimately rules against the Trump administration forcing them to rehire the scientists, but a 6-3 decision in SCOTUS overturns this. And America is screwed once again.
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Cruelty runs through the DNA strands of the MAGAts.
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I can envision the entire issue of the impoundment act going up to the Supreme Court, where they will shadow docket the decision 6 to 3 in favor of the president, insisting that the law is unconstitutional.
We no longer have any control on how money is spent or not spent.
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(puts on pessimist hat) I would like to think we can stop some of the madness if Dems take the House after the midterms, but Trump will still have veto control over any bills he doesn’t approve of. Like any special aid bills for wildfire disasters in CA, for example. Baby Jeebus doesn’t love us enough to give Dems a supermajority in the House to override vetos.
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There is a lovely bit (among many) in C.S. Lewis’s satire, The Screwtape Letters as the demon Screwtape explains to his protege, Wormwood, that the path to damnation should not be dramatic lest it alert the the victim viz “… the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
That is where the Republican pols are now: a series of what appeared to be relative small decisions, possibly as much self-preservation as corrupt, but now too deep in the pit to escape and most still barely aware of it.
NB: Lewis expands on this theme in a brief, very trenchant sequel, Screwtape Proposes a Toast [text online].
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