The presidential contest is less than a year away. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis showed his presidential timbre on Tuesday as he delivered his second inaugural address as the newly reelected governor on the steps of the Florida Capitol Building in Tallahassee.
In his address, DeSantis highlighted the progress that Florida has made to improve the lives of its residents as a result of his administration priorities, including guaranteeing access to high-quality education, creating a robust economy that continues to grow faster than the nation’s, providing access to resources for those recovering from hurricanes, and investing record funding into the Everglades and Florida’s critical water resources.
Concluding his speech, DeSantis reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring the state remains the “Free State of Florida,” and set priorities for his second term in office and blasted the “woke” ideology.
“We reject this woke ideology. We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy! We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!,” he said to thunderous applause.
The address in its entirety is a study in both noteworthy speechwriting and delivery, and shows that DeSantis will be worth watching as the presidential election season begins:
Mr. Chief Justice, members of the Cabinet, and fellow citizens:
From the Space Coast to the Suncoast, from St. Johns to St. Lucie, from the streets of Hialeah to the speedways of Daytona, from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy.
Freedom lives here, in our great Sunshine State of Florida!
It lives in the courage of those who patrol the streets and keep our communities safe, it lives in the industry of those who work long hours to earn a living and raise their families, it lives in the dedication of those who teach our children, it lives in the determination of those who grow our food, it lives in the wisdom of our senior citizens, it lives in the dreams of the historic number of families who have moved from thousands of miles away because they saw Florida as the land of liberty and the land of sanity.
Over the past few years, as so many states in our country grinded their citizens down, we in Florida lifted our people up.
When other states consigned their people’s freedom to the dustbin, Florida stood strongly as freedom’s linchpin.
When the world lost its mind – when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue – Florida was a refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for our fellow Americans and even for people around the world.
In captaining the ship of state, we choose to navigate the boisterous sea of liberty rather than cower in the calm docks of despotism.
We face attacks, we take hits, but we weather the storms, we stand our ground, and we do what is right.
As the Book of Psalms reminds us, “I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.”
We have refused to use polls and to put our finger in the wind – leaders do not follow, they lead.
We have articulated a vision for a free and prosperous state.
We have, through persistence and hard work, executed on that vision.
We have produced favorable results.
And now we are here today because the people of Florida have validated our efforts in record fashion.
Florida shows that results matter. We lead not by mere words, but by deeds.
Four years ago, we promised to pursue a bold agenda. We did just that and we have produced results:
We said we would ensure that Florida taxed lightly, regulated reasonably, and spent conservatively – and we delivered.
We promised we would enact big education reforms – and we delivered.
We said we would end judicial activism by appointing jurists who understand the proper role of a judge is to apply the law as written, not legislate from the bench – and we delivered.
We promised to usher in a new era of stewardship for Florida’s natural resources by promoting water quality and Everglades restoration efforts – and we delivered.
We said we would stand for law and order and support the men and women of law enforcement – and we delivered.
We promised to remedy deficiencies in Florida’s election administration and to hold wayward officials accountable – and we delivered.
We said we would support the areas in Northwest Florida stricken by Hurricane Michael – and we delivered.
And when Hurricane Ian came last year, the state coordinated a massive mobilization of response personnel, facilitated the fastest power restoration on record, and even quickly rebuilt key bridges that had been wiped out by the storm. We have stood by the people of Southwest Florida and we will continue to do so in the weeks, months and years ahead.
Because of these efforts and others, Florida is leading the nation:
We are #1 in these United States in net in-migration
Florida is the #1 fastest growing state
We are #1 in new business formations
Florida is #1 in tourism
We are #1 in economic freedom
Florida is #1 in education freedom
And we rank #1 in parental involvement in education
Florida also ranks #1 in public higher education
This is a record we can all be proud of.
And we are far from done:
Florida has accumulated a record budget surplus, and we need to enact a record amount of tax relief, particularly for Florida families who are grappling with inflation.
We must ensure school systems are responsive to parents and to students, not partisan interest groups, and we must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth, not the imposition of trendy ideology.
Florida must always be a great place to raise a family – we will enact more family-friendly policies to make it easier to raise children and we will defend our children against those who seek to rob them of their innocence.
We will always remain a law-and-order state, we will always support law enforcement, and we will always reject soft-on-crime policies that put our communities at risk.
Florida is now in a golden era for conservation of our treasured natural resources. Our momentum is strong and we will finish what we started – we will leave Florida to God better than we found it!
This much we pledge and so much more.
It is often said that our federalist constitutional system – with fifty states able to pursue their own unique policies – represents a laboratory of democracy.
Well these last few years have witnessed a great test of governing philosophies as many jurisdictions pursued a much different path than we have pursued here in the state of Florida.
The policies pursued by these states have sparked a mass exodus of productive Americans from these jurisdictions – with Florida serving as the most desired destination, a promised land of sanity.
Many of these cities and states have embraced faddish ideology at the expense of enduring principles.
They have harmed public safety by coddling criminals and attacking law enforcement.
They have imposed unreasonable burdens on taxpayers to finance unfathomable levels of public spending.
They have harmed education by subordinating the interests of students and parents to partisan interest groups.
They have imposed medical authoritarianism in the guise of pandemic mandates and restrictions that lack a scientific basis.
This bizarre, but prevalent, ideology that permeates these policy measures purports to act in the name of justice for the marginalized, but it frowns upon American institutions, it rejects merit and achievement, and it advocates identity essentialism.
We reject this woke ideology.
We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy!
We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional.
We will never surrender to the woke mob.
Florida is where woke goes to die!
Now Florida’s success has been made more difficult by the floundering federal establishment in Washington, D.C.
The federal government has gone on an inflationary spending binge that has left our nation weaker and our citizens poorer, it has enacted pandemic restrictions and mandates – based more on ideology and politics than on sound science – and this has eroded freedom and stunted commerce.
It has recklessly facilitated open borders: making a mockery of the rule of law, allowing massive amounts of narcotics to infest our states, importing criminal aliens, and green lighting the flow of millions of illegal aliens into our country, burdening communities and taxpayers throughout the land.
It has imposed an energy policy that has crippled our nation’s domestic production, causing energy to cost more for our citizens and eroding our nation’s energy security, and, in the process, our national security.
It wields its authority through a sprawling, unaccountable and out-of-touch bureaucracy that does not act on behalf of us, but instead looms over us and imposes its will upon us.
The results of this have been predictably dismal.
This has caused many to be pessimistic about the country’s future. Some say that failure is inevitable.
Florida is proof positive that We the People are not destined for failure.
Decline is a choice. Success is attainable. And freedom is worth fighting for.
Now fighting for freedom is not easy because the threats to freedom are more complex and more widespread than in the past – the threats can come from entrenched bureaucrats in D.C., jet-setters in Davos, and corporations wielding public power.
But fight we must.
We embrace our founding creed that our rights are not granted by the courtesy of the State, but are endowed by the hand of the Almighty.
We reject the idea that self-government can be subcontracted out to technocratic elites who reduce human beings to mere data points.
We insist on the restoration of time-tested constitutional principles so that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from this earth.
Florida has led the way in preserving what the father of our country called the “sacred fire of liberty.”
It is the fire that burned in Independence Hall when 56 men pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to establish a new nation conceived in liberty.
It is the fire that burned at a cemetery at Gettysburg when the nation’s first Republican president pledged to this nation a “new birth of freedom.”
It is the fire that burned among the boys who stormed the beaches of Normandy to liberate a continent and to preserve freedom for the world.
It is the fire that infused a young preacher’s dream, relayed at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, that the Declaration of Independence said what it meant and meant what it said: all men are created equal.
It is the fire that led a resolute president to stand in Berlin and declare “tear down this wall,” staring down the communists and winning the Cold War.
It is our responsibility here in Florida to carry this torch.
We do not run from this responsibility; we welcome it.
We will be on our guard.
We will stand firm in the faith.
We will be courageous.
We will be strong!
And we thank God and are proud to be citizens of the great Free State of Florida!
I wish Governor Dunleavy had this same fire for us Alaskans. Mary, Lisa and Dan are destroying us, Mike could so easily be a beacon for Alaska! After the coup of the AK senate as republicans (in name only) handed over control to the democrat MINORITY!! We need someone in our corner, especially as it pertains to education, child sexploitation, illegal immigrants, judicial non choice, et al. He has the power of the pen and is just too weak to use it. Executive orders should be flying out of his office…
Very well said our governor is a paper kitty.
He doesn’t have it in him. He was broken in Wasilla.
Executive orders? As in, bypass the constitutional roles of elected officials to enforce a personal agenda? Would you support this if the governor was a D?
Very correct. Just as if AG meddled into the Eastman case. Just as what had been layed out, taylor would had set another precedent for future AGs.
Yes, Molly, our own governor might gain much from considering the traditional values and the passion for ordered liberty of Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, let us still be grateful for what we have, and for what we have not. We Alaskans have selected some dismal past governors, and except for a certain bizarre episode we might now have, for example, Gov. Ethan Berkowitz, and we remain in jeopardy of electing some other woke character from the Muni of Anchorage Assembly. Eternal vigilance!
There is hope.
Yeah we don’t tolerate wokeness here. Libs have to tippee toe. People still fly confederate battle flags in their yards. Cops don’t tolerate nonsense. Just about everyone is packing heat. It works.
Suzanne, thanks for publishing this great speech. It certainly does inspire hope.
Great speech!
What A Man!
Wishing our Alaska governor could have given a speech of this caliber during his inauguration. His address was pathetic. Dunleavy lost his ability to inspire. Maybe we deserve the government we get.
Governor DeSantis failed to mention that the US Taxpayer through social security and Medicare is Florida’s #1 industry
Know what else he didn’t mention, Frank? Florida has an average age of 42. Know what else he didn’t mention? Alaska has the third youngest population but more people on welfare, even before you consider Indian Health Service. Alaska ranks #1 for welfare. So stop it. Just because lots of retired Americans move to warm, tax-free states to avoid state taxes on their fixed incomes and so they can live safely in a warm climate, and by the way, they paid for that medicare all their working lives.
Yup. I was in Alaska in the bush for almost 20 years. I moved down here to be closer to family and to thaw out. Now I have an RV and a fishing boat and I’m leaving the dream. My memories of living and working with natives and Western Alaska will always remain, but there’s nothing like operating your own boat in search of a largemouth bass in the bass capital of the world. Crappie ain’t bad either.
Social security has been in the red for years and supplemented by the US taxpayer, Medicare was never self funded, Part A basic services is fully funded by the taxpayer.. Americans are free to move anywhere they want, that does not entitle Bullwinkle to make stuff up
Yeah we’ll, homosexuality was listed as a mental illness until 1973. Is it or isn’t it?
If Trump weren’t such a perfect fit for our country I’d be rooting for DeSantis. He’s the next best thing. He just doesn’t quite have the same level of business sense, but his politics and morals are spot on. A man of God truly through and through.
Trump’s an idiot..yes, I voted for him.
Florida is not the only place where “woke goes to die”.
Intellectually and morally, ‘woke’ was dead on arrival.
The greatest Governor in the nation because he gets it. He understands how the left has infiltrated every government, educational and corporate entity. He understands how they are targeting our children to destroy the next generation. He understands what it means when China employs, “Unrestricted Warfare” on other nations. He is taking steps to protect his people, which he swore an oath to do. He is a man of moral character and has integrity, a trait that is sorely lacking in government. If Dunleavy had half of this man’s conviction to the people, Alaska would be a model for other States as Florida is.
Just remember this is Alaska and that’s Florida. Flordians today are in greater numbers holding memories of their parents,grandparents, great-grandparents raising them up around God’s Word and they expected no less from churches. What do most alaskans remember being raised around? Money, alcohol, pulltabs, bingo, and marijuana.
I’m happy for Floridans, they are the crop their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents planted Gospel scripture into years ago. I am happy to have Governor Dunleavy and to had read Alaska’s Governor Dunleavy recently saying “encouraging alaskans to follow in christ’s example.” you know what he did? He was sowing Gospel seeds. And i’m happy for Elon and his Starlink vision, it’ll bring more, even better pastors, into rural
alaska sowing Gospel seeds through internet.
Comments are closed.