Let’s use the right word to describe Florida Governor Ron DeSantis:
Coyote.
I say this with apologies to the natural prowlers and howlers that have moved in among us, because invoking them in relationship to Mr. DeSantis surely is an unwarranted insult.
I’m using Southwest lingo:
A coyote is someone who traffics people across borders, profiting from their dreams, exploiting them, transporting them to places unknown, dumping them and moving on.
Most coyotes do this for hard currency. Coyote DeSantis looks for a different payoff:
Political profit.
Coyotes are known to be wily. Coyote DeSantis’ decision to drop “aliens” on Martha’s Vineyard qualifies. We are a “sanctuary” state, the Vineyard is renowned as a wealthy enclave and vacationland for Democratic Presidents, the symbolism works for those who don’t mind manipulation, and anyhow Coyote DeSantis will never carry Massachusetts when he runs for President.
What remains to be seen is how this will play for months to come, and if those of us on the receiving end turn the symbolic, criminal moment into something transformative.
People have celebrated magnificence in the way Martha’s Vineyard responded, helping those who were lied to, swept up, buffeted and transported. I’d describe it somewhat differently: Caring people, also known as human beings, didn’t just turn their backs on others in need, so acted in immediate, tangible, momentary, improvisational ways.
OK, it was magnificent.
Now a disconcerting fact of collective consciousness and news reporting enters in:
When one small child is trapped in a coal mine, media feeding off collective fascination turns that into a global story. We hang on every turn, hoping and praying for rescue.
But when every day, people are devastated in car crashes, imprisoned by addictions, trapped in dark holes by abuse, tortured in prisons, there are no headlines, no Go Fund Me campaigns, no impassioned interviews and profiles. When one trapped child is safe, we all feel such relief and hope. When that same day thousands are lost, we move on because we must, otherwise we’d be paralyzed.
Does Coyote DeSantis appreciate any of this? Of course not. This is far beyond his reckoning, nothing to do with his motives. Yet as is the case whenever a cruel, Machiavellian person acts, it’s up to those around him to try to blunt barbarity with expressions as simple as a blanket, a cup of coffee, a hug. Those are instinctive responses. Then comes much tougher, structural, longer term work.
My belief is that we will do right by these 50 Venezuelans. Support services at the military base where they have been moved will wrap around them. They will experience help, opportunity, and love. But wish as I might, it doesn’t seem possible that this wonderful example will spur us to do the same for the more anonymous among us who number not 50, but millions.
My bet is that many of these 50 will look back five years from now and think this was the fateful, fulcrum moment that tipped them toward better lives. It’s also very possible that some might be shivering in basements come February and think otherwise.
Coyote DeSantis cares not a whit about what happens to the Venezuelans he sent. He didn’t even know they were Venezuelans. They were pawns, but he did not anticipate in chess-like fashion what Massachusetts’ next move might be, and didn’t care. He thought about how his ploy would play among “his own,” how he could generate political, social and economic pressure on “them,” meaning us. I’m sure he thinks of this as a big success, sticking it to “liberals” and “the Northeast,” with another couple million added to his campaign coffers.
As he stumped for a gubernatorial candidate in Kansas last weekend, here’s Coyote DeSantis’ disingenuous description of what happened: Massachusetts “deported those people off the island the very next day.”
That has contributed to hateful outpourings against Vineyard residents, disregarding the heartfelt response. This, in microcosm, is how our public discourse becomes fake, twisted and poisoned.
I can’t predict whether all this backfires, I can only hope. Same for whether we can take the island’s immediate, instinctive, compassionate response and translate it into broad public policy. Another way to put it: If enough affordable housing had been available on the Vineyard, would the community have permanently welcomed 50 new arrivals — assuming they wanted to live on a small, remote island? I believe the answer is yes, and many would have gotten jobs right away, but again, housing is the Achilles heel.
Now that I’m in danger of overthinking the whole thing, I’ll move off existential quicksand and stand on a piece of hard truthful ground:
A coyote is a human trafficker, a profiteering criminal. Like any criminal, this one should be prosecuted.
Reflecting on who Coyote DeSantis wants to mimic — and replace — that appropriate response should sound familiar.
Once again, clear eyed analysis crossed with justifiable passion. Particularly strong on collective consciousness and news gathering.
Thank you Seth! My thoughts and feelings exactly! Excellent piece!