Arthur Bremer

Ron DeSantis More Dangerous Than George Wallace Ever Was To Be President

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is more dangerous than George Wallace ever was to be President.

Wallace, Governor of Alabama and the infamous racial white supremacist, became a nightmare to many, as he became a national figure when he tried to prevent integration of the University of Alabama in 1963, and started pursuing the Presidency.

In 1968, Wallace, after competing in Democratic Presidential primaries, ran as the American Independent Party nominee for President, and won 13.5 percent of the national popular vote, and five Southern states and 46 electoral votes.

This occurred during the heights of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Wallace ran again in Democratic Presidential primaries in the spring of 1972, until, sadly, he was struck down by an attempted assassination in Maryland perpetrated by Arthur Bremer on May 15, 1972, discussed in detail in this author’s chapter in his book “Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama” (Rowman Littlefield Publishers, 2015, Paperback 2017).

Wallace would be paralyzed for the rest of his life, but went on to be Alabama Governor again in the 1980s, and with a different tone, including apologizing for hie hateful behavior, and asking forgiveness from civil rights leaders. He had multiple surgeries to relieve his pain and suffering, and lived on for 26 years until his death in 1998 at age 79.

As horrible as Wallace was, he represented a state that was much less significant than Florida, in population and economic and social influence. And regarding a multitude of matters, Wallace was not promoting all kinds of other limitations as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now doing, as he plans to seek the Presidency, and is appealing to the Extreme Right of his party, and seen by many as the inheritor of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) Donald Trump followers.

Wallace, despite his being a threat, was clearly never going to be President, but Ron DeSantis IS a real threat, representing the third largest state, and has a clear opportunity and possibility, to go all the way to the White House!

Rocker Ted Nugent, Mitt Romney, And Threats Against Barack Obama

Ted Nugent is a long time singer and musician, defined as a hard rocker and hevy metal musician, performing since age 10 in 1958.

Nugent has been a great influence on others in the hard rock and heavy metal music business, and has become well known for his conservative views on politics and public affairs over his long career.

Nugent is certainly entitled to have his views and to express them, but as with any public figure, and really any person, there is such a thing as going too far, if one threatens anyone, and particularly a public figure, and most significantly the President of the United States, whoever he happens to be.

In other words, there is the concept of “clear and present danger’, which allows government to prosecute anyone who threatens the breakdown of law and order, the promotion of bloodshed and violence and anarchy by one’s use of language.

Ted Nugent has reached that level of objectionable and dangerous language, and is being investigated, appropriately, by the Secret Service.

What did Nugent say?

At the National Rifle Association conference this past weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, Nugent said that if Barack Obama is reelected, he (Nugent) will either be dead or in prison. He spoke to a group of mostly young men, riling them up, by talking about decapitating Barack Obama and calling him a piece of excrement. He also bitterly criticized Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Attorney General Eric Holder, and used threatening language against them.

One could sense that Nugent was provoking these gun enthusiasts with feverish language against the Commander in Chief, and could certainly have the effect of making some young man, similar to John Hinckley, Arthur Bremer, or Lee Harvey Oswald, be motivated by the comments of this famous rock star to attempt to bring harm against President Obama, or actually assassinate him, which would be a horrible tragedy beyond belief.

Mitt Romney has been endorsed by Ted Nugent, but he needs to make a clear statement of condemnation of Nugent, and repudiate his endorsement, as who would seriously wish to have the backing of an unstable public figure who, despite his right to criticize, shows a total lack of respect for the office of President, if not the individual in that office.

But don’t bet on Romney taking a principled stand, as he has failed to do that constantly during his political career.