Ron DeSantis in The Courage to be Free, by Ron DeSantis
On Foreign Policy:
Too much blood and treasure to impose democracy abroad
[President George W. Bush declared], "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."I remember being
stunned. Does the survival of American liberty depend on whether liberty succeeds in Djibouti? Are we going to try to impose democracy in societies where most people are hostile to US interests? What would the cost in American blood and treasure be if
we ended tyranny in our world? Is it possible to end tyranny in our world?
This messianic impulse [meant] that the US had both the right and the obligation to promote democracy, by force, if necessary, around the world.
The Founding Fathers would
not have thought of forcibly removing a dictator and then having a society governed by the mere whims of the majority as "liberty." They knew that liberty could be squelched by a runaway majority just as easily as it could be by a single tyrant.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 33
Feb 28, 2023
On Foreign Policy:
Pushed successfully to move US Embassy to Jerusalem
During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised that, if elected, he would move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. In May 2017, however, he signed the waiver to punt the issue for another six months. Countries all over the world, particularly
European and Arab states, pressed him not to move our embassy. Such a move, they ominously warned, would unleash a massive wave of conflict in the Middle East. Because of these concerns, moving our embassy, while very popular with the American public,
was much easier said than done.In 2017, I led a small mission to Israel to scout our possible sites in Jerusalem for new US embassy. In December 2017, President Trump announced that the United States would be relocating its embassy in Israel to
Jerusalem. The formal ceremony in May 2018 was a major event, which I attended in person. Did the relocation of our embassy to Jerusalem lead to a massive conflict, as the Beltway experts predicted? Not at all.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 59-61
Feb 28, 2023
On Government Reform:
I withstood the Ivy League, so I can withstand DC
I viewed having earned degrees from Yale and Harvard Law School to be political scarlet letters as far as a GOP primary went. I cited my experience at those schools as evidence that I would stay true to my beliefs when in Washington. "I am one of
the very few people," I told audiences, "who went through both Yale and Harvard Law School and came out more conservative than when I went in.
If I could withstand seven years of indoctrination in the Ivy League, then I will be able to survive DC without going native!"
Every Republican who gets elected to the US Congress must decide: drain the swamp or become part of the swamp? But the entire DC ecosystem is wired to frustrate the aspirations of would-be reformers.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 42-45
Feb 28, 2023
On Homeland Security:
K-9s for Warriors: treat PTSD in post-9/11 veterans
When I got elected in 2012, I was one of a handful of Iraq veterans to serve in the House. I consistently heard from both my constituents and other military families that the VA was mishandling the treatment for posttraumatic stress. The VA bureaucrats
thought that the best treatment was just to pump these courageous veterans full of drugs. This course of treatment was ineffective and even counterproductive for many of our post-9/11 veterans. Suicide was an all-too-common outcome. There had to be
other options.A great nonprofit called "K-9s for Warriors" trained service dogs to be paired with veterans suffering from ailments like post-traumatic stress. K-9s for Warriors trained the dogs to recognize when the post-traumatic stress of the
veteran was most acute and to respond in ways that reduced that stress. This simple approach, which didn't fund Big Pharma, helped many veterans. Not surprisingly, the suicide rate among those veterans paired with a service dog was infinitesimally small.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 57
Feb 28, 2023
On Homeland Security:
Military draft would make public oppose nation-building
What lessons did I draw from my time in Iraq? One thing that really stuck with me was that the burden of the post-9/11 operations fell on such a small segment of our population. With an all-volunteer force.The all-volunteer approach made lengthy
deployments and years-long troop commitments more palpable to the public. Had there been a military draft, public opposition to a long-term nation-building exercise that resulted in American casualities would have been strong.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 31
Feb 28, 2023
On Immigration:
Hispanics support robust border and immigration enforcement
During my first year in Congress, the divide between the DC GOP and our Republican voters back home was on stark display on the issue of immigration. The Republican intelligentsia inside the
Beltway believed as an article of faith that, to win national elections, Republicans needed to embrace amnesty for illegal aliens.I've found that most
Hispanics support robust border and immigration enforcement measures and are not terribly sympathetic to those who enter the United States illegally.
DC Republicans supported major expansions of immigration to serve corporate interests, particularly
in ways that would facilitate more cheap labor. The effect that such policies might have on the wages of American workers did not seem to be much concern--a classic example of Beltway Republicans putting Americans last.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 51
Feb 28, 2023
On Jobs:
OSHA regulations make workers poorer but not safer
After I graduated high school, I took a full-time job at an electric company in town so I could help pay for college. This job was also my first encounter with the federal government's regulatory Leviathan. When I showed up to work the first day,
I wore attire that was typical of what an electrician would wear: jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and an old pair of work boots. And then I was promptly sent home. Why? Because it wasn't clear if the old, worn-out boots were actually "OSHA approved."
I didn't know what OSHA was, but I soon learned that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was a federal agency charged with promulgating workplace safety rules.
The net result for me was that I had to spend the lion's share of what would end up being my first week's paycheck buying a pair of boots that were clearly approved by OSHA. I doubt this made me any safer, but it did make me a tad bit poorer.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 6-7
Feb 28, 2023
On Principles & Values:
Endorsed for Governor by President Trump in 2017
In late 2017, I asked the president if he would be willing to send out a tweet touting me as a good candidate for Florida governor. He seemed amenable, but at the same time, I was not holding my breath; the president has a lot on his plate,
and this was not likely to rank high on his list of things to do. About a week later, a Trump tweet appeared; "Congressman Ron DeSantis is a brilliant young leader, Yale and then Harvard Law, who would make a GREAT Governor of Florida.
He loves our Country and is a true FIGHTER!"I announced my candidacy for governor at the beginning of 2018 live on Fox & Friends.
I started traveling our state to build more support. The energy was positive, and I succeeded in expanding my support.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 78
Feb 28, 2023
On Technology:
DC media outlets are a smear machine against Republicans
Every Republican who gets elected to the US Congress must decide: drain the swamp or become part of the swamp? But the entire DC ecosystem is wired to frustrate the aspirations of would-be reformers.
A big reason for this is that the legacy DC media outlets that dominate the narrative are protectors of the way Washington operates and defenders of its permanent bureaucracy.
The media treats reformers, especially those on the right, with hostility, usually targeting them with hit pieces.
The fact is, that the Beltway media ecosystem functions as a megaphone for Democratic messaging and as a smear machine against Republicans and Republican policies.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 45-46
Feb 28, 2023
On War & Peace:
We destroyed Al Qaeda in Iraq but can't establish democracy
What lessons did I draw from my time in Iraq? I learned up close the limits of what our military could be expected to accomplish. Within two weeks of being on the ground, it was clear to me that our military would end up destroying AQI.
This was because AQI had alienated core segments of the Sunni population with its terror tactics, and because it was no match for US military operations. It was just as obvious that we would not succeed in establishing a pro-American,
Western-style democracy in Iraq. This was simply outside the capability of any military force to achieve. The cultural differences were too vast for Iraq to embrace Madisonian constitutionalism.
In fact, the Iraqis considered "freedom" to be submission to sharia law, not the enactment of liberal democracy. I saw firsthand the folly of using the military to socially engineer a foreign society.
Source: The Courage to be Free, by Gov. Ron DeSantis, p. 31-32
Feb 28, 2023
Page last updated: Jun 28, 2024