Ron DeSantis is at it again

Ron DeSantis is continuing his ideological and reputational retreat in Florida. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about how DeSantis’s hate-filled agenda has been losing steam since he dropped out of the race to be the next MAGA king. Now, DeSantis’s controversial move to spur book-banning in school libraries across the state is being dismantled—by none other than DeSantis himself.

On Tuesday, DeSantis signed a bill into law to limit Floridians’ ability to object to books in K-12 school libraries. Amending a 2022 law, this new law means that individuals without children in a school district will be restricted to one monthly objection, at most. Beginning July 1, only parents with children who have access to the district’s library holdings may voice unlimited objections to them.

While this development leaves much room for improvement, it is expected to curb the rampant book-banning that has been affecting students in Florida over the past two years. According to a report from The Hill, “book objections have poured into school districts since the [2022] bill was passed.”

Indeed, like many recent Republican efforts, DeSantis’s book-banning push—on top of being plain wrong—has proven to be a logistical mess. Florida Democrats creatively pointed this out to DeSantis when, a year ago, they applied this law to his own memoir, The Courage To Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival. DeSantis’s book reportedly violated the law at least 17 times, according to an exclusive by The Daily Beast.

DeSantis’s press release issued on Tuesday about the bill signing, “Governor DeSantis Signs Legislation to Further Enhance Education in Florida,” shows he’s finally beginning to catch on. Creating a free-for-all for removing books from the school library system was a bad idea then and a bad idea now. Indeed, Ron DeSantis himself is one enormously bad idea that, fortunately, will not move into the White House in January.