Last Call For In Like Flynn, Con't

If you're wondering what former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is up to since the Former Guy™ pardoned him for his role in, you know, betraying his country's government, well it turns out he's openly calling for a military coup to overthrow his country's government. Again.

Avowed QAnon disciple and confessed felon retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has called for a Myanmar-like military coup in America.

“It should happen,” Donald Trump’s former national security adviser said in an astonishing declaration at a QAnon conference Sunday.

Myanmar’s military violently seized control of the country from its civilian government in late January, detained democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and top party members, and killed more than 700 protesters as of early this month. The military justified its action by claiming unproven “election fraud.”

Flynn presented his dark vision of a military coup and dictatorship in the U.S. in response to a question from the audience at the conference.

″I wanna know why what happened in Myanmar can’t happen here?” an unidentified member of the audience asked Flynn, though he pronounced the nation as “Minnimar.”

“No reason,” Flynn responded to wild screams of approval. “It should happen.”

It’s not the first time Flynn has called for a military takeover of a democratically elected government. He retweeted a message in December after Trump lost the election that called on the president to declare martial law and keep the White House by force.

 

They want this so badly they can taste it, and so can tens of millions of Republicans. They've already tried once. They will absolutely try again.

It's About Suppression, Con't

So it turns out late last night Democrats in the Texas state House were able to stop the Texas Senate GOP's voter suppression and election rigging bill by walking out of the final night of the yearly session, denying the GOP the quorum they needed to proceed with the bill, but that's only a temporary delay.

Texas Republicans' push to enact a slew of new voting restrictions was stymied -- at least for now -- by Democrats who walked off the state House floor late Sunday night, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill in the final hours before a midnight deadline. 

Their move effectively killed Senate Bill 7 for this year's legislative session. But it could soon be revived: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Sunday night that he is adding "election integrity" to a list of topics lawmakers will address in a special session he plans to call. 

"Legislators will be expected to have worked out the details when they arrive at the Capitol for the special session," Abbott said. 

Democrats left the chamber at about 10:45 p.m., CT, leaving Republican Speaker Dade Phelan to concede that the House did not have the 100 members necessary for a quorum and to adjourn the House for the night. 

Republicans in Texas had sought to join Florida, Georgia and other GOP-controlled states that have seized on former President Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 election and adopted new restrictions that will make it harder for some of their residents to vote. 

It's not yet clear when Abbott will call the special session. It's also not clear whether Republicans will enter the special session set on approving SB 7 as it's currently drafted or will seek to make further changes.

 

Frankly, Texas Republicans could easily make the bill even worse, and almost certainly will in order to further punish Democrats. Abbott has months in which to call the session, and Texas Republicans will almost certainly be afforded the time to make the bill as nasty as possible.

 

Dems won the battle here, and they are to be commended. But the war is almost certainly lost.

Cruisin' For A Losin', Con't

Gov. Florida Man Ron DeSantis is doubling down on his ban on cruise lines requiring vaccine information or even asking for it, saying that the taxpayers of Florida will be very happy with the $5,000 fine per passenger and worker windfall from the cruise companies. 

 

Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t wavering from his ban on “vaccine passports” as a cruise line has received federal approval to set sail from a Florida port next month if passengers and crew members are inoculated against COVID-19.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the governor maintained that Florida won’t exempt cruise lines from a new law, which goes into effect July 1, that imposes a fine of $5,000 for each customer asked to provide proof of a coronavirus vaccination. DeSantis said he also expects the state to win its lawsuit challenging federal restrictions that have idled the cruise ship industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are going to enforce Florida law,” DeSantis told reporters Friday at the LifeScience Logistics Distribution Center in Lakeland. “I mean, we have Florida law. We have laws that protect the people and the privacy of our citizens, and we are going to enforce it. In fact, I have no choice but to enforce it.”

DeSantis, who signed the “passport” bill into law on May 3, also said “we provided vaccine for a lot of their workers,” referring to the cruise industry. “Nobody has fought harder, not just for cruises, but the entire leisure and hospitality sector in this state in its history than me,” the Republican governor, who is seeking re-election to his post next year, said Friday.

Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group, has drawn approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and could begin operating out of Port Everglades by the end of June. The approval requires 100% of crew members and 95% of passengers to be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has given state and federal attorneys until Tuesday to settle Florida’s lawsuit challenging the cruise restrictions. According to court documents, lawyers from both sides held a settlement conference on Thursday and are scheduled to meet again Tuesday.

 

The cruise companies are of course increasingly turning to Alaska and Washington State.

 

Norwegian Cruise Line will restart its U.S. sailings, which have been on hold for over a year, with weeklong cruises to Alaska this summer.

The Miami-based flagship brand from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) announced plans to resume cruises from Seattle in August. It would mark the company's first U.S. cruise with since March 2020, when the entire industry was forced to suspend voyages as passenger ships became hot spots for the spread of the virus.

Passengers and crew aboard Norwegian Bliss must be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 to board the ship in Seattle.

The announcement from Norwegian notably leaves out when it will resume cruises from South Florida, once home to its largest ships. The plan, released Monday, follows an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis that bars companies that accept state dollars from requiring proof of vaccination from any customers.

Norwegian will resume voyages with fully vaccinated passengers and crew elsewhere.

The cruise company previously stated the state's ban on "vaccine passports" complicates its plan to resume voyages in South Florida, once the cruise capital of the world.

"At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we [can't] operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from," CEO Frank Del Rio said during a first quarter earnings call May 6." We can operate from the Caribbean for ships that otherwise would've gone to Florida. We certainly hope that doesn't come to that. Everyone wants to operate out of Florida, it's a very lucrative market, it's close drive market — but it is an issue, [we] can't ignore it."

We'll see who blinks first., negotiation or not.