Wednesday in Philadelphia bore witness to one of those moments in politics where it's hard to avoid succumbing to pure cynicism. Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis made his way to the City of Brotherly Love to receive an "award" from a group called the Union League, a once-venerable institution that has turned itself into a right-wing country club. Unsurprisingly, he was most definitely not welcome in the very liberal, racially diverse city, especially after recent reports that DeSantis had banned African-American history courses on the grounds that they have no "educational value." Sure enough, his appearance was met with a robust protest that featured Black community leaders giving speeches denouncing racism and a crowd of people waving queer inclusivity flags and holding up Black Lives Matter signs.
Watching this spectacle on social media, I was torn.
