Marco Rubio declares war on ‘woke’ flags. (A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics, March 21, 2024)

Donald Trump appears at a rally with Marco Rubio in Miami in November 2022.JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

Florida's senior U.S. Senator MARCO ANTONIO RUBIO (R) a/k/a "Little Marco" to DJT, was reportedly arrested in a crime plagued Miami park after dark  on May 23, 1990, five days before his nineteenth birthday,  but records disappeared.  Miami New Times and The Washington Post Local newspapers have reported it, and some speculated the arrest  may have been for drug use or sale, or for public hustler sex.  But as Pope Francis would say, "who am I to judge?"   But when it comes to RUBIO's histrionic hissy fit concerning Rainbow flags, I pronounce him hubristic, histrionic, impudent, intolerant and impotent -- is this why ""Little Marco" ran for the third highest elected office in the land? To display his gaucherie and Gay-bashing?  You tell me.   

Fun fact: It was our St. Johns County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller, BRANDON J. PATTY, whom I first heard use the word "woke" as a pejorative, in a County Board of County Commissioners meeting. Notwithstanding his intelligence and education, including London School of Economics and Political Science, PATTY emits the usual Dull Republican rodomontade. 

From Florida Politics:

Marco Rubio declares war on ‘woke’ flags. (A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics, March 21, 2024)

'The radical left’s woke agenda has been relentless in pushing their destructive ideology.'

Florida’s senior Senator is sponsoring legislation that removes any ambiguity about the display of the American flag.

“The radical left’s woke agenda has been relentless in pushing their destructive ideology. Under the Joe Biden Administration, socially progressive and divisive flags have become the focal point of diplomatic messaging,” says a press release from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio that promotes a bill that would stop American officials from giving equal time to the LGBTQ+ pride flag and other banners of social consciousness.

The legislation doesn’t ban such flags from display, but it does subordinate them to the stars and stripes.

“Any flag, seal, or emblem that is not the United States flag and is flown, draped, projected, or displayed otherwise as a visual and symbolic representation at a United States diplomatic mission, official residence, or official office, or on an official United States vehicle shall be smaller than the official United States flag; and if flown, may not be displayed higher than or above the United States flag,” reads the Rubio bill.

“This bill seeks to reinforce the importance of our flag, which is more than just a national emblem. Our flag is a testament to the God-given freedoms endowed to every American citizen and we cannot let woke ideology take that sense of national pride from us,” the Senator from South Florida asserted.

Flag displays in the Biden era have been a point of contention for other Florida Republicans as well, including Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In 2023, the Governor griped about the so-called “transgender” flag having “precedence” over the American flag at a White House Pride Celebration, even though the U.S. flag was the most prominently displayed, as it flew overhead even as the Pride flag was side-by-side with the American flag on the balcony.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at AG@FloridaPolitics.com or on Twitter: @AGGancarski