Good:

As a Florida taxpayer — yes, we do pay taxes in Florida, although not many, and nothing on income or capital gains — this delights me. I have absolutely zero interest in being taxed to pay for Donald Trump’s legal defense, and I suspect that I am joined in this sentiment by the vast majority of taxpaying Floridians. We already have a Republican Party that has been turned into a vehicle for the promotion of Donald Trump’s personal interests; we don’t need to start adding states to the list of captured institutions.

In a sense, DeSantis’s tweet highlights the key divide in our politics, which is between those who believe that their role is to advance conservative policy and those who believe that their role is to advance Donald Trump. Relative to the overall budget of the third most populous state in the union, Donald Trump’s legal fees are tiny. But money is fungible; what is spent on X cannot be spent on Y. To prioritize Trump’s interests over anything else — be it school choice, road repairs, the protection of manatees, or whatever — would be to send out the disastrous message that the reputation for fiscal responsibility for which Florida has become known was all bunk. At present, Florida’s choices are entirely defensible: It does not spend money on certain programs in which other states indulge, but, as the result of this, it has a fiscal situation that ought to make New York and California blush. Were it to start funneling cash to Donald Trump — even a small amount of cash — that argument would be more difficult to make to normal people. “Growth over entitlements” is a comprehensible message. “Donald Trump over entitlements” is not. Sometimes, the small decisions speak volumes.

I accept that this was a small gesture. But if we are to shift our politics away from Donald Trump’s personality and towards successful governance, we’ll need to see a lot of low bars being crossed before the higher bars come into play. As ever, the most powerful word in politics is “No.” This was a good “No” — and an even better one given how defiantly and publicly it was declared.