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So long, Alligator Alcatraz. And a happy final July 4th to you
https://www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2026/07/02/alligator-alcatraz-ron-desantis-florida-independence-day/The shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz reverberated for me beyond the final clanking of prison cage doors. It happened before Trump’s ill-starred “State Fair” send-off, but after the brutal White House cage match launching our 250th anniversary. It was that blood-flecked cage match that the editor of the New Yorker marked as the transition from merely imperial authoritarianism to the age of straight-out Caligula.
For many — now most — of us, two and a half more years of this sure does seem like the lo-o-ngest time to wait, doesn’t it? A prison sentence, for sure, whether you have a regular fridge calendar or are scratching out Xs on the brick wall. We are mostly doing our remaining time by ignoring it or, indirectly, resisting it.
Our founders didn’t make this easy. Who could have predicted that, in place of the “virtuous” chief executives they carved out an executive branch for, our chief spear carrier for the spirit of ‘76 would be the barking-mad wannabe king we’re stuck with till the wee hours of ‘29? (Unexpected acts of god or free-carry insanity always excepted.)
Then another thing hit me. In this time of anniversaries, DeSantis was celebrating the shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz with another bull’s-eye date. Just about exactly a year ago — on July 1, 2025 — he proudly joined Trump and then-Homeland Security “chief” Kristi Noem to tour this short-lived prison of horrors. Noem, unaware of future calamities in store for her, reportedly flashed her Rolex at a cage of wretched detainees.
For many — now most — of us, two and a half more years of this sure does seem like the lo-o-ngest time to wait, doesn’t it? A prison sentence, for sure, whether you have a regular fridge calendar or are scratching out Xs on the brick wall. We are mostly doing our remaining time by ignoring it or, indirectly, resisting it.
Our founders didn’t make this easy. Who could have predicted that, in place of the “virtuous” chief executives they carved out an executive branch for, our chief spear carrier for the spirit of ‘76 would be the barking-mad wannabe king we’re stuck with till the wee hours of ‘29? (Unexpected acts of god or free-carry insanity always excepted.)
Then another thing hit me. In this time of anniversaries, DeSantis was celebrating the shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz with another bull’s-eye date. Just about exactly a year ago — on July 1, 2025 — he proudly joined Trump and then-Homeland Security “chief” Kristi Noem to tour this short-lived prison of horrors. Noem, unaware of future calamities in store for her, reportedly flashed her Rolex at a cage of wretched detainees.
