MAGA Land: Sarasota County, Florida

[Tennesseer]

Washington Post Article.

The MAGAmerican dream lives in Sarasota

SARASOTA, Fla. —

There are a few ways to enter Sarasota County’s modern conservative paradise, but Vic Mellor led me in through what he calls “the cave of doom.”

It’s a narrow, mostly concrete tunnel, painted black and nearly impenetrable to the Florida sunshine. The only sources of light are illuminated quotations that give the tunnel a militia-curious vibe.

To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.

To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.

Give me liberty or give me death!

The passageway empties into an outdoor bar and patio adorned with a wall-length Betsy Ross flag. Here, a man who calls himself “America’s Constitution Coach” has hosted weekly “Constitutional Defense” classes — a “one of a kind course on the meaning and purpose of the 2nd Amendment and the entire Constitution!” per a Facebook post. Alongside the back of the property is a gun range, where Mellor has hosted instructors who teach kids as young as 7 how to shoot .22-caliber pistols.

This is the Hollow, Mellor’s light at the end of the tunnel. It was closed because of a zoning dispute at the time of my visit, in mid-August, but he’s optimistic it will be allowed to reopen. Even without anyone there, it seemed clear to me why this place might appeal to a certain kind of southwest Floridian: It was a kind of anti-elitist hangout where like-minded people could gather without anyone telling them Donald Trump’s a liar, or indoctrinating their kids with liberal B.S., or requiring them to get vaccinated against communicable diseases, or insisting that gun culture is its own kind of illness.

“I’m gonna bring kids out there, I’m gonna teach them gun safety, I’m gonna teach them the Constitution,” Mellor says. “All I want is for one kid, at some point — when an adult or a teacher or someone like that says ‘Guns are evil’ — to say, ‘No, we deal with guns all the time, they’re totally safe.’”

The Hollow is a sort of a stronghold by way of an oasis. It’s not huge — a campground, more or less, on 10 acres, much of it kept wild. There are palm trees and American flag-clad pergolas. A zip-line stretches over a moat to a small island, one of several spaces on the property that can be used for wedding ceremonies. Nearby is a stage with a projection wall where Mellor has held movie nights. A crowd favorite from last summer: “2,000 Mules,” a documentary that relies on sketchy evidence and flawed analysis to fuel the widely debunked narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen through voter fraud.

Rest of the article here: The MAGAmerican dream lives in Sarasota

[Opti]

Interesting. While many MAGAs are second amendment true believers I think Trump usually says little about it. He isn't pro gun regulation so that gets him points with the faithful. A real MAGA paradise would center on forced birth and screen out trans people, almost all non whites and celebrate the weirdness which is the MAGA faithful. A love of brightly colored clothing often sporting images of Trump seems to be part of it given what I have seen in James Klepper videos.