Florida Leftist Underground

Blogger sucks

2006-07-14T12:47:00.000-04:00

It really does.

Even her own kind are out to get her!

2006-04-11T13:19:00.000-04:00

Uh-oh, Cruella! Now the National Review is after you!

National Review, the conservative magazine, is calling for Katherine Harris to take herself out of the race for U.S. Senate in Florida "for the good of her party and for the good of her own reputation."

In an unsigned editorial that reflects the view of its editors, the magazine says the embattled Republican can't defeat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, but that there's still time for another GOP candidate to get in the race against the Democrat the magazine calls a "colorless career politician."

Nelson is a "colorless career politician" - he's nothing like you, Kathy. A selfless, devoted public servant and holy warrior of the ideological right! A woman of the people (who, like all common folk, just received a $10,000,000 inheritance), that's what you are. Don't you listen to these nay-sayers and back-stabbers - they fear your raw animal magnetism and unpolished charm. Ignore them.

But the editorial notes that a February poll of likely Republican voters pegged the former Florida Secretary of State's favorable rating at 35 percent and her unfavorable rating at 45 percent.

(Someone tell NR that those numbers are still better than Bush's ratings [36/60])

You can do it, Kathy! Just because half the state already hates you, doesn't mean you can't win.

Ned Flanders builds an amusement park

2006-04-06T12:40:00.000-04:00

Just what we need, yet another amusement park. And this one's for bible dorks. The worst part? Our dumb-ass Republican legislators are going to give this little scam a tax exemption. It's a FOR PROFIT establishment, keep in mind (just the sort of thing I'm sure Jesus would have approved of). Not only that, but the law they are writing specifically for these scam artists applies only the parks that illustrate "biblical manuscripts." So, sorry Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, et. al. War on Christians, my ass.

So, how long before Disney opens Bibleland to get in on the tax-free wingnutty goodness? Apparently, they didn't know about this little loophole.

Your moral majority

2006-04-05T09:10:00.000-04:00

Polk County police nab a Bush administration official and member of God's chosen party for trying to seduce a 14-year old girl. At this point, is there anyone in that admin who isn't under arrest or about to be arrested?

Getting crazier by the minute

2006-04-04T10:33:00.000-04:00

Cruella Harris is flipping out!

Changing locks on her campaign headquarters and accusing her staff of disloyalty and her own party of spying on her are signs of erratic behavior that some Katherine Harris staff members say has worsened since her father's death.

I can hardly blame her staff for leaving in droves. She's behaving like a loon. But hey, Mrs. Harris, if you need any campaign advice or any help spending your inheritance, let me know and I'll be glad to help you out. I'll even toss out some free advice right here:

Don't quit the race, no matter what those insidious double-agents from the ~~Illuminati~~ Republican party say!
Trust no one.
Living people (except me) are untrustworthy. Be sure to seek campaign advice by communing with the spirit of your dead father. I hear that guy who speaks to dead people that used to be on the Sci Fi channel is available.
Don't trim your nails or cut your hair. Your enemies can use the DNA contained therein to create an "evil" clone of you.
Instead of make-up, coat your face with radio-reflective paint so the GOP operatives can't use their advanced brain wave radar technology to read your mind.
Don't take any further cash campaign contributions. The tiny little metallic strips in money can be used to listen in on your secret conversations.
You may think they like you, but they're really just using you.
It's not paranoia if they really *are* out to get you.

Hope that helps!

"They're all out to get me!"

2006-03-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

Paranoia, thy name is Harris:

Media consultant Adam Goodman is the most recent to depart. His departure was preceded by those of Harris' campaign manager, pollster, national financial director and treasurer. Harris had earlier accused Goodman -- her media consultant -- of leaking derogatory information to the press. (Orlando Sentinel, St. Augustine (FL) Record)

So now her media consultant is out to get her. Just like those damn liberal newspapers who Photoshopped her into a hideous made-up freak. And the Washington GOP, which is trying to force her out of the race (I guess that one's kinda true). Harris perfectly embodies the persecution complex favored by so many on the right (because we all know how the lifestyle of middle/upper class, white, Christians is constantly under fire). Watch for this paranoia to worsen as the campaign continues. I wonder if it'll draw her fellow "persecuted" wingnuts closer to her, or push them away?

Flip-flopper! Flip-flopper!

2006-03-27T11:08:00.000-05:00

What a liar:

On the March 15 edition of Fox News' Hannity and Colmes, Harris told the world she planned to spend $10 million she received from her father's death on her campaign.

On March 21, she told the world on ABC's Nightline that she planned to sell all of her assets to put towards her campaign.

Due largely to her repeating the phrase, "I'm putting everything on the line," folks assumed she meant she was adding that cash to the inheritance money she'd already pledged to spend. In other words, we understood she was actually putting "everything" on the line.

But now her campaign says she's not spending her inheritance, only her liquidated assets, which Harris says also total $10 million.

Money quote: "I think I'm being pretty clear," her campaign spokeswoman Morgan Dobbs told the Orlando Sentinel.

Clear as mud, which is what Cruella's name will be after November.

Continuing the assault on public education

2006-03-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

The GOP is insidiously beginning to institute the latest part of their master plan to make passing the FCAT the sole focus of public schools, thus ensuring that they are all terrible, mediocre establishments that no one will want to support with their tax dollars

A new pay-for-performance program for Florida's teachers will tie raises and bonuses directly to pupils' standardized-test scores beginning next year, marking the first time a state has so closely linked the wages of individual school personnel to their students' exam results.

The effort, now being adopted by local districts, is viewed as a landmark in the movement to restructure American schools by having them face the same kind of competitive pressures placed on private enterprise, and advocates say it could serve as a national model to replace traditional teacher pay plans that award raises based largely on academic degrees and years of experience.

Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has characterized the new policy, which bases a teacher's pay on improvements in test scores, as a matter of common sense, asking, "What's wrong about paying good teachers more for doing a better job?"

What's wrong indeed. Say Jeb, do your buddies that "work" as CEO's or on corporate boards get paid according to their performance? They certainly don't get paid according to the amount of effort and labor they put into their ~~golf games and three hour lunches~~ jobs. To the GOP, accountability is only for the little people, as the good governor's crooked family illustrates all too clearly. Say, like Kevin Drums says, maybe we ought to link politician pay to performance. Or even better - how about we give politicians a standardized tests on subjects like logic, ethics, math, science, and law? Then we can put that score right next to their names on election day.

This sort of metric is ridiculous for teachers. Schools in wealthy districts contain kids that do better on the FCAT. Thus, those teachers will get pay raises, while teachers who work hard in inner city schools with lower performing students will be punished. Teachers will then have even more reasons not to want to work in these schools. Schools that already excel in FCAT will attract the best teachers even more than they already do, further siphoning needed resources away from low performance schools. We shouldn't be surprised - widening the gap between rich and poor is the battle cry of the GOP these days.

Furthermore, school is about much more than the FCAT. There are plenty of intangibles in the student/teacher relationship that are far more important than test scores. I wouldn't expect a bunch of home schooled whack jobs or spoiled private school wingnuts to understand this, but normal people get it.

I'm going to make a predication and a wish - the Democratic candidate for governor that promises to eliminate the FCAT and focus students on preparing for the SAT, college/vocational work, and real life will have the gratitude of millions of parents, teachers, and children. This will translate into votes in November. NOBODY is going to turn out to "Save FCAT." Trust me.

My mom has been a public school teacher for almost her entire adult life. She'll be retiring in a few years, though, so this won't affect her. But I know better than most what teachers have to go through, and I know what FCAT is doing to our public education system. The problem is that parents are being told that FCAT is the only way to keep that damn wasteful and corrupt public school system in check. There are other ways.

Justice for Pinellas Park

2006-03-21T09:23:00.000-05:00

I met Charlie Justice's people on Saturday. They set up a booth at Pinellas Park's "Country in the Park" festival. They were trying to get enough signatures to get Charlie on the ballot for state senator. I was glad to see him show up at such a stereotypically "red" event (NASCAR, country music, Christian church recruitment, etc.), when the Republicans didn't even bother to. I heard good things about this guy, so I talked to the booth workers a bit and and my wife and I signed the petition. I'm upset that I won't be in Pinellas Park long enough to do any real work on his campaign, though - I'm leaving for law school in August. I'd really like to see Pinellas Park move from red to purple, especially since our elected GOP representatives do not in any way, shape, or form represent our economic interests.

Anyway, thanks to the booth, I was finally able to find Charlie's campaign web site: http://www.charliejustice.com. It's still under construction (c'mon, guys, a list of issues or just a photo would be better than nothing!) Until it's up, check out this entry in the Buzz to get a taste of Justice (sorry for all the cheesy puns, but I just love that name - "Charlie Justice" - sounds like a super hero).

Make her spend it all

2006-03-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

This new Web site for Bill Nelson contributions is kind of funny. Good timing on that. Though Digby informs us that Harris is not being entirely honest (what else is new) when she says that that $10 million is "everything she has":

Not exactly everything. Her husband is reportedly worth somewhere around 20 million.

She says that he backs her decision one hundred percent. I wonder if he's seen this video of his wife canoodling with another man during the debate on WMD intelligence legislation.

This is democracy?

2006-03-17T13:41:00.000-05:00

Today I called Sen. Nelson's D.C. office to ask whether he supported Sen. Feingold's censure resolution. True to form, he "hadn't made a decision" on the matter. Of course, I asked him to support the resolution. I have to say, the staffer wasn't very friendly. He wasn't rude or anything, but he seemed bored and maybe irritated that he had take all these calls where his boss actually had to stand up for something. I wonder, if Katherine Harris was a Senator back in 1999, would she have been as equivocating and non-committal about censuring Clinton? Would her staff have been so unwelcoming of pro-censure phone calls from her GOP constituents?

On conservatism and other disproven ideologies

2006-03-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

PlaneCrazy has a great diary on DailyKos about ideology, which riffs off of Hunter's take down of conservatism from a few days ago. Read both, they're excellent. Below are some of my thoughts on ideology:

You cannot fit the real world into an ideological container. It's been shown time and again to be true. Theories must conform to reality, reality cannot be bent to fit theory. Of course, such behavior isn't surprising coming from people who deny global warming and other science to further their pro-corporate, anti-privacy agenda.

It may sound hokey, but you really can't go wrong with helping others. In my opinion and my experience, that's the core value of liberalism, even if it may not be the text book political science version. When you look after your fellow world citizens (both at home and abroad), empathize with their plights, and put people above economics, ideology, and nationalism, you will realize success in the long run. And when the ideology needs changing, you change it. That's why I can feel comfortable calling myself a pacifist. I will remain a committed pacifist until a situation occurs where it becomes apparent that war - and only war - can solve an otherwise horrible and out-of-control problem (for example, another Hitler emerges and is allowed to fester and grow to 1939 levels). My core value is that violence is immoral, but what if violence is the *only* way to stop far greater violence, such as that perpetrated by Hitler? Then perhaps I must change until that situation is resolved. But it makes no sense to accomodate the possibility of such a remote and unlikely event in my thinking on how to deal with the here and now. Nor does it serve me to consider unique, aberrant, and unequaled events in history. If/when such an event occurs, I will adapt. Such flexibility is sometimes difficult for Americans/Westerners (especially conservatives to grasp), because it seems like "flip-flopping" or that I'm not committed to my principles. But that is simply not true. I am committed to my core values of helping people and solving their problems, not service to an ideology.

I think a lot of liberals are like me, and are often misunderstood because of that. For example, conservatives project their unbending love of ideology on to us when they say "liberals love to increase the deficit." Maybe that was true in the past, but many of today's liberals are downright hawkish on deficit reduction. Flip-flopping or adapting with the times? Does it matter? It's obvious that the deficit is a looming crisis that needs to be addressed. Our ideology must change to accommodate our core value of helping and uplifting people (in that a huge debt will increase poverty and inequality). Conservatives will continue to adhere to tax cutting regardless of the damage that it might inflict. Principled stand or pig-headed stubbornness and ideological blindness? Who cares, the result is the same - crushing national debt for Americans and a sword of Damoclese for the rest of the world.

Maybe at some point in our history it really will be good policy to cut taxes for the rich, deregulate corporations, and pass intrusive privacy-violating "morality" laws. If such a thing were to occur, I might be persuaded to support those actions. But that time is not now. So take heed, ideologues of all stripes: the loose reed bends in the wind, the stiff reed breaks. The GOP has shown us that much.

Pie Wars II

2006-03-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

Over at Kos, Bill in Portland, Maine, has an important task for all Floridians:

I know I know. But America needs you. Okay...Florida needs you. You and your grizzled pie-war veteran-ness. Begun, a new pie war has. And this time, instead of Kossack vs. Kossack...it's pecan vs. key lime.

Before Katherine Harris or Jeb Bush get a chance to muck it up, take the C&J/Diebold no-paper-trail poll. Then stain your thumb with some indelible substance to prevent yourself from voting twice (octopus ink works well and is available at finer stationery boutiques or Sea World if you sneak in while Rusty the night watchman is on his Playboy "potty break"). You can do this. I know you can.

Go over there and vote in the pie poll. For me it was a tough choice. While my mom makes a mean chocolate pecan pie, I think that Key Lime is more appropriate as the official state pie of Florida.

Cruella stays in U.S. Senate race

2006-03-16T12:37:00.000-05:00

Looks like Cruella Harris is still in the race. She made her statement on FOX's Hannity an Colmes Show. Truly a profile in courage (she couldn't even bear to face the weasely and spineless Colmes). Apparently she's planning on dumping $10,000,000 of her dead rich daddy's money into the race. Too bad he didn't die sooner, then she wouldn't have had to accept all those illegal campaign contributions in the first place.

So predictable

2006-03-15T16:28:00.000-05:00

Sadly, I called it. Via TPM:

So tonight's the night!

Katherine Harris heads over to FOX News tonight to make her "major announcement."

Why do people watch FOX News? Seriously?

Take this with a grain of salt

2006-03-15T10:34:00.000-05:00

Via Atrios, I see the NRO's Corner has some gossip about Harris' Senate campaign:

Looks like the widespread expectation that Katherine Harris will announce this week that she is abandoning her Florida Senate race against Bill Nelson is wrong. The latest? Rep. Harris is planning on resigning from the House to underscore her determination to knock off Nelson in a race she has no intention of quitting.

That seems weird. I don't think resigning her position would be seen as underscoring her determination. I think it would be seen as an admission of guilt concerning the accusations that she abused her office. People don't quit to show determination in America. They do it because A) they are outraged about something or B) they've been hopelessly embarrassed by something they've done. If I resigned from my job in order to prove to my wife that I was determined to find a new one, I don't think she'd be very impressed.

In case you didn't believe me before...

2006-03-13T15:26:00.000-05:00

Via FLA Politics, more proof that the GOP's real goal with this voucher nonsense is to destroy public education completely:

"The Florida Supreme Court told Gov. Bush and the Legislature that they can't use vouchers to chip away at public schools. The response, from some in the GOP, is to quit chipping and start bombing. Rep. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, who will be the next House speaker, last week proposed a constitutional amendment that would let any public school student in Florida get a voucher to attend private school. Alarm at the prospect is bipartisan. "The effect it would have," said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, 'is to basically drive a stake through the heart of public education." "Voucher fans light fuse to detonate the schools".

If you like having you public services like fire, police, schools, and vital utilities privatized, by all means vote for the GOP. Because we all know that private companies only have their customers' best interests at heart, and certainly wouldn't work against those interests for the sake of profit.

Rick Penberthy on DKos

2006-03-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

Man this guy sure is active online. There's an interesting diary by Rick on DailyKos today:

U.S. Congressional candidate Rick Penberthy called for federal insurance reform to protect American homeowners.

"The problem that Florida is facing with Citizens is a symptom of a larger problem," Penberthy said. "When no one is watching out for homeowners and insurance companies are making all of the decisions, families are increasingly left with few and expensive options."

I've said it for years now. Insurance is the biggest scam of the 20th century. It's like some kind of extortion racket. And it gets worse every day because they are some of the biggest contributors to Republicans and constantly inact laws to protect themselves or force their racket onto you. I pay taxes to the government. Why can't the government pay for my house when it burns down or is destroyed by a hurricane? Why can't the government pay for my health care? I already pay a high premium to them every two weeks that they largely waste on killing brown people and free giveaways to their corporate cronies.

Cruella hangs in there

2006-03-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

She's determined to make a fur coat out of those damned Dalmatian puppies! Via Kos:

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said she doesn't plan to drop out of the Senate race, a statement she made as rumors swirled Wednesday that she would end the campaign because of ties to a company involved in bribery scandal.

"I am out there. We are running hard. We think we have great momentum," Harris said in a telephone interview. She is the only major Republican in the race to unseat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

I have mixed emotions about this. I mean, she seems like the easiest candidate for Nelson to beat. So that's good. But on the other hand, there's still the off chance she might possible maybe somehow could win. Shudder. We have to keep working hard to make sure that doesn't happen, provided, of course, that she isn't indicted before November. At the very least, hopefully her ignominious reputation will draw Dem voters to the polls in large numbers statewide.

Don't chicken out now, Cruella!

2006-03-08T16:57:00.000-05:00

Let's all hope Cruella doesn't drop out. It would suck if the GOP ran a candidate who actually stood a decent chance of winning.

Pinellas Park Election Results

2006-03-08T12:11:00.000-05:00

Well I'll be damned. I looked all over for the Pinellas Park election results and couldn't find anything. Then I noticed them sitting at the bottom of the ACLU article I quoted in my last post:

Mayor: Bill Mischler, 80.32%; Randy Heine, 19.68%
Council Member Seat 1: Ed Taylor, 80.48%; Marshall A. Cook, 19.52%

Big surprise. Everyone I voted for lost. This on top of Ciro's defeat in Texas and Tom DeLay's win. Voting seems pointless in a country that hates and fears any sort of change as much as America. No matter how much Americans bitch and whine about the state of things, they never actually seek out change. This little trip down democracy lane has been enlightening - I'll be sure not to get my hopes up for 2006. Between fear, gerrymandering, apathy, love of stagnation, and good ol fashioned American ignorance, the Republicans are sure to remain the dominant force in state and national politics for many years to come. And if you think I'm being cynical, just remember that today, after all that's happened over the last 5 years, Tom DeLay got 62 PERCENT of the Republican vote in his district. This despite the fact that he is under indictment for a serious felony and is closely connected to the most notorious crooked lobbyist in modern history, Jack Abramoff.

ACLU sues over the 100ft solicitation-free zone

2006-03-08T12:01:00.000-05:00

There's a state law which says that you can't solicit voters with 100ft. of a polling place. The ACLU has a problem with this law because this zone often extends across traditionally public free-speech areas like sidewalks.

Steele contended the no-solicitation zone, which state lawmakers approved last year and took effect Jan. 1, infringes on the free-speech rights of campaign workers and others at polling places.

Previously, voters could be approached within 50 feet of a polling place door as long as the solicitation was done in a separately marked area or on property traditionally used as a place for public discussion such as a sidewalk.

"Now all of a sudden, that public sidewalk exception has gone away, and sidewalks are now closed to free speech," said Steele, adding that the law is not "narrowly tailored" enough to survive First Amendment scrutiny.

It makes some sense to limit solicitation in some ways, because we don't want voters to be intimidated, harrassed, or bullied. But I'm curious to know why the state legislature felt the existing 50ft. law was insufficient. Was voter intimidation occuring? Were they afraid of massive anti-Bush/War/GOP protests popping up right outside Florida polling places? What was the motivation here?

Regardless, I think the ACLU is right. Public sidewalks are traditional free speech zones. The law should have carved out an exception for them if it wanted to remain Constitutional.

Busy day, empty speeches

2006-03-07T15:56:00.000-05:00

So it's a big day today in Florida. We've got city elections here in Pinellas Park. The legislature starts today, and Jeb just finished his annual State of the State address.

I was going to analyze Bush's speech, but there doesn't seem like there's much of interest there. I mean, we all know what he wants to "accomplish." So here's my brief run-down of Jeb's goals for 2006, translated from the original Republi-speak:

Destroy public schools (vouchers plus increased course load)
Destroy consumer protections (restrict law suits against businesses)
End church/state separations (vouchers again)
Continue letting insurance companies screw us (didn't put forth any ideas for solving insurance crisis)
Steal from the poor and give to the rich (tax cuts)
Gut the Florida Constitution (vouchers...again)
Throw a bunch of stupid little giveaways at the Bubbas and git-r-dones who vote for Republicans ($100 rebate - ooh! a $100!!! - on property insurance and $50 million dollars for storm shutters for poor people)

Sounds like a full year! And that tax rebate is the most blatant attempt at bribery I've ever seen. I wonder if the check will come emblazoned with a huge GOP elephant and/or a picture of Jeb's ugly mug.

Cruella still in hiding

2006-03-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

The Carpetbagger has a post up about Cruella Harris continuing to hide from the media:

From a political perspective, this isn't necessarily new. Harris ignored pleas from party leaders who urged her not to run, and whispered to reporters that they would prefer a different candidate take on Sen. Bill Nelson (D). Since then, Harris' fundraising has been weak and her staff has been repeatedly shaken up by a series of resignations among her top advisors. What's more, polls don't show her competing very well statewide.

But that was before Harris got caught up in the Wade/MZM controversy. Over the weekend, Harris acknowledged that she requested $10 million in federal funds be set aside for a Navy intelligence program in her district at the request of Washington contractor Mitchell Wade, best known for his role in bribing disgraced lawmaker Duke Cunningham. What's more, Wade recently admitted to prosecutors that he made illegal campaign contributions to Harris. Complicating matters further, Harris apparently lied about her connections to Wade.

Seems Cruella takes PR advice from Dick Cheney now. So, anybody want to take bets as to when Harris shows up on Fox news to tell "her side of the story" with Brit Hume or some other pompous wingnut windbag?

Cruella lawyers up, stays in hiding

2006-03-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

Seems Cruella Harris has decided to lawyer up. You know, "just in case."

Among the reasons for her absence was a meeting with top-gun campaign finance lawyer Ben Ginsberg, whom she hired as a "precaution," Harris spokeswoman Kara Borie said.

And this sentence tells us all we need to know about the odious company that Cruella keeps:

Cunningham, Harris and Goode helped Wade and MZM in their attempts to secure federal tax dollars by slipping appropriations into massive spending bills.

Cruella is still hiding her earmark requests, and Bill Young is giving her some cover. But the pressure is on now, and this scandal isn't going away. We need to make it clear that Harris was an aspiring Duke Cunningham in the making. This isn't some innocent misstep - this isn't the first time she's run afoul of election law. Cruella is a calculating, selfish, power-hungry politico who would sell out her own country's national defense/security in the name of campaign contributions. Decisions about important military and intelligence facilities shouldn't be left to corrupt, mercenary scum like Harris that are in hock to crooked contractors in the military-industrial complex. She didn't think anybody would notice. She thought she could play the little Gingrich Republican's game of shrieking about small government, morality, and lower taxes while sucking the citizens dry. Like Cunningham, DeLay, Goode, and others, she failed.

Kos adds:

This isn't "lose the election" sort of information, it's "attract the attention of federal prosecutors" kind of stuff.

Let's just hope that Harris' lawyer can stave off the attack dogs long enough to lose the election to Bill Nelson. And then we can all have a good bit of schadenfreude as she gets hauled off to the federal pen with the rest of the GOP.

Off topic (sorta)

2006-03-03T12:31:00.000-05:00

This movie looks freaking bad.ass. Seriously, I can't wait.

Pinellas Park Local Elections

2006-03-03T09:18:00.000-05:00

I haven't been giving much thought to local elections, what with everything going on in the national political scene. But then that whole "think locally" thing came to mind, so I thought I'd mention it. Even if you don't live in Pinellas Park, maybe it will inspire you to check out your own local politicians and become involved with that.

In seeking out information on the upcoming Pinellas Park elections (March 7), I found an article in the St. Pete Times regarding who's running and a little bit about the candidates.

I have to admit, I'm not entirely certain that I've been furnished with all the information I would have liked, but, in my opinion, Heine has a couple of things going for him: 1) He has an actual website, which details his platform, so I know why the heck I should be voting for him and 2) He isn't the incumbent. In these situations, sohei and I both agree that it's good to shake things up a bit, and if you're not completely certain of the candidates' platforms, just vote for the guy who hasn't been in office for eight years. For now, I'm going to endorse Randy Heine for mayor. I like that he wants to protect our mobile home residents from becoming homeless. He may not have the experience that the incumbent does, but it's good to get someone fresh involved, if the national stage is any indication.

As for the council, there's apparently a seat up for grabs. Again, I'm not sure I know enough about the candidates, but from what I've seen, I tend to support Cook. Once again, he's not the incumbent, and he seems interested in what the average citizen has to say. Besides, the incumbent Taylor seems to feel that we should be concerned about developer's rights, even as they build more housing than our dear little town needs or can handle. If the past couple of years have been any indication, Taylor seems to be a little too friendly to the developers, and his opponent, Cook, can only do better.

So, to conclude, I support Heine for mayor, and Cook for council.

Update by sohei: Here's the link to Heine's Web site: www.randyheine.com.

Cruella in crisis

2006-03-03T08:55:00.000-05:00

Cruella Harris' corruption scandal is developing very quickly. We know now that she sent a letter to appropriations subcommittee requesting the funds for Wade's "plant." Cruella won't release the letter though, claiming it has privileged information. Bullshit of course. You know a Republican is in trouble when they claim the right of privileged information. DailyKos' Georgia10 does a good job of summarizing the events so far. This is started to look real juicy...

Jeb: for or against birth control?

2006-03-02T09:20:00.000-05:00

there's an interesting quote in the article I referenced in the last post:

"While the governor does not personally believe in abortion or pornography, the town, and any restrictions they may place on businesses choosing to locate there, must comply with the laws and constitution of the state and federal governments," Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the governor, said Tuesday.

Is the implication here that the Governor, contrary to wingnut Catholic dogma, believes in birth control? Or is Jeb just afraid to state his real position on the issue? Someone needs to ask him how he feels about the residents not having access to birth control. Does he think that's a reasonable public policy to enforce on all citizens? Just askin'. 'Cause it might make a difference in any potential bids for the presidency.

A little slice of hell

2006-03-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

Via AMERICAblog I see that the crazy-ass founder of Domino's pizza (which you should never eat, by the way) is founding an American Taliban town right here in Florida:

If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.

The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will."

Yeah, like it'll be so hard for the residents to drive to the first CVS out of town (which, knowing Florida, will be about 5 blocks away) to buy birth control. Is he going to use armed militias to keep the residents from heading to the major cities for an abortion or porn? Will there be public stonings of adulteresses in the town's baseball field? Secret police to make sure nobody is using birth control or looking at pornography?

These people are delusional. They just can't bear living in the real world anymore. If they want to act like the Amish and live in isolation, that's fine with me. If they stay out of our lives, we'll stay out of theirs. But that isn't bloody likely (cough*TerriShiavo*cough), is it?

Furthermore, I don't even think this will work on a practical level. I mean, if I want to open up a CVS and sell birth control on my private property zoned for commercial business, how are these lunatics going to stop me? Are they going to try to expel people based on their religious beliefs? I'm certain that's not legal. The ACLU says the whole she-bang is unconstitutional.

And of course, if it's religious extremism in Florida, you can bet that our good buddy Jeb won't be left behind:

Gov Jeb Bush, at the site's groundbreaking earlier this month, lauded the development as a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens. Bush, a convert to Catholicism, did not speak specifically to the proposed restrictions.

Oh, and right-wing Catholics? One day, after you've successfully suppressed all other religions, you and the right-wing Evangelicals are going to have quite the reckoning, and I suspect it won't be pretty. Protestant fundamentalists in the Florida KKK burned a cross on my Catholic grandparents' yard back in the day. The two religions are not natural allies - just ask Ireland.

Anti-judicial review amendment

2006-02-28T14:01:00.000-05:00

We need to keep a close eye on this. As worded, it seems that this amendment would destroy judicial review in Florida courts, a principle established only a few years after the founding of this country. I think Troxler is right and most of the more ridiculous language will be removed, mostly out of concern for being revealed as the bat-shit crazy loons that they really are rather than out of any sort of ethical concerns. Wingnuts hate judicial review - well, they hate it right now because they run the legislature. When liberals are in power, they'll love it again. This amendment just demonstrates how short-sighted and policy-ignorant these jerk wads are. They only think of short term gain, and they don't care how they go about gaining it. These are the guys who idolize Barry Goldwater, who said:

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Got admire their tenacity, at least - they really are dead set on destroying Florida's schools with this voucher nonsense, law and constitution be damned.

Oh, and you gotta love how, in the article I linked to, the quoted Republican calls the Florida house and senate a "citizen-legislature" that the courts have no right to limit. Yeah, like an oligarchy of wealthy families that retain power through ridiculously gerry-mandered districts and voter apathy really represents the will of the people of Florida.

(Hat tip to FLA Politics)

Inside the minds of "conservative" males

2006-02-28T13:49:00.000-05:00

...like my father in-law.

Will Florida be the next South Dakota?

2006-02-28T11:17:00.000-05:00

As you are all probably aware, South Dakota recently passed a law that essentially bans all abortions for any reason. Here's the reason why abortion matters:

Indeed, that's what pro-coathanger legislation is all about. The rich and the middle class will always have access to safe abortion. Making abortion illegal is quite simply class warfare, aimed at the poorest women and families.

Read the whole thing. I'll add to this to say that the unstated objective of the so-called "pro-life" movement is to ban the birth control pill as well. The surface reason being that the pill can essentially terminate a fertilized egg, the subtle reason being that birth control lets women do all sorts of horribly un-19th century things, like have recreational sex, get and keep good jobs, and exert control over their lives (reproductively and otherwise).

Now, I heard on NPR today that SD's governor claims that other (obviously Republican) governors have expressed interest in following his state's lead. I have no proof, but I suspect Jeb and his GOP allies in the state congress fall into that category. Here's why:

Jeb wants to run for president - not in 2008, but 2012 or 2016. Don't believe him when he says he doesn't. All Bushes crave power - it's in their blood. Banning abortion in "his" state would practically ensure that he wins the wingnut nomination with very little effort. Passing such a law also helps Florida Republicans, who receive a big boost in fundie support all over the state (and make no mistake, there are lots of them here) which they desparately need to compensate for the Bush albatross around their necks. In their minds, it will be a no-lose situation. Will there be a backlash? Of course! But they've safely gerrymandered the state so as to ensure that the backlash has little impact on them. The GOP are experts at backlash insurance, as we learned in the book Off Center.

Again, this is all speculation. But concerned progressives should be watching the start of the 2006 legislative session carefully for signs of anti-abortion fervor. The wingnuts think they're on to something here that will save their asses. Whether they are or not remains to be seen.

Atrios on Nelson

2006-02-28T10:32:00.000-05:00

Atrios has bit up about a fundraiser he went to for Bill Nelson. Give it a read. One of his rare pieces that is longer than a sentence fragment :)

I get what Atrios is saying here, but I think it's great that Nelson is focused on serving Florida, even if it lowers his national/party profile somewhat. I think it's important for politicians to represent their constituents first, above all other concerns.

I like Atrios' nickname for Harris, and will henceforth refer to her as Cruella Harris.

Power to the People

2006-02-27T10:47:00.000-05:00

FLA Politics has this quote from a Palm Beach Post story about the budget surplus:

"Gov. Jeb Bush and his Republican allies will go into his final spring legislative session arguing that the state has too much money, and therefore must cut taxes by $1.5 billion. They also will go into the session that starts March 7 arguing that voters must repeal or water down the class-size amendment in November because the state cannot afford it." "Too much money, too little money".

This is yet another example of how Republicans always put ideology and their corporate buddies over the people they purport to serve. You see, Bushism has all but destroyed conservative ideology, with it's rampant deficit spending, expansion of bueracracy, interventionist wars, and blatant violations of personal freedoms and civil liberties. The only thing they have left is tax cuts (for the rich, of course). So no matter how destructive or how contrary it is to popular will, they have to cling to that simplistic "cut taxes" mantra or risk political oblivion. It's no coincidence that the only part of their ideology to survive Bushism is the only one that really appeals to their corporate donors *and* knuckle-dragging voter base. So the ideologues in Tallahassee always seem to think it's better to sacrifice future progress on the altar of immediate tax cut gratification.

It's clear what the people of Florida want to do with this money - they want to spend it on social programs, particularly education. Despite empty campaign rhetoric about "small government" that seems to win elections for these guys, people don't really seem to want small government at all. They demonstrate that time and again. They want good public schools. They want the government to help during hurricanes. They want police, fire, and medical services. They want health care for the poor, public clinics, and senior assistance. They want all of tha, but they often don't want to pay any taxes to get it.

Now, some people might read that story above and be baffled that the governor says we have all this extra money but can't afford to fund a constitionally-mandated, voter-approved program to reduce class size. But not me, because I understand the world these people live in.

Quite simply, the Republicans *want* the public education system to fail. They hate it. They can't teach creationism in it, they can't keep all the black and Hispanic kids out of it, they can't force everyone to publicly pray to their warped version of the Christian god, they can't indoctrinate children in their authoritarian ideology (which includes using corporal punishment), and no corporations can make any money off the whole deal. Therefore, they oppose (in deed, if not in word) any program that might make the schools better, especially if it involves increasing funding for a (gasp!) government program.

They want schools to be overcrowded failures. They force standardized testing on everyone just so they have a "report card" to hold up and illustrate how public schools are failures. They cut school lunch programs so that parents feel the schools can't even provide their kids with basic necessities, much less an education. And the biggest scam of all is of course school vouchers, which are the first steps towards the Republican dream of a mass public school exodus - at least, an exodus for all the white, middle-class, ex-urban kids. So even if we had four trillion dollars in surplus, Jeb would still claim we couldn't afford to pay for this amendment. It surprises me that more Dem politicians don't exploit this obvious GOP disdain for public schools. They saw what happened the Repug's hatred of Social Security was dragged into the light of day. We need to articulate this better: "Republicans want to undermine the public school system." Simple.

The answer as to what to do with the budget surplus is obvious, and it's what polls have suggested that the people want: spend the surplus on trying to fulfill the requirements of the class size amendment. Even if we can't make all the goals required by the law, some progress is better than none. I'm sick of seeing the GOP try to weasel their way out of these amendments. The voters have spoken, now it's time to obey the will of the people. Even if that will is not what they (or we) think should be done. Personally, I would rather save the money for this year's hurricanes (which are probably going to be terrible) or provide some sort of property insurance relief (my dirty socialist plan would be to increase funding to Citizen's and run the private companies out of Florida by repealing that stupid law that says Citizen's rates must be higher than private rates ). But I respect the will of the people, as they have clearly and repeatedly spoken their minds on this. Jeb Bush and his allies in the legislature should do the same.

Poor Kathy

2006-02-27T10:25:00.000-05:00

She has such bad luck! Illegal contributions just seem to keep finding her no matter how righteous and honest she tries to be.

A revelation last week that illegal campaign contributions had been made to Rep. Katherine Harris was not a first.

In 1998, executives at Riscorp insurance company pleaded guilty to doling out $380,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Florida elections candidates.

One was Harris, R-Sarasota, who received more than $20,000 from Riscorp in a 1994 campaign for state Senate that she won.

(Hat tip to Buzz blog.)

Birds of a feather

2006-02-26T17:49:00.000-05:00

A flashback reminds of an old saying about the
company you keep:

On Friday, Wade admitted in federal court to bribing U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., with cash and gifts in return for help winning government contracts. Cunningham, who campaigned for [Katherine] Harris in Sarasota months after MZM's donations, resigned from Congress three months ago.

... resigned and then pled guilty to "Conspiracy to Commit Crimes against the United States (including Fraud and Bribery) and Tax Evasion."

Harris Scrambles for Cover

2006-02-26T08:55:00.000-05:00

Like me, ThinkProgress doesn't think Kathy's being straight with us about Mitchell Wade's illegal campaign contributions.

Katherine Harris claims she had no idea there was anything amiss when she received the contributions. In a statement she said the incident “demonstrates the perils of a process in which candidates are sometimes asked to determine the intent of a contributor.”

Wouldn't you be suspicious if 7 people from the same company - that wasn't even located anywhere near your state - decided to contribute money to your campaign on the same day?

ThinkProgress also tells us that MZM (Wade's company), was the biggest contributor to Harris, outstripping the National Beer Wholesaler's Assn (there's some family values for you) by 150%. So, it's not like these contributions were under the radar.

So here we have the typical Republi-crook storyline. Poor GOP wingnut was just doing their level best to blindly further the mighty right-wing ideology, and got caught up in some nefarious ne'er-do-well's illegal schemes, without so much as an inkling that what their contributors were doing was illegal. Right.

Hey Kathy, the Dukestir tried the "dumb ass defense" as well. He'll be doing time in the federal pen soon.

Bottom line: Mitchell Wade has admitted to charges of corruption. In my opinion, it takes two to tango. What was Harris' role in all this? The questions we need to answer are: "How much did Harris really know about the source of her biggest campaign contributions?" and "What sort of legislative favors (if any) did Harris perform (or attempt to perform) in exchange for all of Wades filthy luchre?"

One trick ponies

2006-02-25T11:03:00.000-05:00

This is hillarious. Karl Rove's clones in the state GOP really do have only one tactic. Now they're trying to swiftboat Bill Nelson:

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's role in space is sure to be under a microscope over the next nine months as he seeks re-election. If you read my story in today's Herald Tribune you know Katherine Harris' campaign has already compared his trip in space to borrowing a spacesuit.

Last weekend, Florida Republican Party Chairwoman Carol Jean Jordan followed the same line, according to the Palm Beach Post, saying Harris "has the work ethic and the tenacity to send Billy Nelson back to Brevard County, where he can pretend to be an astronaut."

But is it a wise line of attack? Can Republicans discredit Nelson's trip to space as they were able to do to John Kerry and his experience on swift boats (http://www.swiftvets.com) during Vietnam?

I mean, are they trying to parody themselves? This won't work for a number of reasons. First of all, Nelson isn't running on his "astronaut credentials," so attacking them is pointless. Second, I'm willing to bet that most Floridians, especially younger ones, don't even know that Nelson was an astronaut. So thanks for getting the word out, Harris, and enhancing his rep! Third, I don't think this worked on John Kerry either. The swiftboat attacks were preaching to the converted (literally) - they were just noise to keep the rabble occupied with cracking stupid jokes and passing out purple heart bandaids instead of actually thinking about what they were voting for. The most successful ad against Kerry came courtesy of Osama Bin Laden's October Surprise, which helped crank up the fear level just enough to get junior re-elected. But they're welcome to try this crap, because God knows our political discourse isn't juvenile and baseless enough already.

Katherine Harris-stir?

2006-02-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

Duke Cunningham and Katherine Harris have a mutual friend in Mitchell Wade, head of MZM. If you recall, Wade was the guy who bribed the Dukestir in exchange for getting some sugar in the Defense appropriations bill. Well, Wade has plead guilty to a whole slew of charges. And the indictment? Well, it names our U.S. Senator-hopeful Katherine Harris as a recipient of Wade's illegal ~~bribes~~contributions. Josh has the details:

First off, we can identify the two members of Congress: Reps. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Katharine Harris (R-FL), who are reportedly "Representative A" and "Representative B," respectively, in Wade's plea.

According to the USAO's press release and the guilty plea, Wade made about $78,000 in "illegal campaign contributions" to these two - $32,000 to Harris and $46,000 to Goode. The contributions were illegal because Wade had his MZM employees and their spouses contribute under their own names, and then reimbursed them.

Wade says he did not tell either Harris or Goode that the contributions were illegal. But that doesn't mean they come out of this looking good, either.

Josh says that, according to the indictment, Wade wanted Harris to obtain "funding and approval for a Navy counterintelligence program in [Harris's] district and locating an MZM office in that district." Seems that the program wasn't funded, so Josh thinks Harris might be off the hook. I think that that doesn't matter. The thing we need to find out is, did she *try* to fund the program? If so, did she do this with the understanding that further contributions would come her way, should she succeed?

Greetings and salutations

2006-02-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

Hi there, and welcome to the Florida Leftist Underground. This is a site dedicated to Florida's local and state politics. You can read a little about me in the sidebar. I'm no one special - just a working class white kid from a union family who couldn't stand to just sit idly as Bushism and all its attendant woes swept our state, country, and the world. And make no mistake about it, his brand of demagogic, demonizing, and polarizing politics has indeed "trickled down" into every level of government, as evidenced by our neighboring Hillsborough county commissioner, Rhonda Storms. So I've decided to leave my career as a writer and go to law school (either FSU or UF) so that I can fight the Right in the courtroom.

So this site doesn't have much of strictly defined mission statement. I'll basically provide news links and commentary on a variety of topics, include state and local government, law, crimes and corruption, social/economic justice, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

But in the short term, here are my stated short-term objectives:

Prevent Katherine Harris from being elected
Put a Democrat into the governor's office
Get as many Democrats elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as possible
Get the Florida redistricting amendment passed so we can have competitive elections again
Support laws that protect and assist the environment, minorities, immigrants, the poor, women, economic equality, and increase the general well-being of the community.
Oppose laws that don't.

And for the record, I'm not a Democrat. I'm actually, registered independent because I have a whole lot of problems with the Democratic party right now. But I am die-hard, take-no-prisoners progressive. I'm a realist, though, and I know that its a two-party system out there, and the Dems are definitely the lesser of two evils.

So with that, happy reading and please feel free to contribute. I try not to be a know-it-all, and I realize there is lots I need to learn about state and local politics.

Brap on.