Showing posts with label Charlie Crist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlie Crist. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Another reason to vote against Charlie Crist: his pitching is clearly outside of the 'mainstream'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jirSqpYpvrE
After Charlie Crist loses the Senate election in 25 days to Marco Rubio and leaves office -and Tallahassee in the rear-view mirror for good- Crist will move up to one of his wife's homes in the New York City area, where he'll become yet another foolish Mets fan, and after listening to too much nonsensical sports radio, he will become a chronic serial caller to WFAN.
"Hello Charlie in Westchester County, you're on the air..."
Ha! Ha! Ha!
In this video, ABC News correspondent John Berman discusses presidential and celebrity ceremonial first pitches (and foul pitches), as well as his 'first pitch' at a PawSox game at McCoy Stadium in Pawtuckett, Rhode Island, as always, the AAA farm club of the Red Sox.
http://www.mefeedia.com/news/20617909
One of my substitute teachers at N.M.B. High School, Tony Torchia, was easily one of the most popular teachers at the school whenever he was there, especially with the male students, and it wasn't just because he was friendly and engaging and... the PawSox manager in 1975.
When the Red Sox played the Reds in the World Series that fall, naturally, he flew up to Boston to be at the Sox home games at Fenway Park.
Well, to give you an idea of what a great guy Mr. Torchia was, he brought back a World Series program for me, only one of my most-treasured sports collectibles EVER.
He was a classy guy!
'Safe at Home'
Alyssa Milano confesses her love for baseball in her book in an interview On The Record with Greta Van Sustern of FOX News. 2009.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3933173/safe-at-home/
Sunday, September 5, 2010
How Jennifer Carroll proves the political history of Florida isn't quite what it used to be -and neither are the news media's memories, either
To the blog readers who were kind enough to email me and ask -perhaps tongue in cheek- if I noticed that "Correction" in the Miami Herald on Friday, I did.
Actually, I noticed the mistake in the original article on Thursday, below.
-----
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/02/1803901/scotts-likely-no-2-navy-vet.html
Miami Herald
Rick Scott's likely No. 2: Navy vet
A Republican victory in November in the governor's race could produce Florida's first black lieutenant governor. Jennifer Carroll is likely to be Rick Scott's running mate
By Steve Bousquet, Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
The case of the missing adjective.
excerpted from:
Miami Herald
Corrections
September 3, 2010
Gwen Sawyer Cherry, a Democrat from Miami, was the first African American woman ever to serve in the Legislature. She was elected in 1970.
-----
Carroll is the first Black female Republican elected to the State House, which is why I highlighted Republican in red in the original since it wasn't there, but added online after the edition went to print.
Hmm-m-m... Gwen Cherry was also the first Black woman to practice law in Dade County, a not insignificant fact. See: http://www.gscbwla.org/cherry.htm
Obviously, I'm long past believing that all the employee cuts at the Herald are starting to have their logical negative results for their dwindling number of readers, in that they have lost people who actually know which facts are important and which are not, and can say something
when words in an article are flat-out wrong -or missing.
It will come as no surprise to most of you readers who come here often that in my opinion, the reporters in this community who don't know anything about the political history of this area or why things are the way they are, greatly out-number the ones who do.
This Thursday article is a preview of the future of South Florida media, something I notice nearly every time Miami TV reporters show up at Hollywood City Commission meetings and seem to know nothing -or next-to-nothing- about what is on the meeting agenda and what its implications might be.
So many are strangely incurious.
I don't expect them to be experts, but... well, let's just say that the amount of time some of them need to be talked to by the city's official spokesperson Raelin Story -who is always professional and accommodating- seems to be increasing, based on what I observe.
I'm sure she notices who does their homework and is prepared, and who doesn't and isn't.
I know I do.
Jennifer Carroll's web page at the Florida House of Representatives website:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/
Campaign website: http://www.
For more on her talented son...
Miami Herald
DOLPHINS
CB Carroll embraces discipline
CB Carroll embraces discipline
By David J. Neal
Here's how you know Dolphins rookie cornerback Nolan Carroll didn't grow up acting foolish, or at least didn't do so twice: he's the son of a former Navy lieutenant commander who retired after 20 years with some medals, including an "expert pistol medal."
And that was Mom, state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, the first female black Republican state representative. Dad, Nolan Carroll Sr., was an Air Force senior master sergeant.
"Ever since I came out of my mom, it was, 'yes, sir,' 'no, sir,' 'yes, ma'am,' be on time, do this, do that when I say so," said Carroll, a fifth-round draft pick. "Up to now, and I'm 23 years old, I still say, 'yes, sir,' 'no, sir.' They expect me to say it. There was very strict discipline in my house. They were also cool. They weren't always telling me what to do. They treated me like I was a grown man, as well.'
Now, Carroll is a grown man out of the Jacksonville area with an exemplary off-the-field makeup. If not for the broken leg that aborted Carroll's senior season at Maryland after two games, NFL coaches wouldn't have been in favor of drafting him, but rather adopting him.
"When you talk with the young man, he's just an impressive guy; he really is," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "The first time I ever met him, I was really impressed with the way he came off. Never mind how he presented himself from a football standpoint, but he had all the other things that are important to us, too."
Such as a willingness to do exactly what he is told.
"The coaches are like my parents," Carroll said. "Same thing. I do what they tell me to do. I don't back talk."
And if he disagrees with a coaching decree?
"I look down and think, 'They know what's best for me, so I'm just going to listen to what they tell me to do,' " he said.
That's one reason Carroll tries to avoid even minor violations such as breaking curfew -- he figures rules were made for a reason. Also, he's used to being in situations where any bad behavior can reflect on others.
"If my friends wanted to go and do something and I thought it was bad, I wouldn't do it," he said. "I'd stay in the house just to make sure. I didn't want to give [his mother] a bad name.
"Same with this," he continued, looking past reporters to the Dolphins' logo facing the Davie practice fields. "I treat this like a family. I treat the Miami Dolphins like it's my mom, it's my family. I don't ever want to give them a bad name."
Now, if he can play nickel cornerback without embarrassing them on the field, he might have a job.
The Dolphins believe they have found their future outside cornerbacks in 2009 rookies Sean Smith and Vontae Davis. Will Allen, who turns 32 in August with nine seasons of mileage, will be back in that competition for starting spots this year after recovering from a season-ending knee injury. But for how long? Also, the Dolphins released last year's nickel cornerback, Nate Jones.
With three-wide receiver sets becoming the norm, it's a position defenses want settled.
"One of the things that I think I want to try to do with Nolan right away is to just get him in a position where he's going to be able to get himself settled down and play because he has missed so much time," Sparano said. "I think that we are going to kind of let him get his feet set at corner right now and then take a look at some of the players that we have in there and then worry about whether we get him inside."
Carroll, who ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at Maryland's pro day, played against slot receivers during his sophomore season in 2007. That was his first at cornerback after spending his freshman year as a wide receiver.
"[The Dolphins] like that I'm tough and aggressive," Carroll said "I need to work just getting used to the position some more. I've only been playing it a year and a half if you don't count my senior year that I missed."
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." But sometimes, as with Jeff Greene vs. Kendrick Meek, elections really ARE sprints, and Meek is Wile E. Coyote
With less than two weeks to go until the August 24th Democratic primary, it seems pretty clear to me that, among other things, Jeff Greene's Senatorial campaign is deliberately planning on forcing Kendrick Meek & Co. to burn through all their cash and resources as quickly as possible, knowing that he can always dig deeper than Team Meek at a moment's notice, and leave them gasping and unable to respond to any last-minute Greene attacks or change-up pitches.
That's exactly how I'd play it, too if I had Greene's resources and the lead in the polls.
It's also clear to me that based on Team Greene's smart media buys and frequency thus far, as well as the variety of their very attractive and well-produced direct mail -which seems to come into my mailbox every other day- they've known for a while that Meek's creative team simply isn't capable of turning-on-a-dime and producing and placing the high-quality materials the way that Team Greene can.
The first time my mailbox had Kendrick Meek campaign lit in it, last Thursday, was the same day that the St. Petersburg Times political editor Adam C. Smith wrote this killing with kindness article that featured this in the fifth paragraph:"Meek, who has been campaigning harder and longer than any other statewide candidate this cycle, grasps the dire position he's in: Three weeks before the primary, he trails by double digits to a last-minute rival with a bottomless campaign account. "
Later, in the first sentence of the 21st paragraph, Smith begins:"Indeed, while Meek remains little known to most Floridians..."
Now can you see what I mean?
St. Petersburg Times
Trailing in polls, Kendrick Meek chases a U.S. Senate victory in a bus tour of Florida
By Adam Smith, Times Political Editor,
In Print: Thursday, August 5, 2010
On Wednesday Meek kicked off an 11-day, statewide bus tour aimed at picking up grass-roots momentum against the candidacy of billionaire real estate mogul Jeff Greene.
"The old-school kind of politics — when Bob Graham had his work days and Lawton Chiles walked this state — I think it still means something in this state," a fiery Meek told about 100 people at a Daytona Beach teachers union building.
"Democrats in Florida will give this nation the first example of what hard work means and what it means to run a grass-roots campaign against billionaires who have a shrimp in one hand and a checkbook in the other saying, 'How much does it cost to become a United States senator or governor in this state?,'?'' he said.
Meek, who has been campaigning harder and longer than any other statewide candidate this cycle, grasps the dire position he's in: Three weeks before the primary, he trails by double digits to a last-minute rival with a bottomless campaign account.
But sounding both upbeat and energized, the 43-year-old Miami congressman argued that the momentum is starting to turn back toward him, and that his deep roots among the most loyal Democrats across the state will compensate for Greene's nearly $10-million in TV ad spending.
Greene couldn't pull off a bus tour like his, Meek said. "Who's going to show up? Because his whole campaign is about campaign ads and not about real people."
Meek's campaign received a gift this week after Greene had to keep answering questions — and revising his explanation — about him taking his 145-foot yacht to Cuba in 2007, after a former deck hand told the St. Petersburg Times about guests partying and getting sick on the trip to Cuba.
First Greene said he hadn't been to Cuba in five years, then he said it was a Jewish humanitarian trip, and then he said he went because the yacht needed repairs.
On Tuesday, the Greene campaign released a statement from the yacht's chief engineer, Andy Valero, saying Greene and his fiancee were on the way to a diving vacation in Honduras when hydraulic problems prompted them to veer off to Havana to make repairs.
"With the current rough sea state and winds, Marina Hemingway was the best bet. All the guests were very sick," Valero said in the statement.
Visiting or doing business with Cuba can be illegal and Meek scoffed at Greene's explanation.
"Whichever way Jeff Greene packages his visit to Cuba, it was illegal,'' Meek told reporters, as the "Real Dem Express" motor coach left a facility in Sanford that turns wastewater sludge into energy.
Meek gave a blistering assessment of Greene, saying he could never endorse him in the general election because he lacks the character to serve in the Senate and would be an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and the state.
"He's a very, very — in my opinion — bad person and he has stomped on people and shouted people down his entire life, and all of that is going to come home to roost," Meek said, noting among other things, Greene's close friendship with convicted rapist Mike Tyson and Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
The Greene campaign responded in a statement: "Kendrick Meek is not only already an embarrassment to Florida but should apologize for lying to Floridians in his ad using Mr. Warren Buffett's image and purposely misusing a quote for personal political gain."
It was a reference to a Meek ad criticizing Greene for making hundreds of millions of dollars on complex financial instruments that financier Buffett had criticized. But Buffett was not referring to anything Greene did personally, only to the type of investment involved.
While Greene only announced his candidacy in late April, Meek has been traveling to at least 50 Florida counties since January, 2009, and spent months gathering signatures in every corner of the state to qualify for the ballot by petition. In an off-year primary likely to have low turnout, that grass-roots effort and his own track record in Florida will make a difference, he predicts.
"I don't think there are many Florida voters saying, 'I need to make sure I get to the polls to vote for Jeff Greene.'?"Meek said.
Indeed, while Meek remains little known to most Floridians, he found plenty of enthusiastic supporters Wednesday in Orlando, Sanford, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. They recounted him leading the fight to require smaller class sizes, sitting in Gov. Jeb Bush's office to protest sweeping changes to Florida' affirmative action admissions and purchasing policies, and supporting Democratic candidates up and down the ticket.
"If Kendrick Meek is beaten by Jeff Greene in the primary, I will definitely vote for Charlie Crist in the general election, no question," said Gary Morgensen, an Osceola County teacher holding an "I support the real Democrat" placard.
Last modified: Aug 05, 2010 03:00 PM]
----------
Personally, I'd be extremely surprised if Greene's media team doesn't already have a variety of pre-taped ads and already-produced campaign lit that's just the right combination of positive and reassuring, just waiting for the signal to drop it on Meek's exploding head, like poor ol' Wile E. Coyote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz65AOjabtM
My sense of things is that compared to what he needed to have in place, Meek's media is very mediocre and seems designed not to persuade voters so much as to reassure people outside of South Florida.
The two-fold problem for Meek is that he's not a very articulate candidate who can stir voters
to turn out in droves for him if he's an underdog with just one powerful speech.He never had to persuade voters before to get elected, he just had to not shoot himself-in-the-foot.
That's part of why Greene's decision to run for Senate was so brilliant, even though as I've stated previously, I'd have preferred seeing him run for governor, where he and Rick Scott could've actually had some interesting debates about ideas instead of re-fighting the same old wars, as will happen with stultifying Alex Sink now, to everyone's dismay.
Greene and Co. knew going in that Meek as a brand was still un-tested outside of Miami-Dade County since he has NEVER had to come from behind to win a race, since he's always been not just the presumptive nominee, but the presumptive elected.
That's the rub for his always having been in a gerrymandered congressional district rather than a competitive one: he never had to exercise his campaign muscles.
And now it's showing.
Meek is heading for a big fall.
So what do you think Meek's next job will be after his term expires?
I've gotten a few emails from you readers, but to be honest, not nearly as many as I expected.
Send your predictions to hallandalebeachblog-at-gmail.com
New York Times
Florida Starts Primary Vote Marathon
By Damien Cave
August 9, 2010
MIAMI — Nasty television ads and e-mail, campaign workers on street corners, and candidates emerging from the polls declaring imminent victory — is the Florida primary already here?
Not quite, though one can hardly be blamed for making such a mistake. Early voting started Monday across Florida with all the get-out-the-vote stunts once reserved for Election Day itself. In a state famous for electoral skepticism (no, the wounds of 2000 have not healed here), early voting has gone from feared to embraced.
Indeed, the Aug. 24 primary will simply add a final sprint to what experts now describe as an established marathon. And for a nonpresidential year, the stakes are high. Early voting is likely to decide two major Florida races: which Republican runs for governor, and which Democrat takes on Gov. Charlie Crist, the former Republican, and Marco Rubio, the actual Republican, for a seat in the United States Senate.
Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/us/politics/10florida.html
See also: Adam C. Smith articles/columns/blog posts:
http://www.tampabay.com/writers/adam-c-smith
The St. Petersburg Times excellent politics blog. The Buzz
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/
That's exactly how I'd play it, too if I had Greene's resources and the lead in the polls.
It's also clear to me that based on Team Greene's smart media buys and frequency thus far, as well as the variety of their very attractive and well-produced direct mail -which seems to come into my mailbox every other day- they've known for a while that Meek's creative team simply isn't capable of turning-on-a-dime and producing and placing the high-quality materials the way that Team Greene can.
The first time my mailbox had Kendrick Meek campaign lit in it, last Thursday, was the same day that the St. Petersburg Times political editor Adam C. Smith wrote this killing with kindness article that featured this in the fifth paragraph:"Meek, who has been campaigning harder and longer than any other statewide candidate this cycle, grasps the dire position he's in: Three weeks before the primary, he trails by double digits to a last-minute rival with a bottomless campaign account. "
Later, in the first sentence of the 21st paragraph, Smith begins:"Indeed, while Meek remains little known to most Floridians..."
Now can you see what I mean?
St. Petersburg Times
Trailing in polls, Kendrick Meek chases a U.S. Senate victory in a bus tour of Florida
By Adam Smith, Times Political Editor,
In Print: Thursday, August 5, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH — Kendrick Meek likens his U. S. Senate primary to David against Goliath, but the Democratic underdog wields a weapon that covers more ground than a slingshot: a four-wheel motor coach with his smiling face plastered across the side.
On Wednesday Meek kicked off an 11-day, statewide bus tour aimed at picking up grass-roots momentum against the candidacy of billionaire real estate mogul Jeff Greene.
"The old-school kind of politics — when Bob Graham had his work days and Lawton Chiles walked this state — I think it still means something in this state," a fiery Meek told about 100 people at a Daytona Beach teachers union building.
"Democrats in Florida will give this nation the first example of what hard work means and what it means to run a grass-roots campaign against billionaires who have a shrimp in one hand and a checkbook in the other saying, 'How much does it cost to become a United States senator or governor in this state?,'?'' he said.
Meek, who has been campaigning harder and longer than any other statewide candidate this cycle, grasps the dire position he's in: Three weeks before the primary, he trails by double digits to a last-minute rival with a bottomless campaign account.
But sounding both upbeat and energized, the 43-year-old Miami congressman argued that the momentum is starting to turn back toward him, and that his deep roots among the most loyal Democrats across the state will compensate for Greene's nearly $10-million in TV ad spending.
Greene couldn't pull off a bus tour like his, Meek said. "Who's going to show up? Because his whole campaign is about campaign ads and not about real people."
Meek's campaign received a gift this week after Greene had to keep answering questions — and revising his explanation — about him taking his 145-foot yacht to Cuba in 2007, after a former deck hand told the St. Petersburg Times about guests partying and getting sick on the trip to Cuba.
First Greene said he hadn't been to Cuba in five years, then he said it was a Jewish humanitarian trip, and then he said he went because the yacht needed repairs.
On Tuesday, the Greene campaign released a statement from the yacht's chief engineer, Andy Valero, saying Greene and his fiancee were on the way to a diving vacation in Honduras when hydraulic problems prompted them to veer off to Havana to make repairs.
"With the current rough sea state and winds, Marina Hemingway was the best bet. All the guests were very sick," Valero said in the statement.
Visiting or doing business with Cuba can be illegal and Meek scoffed at Greene's explanation.
"Whichever way Jeff Greene packages his visit to Cuba, it was illegal,'' Meek told reporters, as the "Real Dem Express" motor coach left a facility in Sanford that turns wastewater sludge into energy.
Meek gave a blistering assessment of Greene, saying he could never endorse him in the general election because he lacks the character to serve in the Senate and would be an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and the state.
"He's a very, very — in my opinion — bad person and he has stomped on people and shouted people down his entire life, and all of that is going to come home to roost," Meek said, noting among other things, Greene's close friendship with convicted rapist Mike Tyson and Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
The Greene campaign responded in a statement: "Kendrick Meek is not only already an embarrassment to Florida but should apologize for lying to Floridians in his ad using Mr. Warren Buffett's image and purposely misusing a quote for personal political gain."
It was a reference to a Meek ad criticizing Greene for making hundreds of millions of dollars on complex financial instruments that financier Buffett had criticized. But Buffett was not referring to anything Greene did personally, only to the type of investment involved.
While Greene only announced his candidacy in late April, Meek has been traveling to at least 50 Florida counties since January, 2009, and spent months gathering signatures in every corner of the state to qualify for the ballot by petition. In an off-year primary likely to have low turnout, that grass-roots effort and his own track record in Florida will make a difference, he predicts.
"I don't think there are many Florida voters saying, 'I need to make sure I get to the polls to vote for Jeff Greene.'?"Meek said.
Indeed, while Meek remains little known to most Floridians, he found plenty of enthusiastic supporters Wednesday in Orlando, Sanford, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. They recounted him leading the fight to require smaller class sizes, sitting in Gov. Jeb Bush's office to protest sweeping changes to Florida' affirmative action admissions and purchasing policies, and supporting Democratic candidates up and down the ticket.
"If Kendrick Meek is beaten by Jeff Greene in the primary, I will definitely vote for Charlie Crist in the general election, no question," said Gary Morgensen, an Osceola County teacher holding an "I support the real Democrat" placard.
Last modified: Aug 05, 2010 03:00 PM]
----------
Personally, I'd be extremely surprised if Greene's media team doesn't already have a variety of pre-taped ads and already-produced campaign lit that's just the right combination of positive and reassuring, just waiting for the signal to drop it on Meek's exploding head, like poor ol' Wile E. Coyote.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz65AOjabtM
My sense of things is that compared to what he needed to have in place, Meek's media is very mediocre and seems designed not to persuade voters so much as to reassure people outside of South Florida.
The two-fold problem for Meek is that he's not a very articulate candidate who can stir voters
to turn out in droves for him if he's an underdog with just one powerful speech.He never had to persuade voters before to get elected, he just had to not shoot himself-in-the-foot.
That's part of why Greene's decision to run for Senate was so brilliant, even though as I've stated previously, I'd have preferred seeing him run for governor, where he and Rick Scott could've actually had some interesting debates about ideas instead of re-fighting the same old wars, as will happen with stultifying Alex Sink now, to everyone's dismay.
Greene and Co. knew going in that Meek as a brand was still un-tested outside of Miami-Dade County since he has NEVER had to come from behind to win a race, since he's always been not just the presumptive nominee, but the presumptive elected.
That's the rub for his always having been in a gerrymandered congressional district rather than a competitive one: he never had to exercise his campaign muscles.
And now it's showing.
Meek is heading for a big fall.
So what do you think Meek's next job will be after his term expires?
I've gotten a few emails from you readers, but to be honest, not nearly as many as I expected.
Send your predictions to hallandalebeachblog-at-gmail.com
New York Times
Florida Starts Primary Vote Marathon
By Damien Cave
August 9, 2010
MIAMI — Nasty television ads and e-mail, campaign workers on street corners, and candidates emerging from the polls declaring imminent victory — is the Florida primary already here?
Not quite, though one can hardly be blamed for making such a mistake. Early voting started Monday across Florida with all the get-out-the-vote stunts once reserved for Election Day itself. In a state famous for electoral skepticism (no, the wounds of 2000 have not healed here), early voting has gone from feared to embraced.
Indeed, the Aug. 24 primary will simply add a final sprint to what experts now describe as an established marathon. And for a nonpresidential year, the stakes are high. Early voting is likely to decide two major Florida races: which Republican runs for governor, and which Democrat takes on Gov. Charlie Crist, the former Republican, and Marco Rubio, the actual Republican, for a seat in the United States Senate.
Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/us/politics/10florida.html
See also: Adam C. Smith articles/columns/blog posts:
http://www.tampabay.com/writers/adam-c-smith
The St. Petersburg Times excellent politics blog. The Buzz
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/
Sunday, July 25, 2010
With 99 days 'til Election Day, POLITICO reports that cynical Obama Nation is sending flacks to FL to help bumbling Alex Sink make hay out of BP spill
Surprise! With 99 days 'til Election Day, The POLITICO is reporting Sunday that the cynical and craven Obama White House is sending flacks and hacks to FL to help bumbling, stumbling Alex Sink and her gubernatorial campaign make political hay out of BP oil spill.
Great, I'm sure that's exactly who respected and well-read Florida reporters and columnists like Steve Bousquet, Adam Smith, William March, Aaron Deslatte, Craig Pittman, Bill Cotterell, Jeremy Wallace and Dara Kam want to hear from about the Florida political campaigns: people who don't live here and who only know what's going on based on what they see and hear on TV, newspapers and blogs.
The POLITICO
W.H. sends 2012 rescue team to Fla.
By: Carol E. Lee
July 25, 2010 07:02 AM EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The White House has quietly launched an effort to confront the political backlash along the Gulf Coast over its handling of the BP oil spill – giving special attention to Florida, the only state in the region President Barack Obama won in 2008 and one he will need again when he runs for re-election in 2012.
The White House dispatched political and communications aides to the Gulf Coast states on July 12, with Alabama and Mississippi each receiving one, sources familiar with the effort said. Some aides went to Louisiana. Florida received four. Read the rest of the article at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40184.html This article also has this delicious pot-meets-kettle quote:
Savvy but honest and well-informed Republicans I've talked to from around the state are almost as confounded -but more delighted!- by her repeated failure to launch as the Democratic activist community, who, rather foolishly, have deluded themselves into imagining that that Sink would be a strong, poised and polished can-do candidate like Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO who is running to be governor of California, and whom most of my friends in Cali are currently supporting. http://www.megwhitman.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VekQ1F9J-C8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShZEPayRDA8
And that's Meg Whitman, by the way, NOT Mae Whitman, as some news articles with bad editing have written that Mae would be a great candidate! LOL!
Mae is the very talented twenty-two year old American actress who has, literally, grown-up before our eyes in one good film or TV show after another, as the daughter of, among others, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Bill Pullman.
She's currently appearing in NBC's Parenthood, which as I've written here previously, is a TV show that started-off far too slowly for me, due to the need to establish all the character's story arcs -and there were SO many characters!
But after the first 6-8 slow-moving episodes, the show's finally picked-up some momentum and has gotten dramatically better, with some compelling story lines that seem realistic to me. Especially the tension between high school cousins, Mae's 'wild child' character Amber and 'good girl' Haddie, played by Sarah Ramos, who was so tremendous as the youngest daughter in another fave of mine that got cancelled far too soon, American Dreams.I would watch either one of them in anything because there's never a false note when they're on the screen.
That seething hurtful anger on the surface that Haddie had towards Amber at the end of the first season was SO realistic, that when they finally had to reconcile, because they were always going to be connected, it was almost awkward to watch.It deeply resonated with me from my experience of being in the middle of watching female friends get into it with other female relatives about old slights, both real and imagined.
Result: Me driving us back home to D.C. area on the Sunday after Thanksgiving at her family's home, and hours-and-hours of quiet punctuated by bouts of crying over in the passenger seat. Talk about a no-win situation.
It also helps greatly that the show also stars another longtime personal favorite, Lauren Graham, as Mae's mother. Mama Mia!
http://www.nbc.com/parenthood/bios/lauren-graham/index.shtml
Here's a short NBC video that features Lauren and Mae:
http://www.nbc.com/parenthood/bios/mae-whitman/index.shtml
See also http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926165/ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tow-ovrl2_U
Experience and the realities of the campaign have clearly proven that Sink is anything but a Meg Whitman.
If anything, she's more like a Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, but without either the royal Kennedy magic and name recognition.
Whatever else the many faults and weaknesses of GOP candidates Rick Scott and State Attorney General Bill McCollum may be, and there are plenty of self-evident ones to choose from, Alex Sink has proven that she is Not Ready for Prime Time.
Sorry, when you are governor of the fourth-largest state in the country, you have to have gravitas, and even though Charlie Crist has proven to be such a colossal disappointment and waste of a vote, doesn't mean we have to accept such a low threshold.
(Gravitas, yet another reason why I will vote enthusiastically for Marco Rubio in November, despite disagreements on some policy issues.
I know with certainty he's loyal to the Framer's intentions, smart-as-a-whip, hard-working and really sweats the details, some traits that CAN'T honestly be said for the other three candidates hoping to go to D.C. this Fall.)
And when you think about it, how could it be otherwise for Sink, when even now, with less than four months to go until November 2nd, both the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald are STILL mentioning in the first few paragraphs of their news coverage of her campaign the fact that a large portion of Florida voters not only don't know who she is, but, even more tellingly about her failure to make herself known and give a logical rationale for her candidacy, DON'T even know that she is a SHE.
Let me repeat that: DON'T even know that she is a SHE.
Yes, that's a real identity problem that even wheelbarrows of money and TV campaign ads can't undo the damage of.
Frankly, if Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene was smart, he'd have actually run for governor, as he'd have carved-up Alex Sink even more methodically and brutally than Scott or McCollum plan to do, and would have a better chance of actually improving the state for the better, especially since the Dems in Tallahassee now may be among the dumbest and least-accomplished in generations.
And not that you asked, but since I last mentioned it, I have received more emails from folks throughout the state saying that they agree with the well-founded rumor that State Rep. Joe Gibbons, who is supposed to represent me and other HB residents, as well as those from here westward in Broward County towards Miramar, actually lives in Jacksonville with his family when he is not at work in Tallahassee, NOT South Florida.
Sort of like a less geographically-challenging version of the problem Steve Geller confronts now living apart from his family in Cooper City, and hanging his lawyer/lobbyist hat in Hollywood Beach at night in order to meet the legal residency requirements of his battle against incumbent District 6 Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger.
Great, I'm sure that's exactly who respected and well-read Florida reporters and columnists like Steve Bousquet, Adam Smith, William March, Aaron Deslatte, Craig Pittman, Bill Cotterell, Jeremy Wallace and Dara Kam want to hear from about the Florida political campaigns: people who don't live here and who only know what's going on based on what they see and hear on TV, newspapers and blogs.
The POLITICO
W.H. sends 2012 rescue team to Fla.
By: Carol E. Lee
July 25, 2010 07:02 AM EDT
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The White House has quietly launched an effort to confront the political backlash along the Gulf Coast over its handling of the BP oil spill – giving special attention to Florida, the only state in the region President Barack Obama won in 2008 and one he will need again when he runs for re-election in 2012.
The White House dispatched political and communications aides to the Gulf Coast states on July 12, with Alabama and Mississippi each receiving one, sources familiar with the effort said. Some aides went to Louisiana. Florida received four. Read the rest of the article at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40184.html This article also has this delicious pot-meets-kettle quote:
“It was just so off-target and out of touch with the reality of what’s going on over there,” Sink said in an interview at the Florida Democratic Party headquarters in Tallahassee.Actually, being off-target and out-of-touch is the common talking point among Florida voters, Democratic and Republican, in describing Alex Sink's dismal gubernatorial campaign to date.
Savvy but honest and well-informed Republicans I've talked to from around the state are almost as confounded -but more delighted!- by her repeated failure to launch as the Democratic activist community, who, rather foolishly, have deluded themselves into imagining that that Sink would be a strong, poised and polished can-do candidate like Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO who is running to be governor of California, and whom most of my friends in Cali are currently supporting. http://www.megwhitman.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VekQ1F9J-C8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShZEPayRDA8
And that's Meg Whitman, by the way, NOT Mae Whitman, as some news articles with bad editing have written that Mae would be a great candidate! LOL!
Mae is the very talented twenty-two year old American actress who has, literally, grown-up before our eyes in one good film or TV show after another, as the daughter of, among others, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Bill Pullman.
She's currently appearing in NBC's Parenthood, which as I've written here previously, is a TV show that started-off far too slowly for me, due to the need to establish all the character's story arcs -and there were SO many characters!
But after the first 6-8 slow-moving episodes, the show's finally picked-up some momentum and has gotten dramatically better, with some compelling story lines that seem realistic to me. Especially the tension between high school cousins, Mae's 'wild child' character Amber and 'good girl' Haddie, played by Sarah Ramos, who was so tremendous as the youngest daughter in another fave of mine that got cancelled far too soon, American Dreams.I would watch either one of them in anything because there's never a false note when they're on the screen.
That seething hurtful anger on the surface that Haddie had towards Amber at the end of the first season was SO realistic, that when they finally had to reconcile, because they were always going to be connected, it was almost awkward to watch.It deeply resonated with me from my experience of being in the middle of watching female friends get into it with other female relatives about old slights, both real and imagined.
Result: Me driving us back home to D.C. area on the Sunday after Thanksgiving at her family's home, and hours-and-hours of quiet punctuated by bouts of crying over in the passenger seat. Talk about a no-win situation.
It also helps greatly that the show also stars another longtime personal favorite, Lauren Graham, as Mae's mother. Mama Mia!
http://www.nbc.com/parenthood/bios/lauren-graham/index.shtml
Here's a short NBC video that features Lauren and Mae:
http://www.nbc.com/parenthood/bios/mae-whitman/index.shtml
See also http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926165/ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tow-ovrl2_U
Experience and the realities of the campaign have clearly proven that Sink is anything but a Meg Whitman.
If anything, she's more like a Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, but without either the royal Kennedy magic and name recognition.
Whatever else the many faults and weaknesses of GOP candidates Rick Scott and State Attorney General Bill McCollum may be, and there are plenty of self-evident ones to choose from, Alex Sink has proven that she is Not Ready for Prime Time.
Sorry, when you are governor of the fourth-largest state in the country, you have to have gravitas, and even though Charlie Crist has proven to be such a colossal disappointment and waste of a vote, doesn't mean we have to accept such a low threshold.
(Gravitas, yet another reason why I will vote enthusiastically for Marco Rubio in November, despite disagreements on some policy issues.
I know with certainty he's loyal to the Framer's intentions, smart-as-a-whip, hard-working and really sweats the details, some traits that CAN'T honestly be said for the other three candidates hoping to go to D.C. this Fall.)
And when you think about it, how could it be otherwise for Sink, when even now, with less than four months to go until November 2nd, both the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald are STILL mentioning in the first few paragraphs of their news coverage of her campaign the fact that a large portion of Florida voters not only don't know who she is, but, even more tellingly about her failure to make herself known and give a logical rationale for her candidacy, DON'T even know that she is a SHE.
Let me repeat that: DON'T even know that she is a SHE.
Yes, that's a real identity problem that even wheelbarrows of money and TV campaign ads can't undo the damage of.
Frankly, if Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene was smart, he'd have actually run for governor, as he'd have carved-up Alex Sink even more methodically and brutally than Scott or McCollum plan to do, and would have a better chance of actually improving the state for the better, especially since the Dems in Tallahassee now may be among the dumbest and least-accomplished in generations.
And not that you asked, but since I last mentioned it, I have received more emails from folks throughout the state saying that they agree with the well-founded rumor that State Rep. Joe Gibbons, who is supposed to represent me and other HB residents, as well as those from here westward in Broward County towards Miramar, actually lives in Jacksonville with his family when he is not at work in Tallahassee, NOT South Florida.
Sort of like a less geographically-challenging version of the problem Steve Geller confronts now living apart from his family in Cooper City, and hanging his lawyer/lobbyist hat in Hollywood Beach at night in order to meet the legal residency requirements of his battle against incumbent District 6 Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
FL Senate Race: Marco Rubio on Fox & Friends, CNN's "The Situation Room"; WSJ articles on Rubio vs. Crist; Rubio video: "Ideas To Reclaim America"
Much to the consternation of the MSM, the "Anybody but Marco" campaign is not working despite the summer swelter and Charlie Crist 24/7 TV. Very soon we'll ponder in this space what Kendrick Meek's next job will be based on his experience as an inherited rubber stamp.
I invite suggestions to this space.
Marco Rubio 37%
Charlie Crist 33%
Jeff Greene 18%
500 Likely Voters, MOE +/- 4.5%
Wall Street Journal
Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil Senate Push Gains as Florida Governor Sets Himself Off Against State's GOP, With Some Firepower From Obama Camp
By Peter Wallsten
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—Florida's Republican-led legislature will gather Tuesday on the order of Gov. Charlie Crist—and then is expected to quickly refuse his call for a state-constitution ban on offshore oil drilling in Florida waters.
While no real legislative action seems likely to come of the special session, the showdown has become a signal event in Mr. Crist's campaign for the U.S. Senate and in his transformation from a rising Republican star to a political free agent.
Read the rest of the article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704229004575371810495691530.html
-----
Wall Street Journal
Washington Wire blog
Fla. Senate Race: Intrigue on the Democratic Side
By Peter Wallsten
July 20, 2010, 7:00 AM ET
Among the many intriguing aspects to the Florida Senate race is the drama unfolding on the Democratic side. Polls show a dead heat between the party’s establishment favorite, four-term Congressman Kendrick Meek of Miami, and political neophyte Jeff Greene, a billionaire former derivatives trader.
There are competing schools of thought within the party about what result to hope for from the Aug. 24 primary, and what the result might mean for the general election.
Read the rest of the post here: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/07/20/fla-senate-race-intrigue-on-the-democratic-side/
-----
Marco Rubio on 7/20/10 "The Situation Room" on CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7YRpFkypSk
-----
Rubio campaign web site: http://www.marcorubio.com/
I invite suggestions to this space.
Rasmussen Reports
Poll of Likely Voters, Florida Senate Race, July 6, 2010
Marco Rubio 37%
Charlie Crist 33%
Jeff Greene 18%
500 Likely Voters, MOE +/- 4.5%
Marco Rubio on 7/21/10 Fox and Friends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ojR45bbMoWall Street Journal
Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil Senate Push Gains as Florida Governor Sets Himself Off Against State's GOP, With Some Firepower From Obama Camp
By Peter Wallsten
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—Florida's Republican-led legislature will gather Tuesday on the order of Gov. Charlie Crist—and then is expected to quickly refuse his call for a state-constitution ban on offshore oil drilling in Florida waters.
While no real legislative action seems likely to come of the special session, the showdown has become a signal event in Mr. Crist's campaign for the U.S. Senate and in his transformation from a rising Republican star to a political free agent.
Read the rest of the article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704229004575371810495691530.html
-----
Wall Street Journal
Washington Wire blog
Fla. Senate Race: Intrigue on the Democratic Side
By Peter Wallsten
July 20, 2010, 7:00 AM ET
Among the many intriguing aspects to the Florida Senate race is the drama unfolding on the Democratic side. Polls show a dead heat between the party’s establishment favorite, four-term Congressman Kendrick Meek of Miami, and political neophyte Jeff Greene, a billionaire former derivatives trader.
There are competing schools of thought within the party about what result to hope for from the Aug. 24 primary, and what the result might mean for the general election.
Read the rest of the post here: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/07/20/fla-senate-race-intrigue-on-the-democratic-side/
-----
Marco Rubio on 7/20/10 "The Situation Room" on CNN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7YRpFkypSk
-----
Rubio Launches "Ideas To Reclaim America"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAh0R-HlXlERubio campaign web site: http://www.marcorubio.com/
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Ex-Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer's corruption trial looks to be the hurricane that Charlie Crist didn't anticipate -and Greer's going to sing!
Let the games begin!
When it comes out that Governor Crist was not only NOT the paragon of ethics and rectitude he styles himself as publicly, and was, in fact, as oblivious to the nefarious machinations of Greer & Co. at the RPOF -or did he just look the other way?- as he was with so many matters of state and public policy that he SHOULD'VE been paying attention to, the simple question will be, was Governor Crist oblivious or careless?
It's one of the other, but can't be neither.
For those of you who have been coming to this blog for a while or who have spoken to me over the past few years at one public policy gathering or another, you know that I'm not saying anything new here when I observe that I and many other Floridians are still greatly troubled by the fact that someone who has done such a remarkably crummy job as governor, someone whom I voted for 4 years ago, to my regret, would have the gall to want a promotion, rather than try to actually get some badly needed things done before it's too late.
Based on what I have observed in terms of how vast the differences are between what Crist ran on doing four years ago and what he's done -or in many cases, HASN'T DONE- for the future opf this state, the best place for Charlie Crist after his term ends is his wife's mansion in New York, the same place he'd be spending so much time at if he got elected to the U.S. Senate anyway.
After all, isn't that what he promised his wife when he convinced her to let him run for Senate? More time in NY with her and her family and not stuck in hot and humid Florida?
------
Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse politics blog
Greer lawyer: We’ll make people talk
Uncategorized — posted by Aaron Deslatte on July, 6 2010 4:54 AM
By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
A criminal defense attorney for former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer on Monday promised to make defense witnesses of some of the most powerful people in Florida politics – Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and state Republican chief John Thrasher.com/news_politics/2010/07/greer-lawyer-well-make-people-talk.html
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/
Based on what I've read this afternoon in this post from the always-reliable Central Florida Political Pulse politics blog, ex-Florida GOP (RPOF) chairman Jim Greer's trial looks to be the hurricane that Charlie Crist didn't anticipate and the one that will cause him the most damage this summer.
What did the Governor and when did he know it? When it comes out that Governor Crist was not only NOT the paragon of ethics and rectitude he styles himself as publicly, and was, in fact, as oblivious to the nefarious machinations of Greer & Co. at the RPOF -or did he just look the other way?- as he was with so many matters of state and public policy that he SHOULD'VE been paying attention to, the simple question will be, was Governor Crist oblivious or careless?
It's one of the other, but can't be neither.
For those of you who have been coming to this blog for a while or who have spoken to me over the past few years at one public policy gathering or another, you know that I'm not saying anything new here when I observe that I and many other Floridians are still greatly troubled by the fact that someone who has done such a remarkably crummy job as governor, someone whom I voted for 4 years ago, to my regret, would have the gall to want a promotion, rather than try to actually get some badly needed things done before it's too late.
Based on what I have observed in terms of how vast the differences are between what Crist ran on doing four years ago and what he's done -or in many cases, HASN'T DONE- for the future opf this state, the best place for Charlie Crist after his term ends is his wife's mansion in New York, the same place he'd be spending so much time at if he got elected to the U.S. Senate anyway.
After all, isn't that what he promised his wife when he convinced her to let him run for Senate? More time in NY with her and her family and not stuck in hot and humid Florida?
------
Orlando Sentinel
Central Florida Political Pulse politics blog
Greer lawyer: We’ll make people talk
Uncategorized — posted by Aaron Deslatte on July, 6 2010 4:54 AM
By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
A criminal defense attorney for former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer on Monday promised to make defense witnesses of some of the most powerful people in Florida politics – Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and state Republican chief John Thrasher.
That’s one long-time ally – Crist – and two enemies.
J. Cheney Mason also said he’ll depose two other GOP power brokers who have become Greer adversaries – prospective Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, of Winter Park, and soon-to-be Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, of Merritt Island.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sayfie Review's Power Play of May 14, 2010: Will there be a special session on oil drilling? Will Charlie Crist's lead in U.S. Senate race last?
Sayfie Review's Power Play of May 14, 2010 with Alia Faraj-Johnson.
Guests: Orlando Sentinel's Aaron Deslatte and Gannett's Political Editor Paul Flemming.
Will there be a special session on oil drilling? Will Crist's lead in U.S. Senate race last?
Flemming notes that for Crist to lead the three-way race for U.S. Senate with Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek, Crist must hold 40% of all Democrats currently supporting him, something that's unlikely in the Fall once Meek starts advertising and Obama starts coming down regularly for campaign and fundraising events.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjkVAICoeAU
See also: http://www.sayfiereview.com/
Guests: Orlando Sentinel's Aaron Deslatte and Gannett's Political Editor Paul Flemming.
Will there be a special session on oil drilling? Will Crist's lead in U.S. Senate race last?
Flemming notes that for Crist to lead the three-way race for U.S. Senate with Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek, Crist must hold 40% of all Democrats currently supporting him, something that's unlikely in the Fall once Meek starts advertising and Obama starts coming down regularly for campaign and fundraising events.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjkVAICoeAU
See also: http://www.sayfiereview.com/
Friday, May 14, 2010
Charlie Crist's sister, Margaret Wood, will run his independent U.S. Senate campaign
Hmm-m-m... Margaret Wood? Can't honestly say that I've ever heard of her but... I was anything but in news junkie mode yesterday, since I was busy all day due to my nephew Mario graduating from the University of Miami down in Coral Gables, with the afternoon ceremony at the on-campus Bank United Center, which is where the basketball Hurricanes play.
Fortunately for all involved, the building's A/C was blasting on a day that was nice and sunny for photographs afterwards, but also very hot and humid, especially for those of us wearing suits in cars packed with relatives and breaking in some new dress shoes.
Because of the terrific party my sister threw for Mario at her new home in Pembroke Pines for family and friends, I didn't see a single TV news broadcast all day, the first time that's happened in many years when I wasn't traveling. (It was actually disorienting to be honest.)
So when I read this afternoon at the Washington Post's 44 blog, subtitled, Politics and Policy in Obama's Washington, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/ that Florida governor Charlie Crist is entrusting his political future to his sister, Margaret Wood, I must admit, I was a bit dumbstruck.
But then I wondered if I was simply the last person to hear about this.
I used to have the widget for the 44 blog on my blog but it often had technical problems, so I had to toss it overboard, just as I did the Ben Smith blog widget from POLITICO for similar reasons.
But when I read in the post that the news came out of an interview Crist did with the St. Pete Times Editorial Board, I knew that ace political reporter Adam Smith -no relation- would likely be all over the story, and, of course, he was, in their great politics blog, The Buzz, which I've long been a regular reader of.
44 blog of the Washington Post
Crist says his sister will manage his Senate campaign
by Felicia Sonmez
Posted by Adam Smith at 05:06:37 PM on May 13, 2010 http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/05/charlie-crist-hires-a-campaign-manager.html
Fortunately for all involved, the building's A/C was blasting on a day that was nice and sunny for photographs afterwards, but also very hot and humid, especially for those of us wearing suits in cars packed with relatives and breaking in some new dress shoes.
Because of the terrific party my sister threw for Mario at her new home in Pembroke Pines for family and friends, I didn't see a single TV news broadcast all day, the first time that's happened in many years when I wasn't traveling. (It was actually disorienting to be honest.)
So when I read this afternoon at the Washington Post's 44 blog, subtitled, Politics and Policy in Obama's Washington, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/ that Florida governor Charlie Crist is entrusting his political future to his sister, Margaret Wood, I must admit, I was a bit dumbstruck.
But then I wondered if I was simply the last person to hear about this.
I used to have the widget for the 44 blog on my blog but it often had technical problems, so I had to toss it overboard, just as I did the Ben Smith blog widget from POLITICO for similar reasons.
But when I read in the post that the news came out of an interview Crist did with the St. Pete Times Editorial Board, I knew that ace political reporter Adam Smith -no relation- would likely be all over the story, and, of course, he was, in their great politics blog, The Buzz, which I've long been a regular reader of.
44 blog of the Washington Post
Crist says his sister will manage his Senate campaign
by Felicia Sonmez
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/05/crist-says-his-sister-will-man.html
The Buzz politics blog of the St. Petersburg Times
Charlie Crist hires a campaign managerThe Buzz politics blog of the St. Petersburg Times
Posted by Adam Smith at 05:06:37 PM on May 13, 2010 http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/05/charlie-crist-hires-a-campaign-manager.html
Monday, April 19, 2010
Broward School Board prepares for their TV close-up tonight; Does Bob Parks have a good side?; Wither CBS4 News?
Above, the Broward County School Board paid ad thatran in last weekend's Herald but which did NOT appear
on the Herald's website online ad directory, just like
the ad for last Monday night's meeting at Deerfield Beach
Middle School on school security never appeared, hence
my reliance on this so-so snapshot I took.
I've been sitting on this for an entire week now, waiting
to see something -anything- in the Herald or Sun-
Sentinel about the meeting Monday night, but since
they don't seem inclined on mentioning it, here's the deal.
The Broward School Board is going to finally do what they
should've done last year upon the creation of the so-called
Integrity ethics committee, their feeble attempt to allay
the very real and legitimate fears and concerns of Broward
taxpayers and parents that the whole school system is
in free-fall -which has proven to largely be an
insulting PR fiasco of an effort if you ask me;
have you seen their laughably bad website at
http://browardschoolsintegrity.org/?-
and take my oft-given free advice here over the past
few months.
They are going to air the problems on the School Board
TV station that taxpayers have already paid for, BECON,
starting tonight.
That Integrity website hasn't added anything in ages
and is a perfect example of the mess that rests with
James Notter & Company: the perfect marriage
of myopia and incompetency.
See also:
Back To The Future At The School Board: Parks Wants Marko To Stay
By Buddy Nevins
http://www.browardbeat.com/back-to-the-future-at-the-school-board-parks-wants-marko-to-stay/
And pay attention to what Karnack says in their reader
comment!
Speaking of using TV to illuminate the inner workings
of dysfunctional and ineffectual government that squanders
millions, despite the fact that many Miami TV stations
used the LIVE feed of The Florida Channel
http://www.wfsu.org/tfc/ to show Gov. Charlie Crist's
veto of S.B. 6 this past week, have you ever seen any of
them actually air a single story on efforts in Tallahassee
to cut their funding and make it harder for the public to
keep an eye on things up there?
Didn't think so.
Neither have I.
That's how it goes in Miami these days with the present
cast of media characters, excepting the 'exceptional few.'
They leave all the heavy-lifting to others and then swoop in
afterwards to do the all-too-predictable human interest
angle stories we've all seen a million times before.
It explains so much of what goes on in South Florida, and
why people here are so thoroughly dis-satisfied with current
news media coverage of local, regional and state news, both
print and electronic.
And as I've mentioned a time or two here, that includes
WIOD Radio, too, which is lazy in the extreme and seems
dead-set on reporting old news all day, word-for-word,
from 10 a.m. -6 p.m., despite what new updates I've heard
and seen elsewhere.
It's like they are stuck in a worm-hole, destined to repeat
themselves over-and-over, constantly getting it wrong.
But they don't have Captain Picard or Data to figure
a way out of their dilemma, so the pattern continues,
day-after-day.
The lack of a rhyme or reason to local media is the very
rhyme itself.
Speaking of a bad sense of foreboding about the future
of local news coverage, guess who NEVER mentioned
during their 11 p.m. newscast, the day of Crist's veto,
that President Obama was at Cape Kennedy making
an extremely important speech on NASA's future,
before coming to Miami and spending time Estefans?
I ask because all their Obama coverage was on his trip
here, not his controversial policy pronouncements.
Well, to answer my own question, it was CBS4 News.
They didn't mention it once.
I taped their newscast and double-checked the next morning.
Nope, they didn't.
I'll have more to say about Channel 4 News in a day or two.
-----------
FloridaThinks.com
Budget Cuts Limit TV Eye on Legislature, Mission to Inform
Posted on April 18, 2010, 11:01 pm.
By John Kennedy, Associate Editor
Amid a legislative session marked by leaders touting transparency, the Florida Channel, the eyes and ears on Tallahassee for many Floridians, is on the chopping block — again. The broadcasting service, which covers everything from gavel-to-gavel floor sessions to obscure committee hearings, faces as much as a 10 percent cut in its almost $3 million budget – the third straight year of reductions that have already eliminated one-quarter of its staff.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://floridathinks.com/florida-issues/florida-issues/budget-cuts-limit-tv-eye-on-legislature-mission-to-inform/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FloridaThinks+%28FloridaThinks%3A+The+Forum+for+Civil+Debate%29
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Steve Bousquet and Josh Hafenbrack on Sayfie Review's Power Play re Charlie Crist veto of S.B. 6 and how it changes dynamic of U.S. Senate race in FL
Sayfie Review's Power Play, April 16, 2010.
Guests: Steve Bousquet of the St. Petersburg Times and Josh Hafenbrack of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
These are two of my favorite political reporters in Florida because they both understand and explain clearly the policy and process side of government.
And are straight-shooters.
Plus, Steve still remembers the names, events and personalities of what South Florida politics and government were like in the 1970's and '80's.
Just like me.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sayfiereview
Guests: Steve Bousquet of the St. Petersburg Times and Josh Hafenbrack of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
These are two of my favorite political reporters in Florida because they both understand and explain clearly the policy and process side of government.
And are straight-shooters.
Plus, Steve still remembers the names, events and personalities of what South Florida politics and government were like in the 1970's and '80's.
Just like me.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sayfiereview
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
New York Times does their condescending ethnic drive-by "gotcha' thing in Crist-Rubio FL Senate race
re 3/30 NYT's Caucus blog: Crist Backer Uses Ethnic Terms About Rubio
New York State is the home of the most ethnically-divisivepolitics in the country.
Candidates with not much to offer are continually
elected principally because there are large number
of voters there whose first qualification for someone
being elected to office is often that they are Black
or Hispanic or Jewish or Italian or Puerto Rican.
That's their choice. Period.
And we didn't sleepwalk thru the '80 and '90's like
certain of the Times reporters seem to have,
who seem to forget that Jews in the United States
were killed because they were Jews, in the wrong
place at the wrong time, not in Florida, Idaho,
Alabama or Arkansas, but in New York.
Multiple times.
I lived in the Chicago area in the mid-80's, when
Harold Washington was the first Black mayor
of Chicago, thanks in part to people I knew.
It was far-and-away the single-most racially-polarized
city in the United States, and the Chicago-area
news media, especially the TV Network O&O's,
were constantly looking for examples of New York
not quite being God's Little Acre, as if that,
somehow, would make what was happening in
Chicago less worse.
But in their online blogs New York Times reporters
are always conveniently forgetting this well-known
fact about New York, and are always looking to
play "gotcha" somewhere else with some remark
uttered by someone in a campaign that 99.99%
of the population have never heard of.
Again, as if that somehow would make what was
happening in New York less worse.
Sorry, but walking-up to uninformed voters and
saying, in essence, 'X just said this about your
candidate. What do you think?,' is NOT reporting.
But it is why why when Rush Limbaugh uses the
term drive-by media as a pejorative, he's 100% right
so often.
Worse, the New York Times writing this will now
give the reporters and columnists at the Miami Herald
and other Florida newspapers the excuse they need
to once again write about this rather than issues
-as if the majority of them really wanted to write
about issues instead of personalities, polls and
pithy anecdotes.
Actually, I was being sarcastic in that last sentence.
The vast majority of reporters anywhere have
never needed an excuse not to write about what
most citizens want to hear, as opposed to the
horse race aspect of a campaign they enjoy,
In case you forgot the facts, though,
here's a helpful reminder:
Number of Hispanic and Black governors and
U.S. Senators elected by voters where the
New York Times has their HQ: zero.
Dozens of states had elected a female U.S.
Senator before New York elected their first,
Hillary Clinton in 2000
Number of Women elected governor by voters
where the New York Times has their HQ: zero
Alabama had a female governor in the '60's,
Kentucky in the '80's.
Number of women elected mayor of New York
City by voters where the New York Times has
their HQ: zero.
Dear New York Times reporters: You might
want to work on that troubling ethnic and female
candidate aversion situation closer to home, dudes,
and while you're at it, your state legislature is
STILL THE most corrupt in the nation.
Why does The New York Times continue to have
so little practical effect on the state legislature
located closest to them?
Now THAT sounds like a story worth exploring.
Albany almost makes Tallahassee look clean.
Dear New York Times, you're welcome.
No charge for the consult.
------------------
New York Times The Caucus
The Politics and Government Blog of The Times
Crist Backer Uses Ethnic Terms About Rubio
By Damien Cave
http://thecaucus.blogs.
See also:
http://www.observer.com/politics
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