Showing posts with label FL-23. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FL-23. Show all posts

Saturday, April 6, 2013

More tangible proof of how reluctant the news media in South Florida is to directly challenge Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and report negative news stories about her, even when there's lots of facts to back it up, including court documents. And, how desperate DWS was to have a new FL-23 that was loaded with as many Jewish voters as possible, regardless of what Broward voters actually wanted: Fair Districts

More tangible proof of how reluctant the news media in South Florida is to directly challenge Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and report negative news stories about her, even when there's lots of facts to back it up, including court documents.
Romo v. Scott court documents prove that my friends and I live in one of “the most gerrymandered congressional districts” in the U.S., FL-23, in large part because Rep.  Debbie Wasserman-Schultz laughs privately at the high-minded rhetoric of and expressed angst of Fair Districts proponents, as well as the Florida League of Women Voters, Common Cause Florida and La Raza.

She's just smart enough not to laugh at them publicly where she can be caught on camera engaging in her hypocrisy.

Despite all the proof in the world that the South Florida news media is ignoring this court case up in Tallahassee, the actual facts of this case prove rather conclusively, as I have argued and previously written here over the past few years, that regardless of the sentiment of voters, DWS wanted an un-competitive and unfair Congressional District drawn up that was loaded with as many Jewish voters as possible.

For more on that, see my November 22, 2011 blog post titled, No Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps HB & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to DWS; told ya!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/no-fair-districts-here-surprise-naacps.html

She wanted that even if that meant intentionally dividing counties, towns or precincts rather than keeping them intact, as FairDistrictsFlorida.org and Good Govt. types publicly argued for in their public redistricting campaigns of 2011-2012 for Amendment 6, which passed overwhelmingly.

But DWS didn't care a whit about what the voters of Florida and Broward wanted, she wanted a congressional district that required little personal presence or high-maintenance.
A CD which would allow her to continue to remain a prominent National Democrat figure who could fly around the country giving speeches and raising money -and appearing on TV!- NOT be burdened by old-fashioned notions of public service or or even parochial concerns like re-election.


DWS wanted what she wanted and she wanted it badly, regardless of the fact that the overwhelming majority of voters in Florida, Broward County and her own district wanted Fair Districts with reasonable standards
Period.
Now we know how badly she wanted it.

To configure a fanciful map to her personal liking, one that ignored the interests of citizens wanting to NOT be divided by race or ethnicity or see their community's historical integrity
sub-divided, required her & consultants and allies "to scoop as many Jews out of Tamarac and Sunrise as they can” to quote emails of Democratic Party consultants that have been released
So that's exactly what DWS did, with the stealthy cooperation of other powerful Broward Democratic pols. 

So why is the South Florida news media ignoring this? 
And, the Florida League of Women Voters, its Broward chapter and Common Cause Florida
Why are they so quiet about having been played for suckers by DWS and her pals?


Washington Free Beacon
Gerrymanders Gone Wild
Dem congressmen oversaw Florida gerrymander, emails reveal 
By C.J. Ciaramella
April 5, 2013 3:29 pm

Florida Democrats coordinated with national party organizations and consultants in early 2012 to gerrymander congressional districts despite a state ban on such activities, emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.

The top state and national party leaders, including Florida congressmen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ted Deutsch, and Alecee Hastings, signed off on the gerrymandered maps, according to the emails released during court discovery in Romo v. Scott, a legal challenge to redistricting maps that the GOP-controlled state legislature approved in 2012.
Read the rest of the article, complete with the damning emails at:

This bit of news closely followed three weeks later with something we'd first read at Sunshine State News on March 19th, below, which we found interesting enough to send its link it along to some friends around the state as a sign that there was much more here than first meets the eye.

Unfortunately and yet typically, the South Florida news media was doing their best to avoid reporting on, you know, like real facts from real emails that get to the heart of the matter.

But then you already know from what I've written here so many times previously, with specific examples, how the South Florida new media is cowed by DWS and will literally jump on a thrown hand-grenade for her, in order to stay on her good side, especially the reporters and management at the Sun-Sentinel.

Wasserman Schultz, Nan Rich, Rod Smith Tried to Gerrymander; Blamed GOP for Doing Same
By Eric Giunta
Posted: March 19, 2013 3:55 AM
Court documents obtained by Sunshine State News show that top Florida Democrats were involved in just the sort of activity they are accusing Republicans of: gerrymandering districts to increase their candidates' electoral prospects.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/debbie-wasserman-schultz-nan-rich-rod-smith-tried-gerrymander-blamed-gop-doing-same

Curiously, at least to me, Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald, subject of this post
wrote on February 4th about the facts that had emerged thus far with the GOP's efforts to ensure more GOP districts within the Sunshine State,


Emails show legislative staff and RPOF talked about redistricting despite ban
Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Monday, February 4, 2013 7:12pm
Florida’s legislative leaders appear to have authorized their staff to use private email accounts, secret “dropboxes” and to engage in “brainstorming meetings” with Republican Party of Florida consultants in attempting to draw favorable political districts, despite a constitutional ban on such coordination. 
The allegations arise from a lawsuit challenging the Senate and congressional redistricting that include emails showing how top deputies of Senate President Don Gaetz, House Speaker Will Weatherford and several of Gaetz’s consultants were in frequent contact with consultants who drafted and analyzed maps. Redistricting is done every 10 years to redraw boundaries of legislative and congresssional districts to ensure equal representation.
Read the rest of the post at:


But Klas has written nothing at all in the two intervening months about the more recent documents released that have proven so revealing about the facts and intentions of Democrats Nan Rich, Alcee Hastings, Ted Deutsch and DWS, even while the Miami Herald's Marc Caputo has.


Naked Politics blog
Miami Herald
Insider emails show FL Democrats wanted to gerrymander redistricting just like GOP
By Marc A. Caputo
March 5, 2013
Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/03/insider-emails-show-fl-democrats-tried-to-gerrymander-redistricting-just-like-gop.html##storylink=cpy
Florida Democrats plotted with top leaders and consultants to redraw congressional districts to benefit their party, according to new court records that show they were just as interested in gerrymandering as Republicans.
Democratic-leaning groups are challenging the new congressional maps in court, saying Republicans broke a state constitutional amendment by drawing districts that favored or disfavored political parties and incumbents.
Read the rest of the post at: 
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/03/insider-emails-show-fl-democrats-tried-to-gerrymander-redistricting-just-like-gop.html#more

Why the disparity in coverage by Klaas?

Just so you know, I've spend some time researching and now can tell you how many original news stories on the facts involved in the Romo v. Scott court case have actually appeared in the news media of her Congressional District, and specifically what DWS did.
And by original, I mean something created or produced by the actual staff of those media organizations, not the Associated Press dispatches they throw on their websites that few readers or viewers ever see:

CBS-4, NBC6, Channel 7(Fox) and Channel 10 (ABC) or the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: ZERO.
Not just ZERO each, ZERO collectively.
Welcome to the not-so-curious world of the South Florida news media of 2013! 

Not so much watchdogs as lapdogs, esp. when it comes to DWS.

Since they aren't inclined towards doing any old-fashioned reporting on this subject, here's a good place to start:
http://redistricting.lls.edu/cases-FL.php#FL

As for FairDistrictsFlorida.org, whom I became very publicly disillusioned with last year after they completely failed to prepare to hold or co-host any sort of public forum in Broward County prior to visits by the traveling Florida Senate Redistricting Committee, you can see their comments here: http://www.fairdistrictsnow.org/home/
I no longer trust what they say -just like I don't trust anything said by DWS.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

OMG! Really, another interview with predictable Debbie Wasserman-Schultz on Channel 10's TWISF tomorrow? Why? Will there be any mention of the Sun-Sentinel STILL ignoring the Glenn Thrush book's depiction of DWS's unpopularity at Obama HQ in Chicago?; Sun-Sentinel has completely morphed into the Snooze-Sentinel! It's now more of an idea of a newspaper, and a bad one at that, rather than a newspaper you actually look forward to reading


POLITICO video: Debbie Wasserman Schultz disputes POLITICO e-book
http://bcove.me/iysunfmy
Related article at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80465.html

OMG! Really, another interview with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz on Channel 10's This Week In South Florida (TWISF) program tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m.? Why?

There are only 66 days until Election Day and they're consciously choosing to put HER on?
What a colossal disappointment!

Not to mention, another missed opportunity to bring viewers up-to-date with someone new or interesting or amusing -three things that DWS no longer is.

I guess this only proves all over again that not every TWISF program with Putney there is going to be a hit, which is what I always think whenever I see certain people on the show as guests that I find bores and quickly flip-over to Fox Soccer Channel to see what the score is in the Premier League game I was watching earlier.
Looks like I will be watching MUCH more of the Manchester United at Southampton match LIVE than I originally thought I would -after the Liverpool at Arsenal at 8:25 a.m..

It's not just that I disagree with DWS, or that she has never had to run from a competitive CD, though I do and she never has, it's also that she's just completely predictable, like Alan Simpson and Richard Lugar and Charlie Crist and Dan Gelber.
Or, even more deadly dull, like watching the Dolphins and Hurricanes offense the past few years -SNOOZE...............

I know when that check-down pass to the running back coming out of the backfield is coming even BEFORE the ball is snapped, even BEFORE the linebacker covering him does, so I'm groaning even BEFORE seeing it painfully come to life -over-and-over again!
And rarely if ever getting the First Down!

There's no need to watch this program tomorrow, no need to tape it, you already know what DWS is going to say before she says it, based on Michael Putney's questions.
Use that time to walk along the beach with your kids or finally change your oil or air filter under the hood, because there will be no news there at all, and besides, next weekend is wall-to-wall NCAA and NFL football again.

Yes, unlike watching a favorite Seinfeld episode for the 100th time -and isn't that about how many times DWS has been on TWISF since I came back here from D.C., 100 times?- watching and listening to DWS say the same exact thing about Romney or Ryan with that unpleasant voice is NOT as enjoyable the 100th time.
It's a bore.


Will there be any mention about the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -almost uniquely among all American newspapers with circulations above a college newspaperSTILL completely ignoring the negative revelations in POLITICO's Glenn Thrush's e-book, and its negative depiction of her and the level of her unpopularity at Obama HQ in Chicago, and the local papers refusing to make any mention of it in-print?

Yes, the very subject I wrote about over a week ago, the only person in South Florida publicly noting its complete absence from the scene?
Yes, this part of my August 22nd post
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-why-he-matters-and-needs-to.html

Here it is again, and nothing has changed since then -still nothing new about the book or its author in the Snooze-Sentinel.


Speaking of DWS, here's another piece you won't be reading in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel if any of her many trained poodles over there have anything to do with it, though logically you should, right?
Supposedly, DWS is on the hot seat! 
Or is it on thin ice? 
She's on one of the other, which ever you find personally worse in the summer.

The Weekly Standard
Book: Wasserman Schultz Most Unpopular Obama Campaign Surrogate
By Daniel Halper
8:33 AM, August 20, 2012
According to a new ebook released today by Politico writer Glenn Thrush, Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a member of Congress from Florida, is the most unpopular of all surrogates for President Obama's reelection campaign. That finding is the product of polling done by the Obama campaign, according to Thrush.
Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/book-wasserman-schultz-most-unpopular-obama-campaign-surrogate_650276.html

The Washington Post
Report: Obama campaign has doubts about DNC chair
Posted by Rachel Weiner on August 20, 2012 at 7:36 am
President Obama’s Chicago team is not thrilled with Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, according to a new ebook from Politico’s Glenn Thrush.
Read the rest of the post at:  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/08/20/report-obama-campaign-has-doubts-about-dnc-chair/

Don't believe me?
Okay, check the Sun-Sentinel for yourself: nothing about it as of right now.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=Debbie+Wasserman-Schultz&target=adv_article&date=07%2F23%2F2012-08%2F22%2F2012&range=pre&facet=

As for the author of the book, the last time the Sun-Sentinel ran a piece by Glenn Thrush was April 28, 2012, so it's clear that they have not touched the story, even though it's right there in front of them.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=%22Glenn+Thrush%22&target=adv_article
Hmm-m...

Yes, her crew over at the newspaper is definitely looking out for her, as per usual. 
Just saying... the facts are the facts.
If this sort of thing had been said about Rep. Allen West at GOP HQ based on some sort of polling, the paper would've had it on the front page ASAP, so what's the Sun-Sentinel's explanation for the complete absence of information in print on this re DWS?

------

Douglas Lyons is the Sun-Sentinel's... well, it depends upon whom you talk to.
Some would say that he's the guy whose job consists largely of cranking out a column once in a while and going around Broward making excuses for the poor and scatter-shot local news coverage they crank out for fewer and fewer readers, but his official title is senior editorial writer. 

Here's a thought -Why don't you ask him why his newspaper refuses to mention a negative story about the most prominent elected official in its coverage area, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

His contact infromation is here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/sfla-opinion-lyons,0,1403324,bio.columnist

Personally, my days of writing him a serious and fact-filled letter and expecting a reasonable response are over, so if he's on your own email list, you might want to seriously ask yourself why -and then purge him.

Lots of people I know, some of whose names you'd even recognize, have done this the past year or so, something they wouldn't do if this were a more normal American community and they had to engage in some sort of pretense to take him seriously and care what he thought or wrote.
Nope, they've tossed him and others there overboard with no negative effect whatsoever. 
They actually like the idea that they and other people who really know what's going on DON'T communicate with him, and he's less aware of what's going on than ever.
But that just makes him like 99% of the people working there.

They're NOT at all like the competitive reporters I've known and interacted with in Chicago and Washington, and the results are readily apparent to readers when you see the newspaper in print.
It seems more like an idea for a newspaper, NOT an actual newspaper you'd read at the beach or take on a plane ride.
And the less said about their website the better.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

By any reasonable measure, FL-17's Frederica Wilson is ineffective in Washington, D.C. -except for drawing negative attention to herself for her silly hat fixation, which renders her a cartoon. Why does the South Florida news media continue to give Wilson a "hall pass" and never PRESS her to answer serious questions? Mutuality of interests! Wilson doesn't want to be asked tough questions and the press corps DOESN'T want to ask them!

By any reasonable measure, FL-17's Frederica Wilson is ineffective in Washington, D.C. -except for drawing negative attention to herself for her silly hat fixation, which renders her a cartoon. Why does the South Florida news media continue to give Wilson a "hall pass" and never PRESS her to answer serious questions? Mutuality of interests! Wilson doesn't want to be asked tough questions and the press corps DOESN'T want to ask them!
As of just a few days ago, according to THOMAS, the legislative database maintained by The Library of Congresshttp://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php the following are the 14 attempts at legislation sponsored by FL-17-Representative Frederica Wilson, who is my rep, since January of 2011, when she first took office.

Among the things you'll notice right away is that of the 14 bills -only two in 20127 of the 14 have 2 co-sponsors or less, 5 of the 14 have NONE.
None!.

Of course, every Member has their relative strengths and weaknesses and as I learned from being there for 15 years, at one point, living five blocks from the U.S. Capitol, not all are cut out to be or are even interested in being writers of legislation, the THOMAS Jefferson.

That being the case, and her clearly not being of them, given the objective facts below, perhaps her strength is in persuading others.
I've heard that from her apologists.
Where's the evidence?

Can you name anyone in Congress who looks to Wilson to decide how they'll vote.
No, first because she has proven to be a very liberal Rubber Stamp, and secondly because last year she was one of THE most frequently absent Members in the whole country.
Again, not one of the worst for the Florida delegation, one of THE worst for the entire U.S. House of Representatives.

When did you ever hear this fact mentioned on a local newscast on Channel 4, 6, 7 or 10?

And where was the Miami Herald?

Well, as has been their tried-and-true template for the past few years, their go-to strategy for how they've dealt with members of Congress that it doesn't want to offend, as was the case recently when the Herald completely ignored New England reporters calling-out Debbie Wasserman-Schultz self-evident hypocrisy to her face re her tax returns, not wanting to say anything negative about her, the Herald said nothing and printed nothing.

They just played the waiting game. 

So, rather than note the hypocrisy when it actually happens -you know, reporting?- the powers-that-be just say let's wait a bit.
It was the same with Kendrick Meek dozens of times, and even supporters of his knew this.

Again, when his successor, Frederica Wilson, wound-up with one of THE worst attendance records in the entire U.S. Congress last year, the Herald waited forever to mention it -this year!
About her 2011 attendance!

Nothing about it when it was actually happening!
Why?

Yes, Wilson had surgery in November, but what about the first ten months of 2011?
Again, not among the worst attendance records for Florida, among THE very worst for the entire 435-person Congress.

That's a question that the Herald/McClatchy reporters and columnists in DC and Miami never asked Wilson to explain.
So where was she?

Yes, it seems that no matter where your faithful blogger looks or turns, whether at Hallandale Beach City Hall, the State Capitol in far-off Tallahassee, with carpet-bagger state Rep. Joe Gibbons and state Sen. Eleanor Sobel, or with U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in Washington, D.C., he is over-represented by ineffective Rubber Stamps with no history of being serious and thoughtful statesmen, where being effective and right on public policy is more important than party.
*Reminder: as a result of congressional redistricting, a subject of so much discussion on this blog the past 18 months, FL-17 is morphing into the new FL-23, as my new Voters's Registration card from the Supervisor of Elections reminded me when it came in the mail a week ago.
1. H.R.2574 : Jobs Now Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/18/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Education and the Workforce 
Latest Major Action: 9/8/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.

2. H.R.2575 : Drive to Stay Alive Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/18/2011)      Cosponsors (2) 
Committees: House Transportation and Infrastructure 
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

3. H.R.2582 : Homeowners' Defense Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/19/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Financial Services 
Latest Major Action: 8/22/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.

4. H.R.2723 : Social Security Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (15) 
Committees: House Rules 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

5. H.R.2724 : Medicaid Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

6. H.R.2725 : Medicare Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules; House Budget 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

7. H.R.2726 : Education Protection Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules; House Budget 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

8. H.R.2727 : People's Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 8/1/2011)      Cosponsors (10) 
Committees: House Rules; House Budget 
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

9. H.R.3507 : Cease Haitian Deportations Act
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 11/22/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Judiciary; House Foreign Affairs 
Latest Major Action: 12/2/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.

10. H.R.3595 : Mandatory Foreclosure Mediation Act
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 12/7/2011)      Cosponsors (1) 
Committees: House Financial Services 
Latest Major Action: 1/12/2012 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.

11. H.R.3741 : Rilya Wilson Act
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 12/20/2011)      Cosponsors (109) 
Committees: House Ways and Means; House Judiciary 
Latest Major Action: 1/6/2012 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

12. H.RES.371 : Expressing support for designation of a "Hear My Cry Day" in schools across the United States.
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 7/25/2011)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Education and the Workforce 
Latest Major Action: 7/25/2011 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

13. H.RES.521 : Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should work with the Government of Haiti to address gender-based violence against women and children.
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 1/23/2012)      Cosponsors (55) 
Committees: House Foreign Affairs 
Latest Major Action: 2/3/2012 Referred to House subcommittee. 
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

14. H.RES.581 : Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the continued deployment of United States military support personnel advising regional forces working toward the apprehension of Joseph Kony is both necessary and appropriate.
Sponsor: Rep Wilson, Frederica [FL-17] (introduced 3/9/2012)      Cosponsors (None) 
Committees: House Foreign Affairs 
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2012 Referred to House committee. 
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.