3/31/2003
Great legislative moments
The incomparable Carl Hiaasen notes a particularly noxious moment in Tallahassee lobbyist influence. (Who reads Miami.com so you don't have to? You're welcome.)
"Maybe we're witnessing the birth of a trend in politics; the dawn of a cynical new day when selling out no longer brings any stigma whatsoever," he muses.
Flabloggers heard about the incident a couple weeks ago.
"Maybe we're witnessing the birth of a trend in politics; the dawn of a cynical new day when selling out no longer brings any stigma whatsoever," he muses.
Flabloggers heard about the incident a couple weeks ago.
Watch what you e-mail
The estimable Charley Stough, reporter, editor, columnist, former Usenet guide, raconteur, karaoke contender, novelist and chief copyboy of Burned-Out Newspapercreatures Guild (BONG) recently put his BONG newsletter on the Web in blog form, calling it Newsgorilla.
He noted the outrageous story of a Texas reporter being peremptorily fired for firing back a sharply worded e-mail at a group of smug frat-boy campus conservatives. (Scroll down to the bold heading SOMEBODY TOLD DADDY.) (See also the Fort Worth Weekly's report.)
This is, sadly, part of trend of disciplining reporters and columnists for their e-mails to readers. Last summer Managing Editor Rosemary Armao had to resign from the Sarasota Herald-Trib over her e-mail response to a Katherine Harris profile. (She quickly found another job.)
The profile was something of a puff piece which treated Harris as the congressman-elect and barely condescended to mention that there is another party that had the temerity to run a candidate. When a Democratic reader complained, she explained the facts of life to him -- Dems aren't numerous enough to matter here; Katherine is a celebrity and the paper will afford her celebrity treatment; no, I won't vote for her, either; we're not going to pretend we don't already know the outcome of the election.
Last January, Tallahassee Democrat political writer Bill Cotterell was suspended for a week for a harsh e-mail he sent to somebody who was part of an orchestrated e-mail campaign complaining about a Doug Marlette cartoon. (A cartoon the Democrat never actually printed, mind you.) And the managing editor apologized -- yet again -- for the cartoon . (That nice Mary Ann Melone at the St. Pete Times used this to defend free speech at newspapers. Good for her.)
Snotty campus conservatives need to be ridiculed while they are still capable of personal change or they will grow into dysfunctional adults unable to cope the world outside of Rush Limbaugh/Clear Channel radio. The fired reporter was doing them a favor.
Sheesh, everyone's so sensitive these days.
He noted the outrageous story of a Texas reporter being peremptorily fired for firing back a sharply worded e-mail at a group of smug frat-boy campus conservatives. (Scroll down to the bold heading SOMEBODY TOLD DADDY.) (See also the Fort Worth Weekly's report.)
This is, sadly, part of trend of disciplining reporters and columnists for their e-mails to readers. Last summer Managing Editor Rosemary Armao had to resign from the Sarasota Herald-Trib over her e-mail response to a Katherine Harris profile. (She quickly found another job.)
The profile was something of a puff piece which treated Harris as the congressman-elect and barely condescended to mention that there is another party that had the temerity to run a candidate. When a Democratic reader complained, she explained the facts of life to him -- Dems aren't numerous enough to matter here; Katherine is a celebrity and the paper will afford her celebrity treatment; no, I won't vote for her, either; we're not going to pretend we don't already know the outcome of the election.
Last January, Tallahassee Democrat political writer Bill Cotterell was suspended for a week for a harsh e-mail he sent to somebody who was part of an orchestrated e-mail campaign complaining about a Doug Marlette cartoon. (A cartoon the Democrat never actually printed, mind you.) And the managing editor apologized -- yet again -- for the cartoon . (That nice Mary Ann Melone at the St. Pete Times used this to defend free speech at newspapers. Good for her.)
Snotty campus conservatives need to be ridiculed while they are still capable of personal change or they will grow into dysfunctional adults unable to cope the world outside of Rush Limbaugh/Clear Channel radio. The fired reporter was doing them a favor.
Sheesh, everyone's so sensitive these days.
3/29/2003
New blog heard from
PaperFrog.com: Words, free of charge has set up shop in Pensacola. An odd locale for a peaceblogger.
Florida war reporters
Poynter has a very cool Flash map of where journalists covering the war are.
Reporters for Florida newspapers --
Larry Kaplow, Palm Beach Post, in Baghdad
Paul Reid, Palm Beach Post, in Kuwait City
Hilda Perez, Orlando Sentinel, with 3rd Infantry
Roger Roy, Orlando Sentinel, with 1st Marine Div.
Juan Tamayo, Miami Herald, with 1st Marine Div.
Wes Allison, St. Petersburg Times, with 101st Airborne
Diane Lacey Allen, Lakeland Ledger, with 1st Marine Div.
Reporters for Florida newspapers --
Larry Kaplow, Palm Beach Post, in Baghdad
Paul Reid, Palm Beach Post, in Kuwait City
Hilda Perez, Orlando Sentinel, with 3rd Infantry
Roger Roy, Orlando Sentinel, with 1st Marine Div.
Juan Tamayo, Miami Herald, with 1st Marine Div.
Wes Allison, St. Petersburg Times, with 101st Airborne
Diane Lacey Allen, Lakeland Ledger, with 1st Marine Div.
Mwah-hah-hah!
It is traditional at this point in the session for commentators to pondor the lack of progress and assume a special session is the only way out. Then everything is saved in the last two weeks of the session when our legislators pass hundreds of bills without reading much more than titles. But this year, notes the St. Pete Times' Lucy Morgan, even less is getting done than usual and the two chambers aren't talking.
The Tallahassee Democrat says "many observers" predict special session. (I prefer "Tallahassee insiders say" to "many observers say" when passing on the wisdom of lobbyists, but that's just my taste.) And Jeb Bush has threatened a special session if is new limits on malpractice suits aren't passed.
Then there's the matter of redistricting. That's right, redistricting. Just a technicality, but it seems the House is going to need the Senate to do it a little favor. As V.S. Date reports in The Post:
King said Friday he had no intention of holding House Republicans' control of their chamber hostage to his own priorities, such as increased taxes or slot-machine gambling, but then burst into laughter.
"It is leverage, obviously," King said, then admitted that he had also laughed during the conversation with Byrd. "I did chortle. I even chortled on the phone. It was a chortling kind of conversation."
Mwah-hah-hah!
That kind kind of chortle.
The Tallahassee Democrat says "many observers" predict special session. (I prefer "Tallahassee insiders say" to "many observers say" when passing on the wisdom of lobbyists, but that's just my taste.) And Jeb Bush has threatened a special session if is new limits on malpractice suits aren't passed.
Then there's the matter of redistricting. That's right, redistricting. Just a technicality, but it seems the House is going to need the Senate to do it a little favor. As V.S. Date reports in The Post:
King said Friday he had no intention of holding House Republicans' control of their chamber hostage to his own priorities, such as increased taxes or slot-machine gambling, but then burst into laughter.
"It is leverage, obviously," King said, then admitted that he had also laughed during the conversation with Byrd. "I did chortle. I even chortled on the phone. It was a chortling kind of conversation."
Mwah-hah-hah!
That kind kind of chortle.
Library move still in House budget - sort of
The House votes $2.5 million to break up the state library and give the circulating collection to a private university (last three 'graphs) but Speaker Byrd says, "Don't start boxing it up yet."
Meaning, I guess, that this will just get dropped in conference committee. Maybe.
Meaning, I guess, that this will just get dropped in conference committee. Maybe.
Spam, spam, spam; spam, spam, spam, spam
Not much Flablogging this past week. Not even much computing, And wasn't at work while I dealt with the minor kid crises and performed amazing feats of house carpentry between rainstorms.
Now, I've returned to a bad backlog of e-mail -- mostly spam -- and voice mail.
At least I'm not a public school teacher, then I'd return to spam from legislators sent at state expense saying what a wonderful job our Legislature is doing for me. The governor's office sent crudely political spam like that last year (with a huge attachment) right before the election. At least state computers aren't sending work-at-home and "herbal viagra" mails. Not yet.
Now, I've returned to a bad backlog of e-mail -- mostly spam -- and voice mail.
At least I'm not a public school teacher, then I'd return to spam from legislators sent at state expense saying what a wonderful job our Legislature is doing for me. The governor's office sent crudely political spam like that last year (with a huge attachment) right before the election. At least state computers aren't sending work-at-home and "herbal viagra" mails. Not yet.
3/25/2003
LIke every thing else, the House, Senate budgets disagree on library plans
The Florida House -- despite earlier assurances from House Speaker Byrd -- OKs a budget that would break up Florida's state library, but the Senate's budget would not. Meanwhile, the Florida Library Association objects to Jeb's plan to pay a private college to take away the circulating collection. (The Tallahassee Democrat has this, too.)
3/23/2003
Where has the media been?
Ron Cunningham, the Gainesville Sun's good-natured and award-winning editorial page editor, writes a column about the volume of pro-war astroturf letters his paper has received. A lot begin with the same sentence: Where has the media been? There's plenty of coverage of the socialist-led anti-war demonstrations, complete with their vanguard of radical left-wing Hollywood 'actors.' But where is the coverage of these rallies of grass-roots support?
Look up "Where has the media been there's plenty" in Google and you get about four hits. That might rise in the next few days. But after the embarrassment of the When it comes to the economy, President Bush is demonstrating genuine leadership letter (more than 100 newspapers reprinted a "reader's letter" obviously composed by the Republican Party), opinion page editors have been more careful to screen obviously mass-produced letters. (See last January's Flablog, too.)
(Thanks to a Gainesville reader)
Look up "Where has the media been there's plenty" in Google and you get about four hits. That might rise in the next few days. But after the embarrassment of the When it comes to the economy, President Bush is demonstrating genuine leadership letter (more than 100 newspapers reprinted a "reader's letter" obviously composed by the Republican Party), opinion page editors have been more careful to screen obviously mass-produced letters. (See last January's Flablog, too.)
(Thanks to a Gainesville reader)
The Grapefruit
Whew! I thought The Grapefruit was abandoned, out of business, 404ed, kaputski. Nope. The editor of this Internet Florida political tip-sheet has been called to active duty. Good luck to you, anonymous insider guy!
"Smart" strategy or defeatism?
If you're expecting a Democratic comeback in Florida anytime soon, it is best to get over it now, in an odd-numbered year. Before you have to endure the ridicule of enemies and the pity of friends. The Miami Herald (I read miami.com so you don't have to!) reports under the unironic headline 2004 might be year of smart Democratic Party politics that "The Democrats' likely new state House leader, Rep. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale, is devising a strategy to focus a lot of money on only a few, targeted races. . . . Smith's plan is simple: Raise $4 million for House races next year, and spend most of the loot on three key seats where he thinks Republicans are especially vulnerable."
Uh, excuse us, but exactly how is this in any way different from the state Democratic party's strategy every other year in its long, slow slide to irrelevance?
The flip side of this strategy is that you concede easy victories to Republican incumbents everywhere. Even ones who unaccountably have strong local opposition. When a party leaves large numbers of seats uncontested, it gives Democratic voters no reason to show up at the polls. NO reason to even register as Democrats. It leads unaffiliated voters to register Republican, because the only place you can have any input is in the Republican primary.
You might recall the Libertarian Party's "Operation Full-Slate" last year. They ran more candidates than the Democrats. No kidding. Sure, none of them won, but that wasn't the point, the contested races got people involved in the party, brought new voters to the polls (more than a few of whom voted for Jeb for governor while they were at it) and argued for and publicized the party's platform. It was an exercise in party building.
Targeting "strategic" districts is a cut-your-losses strategy. It may be a kind of realistic Fabianism, but it also shows a party that's locked into a minority party mind-set.
(Via Fla. Politics.)
Uh, excuse us, but exactly how is this in any way different from the state Democratic party's strategy every other year in its long, slow slide to irrelevance?
The flip side of this strategy is that you concede easy victories to Republican incumbents everywhere. Even ones who unaccountably have strong local opposition. When a party leaves large numbers of seats uncontested, it gives Democratic voters no reason to show up at the polls. NO reason to even register as Democrats. It leads unaffiliated voters to register Republican, because the only place you can have any input is in the Republican primary.
You might recall the Libertarian Party's "Operation Full-Slate" last year. They ran more candidates than the Democrats. No kidding. Sure, none of them won, but that wasn't the point, the contested races got people involved in the party, brought new voters to the polls (more than a few of whom voted for Jeb for governor while they were at it) and argued for and publicized the party's platform. It was an exercise in party building.
Targeting "strategic" districts is a cut-your-losses strategy. It may be a kind of realistic Fabianism, but it also shows a party that's locked into a minority party mind-set.
(Via Fla. Politics.)
3/20/2003
Could this be their fate?
Don't ask me, I'm just the sponsor
A minor legislative incident, but one that speaks volumes about who the real legislators are in the post-term-limits Legislature. In this case, a lawmaker sponsors a bill, but needs the lobbyist/author to explain it to committee.
3/19/2003
Hold the freedom fries
I'm getting an unusual amount of mail over a column about war doofuses. It's virtually all positive.
War-Doofus Watch� -- Englewood radio reacts to The Canadian Menace
Meanwhile, this is clearly a joke -- not a hoax. It lacks a hoax's verisimilitude. The photoshopping gives it away. This, however, might be real.
War-Doofus Watch� -- Englewood radio reacts to The Canadian Menace
Meanwhile, this is clearly a joke -- not a hoax. It lacks a hoax's verisimilitude. The photoshopping gives it away. This, however, might be real.
Teachers get more payback, not more pay
One of the more fascinating tightropes Republicans walk is hating teacher unions, opposing teacher-supported iniatives and yet claiming to be on the side of teachers and and education.
On the national level, we saw Bob Dole's 1996 teacher-bashing backfire because he blasted teacher unions in ways always got applause from Republican audiences but sounded crudely anti-teacher to general audiences. Jeb, on the other hand, is always careful to insulate himself with photo-ops in front of (private school) blackboards.
The Legislature this year is in full retribution mode against public school teachers and teachers' unions this year for their support of Bill McBride last year. Notably, a bill has been filed to make it harder for teacher unions -- and only teacher unions -- to collect contributions. The Senate sponsor, Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, justified it citing partisan disinformation found on the rightwing National Review Online Web site last fall. (Seventh story down, below the paint-by-numbers attack on Paul Wellstone.)
Tallahasse Democrat's Bill Cotterell writes about it. As does the Sun-Sentinel. My paper ran a strong editorial that's on the mark, even though some would find the rhetoric (goose-steppers?) a little over-the-top.
Meanwhile House Republicans come up with a flawed but workable teacher pay package, but the governor says "It's not going to happen." Question for free-market Republicans: Isn't a teacher shortage the market's way of saying teachers aren't paid enough?
And administration and legislative types continue to dodge questions about Florida's dead-last ranking in pre-capita spending on education.
On the national level, we saw Bob Dole's 1996 teacher-bashing backfire because he blasted teacher unions in ways always got applause from Republican audiences but sounded crudely anti-teacher to general audiences. Jeb, on the other hand, is always careful to insulate himself with photo-ops in front of (private school) blackboards.
The Legislature this year is in full retribution mode against public school teachers and teachers' unions this year for their support of Bill McBride last year. Notably, a bill has been filed to make it harder for teacher unions -- and only teacher unions -- to collect contributions. The Senate sponsor, Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, justified it citing partisan disinformation found on the rightwing National Review Online Web site last fall. (Seventh story down, below the paint-by-numbers attack on Paul Wellstone.)
Tallahasse Democrat's Bill Cotterell writes about it. As does the Sun-Sentinel. My paper ran a strong editorial that's on the mark, even though some would find the rhetoric (goose-steppers?) a little over-the-top.
Meanwhile House Republicans come up with a flawed but workable teacher pay package, but the governor says "It's not going to happen." Question for free-market Republicans: Isn't a teacher shortage the market's way of saying teachers aren't paid enough?
And administration and legislative types continue to dodge questions about Florida's dead-last ranking in pre-capita spending on education.
Gatornapping update
Yet another shocking alligator theft. (I get much of my gator-reated crime news from Dragonleg.) It looks like a crime trend. (Here, too.)
3/15/2003
No, man! Not the tie!
Bob Graham announces he's ditching the tie.
That's right, the so-dorky-they're-cool ties with the outlines of the state of Florida. Sheesh, and they're hard to find anymore. Last one I saw I had to order from Florida Trend. Oh well, there's always eBay.
Why don't people leave me alone?
Cynthia Henderson's ability to prosper after each screw-up baffles even the politically cynical. Well, she's ba-a-a--ack. And St. Pete Times columnist Lucy Morgan has this one all to herself. Henderson's now lobbying for a computer company but has been tardy registering as a lobbyist and appears to be lobbying her old agency.
"Why don't people leave me alone?" she asks. Just dumb ol' rules.
The Henderson saga is well-documented. The former Playboy club waitress' rise has been so out of proportion to her abilities that many have reached uncharitable conclusions which the the governor had to publicly deny two years ago. (Some of her long, strange trip can still be found on Media Whores Online.)
"Why don't people leave me alone?" she asks. Just dumb ol' rules.
The Henderson saga is well-documented. The former Playboy club waitress' rise has been so out of proportion to her abilities that many have reached uncharitable conclusions which the the governor had to publicly deny two years ago. (Some of her long, strange trip can still be found on Media Whores Online.)
3/13/2003
A few freedom fries short of a Happy Meal
It's not exactly surprising that Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, moved from being a shrill, right-wing grandstander in the Legislature to being a shrill right-wing grandstander in Congress. But as a cynical publicity stunt, her bill "to bring home to 'patriotic soil'" the remains of soldiers buried in France and Belgium is tastelessly over-the-top.
The St. Pete Times comments -- Les nincompoops. The Sentinel's headline, She has bones to pick with France, is a little too clever.
Couldn't she just be happy eating her freedom fries in the House cafeteria?
The St. Pete Times comments -- Les nincompoops. The Sentinel's headline, She has bones to pick with France, is a little too clever.
Couldn't she just be happy eating her freedom fries in the House cafeteria?
3/12/2003
We're No. 41! We're no. 41!
Want to know why the Class Size Amendment passed? Just read this headline in the Sentinel -- Florida drops to 41st in school spending.
And look at the Census Report the story is based on. (Look for the graph on Page 12.)
And look at the Census Report the story is based on. (Look for the graph on Page 12.)
3/11/2003
Can the Republicans make McCollum go away?
The search is on for another Republican to run for Bob Graham's Senate seat. The dream candidate being Mel Mart�nez. Bill McCollum, by dint of name recognition, support from the right and ability to raise money is the presumed Republican front-runner. Former U.S. Senator Connie Mack, beloved of the Republican right, already signed on as his honorary chairman.
U.S. Rep. Mark Folely is raising money running hard and trying to shake the moderate label which would kill him among Republican primary voters.
So why are the party strategists looking for more candidates? Because Bill McCollum is an old-style Gingrich-era guns/abortion/impeachment Republican, the kind that don't win elections outside of safe districts. When he ran for Senate in 2000, he raised wheelbarrows of money, but came across as a Puritan and an enemy of the environment and lost to Bill Nelson. You could put him khakis and take him out out in the woods for the campaign commercials, but he just couldn't be remade into a compassionate conservative. His gender gap was huge even by Republican standards. Plus, he just had a certain dweeb factor working against him
Still, nobody outside Orange County knows who Mel Mart�nez is and the right-wing party activitists love McCollum for the very qualities that make him an unappealing candidate in a general election. McCollum already has pledges and money.
Bold prediction: Republicans are stuck with McCollum. Look for a dramatic makeover.
U.S. Rep. Mark Folely is raising money running hard and trying to shake the moderate label which would kill him among Republican primary voters.
So why are the party strategists looking for more candidates? Because Bill McCollum is an old-style Gingrich-era guns/abortion/impeachment Republican, the kind that don't win elections outside of safe districts. When he ran for Senate in 2000, he raised wheelbarrows of money, but came across as a Puritan and an enemy of the environment and lost to Bill Nelson. You could put him khakis and take him out out in the woods for the campaign commercials, but he just couldn't be remade into a compassionate conservative. His gender gap was huge even by Republican standards. Plus, he just had a certain dweeb factor working against him
Still, nobody outside Orange County knows who Mel Mart�nez is and the right-wing party activitists love McCollum for the very qualities that make him an unappealing candidate in a general election. McCollum already has pledges and money.
Bold prediction: Republicans are stuck with McCollum. Look for a dramatic makeover.
3/09/2003
The indifference of the testmeisers
Another FCAT seaon is here and the Dept. of Education is still not allowing schools to accommodate kids with learning disabilities -- the way, SATs, GREs, Bar exams and most other tests do. Dykeman calls them Columns: Tallahassee's test bullies. And he's right.
The only known close-the-library editorial
The Republican talking-point sheet known as The Times-Union runs another amusing defense of the governor. The only paper in the state to defend the proposed libary closing, it argues that we don't need research libraries anymore, we have Google. (Via Fla. Politics.)
3/08/2003
The access argument
It depends on how you define 'access':
Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood have argued that giving away part of the State Library to Nova Southeastern University would make the books and other materials more accessible to more people in heavily populated South Florida.
But now officials concede that, if the move is approved by state legislators, no one would have access to most of the books and records for a year or longer. And even then, only Broward County residents could go to the Nova library and check them out.
Oh.
(Orlando Sentinel version here. Perishible links.)
Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood have argued that giving away part of the State Library to Nova Southeastern University would make the books and other materials more accessible to more people in heavily populated South Florida.
But now officials concede that, if the move is approved by state legislators, no one would have access to most of the books and records for a year or longer. And even then, only Broward County residents could go to the Nova library and check them out.
Oh.
(Orlando Sentinel version here. Perishible links.)
3/06/2003
Timatollah all over the media
Daytona Beach blogger Timatolla, aka Tim Wilson, is quoted deep in a News-Journal story on domestic-partner benefits. That and recent high-traffic links and he might be on tee-vee, too. He's going to use up his 15 minutes of fame all at once. (Neat Bike Week video clip there, too.)
Senate panel holds secret session
In just one more demonstration of the erosion of open government since 9/11, a committee of the Florida Senate met in secret session for the first time in four decades.
Senate Majority Leader Jim King says he's "uncomfortable."
Well good, I suppose that's a start. But as Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, said "Jim King may actually be taking this step carefully and very reluctantly," she said, "but who's to say the next guy will?"
FDLE Commissioner Tim Moore, who last year unsuccessfully sought unprecedented secret search and arrest powers, wanted the closed meeting to ask for $1.6 million for some sort of counterintelligence antiterrorism database. ("I have seen "it' and I concur "it' needs to be protected," King said cryptically.)
However, because the House doesn't have a secret meeting rule, it looks like Moore will still have to publicly justify his budget requests. At least this year.
Senate Majority Leader Jim King says he's "uncomfortable."
Well good, I suppose that's a start. But as Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, said "Jim King may actually be taking this step carefully and very reluctantly," she said, "but who's to say the next guy will?"
FDLE Commissioner Tim Moore, who last year unsuccessfully sought unprecedented secret search and arrest powers, wanted the closed meeting to ask for $1.6 million for some sort of counterintelligence antiterrorism database. ("I have seen "it' and I concur "it' needs to be protected," King said cryptically.)
However, because the House doesn't have a secret meeting rule, it looks like Moore will still have to publicly justify his budget requests. At least this year.
The gatornapping problem
Why do people keep stealing alligators? Again and again. Despite the law and pleas of columnists. (Thanks to Dragonleg)
Library breakup bill moves ahead
Despite earlier assurances from House Speaker Byrd that the library is safe, the House is moving forward on Bush library plan.
3/05/2003
Human chain around state library
A slide show of Tuesday's library protest.
Rally for Library
While Jeb was at the Legislature preaching love and tax cutting, demonstrators gathered at the state library.
St Pete Times version: Crowd count: "hundreds." Chants: "Send Jeb to Nova." Detail others missed: Eugene Danaher of Tallahassee filed a complaint saying Smith went to meetings about the library while he was a registered lobbyist for Nova. State law forbids former government decisionmakers from lobbying their agency for two years.
Tallahasse Dem version: Crowd count: "more than 250." Chants quoted: The chant ran through the line like a lit fuse, setting off choruses of "Save our library!" and "Say no to Nova!" A few even broke out into the old standby of the civil rights movement, "We shall overcome."
Jax Times-Union version: Crowd count: "about 300." Chants: "Send Bush to Nova" and "Save our libraries.
Palm Beach Post version: Crowd count: "about 250." Chants: chanting "Save our library" several decibels above reading-room level without being unruly about it. Sign: Another hand-lettered sign said "Open Book Policy -- Florida Statute 257.04." Other signs referred to statute 257.01. Those statutes say the State Library "shall be located at the capital" and that "all" books and other documents given to the state shall be placed in the State Library for public use.
Sun-Sentinel version: Crowd count: "about 500." Signs (no chants) :"Book Thief" and "Book Him!"
AP version: Crowd count: "hundreds." Chants: "Save our library" and "Send Bush to Nova."
St Pete Times version: Crowd count: "hundreds." Chants: "Send Jeb to Nova." Detail others missed: Eugene Danaher of Tallahassee filed a complaint saying Smith went to meetings about the library while he was a registered lobbyist for Nova. State law forbids former government decisionmakers from lobbying their agency for two years.
Tallahasse Dem version: Crowd count: "more than 250." Chants quoted: The chant ran through the line like a lit fuse, setting off choruses of "Save our library!" and "Say no to Nova!" A few even broke out into the old standby of the civil rights movement, "We shall overcome."
Jax Times-Union version: Crowd count: "about 300." Chants: "Send Bush to Nova" and "Save our libraries.
Palm Beach Post version: Crowd count: "about 250." Chants: chanting "Save our library" several decibels above reading-room level without being unruly about it. Sign: Another hand-lettered sign said "Open Book Policy -- Florida Statute 257.04." Other signs referred to statute 257.01. Those statutes say the State Library "shall be located at the capital" and that "all" books and other documents given to the state shall be placed in the State Library for public use.
Sun-Sentinel version: Crowd count: "about 500." Signs (no chants) :"Book Thief" and "Book Him!"
AP version: Crowd count: "hundreds." Chants: "Save our library" and "Send Bush to Nova."
State of State editorial round-up
Editorial opinion is not kind in the first round of reviews of his State of the State speech.
St Pete Times: A disgraceful hour -- Gov. Bush was clear on Tuesday that he will make the implementation of voter-approved Amendment 9 as painful as possible, in hopes of forcing Floridians to take it back.
Orlando Sentinel: Heed the people -- When voters speak, elected officials have an obligation to listen. Yet, in his fifth annual State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Jeb Bush all but dismissed the people's will as misguided and inconsequential.
Florida Today: Governor Bush ignores state's revenue shortfall -- We have opposed using the Constitution as a vehicle for such efforts. But we also have pointed out the class-size amendment was an act of voter desperation and a brutal reprimand to this administration's failure -- and the failure of the Legislature -- to sufficiently fund education. Bush still seems blind to that, failing as he did Tuesday to offer any plan to improve schools.
Palm Beach Post: State of confusion reigns after governor's remarks -- Gov. Bush's State of the State address had Kodak moments and Hallmark sentiments. It lacked any candor or specifics about the problems that Florida, the Legislature -- and, yes, the governor -- face.
Tallahassee Democrat: Governor didn't exude leadership -- Gov. Jeb Bush's address to the Legislature on Tuesday was long on platitudes and short on practicality.
Sun-Sentinel: Big Dreams, Small Policies -- During his State of the State Address, Gov. Jeb Bush talked of "big dreams," "creativity," "vision" and "perseverance." Then, he laid out a limited set of priorities for the upcoming legislative session. The two didn't quite match. Bush promised to tackle tough issues, but the governor chose to stick to narrow, hold- the-line policies while avoiding more ambitious solutions.
Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida needs more than Bush offers -- According to Gov. Jeb Bush, all Florida needs is love. That along with a good book, some limits on lawsuits and voters who are smart enough to realize how dumb they were to vote for the class-size and bullet-train amendments. The governor's priorities, spelled out on the opening day of the state legislative session, fall far short of meeting this state's needs.
St Pete Times: A disgraceful hour -- Gov. Bush was clear on Tuesday that he will make the implementation of voter-approved Amendment 9 as painful as possible, in hopes of forcing Floridians to take it back.
Orlando Sentinel: Heed the people -- When voters speak, elected officials have an obligation to listen. Yet, in his fifth annual State of the State address Tuesday, Gov. Jeb Bush all but dismissed the people's will as misguided and inconsequential.
Florida Today: Governor Bush ignores state's revenue shortfall -- We have opposed using the Constitution as a vehicle for such efforts. But we also have pointed out the class-size amendment was an act of voter desperation and a brutal reprimand to this administration's failure -- and the failure of the Legislature -- to sufficiently fund education. Bush still seems blind to that, failing as he did Tuesday to offer any plan to improve schools.
Palm Beach Post: State of confusion reigns after governor's remarks -- Gov. Bush's State of the State address had Kodak moments and Hallmark sentiments. It lacked any candor or specifics about the problems that Florida, the Legislature -- and, yes, the governor -- face.
Tallahassee Democrat: Governor didn't exude leadership -- Gov. Jeb Bush's address to the Legislature on Tuesday was long on platitudes and short on practicality.
Sun-Sentinel: Big Dreams, Small Policies -- During his State of the State Address, Gov. Jeb Bush talked of "big dreams," "creativity," "vision" and "perseverance." Then, he laid out a limited set of priorities for the upcoming legislative session. The two didn't quite match. Bush promised to tackle tough issues, but the governor chose to stick to narrow, hold- the-line policies while avoiding more ambitious solutions.
Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida needs more than Bush offers -- According to Gov. Jeb Bush, all Florida needs is love. That along with a good book, some limits on lawsuits and voters who are smart enough to realize how dumb they were to vote for the class-size and bullet-train amendments. The governor's priorities, spelled out on the opening day of the state legislative session, fall far short of meeting this state's needs.
3/04/2003
Devious plan on track
State of the State-- Looks like the "devious plan" is moving along right on schedule. Legislature might draw up a you-want-smaller-classes? then-name-your-tax amendment.
Complete text of the sermon here.
Complete text of the sermon here.
3/03/2003
Whither Grapefruit
It's been a month and a half since The Grapefruit updated. Is it still alive? Won't it even give us a proper goodbye?
3/02/2003
Library fight shows up on Metafilter
Word of protests to save the state library have made it to Metafilter. Blogger, however, has been acting funny since Friday so this will probably be old news by the time anyone reads this.
Invisible haiku
Blogger's not working
If you see this, it's up
If you don't, it's not
If you see this, it's up
If you don't, it's not
Hiaasen on Byrd
"Speaker Byrd may be his own worst enemy" is the headline on Carl Hiassen's column today. I think the "may" was the headline writer trying to fill space because the column leaves no doubt whatsoever.
It starts with Byrd's inventing a $90,000-a-year state gig for the sister of one of his best friends and political advisors and moves briskly from there.
Most previous House speakers needed only one official spokesperson to explain their behavior. The Senate president has two. Gov. Bush has eight. Johnnie Byrd has 13, and look at all the good it's doing him.
It starts with Byrd's inventing a $90,000-a-year state gig for the sister of one of his best friends and political advisors and moves briskly from there.
Most previous House speakers needed only one official spokesperson to explain their behavior. The Senate president has two. Gov. Bush has eight. Johnnie Byrd has 13, and look at all the good it's doing him.
3/01/2003
Sen. King reviews the basics
King talks basics:
1/ A state library should be in the capital. "We're going to find some way to keep the library where it is. We're going to find some way to fund it," he told an applauding audience at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches. "We are in Tallahassee, the capital. That's where the State Library is. That's where it should be."
2/ You have a program like PACE that costs $8,000 a year per girl served. It has a 94 percent success rate in keeping teenage girls out of jail. It costs $26,000 a year to incarcerate an adult woman. Question: aren't you saving money by keeping PACE, a program Jeb wants to kill? Hint from King: "Now, duh."
(Longer version in the Sun-Sentinel but lacks the pithy "now, duh" qote.)
1/ A state library should be in the capital. "We're going to find some way to keep the library where it is. We're going to find some way to fund it," he told an applauding audience at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches. "We are in Tallahassee, the capital. That's where the State Library is. That's where it should be."
2/ You have a program like PACE that costs $8,000 a year per girl served. It has a 94 percent success rate in keeping teenage girls out of jail. It costs $26,000 a year to incarcerate an adult woman. Question: aren't you saving money by keeping PACE, a program Jeb wants to kill? Hint from King: "Now, duh."
(Longer version in the Sun-Sentinel but lacks the pithy "now, duh" qote.)
