11/24/2004
Redesign
A new look at Paper Frog Simplier, more informal. Looks good.
Our Leader
I saw this billboard from I-4 in Orlando last week and just assumed it was a paid political ad. Nope. It was political public service message brought to you by Clear Channel Outdoor. Yeah, it kinda creeped me out, too. The sort of public service ad you see in people's republics.
11/21/2004
Lee and the lobbyists
11/17/2004
Real men don't drink green tea
Now it can be revealed! The Palm Beach Post quotes CNN's Candy Crowley outing John Kerry as a green-tea drinker. You know, not like real Americans.
Media Matters David Brock spits up his chai in response.
Media Matters David Brock spits up his chai in response.
11/16/2004
He's back
The man who bankrolled the Double-Your-Homestead-Exemption-And-To-Hell-With-Schools Amendment will be back for another try.
(Via the revitalized Florida Politics)
(Via the revitalized Florida Politics)
11/15/2004
Cutting back
Light blogging through Thanksgiving. Just a lot going on.
11/12/2004
Voucher ruling
The 1st DCA rules once again that the voucher law is unconstitutional.
ACLU statement here.
The first sentence of article I, section 3 of the Florida Constitution is synonymous with the federal Establishment Clause in generally prohibiting laws respecting the establishment of religion. In addition to the Establishment Clause language, article I, section 3 also includes the language of the no-aid provision, which expands the restrictions in state aid and to religion by specifically prohibiting the expenditure of public funds "directly or indirectly" to aid sectarian institutions. For a court to interpret the no-aid provision of article I, section 3 as imposing no further restrictions on the state's involvement with religious institutions than the Establishment Clause, it would have to ignore both the clear meaning and intent of the text and the unambiguous history of the no-aid provision.Full text here.
ACLU statement here.
11/11/2004
Maud on the fair
Florida ex-pat Maud Newton follows the Miami Book Fair with links to an excellent Hiaasen interview and to an exchange with that smug 'n' smarmy David Brooks.
No Vote Necessary
David Broader writes about the automatic reappointment of Rep. John Mica, my unelected congressman.
His story says a lot about what has happened to the House of Representatives, the part of the federal government designed to be closest to the people, but one that has become more like an American House of Lords.Yup. I wrote something along the same lines last May. (And I know absolutely nothing about the site that picked this column up.)
The best they can do?
I don't understand the enthusiasm of some Democrats for a run for governor by Fla. Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell.
But if you're going to abandon your base and become the Republican Lite Party, I guess he's you guy. Fortunately for him, people have already forgotten his embarrassing role sponsoring and initially defending the state's late, unlamented "scarlet letter law." (See the Flablog Vault of Memory here and here and here.) And he was one of the Democrats who initially voted for Big Sugar's slow-the-Everglades-cleanup bill.
But if you're going to abandon your base and become the Republican Lite Party, I guess he's you guy. Fortunately for him, people have already forgotten his embarrassing role sponsoring and initially defending the state's late, unlamented "scarlet letter law." (See the Flablog Vault of Memory here and here and here.) And he was one of the Democrats who initially voted for Big Sugar's slow-the-Everglades-cleanup bill.
Monumentally bad budgeting
The mark of a truly bad legislative session is that after it ends, you still don't know all the things it did wrong. The hits just keep on coming. Last year's sessions were monumentally bad. And, sure enough, we're still finding out how bad.
The St. Pete Times editorial page notes the handiwork of Monumental egos:
The state will spend $30-million this year to build an Alzheimer's research center named after Byrd's father, a biomedical research center named after King's parents, and a chiropractic school at a university that never asked for it. But there's more. The law directs the state's chief finance officer to write checks directly to those centers in future years - bypassing future Legislatures.
Not only is this venial and arrogant, it's unconstitutional.
As Lucy Morgan reports:
"It's not constitutional," former university chancellor E.T. York said Monday. A legal battle over the law would be the first attempt to have the courts clarify the Board of Governors' authority over the creation of new programs in higher education. The constitutional amendment creating the board won overwhelming support from voters, but York said the board has been ignored by Gov. Jeb Bush and state lawmakers.
The governor has asked for repeal. We'll see.
The St. Pete Times editorial page notes the handiwork of Monumental egos:
The state will spend $30-million this year to build an Alzheimer's research center named after Byrd's father, a biomedical research center named after King's parents, and a chiropractic school at a university that never asked for it. But there's more. The law directs the state's chief finance officer to write checks directly to those centers in future years - bypassing future Legislatures.
Not only is this venial and arrogant, it's unconstitutional.
As Lucy Morgan reports:
"It's not constitutional," former university chancellor E.T. York said Monday. A legal battle over the law would be the first attempt to have the courts clarify the Board of Governors' authority over the creation of new programs in higher education. The constitutional amendment creating the board won overwhelming support from voters, but York said the board has been ignored by Gov. Jeb Bush and state lawmakers.
The governor has asked for repeal. We'll see.
11/10/2004
Another blog heard from
11/09/2004
2006
I don't mean to depress folks but yes, the lists of potential candidates for governor in 2006 are appearing. A lot of the same names show up in lists of potential 2006 US Senate candidates. Wow. Imagine a ballot with both Katherine Harris and Chain-gang Charley Crist. (He's tan, he's rested!)
11/08/2004
1-800-man-date?
Florida's right-wingyest daily runs a pecular correction:
Oh, dear.
(Via Romenesko)
A toll-free number to a non-partisan organization tracking the election turned out to be painfully wrong. Instead, the wrong number referred callers to a sex talk service.
Oh, dear.
(Via Romenesko)
Mandate fever, is it catching?
Jeb has mandate fever and wants the Legislature to catch it. You know that means -- vouchers, vouchers, vouchers with vouchers on the side, fried vouchers and vouchers with cream. And getting the Legislature to just forget about the scandals over their abuse and the general lack of accountability in the system.
This time, though, Jeb is working with a different Legislative leadership that is committed to acting like big people -- unlike a certain speaker of the house whose name is no longer spoken in Tallahassee. And leadership that is less interested in wedge-issue ideological warfare or figure-out-the-details-later initiatives from the governor's office.
They actually want to deal with wonk stuff like growth management (not in the tree-hugger sense but in the who-pays-for-growth sense), budget reform, legislative procedural change . . . We'll see how long that lasts.
But first, there's the hurricane special session coming up next month. (It was delayed until after the elections to ensure nobody would need to deal with a certain former speaker of the House.) There are a lot of popular measures most of which will cost a bundle. Hey, who here wants to spend $35 million pouring sand into the ocean in Brevard County?
This time, though, Jeb is working with a different Legislative leadership that is committed to acting like big people -- unlike a certain speaker of the house whose name is no longer spoken in Tallahassee. And leadership that is less interested in wedge-issue ideological warfare or figure-out-the-details-later initiatives from the governor's office.
They actually want to deal with wonk stuff like growth management (not in the tree-hugger sense but in the who-pays-for-growth sense), budget reform, legislative procedural change . . . We'll see how long that lasts.
But first, there's the hurricane special session coming up next month. (It was delayed until after the elections to ensure nobody would need to deal with a certain former speaker of the House.) There are a lot of popular measures most of which will cost a bundle. Hey, who here wants to spend $35 million pouring sand into the ocean in Brevard County?
Wiki
I didn't know that the co-founder of the Wikipedia lives in Floridia. My tiny contribution to Wikipedia? Getting it to spell "DeLand" correctly.
11/04/2004
Bad Mel/Good Mel
Personally, I'm ashamed that Florida is represented in the U.S. Senate by a somebody like Mel Martinez, a hatchet man who campaigns on fear and prejudice and then blames his staff if people call him on it. Most people say he's not a rightwing mouth-breather, he just plays one TV. This is suppose to make us feel better about him.
The St. Pete Times urges him to clean up his act and seems to assume he will. Liberals are so-o-o forgiving. It's like Herblock granting Nixon "a free shave" when he took office.
The South Fla. Sentinel likewise gives Martinez a free pass for on an ugly campaign.
The St. Pete Times urges him to clean up his act and seems to assume he will. Liberals are so-o-o forgiving. It's like Herblock granting Nixon "a free shave" when he took office.
The South Fla. Sentinel likewise gives Martinez a free pass for on an ugly campaign.
MUST READ !!!
Justin Sayfie, Republican political consultant and publisher of the invaluable, right-slanted roundup of state political news known as the Sayfie Review, says that he's putting the Review on hiatus.
We shall miss the crude Drudge-style layout, the corny flashing-light animated GIFs and the red-letter all-cap "MUST READ!!!" lead-ins.
We shall miss the crude Drudge-style layout, the corny flashing-light animated GIFs and the red-letter all-cap "MUST READ!!!" lead-ins.
How to
11/03/2004
Bad night
As any Red Sox fan can tell you, it's the close losses that hurt the worst.
The error-in-extra-innings kind of loss. The kind that magnifies every mistake of the season. The fact that the team was good enough to make it close doesn't matter. You still wake up in the middle of night seeing the replay of the ball going between Bill Buckner's legs.
Up and down the ballot, 2004 held those kind of defeats for Democrats and moderates. Theapparent defeat of Betty Castor, although about as close as it can get, still sends a message: the guy who goes negative the hardest wins. Castor won decisively among self-described moderates, but they aren't a majority anymore. They don't even matter anymore.
Despite an energetic campaign that was everywhere in the state and did well in the I-4 corridor, Kerry still didn't do as well in Florida as Gore did. The South Florida margins had to be a disappointment to both Kerry and Castor.
These are not the kind of victories that make for a mandate. Not that that will stop anybody. These are not home-run-in-the-ninth victories. These are error-in-the-10th victories.
The error-in-extra-innings kind of loss. The kind that magnifies every mistake of the season. The fact that the team was good enough to make it close doesn't matter. You still wake up in the middle of night seeing the replay of the ball going between Bill Buckner's legs.
Up and down the ballot, 2004 held those kind of defeats for Democrats and moderates. The
Despite an energetic campaign that was everywhere in the state and did well in the I-4 corridor, Kerry still didn't do as well in Florida as Gore did. The South Florida margins had to be a disappointment to both Kerry and Castor.
These are not the kind of victories that make for a mandate. Not that that will stop anybody. These are not home-run-in-the-ninth victories. These are error-in-the-10th victories.
11/02/2004
T-U editorial editor resigns
At the right-wingest editorial page in Florida journalism, the editorial page editor has resigned after an internal task force found evidence of plagerism.
(Via Romenesko)
The investigation was prompted by a story appearing in a local alt weekly. (E&P story here.)
(Via Romenesko)
The investigation was prompted by a story appearing in a local alt weekly. (E&P story here.)
The computer ate my vote
Mine was one of 13,244 votes at City Island Library that were wiped out by a faulty memory card.
Fortunately, these are mark-and-scan ballots. All the elections folks needed to do was run the paper ballots through a tabulating machine again. You can do that when you have paper ballots.
Fortunately, these are mark-and-scan ballots. All the elections folks needed to do was run the paper ballots through a tabulating machine again. You can do that when you have paper ballots.
11/01/2004
Last round polling
Florida polling continues to be all over the place.
FOX News says it's Kerry -- 49-44-1.
CNN has Kerry 49-46-1
Strategic Vision says it's Bush -- 47-45-1. (And it's Martinez 49-45)
FOX News says it's Kerry -- 49-44-1.
CNN has Kerry 49-46-1
Strategic Vision says it's Bush -- 47-45-1. (And it's Martinez 49-45)
Posers at the polls
Joshuah Bearman spots some covert Republican agit-prop theatrics at a Ft. Lauderdale polling place.
(Via Eschaton.)
If Republicans are spending Sunday afternoon trying to fool voters with the some Gay Adoption signs then they must be in trouble. And the people in line weren't buying. "Nobody in this line is going to listen to them," one woman said. A chorus of voters on either side chimed in: "That's right"; "We know what we're doing"; "We're voting for Kerry no matter what that guy in the sign thinks he's saying."
Among the few people who didn’t realize what was happening at first, they were extremely annoyed when they figured it out. "Is that Republicans over there? Yeah, it is!" said a man toward the back of the line. "They're gonna come down here and, try to try to fool us? That's not happening." Behind him, a woman added: "Un-huh, that's not right."
(Via Eschaton.)
Fight!
Deputy tackles, arrests journalist for photographing voters. And it's not even Election Day yet.
AntiKerry infomercial aired
More than a 100 callers complain after Orlando's Channel 6 airs Stolen Honor as an anti-Kerry infomercial.
Same thing at WPLG, Channel 10 in Ft. Lauderdale. (Scroll to end of story.) The documentary interrupted a Michigan vs. Michigan State college football game that was tied, 37-37, and about to go into overtime.
See Slate story for more.
Same thing at WPLG, Channel 10 in Ft. Lauderdale. (Scroll to end of story.) The documentary interrupted a Michigan vs. Michigan State college football game that was tied, 37-37, and about to go into overtime.
See Slate story for more.
Nobody for president!
The News-Press has become the second Florida daily to endorse Bush in 2000 and then endorse nobody in 2004.
(Via Interstate4jamming.)
In 1992, we endorsed Bill Clinton. In 1996, the editorial board was evenly split between Clinton and Bob Dole; we didn't endorse. In 2000, we endorsed George W. Bush. This year, our board is as divided as the country and our board members equally as passionate about their choices. That is why we are not endorsing a candidate for president of the United States.
(Via Interstate4jamming.)
