Author: opinionstogo

Donald Trump’s inexplicably viable, front-runner status—despite his unprincipled, embarrassing track record and ongoing fraud and criminal legal problems—is an indictment of American democracy. And it hardly helps that “debates” are staged performance art, and fund-raising and advertising can be more consequential than a candidate’s policies. And it’s beyond worrisome that Trump has doubled down on his authoritarian essence with this rally warning: “I am your retribution.”

This can’t be what anyone—possibly including MAGA minions and the Koch Brothers–had in mind about American “exceptionalism.”

* Abortion rights continue to fuel Democratic optimism. Pro choice is more than a bumper-sticker freedom.

* “Kamala Harris has been raked over the coals as vice president. But few have ever doubted her skill as a passionate inquisitor and prosecutor—roles essential in a presidential campaign. It’s time to let Kamala Harris be herself. … (She) plainly gets under the skin of MAGA politicians and right-wing media.”–Jennifer Rubin, WaPo.

* “There was an assault weapons ban at one time. It expired. Let’s renew it.”–VP Kamala Harris.

* RFK Jr., Marianne Williamson, Joe Manchin: Biden alternatives? Hardly. And it hardly helps.

* “Competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be and adversarial when it must be.”–Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the U.S. approach to China.

* “We’re finally getting it done.”– President Joe Biden in showcasing more than $16 billion in federal investments for rail travel along the Northeast Corridor.

* End Citizens United/Let America Vote, the grass-roots organization committed to protecting the freedom to vote and reforming the broken campaign-finance system, has officially endorsed the re-election of President Joe Biden.

* Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 83, is running for re-election. Not all octogenarians are the same.

* Cuban-heavy Hialeah has the second-highest Affordable Care Act enrollment in the country.

* “Nuestros Suenos” (“Our dreams”) and “Firme” (“Strong”): Democratic Spanish language TV ads in South Florida that target Venezuelan-Americans.

* We should probably stop putting people who are preparing for the Rapture in charge of anything anymore.

* Maybe those Founding Fathers were on to something by not including anything in the Constitution about a two-party system.

* I too was once a male trapped in a female body … But then my mother gave birth.

* When posing for a photo, don’t cross your arms in front of you. It makes you look like a self-satisfied real estate agent or a showboating athlete.

* Writer and satirist Fran Lebowitz played Tampa recently at the Straz. She’s opinionated, caustic, quick and funny. She’d be great to meet at a cocktail party—not so great as a next-door neighbor.

* Electoral euphemism: Candidates don’t drop out; they permanently “suspend” campaigns.

* The Gunshine State has seen an unsurprising drop in gun-safety classes. Permitless-carry laws have their ripple effects.

* The Florida Legislature has only one member–State Rep. Randy Fine of southern Brevard County–who is both Jewish and Republican.

* Disney has joined the sports betting business. It has launched its own app, ESPN Bet.

* Speaking of, Disney—according to a study by Oxford Economics—had a $40.3 billion economic impact on Florida in fiscal 2022.

* It looks increasingly appropriate that Ron DiSastrous announced his presidential bid on Elon Musk’s X-rated, social medium platform.

* The Florida State Guard: Get rid of those brown shirts.

* When the Tallahassee remake of New College is complete, it will look like Hillsdale, the GOP-backed, private, conservative Christian Michigan college.

* The governor swears he doesn’t wear height-enhancing lifts in those incongruous, bizarrely-shaped cowboy boots to look like a taller leader. But his campaign does need a vertical lift.

* Sixty years ago President John F. Kennedy visited Tampa, just days before Dallas. Another reminder that the security in a problematic area (mob boss/casino losses and Cubans embittered by the Bay of Pigs outcome) was so much better than in the “Hate Capital of the South.”

* Thanks to nearly $4 million in federal grant money, the Tampa Police Department will be hiring 30 new officers. Yeah, big government can help.

* The Wall Street Journal has ranked TIA among the top 10 best airports in the U.S.

* “A talent importer.”–Outgoing University of Tampa President Rick Vaughn, on the number of UT (enrollment now 11,000) students who now remain in the area after graduation.

* Trump’s Hialeah rally during the GOP presidential-candidate debate in Miami: counter programming.

* “Here is a truth: Anything good for cable news is bad for humanity.”–Peggy Noonan, WSJ.

* Remember when polls were more credible—and not “breaking news” snapshots? Land lines ruled and “push polls” was an unfamiliar coinage. When polling was the province of specific experts–think Gallup–and not a news-making extension of the media. When respondents were receptive and candid–if not flattered–to be involved. Bottom line: Voters vote, polls don’t.

* Meta says Facebook and Instagram will soon be requiring political ads running on their platforms to disclose if they are Artificial Intelligence.

* IBM is the latest prominent advertiser to pull its ads from former-Twitter “X.” Hate-speech concerns and Elon Musk’s controversial tweets on anti-semitism have everything to do with it.

* How could you have made the Israel-Hamas war a major part of the Miami GOP debate without any reference to the overriding need for a two-state solution?

* Some memorable debate lines are less “memorable” than others. Exhibit A: “You’re just scum.” That was Nikki Haley to Vivek Ramaswamy, who had referenced her daughter in a Tik Tok riff.

*Takeaway: Exactly what time slot will Fox offer Ramaswamy?

* CBS will be honoring Dick Van Dyke later this month (Dec. 21) with a birthday special. Van Dyke will be 98. “Rob Petrie” lives on.

* ESPN’s College Game Day is now a fixture of the Saturday college football scene. They set up shop on a host campus. Directly behind the pre-game chattering broadcasters is a background of amped-up students with signs that will show up on national TV. It used to be “Go Irish” or “Beat Bama” or “Hi Mom.” Now it’s signage such as “I Have To Pee” and “Michigan Took My Other Sign.”

* Since the Supreme Court helped usher in more sports betting in 2018, Americans have responded with more than $270 billion in sports wagering on various events.

* “I understand the (stadium) debate between Tampa and St. Pete, which side. St. Pete today is different than it was five years ago. I really believe that if Stu Sternberg’s prepared to commit to the deal in St. Pete, it’s going to be a good deal for baseball.”–MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

* Tampa Bay Sun: The Tampa-based women’s professional soccer franchise in the United Soccer League that will debut next year.

* Shout-out to Plant High for winning a state volleyball championship—for the 12^th time.

* Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was a distracting, geopolitical gift to Russia. Also call it an ironic birthday present for the 71-year-old Putin, who knew this could lead to “Ukraine fatigue.”

* “March for Israel.” “March for Palestinians.” Why not just a “March for Civilian Victims”?

* “God, Guns And Trump”: New campaign hats on display at the recent Freedumb Summit in Kissimmee.

* “All Gave Some, Some Gave All, One Had Bone Spurs.”–Vets Against Trump T-Shirt.

* Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has endorsed Ron DiSastrous. Typically, Iowa governors stay neutral before the January caucuses. Trump remains a heavy favorite in the Silo State. How important is Iowa for momentum? The last three GOP winners: Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz.

* “Father Time is undefeated. Donald Trump is not exempt from any of that.”–Ron DiSastrous.

* Legacy reminder: The national debt actually increased by nearly $8 trillion during the Trump Administration. It’s not “fake news.” And it’s something Trump would have had to defend had he participated in the Miami debate. So, however cowardly, as Chris Christie labeled it, Trump’s no-show seems a strategic success.

* If Trump escapes the slammer and wins the nomination, speculation will be rampant about a running mate. Reportedly, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kid Rock are still in the populist mix.

* “I had no involvement and never worked on my father’s statement of financial condition.” That was Eric Trump in the context of his father’s civil fraud trial over inflated net worth. Bottom disingenuous line: He was only the vice president of the Trump Organization, so he wouldn’t be involved in serious financial matters. Another day at the orifice.

*” I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can’t, I will.”–New York state Judge Arthur Engoron to Trump’s attorney at his fraud trial.

* A reminder of the best, self-serving, strategic response under oath: “I don’t recall”—Ivanka Trump.

* “He has incredible vision that other people don’t.”–Donald Trump Jr., the visionary’s son, at his father’s trial.

* “Each courtroom defeat, small and procedural or a full-on guilty verdict, simply fans the flames for (Trump) rally crowds.”–Peter Van Buren, The American Conservative.

* Exporting Trump: Hard-right icon Geert Wilders and his anti-European Union Party for Freedom finished first in recent parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. Wilders is known as the “Dutch Donald Trump.”

* Remember when South Carolina GOP Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” as President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress and laid out his health care proposal? What an outrage. And what a precursor. It did get worse.

* Donald Trump got a Rick Scott endorsement. So what.

 

* “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”–Bertrand Russell.

* “War is always cruel, and who pays the price? Children.”–Pope Francis.

* “Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”–China President Xi Jinping, in a meeting with President Biden on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco.

* “China bans criticism it doesn’t like. You can’t even post a picture of Winnie the Pooh, because it’s seen as a jab as Xi Jinping.”–Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch.

* “A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman thinks of the next generation.”–19th century theologian and author James Freeman Clarke.

* “While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.”–SCOTUS Justice John Paul Stevens, in reference to the Citizens United case.

* “The biggest menace we face is our own political dysfunction. … The new generation of America Firsters seems hellbent on crippling the United States’ global power.”–Max Boot, Council on Foreign Relations.

* “Definitely Biden is less forceful in his presentation than he used to be. But he also just keeps succeeding in every category except the crucial one in which Donald Trump excels, which is showmanship, and so gets far less credit than he deserves.”–Melinda Henneberger, Kansas City Star.

* “I’ve never seen in my 30 years of public service this magnitude of pain, shock and anger burning in the hearts of all Jews.”–Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

* “This is going to be a reality for us very soon.”–TIA CEO Joe Lopano, on the upcoming use of electric air taxis.

* “The police department can’t handle this problem on its own. This is a community problem.”–Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw, in reference to recent Ybor City shootings.

* “I will not let you down.”–Hillsborough County School Superintendent Van Ayres, now that his “interim” status has become permanent.

* “The proposed streetcar expansion isn’t geared toward tourists; it will provide a reliable transit option for our residents and enable us to accommodate more people in our urban core.”–Tampa City Councilman Alan Clendinen.

* “The Hines/Rays agreement framework is affordable, responsible and provides significant returns to the city.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch.