Author: opinionstogo

* The CDC is recommending all South Florida residents, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.

* According to Politico, Ron DeSantis won the presidential straw poll at the recent Western Conservative Summit in Denver. Trump finished second.

* “I would be much more concerned with my press secretary if the Washington Post was writing puff pieces about her.”–Gov. DeSantis’ reaction to a WaPo report that his press secretary, Christina Pushaw, has registered as a foreign agent because of previous work for the former president of Georgia.

* Val Demings’ U.S. Senate campaign has released its first TV ad. It highlights her 27-year career in law enforcement. The ad, which runs across platforms in English and Spanish, is the first statewide media buy from a Florida Senate candidate.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released a report estimating that Florida citrus growers will fill 44.75 million boxes this season, a decrease of more than 22 percent from last season. It’s also the lowest count since the 1939-40 season.

* Since the beginning of the year, Tampa police have investigated reports of 78 guns stolen from unlocked vehicles.

* “We want to bring a lot of baseball fans to Tampa.”–Bob O’Malley, BrightLine’s vice president of governmental affairs.

* “Alcaldesa”: That’s the name of Jane Castor’s dog. It means “female mayor” in Spanish.

* “It’s obvious that Russia is determined to wear down the West and is now building its strategy on the assumption that Western countries will get tired and gradually begin to change their militant rhetoric to a more accommodating one.”–Volodymyr Fesenko, political analyst with the Penta Center think tank.

* The first book written by a sitting president: “Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation” by Ronald Reagan in 1983.

* “So, will we be out of print (newspapers) sometime in the future? I don’t know the answer to that. … That issue has come upon us. We see it in publications across the country where printing and delivering seven days a week is becoming harder and harder.”–Conan Gallaty, the incoming chairman and CEO of the Tampa Bay Times.

* “It’s deranged, and we’re not playing along.”–Tucker Carlson’s take on why Fox News didn’t carry the prime-time House Select Committee hearing on the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

* ESPN averaged more than 2 million viewers per game in the Lightning-Rangers series. That’s a 71 percent increase from last year’s Eastern Conference finals.

* Sobering social media reality. One of Meta’s executive positions: the head of DOIP—or the Dangerous Organizations and Individuals Policy.

* Civil war: Isn’t that an oxymoron?

* Societal priorities: SCOTUS justices make $274,200 a year. The chief justice, John Roberts, pulls in $286,700. Minimum salary for NFL players: $660,000.

* Funny how there’s a Burger King but no Borscht Czar. After all, people who eat fast food are in a hurry … always Russian around somewhere.

* “Greedflation”: The term for corporations that take advantage of the “perfect storm” economy to jack up prices and squeeze consumers.

* Wendys: “Need Heavyset Consumers.” Taco Bell: “Free Tacos Yesterday.”

* The Tampa Bay Bowl, which used to be called the Outback Bowl, will now be called the ReliaQuest Bowl. The new sponsor is a local cybersecurity company. The previous names were better—but still not nearly as bad as Orlando’s Cheez-It Bowl.

* Congrats to the University of Florida women’s track and field team. The Gators won both the NCAA outdoor and indoor championships.

* The Lightning’s Steven Stamkos was the NHL’s overall No. 1 draft choice in 2008. No surprise. But No. 3 overall that year was (Lightning defenseman) Zach Bogosian, who was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers.

* “Sportswashing”: What human rights activists call the process of a country (such as Saudi Arabia) improving its image through staged events (such as golf) with well-known athletes.

* If Trump winds up on the 2024 ticket, it means he was never held criminally accountable. Then head’s up as the vindictive former narcissist-in-chief doubles down on Making America Grating. A Trump-Gaetz ticket?

* If Trump runs again—and (actually) wins, he would become the president of Amerika.

* Nobody ultimately looms more important to the House Committee hearings than Attorney General Merrick Garland. He’ll make the call on whether DOJ can and should prosecute Trump. No president—or ex-president—has ever been indicted.

“The Jan. 6 committee shouldn’t be necessary because the proper response and remedy to the attack should have been a rapid impeachment and conviction.”–Jonah Goldberg, Tribune Content Agency.

* “There’s no there there.”–That was the take of Mark Meadows, former Trump chief of staff, on fraud charges that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Ever notice how often that Gertrude Stein quote is employed?

* “That’s a hill that no federal prosecutor has tried to climb, prosecuting a former president. It’s very fraught. It’s a massive undertaking as an investigation, as a trial, as a national saga and trauma.”—John Q. Barrett, former associate independent counsel in the Iran-Contra investigation.

* “Former presidents who can serve another term always have a special status, at least for the first two years.”–RNC member Ron Kaufman.

* “I’d be shocked if (Trump) doesn’t run. … It’s his primary to lose.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

* Rep. Liz Cheney, among Trumpsters most reviled GOPsters, is scheduled to speak at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library later this month (June 29). Security will be tight. Mike Pence would understand.

* “The world economy … is facing high inflation and slow growth at the same time. Even if a global recession is averted, the pain of stagflation could persist for several years—unless major, supply increases are set in motion.”–World Bank President David Malpass.

* “We have the tools and team who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown. That’s the very definition of what science is. That’s what we do.”–Thomas Zurbuchan, the head of NASA’s science mission directorate, on NASA joining the hunt for UFOs.

* The expansion of NATO (Finland and Sweden) is based on the theory of deterrence—including nuclear deterrence.”–Heikki Patomaki, The Nation.

* “Russian power, it’s worth remembering, has gone through fitful cycles of stagnation, decline and resurgence; it would be wise to avoid triumphalism and complacency.”--Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies at CNA, a research institute focused on national security.

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

* “Republicans used to advocate fidelity to the rule of law and the plain text of the Constitution. In 2020, Mr. Trump convinced many to abandon those principles. … The Jan. 6 investigation isn’t only about the inexcusable violence of that day: It is also about fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law, and whether elected representatives believe in those things or not.”–Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

* “If the MAGA crowd has a beef with the (Jan. 6 Committee) facts, they will need to take it up with Republican witnesses including William Barr, former White House adviser Ivanka Trump, Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller and others.”–Jennifer Rubin, WaPo.

* “This was SeditionGate.”–Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe.

* “The number of ‘crazy’ white people in America fearing ‘replacement’ appears to be growing—and they seem ready to do whatever it takes to stay at the pinnacle of American life.”–Jonathan Capehart, WaPo.

* “The more deeply people are invested in the comfort of their lies, the less use they have for the challenges of truth.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues would love to unclog supply chains, alleviate food shortages and lower oil prices, but they can’t do any of those things. What they can do is raise short-term interest rates. That will help, but don’t expect miracles.”–Alan S. Blinder, Princeton economist and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, 1994-96.

* “A hero of the new cultural right and a prospective 2024 presidential front-runner, the governor (of Florida) is nominally Catholic and is politically friendly to conservative Christians.”–Nate Hochman, National Review.

* “America has come a long way from poll taxes, literacy tests and open intimidation and suppression of minority groups. But in the Sunshine State, what were whispers of Jim Crow-era voter suppression have become a foreboding roar.”–Gubernatorial-candidate Congressman Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, who recently wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland that Florida’s laws have disenfranchised citizens and created a “hostility” around the constitutional right to vote.