Category: Media Watch

* “Characteristically disgusting, offensive and outrageous.”–White House spokesman Tommy Vietor characterizing the anti-Israeli comments at the United Nations of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

* “I see these protesters in countries like Egypt. They’re all burning American flags. If you hate us so much, how do you have a large supply of American flags on hand?”–Jay Leno.

* “The Republican Party and apparently Mitt Romney, too, has shifted toward a much more hyperindividualistic and atomistic social view–from the Reaganesque language of common citizenship to the libertarian language of makers and takers.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “I have a record. I’ve demonstrated my capacity to help the 100 per cent when I was governor.”–Mitt Romney.

* “They (Republicans) want to talk about the people at the front of the plane, but they forget that wherever this plane is going, we’re all going there together.”–Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker addressing a Hillsborough County Democrats’ fundraising dinner.

* “It’s harder to turn out a vote against someone than a vote for someone.”–Roger Simon, Politico.

* “I grew up in a religious environment, and I’m proud of it. I was going to be a priest; I’m proud of it. And I thank God I believe in God or I would probably be enormously angry right now.”–Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

* “It’s still very much a toss-up. It’s a turnout game.”–Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling and Research on the state of the presidential race in Florida.

* “Florida is the future, today.”–Former President Bill Clinton on Florida’s demographics.

* “What we’re seeing is that our participation in the labor market is declining.”–Amy Baker, the Florida Legislature’s top economist.

* “I’ve been a broker for 30 years, and I have never seen more demand from the tenant side of the business.”–Kevin Chadwick, owner of seven Keller Williams franchises in the Tampa Bay market.

* “That means move over Johns Hopkins. USF is here. Move over, NYU and Michigan. USF is among you. Move over, Duke. …USF is in this very elite group.”–University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft in announcing that USF has now broken into the top 50 public and private universities in the nation in federal research dollars.

* “I’ve never met anyone at the university level, particularly at medical schools, that leads with that type of innovation, energy–and just tenacity.”–Rep. Will Weatherford, incoming Speaker of the state House, describing Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF Morsani College of Medicine.

* “This is allowing for a whole new conversation with the global container shipping companies. They see lots of interesting potential to not only load and discharge containers from this market but also to extend their reach beyond Florida.”–Wade Elliot, Tampa Port Authority’s senior director of marketing, on the implications of building the I-4 “Connector” and a 2-mile railway loop on Hooker’s Point.

* “We feel very confident that we will get out of this and prosper.”–Phil Alessi, owner of the 100-year-old Alessi Bakery that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

* “Nobody accomplishes things alone.”–Tampa Bay business icon and philanthropist Gus Stavros.

* “Anxiety lives in the future.”–Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon.

* “I’d be a liar to say I’m not afraid (of a lengthy lockout). Especially as a group right now, the organization from top to bottom are very enthusiastic about the momentum we have with our fans and the building, the new players we acquired this summer. There is so much positive stuff going for us, it would be sad if (the lockout) were long.”–Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher.

Perry Harvey, 81, died recently. He was a former president of Local 1402 of the International Longshoremen’s Association and the acknowledged political power broker for Tampa’s black community for several decades. He went on to become Tampa’s first black city councilman.

Harvey was controversial and confrontational–but a trailblazing figure in local civil rights. Mayor Bob Buckhorn recalled Harvey as a “fierce advocate for the African-American community,” one who “never, ever lost sight of the fact that he represented those who had never had a fair playing field.”

His death was front page news in both local dailies. With one notable difference.

The  Tampa Tribune included a prominent file photo of a handcuffed Harvey on the jump. He had been indicted on charges of embezzling union funds. A jury would find him not guilty.

Was this perp-walk photo inclusion really necessary in the context of reporting his death? Especially since he would be found not guilty. Just asking.

* “China is now a strange hybrid–an autocracy with 400 million bloggers, who are censored, feared and listened to all at the same time.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “The euro is irreversible.”–Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank.

* “Americans of all sorts are nervous about being dragged into Syria and worried about Iran getting the bomb. They are fed up with being described as anti-Islam when their country is, in fact, far more welcoming to Shiite Muslims than, say, Sunni Saudi Arabia is.–The Economist.

* “It’s like Timothy McVeigh walking into a shop in Oklahoma City and saying, ‘I’d like to tend my garden. I’d like to buy some fertilizer.’ … Come on, we know they’re working on a weapon.”–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran’s nuclear plans.

* “I think we should remove ourselves from Afghanistan as quickly as we can. I just think we’re killing kids that don’t need to die.”–U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores.

* “Democrats are engaged in a serious get-out-the-vote effort. But in politics, as in courtship, organization is usually a poor substitute for passion.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.

* “It is harder to turn out a vote against someone than a vote for someone.”–Roger Simon, Politico.

* “It’s very import for Ann Romney to connect with conservative women in Florida because they are a group that did not turn out in high numbers for McCain in 2008. In the past, when Republicans have done well in statewide elections in Florida, it’s because the women’s vote has been split.”–Susan MacManus, USF political science professor.

* The real problem with our schools isn’t poor teachers or inadequate funding. The real problem is poverty.”–Daniel Akst, Newsday.

* “Florida is the future, today.”–Former President Bill Clinton on Florida’s demographics.

* “As the finance chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, I make this simple vow: I will do everything within my power to raise enough funds for Floridians to see the true character of Charlie Crist and to ensure he never sets foot in the Tallahassee house on Adams Street as a sitting governor again.”–Dr. Akshay M. Desai, president and CEO of Universal Health Care in St. Petersburg and finance chairman of the Florida GOP.

* “The city of Tampa hardly uses this port at all. The region uses this port.”–Richard Wainio, former director of the Port of Tampa.

* “All big cities have adequate mass transit. It’s the one deficiency that we have. It shows up when we have big events, and it shows up in our daily lives.”–Former Mayor Pam Iorio.

* “Nobody accomplishes things alone.”–Tampa Bay business icon and philanthropist Gus Stavros.

Remember when it was a big deal when Ellen DeGeneres came out on “The Ellen Show”? That now famous “Puppy Episode.” A cultural tipping point. How yesterday.

This week featured the prime-time debut of NBC’s “The New Normal.” Your basic gay couple hires a surrogate single mom to give birth to their child. An ongoing subplot features the surrogate’s mom, who is no central casting grandmother. Instead, she’s a raving, homophobic bigot. So not “Will and Grace.”

* “I would have said four years ago that the al-Qaida movement was emerging as a bigger problem, especially with the emergence of affiliates in places like Yemen and with the spike in homegrown attacks. But I would say today that al-Qaidaism is on the decline.”–Phil Mudd, senior counterterrorism official at the CIA and FBI during the Bush and Obama administrations.

* “In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president’s re-election was pretty simple: We left him a total mess. He hasn’t cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in.”–Former President Bill Clinton.

* “They vet most of the people, but I told them, ‘You can’t do that with me, because I don’t know what I’m going to say.'”–Clint Eastwood.

* “In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay.”–Julian Castro, the Democratic mayor of San Antonio.

* “The secretary of ‘splainin’ stuff.”–President Barack Obama’s post-convention reference to a would-be cabinet position for Bill Clinton.

* “In Romney’s world, the cars get the elevators; the workers get the shaft.”–Jennifer Granholm, former Democratic governor of Michigan.

* “If you examine the numbers, they suggest that most Americans aren’t better off than they were four years ago–but aren’t much worse off either. The big difference may be their state of mind.”–Robert Samuelson, Washington Post.

* “‘Weaponized Keynesianism’: the claim that government spending can’t create jobs unless the money goes to defense contractors, in which case it’s the lifeblood of the economy.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.

* “The fact is our destinies are shaped by social forces much more than the current GOP is willing to admit.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “The party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan doesn’t seem like a party anymore, but a cult.”–Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald.

* “It is harder to turn out a vote against someone than a vote for someone.”–Roger Simon, Politico.

* “This is totally unnecessary, this is avoidable, and our kids do not deserve this.”–Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the Chicago teacher strike.

* “I’m one of those believers who says, ‘If you want to join our church, you’re always welcome in our congregation.’  But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to make you my preacher.”–Florida Democratic chairman Rod Smith on speculation that former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist may make a gubernatorial run as a Democrat in 2014.

* “All big cities have adequate mass transit. It’s the one deficiency that we have. It shows up when we have big events, and it shows up in our daily lives. If we had it for the convention, my guess is, light rail would have connected major activity centers together. People would have used it.”–Former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

* “We now have eight years to look at changing our budget without having to change our service.”–David Mechanik, president of the Tampa Streetcar board, on the financial outlook for the streetcar system.

* “If the city plans on keeping these cameras, I think they can be better utilized in other areas with a higher concentration of crime.”–City Councilman Frank Reddick on what to do with the surveillance cameras that were used to monitor GOP Convention crowds.

* “The city of Tampa hardly uses this port at all. The region uses this port.”–Richard Wainio, recently resigned director of the Port of Tampa.

“Any time the world hears the word ‘Tampa,’ that just reinforces in their mind that there are other places in Florida besides Miami and Orlando.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “The vast difference between the liberty-limiting, radical left-wing, anti-business, reckless-spending, tax-hiking party of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi versus an energized America that knows we can do better.”–Fox News Channel talk-show host and former Republican governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee.

* “It was once said that parties of the left and right in France didn’t just dream of defeating each other. They dreamed of annihilating each other. That kind of extreme partisanship has been alien to the United States. Until now.”–Bill Schneider, professor of public and international affairs at George Mason University.

* “A masquerade party to cover up the final takeover of the Republican Party by the right. It was like Barry Goldwater in ’64.”–Obama strategist David Alexrod’s characterization of last week’s GOP Convention.

* “The stage show looked like America, but the convention hall did not.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

*”There is no organic connection between Romney and the GOP base. You could feel it in the hall. He is renting the party to fulfill his dream of becoming president, and they’re renting him to get rid of President Obama.”–Thomas J. Friedman, New York Times.

* “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.”–Romney pollster Neil Newhouse.

* “Ryan is the most conservative running mate in 100 years. The Democratic equivalent would be Dennis Kucinich.”–Comedian Bill Maher.

* “I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my future will always be speculated about. Even if Mitt Romney wins on Nov. 6, as I expect him to, people will start speculating about 2020 then, OK?”–New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the GOP Convention’s keynote speaker.

* “We did it. I think we have set the standard for how these events should run.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “I applaud the people of this region for their incredible hospitality.”–Michael Steele, former RNC chairman.

* “I truly believe Chief Castor has done a tremendous job in preparation and a wonderful job with protesters.”–Tampa City Councilman Frank Reddick.

* “We can go out to the world and say we just hosted one of the biggest gatherings in the world–peacefully.”–Kelly Miller, president and CEO of Tampa Bay and Co.

* “All that planning paid off. I have really been amazed. You’d think there would be more mess.”–Tonia Brickhouse, Tampa’s Solid Waste Department supervisor.

* “As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind’s first small step on a world beyond our own.”–NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr.

* “We have put our faith in God that hurricanes will not be here.”–RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

* “‘RNC 2012: The Road to Jeb Bush 2016.'”–Comedy Channel host Jon Stewart.

* “It did wonders for Obama. … It didn’t help John Kerry.”–University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato on the impact that political conventions–for example, the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston–can have on campaigns and political careers.

* “Party politics, and dirty politics, kicked in the minute George Washington decided not to seek a third term.”–W. Ralph Eubanks, publishing director at the Library of Congress.

* “So will the choice of Ryan mean a serious campaign? No, because Ryan isn’t a serious man–he just plays one on TV.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.

* “It’s almost like a reboot for your brain and your soul.”–Padmasree Warrior, chief technology and strategy officer at Cisco Systems, on the need to take periodic breaks from tech devices.

* “Nobody needs to cry for me. I’m going to be great.”–Lance Armstrong.

* “The (63) papers we sold, we sold to a good buyer (Berkshire Hathaway), and we retained one paper. If there were any paper we would want to retain, it’s the Tampa Tribune. It’s a great market. It’s large enough to be a stand-alone paper, and a paper we can be proud of.”–Marshall Morton, chief executive of Media General Inc., owner of the Tribune.

* “It’s definitely an agency that could do with fewer people. That’s the reality of it.”–Former Mayor Pam Iorio, now interim chief executive of the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, on cutting 15 full-time positions.

* “I hope it spurs some economic development along the corridor. When you have a pedestrian-friendly street, there are studies that show people linger and spend more time and more money.”–Tampa Downtown Partnership Transportation and Planning Director Karen Kress on the potential impact of the Zack Street Promenade of the Arts project.

* “The power structure here is horizontal. You can get to know the players very easily.”–Rick Homans, CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp.

* “In the event of a Republican victory, Ryan would be as dominant a figure on economic policy as Dick Cheney was on foreign policy under George W. Bush.”–Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief,  the Slate Group.

* “The secretive, ambiguous Romney was desperate for ideological clarity, so he outsourced his political identity to Ryan, a numbers guy whose numbers don’t add up.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “Your budget appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”–Jesuit letter to Paul Ryan, Catholic vice presidential nominee.

* “We have chosen a tax system that raises relatively little revenue and inflicts maximum economic harm. Every other industrial country has a national consumption tax, which can be used to raise a lot of money without distorting people’s economic incentives. The United States, by contrast, relies mostly on taxes on labor and capital that dampen people’s drive to work and invest, putting a drag on economic growth.”–Eduardo Porter, New York Times.

* “When George Herbert Walker Bush ran for president, he promised the American people he wouldn’t raise their taxes. He lied to them. He broke his commitment to them and they threw him out of office four years later.”–Grover Norquist.

* “The circumstances change and you can’t be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It’s–who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway?”–Former President George H.W. Bush.

* “When you talk about eliminating deductions and tax credits for the few, at the expense of the many, I think over time the Republican party’s position is going to shift. It needs to, quite frankly, because we are $16 trillion in debt.”–Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.

* “What’s needed is a restoration of Glass-Steagall, the Depression-era legislation that separated commercial and investment banking.”–David A. Stockman, former director of President Ronald Reagan’s Office of Management and Budget.

* “The next media jackpot.”–Forbes magazine’s characterization of the Hispanic television market.

* “Our very best teachers ought to be treated much, much better than they are today. But in order to get there, we need to be able to say out loud that some teachers are better than others.”–Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Educational Reform.

* “The state has failed to satisfy its burden of proving that those changes will not have a retrogressive effect on minority voters.”–From written statement of three-judge tribunal in U.S. District Court in Washington disallowing Florida’s decision to reduce the days of early voting in Hillsborough and four other counties.

* “We’re going to play well on (GOP Convention) game day.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “The streetcar’s a good investment. That’s the way people should look at it.”–Ybor City Chamber of Commerce President Tom Keating.

* “We don’t unfetter for anybody.”–Rays’ manager Joe Maddon underscoring that although the Rays were cooperating with behind-the-scenes TV show Caught Looking, the cameras and microphones would not have unfettered access.

It probably won’t be enough to help its ever-tanking ratings, but CNN is literally carving out a high-profile presence at the Republican Convention. It’s setting up one of its CNN Grills, a TV studio-restaurant-bar hybrid, in the first floor of the parking garage alongside the Tampa Bay Times Forum. You can’t get much closer to the convention floor and still be outside the Forum.

This uber  high-traffic hangout will be home to morning political programs as well as special reports and an ad hoc, late-night interview show hosted by Piers Morgan. But most notably, CNN will be highlighting a group of undecided voters it will bring in throughout the week. Explains CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist: “At the end of the day, the political convention is really for the party faithful, but the people who decide this election will be undecided voters from a handful of states like Florida.”

OK, we get that. In the abstract. The question is who, barely nine weeks removed from the election, truly remains “undecided”? You don’t have to believe that the incumbent is an alien socialist or the challenger a cult member who loves firing people to perceive significant candidate differences.

Maybe these resident “independents” have recently regained consciousness. Or perhaps they have an agenda like everyone else involved–and have been holding out for CNN Grill exposure.