Category: Uncategorized

• Next time a presidential debate features a mute button, why not let the moderator control it? NBC’s Kristen Welker might agree. At the last Biden-Trump debate, a member of the debate commission was in control, as it were, of the mute button.
• We know that presidential debates are typically more performance art than “debate,” but it’s still worth seeing the candidates juxtaposed. But let’s not concede more than we should; let’s not, as Welker did and others have done, introduce a presidential debate as “the show.” It can become self-fulfilling.
• “(Dr. Anthony Fauci) seems to get more airtime than anybody since the late, great, Bob Hope.” Yes, that was the airtimer-in-chief.

• Thanks again, Bolts and Rays. We needed that lockdown diversion and home team, community pride. Now go, Bucs.
• “United from Start to Finish:” New, well-tested USF Bulls’ mantra, as introduced by first-year head coach Jeff Scott.

• “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”—Pope Francis.
• “The world no longer looks up to America. … They no longer think we can lead, because they have seen an ineptness and a disdain for civility that is beyond anything in their memory. But without American leadership, the world will, indeed, be transformed, just not in the way we hope. This could all change in November.”—Retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill AFB.
• “The White House has all but embraced herd immunity and poisoned the public with misinformation, making it all but impossible to get near-universal compliance with public health advice for the foreseeable future.”—John M. Barry, professor of public health at Tulane University and the author of “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.”
• “We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook to show them how to respond before a virus reached our shores. It must be lost along with the Republican health care plan.”—Former President Barack Obama at a drive-in rally in Miami.
• “A Senate win is critical. Otherwise, we are back to a standoff between a Democratic president and Mitch McConnell.”—Ray LaRaja, University of Massachusetts-Amherst political scientist.
• “While I oppose the process that has led us to this point, I do not hold it against her.”—Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in explaining her support of SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
• “Biden became a unity candidate in response to an overwhelming, almost feral desire to limit Trump’s damage to one term. When Trump leaves, Democratic unity, I fear, may be close behind. Unlike Republicans who have essential agreement around economic and social policy, our Party has fissures on many fundamental issues.”—Carter Eskew, a top strategist from Al Gore’s 2000 campaign.
• “Climate change and climate-change solutions have jumped a number of other really important issues into the forefront of not only what’s being discussed in the waning days of the election, but likely at the top of the agenda in the beginning of the next Congress. That’s fundamentally different.”—Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary under President Barack Obama.
• “Part of what the presidency is about is norm-setting. When a president establishes that it’s OK to make fun of people with disabilities, or to be a racist, or to lie, or to assault women, you see that replicated in society. That’s not a surprise.”—Ian Bassin, head of the nonprofit group Protect Democracy.
• “If Biden wins, your borders are gone, which means your health care is gone, the middle class is gone, and your safety is gone.”—Donald Trump, who is not gone yet.
• “There is no philosophical underpinning for the Republican Party anymore.”—Lincoln Project co-founder Reed Galen.
• “If women defeat Trump next month, it will be because of everything he’s done to defeat them first.”—Michelle Goldberg, New York Times.
• “Biden feels others’ pain. Trump doesn’t even feel his own. … He needs the adoration of the mob more than he needs the acceptance of normal people.”—Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio.
• “Politicians reckon with shifting demographic realities by following new voters wherever they may be, but when it comes to Latinos they also need to think beyond elections, and beyond the strategic importance of Hispanic Heritage Month itself. When they see us as more than voters, we may give them our votes.”—Geraldo L. Cadava, author of “The Hispanic Republican: The Shaping of an American Political Identity, From Nixon to Trump.”
• “A bank won’t lend you money unless you can prove that you don’t need it. That’s especially true with minority-owned businesses.”—John Hope Bryant, CEO of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Operation Hope.
• “We haven’t seen the surge worldwide locally, but we know there is just as much (domestic violence)—if not more.”—Mindy Murphy, president and CEO of the Spring of Tampa Bay.
• “Mental health issues don’t discriminate. … It’s one of law enforcement’s biggest challenges.”—Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister, on the establishment of the Behavioral Resources Unit that aims to connect people with social service resources before they become the subject of law enforcement calls.
• “St. Pete is really a hub for all things marine science.”—Tom Frazer, dean of USF’s College of Marine Science. USF St. Pete recently received a $9 million federal grant to launch a Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovation.
• “Right now, Tampa’s on the map in the sports world, with what’s going on with everything here. Having that publicity, it’s hard to put a dollar figure on it, but it’s certainly there.”—Michael Mondello, associate program director at USF’s Vinik Sport and Entertainment Management Program.

 “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• COVIDiocy update: “People are tired of COVID. I have these huge rallies. People are saying, ‘Whatever. Just leave us alone.’ They’re tired of it. People are tired of hearing (Dr. Anthony) Fauci and all these idiots … This guy’s a disaster.” Yeah, that was the COVIDiot-in-chief during a campaign staff call that some media were privy to. Speaking of disasters, how unconscionable is it that the super-spreader himself, whose mismanagement and maskless optics have contributed directly to thousands of unnecessary deaths, would still be scapegoating the country’s pre-eminent epidemiologist. And how unconscionable that his base won’t turn on him for self-serving  mismessaging and lethal mismanagement. What the hell would it take? Isn’t that, well, “deplorable”?

BTW, Trump wasn’t worried about being quoted. “If there’s a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it,” said Trump. I couldn’t care less.” No s***.

• Shame on NBC for accommodating the defiant dictates of Donald Trump, who wanted his own, alternate town hall forum. This was orchestrated by the super-spreader-in-chief, who wouldn’t do a virtual debate as directed by the Commission on Presidential Dabates, because it would confine his histrionics and maybe whatever virus he might still be carrying. Then he could brag on his ratings. As it turned out, not only were those ratings not huge, but they were smaller than what Biden got on ABC. The bottom line: This was not fair to the democratic process—nor, frankly, to Savannah Guthrie, who was not averse to giving pushback during her moderation. She was, fortunately, no Chris Wallace, but it was still a no-win night.

The NBC scenario is a reminder that it’s not just right-wing media that has enabled Trump in his disastrous, America-diminishing presidency. The mainstream media was all-in in its ratings-driven, saturation coverage of Trump during the 2016 campaign season. I can still recall MSNBC’s Chris Matthews interrupting the flow of his “Hardball” show with something like: “We’ll have to end it right there, everybody, so we can now go live to Possum Trot, Mississippi for a Trump rally.” Without that kind of high-profile, ubiquitous, celebrity coverage, there would have been less impact–and interest–from Fox News, Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh and Russian bots.  

• “I went through it. Now they say I’m immune. I feel so powerful. …I’ll kiss everyone in that audience. … I’ll just give you a big fat kiss.”—That was the fat-kisser-in-chief at his Sanford, Fla. rally—six days after leaving Walter Reed, where he had been treated for COVID-19. Yes, there were masks in evidence.  In fact, Trump tossed a bunch wrapped in plastic to his fans. It’s a familiar Trump optic. Puerto Ricans would understand.
• “Suburban women, will you please like me. I saved your damn neighborhood.”  That was the savior-in-chief at a rally in Johnstown, Pa, with a reminder that only he stands between safe, suburban neighborhoods and invasions by gangs of Antifa supporters.
• It was inevitable that SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic religion would work its way into the confirmation process. For context, it’s worth noting that the Supreme Court’s six Catholic members include Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, as ideologically polar opposite as possible.
• Sure, there’s understandable concern about the ideological framework of future SCOTUS Justice Amy Coney Barrett. And, no, glib responses and “I don’t recall” answers during confirmation Q&A dynamics are hardly reassuring. But do recall that conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, saved the ACA, and back in the day President Dwight Eisenhower never did get what he was expecting from Earl Warren after appointing him in 1953. Stuff can still happen.
• Tampa’s own Trump toady, Pam Bondi, continues to play a role in the Trump campaign. Some are more obvious than others. She was part of the high-profile, Trump impeachment defense. And she has also accompanied Trump family members who campaigned for him in Tampa. And she also played Kamala Harris in a debate-prep session for Mike Pence. Maybe she wants to replace William Barr in a second Trump term. Or maybe she still wants to be president of Trump U.

#AloneTogether

• To date, 10 percent or less of the world’s population has contracted the coronavirus.
• “A lot of the places being hit are Midwest states that were spared in the beginning. That’s of particular concern because a lot of these smaller regions don’t have the ICU beds and capacity that the urban centers had.”—William Hanage, Harvard University infectious-diseases researcher.
• $3.1 trillion: the federal deficit for fiscal 2020. Last year’s deficit was $984 billion.
• Total college undergraduate enrollment fell 4 percent from last year at this time. The number of first-year undergraduate enrolled fell 16 percent. The drop in international undergrads: 13.7 percent.
• Major college football programs whose head coaches have tested positive for COVID-19 include: Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Arizona, Kansas and Purdue.
• 1,000-plus: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases among students and staff in the Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas county schools since students returned in August.
• “The larger the crowd, the greater the probability that someone in that group is positive, including asymptomatically.” That was Dr. Jay Wolfson, professor of public health at USF. Sobering that such self-evident, pandemic reality still needs to be said. But it does.

“Yes, we can.”

• “Here in Florida, you can determine the outcome of this election. We win Florida and it’s all over.”—Joe Biden at a drive-in rally in Miramar.
• “Folks, el voto Latino puede hacer la diferencia aqui en Florida y en todos los Estados Unidos.” (“The Latino vote can be the difference here in Florida and in all of the United States.”) That was DNC Chairman Tom Perez, who was recently in Miami for a series of community events on behalf of Biden for President Florida.
• The Biden campaign is releasing a flurry of TV ads that will target NFL fans. “Monday Night Football” and “Thursday Night Football” are included, plus cherry-picked games of teams in battleground states—notably the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 113,000: The margin of victory by Trump in Florida in 2016. 330,000: The margin that Trump won by with seniors in 2016. Polls now show senior voters shifting significantly from Trump to Biden.
• “It is residents 65 and older who still swing elections in the Sunshine State.”—Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
• The Biden campaign raised a record-breaking $383 million in September. It has also surpassed $500 million in paid digital and television ads this year—compared to $438 million for the Trump campaign.
• Biden’s town hall on ABC: 13.9 million viewers. Trump’s town hall on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC: 13.0 million viewers. The Sept. 29 debate: 73.2 million viewers via 16 networks.
• Jaime Harrison, the African-American Democrat seriously challenging South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, raised $57 million from July through September. That’s the highest quarterly fund-raising total for any Senate candidate in U.S. history. Go, Jaime.

• No presidential lionizing: Check out YouTube and hear the latest from musical satirist Roy Zimmerman: “The Liar Tweets Tonight.” A sampling: “In the White House, the mighty White House, the liar tweets tonight. In the West Wing, the self-obsessed wing, the Liar tweets tonight. … “Vote him away, vote him away…”
• “Many white-collar workers, journalists including, struggle to understand the reach of talk radio because they don’t listen to it, and don’t know anyone who does. … Talk radio listeners make up a group at least three times as large as the NRA and are just as committed to a particular vision of America.”—Paul Matzko, author of “The Radio Right.”
• “You can do equal time on a different night! You can do equal time at a different time!” That was CNN anchor Don Lemon on how NBC handled Trump’s alternative town hall.
• If MLB had its way, the World Series would always be between the teams from the biggest markets. Fox Sports would agree. The Los Angeles Dodgers checked that box. MLB was likely disappointed at the Tampa Bay Rays’ ousting of the New York Yankees. But it was cushioned by the Rays dispatching of the Houston Astros. No way did the establishment want the Astros in the World Series. Not those cheaters and the accompanying player arrogance. A pandemic is enough to deal with. Plus, an upstart, payroll-challenged team with talented and colorful personnel makes for a compelling David vs. Goliath story line—and maybe great TV.

• The Rays are in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Let’s hear it for the consummate underdog that has to be smart enough and creative enough to succeed in a big-market, money-talks business. And by avoiding an ALCS collapse and coming back to win Game 7 against Houston, the Rays won’t be enabling analogies to the Lightning’s shocking playoff sweep by Columbus last year. In short, there will be no need for a Lightning-like redemption season. But maybe there will be an off-season of Lightning-like celebration. Go, Rays.
• By being the winning pitcher in Game 7 against Houston, Charlie Morton became the only pitcher in MLB history to win three Game 7s. To win it all, teams need such a reliable, go-to guy on the mound. Blake Snell might agree.
• For the record, the Rays are one of six MLB franchises who have yet to win a World Series. The others: Colorado Rockies, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.
• “This is the best hockey town ever.”—Steven Stamkos.

• “Coronavirus is deadly, and it’s now spreading exponentially in the U.K.”—British Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Britain already has Europe’s deadliest outbreak—with more than 44,000 confirmed virus deaths.
• “We have committed to keeping Canadians safe and we keep extending the border closures because the (United) States is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders.”—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
• “True democracy is a project that’s much bigger than any one of us. It’s bigger than any one person, any one president, and any one government. It’s a job for all of us.”—Barack Obama, in his final (2017) speech as president.
• “You would not be getting Justice Scalia; you would be getting Justice Barrett.”—Judge Amy Coney Barrett, at her confirmation hearing.
• “I just don’t have the power by fiat to impose my policy preferences or choose the results I prefer.”–Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
• “Women couldn’t vote. Slavery was legal. AR-15s and the internet and electric lights didn’t exist. But originalism.”—Judiciary Committee member Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
• “Much has been made of the Democratic threat of ‘court packing.’ Was it ‘court stripping’ when Republicans decided that eight justices were enough rather than consider the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland?”—Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post.
• “The rhetoric coming out of this White House has serious and potentially deadly consequences. It must stop.”—Alena Yarmosky, spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. According to the FBI, members of anti-government, paramilitary groups discussed plans to kidnap Gov. Northam.
• “State and local leaders, in both parties, must denounce armed militia activity, whether from the right or the left. These efforts must continue after the election, when the threat of civil unrest could be at its greatest. … The law is on their side—private armed militias find no support in the U.S. or state constitutions or in American history. They must not be tolerated in our society.”—Mary B. McCord, legal director for Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy.
• “For all its pious moaning about censorship, the right wing is more upset about being held to a standard of verifiable truth because they know it’s one they cannot meet.”—Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.
• “The unpaid-taxes story may be more of a threat to Trump than the Access Hollywood tape. The president never pretended to be a good guy around women; he has pretended, however, to be a brilliant businessman—and the knowledge of all that debt, and all those losses, could pull out the block that will send his Jenga-tower reputation toppling.”—Molly Roberts, Washington Post.
• “The main reason Trump could avoid paying income taxes is that he was a lousy businessman.”—Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch.
• “First, The Apprentice, and now this (NBC-hosted Trump town hall). Why not a new Bill Cosby special while we’re at it.”—ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.
• “Of all the many ways President Donald Trump mishandled his COVID-19 diagnosis and recovery, the worst is what he’s doing now: facilitating super-spreader events while the United States is undergoing a surge in coronavirus cases.”—Dr. Leona S. Wen, former health commissioner of Baltimore.
• “Stopping Trump is a short-term solution. The long-term solution—and it will be more difficult—is fixing the educational system that has created so many people ignorant enough to vote for Trump.”—author and satirist Andy Borowitz.
• “I knew this job would be hard. But I’ll be honest, I never could have imagined anything like this.”—Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, after learning of a plot to kidnap her.
• “Too many people still believe that as long as they’re not an active member of the Ku Klux Klan, they couldn’t possibly be racist.”—Nathalie Baptiste, Mother Jones.
• “Florida citrus production is a marathon, not a sprint, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services stands committed to help strengthen and promote Florida-grown citrus.”—Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, in response to news that the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast a 15 percent decline in orange production for the recently started growing season, as well as a 7 percent decline in grapefruit production.
• “The only thing that we have that’s consistent is the inconsistency.”—Mayor Jane Castor, in criticizing the state for not doing enough contact tracing and for not releasing data in a timely fashion.
• “Job growth, investment, is driven by the access to talent. That talent wants to be downtown. Jobs and investment will follow. … Everyone we’re working with expects this formula to be fully in place.”—David Dixon, vice president of Stantec, the urban planning group that is a lead figure in the development of Water Street Tampa.
• “Our hometown’s future has never been brighter.”—Rob Higgins, executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, which announced that Tampa will be hosting the Women’s Final Four (2025), the Frozen Four (2023), the Women’s Volleyball championship (2023), plus first- and second-round men’s NCAA Tournament games (2026).

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• President Donald Trump on steroids: How scary is that?
• Of course, Trump wouldn’t agree to a virtual debate. Public health, including protecting those necessarily around him, is hardly a priority. He needs a bully pulpit–which doesn’t lend itself to virtual arrogance and sniping. Recall how Trump made his literal entrance on to the 2016 presidential-candidate scene. No way would Donald and Melania Trump have merely exited the elevator at Trump Tower—as opposed to descending, in deus ex machina fashion, via a high-profile, optics-augmenting escalator with fans and media beseechingly awaiting. An actual “debate” is not what a reality-TV narcissist does, but an in-person event can accommodate the art of the unhinged performance.   
• Veep Debate: Without saying so, a key goal in the vice-presidential debate was to not look anything like the embarrassing, chaotic presidential version. Mission accomplished, however subterranean low the bar. Neither challenger Kamala Harris nor Vice President Mike Pence had a game plan that featured the upstaging of decorum. But Pence, by interrupting in a civil fashion, did upstage Trump by seeming normal.

The other dual goal was to look like someone who could top the ticket in 2024. Harris has history-making demographics, a sharp prosecutorial mind, a progressive agenda and political charisma. Pence does not look like the second coming of Benito Mussolini.

Memorable lines: “They’re coming for you.”—Harris on the millions of Americans who will lose out if the ACA is repealed.  “Stop playing politics with people’s lives.”—Pence with a straight face. But no answer from Harris on the question of “court packing,” and no answer from Pence on the peaceful transition of power. And nothing but rhetorical pivots by either candidate on whether they’ve had succession conversations with their septuagenarian running mates. You know Harris has.

• “I feel like perfect.”—That was, like, the imperfectionist-in-chief, Donald Trump.
• “An intervention.” What House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for by those around Trump, because “something’s wrong.”
• Beyond ironic for the one who equates the Biden candidacy with the “Trojan Horse of socialism” to be the most prominent beneficiary of socialized medicine in the United States.
• “Don’t Cry for Me, MAGA Minions”: The super spreader-in-chief on his White House Blue Room Evita/Fuhrer balcony, rallying a crowd of cult fans practicing social proximity.
• Here’s the question some Democrats on the Judiciary Committee would surely have liked to have asked Amy Coney Barrett, even if it is better suited for “Saturday Night Live.” “To what degree are you—in the midst of an honorable and distinguished law career—embarrassed by having been nominated by the most unscrupulous, divisive, immoral, vile and unlawful president in the nation’s history?”
• “Blexit”: The Trump campaign plan to encourage black and Latino voters to leave the Democratic Party and become GOPsters.
• “(Biden’s) the camouflage to get Kamala Harris in. He’s the camouflage to get Bernie Sanders in … AOC.”—That was Donald Trump Jr. during a Tampa stop of his “Fighters Against Socialism” bus tour.
• “I’m immune.”—President Donald Trump. “We’re not.”—America’s democratic republic.
• Out of an abundance of caution, voters should not even think of re-electing Trump.