Category: Uncategorized

 “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• “Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True.” Now it’s official: The vote, including Trump’s mail-in, won’t be rigged in Florida.
• When it comes to uncertainties over mail-in votes, it would be more than helpful if the U.S. president were to advocate for a geared-up U.S. Postal Service—given the reality of an increased volume of mail during a pandemic. But, alas, the president is Donald Trump and Louis DeJoy, the big-dollar donor he appointed to run the USPS, has followed Trump’s instructions to eliminate overtime for postal workers—thus virtually guaranteeing delivery delays during the election period. And it hardly helped that Ronald Stroman, the Postal Service Board of Governors member who oversaw mail-in voting, recently resigned. Prior to that, the other five board members had been replaced by Trump. And, BTW, there’s another agenda afoot. DeJoy’s cost-cutting is also being seen as a preliminary move toward the privatization of the Postal Service.
• While presidential elections are partisan political events, not everyone with a stake in the outcome is home grown. Foreign countries—allies and adversaries—are calculating the outcome. Chances are Russia, Brazil, Turkey and The Philippines are rooting for a fellow-authoritarian to win re-election. Iran, for sure, isn’t. It’s expanding its nuclear program and won’t negotiate with Trump, who pulled America out of the multi-national, Iranian nuclear deal. “He is going to benefit from negotiations,” said Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who knows how Trump vainly sought to leverage his center-stage, North Korean negotiations.
• Speaking of Russia, President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign-policy priorities: Keep Trump in the White House and keep Turkey in NATO.
• “Pathetic.” That’s how Trump labeled (White House coronavirus task force coordinator) Dr. Deborah Birx’s characterization of the virus as “extraordinarily widespread.” He also criticized her “taking the bait” from Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Indeed, pathetic.
• “He’s against God.” The morally-challenged hypocrite-in-chief referring to Joe Biden.
• Here’s what’s really, really embarrassing: That all Americans aren’t, well, embarrassed by the aforementioned avatar of immorality, incompetence, ignorance and narcissism.
• So why sit down with Axios’ Jonathan Swan for a predictably embarrassing interview–that highlighted, so to speak, Trump’s clueless, classless and prevaricating nature–on Russian bounties, John Lewis’ legacy and the coronavirus? Was the only other choice Rachel Maddow? Yet another reminder that the uninformed, unhinged Trump is not advised, to the degree he is advisable, by the best and brightest.
• No, Kanye West running for president isnot the same as Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, Jill Stein or even George Wallace making a run. Sure their votes had impact, but their campaigns were never directly abetted by agenda-driven, other-party operatives. Not the case here. Exhibit A: Wisconsin, a key swing state, where at least a half dozen individuals—GOP activists and Trump supporters—are helping West get on the ballot of a state that Trump won by less than 23,000 votes—and now trails Joe Biden. Among those Trump supporters: Lane Ruhland, an attorney who has worked for the Trump campaign and has been representing it in a lawsuit filed this year against a Wisconsin TV station for airing an ad critical of Trump’s coronavirus response. This is about a blatant effort—formerly known as “dirty tricks”–to try and siphon off a few African-American votes to possibly make a difference in another election that could come down to a handful of votes in key states. One other thing: This is a gross insult to African-American voters: As if having a bizarre, black celebrity for a candidate were sufficient reason to vote for West.
• No, it won’t go on a hat or a bumper sticker, but it does unmask and reflect the Trump-cult mentality: “Don’t Tread on Me, but I Can Breathe on You.”
• “I think (Trump’s) crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.”—Remember that? Lindsey Graham wishes you didn’t.
• Still in the running for Trump’s acceptance speech site: The White House, Gettysburg, Tulsa, The Villages.
• Mt. Flushmore: “Never suggested it although … (it) sounds like a good idea.”—Trump on the possibility of being chiseled onto a monument.
• “Yo-Seminite” NationalPark. “Thigh-land.” Whatever.
• “It is what it is.” May it be: It was what it was.

#AloneTogether

• “Younger people also need to take on board that they have a responsibility. Ask yourself the question: Do I really need to go to that party?”—WHO Emergencies Chief Mike Ryan.
• 2.5 million: Number of Muslims who performed the Hajj last year; 1,000: number allowed this year by Saudi Arabia.
• 55 percent: The percentage of the 132,500 consumer-facing businesses in the U.S. that have shuttered because of the virus and are now permanently closed.
• 6.1 percent: The increase in adjusted profit for Allstate—as drivers and car accidents declined as the coronavirus erupted.
• “The COVID-19 pandemic has been a trial by fire, but the experience to date has made clear that the health care system is ready for broader access to telehealth on a permanent basis.”—Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.
• $24 million: The revenue hit taken by the city of Tampa since March.
• 7.3 percent: Percentage of COVID cases accounted for by children.
• $561 million: How much AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema operator, lost in its most recent quarter.
• 45 percent: The percentage of adults who get an annual flu shot.
• Just wondering: If it took “Click it or Ticket” to motivate people to wear a seat belt, could “Mask it or Casket” also work?

• $24 million: the amount raised for the Biden campaign the past two months from Barack Obama fundraisers. Another reminder that Obama is the ultimate Biden surrogate.
• “The Biden ‘Women’s Agenda’ provides a strong vision for gender equality and for improving economic security across the board. These are our values and our plan, and I’m proud to fight alongside Joe for what we believe.”—Congresswoman Kathy Castor.
• Nobody was surprised with Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate.
• And nobody will be surprised when a President-Elect Biden nominates Susan Rice as secretary of state.

• “Back The Blue:” While understandable with an institution we need and should respect, it’s still polarizing when systemic racism—and police brutality–is the dominant societal theme for our vulnerable democracy. But this shouldn’t be a zero-sum matter. That’s a false option. It’s not back or don’t back, fund or don’t fund. It’s about backing the good cops, which is the overwhelming majority. And it’s about funding that addresses “community” needs, not overkill military optics. How about “Back The Best Blue”?
• The moral high ground erodes when you stoop to call out Trader Joe’s for “racist” brand labeling of certain product lines, such as: “Trader Jose’s” or “Trader Ming’s.”

• Editorial pushback: “Encourage more muscular reporting about race and social inequities.” That’s from a letter to the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal from staff members, who laid out detailed proposals for revising its news coverage. In short, having a business-coverage model doesn’t preclude a societal focus on race and policing.
• It was well noted when Joy Reid, 51, took over MSNBC’s (erstwhile “Hardball”) 7:00 p.m. time slot with “The ReidOut.” It made the Harvard-educated journalist cable TV’s first black female prime time anchor. One piece of Reid advice: Don’t develop a schtick; you’re better than that. Discerning, probing and listening tops entertaining, especially now. Schedule fewer guests and longer exchanges. Rein in the laughter at the other side—just continue to make the case against them. And get rid of the “Craziest Damn Thing in the World Today” segment that ends with the tossing of papers—and a major measure of non-show biz credibility–in the air.
• There have always been “tell-all” books. But now, in the era of Trump, political-revenge exploitation is now its own genre.

• Luck of the draw: The Rays and the Yankees play each other 10 times. That’s 1/6 of the season against a really good team with a payroll three times that of the Rays.
• Sports, as we know, can be a welcome diversion from the rest of life. But with a pandemic, the impact on the game is part of the optics. From masks to “cut-out” fans to politics. Now we have the Rays purchasing the contract of lefty reliever Sean Gilmartin. Yes, he’s the husband of White House press sycophant Kayleigh McEnany.
• Speaking of fan cut-outs, there was a familiar one the other night at a Kansas City Royals game—at least familiar to those who remember “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
• University of Florida football fans have to like that No. 8 pre-season ranking by USA Today. But context matters: SEC rivals Alabama, Georgia and LSU are ranked 3, 4 and 5. Plus, there’s that pandemic thing and whether there will be a season or not. Otherwise, go, Gators.

• “I am confident that the alliance (NATO) will be all the better and stronger for it. We can see some moves begin within weeks.”—Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, on the Pentagon’s decision to cut American troops in Germany from 36,000 to 24,000.
• “Whether it’s China or Russia or Iran, we’re not going to put up with it.”—National security adviser Robert O’Brien, in vowing to protect the 2020 U.S. election from foreign interference.
• “I think the last person Russia wants to see in office is Donald Trump, because nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have—ever.”—Donald Trump.
• “Far from a strongman, Mr. Trump has lately become a heckler in his own government, promoting medical conspiracy theories on social media, playing no constructive role in either the management of the coronavirus pandemic or the negotiation of an economic rescue plan in Congress—and complaining endlessly about the unfairness of it all.”—CNN political analyst Alexander Burns.
• “Trump is like the reverse Midas. Everybody who is in his orbit, if they’ve had any integrity, it gets leeched away from them like some parasite.”—Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.
• “The Trump administration’s deliberate decision to intervene in the protests in Portland, Ore., with a heavy hand, unconventional means and inflammatory political rhetoric has contributed to growing public distrust—particularly of the Department of Homeland Security.”—Michael Chertoff, former secretary of homeland security under President George W. Bush.
• “Mr. Trump didn’t hijack the Republican Party. He is the logical conclusion of what the party became over the past 50 or so years, a natural product of the seeds of race-baiting, self-deception and anger that now dominate it. … What is most telling is that the Republican Party actively embraced, supported, defended and now enthusiastically identifies with a man who eagerly exploits the nation’s racial tensions.”—Stuart Stevens, Republican political consultant and author of “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump.”
• “(Trump’s core base) is just glued to Fox News and Breitbart and Limbaugh and just this conservative echo chamber—and so, they’re going to turn out to vote.”—Former President Barack Obama.
• “Congress has largely become a dysfunctional institution unable to meet the critical needs of our country.”—The “Congress at a Crossroads” report, produced by the Association of Former Members of Congress—30 House members and a senator–who left after the 2018 elections.
• “Anything that slows down the mail could have a negative impact on everything we do, including vote by mail.”—Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union.
• “I have never seen such an effort to sow distrust in our elections. We are used to seeing this kind of behavior from authoritarians around the globe, but it is particularly disturbing coming from the president of the United States.”—Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House that promotes democracy around the world.
• “In a dark season of pestilence, COVID has reduced to tatters the illusion of American exceptionalism.”—Wade Davis, Rolling Stone.
• “Police work is not a perfect science. We’re there to clean up messes. And sometimes when you clean up messes, it’s not pretty.”—Florida Rep. Val Demings, the former police chief of Orlando.
• “F.D.R. demonstrated that the most effective leaders in crisis are often at the center of their party, not at left or right vanguard. Abraham Lincoln took enormous heat from abolitionists. But he’s the one who defeated slavery.”—David Brooks, New York Times.
• “They’ve got their Rice, and we’ve got ours.”—A saying among some Democrats referring to Susan and Condoleezza.
• “The lightly regulated online economy we have today is a product of that (1990s) decade, when Silicon Valley leaders persuaded starry-eyed lawmakers that young, scrappy internet companies could regulate themselves.”—University of Washington History Professor Margaret O’Mara.
• “It appears to me that social media is a nuance-destruction machine, and I don’t think that’s helpful for a democracy.”—Jeff Bezos.
• “Deloitte should be barred from receiving any new state contracts until they pay back the taxpayer dollars ($40 million) they received to develop the broken unemployment system, and the existing bid system should be re-evaluated.”—State Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. Deloitte Consulting recently won the ($135 million) contract to centralize and manage Florida’s Medicaid data.
• “School leaders should be working creatively and diligently to accommodate as many students as possible with in-person instruction.”—Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.
• “We will focus on investing, not divesting.”—Mayor Jane Castor on her plans for TPD.
• “You’re running out of excuses to get tested.”—St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, in recommending all residents get a coronavirus test, regardless of symptoms because asymptomatic carriers can also spread the virus.
• “Our schedule continues to remain intact.”—Nick Haines, president and CEO of the Bromley Companies, the developer of the mixed-use, 22-acre, $550 million Midtown Tampa project scheduled to open in February.
• “We’re already prepared for this, and we’re moving forward and embracing it.”—Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter, on City Council’s vote to adopt body cams for police officers.

 “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• “Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.” Those were the posthumous words of John Lewis—still courageously exhorting fellow citizens to live up to America’s ideals and constitutional principles. Then others, including three ex-presidents–two Democrats and a Republican–took it from there at the moving, oratorically inspiring funeral service in Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. One soon-to-be-ex-president, however, was notably not there: the narcissist-in-chief. It was proper, if pitiful. No one would have wanted “carnage” somehow worked into another Stephen Miller speech, regardless of occasion. 

The occasion also brought out presidential juxtaposition: the righteous eloquence of Barack Obama compared to the classless snub of the oratory-challenged Trump, who was too busy multi-tasking: trying to undermine the validity of the November election and scaring white suburbanites.                                                                                                                      “A man of pure joy and unbreakable perseverance,” intoned Obama. “If we want our children to grow up in a democracy—not just with elections but a true democracy, a representative democracy…then we’re going to have to be more like John.” Obama also worked in less-than-subtle references to Trump White House race baiting—without actually mentioning Trump—although he did drop in George Wallace and Bull Connor for context.                                                                                                                               Had Trump actually been there, it would have been awkward—and personally infuriating to Trump—who has never recovered from having to sit through President Obama’s skewering at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner. And had Trump been at the Lewis service, the juxtaposition would have been beyond bearable—and a visceral, nightmarish reminder of how far we have regressed and how much many of us miss a president we could take pride in. Think Andrew Johnson succeeding Abraham Lincoln—with apologies to Johnson.

• In recent calls with Vladimir Putin, Trump acknowledged that he never brought up reports that the Russians paid bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Trump’s exact words (in part): “I have never discussed it with him. I’m afraid he’ll bring up golden showers in Moscow.”
• Yes, the president is still retweeting tweets advocating the use of (anti-malaria drug) hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients. The FDA recently withdrew an order that allowed its use as an emergency treatment. This is unconscionable—and dangerous. Any CEO would be fired.
• “I have to see.” That was the demander-in-chief’s disturbingly equivocal response to a query about whether he would be a “gracious” loser if Biden wins the electoral vote in November. Not shocking and hardly reassuring to Americans who consider the peaceful transfer of power a fundamental principle of this democracy.
• Former KKK leader David Duke has been permanently banned from Twitter for repeated violations of rules on hate speech. That’s one way to get back into the news cycle—other than by endorsing Trump.
• The entrepreneurial/political/patriotic side of America has manifested itself during the pandemic with all kinds of customized masks. But, no, don’t expect any MAGA masks.
• Trump’s “silent majority.” Neither.
• “Nobody likes me.” Alas, plenty of “deplorables” still do.
• More than a dozen Florida sheriffs stood stoically behind Trump when he made his campaign rant at TIA. It’s abhorrent for police to be props for an autocrat. BTW,Trump has received an endorsement from the Florida Police Benevolent Association. Disgraceful: It also means the de facto endorsement of authoritarian, stormtrooper-enamored leadership.
• All elections are run by the states. The dates for all federal elections are determined by Congress. Surely a president would know that. Surely.
• Imagine if Trump had been president during the 1960s—from the Cuban Missile Crisis to violent Vietnam protests and civil rights upheaval. For one thing, he would have been a Manhattan Dixiecrat. And imagine if the eras of Trump and Gen. Curtis “Bombs Away” LeMay had overlapped. And then there’s this: Would we even be here now—literally–given how prudent presidents had to tactfully respond to Cold War, nuclear trip wires from Berlin to Havana. As with Trump and a pandemic, timing is everything.

# AloneTogether

• 32.9 percent: How much America’s GDP plunged last quarter.
• Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert, who has been publicly dismissive about wearing a mask, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Karma.
• “There are certain fundamentals—the staples of what you need to do. One is universal wearing of masks.”—Dr. Anthony Fauci.
• 556: The total number of workers that United Air Lines will lay off at TIA and Orlando International Airport.
• 74.8 million: The number of U.S. airline passengers in May 2019. 7.9 million: The number of U.S. airline passengers in May 2020.
• “Equitable, fair and transparent.”—CDC Director Robert Redfield, on how vaccine allocation must be seen by the public.
• 3: Florida universities among the top 10 in the U.S. for the highest number of coronavirus cases this year. They are: 2-UCF (438 cases); 5-UF (217); and 7-USF (182). No. 1 is the University of Texas (449).
• This fall 59 percent of classes at USF will have some in-person component.
• Polk County has the highest positivity rate in the Tampa Bay region: approximately 12 percent.
• The new normal in the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg includes parents signing a waiver of liability. Back in the Philadelphia day of St. Timothy’s Catholic School and its Order of St. Joseph nuns, my parents never had to sign a waiver allowing the nuns to cuff around the wise guys who deserved it.
• Some counties have mask ordinances, some don’t. But no virus recognizes borders.
• 30 percent: How much firearms sales jumped from March to June.

• “I’m voting for Joe because our democracy is at stake.”—Lin-Manuel Miranda.
• “It is true I have never run for office on my own behalf, but I’ve run for office on behalf of others. If I were to decide to do it, there’s nothing about it that on its face would feel uncomfortable or unfamiliar.”—That’s Susan Rice, former national security adviser and ambassador to the UN, in response to those who cite the fact she has never run for—let alone held–elective office as problematic for a potential vice-presidential candidate.
• Speaking of vice presidential scenarios, amid all the vetting, lobbying and pontificating, the most pragmatic question is still this: Who would be the person best qualified—and seen as best qualified–to succeed a President Biden after one term? It’s unlikely that an octogenarian incumbent would be back on top of the 2024 ticket.
• The economy, of course, is always a critical element in presidential elections. Wall Street and Main Street, etc. But not all partisan political perceptions, as we well know, are grounded in facts. “Wall Street generally considers Republicans to be better for market returns but historically, that’s not true,” points out Paul Hickey, the co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group. “Democratic presidents have generally had better returns versus Republicans.” Indeed, the historical ledger shows that since 1900 the stock market has fared better—actually far better—under Democratic presidents, with a 6.7 percent annualized return for the Dow Jones industrial average compared with 3.5 percent under Republicans. For the record, it was 12.1 percent under Barack Obama.
• “Their best maneuver is to act like they’re three points behind in Florida.”—Advice to the Biden campaign from Fernand Amandi, Miami-based Democratic strategist and pollster.
• Reminder: In key battleground states, “late deciders” went heavily for Trump in 2016. Reminder: No let-up.
• 30 percent: percentage of Floridians who voted by mail in 2016 and 2018. During the 2020 presidential primary, it was 45 percent.
• How ironic that for years Florida Republicans have championed vote-by-mail as an effective tool in the get-out-the-GOPster-vote effort. Now it raises fraud hackles.