Opinions to go Online

“It’s impossible to overstate the sense of unity and common purpose we felt. Every issue that had divided us as people and as parties seemed trivial in comparison.” That was former Florida Democratic Senator Bob Graham on Sept. 12, 2001.

That was then–more than two decades ago–and that’s what it took—something horrific. Is that what it will still take for a common purpose and sense of unity to come to the aid of a nation embroiled with harmful, hateful divisiveness?

Following Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama in 2012, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared the need for a GOP “autopsy.” Remember that? Not exactly a toe tag for the body politic, but GOPsters were losing minority and younger voters, and if demographics were, indeed, destiny, the GOP’s future was in its rear-view mirror. It needed, underscored the “autopsy,” to reach out to nonwhite groups, employ more tolerant language and embrace comprehensive immigration reform. Alas, Priebus would become Chief of Staff to an autocrat who played the racist, nativist demographic cards from which this country is still struggling to recover.

Following Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama in 2012, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared the need for a GOP “autopsy.” Remember that? Not exactly a toe tag for the body politic, but GOPsters were losing minority and younger voters, and if demographics were, indeed, destiny, the GOP’s future was in its rear-view mirror. It needed, underscored the “autopsy,” to reach out to nonwhite groups, employ more tolerant language and embrace comprehensive immigration reform. Alas, Priebus would become Chief of Staff to an autocrat who played the racist, nativist demographic cards from which this country is still struggling to recover.

• President Barack Obama’s farewell address referenced the perils facing America as well as a directive for Americans to take responsibility for their own democracy. He more than sensed what could be coming with his unconscionable successor. He thus urged Americans to “show up, dive in, stay at it.” It applies like never before.
• Morgan Stanley has made a “sizable upward revision” in its GDP forecasts—based on an economic surge that includes, most notably, the 2021 infrastructure bill. MS now projects a 9 percent GDP growth for the first half of 2023. Its previous forecast was 0.5 percent.
• Last month 187,000 jobs were added, and the unemployment ticked down to 5 percent.
• It’s beyond brutally ironic that the post-Holocaust, Netanyahu nation of Israel keeps pushing harder to the far right—such that it has been labeled a racist, apartheid state by some political partisans on America’s progressive left. The reality is unsettling and even understandable—but politically unhelpful.
• After a five-year, Trump-induced hiatus, the U.S. has rejoined UNESCO and become its 194^th member. “The return of the United States has a meaning that is bigger than UNESCO,” declared its Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
• VP Kamala Harris won’t be debating Gov. Ron DiSaster on the upsides of slavery. “I’m here in Florida. And I will tell you, there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact: There were no redeeming qualities of slavery.” She spoke at the African Methodist Episcopal Women’s Missionary Convention in Orlando.
• President Biden is neither compromised nor corrupt. But when it comes to the sleazy Hunter Biden, he’s either regrettably clueless or a fatherly, “Big Guy” enabler. High-profile, unforced errors—remember the emails and Anthony Weiner connection to Hillary Clinton?–hardly help the cause of keeping the truly compromised and corrupt from returning to power.
• Voter Priorities: Election day should be a national holiday; the Electoral College should be nothing more than an historical footnote; and Citizens United should be overturned.

• Politicians can be like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.
• No more “UFOs.” Because we finally know what they are? No. Because they’re now called unidentified aerial phenomena—or “UAPs.”
• Pronouns of choice? Can be socially and grammatically awkward. How about one for all? She-her-he-him: “SHIM”
• There’s socialism, and then there’s “socialism.” Just like there’s Denmark and there’s Cuba.
• Sign for a smoke shop targeting evangelicals: “Jesus, Maryjane and Joseph Welcome You.”
• T-shirt for the corpulent: “I Beat Anorexia.”
• Palindrome update: “Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog.”

• Ron DiSaster says that if elected president, he would consider Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a position in his Administration—likely with the FDA or the CDC. In further campaign hustle, he is also reportedly considering Steve Bannon for Secretary of State, Jeanine Pirro for Attorney General, Sarah Palin for CIA Director, Alex Jones for Homeland Security Director and Marjorie Taylor Greene for Ambassador to the UN.
• The governor has pledged to sign a nationwide Concealed Carry Bill. Some things you can’t conceal.
• DiSaster rejected some $377 million in federal money for energy efficiency and electrification. To do otherwise, would be an acknowledgment of helpful Biden Administration priorities.
• More book-banning demands from “Moms Against Puberty.”
• “Let kids be kids, especially if hey want to be props.”—A certain disingenuous governor.
• “If you’re a professor in like, you know, Marxist studies, that’s not a loss for Florida.” That was Gov. DiSaster on, like, you know, reports of high faculty turnover at New College.
• Walt Disney World’s governing district—now controlled by the governor’s minions—has abolished diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Could it get worse as we close in on the GOP’s 2024 nominee? Maybe a MAGA Kingdom?
• “I don’t think (the state’s outsized reputation) is helpful for our economic development. Why would you come to a state where the governor and the Legislature preach and pass laws that are inherently spiteful.”—Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
• “Florida has real challenges right now. Inflation is sky high, especially in South Florida, Farmers Insurance just withdrew from the state in the middle of hurricane season, and malaria is breaking out all over. It’s time for Ron DeSanctimonious to come home and deal with the problems he was elected to solve.”—Jason Miller, senior advisor to the Trump campaign.
• “Californification”: An increasingly familiar DiSaster trope in his back-and-forth with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
• It used to be a dark-humor joke: “This is the suicide hotline; please hold.” Now it’s more like bleak reality. Florida’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline calls go unanswered approximately 20 percent of the time.
• Latinos accounted for 12 percent of Florida’s registered voters in 2008. In 2020, according to the Pew Research Center, it was 17 percent.
• Black and Latino voters are five times more likely to register to vote through third-party groups, according to Daniel A. Smith, chairman of UF’s political science department.
• Who knew there was an upside to slavery—such as skills learned while enslaved? Not all apprenticeship programs are the same.
• The faltering DiSaster campaign laid off about 40 percent of its staff last month—or 38 team members.
• It’s never a good sign when a presidential campaign—two months after its official announcement—hits the “reset” button. Rapidly descending poll numbers is usually the motivator. “Streamlining operations” is another DiSaster euphemism along with the ostensible plan to “embrace being the underdog.” Next strategic pitch: “I’m not indicted. Vote for me.”
• “Of course (Trump) lost. … Joe Biden’s president.” Gov. DiSaster punching back.
• Part of being a high-profile, political candidate are cartoon caricatures. Some are worse than others, including a dead-on Alfred E. Newman DuhSantis look.

 

• A new Canadian airline, Lynx Air, will be flying into TIA this fall and offering nonstop flights to Toronto and Montreal. Makes sense as Canadians are the largest source of international visitation, home ownership and foreign direct investment in Tampa Bay.
• Approximately 300 cruises are expected to sail through Tampa this year.
• Tampa received a nice shout-out from the Wall Street Journal for its new, ever-evolving urbanism.  In short, “live, work, play, stay” is seen as a magnet for “millennials and Gen Zers.”
• Tampa Bay’s state representatives—of BOTH parties—signed on in opposition to any new off-shore drilling leases. Yes, there’s still some bipartisan hope.

“Ultimately, I’d like to move bicycles off the Riverwalk.” That was Mayor Jane Castor. We get it. Bicyclists don’t always observe the posted 5 mph speed limit as well as the yield-to-pedestrians signage.

• Since 2003, about 1,700 journalists have been killed in the line of duty around the world.
• Maybe it’s part of being an alien in pop culture, but what’s particularly annoying are loud, action-packed movie trailers of films (too often based on comic book sequels) that you would never, ever want to see. Another sign: referencing “Barbie’s” boyfriend as Klaus.
• No wonder it’s being called “Barbenheimer,” a blend of instant-Oscar-buzz “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Hollywood and move theater chains have been awaiting, if not praying for, some much-needed, non-streaming box office hype and a major financial boost. Maybe it’s an anomaly, but a most welcome one.
• Striking writers and studios are finally meeting over the strike that began three months ago. One possible result: The movie version.
• Wikipedia ranks among the world’s 10 most visited websites. Its contributors, who make about 345 edits per minute on the site, are not paid.

• Tampa Bay now has four members of MLB’s Hall of Fame as Fred McGriff has joined Wade Boggs, Tony La Russa and Al Lopez.
• Why are there published point spreads for NFL pre-season games?

• ”To stay out of prison.” The motivation for Trump running again, according to presidential candidate and former Texas GOP Congressman Will Hurd.
• Rudy Giuliani has acknowledged that he made false claims about Georgia election workers committing fraud during the 2020 election. But he’s also arguing that such statements were protected by the First Amendment. Have to wonder what the Founders would say about an Amendment that protects seditious lying.
• “Trump has spent over $60 million on two things: falsely attacking DeSantis and paying his own legal fees, not a cent on defeating Biden.”—Andrew Romeo, DeSantis campaign communications director.
• Trump has warned that if Jack Smith jailed him, it would be “very dangerous.” His followers, declared Trump, have “much more passion than they had in 2020.” And that’s scary; we know how Trump can incite his deplorables, and that what’s past is prologue.
• “If the law is supreme, if no man is above the law, then we have a constitutional republic. And if any man can be above the law, then we don’t.”—Historian Jon Meacham.
• Former VP and Trump acolyte Mike Pence acknowledges that he was asked to do more than “pause” the vote count. More like “overturn the election.”
• It’s more than possible that with all the indictments at play, Trump will become a convicted felon. Ironically, in most states he wouldn’t even be allowed to vote.
• Best Trump outcome: Convicted, sentenced and traded for Alexei Navalny and the WSJ’s Evan Gershkovich.