Opinions to go Online

* Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, has introduced a bill requiring federal office candidates to provide details of their education, employment and military service UNDER OATH. Torres, no surprise, calls it the SANTOS Act. It literally stands for “Stop Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker” Act. Makes you wonder if legislative staffs include an acronym specialist.

* “MAGA”: Making America Grifter Attractive.

* If we keep finding ourselves saying “That’s not who we are,” then maybe that’s who we are.

* Remember when “You’re looking great!” didn’t mean “for your age”?

* One redeeming thing about egotists: They don’t talk about other people.

* “Doodie Calls”–Port-a-let signage before Gasparilla.

* “Doonesbury” deserves—more than ever—to get off the comics page and on to the editorial page. No way does partisan political satire deserve context with “Pickles,” “Rubes,” “Zits” and “Blondie.”

* More from Prince Harry: Spare me.

* “Perhaps lack of thinking and intellectual depth in our politics is caused by instruments and websites that do the thinking for us. Where have all the intellectuals gone?”–Cal Thomas, Tribune Content Agency.

* “There’s something very seductive about being a television star.”–Donald Trump.

* Less secular sorts may disagree, but Tarpon Springs’ annual big-splash Epiphany celebration deserves something less than mega media attention, including Tampa Bay Times’ page one, above-the-fold coverage. If, indeed, there were a journalistic dawning, would that be an epiphany?

* The Tampa Bay metro area has increased by more than 14 percent over the last decade.

* “Vibrant, downtown Tampa.” Remember when that was an oxymoron?

* “Now there’s no top leadership in the Legislature out of Tampa Bay.”–Former state Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon.

* Nearly 200 firearms were stolen from unlocked vehicles in 2022. There’s carelessness—leaving your car unlocked—and then there’s societal enabling of violent street crimes.

* It was no shock that far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro didn’t hang around for the inauguration of his successor (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva), the one who had defeated him in a run-off. There then followed an assault on Brazil’s capital Brasilia by Bolsonaro supporters who claimed the election was not won legally. It was eerily similar to Washington’s Jan. 6 insurrection.

So where does a Western Hemisphere autocrat head to? Florida. Initially near Orlando. Beyond that? Trump always has room in his Guilded Elba for a fellow despot.

* There are now two black county GOP chairpersons: Hillsborough’s Dana Golen and Palm Beach’s Michael Bennett.

* From 2013-20, Florida universities received nearly $1 billion from Chinese entities.

* “We seek normalcy, not philosophic lunacy. We will never surrender to the woke mob.”–Gov. Ron Desantis, at his inauguration. The obvious takeaway: the self-serving context and definition of “normalcy” are not unlike those for “freedom.”

* DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE Act” takes acronyming to ridiculous depths as he has dubbed the law the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act. Well, we can go even lower. No butts about it. How about a gubernatorial acronym? Another Self Serving Hijacking Of Legal Expertise.

* Among the presumed Heisman Trophy contenders for next season: the University of Washington’s Michael Penix, an alumnus of Tampa Bay Tech.

* Why did Tom Brady unretire for the 2022 season? First, because he is Tom Brady. A GOAT can make that call and get GOAT money for an otherwise QB-challenged team. Second, he had won a Super Bowl here and came close enough the following season. Maybe there was more magic, even with all the roster chaos. Third, it’s never easy to leave center stage. Sure, he has his well-known brand, his lucrative investments, a rich broadcast-analyst contract awaiting, an ongoing podcast and an “80 for Brady” movie that has even enthralled Jane Fonda.

But life is different when you no longer have the ultimate center-stage forum for your talent. It can never be the same. Even iconic quarterbacks who no longer had their prime-time games–think Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath–couldn’t resist one final year, however humbling and embarassing.

But this we do know: Brady can still play—even at a position that increasingly focuses on mobility, hardly Brady’s strength. But he can only be Brady if he’s surrounded by enough talent to have a shot at next year’s Super Bowl. The Bucs, with their roster-and-draft tumult, are not that team.

* There are injuries, retirements, free-agent exits and draft decisions. It’s NFL parity. Don’t just cite the Bucs. Just ask the defending Super Bowl champion (5-12) LA Rams. BTW, for all the disappointments—and staff firings—the Bucs remain the only team in the NFC to reach the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.

* Mike Pence, like so many self-serving pols, has a book out that keeps his name in the news before 2024. It’s an autobiography entitled, unsurprisingly, “So Help Me God.” Word is the title is actually a shortened version of the overly candid original: “So, Help Me God: I Want To Make Up For Having Enabled the Anti-Christ.”

* “If Donald Trump had been born black, he would have been Don King.”–Rev. Al Sharpton.

* “History isn’t kind to the man who holds Mussolini’s jacket.” That was Ted Cruz explaining why he didn’t endorse Trump at the 2016 GOP Convention.

* Trumpism without Trump: Ron DeSantis.

* Trump was known among his own staff as the “Leaker-in-Chief.”

* When Speaker of the House balloting embarrassingly goes into double digits, anything can happen—including the nomination of Donald Trump as Speaker by Florida’s reprehensible Rep. Matt Gaetz. a Trump acolyte.

* Speaking of the GOP outHouse fiasco, Speaker Kevin McCarthy will look at expunging Trump impeachments. Eventually we’ll see more signs of McCarthy concessions over his Speaker status. One thing that won’t change: a twice-impeached president is part of the historical record.

* Once in office, “Trump became the worst version of himself.”–Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen.

* If Roy Cohn were still alive, Trump has told insiders, he would still be president. Not all presidents evolve in office.

* Back in the day, Ronald Reagan rejected the backing of the John Birch Society in his first gubernatorial campaign. As noted, that was then.

* Calling black Republicans “props” is demeaning. It’s also true—as long as the GOP remains the party of george LINCOLN rockwell.

* “At our best, the American promise wins out. … But I don’t need to tell you that we’re not always at our best. We’re fallible. We fail and fall.”--President Joe Biden during a Sunday morning sermon at MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

* “Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”–Albert Camus.

* “Think in slogans and speak in bullets.”–How George Orwell characterized Nazi leaders.

* “Every war ends in a diplomatic way. Every war ends as a result of the actions taken on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.”–Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

* “More immigration is in our national interest. … We are suffering from a severe labor shortage.”–Mona Charen, The Bulwark.

* “We do not trust Mr. McCarthy with power.”–Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.

* “No matter what the polls say now, DeSantis or any other GOP aspirant who enters the race against Trump will have a tough time. Hitting below the belt is what Trump does best. He is not bound by rules or decency.”–David Corn, Mother Jones.

* “Act with urgency to pay our bills on time and not cause additional chaos.”–What U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, called on Republicans to do.

* “(Former Brazilian President Jair) Bolsonaro should not be given refuge in Florida.”–U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

* “There are really no Democrats in Florida who have money or are motivated.”–Attorney John Morgan.

* “I never intended to run for mayor.”–Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson.

* “This is the new crown jewel of that athletics district—that ultimately is going to have an even newer and bigger crown jewel soon.”–USF Board of Trustees Chairman Will Weatherford, at the formal opening of the $22 million Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility. The ultimate “crown jewel” would be an on-campus football stadium.

TV or not TV?

That should be a question we all ask ourselves–especially when it involves the “news” and all of its exigent priorities. “If it bleeds, it leads” is more than a cliché. Alas, it’s still, especially in an era of continuous news cycles and problematic profits, a motivational force–even more so with cell-phone footage access. Then, of course, there is the self-serving, party-over-country, typically disingenuous performance art known as politics. Mollify the masses. Get that ego elected. Take advantage of the outsized exposure.

Some of us seem inured or cynical to what keeps unfolding. Others appear to embody partisan animus.

The rest of us—for the sake of mental health and meaningful democracy—need to monitor our exposure to TV news coverage and commentary. It can have a visceral impact on our well being.

As a result—whether it’s Joy Reid or joyless Laura Ingraham—I’m not watching. Reliable reading will carry the day with the purpose of being informed—not inflamed.

* When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to a joint session of Congress to make the case for continued help against Russian invaders it didn’t include State of the Union optics. Standing applause (except for Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert) was not a partisan political optic. And the two figures framed behind Zelenskyy? Two women, VP Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were making history while Zelenskyy was making his case.

* “There is such a wide range between your actual age and how you perform and function and show up in the world.”–That was U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and, yes, the context was an octogenarian president.

* President Biden is a devoted viewer of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight.”

* “Arizonans don’t like taxes, and we don’t really like government. We love our country. And we love our military. And that’s about where it ends.”–Former Democrat and now Independent Sen. Krysten Sinema of Arizona.

* While Dems continue to ponder their leadership bench, one Congressional name seems assured of continued attention and ascendance. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is often referenced as the “Speaker-in-waiting.”

* Voting actually has a lot in common with driving. If you want to go backward, choose “R.” If you want to go forward, choose “D.”

* Christmas, family and politics. We know all too well that’s an awkward mix, especially during the uber divisive Trump era. Not a good sign if during Christmas-present unwrappings, it’s apparent someone has received a “Don’t Fauci My Florida” koozi.

* What do you call an obstinate kid who refuses to believe in Santa Claus? A rebel without a Claus.

* If you’re fat—but identify as skinny—are you trans-slender?

* Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it.

* Being a parent doesn’t make one a de facto expert on anything including, ironically, child-raising and age-and-gender-appropriate books.

* Since when did “patriot” become a synonym for punk?

*Your chances of winning the Lottery are roughly the same whether you play or not.