Opinions to go Online

Back in the day, I was in Berlin bearing witness to Cold War optics and reality. I was literally followed in East Berlin, which was creepy. And, in the company of American GI’s at Checkpoint Charlie, I was handed binoculars to observe East German soldiers with binoculars staring back at me from their side of the Wall. Beyond weird.

But I also experienced something that was encouraging. The West Germans frequently referred to their chancellor, Willy Brandt, as “Schnapps Willy.” It wasn’t an insult. It was a reminder that the tippling leader of the democratic side of Germany was not on some authoritative pedestal. In short, he was no (former East German leader) Walter Ulbricht. West Germans could publicly criticize a leader and even poke fun at him (not unlike we do with ours, including at the aforementioned WH Correspondents Dinner.) Back then, it was a societal sign that a leader who has been elected by the people is still one of the people—not some Moscow-approving, Communist minion.

* Car Dealership: “The Best Way To Get Back On Your Feet—Miss A Car Payment.”

* The Lightning’s Stanley Cups-celebration visit to the White House, pandemically delayed, was a feel-good highlight for the franchise and Tampa Bay. And it helped, a lot, that the president, although a Philadelphia Flyers fan, was not Donald Trump.

* We now know that MLB fined the New York Yankees $100,000 for using a dugout phone to relay sign-stealing information during the 2015-16 seasons. Apparently having a ton of money isn’t advantage enough.

* A New York judge found Donald Trump in contempt of court for failing to respond adequately to a subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings. A contempt finding set in motion $10,000 daily fines. The bottom line was underscored by New York AG Letitia James: “Today’s ruling makes clear: No one is above the law.” And to think otherwise, she could have added, is contemptible.

* Head’s up: Next month the House Jan. 6 Committee will launch public hearings. Among the likely scenarios: subpoena threats and testimonies rife with “I don’t remember” responses.

* “I just wanted it to be ‘The Twilight Zone’ and all go away.” Dr. Deborah Birx, former White House coronavirus coordinator, referring to her pandemic experience with then-President Trump, including his consideration of disinfectant injections.

* “Things are getting more dangerous in this country. Luckily, Kamala Harris has a plan. She plans to disarm you.”–The disarming *ucker Carlson.

* “The president is rising to the occasion. … Ukraine will have the weaponry it needs to prevail against Russian aggression. This would never have happened if Donald Trump … were still president.”–Max Boot, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

* “America stands with Ukraine.”–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

* “This is one of those moments in European history. What we are looking at is the semi-permanent division of Europe into two.”–Alexander Stubb, former Prime Minister of Finland.

* “Quitting Twitter wouldn’t be easy for the scrollers and tappers addicted to having all this messy humanity at their fingertips.”–Molly Roberts, Washington Post.

* “I don’t think inflation has gotten entrenched in the economy; markets and consumers both expect it to come down a lot in a year or so. But we don’t want to take the chance that it might get entrenched. So hike the Fed must.” Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize recipient in economics.

* “The Bible says God created mankind ‘in His own image.’ But many alleged conservatives invert that. They create in their image, a God who thinks and acts like them.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “The marketplace is horrible. Insurance companies are picking and choosing what buildings they want to insure … companies might not want to write on the ocean anymore.”–Miami Beach insurance broker Robert Munchick.

* “Choosing between housing affordability and resiliency is not an option. We have to do both.”– Brandi Gabbard, chair of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

* “I don’t go in for billboard patriotism.”–Walt Disney.

* “The surge of Tampa’s tech scene is a major reason why we decided to build our team in this hub of top talent.”–Thomas Kratky, founder and CEO of the Prague-based data firm Manta, in announcing that Manta has chosen Tampa for its U.S. headquarters.

We all remember “hanging chads” and the national focus on Florida over problematic presidential ballots that helped George W. Bush become a popular-vote-losing president in 2000. “Flori-duh” became a political-laughingstock trope and never totally recovered from media punch lines. Nowhere to go after that but up.

Nope.

Rick Scott–of HCA infamy, light-rail defiance and a Lord Voldemort look–and Trump disciple Ron DeSantis hardly helped. Especially the latter, a Fox-favorite dissembler who has been de facto doubling down on “Flori-duh” via his uber divisive, faux freedom brand that is geared to an office higher than Tallahassee.

DeSantis’ agenda—with the support of the spineless GOPster legislature—is all about self-appropriated definitions of “freedom” and “liberty” and the demonization of opposition as “anti-woke.” If it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker, it doesn’t matter.

It manifests itself across a spectrum of issues that places DeSantis in a national spotlight with The Villages too often as an insolent backdrop. He got his version of a redistricting map that adds to minority under-representation and gives him more congressional cover. He got his disturbing choice of surgeon general in the controversial Joseph Ladapo. He took shots at academic freedom of speech, school districts that played it safe with mask mandates and Reedy Creeked Disney’s efforts to combine fairy tales with diverse casting and storytelling.

Speaking of Disney, its loud speaker announcements are now gender neutral. “Dreamers of all ages” has replaced “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.” Disney wants its Main Street to be inclusive and look like America 2022. DeSantis doesn’t.

* “On every social issue, (Democrats) own the moral high ground. They should challenge Republicans to climb.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “The culture war is here, whether Democrats like it or not. The only alternative to fighting it is losing it.”–Jamelle Bouie, NYT.

* If you were told—and you have been—that as a result of a statutory authority, you were no longer required to mask up on planes, trains and buses, would you regard that as an acceptable public health directive and rationale—as opposed to what the science-steeped CDC was still advocating? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question. But, no, that shouldn’t be part of “American exceptionalism.”

* Total U.S. population that is boosted: 30 percent. Total Florida population that is boosted: 26 percent.

* Total pandemic deaths in Florida: 73,822. Total pandemic deaths in the last week: 133.

* Another day, another Ron DuhSantis-branding proclamation. This time it was about public university professors attaining or retaining tenure. “We need to make sure the faculty are held accountable and make sure they don’t just have tenure forever without having any type of way to hold them accountable or evaluate what they’re doing,” said the governor after a bill signing. Wonder if Joseph Ladapo agrees. House Speaker Chris Sprowls helped out, so to speak, by framing the legislation as a way to prevent, you guessed it, “indoctrination” of students.

* “Woke Disney” has “lost any moral authority to tell you what to do.” That’s from a fund-raising email that the governor sent to supporters.

* In 2022, the Sunshine State is projected to be 11.1 percent below the amount of business-travel revenue in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. Nationally, such revenues are projected to be down 23.1 percent according to a report by the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

* “I’ve met Martin Luther King. I don’t just talk about him. He taught me peaceful protests, and here we are in 2022 rolling back the tide.”–State Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville.

* The Cross Bay Ferry that connects the downtowns of Tampa and St. Petersburg recently set a new 6-month record—with more than 53,000 riders. That’s a 2 percent increase over pre-pandemic numbers. The CBF operations will cease on May 1.

For those hoping for year-round service, it should help that HART (Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority) received nearly $5 million in federal dollars for the ferry in February.

* April is water conservation month. As a result, Tampa water customers can request free water-savings devices to save water, as well as lower utility bills and support sustainability. To request a kit: Tampa.gov/SaveWater.