Opinions to go Online

* The Mazars USA accounting firm says it will no longer do any work for the Trump Organization—or Trump personally. Something about financial documents between 2011 and 2020 that can “no longer be relied upon.” Ouch. Mazars baled amid criminal and civil investigations into Trump and family over inflating the value of Trump Organization properties.

* A judge has ruled that Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump must answer questions under oath in New York State’s civil investigation into Trump’s business practices. So the three Trumps will have to sit for depositions. One caveat: The Fifth Amendment, the one once denigrated by Trump, is still available. See below.

* “Somebody should read (Trump) his Miranda rights. He has the right to remain silent.”–Attorney George Conway, a founding member of the Lincoln Project, the conservative Super PAC. Anyone representing Trump knows he cannot be allowed to say much under oath. He becomes his own worst rhetorical enemy.

* A federal judge rejected efforts by Trump to get conspiracy lawsuits—filed by lawmakers and two Capitol police officers—tossed out. Trump’s words—during a Jan. 6, pre-insurrection rally—were likely “words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment,” according to U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta in his ruling. Words of “incitement” before an insurrection. Sounds sort of seditious.

* On sale at Trump speaking events is his coffee-table (picture) book. Signed copies sell for $230. You have to know your market.

* “After sacrificing considerably to lead our nation, there continues to be unprecedented demand for President Trump, his thoughts and his products, unlike anything politics has ever seen.”–Trump spokesman-flack Taylor Budowich.

* Donald Trump Jr. has his own online store and sells, among other provocative items, shirts that say: “Guns Don’t Kill People/Alec Baldwin Kills People.”

* “We Shall Overcomb.” A possible ‘24 campaign sticker to complement MAGA?

* “Let us be clear. I am here today not to start a war, but to prevent one.”–Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking about Russia and Ukraine at the U.N. Security Council.

* “Nie wieder Krieg” (“Never again war”). Still a familiar, pacifist strain in Germany.

* “I cannot stress this enough: We urge our private sector partners to … put in place cybersecurity defenses … that make cyber attacks harder for even sophisticated cyber actors.”–White House Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger, in urging American companies to brace for potential Russian computer hacking as tensions mount along the Ukraine border.

* “Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere of influence.”–France’s Marine Le Pen, the perennial nationalist and anti-immigrant presidential candidate.

* “Make no mistake: Sea level rise is upon us.”–Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

* “The thing that is different about Trump is the making-money part seems to have permeated everything. There is this appearance, at least, that he is always thinking: How can I make a profit off of this? It is wrong for influence and power in this country to be sold for personal profit.”–Former Federal Election Commission general counsel Lawrence M. Noble.

* “The Democratic Party has lost touch with all working people, including its own base.”–Democratic pollster and political strategist Stan Greenberg.

* “Ninety-eight percent of people on the Mall on Jan. 6 were white. We need better white people in the United States.”–Democratic analyst James Carville.

* Where race is concerned, eliding the truth is an American tradition.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “People who worry themselves sick over sexism in language and think the government sneaks into their houses at night and puts atomic waste in the kitchen dispose-all cannot be expected to have a sense of humor. And they don’t.”–The late humorist P.J. O’Rourke.

* “Secretaries of State are, in the battle over the future of our democracy, serving on the front lines. Clearly the work that we did to successfully defend democracy in 2020 has placed us in a greater spotlight.”–Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. She and her family were confronted with protests in front of their house by armed supporters of former President Donald Trump.

* “It seems hard to believe, but there’s no visa that allows someone to settle permanently in the U.S. because they’ve started a business. … We need a true entrepreneurship visa that allows a broad scope of international talent to start a business with the security of permanent status.”–Julio Fuentes, the president, CEO and founder of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

* “It makes good business sense to include workforce and affordable housing in all of our development.”–Mayor Jane Castor.

* “This is the good stuff, guys. This is the one you fight over.”–Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, on announced plans by Amazon to build a $150 million, 500,000-square-foot distribution facility that will provide 500 jobs.

Showtime’s four-part “We Need to Talk About Cosby” is worth checking out. Writer-director Kamau Bell chronicles the unmasking and devolution of an erstwhile icon to that of societal menace. The overriding takeaway: “America’s dad” was an unconscionable, unrelenting predator. His victims and show biz enablers didn’t want to acknowledge and confront a Dr. Huxtable & Mr. Hyde monster in their midst. One of our seemingly better angels was preying on vulnerable women.

But it was more than a disgusting revelation.

It was a gut punch to a society that thought it had a high-profile black entertainer who was what racially riven America desperately needed: Someone who could, without trafficking in “adult” humor and F-bombs, remind us all of what we had in common—not conflict. Every neighborhood had a Fat Albert. Regardless of race or religion, we could see the humor in our literal retelling of God’s ark-building instructions to Noah. In a society polarized by race, Cosby was a godsend. Until he wasn’t. His betrayal was a demonic nightmare.

* If the Democratic Party sticks together, it will be able to confirm President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee sans any GOPster votes. She could become the first person elevated to the court by a vice presidential tie-breaking vote. A lot of history could be made.

It wasn’t always this problematic. Recall that retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer, a member of the court’s liberal wing, was appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, and the confirmation vote was a one-sided 87-to-9. Hell, hard-core conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, was confirmed in a shutout: 98-to-0. That was then.

Whatever happened to consensus? Right now the Dems are hoping for a couple of ideological defections. Best chance: Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was the only Republican to oppose Justice Brett Kavanaugh. A realistic, best-case scenario: Collins, Murkowski and Sen. Lindsey Graham cross the politically partisan aisle-gulf. All three backed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a front-runner to succeed Justice Breyer, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

* “The worst thing you can do in American politics is to give people something and then take it away. The failure to pass the Build Back Better has a negative effect on a lot of families.”–Democratic strategist Brad Bannon, alluding to the child tax credit benefit that lapsed last month.

* “You lie!” Remember that? It’s when South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson shouted that during President Barack Obama’s address of a joint session of Congress in 2009. Little did we know that it would get so much worse than even that.

* “Democrats generally respect the notion that a more democratic nation is a good thing … (and don’t seek) to rig the rules in their favor. That’s why there was no Jan. 6, 2017, insurrection to stop Donald Trump from taking office.”–Perry Bacon, WaPo.

* Nearly 54 percent of the world population is fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. Nearly 62 percent have received at least one dose.

* Russia has fully vaccinated 49 percent of its population.

* The FDA announced that the vaccine for kids under 5 has been delayed until at least mid-April.

* According to the CDC, booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines lose substantial effectiveness after about four months—but were still effective in keeping people out of the hospital during the omicron surge.

* In Florida omicron-related infections have fallen by nearly 50 percent in the past two weeks.

* Hillsborough County is still operating these testing sites: Adventure Island, Hillsborough Community College Brandon, Progress Village Park and the West Tampa Community Resource Center.

* According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Tampa metro area led the nation in inflation (9.6 percent) rate last month. That means 9.6 percent higher than Jan. 2021. The national rate was 7.5 percent. Second and third, respectively, behind Tampa Bay: Riverside, Calif., 8.6 percent and San Diego 8.3 percent.

* Nationwide, Tampa Bay is ranked 14^th on a list of overvalued real estate markets. According to research by Florida Atlantic University real estate economist Ken Johnson and Florida International University economist Eli Beracha, the average home in Tampa Bay sold for 41 percent above the expected price in 2021.

* Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization data show that 255 people died in traffic crashes last year. That makes 2021 the deadliest ever on local roads.

* Hillsborough County says it faces a $1.5 billion shortfall to expand and improve its transportation system over the next decade. There’s a planned November referendum on a proposed one-cent sales tax for transportation.

* Real estate currency. The first house in the U.S. to be sold as an NFT–Non-Fungible Token–was in Gulfport. BTW, the house sold for $654,000—or about 210 ethereum, a crypto-currency.

* During his confirmation hearings, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo continued to decline to say whether he had been vaccinated for coronavirus. That’s unacceptable for Aaron Rodgers, but a surgeon general?

* A quarter of Florida’s eligible population remains unvaccinated.

* “Florida is one of only 13 active death penalty states that execute people with serious mental illness. … Serious mental illness is relevant to everything from a defendant’s culpability to his ability to participate in the criminal justice system.”–Celeste Fitzgerald, coordinator of the Alliance To Protect People with Serious Mental Illness.

* Although there’s Oscar buzz about “Spencer,” it’s uncalled for. It’s tedious and under-edited.

* NBC Universal charged up to $7 million for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial.

* “The issue isn’t censorship of Joe Rogan. It’s how many people pay to hear him.”–Greg Bensinger, NYT.

* “In our idiocracy, entertainment is more important than expertise. Knowing things makes you suspect as a snooty, out-of-touch elitist. That’s why a former reality TV show host became president and a former cage fighter (Joe Rogan) became the top podcaster in America.”–Max Boot, WaPo.

* Civil war: Isn’t that an oxymoron?

* Legal bottom line unofficially referenced in law schools: “When you have the law on your side, pound the law. When you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. When you have neither, pound the table.”

* If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

* Non-smoking area: “If we see you smoking, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action.”

* Electrician’s truck: “Let us remove your shorts.”