End of the Road: The Seminole Democrat Closes Shop

The Seminole Democrat has been in existence since June 2006. It started as the official blog for the Seminole County Democratic Party, but broke off to be independent a year later.

We have had several very talented writers throughout the years. (Special shoutout to IndieThinker). We've made a lot of people really mad, which is a good thing. We brought attention to issues no one seemed to know about. We had good sponsors. The "My Stupid State" series was wildly popular: the final post for that series was today.

Why leave this blog now? Several reasons: One is, quite frankly, because of blogger.com. This site has become riddled with problems and script errors that just take too long to fix. The second reason is that we have been writing less and less about local issues to justify running an entire blog separate from our posts on DailyKos. Third, the owner of the blog is planning on moving from Florida. (Yup, he's had enough.)

The good news:
1. Ismay will still post on Daily Kos, as will the SemDem.

2. The Facebook and Twitter accounts will still be active.

Special thanks to Florida Politics www.flapolitics.com and Beach Peanuts. Both are good progressive Florida blogs to always get your fix. Special thanks to Progess Florida for continuously featuring us in their Best of Blogs section. Special thanks to Meteor Blades for featuring the work of this blog for the state of Florida.

The blog will remain up for posterity, but there will be no more new posts. Thank you all for reading. Keep fighting for Florida. This is your fight..it always has been. We were just a voice.

Until then...

Final Winner: My Stupid State 2015

You. You live here. You make this state whatever the heck you want it to be. The threat isn't rightwing--it never was. It was always apathy. The NRA is a paper tiger. The politicians are only as good as those who put them there. Take up the torch and go.

Godspeed.

My Stupid State Series to End December 2015

The My Stupid State series has been a fixture since early 2011. It documented the tom-foolery of the Tea Party Tallahassee takeover in 2010. (Boom!) It has been wildly successful as far as readership goes, but unsuccessful in stemming the crazy. After all, Rick Scott still won re-election last year. By the way, it's not that Rick Scott has gotten any better, but I haven't been as prolific documenting his misdeeds because he's term-limited, can't be recalled, and the time for action has, frankly, long passed.

Enjoy the quick jaunt down memory lane. We are up to 171 posts. All of those things REALLY did happen to our state.

I might post a few more, as well as the 2015 winner in December. Otherwise, it will remain up for posterity but no new posts will occur after the end of this year.

Really Rick Scott? Secret Contract Payoff to Rap-Star Pitbull with Taxpayer Money

Rick Scott is a huge Pitbull fan. Or at least he says he is. (He's not known for being too friendly with Hispanics, but we’ll take him at his word on this.)

Since early this year, Rick Scott and the FL GOP have showered Pitbull with gifts, presented him a key to the city of Miami, declared Martin Luther King day this year to be "Armando Perez Day" (his given name), and Rick Scott declared him Florida’s Ambassador of the Arts (whatever that means). A GOP state senator and Scott-ally, who also happens to be the president of Doral Collage, also bestowed on Pitbull an honorary degree.

What are the republicans falling all over Pitbull? Or, as this actual title of an article puts it, why are they all over Pitbull’s dick?

To be blunt, it isn’t likely because they suddenly discovered a taste for Latin Hip-Hop music.

For decades, the Florida Cuban-American community has been a reliable conservative voting block. Yet with a new generation shifting towards more open relations with Cuba, coupled with years of GOP insults and racism, has led to a sizable shift towards the Democratic Party.

This trend has been compounded by the rise of Donald Trump in the GOP primary. The FL GOP establishment has been very open about the disaster the Trump campaign has been for the GOP brand in Florida. One state senator pointed out that even if Trump isn’t the nominee, he will still likely get to speak at the GOP convention. Bashing Hispanics might be a winner for deep red states that are mostly white, but diverse states like Florida require a fragile coalition that counts on the Cuban-American vote. The FL GOP can ill afford to lose this group without their house of cards collapsing.

Rick Scott is very worried too. (Well, not worried enough to condemn Trump’s remarks or anything. Rick Scott, in fact, stood up for Trump because, as they say in hip-hop, “haters gotta hate”.)

Man, there has to be SOMETHING the FL GOP can do to win Cuban-Americans that won’t require them to actually change their racist ways or condemn any fascist remark coming out of Trump these days.

The answer? THROW TAXPAYER MONEY AT PITBULL!!

Visit Florida, the agency that promotes Florida tourism, received a record $75 million dollars this year. (Rick Scott raised a lot of eyebrows when he asked for $100 million for Visit Florida right after he slashed funding from education and other agencies to the bone.) And now, Rick Scott’s Ambassador of the Arts has become the official Tourism Ambassador of Florida.

And that's all we know.

The reason is because 10 out of the 11 pages of the deal are completely blacked out!! Why? Who the hell knows. The CEO of Visit Florida said because “trade secrets". Some have claimed that Pitbull gave such a great deal that no one can know about it. Others, like myself, who have watched Tallahassee for awhile say-- why the hell do you think they blacked it out?

• We have no idea how much Pitbull actually got paid. (I’m guessing a million. Sure, it could be less than that—but it could be a heck of a lot more. That would explain why Rick Scott asked for so damn much money!)
• We have no idea what Pitbull agreed to do for the money.
• We have no idea who is agent even is.

If this was private money, that would be one thing. But it’s not.

Also, blacking out a public contract with the state is a blatant violation of Florida’s open records law (the “Sunshine Law”). However, since the Rick Scott administration has shown no problem using taxpayer money to pay for over $1 million in legal fees for continued reckless regard for the rule of law, I’m guessing they don't care.

Knowing Pitbull's popularity with the Cuban-American community, the Florida GOP has made no secret about their intense desire for Pitbull to become a republican and support their candidates. For all we know, that could have been part of the deal.

Maybe Visit Florida really and truly thinks that the man the Florida GOP has desperately been courting is the ideal candidate to tell people in other states to visit Disney and Universal. Sure. Or can we just call this contract for what it likely is? A bribe. And a shallow one at that.

After all, a huge payout with our money to an already very wealthy man for favors really does sound like the GOP’s modus operandi. But it’s not going to work. I don't think they could pay Mr. P enough to sacrifice his reputation and street cred to promote a party built on intolerance, hatred for immigrants, and ignorance.

If they bothered to actually listen to his music, they might have gotten a clue and saved their money. His last album was entitled “Climate Change”.

Unfortunately, we are the ones who likely just got burned.

Don't be Dyslexic in Florida

Florida's Personal Learning Scholarships Accounts (PLSA) Program is administered by state-approved nonprofit Scholarship Funding Organizations that are supposed to help meet the individual educational needs of an eligible child.

Just last week, after many years of lobbying, an activist group finally got our state legislature to recognize dyslexia as learning disability. Unfortunately, this new acknowledgement that dyslexia exists does not mean that they are eligible for the PLSA program.

Rick Scott won't even issue an executive order to exempt people with disabilities from having to take Florida's troubled state assessment. He is hardly a champion of the underprivileged and seems to have a particular affinity for hurting people with developmental disabilities.

This special lady is going broke paying for a special tutor just so her son can learn how to read and write. Her crowdrise page is here if you want to see her story.

Most Tallahassee politicians do not have children in the public school system so they don't have a vested interest in helping. True change in Tallahassee will only come if Democrats ever realize there are elections that occur outside of presidential years.

Trump on rising barbarity at his rallies: "I'll be a little more violent..."

Crossposted under SemDem on DKos

To hear Trump tell it, he has simply run out of patience. He's been super nice to the first groups of protestors at these rallies, but no more. It's time to endorse a little violence:

"See the first group, I was nice. Oh, take your time," he said. "The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I'll be a little more violent. And the fourth group, I'll say get the hell out of here!"

This follows the latest Trump rally where non-violent protestors were physically attacked. A camera caught just one incident of a protestor being dragged and kicked by a Trump supporter during Trump's visit to my home state. Before that, peaceful protestors were attacked at a Trump rally in Virginia where one protestor was spat upon. Before that, two diehard Trump supporters beat an Hispanic man with a metal pipe and then urinated on him. They told police "Donald Trump was right". Although Trump condemned the attack, he said he admired their passion.

This is the frontrunner for the GOP.

What the living hell is happening to my country?

Although I am proudly a Democrat, I absolutely abhor a one-party system. That only leads to corruption. As an American first, I expect and demand a choice of robust ideas. Everyone should.

But alas, we have just a two-party system, and one of these parties has completely gone off the rails.

One party that used to stand for something has morphed into something very ugly. Its core base has completely given in to fervent nationalism rooted in extreme hatred and bigotry. One party has managed to turn its core supporters into submissives that are prone to follow a horrible, charismatic, and power-hungry demagogue who offers them simple solutions and feeds into their fear and hate.

These are men who claim to be American but don't care about voter suppression or taking rights away from others (even themselves), as long as there is someone strong leading them and stomping their perceived enemies. (In this case, their enemies being completely powerless immigrants and minorities.)

While watching yet another video on youtube where a protestor is physically attacked at a Trump rally, I couldn't help but notice the :35 mark where a Trump supporter yearns for an "Imperial Presidency".

The next step of this de-evolution is organized violence.

It hasn't quite happened yet, but what I am witnessing is beyond disturbing. Trump has taken smalls steps where he tries to justify the violence of his supporters. As horrifying as that is, the worst part of it is that it is being ignored.

The major news networks should be putting the stories of what is going on at Trump rallies front and center. They aren't. The violence is being ignored even though this phenomenon is only happening with Donald Trump. On our side, the GOP routinely sends protestors to Hillary and Bernie rallies. None of them are attacked.

You might have heard a lot about the BLM protest at Bernie's rally a few months ago. Recall that this was covered quite extensively by the MSM. No one protesting was kicked, punched, or dragged across the floor while chanting "U-S-A"! No one was told to go back where they came from. No one was threatened or harmed. Can you even imagine something like that ever happening at a Democratic rally?

OH, but speak up at Trump rally. You could get hurt. Yet this seems to just be accepted practice.

There are two reasons why these incidents of violence aren't getting more press. Either the networks are terrified that Trump will boycott their organization, or perhaps this is becoming so commonplace that they don't think it's news. I frankly don't know which is worse.

It's past time to stop treating Trump as if he's just another clown in the clown parade of the GOP. I don't find any of this funny. He is dangerous and needs to be treated as such. Yes, I am doubtful he will make it all the way; but that is a real possibility we can't ignore. And if it isn't Trump, maybe the next guy will have all the charismatic hatemongering the teapublicans are looking for in a dictator, but actually have the brain power of at least a fifth grader and pull it off.

With the horrors I am witnessing, I realize that it may only be a matter of time. Maybe I can't stop the downward spiral that a large portion of our electorate seems hellbent on taking us down, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be silent about it.

Florida GOP's New Stand Your Ground Expansion: Trayvon's Killer Would Get Paid $200,000

Crossposted under SemDem on DailyKos

As always, I have to begin my posts by pointing out that this is NOT a snark. In the Gunshine state, the NRA doesn't just get laws passed, they write the laws. At a time when the nation despairs over weekly gun massacres, our f*&*ing legislature is currently on track to force our colleges to allow assault-rifle toting gun nuts to roam the campus. (Naturally, guns will still be banned in the Capitol.) But while our state suffers from all the terror that our unchecked NRA has unleashed, including the nation's first so-called "stand Your Ground" law, it's about to get a whole lot worse.

House bill 169 grotesquely flips the burden of proof to anyone arrested for a gun-related crime. In other words, if you knife somebody in the gut, the burden of proof will still be on you as to why you did that. But if you SHOOT somebody in the gut, the burden of proof will be on the guy who got shot to prove IT WAS NOT SELF-DEFENSE!!!

It's like the NRA is actively trying to get more violent crime in our bloody state. Actually, it is exactly what they are doing.

OH, and one more thing.

If you get shot in the gut and you (or more likely, your surviving relatives) should fail to prove that the guy did not act in self-defense, the taxpayers of Florida would have to pay the shooter up to $200,000 for any costs and expenses related to the trial.

From the same article:

That payment part is unprecedented.

"This is a dangerous piece of legislation," said Phil Archer, the gun-toting Republican state attorney for Seminole and Brevard counties. "I don't know how else to say it."

Archer said the law would essentially force prosecutors to try every case twice — once to validate self-defense claims and then again for the actual trial — a costly hurdle for prosecutors "even if it is obviously not a viable self-defense claim. Every defendant in every case is going to ask for it."

The $200,0000 payments would also probably force offices to cut prosecutors, he said, explaining: "There's nothing else to cut."

Our homicide rate increased dramatically under Stand Your Ground... this will make it skyrocket.

Oh, and why did they pick $200,000 as a number, you might ask? It was the amount George Zimmerman wanted the state to reimburse him for all of his "expert witnesses, travel expenses, and transcripts". Seriously.

It's bad enough that he murdered Trayvon in cold blood. NRA legislators supporting this bill in Tallahassee apparently think his parents should also have paid him as well.

With all of the benefits of shooting people, you'd be crazy NOT to have your planned gun rampage here in Florida. (Well, I'd guess you'd be crazy either way.)

I've seen a lot of stupid in this state, but I've never before seen a bill that actively encourages gun massacres. I guess since the GOP's base is now down to just angry, white men, they feel they need to appeal to their fastest growing constituency: the paranoid and violent lone gunmen.

Debate Musings: Winners and Losers

Big winner: America. You clearly learned that you have a functioning, NOT INSANE party that is working for you.

Winners: Hillary and Bernie.

I have to give the edge to Hillary. Bernie did great and did nothing to stop his momentum, but Clinton actually managed to REVERSE her momentum. If she came across stale, unprepped or entitled, Bernie could have built on his mojo to, dare I say, frontrunner status. Yet, now we have an energized frontrunner in Clinton who will, as we are already seeing, be getting a bounce from her performance. Nonetheless, Bernie proved to everyone watching that he wasn't the "crazy old man" the media has tried hard to paint him as. He was intelligent, frisky, and magnanimous. Both did well enough that there is honest debate as to which one "won" the debate. I am just happy and proud we have two good candidates that are clearly ready to be PRESIDENT> Well played, you guys.

No change: O' Malley. There was a time he was supposed to be the "anti-Hillary" before anyone thought of Bernie. Yet his uninspiring campaign continues with an uninspiring performance at the debate. He had a few good applause lines, and he was smart to contrast the tone of the GOP and Democratic debate. However, he was a longshot candidate going in and this debate did absolutely nothing to change that. At this point, I don't even think he'll be considered for veep.

Loser: Joe Biden. Sorry Joe, I love ya, but it's over. It appears we have what we need in our two frontrunners. Your services are no longer required.

Big Losers: Webb and Chafee. They needed to hit it out the park, and instead practically threw the game for the other side. Webb showed he is a horrible republican and an even worse democrat. His whining became an internet meme, and his awkward joke may go down as a low point in primary debate history. Frankly, he was just plain unlikable. On the other hand, Chafee was just one unprepared goofball. You know it was bad when he had to do damage control on CNN, and even Wolf Blitzer had to ask what the heck he was doing. At least O'Malley won't tarnish his legacy when he inevitably drops out, but these two worked hard seemingly to make themselves look worse. Good riddance to both of them.

Biggest loser: GOP. While one debate featured assaults on women (both figurative and personal), utter hatred for foreigners and immigrants, and discussions on how ugly several people's faces are; this one had real questions about foreign and domestic policy as well as a vigorous, substantive exchange of ideas concerning actual issues facing everyday Americans. In OUR debate, we could point to our frontrunner candidates as people we want to show off instead of being embarrassed by. OUR candidates were intellectual, inspiring, and mature. All of this reminds America to take heart--we really do have grown-ups ready to lead.

Jeb-Appointed Fl Judge (my own Seminole Co) Makes National News for being a Monster

It's never a good thing when you see the Seminole County courthouse on the frontpage of anything.

The last time you saw it featured so prominently was because of the Trayvoyn Martin trial, (which allowed a homicidal racist to go free to kill again).

Today, on the front page of MSN, I see it once again. This time it is because of one of our judges. Seminole County Judge Jerri Collins "heartlessly" rebuked a domestic violence victim for not being able to appear at her abuser's trial.

Judge Collins threw her in jail.

The woman pleaded several times, explaining her situation. She could not face that man--she was terrified, she is homeless, and this:

"Judge, I'll do anything ... I have a 1-year-old son, and I'm trying to take care of him by myself. I'm begging you, please, please don't," she said.

"Turn around," the judge responds. "You should have showed up. I've already issued my order."

Each desperate plea was met with a harsher rebuke from the judge .

Ironically, her abuser, who violently choked her and held her with a knife, only received a few more days in jail than his terrified victim!

"It was pretty brutal. It got to my heart," Safehouse of Seminole CEO Jeanne Gold told the Daily News. "I thought she will never ever call the police again. She'll never look for help again. It's so sad."

Judge Collins, who earns $138,000 a year as a judge, is a staunch conservative who was rewarded with an appointment by then-Florida Governor Jeb Bush to the Seminole County Court despite her reputation as being quite nasty. Several people who have appeared before have little nice to say about her:

She is the worst judge I have ever appeared in front of. She is completely bias towards the state and does not try to hide it one bit. She is nasty to the attorneys and defendants that appear in front of her and has no business on the bench.”

And this nugget:

My name is Patricia Tommaso, and I am using my husband’s email address. I was in front of Judge Collins this morning. This is a very nasty person; she issued a summary judgement in a pre-trial conference, which my papers said could not happen. My husband tried to talk for me, but she told him to shut up and would have had him removed from the courtroom. My husband is a well-educated individual, and I was crying, and he was just trying to talk for me. She made fun of his medical condition (he is close to being terminal), she found that funny. She is a terrible individual in my opinion, and I will be filing a complaint with the JQC. I am a businessperson (for 30 years) in Central Florida, and I will do everything that I can do at the next election to get her voted out.

This woman who was thrown in jail has an anxiety disorder (which, given her circumstances, one should understand.)

Judge Collins told her "You haven't even seen anxiety!" before putting her in jail.

I had asked my fellow Seminole citizens to vote for Sandra Rivera in the last election instead of this horrible person, but as always, the turnout was very low and the rightwing Jerri Collins won. We are stuck with her until 2021.

I called Judge Collins office (407-665-4982--it goes to voicemail) and respectfully asked that she show some compassion for the victims of violent crime next time. She told the Orlando Sentinel editorial board that she always had a "positive impact" on people who came before her when she was running for office--but I challenge anyone to find the positive impact on that poor woman who is sitting in jail right now without her baby.

What's Wrong With America Shown in One Tweet

Crossposted on DailyKos

She owns an Oregon gun shop very close to UCC. This is right after the tragedy...

She was downright giddy at the prospect at the surge in business that no doubt came her way. I promise she wasn't the only one.

Because the first thought of too many people in this country after a massacre isn't "Oh My God, That is Horrible!"

javascript:void(0); It's "Oh My God, I Better Get More Guns!"

Then they will hand over a fortune to a lady like this and buy even more guns because THIS time, they will be told, Congress will be motivated to take their guns.

Never mind that after every mass shooting there are successful efforts by the gun lobby to LOOOSEN gun restrictions.

Never mind that the only two gun laws that our president, (the man they swear is after their guns), has ever signed actually gave MORE gun access.

And never mind that there has been record gun sales in our country every year since Obama has taken office. (See the despicable display at the front of this lady's gun shop).

None of these facts matter. The members of the NRA range from easily-frightened to downright paranoid; so when Wayne LaPierre tells them that THIS time Congress will order government agents to confiscate guns, (so buy more and give us money), they will believe him. The fact that this very same Congress is so whipped by the gun lobby that they can't even muster a simple majority to require a basic background check or even allow data to be gathered on gun deaths is lost on these knuckle-dragging idiots.

The net result of all this is that ever crazier people will be allowed to get ever deadlier weapons. Right now, you can even buy a goddamned flame thrower for your arsenal if you'd like. NO ONE IS TAKING YOUR STUPID GUNS.

But it is their paranoia and stupidity that the gun lobby, and in fact, the whole gun industry, counts on. The gun manufacturers all the way down to the retail gun owners make a fortune peddling fear and death. We have gotten so sick that mass shootings have become a real "black Friday" for this industry. The ones who make their living off of these tragedies have already sold their souls, so it is no wonder they get so giddy about these things. Well, good news for them: there will be plenty more with no end in sight.

Hand it to the gun lobby. They won America. Nothing will change after this tragedy. Do you know how I know? Because Sandy Hook. That was when we as a nation decided that a kindergarten classroom filled with slaughtered children was tolerable and we all collectively decided to do jack squat about it.

(I may remind you that more than a few gun nuts won't even acknowledge that Sandy Hook happened at all, including the bonehead Sheriff now overseeing this current tragedy. Wonder if he is going to tell the grieving parents this time that they are just "actors"?)

It isn't just laws that need to change in America, it's our gun culture. Banking on that to change anytime soon is a fool's errand, which is why this gun shop owner in this photo has a big grin. #stuffhappens

Note: I posted this under my pseudonym on DailyKos, which is SemDem. This wasn't plagiarized, but thanks for being fans.

Rick Scott Goes Full O'Keefe: Practices Selective Editing

Rick Scott has shown repeatedly that he has no problems wasting taxpayer money. After all, he spent over a million just in legal fees alone defending illegal voter purges, cutting pensions and state worker pay, drug-testing, etc. So it is no surprise he was willing to spend at least that amount in a fishing expedition to smear Planned Parenthood. He ordered teams of investigators into their clinics, hoping to find wrong-doing.

He came up empty.

But rick being rick, he edited his own press release written by his own regulators, which originally stated “there is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics we investigated across the state.” He took out that statement completely, which surprised his own regulators. To make it worse, he added an accusation that stated PP provided 2nd-trimester abortions at clinics that were only licensed for 1st-trimester abortions.

Only that isn't true.

The agency that investigated said it wasn't true. Rick Scott construed a false definition of the 2nd-trimester so badly that his own regulators wouldn't back him up.

Planned Parenthood has been cleared of any wrongdoing in every state that has thus far conducted a partisan witch-hunt investigation. It's just that no other state has a governor who holds James O'Keefe as a role model.

Rick Scott's "Lexus Lane" Agenda Will Kill This State Unless You Act

I have been asked to help in the fight against Rick Scott's/GOP's Lexus Lane agenda in Tampa. A non-profit group named the Sunshine Citizens has formed from a coalition of neighborhood associations, small businesses and concerned citizens, and the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association.

WE have already lost this battle here in Orlando with the monstrosity that began last April. Lexus lanes are being constructed as we speak. Essentially, they are toll roads that will vary in price by how congested the roads are. They are a ploy by special interests to keep you behind the wheel and BY DESIGN are to make the roads as congested as possible. Miami has suffered for years under this.

WHY? Because if the highway isn't congested, there is NO INCENTIVE to pay high toll prices. The more congested, the higher the prices will be! (And the more money is made!) And I mean they will by sky high!! This means that the rich folks will be driving by you in their Lexi; whizzing down the highway on their OWN freaking lanes while you sit in a carbon-monoxide parking lot.

The Kochs are strongly opposed to anything for the common man, say, public transportation. They are adamantly opposed to any form of rail system. The whole purpose of their ironically-named "Reason Foundation" is apparently to go to states and tellpay legislators to forego any kind of rail or public transportation project. Here in Florida, our GOP legislators listen too well, and now we have the most toll roads of any state in America. And it's about to get worse...

This coalition in Tampa has made significant headway, but they need help.

Read about the fight against Scott's plans in Tampa.

Then offer to do something about it.

And thanks!

RW Media Outraged: FL Town Votes To Rename Racist Road "Pres. Obama Highway"

Riviera Beach, Florida is a beautiful town on the ocean that has a major road cutting through it. Historically, blacks lived on one side and whites on the other, although the town has a majority black population. The road was named "OLD DIXIE HIGHWAY" back when segregation was the norm.

Naturally, this has offended most of the residents for years, but this year something has finally been done about it. The mayor pushed hard for a name change, and the residents agreed. It makes sense to honor a great American president who has raised so many of his citizens out of poverty and given them access to healthcare, as opposed to honoring a failed, treasonous enemy of the United States.

The city council agreed and voted 4-1 to rename "Old Dixie Highway" as "President Barack Obama Highway".

As someone who lives in a town that insists on naming roads after Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, this is a nice change. Honoring someone who really helped Florida.

Naturally the rightwing media is outraged over people of a town practicing democracy and voting their interests.

Truthrevolt.org

The systematic cleansing of all public references to the Old South continued this week, with a Florida town council voting to rename the racially divisive "Old Dixie Highway."

Man, our Constitutional democracy sucks, huh?

Youngcons.com complained that the poor residents will have "to live with" the name change and ended by saying

Referedum!

Referendum!

Referendum!

Not bothering to research the demographics or voting history of the city. Cuz research is hard. But then we have the morons at Breitbart...

Breitbart

The Palm Beach Post notes...."There might soon be a place where Barack Obama and Martin Luther King meet--and it won’t be just in the hearts of Americans who revere both men,” the Post gushes. Presumably it means Barack Obama Highway will intersect Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard somewhere in the town, although they didn’t feel it necessary to explain the obsequious remark further.

Yes, Breitbart, it does actually meet--as anyone with Google Maps can tell you. Yet, again, I actually bothered to research--something you conservative knuckle-draggers are incapable of.

It's not a done deal yet. It has to go through the Palm Beach County Commissioners for a final vote. However, they are primarily Democrats and I don't think it will be an issue. This puts aside the principle that the city with the road really should get a say in the naming of their roads--especially if they want to remove a name that offends most of its residents.

Nonetheless, if you want to shoot the commissioners an email of encouragement, have at it.

On Rightwing Christians: Have you noticed something odd about this Ashley Madison scandal?

Since the Ashley Madison scandal broke, I have noticed a distinct lack of condemnation from you rightwing christians.

Where are all the youtube hate videos against the subscribers practicing adultery?

Where are the droves of protestors picketing AshleyMadison.com like Planned Parenthood?

It's pretty clear where Jesus stands with cheating on your spouse. In case you missed the Commandment of "Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wife", Jesus laid it out:

In Mathew 5:27-30 he said if you even look at another woman with desire, then cut out your eye because it's better to "lose one of your members than to have your whole body go to hell".

Lust > Cheat > Hell. Pretty straightforward. There were other things He directly condemned, like divorce. Yet He was most clear on His biggest pet peeve: excess wealth.

Yet those are three things that today's rightwing Christian doesn't care about. Massive greed? That's called "prosperity gospel" now. The parable of Lazarus? They root for the rich guy in hell.

Divorce? Adultery? Child Molestation? whoopsey-daisies. No big whoop.

But gays and abortions? That's where they burst arteries! Two issues Jesus said NOTHING about. Both of those things existed during His time. If they are the epitome of evil, you'd think they'd at least warrant a mention. But nothing.

So what about actual sins that are specifically mentioned and given no leeway at all in the Bible? Meh.

In fact, on Mike Huckabee's old cheesy talk show five years ago he featured Ashley Madison's CEO to tell "his side" of the story. Yes, Mike disagreed with what Ashley Madison was doing but then added "I could be wrong".

Seriously, go to 11: 43 of this video. That's what he said.

There is no ambiguity in the Bible about adultery. And yet, while the Bible says nothing about abortion, here is Huckabee defending Paraguay's awful decision to force an 11-year old raped by her stepfather to bear a child. Here is a man who said he would not be against using federal troops to stop women from getting abortions! Here is a man calling for mass arrests over gay marriage. This is the same guy who convulsed with anger over gays being allowed to be happy.

In fact, Santorum, Huckabee, Cruz, et. al have said nothing about the AshleyMadison scandal or a word of condemnation to their millions of subscribers. Maybe they are worried about alienating some supporters, but that means their virulent rants on nonissues become even more meaningless. It's almost like they are full of something....

Clearly there is no righteous, religious hate espoused for those who abuse or leave their marriages like there is for those who are in stable, homosexual relationships. Despite what the Bible says, these guys SWEAR to me that they know exactly who Jesus hates.

And I find it absolutely amazing that it always happens to coincide with their preconceived prejudices. Go figure.

I'll bet if Jesus said to love their enemies, they'd find a way around it. (Oh wait...)

So you will have to excuse me when I roll my eyes over your next meltdown. Where is the indignant condemnation now?

Where is your moral outrage against these sinners?

You'll rally like crazy against things not even in the Bible, but ignore and stay silent about AshleyMadison.

I guess it's hard to condemn something that you probably have an account with.

There was that time JEB! forced single mothers to post their sexual history in the newspaper...

This man cannot be president.

I am not exaggerating what happened here.

If a mother was going to give up her child for adoption, the conservative legislature--supported and signed by one Jeb Bush-- she was required to PUBLISH HER ENTIRE SEXUAL HISTORY in a major newspaper.

The idea behind it was... actually, I don't know what the hell the idea was except to publically shame the woman. (Publically shaming unwed mothers, by the way, is something JEB! actually loudly and proudly called on people to do.)

All I know is that it passed under our wacko bird GOP legislature.

It was called the Scarlet Letter law.

Your friends, neighbors, employers, family, and acquaintances would be able to read everyone you had sex with alongside their Sunday funnies.

If you were raped and conceived a child, (cuz the body doesn't distiguish rape sperm), you couldn't give the child up for adoption in the State of Florida unless you gave the rapist a chance to read about it in the paper.

Or if the man abandoned you and ran off, JEB! and his cohorts thought that maybe seeing his name in print would make him want to return and raise that child.

Along with the mother's name, the notice had to include the following:

must contain a physical description, including, but not limited to age, race, hair and eye color, and approximate height and weight of the minor's mother and of any person the mother reasonably believes may be the father; the minor's date of birth; and any date and city, including the county and state in which the city is located, in which conception may have occurred.

You read that right. The mother had to put all her personal information, including weight, her sexual partners, and WHERE they may have conceived. NO exception was made in a case of rape! Oh, and it wasn't a one-time ad. It had to run for one month at the MOTHER'S personal expense even though this was forced on her.

I don't know what the F-- they were thinking, but it happened.

Instead of being publically shamed, Florida women simply refused to do this. It may have happened, but I don't know of one case where a woman printed her sexual history in the paper.

Do you know what DID happen though? Abortions increased. Adoptions dropped--by a lot. I know a personal friend of mine who wanted to adopt his stepdaughter when the law was in effect, but he couldn't. Not without humiliating his wife. This was JEB!'s Florida.

Eventually, John Ellis Dumb-ass Bush conceded this may not have been the brightest idea. He relented. But it got what he wanted: to SHAME women.

An excerpt from JEB's 1995 book, ironically titled "Profiles in Character":

One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there is no longer a stigma attached to this behavior, no reason to feel shame. Many of these young women and young men look around and see their friends engaged in the same irresponsible conduct. Their parents and neighbors have become ineffective at attaching some sense of ridicule to this behavior. There was a time when neighbors and communities would frown on out of wedlock births and when public condemnation was enough of a stimulus for one to be careful.

The good ole' days. If only we could return to them. Then again, I don't ever recall JEB! criticizing Bristol Palin. It's just certain women, I suppose.

The backlash from this awful law was such that the law was repealed fairly quickly. That's good news. What is reprehensible is how JEB! is being allowed to rewrite recent history as if he never wanted this law and was somehow unable to stop it. He could have and he didn't. It was a very shameful time in our state's history, and one that shouldn't be overlooked.

I guess so much awfulness has happened to our state since (Stand Your Ground--also Bush, Terri Schiavo, Rick Scott, etc.) that it's easy to forget what happened. Please don't let that happen. We are faced with the most anti-woman, anti-progressive slate of GOP candidates in history. Rubio wants to ban all abortions in all cases. Walker wants a woman to be raped again with an unnecessary, transvaginal wand for no medical reason whatsoever. We in Florida know what JEB! is capable of, and then there's Trump.

I wish to modify my original statement. NONE of them can be president.

Trump: Megyn "Bimbo" and Has "Blood Coming Out of Somewhere Else"

First off, I wholeheartedly agree with "the Donald" that the clown show known as "Fox News" has an agenda for picking the winner of the GOP primary. It was obvious when they divided up the participants for a "prime-time" and "loser" debate, instead of holding two prime-time debates. It was more obvious the way the moderators threw pre-arranged softball questions for people they liked, like Jeb Bush (to highlight his "accomplishments"), as opposed to the way they went after someone they really didn't like--Donald Trump.

(With all the issues we are facing, does anyone think that the first question asked about being a spoiler was anything but a way to embarrass Trump?)

One of their attack lines against Trump was that he was misogynistic. Oh, he is. In a BIG way. But c'mon, so are the rest of them. He's standing right next to Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee, for crying out loud. But Fox News knew how to push Trump's buttons.

Megyn Kelly asked essentially why he hates women. Trump, being Trump, gave a disgusting answer attacking Rosie O'Donnell. Then said some other disgusting things. Blah blah, debate ended.

Then Trump, again being Trump, went late into the night seething with a bruised ego. At 2am Friday morning he sent tweet after tweet lambasting Fox News and, in particular, Megyn Kelly.

One of the tweets he sent out said "Fox viewers give low marks to bimbo @MegynKelly will consider other programs!"

He also tweeted that she was "overrated", "angry", and (his favorite) a "loser".

That night on an interview he didn't stop. He went on to call her "not very sharp", a "lightweight" and other names. Then he said that she "had blood coming out of her eyes. Or blood coming out of somewhere else."

I am no fan of Megyn "I hate scary black Santa" Kelly. Yet attacking her as a woman is despicable. Yeah, she's a hack... so are all the others at Fox. That attack on her was classless and disgraceful.

Yet all I can think about is this sad reality:

HE. IS. THE. REPUBLICAN. FRONTRUNNER.

In the past few weeks Trump has attacked Hispanics, POWs, and women in such a mean way that no one can sugar-coat what he thinks of them. (Although they try.) Yet he is leading by DOUBLE-DIGITS across the board.

These are hateful, spiteful, bigoted, and small-minded people. They are the GOP. And Donald Trump is the face.

Don't cry, Fox News. After all, you are largely responsible for creating the ignorant, hateful masses that are his followers. They are called your viewers.

Archie Bunker Was Satire. Today, He'd Lead the GOP Primary.

I used to laugh heartily at Archie Bunker of All in the Family. His character was satire of an unintelligent bigot.

Archie Bunker was low class, arrogant, dumb and intolerant of other people. He was simply ridiculous. We all laughed at the stupid things he said and believed.

Who knew that 40 years later the GOP would devolve into satire. Who knew that someone like Archie Bunker could win an election today.

The conservative masses follow dumber and dumber people. I didn't think they could get worse than W, but then I heard Palin. Then Bachmann. Then Gohmert. Now they have someone who has to tell people that "he's really smart": unapologetic racist Donald Trump. Like Trump, Archie was dumb and bigoted. The difference is that Archie Bunker was likeable.

You see, unlike Donald Trump, Archie Bunker wasn't a one-dimensional character.

The writers forced Archie to confront his bigotry several times. Whether it was learning he had a blood transfusion from a black man, dealing with black neighbors or finding out his best friend who passed away was Jewish, we saw that Archie was able to grow. There was always a better person inside that the other characters were desperate to pull out, and we were happy to see it.

That is simply not the case with Donald Trump. In fact, Donald Trump is nothing more than a human cartoon.

Trump is a man completely incapable of any humility or introspection. He is hate incarnate. Whether its Mexicans, "the blacks", the Chinese, Arabs, what-have-you, there is no reaching the Donald. There is no "better" person underneath.

If "the Donald" was a character on TV, we would say the writers were terrible. What kind of real person says he never makes mistakes? Who says everything he does is "great" or "the greatest ever"? Who says they have no flaws? (He even said his hair is great.) The Donald even said he never had to ask God for forgiveness for anything becaue he's perfect. (I think his first two wives would disagree.)

In fact, if Donald Trump was written as a character on All in the Family, the writer who dreamed him up would be fired because he would be too unbelievable. Too shallow. Too one-dimensional. Think about that.

But this isn't about Donald Trump. It's about the GOP electorate. It's about how far they have fallen.

I recently watched an episode where Archie Bunker had an absolutely hilarious rant on guns. Essentially, his idea involved giving out guns to all the passengers before they board planes at airports.

Funny and stupid right? Here are comments:

I would vote for Archie over anything the democrats would put up. -Nimrod

Archie Bunker was right on! ... Liberals just dont get it. No matter how strict gun laws are, somebody will always get their hands on a gun which will mean more homicides. Its really not that hard to figure out. -Alex R.

yep he was right even way back then ..................those where the days !! -WATCHMAN 7777

Even Archie Bunker got it back then ;-) -Robyn K

Look at that Meathead, sitting there like a brain dead zombie Liberal loving commie. Archie, laying down the facts and truth, Archie Bunker for president! -Roachcannon

Unfortunately, the GOP is full of these idiots who don't have a clue that this was supposed to be satire. They actually WANT this type of thinking in a leader.

These are the people who are ensuring that gun massacres continue almost every week in this country. They cling to their ideology so hard that they have even decided that the slaughter of small children is acceptable as long as they aren't inconvenienced by a background check.

These people want ideologues. Worse, they want ideologues who are stupid. This is why we have GOP leaders today like the Oklahoma governor who can't name the three branches of government. Or that idiot who thinks cancer is a fungus. Or anything Florida. The GOP voter isn't ashamed of ignorance--they celebrate it.

The GOP voter isn't ashamed of hate... they promote it.

The GOP voter isn't even ashamed of shame. Philandering (Trump, Sanford, Vitter) is rewarded. At least Archie Bunker had some morals. I'm sure he would have a problem with child molestation or gunning down children. Archie NEVER would have tried to defend either, unlike today's GOP candidates (Huckabee, Santorum).

Also, at the very least, Archie Bunker was funny.

But there is nothing funny about people who, today, don't view Archie Bunker as satire but rather a misunderstood genius ahead of his time. These people should not be choosing our leaders. We should make sure we don't let them.

Please get involved in our next election. Please relegate satire to our old sitcoms, not our elected offices.

Receive Food Donations?? Get EVICTION!!

Florida slum lord Tonia Sonju runs the Carlyn Estates Mobile Home Park in the city of Palmetto. She is a very wealthy investor who bought the park last year for $5.2 million,(funded partially through a rich person tax-deferment deal), so it is safe to say this lady will never go hungry.

Can't say the same for some of the residents in her slum park.

Apparently, the former Homeowner's Association president, Tim McCoyle, saw a real need with seniors not getting food with their high medical bills/drug prescriptions, so he worked with a local church to start food deliveries. This either caused, or at least added to, a feud Tonia Sonju had with him.

"I can't believe the treacherous things she has done to hurt this individual who was only trying to help," said resident Diane Klein.

One of the "treacherous things" Tonia did was something only a wealthy, sick bastard would do: send out notices to residents threatening eviction if caught getting a food donation!

Eviction. This wasn't for failure to pay rent, or for criminal behavior. This was a threat to throw you out of your house just for trying to eat.

One of the recipients of the letter was Pearl Jones, an 81 year old woman with diabetes who lived there for over 30 years:

“The owner had her people follow the delivery trucks and mark down the numbers of the trailers who got [food donations]. Now, no one will accept food. They don’t want to be evicted. This lady is from California and she said no one in here needs it. She thinks everyone in here has a lot of money. Well, I need it.”

According to the gofundme page someone setup to help the residents being threatened, the letter stated "If you receive one more food delivery, I will evict you".

Thankfully, the local media picked up the story and a Facebook page supporting the residents was created. Tonia Sonju relented just this past Sunday and allowed food deliveries under certain conditions.

How many of you want to bet she is a Trump supporter?

The moment Bernie Sanders lost his chance

During the conference that "shall not be named" this year, rising star Bernie Sanders was given a golden opportunity. He blew it.

The protesters stormed the convention hall shouting "black lives matter!" This was an opportunity for him to address a critical issue at a critical moment. Instead, he treated them as hecklers. An annoyance.

Sanders delivered his standard stump speech and threatened to leave if they continued to interrupt him.

He stuck to his riff on jobs and wages. When told it was near the end, a clearly agitated Sanders said "good!"

Nice.

Sanders was scheduled to meet with representatives of the organization Black Lives Matter after the speech, but his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, attended the meeting instead.

Again, NICE.

Had Bernie bothered to listen to their concerns and address this critical issue, instead of telling them to sit down and be quiet, he would have moved the needle in his favor.

Instead, he missed his shot and pissed off a lot of people in the process.

Lest you guys think I am a Bernie Basher, I am not. I think his race in the campaign is critical for pushing economic disparity on the front burner for this campaign season. I thought, up to this point, he was a pretty adept campaigner.

But the disappointment in his behavior has been reflected on message boards throughout the black community. I get that it was a disruption, but for God's sakes, getting killed everyday is a bit of a disruption as well and some of us want to know when people who are supposedly on our side are going to do something about it.

Not told to sit down, shut up, and listen to a standard stump speech. O'Malley is a joke, but Bernie was a disappointment.

Rick Scott "Not Offended" by Trump's Racism

One of the things Rick Scott is well known for in Florida is dodging questions. Somewhere early on in his first campaign apparently someone told him that he was so bad at talking that he needs to ignore questions he doesn't want to answer by repeating the same talking point over and over and over.

He has taken that advice to the extreme.

But this should have been an easy question.

He was asked what he thought of Trump's comments on whether Mexican immigrants were, for the most part, "killers" and "rapists". You would think Rick Scott could handle an easy condemnation of Trump's remarks.

1. Consider that Rick Scott is governor of a state with a very large Hispanic population.

2. Consider that he even picked an Hispanic Lt. Governor completely outside his circle JUST to pander.

Even something along the lines of "I disagree that the Mexican immigrants currently building my beach mansion are murders and rapists".

EZ-PZ, nice and easy. Condemn the remarks, move on.

Or, since this is Rick Scott, DO THIS.

Rick Scott, once again, painfully and awkwardly pretending to be asked a different question. Incredulous at the game he was playing, the reporter asked point blank if he was offended. Here is where Rick slipped and finally answered the question, truthfully, saying he WAS NOT OFFENDED.

Quickly realizing he was answering the question, he immediately backtracked to the talking point.

Rick Scott doesn't care about Mexicans. That was painfully clear last election when senior staffers in his campaign mocked Mexican accents. His finance chair, a mogul with Hispanic heritage, was infuriated. Despite raising record amounts of cash for Rick Scott, the man was pushed out, called a liar and "bizzare", and Rick Scott strongly defended the two bigots who insulted him.

Of course Rick Scott doesn't care about Trump's bigotry. It also doesn't hurt that Trump was one of Rick Scott's largest single donors last election.

However, to give you an idea of just how bad Rick Scott's performance was, even the object of Scott's affection, Donald Trump, admitted that Rick Scott sounded like an idiot.

And let me remind you, that accusation is coming from Donald Trump!

Rick Scott--all the bigotry, none of the charisma.

(PS. His Lt. Gov, Carlos Lopez Canterra, has also refused to condemn Trump's remarks and has nothing to say about his boss being okay with it. Carlos just announced yesterday that he was going to run for the open Senate seat. As I said about Jeb Bush, people who can't stand up for their own family aren't ever going to fight for you.)

JEB! calls for "honest discussion" on Mexicans being rapists and killers

At the very least, I thought, the inevitable John Ellis Bush (JEB) entry into the race would be an opportunity for the extreme racism that is rampant in the GOP to be tampered down a bit because of his wife and kids.

However, I was not counting on JEB being such a f*&*ing coward:

CNN:

Hispanic leaders say Republican Party must condemn Trump

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said simply that Trump is "wrong."

"Maybe we'll have a chance to have an honest discussion about it on stage," Bush said last weekend while campaigning in Nevada.

An honest discussion about what?! The finer points of Donald Trump's blatant racism?

THE MAN just insulted your family!! What the hell is wrong with you!

Hispanics are told, by JEB no less, that they need to vote for him because he has a brown wife and children. But he stayed silent when Trump smeared his wife's country of origin and calls her countrymen "rapists" and "killers".

Only when specifically asked about it did he even say that was wrong.

Do you need the bigot vote that badly? or are you just scared of our national joke who calls himself TRUMP?

Let me spell this out for you:

IF YOU CANNOT EVEN STAND UP FOR YOUR OWN FAMILY, DON'T ASK FOR A JOB THAT REQUIRES YOU TO DEFEND ANY OF US.

Your brother is a damn idiot and hurt our nation very badly; but at the very least, he wasn't a coward.

Never Been More Proud To Be A Democrat

June 21-27: worst. week. ever (for conservatives)

1. ACA is the law of the land. Bitter irony for conservatives who hate poor people having insurance: you spent all that time, money and effort to defeat something that you have made untouchable by giving it TWO high court victories!

2. End of Sarah Palin and her idiot daughter. Sarah was FIRED from Fox we learned this week. Her condescending but promiscuous daughter, who raked in a quarter million giving abstinence speeches, got knocked up again by a different guy. That abstinence circuit is a great way to get laid, I guess.

3. Vaccines are finally mandatory in California.

4. The awful confederate flag and several monuments came down from official grounds all across the South.

5. Little thing called Marriage Equality. It is the law of the land in every county in every backwards state in the nation--including my home state of Florida.

take that Clarence Thomas!!

6. NEW! Thanks to activist Bree Newsome, for ONE morning at least, SC didn't have to wake up under the flag of slavery!! Well done, Bree! #FreeBree

Tide Turns: Even South Carolina and Mississippi Face Confederate Toxin! Yet Here in Florida....

Mitt Romney might be a complete bastard, but he was the first major right-winger to call for the flag of our defeated enemy, the flag of white supremacy, to come down from SC's state capitol. The teabag governor of SC followed. Sensing a tide turning, other conservative politicians quickly followed. Even the Speaker of the damn Mississippi state house has called for the confederate flag to be extracted from the state flag.

I hadn't seen such a turn in public opinion since gay marriage.

There is no purpose this flag serves other than hate. It is a relic of a failed, racist ideology. It is a flag of a defeated domestic enemy of the United States. It is a flag of rightwing terrorism.

No goddamned way does it deserve to fly on capitol grounds anymore than a swastika.

It shouldn't have taken nine innocent deaths to get us to at least this point. But apparently, for the complete bastards that make up GOP Florida, it still isn't enough.

If you are unfortunate enough to drive on highway I-75, you will notice a massive confederate flag--the largest in the US--flying by the roadside. It is maintained by the Sons of the confederacy. They not only have influence with our idiot lawmakers in Tallahassee, several of them ARE lawmakers.

Rick Scott isn't a member, but he is a fan. Scott did jump on the Nikki Haley bandwagon (after everyone else did) last week, but was asked about the movement to take down this giant Dixie flag which, in recent days, has gotten new momentum. He was given a chance to condemn this ugly monstrosity, but Rick Scott refused to do even that:

"There were nine individuals that lost their life last week in Charleston...That’s what we ought to be thinking about right now," Gov. Scott said. "There’s plenty of time to have other conversations about other things but right now we ought to be mourning that loss."

(BTW, if that bullsh-- sounds familiar, it's because that is almost verbatim the same non-answer he gave a CNN reporter after the Newtown massacre. The reporter blasted him when he steadfastly refused to take any preventative steps following the massacre and hiding behind the victims. The video went viral.)

To be fair, the flag is on private property. Barring any ordinance, he can't force it down. But no one is asking him to. They are only asking his goddamned opinion, and one in which the appropriate response is along the lines of "it's offensive, it's disgusting, and I don't approve of it".

Lest you think this is only a Rick Scott problem, think again. Although that huge, nasty flag is at least on someone's private land, the Sons of Confederacy members and supporters in our legislature somehow found it appropriate to set aside space and time at the rotunda of the Florida State Capital building to HONOR the flag of white supremacy!!!

I'm not just talking about the standard confederate flag, which was prominently displayed. , ALL the flags of the confederacy were on display, even the "stainless banner": a confederate flag emblazoned on a white field to emphasize the "supremacy of the white race"! That isn't my opinion. That was the statement of the designer of that flag, which became the 2nd official flag of the CSA.

And there is stood in the center of the rotunda building as if it was to be honored, in a state filled with people whose ancestors suffered its atrocities. (Rubio must have been so proud!)

Perhaps most egregious is a notoriously racist Sons of Confederacy member who is also a state representative. Rep Dennis Baxley, author of Stand Your Ground and several aspects of our voter suppression laws, spearheaded a bill that allowed racists like him to forbid state park administrators from honoring fallen Union soldiers!

Residents near the Olustee Battlefield state park wanted a very small memorial to honor the American soldiers who died there. This included the 35th US Colored Troops, who amazingly repulsed a confederate attack against overwhelming odds.

Several of the wounded black soldiers who were captured by confederates were clubbed to death by the rebel troops. Baxley and other GOP leaders refuse to honor them. Baxley even argued for "a sliver of diversity" and refused any memorial for them---but supported the no less than three monuments for the confederates who committed the war crimes!!

These monuments still stand at Olustee while today there is STILL nothing that honors the fallen American soldiers who died there.

Don't look to the GOP-led government to right this wrong anytime soon. Don't look at them to even condemn any symbols of hatred that are still honored in this state. They won't change. Why would they? Florida doesn't hold these racist lawmakers accountable for the atrocities they commit today. Why would they hold them accountable for honoring the ones committed so long ago?

GOP Lawmakers FINALLY Tackle Top Issue: Tax Cut for Those Who Spend Over $1 Million on Yacht Repairs

Floridians can't get healthcare and face an education budget crisis, but our teabag legislators tackled the top issue facing Florida.

Now, those oppressed yacht owners can finally have their sales tax capped at $60,000 if they spend more than one million on repairs.

You read that right. One million on JUST REPAIRS!! Only a handful of Florida boat owners (like the Kochs) can even take advantage of such a ludicrous thing. This was a targeted tax giveaway to the 1% of the 1%; in other words, those who need it least of all.

Charleston: Everything Wrong in One Photo

That's terrible... but what a deal! Many people who live in Charleston, SC learned about the deadly gun massacre that killed nine people in their hometown from their morning paper---alongside an ad for dirt cheap guns, gun gear, and 50 rounds of ammo.

Anyone else seeing a problem here?

This isn't an anomaly. The Florida Times-Union led the story of a recent school bus shooting accompanied with a gun show sticker ad without a hint of irony.

(BTW, don't worry. The gun show went ahead as planned. There is never a time when they are considered in poor taste. Recall when Marilyn Manson cancelled his concert near Columbine, but the NRA went ahead with their show. I remember that because it was that day I could prove the anti-Christ showed more compassion than the gun lobby.)

In Connecticut, two newspapers ran gun ads while covering the horror of Sandy Hook. Some people even got mad at the papers when they apologized. I guess a sickening tragedy should never be an excuse to stop selling cheap guns and ammo for a few minutes.

Obama is right. We are the only civilized nation in the world with this kind of problem. No other nation has weekly gun massacres. Their citizens would be outraged and horrified by it. They would demand action. They would demand legislation be enacted. They would demand accountability to whatever psychopath dared to try and argue that this is normal.

Whereas here, it's apparently too much to even ask not to slap a gun advertisement on the same day we deal with the gruesome consequences of our sick gun culture.

JEB Bush Picks Now to Build New Mansion

John Ellis Bush is so serious about "inequality" as a theme for his campaign that he has vowed to close the gap if elected--by somehow further de-regulating Wall Street and giving bigger tax breaks to the 1%. As an added trick, JEB would do this using the exact same people who created the epidemic, no less.

But for a Bush to really do hypocrisy well, you need a splash of tone deaf.

Thank you JEB:

The former Florida governor’s new home will be built on a 1.3-acre site worth at least $1.4 million...

This, mind you, is "just a cottage", according to JEB. A hotel room, if you will, that will be 3,000 square-feet and have a gorgeous wraparound porch with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. It will be ready in time for July.

Because nothing says you understand "inequality" like building ANOTHER mansion on a family compound.

No word on the car elevator....

FL GOP kills Medicaid AND refuses to stop their $8 gold packages. HERE'S WHAT WE DO

The GOP teabagger-ruled Fl House refused a million people in florida the ability to get health insurance by killing the Medicaid expansion. They all complained about getting people dependent on "government handouts".

So in other words, they are saying don't be like them. They made NO change to their sweet, completely taxpayer-funded platinum-package that costs you and I $1 million per month!

The cost of this to the legislators, governor, cabinet and 17,589 select people in state government is a lousy $30 a month for a family, and $8 a month for an individual! It is the most generous in the US.

After the outrage, the House did agree to raise their cost to a whopping $180 a month per family and $50 for an individual. However, the governor, cabinet and those thousands of staff still got to keep the $8 dollar meal.

Unfortunately, the state average for joe schmo is not quite as good. He pays $1347.00 PER MONTH! And he at least is able to get a plan.

My own idiot state rep, R-Jason Brodeur, was offended that anyone would want to take away his benefits that we generously provide him. He works for it! Adding guns to college campuses and trying to make it a lot easier for adoption agencies to discriminate is apparently a lot of work.

I am calling out our Democratic party to do something USEFUL for a change in 2016. I am talking about an amendment to our state Constitution to force the governor, his staff, and the legislators and their staff to pay insurance rates to levels that match the national average until the gap is closed!

For those of you outside Florida, the state has no ballot initiative process. It has to be in the form of an amendment to our constitution.

IF anyone wants to help me get started, leave a message in the comments.

Dropping off petitions of thousands of people to these idiots has been a waste of both time and paper. Getting it on the ballot, however, will make it happen. WE do have a constitutional process and a populace that would embrace this, especially in 2016.

If you don't want to do all the staff, then just the legislature, governor, and cabinet.

Can we make this happen???

Rick Scott Says: Convenience Store Workers Are Expendable!

It's yet another one of those fine moments in the Scott administration's sordid history, which shows once again just how clueless this governor can be.

Despite the fact that it was passed unanimously by the House and Senate, riddled as they are with Tea Party favorites; despite the fact that it was favored by the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, Scott vetoed a bill that would have required extra security measures at convenience stores, especially during those critical early morning hours when robberies were most frequent.

His clueless excuse for this veto: It increased regulations and would slow job growth. Really.

Well, now, wait a moment, I think I understand the point about slowing job growth. You see, in Scott's miserly personal economy, minimal-wage peons like convenience store clerks are expendable sawdust. What he means is, if convenience stores have extra security, then we won't have as much risk of these clerks being shot and killed in robberies. Which means we won't have a chance for someone else to have a job when they take their place behind the counter.

I believe that's a sort of grim humor of the type Alan Grayson used when he said the Republican health care plan was: "Don't get sick, but if you do, die quickly." The more literal truth is more likely that Scott is so indifferent to the health and safety of others in the service of his agenda that he simply doesn't care about the impact of his decisions.

This veto reminded me of a much earlier story in which Scott said he was proud of every job he allegedly brought to Florida, even if they were something Mike Rowe would be too hesitant to touch. The thematic comment by Scott came right here:

Critics fault Scott for his enthusiasm for low-wage, service-sector jobs. But he brags about them. In Jacksonville, he trumpeted the 7-Eleven convenience store chain's plans to hire up to 800 workers at Florida stores.

"Who didn't grow up wanting a Slurpee?" Scott said. "Thank goodness for 7-Eleven."

That comment seems innocuous enough, but let's think about it for a moment.   Scott's pride in bringing such jobs here wasn't expressed by the rate of pay they provided, or the ability they provided to assist the economy, or by the quality of the job. It was rooted in some vague  memory of his own pleasure in downing frozen sugar water. He doesn't care about the people who have those jobs. He only cares about how they can serve his childish whims.

How was this man re-elected? I imagine it was by people with the same childish view of the world -- and the same perception that the rest of us are merely peons here to serve their whims, not human beings with lives of our own. And if a few of us get killed the process....well, it's just as Dickens put it a century and a half ago:

"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Grayson wasn't the first to come up with that line to represent Tea Party ideology. 

In Regards to Conservatives Fierce Defense of Child Rape

Conservatives heard about Josh Duggar raping at least 5 of his very young sisters. They heard about how his parents knew, tried to cover it all up, and sickeningly allowed it to continue for an entire year after they learned about it.

The timeline shows one sick thing after another:

1. The family only contacting elders of their weird church, where Josh was arranged to receive "counseling" from a bullshit treatment program. (Doing manual labor on a building for the GD Hobby Lobby ISN'T TREATMENT!!) Oh, and the guy running the program was a sexual offender as well.
2. The molestation continued, and Jim Bob Duggar told "law enforcement". Well, a close friend who happened to be a state trooper, but with the understanding that no charges would be filed. The state trooper gave Josh a "stern talking to", and all was forgiven. Jim Bob's friendly state trooper, of course, was also embroiled in his own child sex scandal where he was later sentenced to 56 years in prison for child pornography.
3. Anonymous tips lead to a real investigation. Unfortunately, the day that the Washington Post makes a FOI request for the records, a court order is issued to destroy them all.

Josh Duggar's net worth is half a million. He had a lucrative job at the Family Research Council giving speeches on how it's gay people who harm children.

All of this should piss you off. I would think that this transcends political ideology and that conservatives should be angry as well.

OH, and they are!!---at the media for bringing it up.

I am so incredibly sorry that you’re even having to post this [apology] on your Facebook page.

The media can be shameless & so hurtful

The comments from the "moral values" crowd defending the most heinous action you could do with a small child are shocking and ludicrous. It started when one of those asshats argued with me that, first of all, there is no such thing as "child rape"--it is all "molestation". He was actually quibbling over calling it molestation because somehow that sounded better than rape. (There was digital penetration, genius, which is rape. But if it you makes you "feel better", then please: call it "incestuous molestation". Better?)

It got a lot worse.

You can go to Josh's facebook or instagram page and see these sickos for yourself, as well as any conservative discussion board. They are so bad that Salon.com and the DailyMail compiled several lists of conservatives' disgusting themes in defense of child rape:

• It was just a "mistake" (not a serious crime)
• His apology was tough enough
• Liberal media is mean
• Jesus forgave him so shut up (what, did He call and tell you?)
• We all have "skeletons in our closet"
• It's so much better than being gay because at least he stopped doing it
• Everyone else is doing it, so let's all chill out (really! several people said this! One sick bastard even said his uncle is a pedophile and NO BIG WHOOP!)

A lot of them use the term "sensationalizing" the story, as if anyone can exaggerate how bad and wrong it is to RAPE A YOUNG CHILD!! (oh, and Benghazi).

One of the worst ones (there were many) were a variation on this theme:

• Children all lie and exaggerate, so it probably wasn't as bad as people are making it out to be.

If any kid is reading this and you actually hear your parents say garbage like this, I plead with you: RUN!!! (I hope to God someone will take the small Duggar girls away from those enabling monsters who dare call themselves "parents".)

Many cons have used the term "sensationalizing" the story. This exact word came from Mike Huckabee's very long-winded and despicable defense of Josh Duggar's child raping habit. Huckabee told everyone to relax: raping a small child is a forgivable offense, but the real crime is how mean normal people are for being so upset about this.

According to that rat bastard, it's okay to hide behind Jesus when committing horrific crimes. The real sin, Huckabee says, is being born homosexual and those of us who support their basic rights. WE are the ones going to hell. As are women who want control of their own bodies. As are medical patients who want medicinal relief that isn't harsh or addictive.

But child rape? Apparently that's cool.

This isn't the first time Huckabee defended child rape.

In Ted Nugent's 1998 episode of VH1’s Behind The Music, Ted proudly admits to repeatedly raping underage girls. (They sickeningly referred to it as “his weakness for young women"). This is a man who coaxed a 12-year old to give him oral sex. He wrote a song about violently raping a 13-year-old, and another song about what he did in real life: became the legal guardian of an underage girl JUST SO he could have sex with her.

For crying out loud, his freaking songlist includes "Jailbait" and "I Am a Predator". (Seriously, how less ambiguous can he be?!)

Huckabee didn't lecture Ted at all. Instead, he invited this serial pedophile to ride with Huck as he campaigned as a conservative "family values" candidate.

Hell, on Huckabee's show on Fox, Mikey even jammed with that rapist while singing about having sex as a 10-year old!!

Huckabee also fiercely defended Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty, and even led the boycott of Cracker Barrel when they pulled Phil's tchotchkes from their shelves. This happened right after Phil told an audience that 20-year olds were too old to marry and instead they should go after 15-year olds!

All of this, and Huckabee still thinks he has some moral authority to deem the Duggars great parents while simultaneously criticizing the Obamas as "corrupting" their kids because they let them listen to Beyonce. (As far as I know, she never sang about raping a child.)

OH, and BTW Mike? Someone who tries to cover up their own son violently murdering a dog needs to shut the hell up on parenting.

And then there's Bill O'Reilly, who gleefully told Greta Van Sustren that a 15-year-old kidnap victim and victim of 4 years of serial rape must have "liked" his situation because he didn't have to go to school. (H/T Blue in NC)

I know it is pointless to argue with cons on child rape because they are often insane. They believe in this crap about "Babylon's laws" or "Man's Law", which is not Biblical Law.

OK, I'll play that game too. You know what the Bible says on abortion or homosexuality?? Nothing. Nowhere in either the Old or New Testaments is "abortion" forbidden, and nowhere in the Bible did Jesus say one word about homosexuality. Right-wing pseudo-Christians apparently think Christianity is defined as opposition to abortion, homosexuality and pre-marital sex: the three things Jesus NEVER. MENTIONED. ONCE.

(He did have entire chapters devoted to helping the poor, but F_ that I guess.)

In the Holy Book, all sorts of horrible acts are explicitly condemned and/or proscribed, but not any of those three are even brought up.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS CONDEMNED IN THE BIBLE? Rape!!

The Bible unequivocally condemns rape of any kind (Deuteronomy 22) and even states the punishment for it should be the most extreme punishment possible--death for the rapist. If we are going all Biblical, then Josh Duggar should be killed.

No one is calling for that. Apparently, cons think killing someone is only okay for someone selling loose cigarettes or walking home from the store after buying Skittles.

I was absolutely horrified when ISIS was trying to religiously justify prepubescent rape. Conservatives, in their zealous defense of a fellow homo-hater, are trying to do the same thing. Looking at how ISIS treats "infidels" and homosexuals, and looking how they justify their heinous crimes, it isn't ISIS itself who is a threat---it's those in our country who apparently want to emulate them.

The Feds Didn't Blink....They'll Force Scott to Think!

The recent offer by the feds to provide a lesser scale of funding for the Low Income Pool is being characterized by some as a caving in to Rick Scott, or as "blinking" in this game of funding chicken. Others are saying it's more like a rescue mission so that the poor in this state don't end up suffering because of Scott's stubbornness. You can count me among those who go with the second choice, and add this: I think it's a tactical concession that is meant to force Scott to further reveal himself for what he really is.

As of this moment, the feds have the high moral ground. They've offered a compromise that will allow Florida -- if Scott and the Legislature want it -- to continue to fund this desperate need for the next two years. After all, Florida has an almost two billion dollar surplus projected (or 8 billion, if you believe Scott). They could make up for themselves much of what would be cut from the LIP grant for the next fiscal year. If they wanted to.

Of course, that may mean that Scott will have to break a campaign promise or two, such as not funding education as high as he campaigned on. But since this was a guy who promised in 2009 not to cut education, and immediately did so anyway, I'm sure that would disturb him about as much as a housefly would disturb Godzilla.

Or, Scott might have to compromise by not delivering more of those delicious tax cuts to big business....or even that generous $14 per year he was offering us peons who live in the trenches as a savings on our cable TV bill. But if that's the case, Scott will still be forced to show his hand: Will he consider tax breaks for his business allies more important -- or the health and welfare of the poor, sick, and vulnerable? If he chooses the first option, he'll play right into the hands of his opposition.

I think the feds also know that there's a good chance that Scott, demagogue that he is, will say NO to this offer, and continue his lawsuit against the feds, demanding that they send him ALL the money he wants for LIP. All his talk of a state government shutdown may be a hint not of what he expects from a recalcitrant Legislature, but of what he plans to do, as far as he can make it possible, through his own executive power. This is the true coloration of Rick Scott, Hospital CEO, coming through now that he has nothing to lose and no election to face. I think the feds know this. And I think they're using it to paint Scott into a corner. You can just see his eyes nervously darting back and forth as he looks for a way out. There probably isn't one, not that makes Scott come out looking like the caring hero.

Earlier this year I asked whether to expect Happy Face Rick Scott or Tea Party Rick Scott. It looks like I forgot an even more extreme option: Temper Tantrum Tyrant Scott. I'll have to keep that title in mind from now on.

Meanwhile, Rick Scott Became Socialist (no, seriously)

The teaparty darling who hates all things Obama has allowed his hatred to go so far that he is parting with his core ideology.

Florida's healthcare crisis is sinking us. Scott refuses to accept the federal money to expand Medicaid. (He said before the election last year that he would accept the money because of his dead mother, but now says it was all a ruse. That happened.)

On top of that, Scott was depending on a "federal handout" temporary program called LIP (Low Income Pool) that somehow he thought he was still getting even though for years he was told the program was due to expire this June. This completely unnecessary and avoidable crisis has gotten so bad that our numbskull legislators were actually working towards a plan to accept the Medicaid expansion and phase out LIP. Scott decided screw that and said it would be a more neat idea to sue Obama.

This is what happens when Dems don't vote: They automatically vote republican and everyone loses.

Rick Scott knows that this lawsuit isn't going to work. So Scott sent a letter to all the nonprofit hospitals. (Profit hospitals gave him money, so they are cool.) Scott asked the poor hospitals to "share thier profits" if they received federal money to treat the poor. His letter blasted them for being greedy and said they should spread the wealth around.

Just imagine if a Democratic governor would do this. (Don't worry, it won't happen anytime soon.)

By the way, the people who constantly rake Florida citizens over the coals aren't being asked to share the wealth: Not our gouging electric companies, not our private companies who run our disastrous prison systems, not the charter schools, nor any of the EXTREMELY wealthy benefactors of Scott's crony system. Since they have all given him big money, they are exempt from Scott's Socialist paradise.

Only those who are suffering from a crisis of his own making are being asked to contribute due to their audacity to care for the overwhelming majority of Medicaid patients and uninsured.

Scott even had the nerve to to demand financial data from these hospitals so he can dissect it and demand they pony up. The hospital's response was great. It was essentially "it's public knowledge, look it up yourself." They also gave him some good advice for a better solution: expand Medicaid, you idiot.

The CEO of one these hospitals had to remind Scott that surpluses are distributed quickly to help those in need... hence the concept of non-profit.

Scott will sink this state before he does anything to help a poor person. We are talking about a man here who threw his own mother under the bus for a ruse, a man responsible for the largest Medicaid fraud in history, and apparently, a man who will now embrace Karl Marx and push for "redistribution" of wealth. (Well, redistribution from only for those who help the poor.)

Conservatives aren't upset about this at all, of course. They have no real principles either--except for looking out for rich, white guys. What's funny is that no one is even trying to hide this anymore. I am certain Scott will run ads in 2018 for Senate saying "Vote for me because F- You".

And we will.

Hospitals and State Agencies Tell Rick Scott to Go Fly a Kite!

It's nice to see this kind of reaction from both hospitals and state agencies filtering up the ladder, but really, who's surprised? Late breaking report, Rick: When you act like a dictator in a free republic, you get treated with the contempt a dictator deserves.

Rick Scott's Hospital Plan Has Even the FL GOP Eating Him Alive!

These days it's hard to know when to write a few words about what Rick Scott is up to, because within 24 hours, there's a good chance he'll have done something even more outrageous. That will probably happen again, but this frozen moment in time is too good to pass up for comment.

You surely know by now that as a way to cover his refusal to accept federal money tainted by Obamacare cooties, Scott has created a commission, set to meet midweek, to propose ways for hospitals to save money. The ironies that this has produced occurred to me almost as soon as he made the announcement, but you'd never expect any of them to be acknowledged even by his own ideological comrades.

The ironies all boil down to this proposal by Florida Governor Scott being something that HCA hospital CEO Scott would never have tolerated. Not in ten billion skillion years would CEO Scott have allowed it.

Not without going on every Fox News show to complain about "government intrusion into business interests."Not without filing a nuisance lawsuit or two. Not without saying it was none of the government's business how much his hospital paid lobbyists, or how much his salary as CEO was.

People all across the ideological spectrum are noticing the hypocrisy, as you might expect: It's as hard to miss as ten dozen rotten eggs in a rose garden.

Sure, we'd expect the malodorous hypocrisy of this situation to be noticed by some people who share with us a high level of distaste for Scott already -- people like Andy Marlette of the Pensacola News-Journal:

"[T]his is an astounding unmasking for a man who bought his way into the governor’s mansion on the backs of musket-wielding, Ayn Rand-citing Tea Partiers who demanded a more laissez-faire approach from our governmental authorities."

"Gov. Scott, in fact, is a very, very rich man who made millions in personal profits as CEO of a profit-hungry hospital chain guilty of the largest case of Medicare fraud in U.S. history. So shall the good governor be sharing those profits with the rest of us?"

"When criminality conspires with hypocrisy, we workin’ folks might as well ask for a cut of the cash."

We'd even expect it to be noticed, as it is in this article, by Paula Dockery, one of the closest things this state has to a reasonable Republican:

"To really confuse the issue, Scott created a commission to examine hospital finances, claiming hospitals seeking LIP funds are too profitable. He suggested the hospitals should share their profits. Huh? He is suing the feds to get funding for hospitals that are too profitable? And he thinks socializing their profits is good policy?"

But the biggest surprise of all? How about this, from Tea Party darling Senator Don Gaetz?

“When Governor Scott, who as you know made probably hundreds of millions of dollars buying and selling hospitals, said this, my first thought was, ‘What an extraordinary and generous impulse. Clearly, he’s going to make this retroactive’… but apparently not.”

[Gaetz] then called out Scott for trying to introduce “socialism” into the state’s health care system by “forcibly extracting” revenues from one business and giving it to another.

“That’s government price controls,” he added, “that really brought the Soviet Union into a ‘Going Out of Business’ sale.”

You read that right. The FL Tea Party GOP is now consuming its own in a feeding frenzy.