Ronald Reagan was among the worst–and the best–when it came to tax fairness, Teddy Roosevelt isn’t given enough credit, but a majority of American presidents did little by way of making the tax code fairer. It’s often been the opposite, argues Sarah Anderson.
Commentary
Early Voting: A Dissent
Early voting gives political parties and special interests a chance to manipulate, to lock up blocs of votes in advance of Election Day and to keep opposition parties and candidates from offering another viewpoint, argues Nancy Smith.
If Trump Ever Had My Vote, He Just Lost It
If Trump secretly conducted business in communist Cuba while Fidel Castro was its president, the Republican presidential nominee should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, not elected to the highest office in the land.
Looking past the Obvious in Trump-Clinton I: Voters May Decide a Different Outcome
We have to reconsider what we thought we saw Monday night and discover how it played where it mattered, in counties such as those in western Pennsylvania, and those clustered along Interstate 4 in Florida. These, more than elite opinion-spinners clustered along our deep-blue coasts, will decide the Nov. 8 outcome, argues Tom Jackson.
Panic: On the Prospect of a Trump Presidency
“I spent the past year making fun of Trump and taking it for granted that Hillary Clinton would demolish him. I didn’t take into account her fabulous skills for self-destruction or the country’s ripeness for mass delusion.”
The Climate Change Debate is Over: Seas and Temperatures Are Rising Dangerously
Increasing major storms and rising sea levels have long been predicted by climate models, and now they’re coming true. Time for deniers to concede defeat and become part of the solution, argues Todd Larsen.
Trump-Bashing’s Indictment as Americans’ Trust in Mainstream Media Sinks to a New Low
Covering Trump’s contradictory and rash statements is one thing. That’s the media’s job. But there isn’t a commentator or an anchor on CNN who doesn’t wear a Clinton heart on his or her sleeve. With 53 days to go before the election, they’ve even stopped trying to hide it.
Gov. Scott’s Office of Open Government Barricades Itself
Florida once had one of the toughest sunshine laws in the country, and people were proud of that. But it’s no longer the case. Transparency has given way to talk–and barricades.
Why I Stand For The National Anthem
There is outrage on the anniversary of 9/11: the outrage should be directed at those who have taken for granted the liberty and privilege of being a professional athlete by showing disrespect to our National Anthem by way of protest.
The National Anthem’s False Notes
Blasphemous as it seems, Colin Kaepernick’s freedom to sit out the Star Spangled Banner is written in the anthem’s very words, though his tormentors are more disturbed by his message, which they would rather not hear.
Who’s Afraid of Gary Johnson? Let Him Join the Debates
The Libertarian Party is on the ballot in all 50 states. For that reason, Gary Johnson should be on that debate stage because he is an alternative available to the entire nation, argues Nancy Smith.
Obama Should Tell the Truth About the American Economy
The president and everybody in his administration really must stop talking about how much better off we are today than we were eight years ago. Here is the disastrous truth.
Flagler’s Primary Results: Shocks, Coronations and Probabilities
There were one or two shocks in the Flagler primary election results, not least of them another dismal turnout, but for the most part the numebrs produced expected winners and losers. Here’s a full analysis.
The Reek of Hypocrisy Behind Federal Marijuana Laws
In most cases, our laws treat chemicals as safe until proven dangerous. Marijuana, on the other hand, is being held to a higher standard. It’s not even that it’s considered dangerous until proven safe. The government says that they won’t lift regulations on it until it’s proven beneficial.
Ransom Rubbish
Oliver North would have you believe that the Obama Administration paid a $400 million ransom to Iran in exchange for three Americans. His history and compass are off. Here’s a little reminder.
Devil’s Gambit: Sacrificing All Else to Ensure Trump Picks for the Supreme Court
To some Republicans, keeping Hillary Clinton from appointing new justices is worth letting everything else go to hell. The government, the country, maybe the world and certainly the court.
Un-American Activities
Before Donald Trump’s “extreme vetting” there was Extreme Vetter Pat McCarran, the Nevada Senator whose name graces some of America’s most xeonopbic, repressive and largely unconstitutional laws. Trump is channeling him.
A Misuse of Copyrighted Material in the Sheriff’s Campaign
A mailer from the Rick Staly campaign used a portrait of John Lamb from Lamb’s Live Interview, without permission. Staly and Lamb are among the six Republican candidates running for sheriff.
Hikers, Campers, and the Limits of Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace seems to extend only to the easily visible: trash, toilet paper, bodily functions, and so forth. Anything you can’t see with the naked eye — like sweat, detergent, sunblock, mosquito repellent, pesticides, and other chemicals — seems to get a pass.
Donald Trump’s War on Media: The Case For Fighting Back
It’s not a stretch to say that last week in Daytona and Thursday night in Kissimmee, Trump and his surrogates were literally inciting mobs against the media. Not casually or with humor, but with calculated and malicious anger.
Hawkish Hillary: Clinton May Sound Friendly to Muslims. But Her Record Is Bloodier.
Even while Hillary Clinton condemns Donald Trump’s erratic statements on foreign policy, there’s no evidence she sees any need to redraw her own hawkish playbook that goes back to her enthusiastic support for the Iraq war.
The Suicide Candidate
Donald Trump will never win the presidency. He knows it and doesn’t want it. But that makes him more dangerous, not less. He’s a fanatic. He’s a suicide candidate. And we still have three months of rampage.
‘Iransom’: Sorry, Mr. President, It’s a Hard Story to Let Go
Nancy Smith says she’s thought about what she calls “the ransom scandal” every day since a report on how President Obama secured the release of four Americans held hostage by the Iranians by flying in $400 million in cash “to buy them back.”
My Mother, Stopped for Driving While Black
The mistreatment of black people by police officers isn’t new, nor is it surprising, argues Milen Mehari. According to the Justice Department, black people are almost four times more likely than whites to experience the use of force during police encounters.
Missing Frank Meeker
Some elected officials leave a much bigger void than others when they die in office. Flagler County Commissioner Frank Meeker’s loss an interrupted legacy that was just hitting its stride.
Republicans’ Women Problem
Long before Donald Trump the Republican Party has been relentlessly pushing policies aimed at curtailing women’s reproductive rights, economic freedom, access to health care, and autonomy.
Goodbye News-Journal
Rick de Yampert, the former arts writer for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, explains why he cancelled his newspaper subscription for the first time in 43 years.
Black Lives Matter. Period.
Cops are owed all the appreciation and respect their profession commands. Blacks are owed their right to life. The two are not mutually exclusive, but certain differences matter, especially when they falsely paint cops as the victims and blacks as the aggressors.
Latest Florida Newspaper Layoffs Claim Lloyd Dunkelberger of Tallahassee and Recount Fame
Following the latest round of reporter layoffs, they will be replaced, if at all, by younger, cheaper bodies who have not necessarily been taught the difference between putting bylines on news releases and honest reporting, writes Florence Snyder.
The Mostly Bogus Case Against Kimberle Weeks
Ex-Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks was the most combative, distasteful, deceptive and ethically suspect elected official in the county, but she did not break the law with most of the “secret” recordings she made, contrary to the laundry list of felony counts against her.
Sheriff Manfre Issues Statement on Shootings in Dallas, Falcon Heights and Baton Rouge
“It is my hope during these difficult times in our nation’s history that we use the recent incidents in Minnesota, Baton Rouge and Dallas to continue our dialogue that we have established with our community,” the sheriff said.
Chain Restaurants Hurt the Economy, Pollute, And Pay Poverty Wages. Eat Local Instead.
It’s time for big chains to strengthen local economies by keeping food purchases local and ending worker exploitation. But they don’t. Meanwhile, writes Anna Meyer, look for locally owned restaurants that source local and support raising the minimum wage for all workers.
The Stupidity of Race:
What My DNA Test Reveals
Arab AND Jew? Greek? Italian? A DNA test unravels the ethnic origins of FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam–and underscores the absurdity of making assumptions about anyone’s race, color or so-called origins.
From DCF to Pam Bondi, Nothing But Contempt for Florida’s Sunshine Law
It’s been decades since Florida had an elected statewide official who paid much more than lip service to open government, and state and local agencies are taking advantage, showing more contempt than respect for the law, argues Florence Snyder.
A Transgender Latina Teen Speaks: They’re Killing Us. Help Us Stop Them.
Many Republicans invoked fears of international terrorism, but most said nothing about the members of our LGBTQ communities, who were the very targets and victims, writes Grace Dolan-Sandrino.
As Exceptionally American As It Gets
Our mass shootings have developed their own set rituals and denials, none so lethal as the complicity with murder that blames the wrong targets while excusing guns.
For LGBT, Always That Target on Their Backs
It turns out shooter Omar Marteen may have been motivated by both homophobia and Islamic radicalism. That should not come as a surprise, writes Nancy Smith.
Donald Trump’s Fascism and His Appeasers
Trump will fade. Trumpism may not. And the longer the Republican establishment is willing to appease him as a better alternative to Clinton, the more it legitimizes his racism as an acceptable American value.
Obama in Hiroshima:
The Shallowness of American Atonement
Paul Tibbets, who captained the Enola Gay to its mission over Hiroshima, proudly sold WMD memorabilia into his old age, and President Obama refused to apologize in what was the first visit by a sitting president to Hiroshima in 71 years.
Transgender Indecency
There were pragmatic ways to ensure access to bathrooms for transgender people until lawmakers hijacked the process with predatory bans that dehumanize people and make a mockery of decency.
When Bernie Sanders Mirrors Donald Trump
The same Democratic candidate who decried Donald Trump for condoning violence in North Carolina in March turned right around and did the same thing in Nevada when his rally devolved into chaos. He condoned it.
My Food Is My Business
I don’t feel comfortable walking into friends’ or families’ homes and berating them for their unhealthy, albeit traditional and quite common, lifestyle choices. Why then do friends and family members feel comfortable walking into my home and berating me for my healthy lifestyle choices, sometimes primarily because they aren’t the norm?
A Right To Die, Even For 20-Somethings
The revelation that a 20-something woman chose to die from PTSD related so 10 years of sexual abuse tests the boundaries of assisted suicide, but not if context and compassion replace armchair judgments.
The Republican Responsibility to Reject Trump
Derision, racism, default and brutality are strange ways to go about making America great again. Let’s hope for the GOP’s sake and everyone else’s that Republicans have the clarity not to fall for Trump’s latest reality show.
Trump’s Dangerous America First Campaign
Trump holds his own supporters in the greatest contempt as he stokes and manipulates their rage, rooted in frustration with stagnant wages and fear of the unknown. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric has helped to take fears to the next level.
No, Pat Mooney, Immigrants Aren’t Cattle
Republican candidate Pat Mooney, running for the congressional seat that includes Flagler, managed to compare all Syrians to terrorists, all tourists and immigrants to cattle, and called for foreigners to be “chipped” and tracked the moment they enter the country.
Lawmakers Are Reducing Florida’s Public Schools To Factories of Failure and Inequity
Time to take a good look at whether the changes we’ve endured — mass privatization, real-dollar funding decreases, high-stakes testing, and loss of local school board authority — gets us closer to carrying out our constitutional duty to our children.
Homeschooling: Not So Eccentric Anymore
The number of American K–12 children educated at home increased from 1.09 million in 2003 to 1.77 million in 2012. That means they make up 3.4 percent of the nation’s school population.
Does Arabic Offend You?
When a traveler’s stupidity and racism lead to a fellow-traveler being searched, interrogated and kicked off a plane for speaking Arabic, not only do we all have a problem. We are the problem.
Poll-Tax Redux: Millions Free From Jail Are Barred From Voting By Criminal Debt
Debt from fines starts at sentencing and can grow at interest rates of 12 percent or more while inmates serve their sentences. It continues to grow after they’re released and face the numerous barriers to finding work and housing.