Elected four times to the state House as a Democrat, Tampa lawmaker Susan Valdes on Monday added to Republicans’ supermajority. Valdes announced she had become a Republican, saying she expected to be “welcomed and treated with respect” by her new party. The move, which drew a rebuke from House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, came a week after Valdes lost a bid to become chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee.
ideology
The Inherent Racism of Anti-Vaxx Movements
While many accuse anti-vaxxers of a selfish disdain for the health and safety of others, there is a underlying aspect of these movements that needs to be more widely recognized. Vaccine resistance movements have always been led by white, middle-class voices and promoted by structures of racial inequality.
Proposed Civics Standards for Florida Schools Don’t Mention the Word Slavery
Following the George Floyd murder and the national discussion over “critical race theory” — which encompasses slavery, segregation and institutionalized racism — Florida’s proposed civics standards for school don’t mention the word slavery.
‘Enough’ Is Not Enough: Flagler’s Dangerous Leer at Extremism
What happened on Tuesday at the Palm Coast City Council is indefensible and dangerous. But it’s nothing new. We’ve simply not been paying attention to a perilous degradation of public discourse and behavior. We are slowly becoming a crueler community debased by primitive instincts, because no one in charge, or too few people in charge, are standing up and saying enough.
Anti-Transgender Bills Are Latest Version of Conservatives’ Longtime Strategy to Rally Their Base
Mischaracterizing LGBTQ-supportive policies as harmful to young people are a staple strategy conservatives use to galvanize their base. A record number of anti-transgender policy reforms were introduced this year in state legislatures across the country.
Measure Forcing Colleges and Universities to Survey Students’ Ideological Viewpoints Set to Pass
The proposal also would prevent colleges and universities from “shielding” students, faculty and staff from any kind of speech. Opponents have argued the provision would allow groups like the Ku Klux Klan to come to campuses.
In Georgia, Voter-Suppression Becomes Systematic
What Georgia did Tuesday was criminal, a racist crime against our democracy, and it’s time to criminalize voter suppression once and for all, argues Thom Hartman.
Wearing a Mask Is “BS” Says Flagler Commissioner Hansen in Latest Reflection of Mixed Signals and Division
A discussion about mask-wearing between Flagler County commissioners exposed continuing but fundamental misunderstandings about the purpose of masks and why they are intended to protect.
Food Drops Are Not Enough. Expand Food Stamps Programs Now.
Big food drops like Palm Coast’s effort to feed 5,000 families are fine, but only an expanded SNAP (or food stamps) program can reach all families in need with an existing system that also acts as an economic stimulus for local business.
American Carnage: How Donald Trump Is Killing Us
The coronavirus has mutated into ideological variants. We are moving from a natural disaster to a man-made one, from statistically unavoidable deaths to deaths willed by indifference, ignorance, selfishness, and the political calculations of a single man. The consequences will compound rather than mitigate the pandemic.
That Old “Socialism” Slur
For decades, Republicans have painted anyone left of Barry Goldwater as a “socialist.” Why? Because for a generation raised on the Cold War, “socialist” just seemed like a damaging label.
Florida Senate Removes Broward Sheriff Scott Israel from Office
Special Master Dudley Goodlette, a former Republican state representative from Naples, recommended last month that Israel be reinstated, finding that DeSantis’ lawyers failed to present evidence to support the suspension.
Facts Dissolve in Antifreeze In Largely Misinformed Protest of Palm Coast’s Taxes and Budget
Palm Coast’s 2020 tax rate and the size of its budget drew some protesters at a hearing Wednesday, but many residents addressing the council were misinformed or mis-characterized the numbers.
Trump Taps Justices Luck and Lagoa For Federal Bench Just Months After Joining Florida Supreme Court
DeSantis praised the nominations of Lagoa and Luck for seats on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a statement issued by his office. The governor appointed the pair to the Florida Supreme Court shortly after he took office in January.
From Social Security to Medicare to Great Public Works: America’s Socialism in Action
The GOP hopes the S-word will scare you, but great public works projects underpinned by socialist funding principles transformed this country for the better, as did socialist programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Florida Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Local Governments From Regulating Plastic Straws
On a 24-15 vote, the Senate imposed a moratorium on plastic-straw bans, the latest example of the constant tug-of-war between the Legislature and cities and counties over local regulations.
It’ll Be Harder For Citizens To Get Their Initiatives On the Ballot If House Has Its Way
Petition-gatherers to be registered with the state, ballots would have to include information about contributions raised by amendment sponsors, whether out-of-state petition circulators were used and whether amendments could lead to tax increases.
New Florida Supreme Court Flexes Rightward Muscle, Overturning Two January Decisions
Justices, in a pair of 6-1 opinions Thursday, overturned the two rulings. The only dissenter in both cases: Justice Jorge Labarga, who had sided with Pariente, Lewis and Quince in January.
Claiming Indoctrination, Florida Lawmakers Want To Survey University Students and Faculty’s Political Views
The Board of Governors would compile and publish the results each year. It remains unclear, however, what the Legislature would do once the data comes in.
Democrats’ Arafat Complex
Early possibilities for the 2020 election–Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton–suggest Democrats aren’t learning lessons but clinging to habits of self-destruction.
Party Split or Not, Republicans Using George Soros to Smear Other Republicans Is Offensive
The GOP primary that has degraded into absurd name-calling pits tea-party-backed Scott Sturgill against conservative Mike Miller in the Edgewood, Orlando, and Winter Park area.
Protest and the Double-Edged Sword of ‘Civility’
Uncivil action may be a necessary strategy, just as civil disobedience, bearing witness, and making politicians uncomfortable were critical to the civil rights movement.
Proposal To Create Open Primaries in Florida Moves Forward, But With Issues
All candidates seeking the same office would run in a single primary regardless of party affiliation. The top two vote-getters would run in the general election.
In City Rep Theatre’s “Other Desert Cities,” A Recognizable Family At War With Itself
The Jon Robin Baitz play opening Friday at Palm Coast’s City Rep Theatre explores in darkly comic tenors a family’s reverberations through Vietnam, the Iraq war and the present.
Fantasyland and the Liberal Delusion
Liberals’s hopes that the likes of Jeff Flake or Bob Corker in any way speak for today’s vanilla-white GOP is a refusal to concede that the Age of Trump is here to stay.
In Startling Avowal, Rep. Renner Says State Will Attack Home Rule to Discipline “Rogue,” Leftist Cities
“The reason we think they’re going rogue is because it’s Bernie Sanders in charge of your local city government or county government in some cases,” Rep. Paul Renner, who represents Flagler, says.
That Last-Ditch Effort By Republicans To Replace ACA: What You Need To Know
While the chances for this last-ditch measure appear iffy, many GOP senators are rallying around a proposal that would repeal most of the ACA.
Trump Will Win In 2020
There’s nothing original in Donald Trump’s presidency when seen through Nixon-colored glasses, considering the similarities–and the invaluable help both got from Democrats to get elected.
Gov. Scott Defends Plan to Appoint Three Supreme Court Justices in Last Days In Office
Those three members — justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince — are part of the court’s more-liberal majority, and some advocates are worried that Scott, a Republican, could tip the balance of power on the bench on his final day in office.
Making Democrats Great Again: It’s Going To Take A While
No wonder Republican leaders think they can get away with almost anything. They do because they can, argues Nancy Smith, and because Democrats’ absent strategy lets them.
Florida’s Fractured Republican Leaders Heading Into Contentious Legislative Session
A philosophical schism is plaguing a fractured Republican Party leading up to what insiders characterize as potentially one of the most contentious legislative sessions in modern history.
Legislating Free Speech on Florida’s College Campuses? Not So Fast.
A Legislative committee pondered on proposed legislation called the Campus Free Speech Act. Stanley Kurtz, a conservative academic, told lawmakers the measure would defend the right for people to speak their minds at the state’s universities.
Greg Hansen Sworn-In, Completing Historic Republican Sweep of County Commission
Greg Hansen will fill the 22 months remaining on the term of the late Frank Meeker, a Republican who was often at war with the brand of local Republicans Hansen sympathizes with.
Public Schools Dealt Blows in Pair of Court Decisions Favoring Vouchers and Charters
One court decision upholds corporate tax vouchers for private schools, another diminishes the role of local school boards in deciding what charter schools may operate.
Conservatives Plot Their Course on the Rising ‘Sea of Red’ in State Capitals
The American Legislative Exchange Council sees bright future for its agenda now that Republicans control 68 of the nation’s 99 state legislative bodies and 33 governor’s mansions.
Flagler’s Humiliated Democrats Try To Regroup, Only to Expose the Dysfunctions At Their Core
Some 60 people had turned up at the All Flagler Democratic Club eager for guidance and strategy only to hear vague and at times bewildering proposals that have little to do with finding local Democrats to run, or get them elected.
Black and White: 11 Florida Supreme Court Applicants Contrast Starkly With Retiring James Perry
The exit of the liberal Perry — one of five jurists who make up a liberal-leaning majority — gives Gov. Rick Scott his first opportunity to shape a bench that has repeatedly vexed the Republican chief executive and the GOP-dominated Legislature.
Races Lost Across the State Again, Florida Democrats Look for Answers, and a Leader
After losing the state’s presidential and U.S. Senate races and failing to make major gains in the Legislature, Florida Democrats are groping for a way forward as the 2018 elections loom with battles for governor and all three state Cabinet seats.
Gov. Scott’s Pick from Judges Applying to Replace Perry Will Shift Supreme Court Right
The Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission plans to provide Scott a short list of six names, from 11 applicants, by Nov. 29, giving the governor plenty of time to make a decision before Justice James E.C. Perry’s resignation goes into effect Dec. 30.
Flagler’s Most Civilized Local Political Race in Years
The six candidates and incumbents for the Flagler County Commission stand out sharply from other local races for the collective civility and substance-oriented campaigns, and their impatience with partisanship. It’s a rarity worth taking note of in a year of slime.
Before You Celebrate Clinton’s Win: The Democrats’ Bad Downballot Map
Hillary Clinton looks increasingly likely to win the White House, but her party faces a big obstacle to success in congressional races — Democrats are sorting themselves into geographic clusters where many of their votes have been rendered all but superfluous.
Justice Perry Will Retire, Giving Gov. Scott 1st Chance to Appoint a Conservative to High Court
Perry is among five jurists who make up a liberal-leaning majority of the seven-member court, which has drawn the wrath of the Republican governor and the GOP-dominated Legislature.
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.
At Florida GOP Gathering, Opposition To Clinton Congeals Support for Trump
Florida Republican leaders are girding themselves for a must-win battle this fall as opposition to Clinton proves more unifying than Donald Trump.
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.
Florida Republicans Try to Come to Terms With The Donald, #NeverTrump Notwithstanding
Shortly after Trump’s victory Tuesday, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia issued a statement calling on the party to get over a contentious primary that once included U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Master of Obstruction: Why McConnell Is Picking a Fight Over Scalia’s Replacement
It is less about blocking liberal policy goals than about boosting Republican chances. Remarkably, McConnell has chosen a path that would seem to reduce his party’s odds in November.
Did Goebbels Win? Nazis Are Gone (Mostly), But Deadly Propaganda Is Thriving
It’s not just ISIS: the increasingly sophisticated use of hate speech directed against minorities and migrants has been a worrisome trend in Europe and the United States. Bombs and bullets alone cannot defeat political poison.
France Says Non, Merci, to Madame Trump
In the xenophobic, racist’s right-wingers’ very anger – in their spokespeople and in the words they used – lurked a threat to the republic, to democracy, and to the nation’s fundamental values.
Donald Trump’s Funeral
If Donald Trump were to drop dead tomorrow Democrats would grieve, Republican candidates would celebrate, but Trump’s neo-fascism will have already damaged the nation beyond recognition.