Thursday, March 2, 2023
Orlando shooting victims’ families ‘disgusted’ by DeSantis, Scott ‘politicizing’ deaths
Gov. Ron DeSantis initiated an audit of Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell, the SA for the 9th Judicial Circuit, covering Orlando, after the deaths of a woman, a child, and a news reporter.
The families of slain reporter Dylan Lyons and 9-year-old T’Yonna Major are speaking out after meeting together in grief. Not only are the families in mourning, but they are also angry with state officials, alleging that both DeSantis and U.S. Senator Rick Scott have used their loved ones as political talking points.
More HERE
Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state
Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines.
Brodeur’s proposal, Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would require any blogger writing about government officials to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics.
More HERE
Seniors Beware: Ron DeSantis flip flops on Medicare, Social Security cuts
Ron DeSantis is walking back previous calls to slash Social Security and Medicare, in a seeming evolution targeted for 2024.
When he was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, he called for “market forces” and privatization to replace the current schemes.
But as a potential presidential candidate, DeSantis is renouncing that policy guidance.....
More HERE
Frost Calls DeSantis a Fascist
As the first elected U.S. congressman from Gen-Z, freshman Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) leaves no doubt whether the new generation will passively attempt to represent their constituents. Recently, Rep. Frost repeatedly called Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) a "fascist" and stated that he "we are actively being oppressed".....MORE
Fact-checking Ron DeSantis' book
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new book is as much a memoir as it is a map of his political ideology. An anecdote about playing Little League baseball is tied to his support of Taiwan. He spends more ink detailing his public battle with Walt Disney World than his wedding at the Magic Kingdom.
Politifact fact-checks seven statements in his book that are wrong, misleading or lacked context.
More HERE
Wannabe: Lincoln Project mocks Gov. Ron DeSantis skipping high-profile conference
Wannabe
Gov. Ron DeSantis may talk tough, but his no-show at a high-profile conservative conference is earning him a profile in cowardice from the Lincoln Project.
The project is dropping a 45-second ad, “Wannabe,” this morning to its millions of followers on social media networks, riffing on DeSantis’ decision to stay away from the political equivalent of Mecca for White House hopefuls — this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland that started Wednesday.
The Governor has all but declared he’s a candidate for President, but his vanishing act shows the real DeSantis is not the tough-talking bully he portrays at his news conferences or in the ad “God Made a Fighter” — especially not if former President Donald Trump might be in the room, according to Rick Wilson, Lincoln Project co-founder.
More HERE
Wednesday, March 1, 2023
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The Hurtak-Carlson Effect
"Well now! The Hurtak-Carlson Effect, unnamed Dark Money organizations slinging mud at City Council candidates, has been expanded to include Orlando Gudes. I don't see how this improves quality of life in Tampa. I guess Mayor Jane has decided on warfare instead of collaboration . She may find a very hostile City Council if her scorched earth campaign loses." Jim Shirk
Tampa Traveler Jeff Z on Transportation in Paris
Meanwhile back in Trampa it takes 7 years to plan a half mile extension to the streetcar...
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Let Teachers Teach—Time to Fight Back
A counterattack against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ war on truth, knowledge, and freedom stands on the launch pad with a well-known Floridian lighting the fuse.Ion Sancho, Leon County’s longtime former Supervisor of Elections, has declared that it’s time to “Let Teachers Teach” and that a Florida Constitutional amendment is the vehicle to allow that basic American right. Sancho remains active in defending democracy and is nationally recognized as an elections guru and reformer. Sporting no party affiliation, he’s a go-to talking head on news shows.
The best vehicle to obtaining the million or so signatures required to get teaching freedoms on a statewide ballot in 2024, according to Sancho: college students.“Students are already energized in the fight against far-right indoctrination,” he observed. “These activists are already protesting the governor’s attempt to marginalize women, non-whites, and the LGBT community through banning books.”The math is so simple that even neanderthal right wingers would understand it, even using their fingers and toes.There are 12 public universities and 30 private institutions of higher learning in Florida. Based on recent demonstrations against DeSantis’ war on truth, Sancho reckons each campus has between 100 and 300 vocal, high-participation activists. This does not include thousands more sympathizers who prefer a less visible role. A modest 150 average per campus totals 6,300 activists. That means these activists turned petition gatherers would need to average 159 signatures each—not a big ask.That number includes signatures above what’s called for because typically around 15 percent are tossed for technical reasons.
But Sancho doesn’t stop with student participation. He’s working the phones with the Florida Education Association and some of its chapters to get educators on board with advocating a Constitutional amendment. Parents and other private citizens would join the effort organically. Florida GOP legislators, in thrall to a corporatist, bigoted base, can’t bend over far enough to accommodate DeSantis. The threshold for a Constitutional amendment to pass as a ballot measure is 60 percent. Republican legislators, determined to marginalize democracy as well as groups that don’t align with their definition of “white Christian values,” are aiming to boost that number to 66 percent.
Sancho doesn’t see that increase as an impediment to passage of Let Teachers Teach.
“What Republicans are really scared to death of is the abortion issue,” he said.
So far, the 60 percent bar has backfired on the righties. The GOP-dominant Legislature referred three constitutional amendments to the 2022 ballot during the 2021 and 2022 state legislative sessions. All three measures were defeated. One amendment would have abolished the Florida Constitution Revision Commission and the other two related to property taxes.
The Republican-instituted proposals laughably would have passed if only a simple majority was required; they received 54, 57, and 59 percent.
At the governor’s behest, Rep. Alex Andrade (R), for the 2024 session introduced HB 999, a sweeping set of restrictions on higher education. The bill requires Florida colleges and universities to remove from its programs “any major or minor" in Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, or Intersectionality, along with "any derivative major or minor of these belief systems."
Andrade's bill also prohibits the expenditure of funds "to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities" that "espouse diversity, equity, or inclusion" or "Critical Race Theory rhetoric."
PEN America, a 101-year-old organization of writers is dedicated to protecting free expression in the United States and worldwide. It termed DeSantis’ proposal as "the most draconian and censorious restrictions on public colleges and universities in the country." FIRE, a group that defends free speech, academic freedom, and religious liberty, asserted the proposal is “laden with unconstitutional provisions hostile to freedom of expression and academic freedom."
Last week, DeSantis tilted his lance at the mythical “woke culture.” He unveiled a 2024 school board hit list featuring 14 school board members across the state who "do not protect parental rights and have failed to protect students from woke ideologies." Two of the targets are in Hillsborough: Jessica Vaughn and Nadia Combs,
Sancho served for 28 years, from 1989 to 2017. In five of those seven elections, he was unopposed.
During his time in office, Sancho was admired for his integrity as a voter advocate and elections expert, and became nationally known for his role in the Florida presidential election recount of 2000. He was also known for his appearance in the 2006 investigative documentary Hacking Democracy.
Jim Bleyer
10 big issues to watch during Florida’s 2023 legislative session
Florida lawmakers next week will start the annual 60-day legislative session. Here are 10 big issues to watch.....MORE
Community leaders hosting forum to address gun violence in Tampa
The East Tampa Business and Civic Association is hosting its first Teen Community Meeting Wednesday night to address gun violence, and what community leaders can do to stop it.....MORE
National Democrats diss Ron DeSantis’ new, best-selling book
Though Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ new book is a best seller on at least one chart, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is dissing it anyway.
The DNC War Room is firing shots at The Courage to Be Free, contending that the volume elides mention of certain aspects of his “his long track record of pushing an extreme agenda and chasing after the MAGA base.”
More HERE
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