Author: Trish

So Tell Us A.P., What Do You REALLY Think?

Trish

What’s up with the Associated Press? In a particularly egregious show of slanted reporting, A.P. writer Vickie Chachere makes it clear which side she’s on in the Schiavo affair. In the article, printed in today’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel and other papers, her lede throws the first punch:

Terri Schiavo’s body was cremated Saturday as disagreements continued between her husband and her parents, who were unable to have their own independent expert observe her autopsy.

“Their own independent expert?” If he or she is independent, how can they be “their own?” Six paragraphs on where Terri’s grave will be later, comes this tidbit:

The Schindlers had sought to have independent medical experts observe their daughter’s autopsy at the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s office, but the agency refused their request, family attorneys David Gibbs III and Barbara Weller said Saturday…

Gibbs said the medical examiner’s videotape, pictures and tissue samples from the autopsy could be reviewed by other experts if the family asks.

Oh, so it wasn’t Michael Schiavo that kept their “independent” experts out, it was the county M.E. Sounds like the medical examiner is pretty damn independent too.

A few more paragraphs and then, just for background, mind you, Chachere takes some more shots.

Over the years, the couple have sought independent investigation of their daughter’s condition and what caused it. Abuse complaints to state social workers were ruled unfounded – although one investigation remains open – and the Pinellas state attorney’s office did not turn up evidence of abuse in one brief probe of the case.

Nice parenthetical phrase there: “although one investigation remains open.” And maybe if the state attorney’s office had just taken longer with their “brief probe,” they could have gotten the goods on Michael Schiavo.

Sheesh. This woman needs to find a home at FOX News.

And We Both Have Oranges

Trish

One of the two people who run this blog lives in California and the other in Florida. Today’s New York Times had an interesting article that, along with psychoanalyzing Florida, contrasts the two states and wonders if Florida is the new California.

California used to be the capital of cultural, political and environmental crises, the place that baffled and mesmerized with its vivid goings-on. But while Florida still has a smaller population – not only than California but New York and Texas, too – its rapidly changing demographics and politics, combined with the fact that it is still so young, make for a potent mix.

“California looks like a staid old New England state at this point,” said James Kane, chief pollster for Florida Voter, a nonpartisan polling group. “In some respects people here get embarrassed, but there is a certain amount of pride that we are not like any other state.”

The fact that most of us just moved here yesterday (the saying is, “Everybody wants to be the last one to move to Florida”) and hate everybody that moved here today explains a lot of the weirdness.

After all, most Floridians are not from Florida. If you moved from Boston, Cleveland or New York, Havana or Caracas or San Juan, watching high drama in your backyard feels not so different from watching from a relaxed distance, Mr. Kane said…

“When people have lived here for a while and have roots and multiple generations, some other state will become the next Florida,” he said. “Some other place where it’s warm and there’s a lot of land and opportunity for people to make their fortune.”

Maybe Arizona, he said.

Thanks to Florida Politics for discovering this article.

Pay Backs are Hell

Trish

Poor Katerine Harris. The GOP is treating her just like the scum-sucking sell-out she is. The Tampa Tribune noticed when Ken Mehlman failed to give Katherine two big thumbs up.

Asked last week whether Republican Rep. Katherine Harris can unseat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, national Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman praised Harris effusively – but didn’t say yes.

Mehlman’s response, when asked the question in an interview with the Tribune:

“I don’t know. I think it’s very early in the process. I think Katherine Harris is a great public servant. I think she’s somebody who’s got star quality, she’s smart, she has been a very effective legislator, she’s got a great ability to raise resources, and I like her a lot personally.”

You like her a lot personally? Well gee, Ken, don’t get all misty-eyed on us. Sounds like the GOP was happy to use Harris for all she was worth in 2000 and now they don’t want to pay her back. Yet she keeps cropping up, like Rumplestilskin, demanding tribute.

Mr. Pasty Face Karl Rove seems to have decided that Harris is too much of a reminder of stolen elections. As long as he is in charge, it’s likely that Harris will stay in the background. Whether she wants to or not.

It was widely reported last year that White House political operatives worked to dissuade Harris from running for the U.S. Senate in 2004. There have been reports that Karl Rove has asked Harris to stay out again in 2006.

Asked about a recent news story that said Rove was trying to keep Harris out, Mehlman didn’t deny it. “I don’t have any comment on that,” he said.

It’s Only Bad If One of Us Does It

Trish

Have you noticed how these Chicken Little sanctimonious hypocrites shriek that being homosexual and showing religious tolerance are signs of the apocalypse but pedophilia and internet porn are no big deal – at least when they’re the ones with their pants down.

From CNN:

A former top official of the Boy Scouts of America [Note: he only stepped down in February, once the investigation was public knowledge] faces federal Internet child pornography charges and is expected to plead guilty Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office said…

The U.S. attorney’s office in Fort Worth, Texas, filed the charges after federal investigators found images of children engaging in sex acts on Smith’s computer.

Whew. Sounds pretty bad, huh? Aw, not really. No biggie.

Smith’s lawyer, Jack Strickland, told The Associated Press that his client is “not taking this well. I’ve got to tell you, this is a good man, and I would hate to see the entirety of his life and the good things he’s done defined by one incident.”

Yeah, you know, it’s just one little part of his life and he’s a good man. Cut him a break, will ya? His real life is all about children. Scouts, that is.

And how about the national spokesman for the BSA, the guy who defended their right to kick gay butt all the way to the Supreme Court? In 1999, when the BSA was seeing one departure after another from Unitarian-sponsored troops and others (even some Mormon troops!), Gregg Shields pursed his lips and made this pronouncement :

“Since 1910 the Boy Scouts have taught basic traditional family values and continue to do so. We feel that an avowed homosexual does not fit these values and is not an appropriate person to be in a leadership position.”

No, a gay adult who maintains a stable, consenting relationship with another gay adult is beyond the pale but some mouth-breathing, child porn consuming nut case is A-OK.

Well, not completely. Being arrested is pretty racy stuff, evidently.

Shields said the Boy Scouts are “shocked and dismayed” by Smith’s arrest, but the group has cooperated with investigators in the case.

“We surrendered his work computer to authorities,” he said.

Notice, Shields isn’t concerned about Smith’s conduct, just his arrest. But the BSA is “cooperating” so what else can they possibly do?

Climb down from the judgmental high horse and stop trying to make decent people feel ashamed while they put closet cases in charge? I don’t know, but it would be a start.

Everybody Loses

Trish

O.K., I know we’re all sick of the subject, but an excellent column by Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times talks about how hard it is to be a “moderate” Republican when the wingnuts rule.

What ever happened to that Republican “big tent” that was supposed to welcome those with differing ideas?

Some members of the Florida Senate are questioning where the tent went and why they are being made to feel like lepers by the Christian right wing.

Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, and eight others were the targets of extreme pressure over the past week…

Democrats often say the GOP is in the hands of extremists. The Schiavo case supports that notion.

Instead of winning support for a bill aimed at restoring Schiavo’s feeding tube, many protesters angered senators who were bombarded with obscene telephone calls and death threats…

Jeb only made things worse for all concerned when he impotently hinted he might have the Department of Children and Families finish the job Bo Gritz started.

[Jeb] Bush didn’t do himself a favor when he said he believes he has the authority to seize custody of Schiavo and provide her with treatment…

Finally Bush surfaced briefly Thursday afternoon to say he would not violate court orders that have denied the state access to Schiavo.

By then it was too late to silence the clamor that was rising among vociferous protesters outside the Capitol.

Loudest among them was Operation Rescue’s Randall Terry, who said “there will be hell to pay” if Bush doesn’t intervene.

Somewhere in all of this the rule of law must prevail, or we are all lost. Bush’s brief flirtation with taking the law into his own hands was a serious mistake that could cost the GOP for years to come.

In the short term, a backlash is taking shape. But memories tend to be even shorter.

One by one, Republicans around the state began announcing: “Enough.”

“I am a longstanding registered, voting Republican, but after watching this disgusting display, I am gone,” wrote Ray Snyder of Crawfordville in a letter to the editor in the Tallahassee Democrat Friday. “I see the dark ages of the Inquisition being born again. Someone needs a large dose of sanity and common sense, but it may already be too late.”

Asked about the impact of the case on the GOP, Larry Sabato, professor of politics at the University of Virginia, says he thinks there will be some temporary backlash but voters will have forgotten by the next election…

No one wins. And once again Florida looks incredibly stupid.

A Lot Can Happen in Two Years

Trish

At least, that’s probably what George W. is thinking.

Reuters is reporting our supreme allied commander has extended by two years the time a government panel can take to release their findings on links between the CIA and the Nazis.

The bill approved by Congress would extend the group’s life through March 2007.

The Nazi war crimes act requires federal agencies to provide the working group with all documents pertaining to Nazi war criminals for possible declassification and release.

The CIA, which has already turned over an estimated 1.25 million pages of documents, refused to release hundreds of thousands more — many dealing with its postwar ties to Nazis who have not been accused of war crimes.

The U.S. spy agency relented this month and agreed in principle to release more documents after Republican Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a prominent backer of the legislation, demanded CIA Director Porter Goss explain the CIA’s position at a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Let’s see…any Bush relatives likely to be implicated in anything here? Well, W’s grandfather Prescott and great-grandfather Herbert Walker Bush had assests taken under the “Trading with the Enemy Act” for financing Nazis. And then there are the voluminous links between the Bushes and the CIA, most recently George Sr. heading up the agency.

There’s just too much online for me to track down the best and most succinct on this, but if you’re interested and don’t already know about it, I recommend you start searching. If you’re already familiar with the particulars, go ahead and groan now.

Florida Going All Medieval Texas on Your Ass

Trish

The folks who proudly faced down the “culture of death” that would have allowed someone in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years to pass into the next world are at it again. This time, they’re protecting your right to kill anyone you feel threatens you.

The Daytona News-Journal reports on a new law that passed the Florida Senate yesterday that says Floridians no longer have to get all bowed up, arm themselves, and then not shoot anybody. Now they can blast away.

The Florida Senate passed a bill 38-0 Wednesday that removes the legal expectation that a person should back down or run away in face of a serious threat. They can open fire without fear of criminal charges or civil liability.

The bill also enshrines the castle doctrine, or the right to defend a home against an intruder, in state law. It extends the castle doctrine to the automobile so drivers can shoot carjackers.

And don’t you just hate it when you want to shoot somebody but you’re in a crowd and you know some do-gooder lawyer will sue you if you miss? In Florida, your worries are over.

The only debate about the bill was whether to continue to require a person to retreat if attacked in public. It is a principle that’s taught in the classes required for carrying a concealed gun permit.

Because it sounded too much like the Wild West, Sen. Steven Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, tried to amend the bill so people still had to retreat. But his amendment was killed on voice vote Tuesday.

The bill does have its limits. While the police will now have to show probable cause before arresting anyone who claims it was self-defense, it’s still not O.K. to shoot the cop who comes to your door with an arrest warrant. And don’t any of you hip-hop looking people go getting any big ideas.

Marion Hammer, a lobbyist with the NRA and United Sportsmen of Florida, said some opponents are exaggerating the possible consequences of the bill. It would not allow gangs to engage in street warfare, she said, nor does it protect “mutual combatants.” A duel in the street is still a crime, she said.

The Republican sponsor of the bill says it’s all about life.

“People who lawfully own firearms don’t shoot to kill,” Baxley said. “They shoot to live.”

One House Democrat wasn’t entirely sold.

During a debate in House Justice Council meeting on Wednesday, State Rep. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, said she fears people will overreact in such tense situations and make bad decisions.

“We’re getting away from the culture of life,” she said.

Ya think?

An Attic Full of Wingnuts

Trish

What attic does Jeb go to to find these wingnut freaks he populates Florida government with? I mean, when you pull back the layer of insulation and hear the scurrying scratches and see the droppings, you just know there¹s a Jeb appointee in there somewhere.

Latest case: one Cecilia Burke, whom the world’s most cynical and swarmy governor placed on the Pinellas County (St. Petersburg) Juvenile Welfare Board. Her remarks, equating homosexuals to pedophiles, offended everyone who isn’t a like-minded nut case. According to AP in the Miami Herald,

Cecilia Burke, who was appointed to the children’s advocacy board of directors by Gov. Jeb Bush, made her statements in a memo Feb. 7 asking the board to sever ties with the support groups Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education NetworkŠ Burke’s memo also said the groups support “unhealthy sexual practices among youth.” She cited maintaining relationships with these groups as a reason to deny the juvenile welfare board’s director, Jim Mills, a raise. That move failed.

St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler represents the rest of us:

But as for this constant attempt to equate all gay people with child molesters: At the very best, it is based in lack of knowledge; at the worst, something much darker.”

“And yet, some (not all, but some) gay-rights opponents try to work “homosexual” and “pedophile” into the same sentence.

Hence a 2002 speech by the then-president of the Southern Baptists condemning “the pornographer, the adulterer, the homosexual, the pedophile, the abortionist.”

Among the groups calling for an apology from Burke are Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). I’m not holding my breath.