Tag: Florida

Proof Katherine Harris is Crazy — She Appointed George Bush President

Buck Banks

Kate-bashing bandwagon: It’s really difficult to refrain from piling on Katherine Harris’ Senate campaign when she continually provides incentives like her diatribes about religion, morality and politics delivered last week that seem designed to make folks wonder if her relationship with reality is a bit tenuous at times. It just provides plenty of fodder for pundits to play with.

For instance, here are some examples from today’s Tampa Tribune:

Would anyone be surprised to discover Harris staffers tunneling under West Shore Boulevard, hoping to make a run for it before the candidate goes into another of her meltdowns that make Joan Crawford look like Miss Piggy?
….
For, to Harris, her mouth has become a weapon of mass discombobulation.
….
It was bad enough that Harris comes off as something akin to Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction” meets Courtney Love.
….

In the eyes of her admirers, she was Mother Teresa, Marie Curie, and Joan of Arc all rolled into one

At least that’s more entertaining than the Orlando Sentinel’s frantic hand-wringing in an editorial yesterday that virtually begged Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to endorse Will McBride, one of three Republican candidiates running against Harris in the primary:

For the good of his party and, indeed, for the good of a political system that relies on vigorous debate of real ideas, it’s time for Gov. Jeb Bush to get involved in this race as he has in other Republican primaries. There is still time for Mr. Bush to endorse Orange County attorney Will McBride in Tuesday’s primary. Mr. McBride has the resources to run a campaign statewide and stands clearly as the Republicans’ best candidate.

The fear among Florida Republicans is that Harris will get 40 percent of the vote in the primary and the other three Repug candidiates will divvy up the other 60 percent, in effect, conquering themselves and any chance of the party beating incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson, who leads Harris in the polls by more than 30 percent.
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Gitmo Has Survived Ernesto, Army Ready to Help FEMA

Buck Banks

Gimme shelter: Tropical Storm Ernesto did less damage to the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, today than Paris Hilton’s recent vow to remain celibate did to the straight males of the world. The storm rolled over the controversial base earlier this morning in a direct hit that didn’t hurt too much.

DoD is working with FEMA experts to prepare for any eventuality.

According to a press release hastily dispatched by the Department of Defense, the base experienced on 33-knot winds with gusts up to 38 knots, or a 40-50 mph range, and only had 2.1 inches of rain fall on the detainee camp.

“We were prepared,” base spokeswoman Satcey Byington said. “Most people sheltered in place and came out when the ‘all clear’ sounded this morning at about 10:30.”

Does that mean the guys in organge jump suits and face masks just curled up in their chain-link cubes and hunkered down? Strangely, the release did not mention the hundred-odd remaining detainees, though it did hail the shelter-in-place talents of the 7,000 military personnel.

Then, in a move that did little to quell the fears of those of us in danger of being molesto’d by Ernesto tomorrow, the DoD said that the military was already cooperating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on delivering assistance in the storm’s aftermath.

DoD is working with FEMA experts to prepare for any eventuality. “We have the defense coordinating officer and the defense coordinating element from FEMA Region 4 deployed to the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Fla.,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. DoD also has representatives at the Regional Response Coordination Center in Atlanta.

“There has also been a determination that should there need to be logistical staging, that Fort Rucker and Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and Homestead Air Reserve Base and Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida will serve as FEMA logistical staging areas,” Whitman said.

Well, I guess that’s better than having ice trucks in Maryland, but Miami is still a 10-hour drive from Tallahassee, a good seven-hour hike from Jacksonville, and don’t mention Alabama — and that’s with clear, dry roadways and working traffic signals.

Anyway, a co-worker reports that Winn-Dixie is out of water already as of her lunch break, and long lines have formed for gasoline. And though we’re being told there’s no need to panic, people are already getting testy over who gets the last loaf of Wonder Bread.

Kind of reminds me of how Michael Brown and Michael Chertoff and George Bush were “ready” for Katrina’s landfall in New Orleans last year and the job they all did. On the eve of Ernesto, Jon and Trish and I think it might be interesting to mine the archives and revisit some of the low lights of Bushco’s performance a year ago.

Stayed tuned for a look back at the “heckuva job” done by our goverment in response to the nation’s worse natural disaster.

Preparation H (Hurricanes, That Is)

Trish

When a hurricane strikes, there is an undercurrent in other parts of the country of victim-blaming. “What do those idiots expect if they live on the coast?” “Why don’t those morons evacuate when there’s a hurricane out there?”

The obvious answers to the first question are a) It wasn’t like this when I moved here 37 years ago…and I don’t really want to start over in Fargo at my age, and b) Like there’s no weather where YOU live?

For the answer to the second question, you just have to be here. In the time since we (meaning those of us in Florida and the Gulf states) started tracking Ernesto, it has been variously forecasted to hit New Orleans, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Cedar Key, Tampa, and the Keys. At what point do you say, “O.K., this is it! I’m packing the car!”

When Rita hit last year, post-Katrina, people in South Florida were chastised (mostly by the governor and other Republican officials) for not stocking up on enough emergency supplies. After all, they should be prepared to fend for themselves for a couple of weeks now that everyone’s had fair warning government will not save them. But what does it mean, exactly, to fend for yourself?

Here’s an idea. This helpful piece of advice is in my local paper today, since my town is in the current forecast to be the exit point for Ernesto as it leaves Florida.

Disaster checklist for pets:

Your written family/pet disaster plan

Crate/carrier and bedding

Food, water, manual can opener, dishes

Plastic bags, paper towels, newspaper (when shredded, can be used as cat litter)

Cleaning supplies, disinfectants

Collar, leash, harness

Muzzle, gauze rolls

Identification tags

Current medical and vaccination records

Extra bottles of daily medications or copies of prescriptions with expiration dates

Current photos of you and your pet(s) together

Pet comfort items: towels, blankets, toys

A list of hotels, motels and boarding kennels that accept pets

Detailed instructions for animal care and rescue workers

First aid kit for your pet(s)

Flashlights, batteries

Flat tire repair kit

Out-of-state telephone contact number

Label all pet supplies with your name, address and telephone number

Source: St. Johns County Office of Emergency Management

I can’t imagine what the flat tire repair kit is used for, but maybe my dog and cat will appreciate it.

The list seems a tad ambiguous. Why do I need detailed instructions for animal care and rescue workers if I’m taking my pets with me? What’s the out of state phone number for? Should I be teaching Pepsi and Stinky how to dial on my cell?

The point is, hurricanes are a crap shoot, and the best we can hope for is to make the right last-minute decision — because until the science of meteorology gets a little more precise, that’s all we can do. So please, Fargoans and the rest of you, don’t get mad at us if we get hit. We really did try to think of everything.

Harris View of the World Pisses Off Jews, Other Non-Christians, Christians, Democrats, Republicans, Gays, Straights, and Model Airplane Enthusiasts

Trish

Florida Jews and other non-Chrisitians are expressing outrage at U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who recently stated that only the twice-born are fit to hold office.

Since He chooses our rulers, He chose Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton as surely as He chose Katherine herself. God sounds a little conflicted.

As PR Editor Buck noted, statements by Harris published in the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist Convention surpassed even her own unmatched record of looniness. Others are starting to agree.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said she was “disgusted” by the comments “and deeply disappointed in Rep. Harris personally.”Harris, Wasserman Schultz said, “clearly shows that she does not deserve to be a Representative . . .”

State Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, demanded an apology, saying the statements were “outrageous, even by her standards.

“What is going through this woman’s mind?” said Slosberg. “We do not live in a theocracy.”

…Ahmed Bedier, the Central Florida Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said he was “appalled that a person who’s been in politics this long would hold such extreme views.”

Bedier said most Christians would find such comments “shameful.”

…The criticism was not limited to Democrats.

Ruby Brooks, a veteran Tampa Bay Republican activist, said Harris’ remarks “were offensive to me as a Christian and a Republican.”

“To me, it’s the height of hubris,” said Brooks, a former Largo Republican Club president and former member of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee.

And Jillian Hasner, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said: “I don’t think it’s representative of the Republican Party at all. Our party is much bigger and better than Katherine Harris is trying to make it.”

What did Harris say to get everyone so upset? It’s best to read it for yourself. […]

If Harris is Elected, We Can Blame God

Buck Banks

Jesus is my campaign manager: Just when you thought that Katherine Harris’ campaign couldn’t get any weirder, she comes out of the closet as a Christian crusader with some real zingers. If she’s trying to distinguish herself from the other candidates, she’s succeeding — they appear to be sane.

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

In an interview with the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, Harris described her faith, saying it animates “everything I do,” including her votes in Congress.

“If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin,” she told interviewers, citing abortion and gay marriage as two examples of that sin.

‘God is the one who chooses our rulers.’
— Katherine Harris

Doing so, she said, “will take western civilization, indeed other nations because people look to our country as one nation as under God and whenever we legislate sin and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don’t know better, we are leading them astray and it’s wrong …”

Separating religion and politics is “so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers,” Harris said. “And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women,” then “we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that’s (sic) certainly isn’t what God intended.”

Tom Cruise Can Always Run for Florida Senate

Trish

Links to the Church of Scientology might work out better for a candidate for the Florida Senate than they are for Tom Cruise.

State Rep. Frank Farkas, whose senate run is based on being term-limited out of the Florida House, is making an issue of the ties rival Kim Berfield has with the church, whose “spiritual headquarters” is Clearwater, Florida. He is mailing flyers to voters warning them of how Berfield is funding her campaign.

In May Gov. Jeb Bush apologized for calling Scientology “some weird little group.”

Farkas said he is not criticizing the church but revealing that a political committee with ties to Scientologists might spend big on Berfield’s behalf.

…The mailing states:

“Key leaders in the controversial Church of Scientology make up the advisory board of this group which also helps directly fund Ms. Berfield’s campaign. Ms. Berfield has a history of visiting and participating in church events and fundraisers, often praising their efforts, so expect them to return her many favors. They are counting on her as a key ally in their current ambitious expansion plans across Tampa Bay.”

Unlike in Hollywood, where Cruise was recently sacked by Paramount for allowing his religion to overshadow his acting, Scientology is gaining acceptance among its former Florida detractors.

Scientology has been a hot-button issue in Clearwater since late 1975 when the church arrived covertly and purchased a city landmark, the Fort Harrison Hotel. Two years later, church documents seized by the FBI revealed plans to “take control” of Clearwater and discredit its “enemies” – political leaders, local police, newspaper editors and reporters.

Strained relations between Scientology and the community began to thaw in recent years. A watershed moment occurred in 2002 at the church’s 75th anniversary party at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater. The guest list was a virtual who’s who of local political, civic and business leaders. Since then, politicians have grown comfortable attending church events and taking Scientologists’ political donations.

And in May Gov. Jeb Bush apologized for calling Scientology “some weird little group.”

And as Jeb goes, so goes the Florida Republican party.

Farkas, a chiropractor by trade, would have greater credibility if he hadn’t been investigated last year for accepting gifts of travel and other favors from a gambling interest trying to set up shop in Florida. Farkas and three state senators were questioned about what amounted to money laundering after the funding was run through the state Republican Party’s treasury.

Across Florida, Republican voters are facing choices like these: a known sleezebag or someone who panders to Scientologists. Win or lose, it just makes me gladder I’m a Democrat.

Harris Imploding as Primary Nears

Trish

If a tree fell on Katherine Harris, would anyone be around to see it?

She said a tree fell on the hangar that the rally was scheduled to be in…Airport officials, however, said no trees had fallen and that Harris was in the hangar her campaign had originally booked.

Even by Katherine Harris standards, it was a bad week. First, in her U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat Bill Nelson, she held a rally that no one attended, even the headliners. Next, the campaign worker that she tried to blame for the no-show event quit. And finally, one of Southwest Florida’s biggest newspapers announced their endorsement in the U.S. Senate Republican primary for…no one.

To begin, there was the rally. Harris expected to share the stage at the Orlando Executive Airport with a score of notables, before a teaming crowd of well-wishers. That’s not exactly how it went down.

None of the nine officials listed on her event flier appeared, leaving Harris on her own to address a group of about 40 supporters, reporters and campaign staff members.

Harris spoke in an airplane hangar that seemed to highlight the modest size of the crowd…

Harris spoke for 10 minutes…When she finished, red, white and blue balloons dropped onto an empty stage, rendered unnecessary by the sparse crowd.

Harris expected her fellow Florida Congress-people Mark Foley, Ginny Brown-Waite, Jeff Miller and Cliff Stearns to be at the airport, especially since her campaign web site boasted their support. Instead, right after the disastrous event, each spoke up to say they never endorsed Harris and their names were pulled from her site.

Then yet another campaign worker quit.

Rhyan Metzler, who had been Harris’ political director, is no longer with the campaign, according to Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks. Metzler is being blamed for embarrassing comments Harris made after a rally at Orlando Executive Airport.

Only 40 people showed up for the event, and Harris blamed the paltry turnout in part on a last-minute location change. She said a tree fell on the hangar that the rally was scheduled to be in, forcing her campaign to switch to another hangar.

Airport officials, however, said no trees had fallen and that Harris was in the hangar her campaign had originally booked.

Now, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune is clearly stating the Republican case in the Senate race, and it is this:

There is no one worth supporting.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris’ erratic behavior and her extensive contacts with defense contractor Mitchell Wade have further undermined her tenuous claim to be the Republican best able to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate.

Unfortunately, Republicans who want an alternative to Harris as the GOP nominee don’t have a good option. Harris’ opponents in the Sept. 5 primary — retired Adm. LeRoy Collins Jr., attorney William McBride and developer Peter Monroe — waited until the last possible day to file to run. They’ve done little on the campaign trail since May to dispel the appearance that they were last-minute, seat-of-the-pants candidates….

The party leadership’s misgivings have been underscored by Harris’ Senate campaign. She is incapable of keeping a cohesive congressional or campaign staff, and her behavior has frequently ranged from bizarre to inexplicable…

In light of Harris’ problems and the lack of support from party leaders, and the absence of other candidates who took this race seriously before May, we offer no recommendation in the Republican primary for U.S. senator.

Yepper.

Whose Anniversary?

Trish

Ever since Jamestown, Virginia announced its intention to celebrate its quadricentennial next year as “America’s 400th Anniversary,” residents of my own St. Augustine, Florida have been in a snit. It’s not just the fact that St. Augustine celebrated its 400th anniversary back in 1965, or that the city was the thriving capital of the Spanish colony before Jamestown had a name.

American students often get the impression from history classes that the British got here first, settling in Jamestown, Va., in 1607…The lessons have left out a lot.

We sniff the barest hint of (dare I say it) racism in Jamestown’s pronouncement. The Spanish, after all, were part Moorish by the time they came ashore in Florida, in stark contrast to the lily white English. They were also Catholic, which was just slightly more exotic than what the Pilgrims had in mind.

Juan Ponce de Leon declared Florida to be Florida in 1513. Its mission system had been in place nearly 200 years before the first mission in upper California was built. Florida had flown three flags (Spanish, French, British — and Spanish again) by the time it joined the Union 15 years before the Civil War, and had ended the Third Seminole War just two years earlier, in 1858.

The Spaniards had very different relations than the English did with the people who were already here — and the runaway slaves who had escaped to Florida from the United States to live among the Creek and Miccosukee. It might be a little rosy to say we all lived together in peace and harmony, but it was better than after Spain lost us to the British or when Andrew Jackson launched the first War of Indian Removal, aka the First Seminole War, in 1817 — in which he banned “Negroes” from Pensacola to the Suwannee River.

Now others are starting to notice the same thing St. Augustinians did in Jamestown’s slogan: the implication that British settlement in this country is somehow more noteworthy than any other. The Boston Globe:

American students often get the impression from history classes that the British got here first, settling in Jamestown, Va., in 1607. They hear about how white Northerners freed the black slaves, how Asians came in the mid-1800s to build Western railroads. The lessons have left out a lot.

Forty-two years before Jamestown, Spaniards and American Indians lived in St. Augustine, Fla. At least several thousand Latinos and nearly 200,000 black soldiers fought in the Civil War. And Asian-Americans had been living in California and Louisiana since the 1700s.

Now, more of these and other lesser-known facts about American minorities are getting more attention. The main reason is the nation’s growing diversity.

The Globe story goes on to note there are “hundreds of efforts underway to tell the untold stories” of America’s history. Jamestown telling the truth — and changing its slogan — would be a good start.

Another Reason I’m Glad to Be a Registered Independent

Buck Banks

Fool fest: Why can’t they get anybody better to head up the Florida Democratic party than Karen Thurman? Here’s her latest insipid e-mail appeal:

Dear Democrats,

We’re less than four weeks from the Primary.

On Sept. 5th, Democrats will choose a strong leader to take on the flip-flopping, camera-chasing politician that Republicans have decided is their best shot, despite his lack of backbone, failure to understand the issues important to Floridians and well-documented pattern of running from his own statements.

Florida deserves better. Contribute today to elect a Democratic Governor. https://www.fladems.com/donate/donor.php

Both of our Democratic candidates have what it takes to be Governor of Florida. They have convictions and strong values. They don’t pander, and they stand by their choices – unlike the Republicans who take multiple stances on multiple issues. Sometimes the Republicans who think they deserve to be governor fail to even have the courage to take a side at all.

Florida needs Democrats like Jim Davis and Rod Smith. One of them is going to be elected the next governor of Florida – with your help.

We’re nearing the deadline for filing our fundraising reports, and we want a strong showing that will let the G.O.P. and the media know that we mean business. Can you contribute to electing a Democratic Governor? https://www.fladems.com/donate/donor.php

Because of you, the Florida Democratic Party is running a real, coordinated campaign that will win races at the state and federal level. Each dollar you contribute goes toward electing Democrats up and down the ticket.

Please support your Party today: https://www.fladems.com/donate/donor.php

Together, we will elect a Governor that puts Floridians first.

Thank you,

Karen Thurman
Chair, Florida Democratic Party

ADDENDUM
In response to a comment by alert PR reader oldgringo who requested some background on Thurman vis á vis Katherine Harris, I am including the following entry from Wikipedia. oldgringo wondered whether Thurman and Harris shared any schools, friends, etc. Given that Thurman is a Democrat and Harris a Republican, I doubt it, though it is interesting that both hail from the same general vicinity on Florida’s west coast. — Buck

Karen L. Thurman is a former U.S. Representative from Florida. She is a Democrat.

She was born on January 12, 1951 in Rapid City, South Dakota, but has spent most of her life in Florida. She received her Associate’s Degree from Santa Fe Community College in Starke, Florida in 1970 and her Bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1973.

Thurman was first elected to public office in 1974, when she won a seat on the city council of Dunnellon, Florida, on which she served until 1983. She served as Mayor of Dunnellon from 1979-1981. She served in the Florida state senate from 1983-1993, the last four years as president pro tempore.

Florida gained three congressional districts after the 1990 census. One of them was the 5th District, which stretched from Gainesville to the far northern portion of the Tampa Bay Area. It was an open secret that this district was drawn for Thurman. She was elected to the House from that district in 1992 and was reelected four more times with no serious opposition.

By the 2000 census, however, the Republicans controlled the state legislature, and they redrew the 5th to be slightly more friendly to Republicans. The new 5th was virtually coextensive with the district of State Senate President Pro Tem Ginny Brown-Waite. Nonetheless, Thurman ran for reelection. Even though the redrawn district had gone narrowly for George W. Bush in 2000 (Al Gore had won her old district handily), Thurman just barely lost to Brown-Waite.

In 2005 Thurman was elected Chairman of the Florida Democratic Party (FDP), succeeding Chairman Scott Maddox, who resigned in order to seek the Democratic nomination for governor.

Katherine Harris Unreality Show Gets Better and Better

Jon Ponder

It is really too bad a video crew is not filming the behind the scenes antics in the U.S. Senate campaign of Rep. Katherine Harris of Florida. This
article in the St. Petersburg Times offers a comprehensive round-up of Harris’ downhill run. Here are a few of the highlights.

Emotional Volatility:

The smallest things would set her off.

Buying the wrong candy for her to toss at parades. Photographing her vertically instead of horizontally. Failing to bring her favorite Starbucks beverage extra hot venti triple latte, no fat, no foam, one Sweet’n Low.

One minute, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris would lavish campaign staffers with praise and hugs. The next she would lose her temper, screaming “stupid” or “idiot” at a startled employee.

“You never know what you are going to get,” said Mike Miller, who left in February after serving eight months as her finance director. “Some days, it would be great. Other days, it would be ‘Oh my God.’ ”

Rampant Turnover:

Harris, the leading Republican in the U.S. Senate race this fall, has lost at least 25 campaign staffers in the past year, including three campaign managers and a slew of prominent consultants. Even in politics, a world of hard-to-please bosses and oversized egos, that’s an unheard of number for one campaign.

A few weeks ago, the core staff at her Tampa headquarters quit en masse. It was the second mass exodus.

“She just wears people down,” said Ed Rollins, a nationally known Republican consultant, who served as her top aide until he left in April.

Denial:

Harris refused to comment for this story, saying in a statement that she would not respond to “unethical leaks and malicious gossip.” But she made some brief comments about her staff after a campaign debate in Pinellas County last week.

“We are on a whole new upswing,” she said. “The new staff is good, the new staff is great. That’s the best thing that’s happened to us. …We have a staff that’s committed to me to win, not to undermine me and maybe lose, and we’re excited about that.”

…Spokeswoman Jennifer Marks said Harris had grown tired of the misperceptions about her and would refer the newspaper to other former staffers who would speak positively about her. After more than a week, her office failed to produce any names.

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