Day: July 10, 2006

Is Katherine Harris Looking for a Way to Bail from Her Campaign?

Buck Banks

Delicate subject: Believe me, the last thing I ever wanted to write about was Katherine Harris’ ovaries. And as much as I don’t like her politics or personality, I would not wish physical illness on her or anyone else.

But the latest announcement from her campaign that she will undergo surgery July 17 to remove an “ovarian mass” got me wondering whether that could provide a convenient excuse to withdraw from the Senate race and avoid a certain shellacking by Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. It would seem to provide an unassailable reason to abandon what has been a mess of a campaign without losing too much face.

But then again, given Harris’ proclivity to tell tall tales and do the inappropriate, she could turn it into a whacky play for sympathy votes. I mean, that sounds bad, but the woman certainly seems capable of chasing off down the rabbit hole to her alternate version of reality at the drop of a hat.

In the meantime, let’s hope her surgery goes well and her ovarian mass is benign. Then she won’t have any excuse for avoiding the pounding at the polls she so richly deserves.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

I have learned of some alleged intelligence community activities about which our committee has not been briefed. If these allegations are true, they may represent a breach of responsibility by the administration, a violation of the law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of this committee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect information on our enemies.

— Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, in a letter to President George Bush

Fruit Rotting in Florida Thanks to Immigration Threats

Trish

Tough talk about immigration reform is hurting the Florida citrus industry. Fruit is going left unpicked, thanks to rumors about INS crack-downs.

Word had spread through the Hispanic community to return home if they want U.S. jobs in the future

As many as 6-million boxes of oranges may go unharvested in Florida this year because of a shortage of fruit pickers made worse by fears about what changes may come in immigration law.

The citrus season usually ends in late June, but will extend to at least late July this year with juice processors hoping to get as many oranges as possible off trees…

Orange production in the state could become the lowest since 1992…

Growers have reported difficulty finding enough workers. Industry officials say labor supply was tight from the beginning of the season in October, but grew worse by the middle of May when a large segment of the Hispanic labor force seemed to leave the state…

Lake Wales citrus grower Marty McKenna said word had spread through the Hispanic community to return home if they wanted U.S. jobs in the future.

But inflaming us-against-them emotions seemed like such a good idea at the time. Bush’s polls were down and gay marriage was starting to wane as a sure-fire firing-up mechanism. Who would have thought Big Agriculture would suffer in the end? We’ll just add a failed Florida citrus season to the list of unintended consequences the Bush administration couldn’t possibly see coming.