Seen this morning on Hwy. 60 in Lake Wales, Fla.:
SOMEONE LESS DUMB FOR PRESIDENT
I rather like the sentiment, but it certainly doesn’t narrow the field very much.
Seen this morning on Hwy. 60 in Lake Wales, Fla.:
I rather like the sentiment, but it certainly doesn’t narrow the field very much.
Get ready for a Blast Off! Radio New Year’s Eve special, as I give 2007 the treatment it so richly deserves! Yes, it’s the first annual Blast Off! Radio Year-End Extravaganza, a special one-hour edition of the show that loves to snark.
2007 has been a year of shock and schadenfreude, constitutional crises and comical campaigns, the Bush boom and Blowin’ Bob. It’s going to take an hour to cover it all, and of course to take your phone calls and e-mails, as BO!R returns to its regular time of 2:00 pm EST on Monday:
You won’t want to miss the presentation of 2007’s Yearly Schadenfreude award, along with all the snarkitude and silliness that has made Blast Off! Radio the #1 rated show on Florida Progressive Radio. And you can be a part of it, just by calling or writing!
So please make plans to join me and the rest of the DFHs on Monday, as we say goodbye and good riddance to a year that made us proud embarrassed to be Americans!
UPDATE (3:27 pm 12/31/07): Archived show now available.
The centennial of the birth of Ronald Reagan is February 6, 2011.
The centennial of the birth of Richard Nixon is January 9, 2013.
Which one do you think will attract more hagiographic, fawning attention?
As an employee of a state university in Florida, I’m acutely aware of the harmful effects of the state’s budget crisis on our higher education system, which thanks to Jeb! Bush’s destructive policies already has been laboring under the weight of an ignorant and nonsensical political bureaucracy. In the third installment of my occasional series, “The Damaging Legacy of Jeb! Bush,” I’m looking at education once again, but after the FCAT and intelligent design, it’s time to turn to the postsecondary side.
Jeb! decimated both the eleven institutions of the State University System and the state’s 28 community colleges (one of which also employed me at one time) by shifting their leadership from a centralized Board of Regents to a powerless Board of Governors and individual boards of trustees — who are politically appointed by the governor.
As a result, our state has 39 dysfunctional, disconnected, and disassociated institutions of higher learning, run by people who generally have little or no understanding of or interest in education at all. And it’s only getting worse.
According to the report [by college readiness group Enlace Florida], if Florida’s financial resources don’t improve, the state’s limited-income students will soon find the doors of institutions of higher learning closed to them.
“The fact that tuition at Florida’s universities is the lowest in the country does not mean that Florida’s students can afford the cost of attendance,” [Enlace Florida executive director Paul] Dosal said in the report.
He said Florida invests little money in need-based financial aid. The biggest amount is $400 million, from the Bright Futures Scholarship program. Bright Futures accounts for 80 percent of the total financial aid — and about 20 percent of those dollars is given on the basis of need, Dosal said in his report.
The report states, “A student who receives the Academic Scholars Award (the highest Bright Futures Award) would find that the award covers less than 23 percent of the total cost of attending Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, University of Central Florida or University of South Florida.”
[State higher education chancellor Mark] Rosenberg told university stakeholders at the December Board of Governors’ meeting to expect further budget cuts before the end of the fiscal year.
“This could mean layoffs. This could mean a reduced number of classes for students. We continue to dig ourselves in to a deeper and deeper hole,” he said.
He apologized to students, university employees and alumni of public colleges and universities.
“Whatever rankings that their institutions have are, unfortunately, likely to slide further, de-valuing the degree of a Florida public university,” he said.
I’ve worked for three of these 39 institutions in my career. I’ve seen firsthand the effects of the instant budget crisis, and I’ve seen students struggle and battle to stay in school despite crushing financial pressures. In short, the horrific fiscal management of the Jeb! Bush administration merges here with their systematic and wholly intentional dismantling of Florida’s system of higher education, with disastrous results for tens of thousands of students.
It’s appalling. It’s disgusting. And it’s another reminder that the nation’s tragic “Bush Boom” is exacerbated in Florida, because we’re trying to overcome not only Drunky McStagger’s profound idiocy, but also that of his younger — and allegedly smarter — brother.
The Rudy! Express is slowing down. Waaaaaay down.
Facing losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Rudy Giuliani continues to pin all of his hopes on America’s Wang™. And considering the trouble he’s gotten into with his own wang over the years, this strategy seems more than a little questionable.
Rudy Giuliani wrapped up a three-day swing through Florida on Friday by picking up the endorsement of a national association of state troopers, standing beside a memorial outside the Orange County courthouse honoring slain law enforcement personnel.
The Republican presidential candidate, accompanied by National Troopers Coalition Chairman Dennis Hallion and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, spoke briefly to a few supporters almost exclusively about terrorism before signing autographs and heading back to Iowa in anticipation of next week’s caucuses there.
Giuliani met with veterans’ groups during visits to South Florida, Largo and Orlando this week, spending much of the past two days, including Friday, hammering on his anti-terrorism platform, the backbone of his campaign.
He repeated remarks made Thursday in the aftermath of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, urging Americans to experience a “sense of solidarity” with Pakistani mourners as that country appears on the brink of chaos.
Putting aside for the moment that he is a monumental asshole and quite likely a criminal, it’s becoming obvious that ol’ One-Note Rudy! is losing traction fast. Noun-verb-9/11 can only go so far, and the voters are discovering this. And even though Florida is a key early primary state, a Giuliani victory here still will not be enough to overcome the inevitable momentum of the Iowa and New Hampshire winner(s), be they Huckabee, Romney, or McCain …
I remain convinced that the Republican Party, still controlled by the fundies, will never allow a thrice-married, pro-choice, philandering Noo Yawker to be their nominee. And one month from today, the Florida GOP primary will go a long way toward making that determination once and for all.
Every headline on January 21, 2009, should read, “End of an Error.”
Okay, so I lied. I didn’t blog yesterday. But I’m back today. So there.
Here’s a paraphrased glimpse into a very unusual Christmas afternoon and evening:
SCENE: Friend’s house for Christmas dinner. Nine people (eight adults) around the table. Discussion turns to politics. Friend’s ex-husband (and father of friend’s son, the only child at the table) pipes up.
Friend’s ex-husband: George W. Bush is the Jesus Christ of our time. [verbatim]
Me (incredulous): Are you serious? You’re kidding, right? Are you serious?
Friend’s ex: He takes all the blame and all the persecution. He has sacrificed his professional life for the good of the country.
Me (still incredulous): [mouth hangs open, speechless]
Friend’s ex: [says something unintelligible]
Me: This is SO going on my blog.
Under the circumstances, I left things alone. My friend claims to be a Republican (she’s really more of an anarchist) who can’t stand Drunky McStagger. Her ex-husband was the only other Republican at the table.
I have very interesting holidays.
