This has become one of the most important elections in Florida's history, but many of those who vote for president or U.S. senator may overlook the campaigns that make it so.
I'm talking about the far-down-the-ballot questions concerning the retention of Supreme Court Justices R. Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince and Barbara Pariente.
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As a Republican, Charlie Crist defeated five different Democrats on his job-hopping path to the governor's office. That may have something to do with the underwhelming response among Florida Democrats to his endorsement of President Obama and the speculation that he will seek their nomination for governor in 2014.
Or it could be that they have one thing in common with their arch-rival Republicans: a mutual mistrust...
The polls don't appear to make sense.
According to one that's recent and reliable -- by the Pew Research Center -- most Americans believe the rich pay too little in taxes and would harvest a windfall from Republican policies and a Mitt Romney presidency.
These aren't close calls. Nearly...
After a hurricane surge leveled much of Panama City Beach some years ago, Florida's natural resources director opined that "The Lord showed them the setback line." Soon enough, however, even he ignored it.
Similar warnings abound today about the consequences of taking nature for granted. Even those who equate science with witchcraft should be able to see what a modern Noah might take as divine...
The fact that Mitt Romney is wealthy should not in itself bother anyone. Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were wealthy too -- not to Romney's extent, perhaps, but by more than enough not to have to share such daily concerns of ordinary folk as how to pay the rent, the bills, the student loans and the undertaker.
But FDR and JFK weren't indifferent to the 99.9 percent. Roosevelt was even accused...
Chief Justice John Roberts is learning what Harry Truman meant when he said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Some of the same crowd that relished Citizens United foamed at the mouth when his vote saved the critical sections of the Affordable Care Act.
One of the bottom-feeders even raged that his mind must have been fogged by anti-seizure medications. Aside from the fact that...
Who's to blame for the Iraq war? For some $5 trillion in additional national debt? For John Roberts and Citizens United?
George W. Bush, you say?
Don't overlook Ralph Nader.
In a campaign...
Think of Dwight Eisenhower and leadership comes to mind. Barry Goldwater was unflinching in his principles. Ronald Reagan had good humor. Gerald Ford was down-to-earth decent. George H.W. Bush personified competence. John McCain's name stands for valor.
Mindful that Mitt Romney might become our president, I have been trying to find some such admirable trait in him.
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Although nearly all members of Congress are college graduates, you wouldn't know it from hearing their debate on the House and Senate floors. According to a recent study, they speak like high school sophomores. That's nearly a full grade lower than in 1995.
The...
In July of 1861, Major Sullivan Ballou of Rhode Island composed a letter to comfort his wife in the event of his death, which came soon after at the first Battle of Bull Run. What he wrote stirred millions of modern American hearts when its reading concluded the first episode of the Ken Burns PBS series The Civil War.
Most may recall it for how beautifully he expressed his profound love for his...
