Phoning for Obama in Central Florida
I turned 18 in 1978, and cast my first vote in a presidential election for Jimmy Carter in 1980. I’ve voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since then, which means I’m...
View ArticleMcCain-Obama turf war in The Villages, FL
A "turf war" of sorts broke out at Lake Sumter Landing (the place where Sarah Palin gave her speech Sept. 21) between supporters of Barack Obama and John McCain this Tuesday - and you won't believe who...
View ArticleBiden missed one golden opportunity
Don't get me wrong - Joe Biden did an excellent job tonight. He was on point, spoke from the heart, and showed himself far superior to Sarah Palin.But he missed one golden opportunity, and I haven't...
View ArticleCondolences to Kos and other Cubs fans
As I begin typing this, the Dodgers are up 3-0 over the Cubs in the top of the 7th inning. And while it ain't over 'til it's over, if you're reading this, it's over.Meanwhile, just a short ways north,...
View ArticleMore Obama phone work in FL (And Ocala has yard signs!)
I went back into the Obama field office in Ocala, FL this afternoon to spend another couple of hours working the phones.And lo and behold, they had yard signs! Lots and lots of yard signs! Only $5 a...
View ArticlePolitiFact gives Palin a pass on Ayers smear
Living in Ocala, FL, 90 miles up I-75 from the Tampa Bay area, I'm a regular reader and fan of The St. Petersburg Times. One of the truly independent media outlets left in the country, the Times is...
View ArticleThe Empire Strikes Back - Villages, FL Edition
A little more than 2 weeks ago, I wrote about the modest success volunteers were having in a Florida Republican stronghold, the massive retirement community known as The Villages.Well, the McCain crowd...
View ArticleAmerica's great socialist city
"Friends, now is not the time to experiment with socialism."So said Sarah Palin during her stump speech in Roswell, NM, this past weekend.But what Palin obviously doesn't know is that America has...
View ArticleJohn McCain - "Battle Tested" (?)
As John McCain flails desperately to find something - anything - that will stick to Barack Obama and make voters despise him, his attacks become increasingly incoherent and illogical. And independent...
View ArticleBiden farms for early votes in Ocala (w/pics)
Joe Biden rallied an estimated 3,500 supporters from Ocala and surrounding communities on Tuesday.My brother and I attended the rally, and had a great time.Follow me below the fold for the whole story...
View ArticleJoe & Caroline's Excellent Villages Adventure
On Tuesday, after leaving Ocala, FL, enroute to Melbourne, vice presidential candidate Joe Biden stopped at Florida's mega retirement community, The Villages, for an ice cream cone.Then, on Wednesday...
View ArticleFlorida's Gators defeat Palin
Ocala, Florida sure would seem to be Sarah Palin country.Marion County, of which Ocala is the county seat, went for George W. Bush by 17 percentage points in 2004. There are more than 89,000 registered...
View ArticleGaffney's First Amendment argument FAILS
Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney is throwing a temper tantrum because Paul Krugman called him and his newspaper out for putting forth hate speech.In a today's column, entitled "Free speech, but...
View ArticleSen. Bill Nelson called us 'stoopid' -- my response (UPDATED x2)
I got out of my car this morning and headed for the newspaper racks to pick up my copy of today's St. Petersburg Times -- a daily ritual for me.But the headline screaming from the left-hand column of...
View ArticleCar repair insurance scams sound all too familiar
Last month, I was running errands in my 2002 Chrylser PT Cruiser when a soft bell tone drew my attention to the dash. I saw that the temperature light was on, and the needle on the temperature gauge...
View ArticleMy Congressman wants Obama to get his permission to accept Peace Prize
I live in Florida's Congressional District 6, which means my Congressman is Republican Cliff Stearns.In yesterday's St. Petersburg Times, it was reported that Stearns, joining with another Republican,...
View ArticleRepublican McCollum draws primary challenger in FL governor's race
While this was briefly mentioned in Tally's diary earlier today, it's possible some people missed it, so I wanted to diary this subject specifically and add some detail.The race for governor in Florida...
View Article[UPDATED]: Beck announces plan to "Save the Republic"
I work at The Villages, the sprawling retirement complex in Central Florida which is one of the most reliably Republican places left on the planet. So I guess it comes as no surprise that we recently...
View ArticleBeck: The Revolution will NOT be televised (but you can buy it in handy book...
Yesterday morning, I wrote a diary alerting our community to the news that Faux Noise weeper Glenn Beck was planning to deliver a "major policy speech" at The Villages, a mega-retirement community in...
View ArticleWith apologies to Lee Greenwood (Not!)
Being a progressive when you are required to spend a great deal of time at The Villages, the massive retirement community in the heart of Central Florida, isn't easy.This is one of the most reliably...
View ArticleMy Response to Gadfly's Response to Pros & Cons of Dating a Druggie
On Monday, thenationalgadfly posted this diary, which itself was a response to this tongue-in-cheek blog post.The diary, and the post which inspired it, touched a nerve. A very dear friend of mine got...
View Article"Rush"-ing to declare Victory
This past week, author Zev Chafets (writer of a book called Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One) penned an op-ed column published in several daily newspapers, including The New York Times and the paper I...
View ArticleWhat's Going on With Gallup?
The news coming from the polls -- both the surveys taken by pollsters and the actual election results coming from polling places in Pennsylvania, Arkansas and many other places -- these last few weeks...
View ArticleFla. PSC chair resigns, endorses Sink
Nancy Argenziano, a former Republican State Senator, has resigned her chairmanship of the state's Public Service Commission, which oversees utility rates in our state, and has endorsed Democrat Alex...
View ArticleStill hope for Florida High-Speed Rail
This morning, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R-Medicare Fraud) announced that he is rejecting $2.4 billion in federal funds to build the first leg of a high-speed rail network from Tampa to Orlando.When the...
View ArticleLaHood gives FL a week to save rail
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with members of Florida's congressional delegation and gave them one week to come up with a plan which would allow the state to accept $2.7 billion in funds to...
View Article"More of a local, really..."
Is it a good idea?You tell me. A 90-mile "high-speed" train between Tampa and Orlando? More of a local, really. This ain't Paris to Berlin, nor the Orient Express. It's a trip that takes an hour to an...
View ArticleRick Scott: Answer on rail still "No"
News breaking yesterday that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had given Florida one more week to gets its high-speed rail act together before sending $2.4 billion in funding elsewhere -- and...
View ArticleAnother day, another law broken by Rick Scott?
Advocates for nursing home residents are seeking an investigation of Florida Governor Rick Scott in the wake of the resignation of the state's nursing home ombudsman, who claims he was forced out by...
View ArticleFlorida Supremes to hear rail case today
Written briefs and counter-briefs were filed with the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday both by Florida Governor Rick Scott and State Senators Thad Altman (R-Rockledge) and Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) in a...
View ArticleThese boots were made for walkin' (All over Floridians)
Is there still any doubt in anyone's mind that millionaire Medicare fraudster Rick Scott ran for governor of Florida to feed his own massive ego? Well doubt no more. The evidence is right there on his...
View ArticlePlanning to sit out 2012? Come see your future in Florida
I am becoming increasingly disturbed - strike that, downright angry - at the number of people here at Daily Kos who learned nothing from the "enthusiasm gap"-related disaster we suffered in 2010, when...
View ArticleDear David Brooks: Screw your "new vision of the social contract"
I just read New York Times columnist David Brooks'April 5 column [may require you to pay - I don't log on to the NYT site more than 20 times a month] on Rep. Paul Ryan's 2012 budget proposal, which...
View ArticleA "Lucky Ducky" celebrates Tax Day
I confess: I'm a "Lucky Ducky."Allow me to explain. Way back on Nov. 20, 2002, the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial complaining that the standard tax deduction, personal exemption and various...
View ArticleLiveblogging the Civil War: On the Road to St. Augustine
This diary is part of a series written by multiple diarists taking part in the "Liveblogging the Civil War" project. From the introductory diary:Now, here is our opportunity to act as kind of virtual...
View ArticleLiberals in "Echo Chamber Nation"
I began writing a comment in Hunter's excellent front page diary yesterday on the PolitiFact "Lie of the Year" controversy, but two things happened:(1) The comment ran into multiple paragraphs; and(2)...
View ArticleThe "Lunch Bag Police" - Anatomy of a Wingnut Conspiracy Theory (UPDATED)
I got home from work tonight and logged on to Facebook to see what my friends were up to. There I spotted a status update from one of my old high school friends, an ultra-conservative evangelical...
View ArticleMeat and Seafood Are Not the Enemy
Recently, a diary was published about the horrors of Asian shrimp aquaculture, an industrialized process which has a carbon footprint 10 times greater than that of feedlot beef farming and has done...
View ArticleThe Healthy Omnivore
In a diary I published here last Tuesday, I advocated being a responsible omnivore - that is, eating meat, seafood (and, by the way, vegetables) that have been brought to market in a sustainable...
View ArticleGrass-Fed Beef - Is it What's Killing the Planet?
After reading a diary about aquaculture a couple of weeks ago, I made a comment noting with some pride that I had joined a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) co-op. I must admit I had no idea...
View ArticleSorry, Sophia Nelson - You Are a Bigot
On MSNBC's The Ed Show last night (Wednesday, May 16), two African-American pundits - MSNBC analyst and Georgetown Professor Michael Eric Dyson and Sophia Nelson of The Griot.com and author of Black...
View ArticleMy millionaire boss hit me up for a Romney donation (UPDATED w/company name)
I work for The Villages, a large retirement community in Central Florida, and one of the top 20 privately held corporations in the state. My employer records annual sales of over $1 billion dollars,...
View ArticleNRA helping Romney deceive gun owners on his 2nd Amendment record
In the aftermath of the second presidential debate, most of the media spotlight has been on Gov. Mitt Romney's "binder full of women" and his Benghazi blunder. But there was another moment in the...
View ArticleHow I would change "Stand Your Ground" (short of repeal)
During Friday evening's 6 p.m. newscast on WESH (Orlando's NBC television affiliate), a report was presented on the efforts by Trayvon Martin's parents to change "Stand Your Ground" laws in Florida and...
View ArticleWhy our next car might not be built by the UAW (and why I'm OK with that)
Throughout my nearly 53 years on earth, my family has owned American cars almost exclusively (with two exceptions, an old Fiat sedan my dad bought for my sister from one of his employees in the 1970s,...
View ArticleA brief history of God in the United States of America
This past week, conservatives found yet another reason to condemn President Barack Obama as "un-American." The Muslim Kenyan Socialist showed his true colors, they said, by omitting the words "under...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The state of U.S. passenger rail - I
Part 1 - is high-speed rail the magic bullet (train)?This is the first of a multi-part series on the history and current state of passenger rail in the United States. I had originally hoped to publish...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The state of U.S. passenger rail - II
Part 2 — a brief history of U.S. passenger trains, 1865-1970This is the second of a multi-part series on the history and current state of passenger rail in the United States.A passenger train and...
View ArticleBernie's superdelegate gambit — and why it won't work
On St. Patrick's Day, Sen. Bernie Sanders granted an interview on The Rachel Maddow Show, and the following exchange took place:MADDOW: I just want to be super clear with you about that just to make...
View Article
