The Spencerian

Romney Wins the Nomination, Pivots Wrong

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Since before January of this year, we've been wondering who the Republicans would nominate at their convention in August to run for President of the United States.  In fact, it was January when I was speculating about Romney and his appeal, mostly as it applied to his Mormon faith.  Even as recently as early April, we only began to talk about Romney wrapping up the nomination in the face of competition from Gingrich and Santorum.  Those days kind of have a Romney getting the nomination de facto sort of air to them.

Sure, the GOP presidential nominating process has been fun to watch.  Romney initially claimed the Iowa Caucus win, but as the votes were counted and re-counted, his campaign had to concede that it was really Santorum who won  the day.  The only real winners that day were bloggers like me who reveled in the slo-mo train-wreck of the GOP nominating process.

The clown car unloaded in Florida back in late January, and Romney took it.  But only after Herman Cain, of all people, won the Florida Straw Poll back in September of last year.  And the only thing anyone can say about that, is that it is reasonably possible that Herman Cain was not the craziest person to have once lead the GOP field.

Michele Bachmann was an early leader, as was Rick Perry.

Admit it: you miss them all.  Just a little bit.

Well, tonight it will likely all be over.  A Romney win in the Texas Primary tonight will almost assuredly deliver him the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination for president.    

But it should become official on Tuesday, when Texas voters are expected to push Romney over the finish line in the delegate race. And with that, the Republican Party will have selected an unlikely standard-bearer for 2012: a New Englander in a party rooted in the South; a man of moderate temperament in a party fueled by hot rhetoric; a Mormon in a party guided by evangelical Christians; a flip-flopper in a party that demands ideological purity.

So it was that nobody anointed Romney. There was the humbling tumult of South Carolina, where a resurgent Gingrich threw him off balance; where he stammered on the debate stage trying to explain his taxes; where one rally crowd was so meager, about 80 people in a cavernous convention hall, that he reached for excuses — “Gosh, this is a workday, right?”

Ah, no, Governor Romney.  I suspect you will learn the real meaning of the word work -- most especially as it relates to being worked over on the campaign trail by an Obama Campaign I strongly suspect has only been toying with you to this point.  

And raising money with an avowed birther lunatic is not going to get the job done. 

“I never really changed — nothing’s changed my mind,” Trump told CNBC, reassuring that his birtherism is as rock solid as it was last year when he briefly led Republican primary polling. 

Well.  Always good to have the support of former poll leaders, right? sure.

While Romney and his aides have insisted that the candidate believes Obama was born in the United States and that the issue is a sideshow, Trump made clear that it remains paramount in his mind.

Romney told reporters on Monday that he has no regrets about his close association with Trump.

“You know, I don’t agree with all the people who support me, and my guess is they don’t all agree with everything I believe in,” Romney said, according to CNN. “But I need to get 50.1 percent or more and I’m appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people.”

 "I need to get 50.1 percent..."

That shitty quote right there tells you just about everything you need to know about Mitt Romney.  And why he's going to lose in November.  It has a lot less to do with birtherism -- which is itself nutty and ridiculous and insane -- and a lot more to do with wanting to be the President of the United States for all the people, not just the people who can get you elected. 

Yes, the real campaign began weeks ago when Santorum dropped out just before the Pennsylvania primary, and no real threat -- not Gingrich, certainly not Ron Paul -- appeared before Romney and the Convention in Tampa in a few months.  But tonight in Texas it becomes official.  

What is the Word: Heroes, Freedom and Memorial Day

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Some folks might say it would be in poor taste to write about something with even a twinge of political overtone on Memorial Day, but here we are.  

An MSNBC pundit named Chris Hayes said he felt "uncomfortable about the word 'hero'" as it relates to those who have fought and died in war.  Predictably, he was ripped backwards and forwards by conservative bloggers.  Predictably, he apologized a few hours later.

Although I took the point Mr. Hayes was trying to make -- if men and women who fight and die in any of the wars we start are always described as "heroes," without exception, then it gets easier to justify those wars -- I, too, was uncomfortable with how he got to his point.  The timing was pretty bad as well, obviously.  Really, Chris?  Memorial Day?

It is all an unfortunate distraction on a day when we should be remembering just what those soldiers, sailors and air men and women have fought and died for -- whether we agreed with the premise of the war or wars or not.  

I think Hayes would have been better served had he pointed out that the men and women who have died in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, the jungles of Vietnam, the European Theater, the Pacific Theater, Korea, and all over the world have always died for an idea -- the idea of America.  We can agree or disagree all day about whether America is a perfect idea, or even always a good or just idea.  

But men and women who wear the uniform, as Hayes pointed out in his apology, do a lot more in service of that idea than TV pundits like him.  

Or half-assed bloggers like me.

Indeed, Hayes would have been even better served had he noted that the very freedoms -- the pillars supporting that idea of America soldiers fight and die for -- are under attack. 

You know, sometimes on days like Memorial Day, I think about those freedoms.  Voting, for example.  Voting is the literal embodiment of "freedom," actually.  So when a sitting governor -- that's right, the hospital grifter himself, Rick Scott -- throws hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of eligible voters off the rolls for no good reason, I get outraged.  

A TV pundit saying something out of line about men and women who serve in uniform on Memorial Day.  A Governor abusing his power to try and manipulate electoral outcomes in a presidential election year on Memorial Day.  They're both pretty disrespectful, and I am glad Hayes, who seemed to understand the gravity of his mistake on Memorial day, offered a sincere apology.

I wonder when we'll get a similar apology from Governor Scott.

Memorial Day 2012

Please have a safe and happy Memorial Day, friends and neighbors.

And let's not forget what the day is about.

A Tech Challenge for Policy Wonks: the Disability Employment App Challenge

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Did you know this?

Not only do people with disabilities have a significantly higher unemployment rate than the general population, they also have a much lower labor force participation rate. According to the most recent data from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (April 2012), people with disabilities had a 20.3% labor force participation rate compared to 69.1% for their non-disabled peers, and people with disabilities had an unemployment rate of 12.5% compared to 7.6% for their non-disabled peers. For minorities with disabilities, these disparities are even greater. This represents a significant loss of willing and able talent to the American workforce, a loss of income for people without jobs, and an economic loss to the American economy.

I didn't.  That's fairly shocking, don't you think?

I'm not an economist, but in a recession of this magnitude, shouldn't we be trying to get everyone back to work?  And as a political guy, wouldn't you think that the administration would be trying everything they could to make sure everyone who could work -- whether they're disabled, or minority, or anything?  

Turns out they are:

Here's more about this interesting, innovative challenge:

Your challenge is to use publicly available information, tools, resources, and employment data to build tools that promote the employment of people with disabilities.

Each submission should achieve at least one of the following goals:

Promote Recruitment Resources for Employers: These features should provide recruitment resources for employers to identify individuals with disabilities to hire by using tools such as Career One-Stops Centers, state Vocational Rehabilitation agencies, employment networks, educational institutions and programs, non-profit organizations, and private recruitment resources.

Develop Job Training and Skill-Building Tools for Job Seekers: These features should include vocational and workforce training resources, apprenticeship, internship, and mentorship resources, resume tips, as well as resources and tools related to “soft skills” (e.g., interview skills, etc.).

Facilitate Employment-Related Transportation Options: These features should use publically available resources to expand individuals with disabilities access to and knowledge of accessible employment-related transportation options.

Expand Web and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility: These features should use publicly available tools regarding website and ICT accessibility that will help employers improve their systems to be accessible to applicants with disabilities, as well as current employees.

Now, I'm a political hack.  I only wish I had the technical expertise to develop the kind of app they're looking for.  So go ahead, tech friends -- work on this.  You could win $5,000.

I should also say that the guy in the video, Seth Harris, who is the Deputy Secretary of Labor, was my very first political mentor.  He was also my first boss.  

He was the guy who found me in the middle of the Clinton/Gore Campaign in 1992 and put me to work in the transition office.  If it wasn't for Seth -- um, the Deputy Secretary, I should say -- none of this would exist.  Not my political background, not where I am and what I'm doing today, probably not the college degree, not the communications expertise.  Nothing.  None of it.  It's really not an exaggeration to say I owe him everything.  

I doubt you can count posting his video on my blog as payback.  But it's a start.

Get developing, app developers.

Finally Friday Something Amazing Edition

Bob: "Well, what are *you* waiting for?" 
Little Boy on Tricycle: "I don't know. Something amazing, I guess." 
Bob: "Me too, kid." 

The Incredibles

I know the content has been slow around here for the last few days, and even weeks.  For that I'm sorry.  And for those who still bother to come by, thank you so much.  It means the world to me.

It has been a tough few months for my personal blogosphere.  

I've let Clintonaut, the blog for fiction and essays about the old days in the Clinton Administration, lapse.  

Ghost in the Machine is still on a break, maybe forever.  And now the Florida Progressive Coalition is no more.

An excellent source in the Florida Independent has shut down, too.

Of course, change isn't always a bad thing (no offense to the above listed friends).  You know, I started this blog because I was disgusted with the idea of a second George W. Bush term.  There was a lot to say -- and during that second term, Bush didn't disappoint.  

Then in 2008, Obama won.  I was worried about how I'd pivot from a small-time loudmouth with a Typepad account and a penchant for forgetting spell-check calling out a criminally incompetent administration to a small-time loudmouth blogger talking up one of the good guys.

Turns out it was easier than I thought.  Still hard, but not really that hard.

I know a lot of Democrats and progressives are turned off to Obama.  Not me.  I've never felt more like a Democrat than I do today.  Maybe part of that is that the other side is so nuts.  I don't know.  But I do feel pretty strongly that re-electing Obama is just about our last hope to retain whatever shreds of sanity are left for us as a nation.  

But as it relates to this blog, how many times can you hear me talk about how great Obama is?  How many times can I write about Ann Romney's dressage?  How many times can I talk about how bad a grifter Rick Scott really is? 

You know what?  A lot.  

The world of politics is often a narrow one.  But it's my world, and it is often a stubborn one, one not ready to accept much change.  

So I'll evolve in this new blog world, a world a little less for not having some of my friends in it with me.  Who knows.  Maybe I'll come up with something amazing.  

# # # #

Part of me coming unmoored a bit has everything to do with what's going on at the home front.  

Finn is doing great, just over three weeks old.

Photo by Hallie D Photography

His mother continues to serve as an inspiration to me, which has always been the case, but with our kids, she is particularly amazing.  

Emeline is doing great as a big sister, but I am already noticing the difference between sons and daughters.  Or maybe it's just second children, I don't know.  

Anyway, my parents were here this week, and that meant a lot of pool time and beach time with Emmy, which is always a good way for me to recharge my batteries.  The weather was perfect, and the water at St. Pete Beach was outstanding.  I think my folks had fun.  

Finn is a great baby.  He fusses and cries, yeah, but he's already a good sleeper.  I almost feel guilty when people ask us if we're getting sleep.  Yes, kind of, we are.  Sure, Duncan much less so than me -- remember, "particularly amazing" -- because of the feedings, though I've gotten up for a few middle-of-the-night diaper changes (and oh, by the way, there's apparently no hard and fast rule that says two year-olds sleep soundly through the night all the time, either).  

But the point is, we're doing okay.  

Actually, we're doing great.  And because I believe the universe just works this way, thank you for all your good thoughts and wishes for us -- it has come around to us and done good.  We really appreciate it.

# # # #

Okay, first of all, any time Steve Schale posts something, you need to go read it.  His latest is about the Q poll they ran here in Florida.  My favorite points:

1. Polls right now are meaningless. At this point in the 2008 cycle, the Real Clear Politics average had McCain up 8 over Obama, and about a month ago, another poll showed Obama up 5 over Romney. They will ebb and flow, but in the end don't really matter now, because...

2. We know Florida is going to come down to a few points. Add up 32 million Florida votes over the 5 Presidentials from 1992-2008 and less than 60,000 votes separate the two major political parties.

Bingo.  

# # # #

There's a train wreck going on over in Hillsborough, and I am not sure I get it.  Any of it.  

The current Hillsborough Property Appraiser -- a real class-act named Rob Turner -- sent a former employee of the agency a bunch of dirty Internet pictures, and then fired her.  

Okay.

Turns out State Senator (and ultra-conservative freak-show) Ronda Storms is not going to run for re-election and is instead going to run for Property Appraiser.  She'll face off against former State Rep. Bob Henriquez, a Democrat.

Now, one of my favorite dopes, State Representative Rachel Burgin -- a person who couldn't legislate her way out of a paper bag in any normal place -- will seek Ronda's Senate Seat.  Burgin, you will recall, cut-and-pasted some ALEC legislation, and in previous sessions, tried to make the word "love" illegal.  She'll be going up against a guy named Tom Lee.  

It's the same Tom Lee who used to be the President of the Florida Senate, so, you know.  It may be an uphill battle for Rachel.

# # # #

So Florida Governor Rick Scott is not only a crook and a liar and a grifter, he's entirely politically tone deaf as well. 

Thanks to the Crowley Political Report for the video on this one.

Of course, the real story is the voter purge undertaken by Scott.  Beach Peanuts has the story.  It's a must-read.  (And, given what the grifter was doing a year ago, not at all surprising.)

# # # # 

It's finally Friday, and for your patience with me, it's a double-shot edition.  Pretty amazing.

If that video -- shot in the beautiful town of St. Johnsbury, Vermont -- makes you feel old (is it wrong that my first thought was, "Hey, they're not wearing helmets!"), then put your feet on the foot rest, grab a root beer and think about country roads.  That's what I'm doing.

 

The Florida Progressive Coalition: An Appreciation

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Just a short post, but I couldn't let the evening pass without noting that Kenneth has evidently decided to no longer run the Florida Progressive Coalition and the blog which went along with it.

I contributed fairly irregularly to the FPC.  I am proud that two of my posts -- one from 2008 and one from 2009 -- are still two of the five most viewed FPC posts.

I thought the FPC blog served a great function, and I'm sorry to see that it will likely fade away after the 2012 Netroots Awards (which will likely fade away as well; at this point, I hope I don't win one, to maintain the purity of my winless streak).  

I doubt he'll get the recognition he deserves, but someone more important than me should thank Kenneth Quinnell for creating and running the whole thing.  It was a full-time job with no recognition and pretty much no pay.  For whatever it's worth to you, thanks, Kenneth. 

And They Will Attack From Subversive Positions

by Benjamin J. Kirby

It's going to be another quiet week -- my parents are in town to visit Finn, who is doing great, by the way (will have an update soon).  

But I couldn't let today pass without finally commenting on an op-ed I read the other day in the New York Times from former CNN anchor Campbell Brown.  In it, she criticized President Obama's commencement speech to the graduates of Barnard College (an all-women's college) as "condescending" to women, and his approach to women in general:

When I listen to President Obama speak to and about women, he sometimes sounds too paternalistic for my taste. In numerous appearances over the years — most recently at the Barnard graduation — he has made reference to how women are smarter than men. It’s all so tired, the kind of fake praise showered upon those one views as easy to impress. As I listen, I am always bracing for the old go-to cliché: “Behind every great man is a great woman.”

Some women are smarter than men and some aren’t. But to suggest to women that they deserve dominance instead of equality is at best a cheap applause line.

Ah, yes.  Cheap applause line.

Of course, sometimes when I listen to Campbell Brown she sounds like an underhanded, disingenuous liar.  From President Obama's speech:

We know that we’re better off when there are rules that stop big banks from making bad bets with other people’s money and -- (applause) -- when insurance companies aren’t allowed to drop your coverage when you need it most or charge women differently from men.  (Applause.)  Indeed, we know we are better off when women are treated fairly and equally in every aspect of American life -- whether it’s the salary you earn or the health decisions you make.  (Applause.)  

We know these things to be true.  We know that our challenges are eminently solvable.  The question is whether together, we can muster the will -- in our own lives, in our common institutions, in our politics -- to bring about the changes we need.  And I’m convinced your generation possesses that will.  And I believe that the women of this generation -- that all of you will help lead the way.  (Applause.)

Now, I recognize that’s a cheap applause line when you're giving a commencement at Barnard.  (Laughter.)  It’s the easy thing to say.  But it’s true.  It is -- in part, it is simple math.  Today, women are not just half this country; you’re half its workforce.  (Applause.)  More and more women are out-earning their husbands.  You’re more than half of our college graduates, and master’s graduates, and PhDs.  (Applause.)   So you’ve got us outnumbered.  (Laughter.)

After decades of slow, steady, extraordinary progress, you are now poised to make this the century where women shape not only their own destiny but the destiny of this nation and of this world.

The bold is mine, but just so you get the idea.  The notion that the man courted a cheap applause line was not an original thought from Campbell Brown.  It was from President Obama.

For what it's worth, Media Matters does a better take-down that I've done or will do on this speech.  

But for me, this is a bit more than just a speech to women graduating from college, or a pretty poorly argued set of ideas from a news has-been.  This is about women and the role of women in our society -- and what the role of women in our society will be in the future.  

We can talk about the economic picture, jobs, or even international affairs all day and night with respect to this race and politics in this country.  But the hard truth is, issues facing women -- indeed, women themselves -- face a stark choice this election cycle.  

It's a choice between people cynical to have the spouse of the candidate say you're "struggling" in college when getting by means selling some stock.  If you don't think it's cynical, just ask that same spouse how she feels about being "attacked" for being a wealthy stay-at-home mom -- wealthy enough that she participates in a sport you'll have to Google to understand.  These folks aren't like you and me, and they do not care about you.

And if it is not Mitt Romney, it's the GOP -- the party which will nominate him to run for President in August.  This is the party of a governor who vetoes funding for a rape crisis center during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.  The same party that had a congressional hearing on contraception with only men at the witness table.  The same party apparently supported by classy (not so tech-savvy) guys like this one.

It is also the party of Dan Senor, a neo-con war-monger who helped cheer-lead us into Iraq during the disastrous W. years.  Now he's a Romney adviser.

Oh, and he's also married to Campbell Brown.  Though I suppose we should take some small comfort that Campbell thought to disclose this bit of news four paragraphs from the end of her piece:

(I should disclose here that my husband is an adviser to Mr. Romney; I have no involvement with any campaign, and have been an independent journalist throughout my career.) 

If you think the spouse of a senior adviser to a presidential campaign has "no involvement with any campaign," then you've sadly bought the most cynical piece they're selling.

Don't be too surprised.  It's the GOP, and the handful of links above are only the tip of the iceberg of evidence of how they treat women.  Senor gets his wife to do his hit piece in the New York Times?  Hey, when the first bill signed by the President upon taking office is the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, you'll do anything to score cheap points.  

Anyway, there's the GOP choice.

And then there's this choice:

That's from the Obama Campaign, and it's fantastic.

Finally Friday Bustin' Loose Edition

by Benjamin J. Kirby

You only thought the whole birther thing had gone away.

Wrong.

Congressman Mike Coffman (a Republican from the Colorado 6th District) said:

"I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America. I don't know that," Coffman said. "But I do know this, that in his heart, he's not an American. He's just not an American."

This is getting to be less funny and more just sad and weird.

And Coffman's not the only idiot out there talking this stuff up.  The Arizona Secretary of State has said President Obama may not be on the ballot.  Seriously:

The man in charge of running Arizona’s elections has gone to the birthers. Secretary of State Ken Bennett now says he’s not convinced Barack Obama was really born in the United States and so he is threatening to keep the president off the ballot in November.

According to the Washington Post, this is the guy who wants to replace horrible Governor Jan Brewer.

What makes it so sad and weird is that you'd kind of just wish these guys would come out and say what's really bugging them: they don't want a black man inthe White House.  Suggesting that he's "not a real American," or "not an American in his heart," are cheap ways to tap dance around saying anything directly racist.  

Too often, karma doesn't work directly enough for my tastes.  That's okay.  At least maybe these guys will pay a price at the voting booth.

# # # #

Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake write about the death of Americans Elect over at the Post.

Late Thursday night, Americans Elect, a much-ballyhooed group dedicated to securing ballot access for a serious third-party presidential candidate in 2012, issued a statement acknowledging failure.

“As of this week, no candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect online convention in June,” the statement read. “The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end.”

Even I had not un-hopeful words for the group last year.  

Everyone knows the system is broken.  It's not sustainable.  So I'm open to new ideas, sure.  We'll see where the Americans Elect folks end up.  

I dunno.  The system's broken, but I forgot one thing: it still works for a lot of people.  That said, in hindsight, it seems like a weird idea to build this online space first, and then hope the movement follows.   

# # # #

It's finally Friday.

The Birth of a Region: Tampa Bay Times and the Tampa Tribune

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Is the Tampa Bay Times going to by the Tampa Tribune?

Here's why I ask: turns out Berkshire Hathaway -- that's Warren Buffett's vaunted company -- bought up 63 newspapers from Media General today.

One Media General paper they didn't buy up?  The Tampa Tribune.

Now, I figure most folks wouldn't normally think that much about it, except that it's been pretty obvious -- starting with the name change -- that the former St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) is eyeing a move across the Bay.

And it's not just the name change.  

This tweet from Times political chief Adam Smith caught my eye:

  Adam Smith ‏@adamsmithtimes

Qstn for TpaBay: what does Tpa Trib do bettr thn TpaBayTimes? Where cn we improve? Email (asmith@tampabay.com), call 727-893-8241, or twt me

Really?  Since when is Adam Smith doing quality survey work for the Times?  Don't he and Al Ruechel have a candidate to interview? 

Anyway, to be fair, you'll want to read the piece from Eric Deggans (Times media critic) here.  Interesting that Paul Tash, the Times Chairman and CEO declined to comment on the purchase.  

State Senate Republican Armageddon Cage Match

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I know you're not supposed to laugh at the misfortune of others, but here I am.  It seems that Republican Senator Jack Latvala is considering getting into the State Senate race in the newly redrawn South Pinellas district, instead of the northern district.  The problem?  State Representative Jim Frishe, also a Republican, is already running for State Senate there.  And... 

...[d]espite speculation about Frishe switching to the North Pinellas district, he has little interest in that. "I don't have any plans to move. My wife has lived in her home, I guess, 40 years now," said Frishe. "I'm certainly not making any plans to do anything at this point other than run for the office I'm already running for."

So, why would Latvala set himself up for such a bruising primary?  

Because it's pretty clear that Representative Jeff Brandes (an independently wealthy Republican) is going to jump into the Senate race to challenge Frishe. 

Of course, the game you're watching is not really the game being played.  This is all about the Senate Leadership post, which Latvala is currently vying for against Senator John Thrasher.  From the article linked at the top:

Latvala is competing for the Senate presidency with state Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville.

If enough Thrasher allies win in 2012 — and Brandes is widely seen as one — Latvala could be out of luck for the leadership post. And Latvala, a popular and high-profile leader, would appear to be a stronger contender than the low-profile Frishe against Brandes, a member of the Cox Lumber family who could easily spend at least $1 million of his money on his campaign. Brandes is already airing TV ads for his state House re-election campaign. The deadline to qualify is June 8.

I don't think whether Brandes gets into the race is in question.  Just look at his latest TV ad:

Nice spot.  

Now, quick: find somewhere in the 30 seconds where he says he's running for State House.  Except for the required small-print legal language at the end near the bottom of the screen, you can't.  

That's no mistake.  

Smarter political watchers than me could argue that Senator Latvala is one of the most popular politicians in this area.  Representative Frishe is no slouch in this department, either, actually.  Jeff Brandes is something of a newcomer, but he's got a ton of cash in which to make up for any lacking name recognition in a larger district.  

So what happens?  

I don't know.  Quite frankly, I don't see Republicans as usually this ugly and public in their battles... at least not usually.  In a three-way race, I think you have to give the edge to the long-serving Latvala.  But I don't think it would be too pretty.

As a sort of aside, I'm not sure there's a Democrat in the race in the South Pinellas State Senate race.  If there is, I have no idea who it might be, and that's pretty depressing.  Worse, if Latvala flees the North District to run in the south, I'm not sure who might represent Democrats there, either (to be fair, I'm not sure I know who the Republican would be, either).  

Brandes will be leaving a race where a Democrat named Dwight Dudley just jumped in.  I don't doubt that Dudley would give him a tough fight.  Latvala will be tougher.

Whether or not Brandes gets in, whether or not Latvala runs in the south, these are very ugly and very public spats we're witnessing.  June 8 is the deadline to file in this race.  We'll see if the ugliness extends beyond that. 

Cappy's Pizza: Here's Your Sign

by Benjamin J. Kirby

There's a pizza place I've always wanted to try on 1st Avenue North in St. Petersburg -- Cappy's Pizza.  I'm a pizza nut, and though I am loyal to my neighbors at Fazio's, I'm not above trying something new when it comes to pizza.

As it happens, my friends Tony and Robin at Fazio's might not have anything to worry about now.

This story was reported a few days ago, but I've been thinking about it a lot.  After all, I have two kids now.  

It seems the owner of Cappy's put a sign up that said: "For the comfort and safety of everybody, if you allow your child to run, scream or misbehave, you will be asked to leave."

We don't go out a lot because, well, we have two kids -- one of them virtually brand-new.  And even before Finn was born, it's not easy taking a toddler out to eat.  It requires a lot of prep time, and no matter how prepared you might be, there's no guaranteeing she'll be in a good mood.  Besides, it's cheaper and usually more healthy for us to eat and home.  And Duncan, a great cook, likes making dinner.  

That being said, when we have gone out, Emmy is quite well-behaved.  Sure, she gets impatient and squirmy sometimes, but she's two.  It's going to happen.  There's never been any running, screaming, or "misbehaving," whatever that is.

Here's the deal: Scooter Gabel, the owner, could have said something very different.  He could have said, "For the comfort and safety of everybody, unruly customers will be asked to leave."

Or customers who are loud, or disruptive.  They serve beer and wine there.  What if some annoying drunk guy ruins my meal because he's "misbehaving".  Where's his sign?  [There may be one there, I don't know.]

He deliberately singled out children.  

Look, I don't think the guy actually meant to be divisive.  I think his sign is just worded really poorly.

Seems like a bad business decision -- especially since the place has toys everwhere.  I get it, the vintage toys are "art" or something (hasn't this guy seen the Toy Story trilogy?  Toys aren't meant to be played with... by children.).  Whatever.  

Okay, so why is this political?  It's not, really, except for the part about division.  

Check out the reaction from Clark Brooks here.  

Oh yeah, I hate 'em. I hate them and I'm sitting there, wishing with all my might that something terrible will happen to them. That's about as far as I'm taking my hatred though. Maybe I won't throw them into a deep fryer myself but if they happen to fall in there somehow, I'm not running to get help. Hey, my meal is ruined; I should be allowed to at least fantasize about something that I would enjoy. Remember the old saying about giving someone something to scream about? Doing an impression of a corndog qualifies.

More importantly, if they're your kids (biologically or otherwise), I hate you and I am sitting there hoping that something really bad happens to you. Because ultimately, it's not really their fault, is it? No, it's yours. So mostly you.

Well, that got him going. 

What's funny is, I don't disagree with Clark.  It's the kids who are genuine terrors who ruin the dining out experience for the rest of us.  Look, I hate the annoying, screaming kid as much as the next guy.

But signs like the one at Cappy's has a chilling effect on all parents (it certainly has for me and Duncan).  

We're about to be subjected to an entire summer of political division and probably a lot of hatred, mostly communicated through TV and radio ads.  There'll be a lot of us versus them, and this is reminiscent of that.  I don't think we need any more division than we'll already be having, thanks.  

Besides, I'm hungry for pizza.  

Off the Radar Storm's a Comin' Edition

by Benjamin J. Kirby

It's raining here for what seems like the first time in a long time -- it's been at least a month, maybe more.  We had some thunder, though no lightning.  Duncan says it's the good kind of rain.  Slow, steady, keeps coming down.  Soaks everything.  I was wondering when the rainy season would get started.  Lord knows we needed it. 

Still, those dark clouds had an ominous look.  We've been lucky on the hurricane front here in Florida for a few years running, now.  I wonder how much longer that's going to last.  

Maybe I'm just a little more paranoid with two kids in the house.  I do like the rain, though.

# # # #

The attacks have started: Karl Rove's outfit went live with a $25 million ad buy against President Obama

...Rove's group isn't the only pro-Romney group planning on dumping millions into the presidential campaign: Restore Our Future, the Romney-aligned Super PAC staffed by former Romney aides, has spent $4.3 million in anti-Obama attack ads. The Koch brothers' Americans For Prosperity has spent $5 million. And another group called American Future Fund is spending millions as well. 

None of this is unexpected... just disappointing.

One of the states where the ads started running is Florida.

# # # # 

And who was visiting Florida today?  And not just Florida.... St. Petersburg, here in the heart of one of the most financially distressed areas!  None other than R-money, down by Mirror Lake.  

Beside a national debt clock ominously ticking upward of $1.6 trillion, Mitt Romney Wednesday used his first Florida campaign appearance as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to blast Barack Obama for broken promises and fiscal recklessness.

"It's high time that we have a president who will stop this spending and borrowing inferno and I will. I'll get the job done," Romney told several hundred enthusiastic supporters at the Mirror Lake Lyceum in St. Petersburg. "I'm concerned about this country. I'm concerned about the debt. I'm concerned about the spending. I find it incomprehensible that a president could come to office and call his predecessor's record irresponsible and unpatriotic, and then do almost nothing to fix it and instead every year to add more and more and more spending."

But as he headed to Tampa for a fundraising reception that raised $2.3 million, Romney's attack on the president's spending record left unclear how the former Massachusetts governor's largely vague budget plans — cutting taxes and ramping up defense spending — will reign in the country's deficit. He has avoided identifying tax loopholes he would eliminate or specifically where he would make dramatic budget cuts required to make a real dent in the deficit.

Don't worry.  I'm sure Karl Rove's ads will clear that right up.

# # # #

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (or CREW) have called on thug Congressman Vern Buchanan to resign.  From the Bradenton Herald story:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed complaints about Buchanan with both the Federal Election Commission and the House Office of Congressional Ethics. The FEC investigation has closed, but the OCE last week made public the findings of its probe into Buchanan's conduct.

The OCE found there's "substantial reason to believe" Buchanan attempted to influence the testimony of a former business partner who was a witness during the Federal Election Commission investigation into the congressman's fundraising. The report asks the Ethics Committee to consider whether Buchanan violated federal bribery, obstruction and witness tampering laws -- all of which have criminal penalties.

"It is time for Rep. Buchanan to go," said CREW's executive director, Melanie Sloan. "House Republican leaders -- who swore a zero tolerance policy for ethical wrongdoing -- should be condemning his conduct and demanding his departure, not playing golf with him in Sarasota." 

Vern probably should resign, but he won't.

So if you're in the 16th CD, maybe you should take it upon yourself to shown Vern the door.  Vote for Keith Fitzgerald, and send an honorable and decent guy to Congress.

 -- more later -- 

Gay Marriage: What Does This Mean?

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Between my original post on Obama's gay marriage comments, the follow-up post I had about Mustang Bobby's post, and Matt's provocative post from yesterday, I think we've covered the issue of gay marriage pretty well.

That said, I am really quite proud that Gulfport, my town, will be the first in Pinellas County to have a domestic partner registry:

For city council member Barbara Banno, the signing of an ordinance creating a domestic partner registry in Gulfport hits close to home.

She and her partner have been together for eight years. Six years ago, they got married in Toronto. Banno said they would have preferred to make their vows in Florida.

But the registry is a step toward more gay rights, Banno said Wednesday morning during the signing at City Hall.

It's just great news.

So good for the Gulfport City Council.  

I felt this was an appropriate way to close out our discussion of gay rights and gay marriage for now:

>

Leadership Lacking on Gay Marriage

by Matt Spence

I wanted to give this one time to settle before sharing my thoughts - mostly because my initial thoughts on the President's gay marriage "announcement" were not flattering and I was wondering if anyone else felt the way I did.  To be honest, I was quite surprised at the amount of positive reaction from gay leaders and progressives.  Even right here in this blog from my esteemed colleague Ben.  There has been all sorts of praise for the president's personal revelation that gay people are people too and that they love just as straight people love.  Hold on a second, because here's what he actually said:

"What I've come to realize is that for loving, same-sex couples, the denial of marriage equality means that, in their eyes and the eyes of their children, they are still considered less than full citizens."

Less than full citizens.  If the president truly agreed with that, he would not have hid behind states rights.  He would not have said that an issue of citizenship, civil rights really, should be decided at the state level.  No, it has become his stance that social policy is decided at the state level and that gay marriage is an issue of social policy.  (Boy, that should make some Reaganites quite happy...) 

The opinion that states should decide certainly does not match up with his friends and co-workers who see it as an issue of equality and civil rights.  The 14th Amendment is to the United States Constitution, is it not?  If he truly felt this was a civil rights issue, this might have been his stance.  Otherwise, it felt awfully political to me.  Say you're in favor personally in the hopes that your VP will shut up and your Secretary of Education will stick to education -- put it back on the states so that you don't have to actually stand for any policy that might come before you to sign or veto.  Although that may be different from Mitt Romney's opinion, it is no different from how Mitt Romney would govern - and that should give him, and plenty of others, reason to pause.   

Of course, North Carolina stepped up right away to expose the cop-out, exercising the President's stated opinion of state's rights and banning gay marriage.  That the President shared his "disappointment" with the public surely must have rung quite hollow with the gay residents of North Carolina.  I wonder if any of those personal friends and co-workers are from or have gay friends in North Carolina... and I wonder how they feel about the President's "support" today. 

Apparently the American public is quite cynical about it as well - according to a NY Times/CBS News poll, 67% believe that his statement was motivated by politics and not what he believes to be right.  I find this interesting for a few reasons, most of all because there is such a lack of faith in the President's own words about it.  This isn't just the echo chamber either - if that were so, the number would be closer to 1/2 than 2/3.  That extra 17% could pose a huge problem in November if the message is that Americans find the words that come out of his mouth to be no different or more trustworthy than any other politician.  To me, it reflects an undercurrent of doubt about the President's willingness to lead on a tough issue... and that is a killer.  People do not want to elect a Leader of the Free World who does not seem to be a leader. 

 

Many have attacked the President's leadership on this issue, saying that the Biden/Duncan combo forced him into it.  I think Ben's article (linked above) did a pretty good job of dispelling that theory.  I have to say that I do not disagree with the cynicism about the President's leadership, it is just that my cynicism is born of very different reasons.  In my opinion, for the President to be forced to say something everyone already believed to be your opinion because your loose-lipped VP spouted off again is nowhere near as damaging as failing to lead because you either 1) can't make up your mind about what legal rights gay people should have to marriage or 2) haven't "evolved" to the point where you believe that your personal opinion should be reflected in policy or 3) do not believe that gay marriage is a civil rights issue.  

 

None of those are good.  The ironic thing is this; it may just be that the President really does not agree with gay marriage as the law of the land - as he said but nobody believed - and that he has truly been reassessing his opinion.  Maybe he hasn't really worked through the policy implications of these new thoughts.  Maybe he hasn't "evolved" enough to see it as a civil rights issue.  But the electoral poison is that maybe, just maybe, on this issue he just won't lead.

Barking Up the Right Tree

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I don't do a lot of promoting of other bloggers here.  Maybe I should, but I don't.  

Tonight is an exception.  Stop reading this, and go read the Bark Bark Woof Woof piece on the Newsweek cover, "The First Gay President," about Obama and his remarks on same-sex marriage.

Newsweek is out (no pun intended) with a cover photo and essay by Andrew Sullivan that dubs President Obama as the "first gay president."

Sigh.

Both Newsweek and Mr. Sullivan are shorthanding the president's support of same-sex marriage by labeling him as gay. Except I'm not comfortable with the label -- not that there's anything wrong with it -- and the idea that supporting same-sex marriage and other civil rights for the LGBTQ community makes him gay. If that's the case, my parents and a lot of my family members are gay, too, which would come as both a surprise to them and their respective children and spouses. It would also apply to a number of people I know who are demonstrably straight. It's catchy, it sells magazines, and I'm sure the editors of Newsweek felt they had to come up with something to counter last week's Time magazine cover article on breastfeeding. (Oh, please, don't even go there.)

If there was just one blog in Florida, I'd hope it would be Bark Bark Woof Woof.  If there was just one blogger, I hope it would be Mustang Bobby.  

This post is exactly the kind of media criticism I love to read.  

The president did a good thing, a bold thing, a politically risky thing -- "bumpersticker journalism," as Bobby aptly describes it, doesn't help the issue.  In fact, it sort of dumbs it down.  

I sometimes feel a little out of place on certain issues.  As a straight, white, quasi-agnostic, middle-age guy, I find it difficult to articulate a practical, articulate position in a lot of cases.  President Obama said he supports same-sex marriage.  That's great -- so do I.  I doubt so many people care about what guy like me thinks about it.  Thank god for people like Bobby who have discussed issues around the gay rights movement with a refreshing pragmatism too rarely seen in the blogging world (and he indeed picked the perfect Quote of the Day earlier...).

That is not to say that Bobby is the "gay rights" blogger -- he's certainly not.  He has commented on the Republican race for the presidential nomination, and provided some of the best stuff out there.  He's got a film preview link, a quick post about the resurgence of whooping cough, and a tune from Booker T and the MGs.

And he posts a hell of a lot more frequently than I do, so there's that.  Make him a daily read, if you're not already.