I’m not going to pretend that the endorsement of the AFL-CIO of Charlie Crist makes any sense at first glance. Crist was simply against labor all along, as Governor and as a member of the Legislature, and the AFL-CIO choose not to endorse him 5 different times and he has nothing substantive to show that he deserves this one. The only thing that makes sense is that they are hoping for change. Everybody knows that Charlie has something to prove. Rick Scott has attacked labor on all fronts, attacking pensions and personnel, stripping power and has simply been the worst nightmare anyone can imagine. He has made state workers afraid for their jobs and living in such fear is an awful reality, so perhaps they are offering a beacon of hope to the end of the fear for their own members. Charlie Crist was not that bad and that gives a light at the end of the tunnel. Other than that, I’m afraid I’m on crazy conspiracies of group amnesia. At least an endorsement of Nan Rich would have let them save face and would have rewarded her record on labor issues, even though she’s determined to disappoint everyone with her poor campaign skills.
– KB
This past week I received a crash refresher course journalism ethics on multiple fronts. Dealing with journalists from Britain’s daily tabloids during the England national football (soccer) team was revealing. These journalists often simply do things to elicit a reaction and work with one another, often competitors to push story lines. The competing “broadsheet” journalists at the daily papers have a completely different demeanor and a far higher level of professionalism. Exceptions exists but by and large the differences between “tabloid” and “broadsheet” writers was clear to see. Crash refresher course number two took place late Saturday night when I was a guest on a radio show. I was asked about “us” and “we” repeatedly with reference to the US team. I’ve made this mistake before as someone who has both worked in and covered the US Soccer scene for a number of years. At what point do we draw the line between cheer-leading and critical coverage? Most of us who cover the sport in this country are patriotic Americans who also benefit professionally from a strong United States team and extensive domestic club setup. But does that mean we become less critical and more guarded about how we cover things? I honestly cannot answer that fairly. I have been plenty critical/objective about the national team through the years even developing a reputation in some quarters for being too critical, but much like in 2010 right before the World Cup, I am fighting an inner conflict to pull back from criticisms and be as supportive/flowery in my coverage as I can be. I can imagine journalists who cover American foreign policy have similar conflicts though of course the stakes there are MUCH higher. At what point when you know your nation is going to war do you stop reporting the truth objectively and begin cheer-leading? It is the whole “rally around the flag mentality.” I suppose I will be fighting that internally as long as the United States team is alive in Brazil.
– KK @kkfla737
Five Florida towns that are not known for hosting touring acts will be privy to Gov. Rick Scott’s College Affordability Tour this week. From Pensacola to Fort Myers, Scott will attempt to disentangle his tuition policy from his opening act, Charlie Crist’s higher-ed track record.
During the tour, Scott will certainly not tout the damage that has been inflicted on the Bright Futures program. As the requirements have increased, and funding has decreased by nearly over $200 million, the program has seen a 30% drop in participants. Some universities, such as FAMU, can expect to lose a majority of its Bright Futures students. Don’t forget that the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office is in the middle of investigating the discriminatory effects of the upgraded testing requirements.
For those who are quick to throw Crist under the (yellow) bus, don’t forget that his multiple tuition hikes took place during the height of Florida’s economic recession and during a period in which Florida tuition costs were ranked 45th in the nation. Back then, in 2008, Crist’s bright spot was that Bright Futures was at its highest point, with $435 million in funding, down to $217 million under Scott, today, on the eve of his affordability tour.
The murky nature of Scott attacking Crist on tuition ignores the glaring clarity of Bright Future’s demise: these program-altering cuts have occurred solely on Rick Scott’s watch.
-NTP @nt_pemberton
This past week, we’ve had multiple stories of violence featuring the use of a gun and also, the “open carry” advocacy group has garnered national attention with their now infamous open carrying of assault weapons in restaurants. In Cumming, Georgia a right- wing domestic terrorist stormed a courthouse with a long assault riffle and a seemingly endless amount of ammunition. Additionally, he laid alike strips around the courthouse in an attempt to hinder the response of emergency personnel with the plan of driving through the court houses front entrance. Additionally, Georgia State Police the assailant, right wing Dennis Marx also had handcuffs, tear gas and smoke grenades in his possession and had plans to take control of the courthouse. Mr. Marx, who worked for the Transportation Security Administration more than a decade ago, had a history of interactions with the sheriff’s office, and he filed a federal lawsuit last year against the office over a 2011 raid on his home that he said had violated his constitutional rights. Then yesterday in Las Vegas, a pair of domestic terrorists stormed a WalMart and started shooting. They executed two police officers that were eating at the pizza place within the store. The two men, according the police and media reports made a suicide pact. Upon entering the store, the men began screaming that this event was the start of the revolution. At some point our do nothing Republican led, and NRA influenced Congress has to take action. For too long we have allowed the GOP, dominated by the Tea Party, to own the conversation. Their argument that more guns will solve our problem is absurd, reckless, dangerous and unique in global perspective. 12 days after a 1996 mass shooting where 35 innocent people were murdered, the country of Australia made a choice. Led by a conservative PM John Howard, the states in Australia banned automatic and semiautomatic weapons and instituted a national gun buy back program for high power and rapid fire rifles. “High powers rifles” Australians decided to not, as Howard said, “follow the American way.” A uniform system for gun restoration was also adopted. What was the result? A third of the guns in the country were taken off the street. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, 96% of Americans were in favor of background checks and our Congress ignored them. In America, the gun nuts are winning, but times need to change. More guns to curb violence is as viable as giving crack head more crack in order to curb a dangerous addiction. We are doing it wrong and are embarrassing ourselves in the process.
– JS @JustinSnyderFl
The Miami Herald released a poll yesterday that indicates Governor Crist has a serious problem with Cuban-American voters. This mirrors the conclusions in a Survey USA poll released a few weeks ago. As I wrote last month, I feel that Governor Crist’s statements on the lifting of the Cuban embargo were ill-timed from a policy standpoint as now is not the time to be going soft on satellite states of Vladimir Putin’s despotic petrocracy. At the time I believed that Crist was making a policy error but not a political one. But now it has become obvious based on multiple polls that his lurch forward on this could be disastrous and impact the efforts Democrats have made to realign Cuban-American voters long-term. We will have much more analysis on this particular subject later in the week. (In the interest of full disclosure I previously worked with the polling firm many years ago that was responsible for the Herald survey)
– KK @kkfla737
The Florida Squeeze 
KK, Thanks for the link to the Herald Story about the Bendixen Miami poll story.
The headline grabbing attention is totally wrong…Charlie does NOT have a Cuba problem.
Everyone should read the ENTIRE Herald story and if you do, as I did, you would realize that Charlie has nothing to worry about and I’ll explain why…
First, Charlie’s position on opening trade and travel with Cuba and dropping the stupid 50 year old embargo…that has done nothing to foster better relations between our countries…IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!
And that is verified by an overwhelming vote of support by the vast majority of ALL voters.
Again you have to read the entire story closer..,the vast majority of the older Cubans that came here from Cuba are Republicans anyway who weren’t voting for Crist to begin with and they are dying off!
The younger US born Cubans are Democrats who support Charlie’s position.
And what most people don’t know or understand is that Hispanics in Florida are populated in this order: Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and then Cubans…then you have Hispanics from every nation in Central and South America…Venezuelans, Columbians, Dominicans, Argentinians, etc..and all those other countries…which far outnumber Cubans…don’t give a crap about Cuba and are a little sick of all the undue attention Cuba gets…like this stupid article and poll.
Cubans DO NOT rule the roost as they once did…it’s just that the old anti-Castro Cubans always make the most noise and are more politically active.
Another little secret is that Most older Cubans exiles have never become citizens because they would loose their government benefits….and therefore they don’t vote.
In Miami the largest voting blocks by parties are Democrats followed by independents and THEN you have Republicans.
Charlie should travel to Cuba with an open mind and continue to advocate to drop the embargo…and the majority of voters will reward him with making the right decision for every citizens…not just a small group of old dying exiles that are holding everyone else hostage with this outdated old failed policy!
We’ve reconciled with Germany and Japan after WWII and Cuban never attacked us like they did.
If we don’t reconcile with Cuba..Russia will be back and China is not far behind…just 90 miles from our shore!!!
KK stop scaring people! Let’s do the RIGHT thing on Cuba!!
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We’ve also written about this issue from other perspectives (cf. https://thefloridasqueeze.com/2014/05/09/charlie-crist-in-cuba-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/).
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And this might just cost Crist the Governorship. Dumb move in this state as much as you and this site might laud it.
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The problem is that on the surface it sounds good but then when you start talking about trading with Cuba and as Kartik has said helping Russia indirectly people flip. I would say Justin and Kartik seem a bit over the top in the obsession with Putin and backing a Ukrainian government which is very right-wing. Very John McCainesque but more people are there than on the Obama appeasement side. Thank FOX News for that. Once it becomes a global political issue, the liberals are never going to win on this. Even if it is smart for Florida. Fear drives voters. Simple and perhaps sad logic.
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A reasonable difference of opinion on what is essentially a foreign policy issue shouldn’t even approach being a decisive issue for a gubernatorial campaign running against a deeply unpopular incumbent.
People where you and I and Charlie are from in Tampa & St. Pete are against the embargo and he’s representing that very relevant, current strain of contemporary Democratic thought. You’re probably right that he’s motivated by a desire to be seen as less of a lightweight among progressives but that isn’t such an unhealthy impulse for a candidate like him. On balance I think this move by Charlie is a neutral one that helps give his political profile a little local Central Florida texture.
Thanks for reading.
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I believe lifting the embargo is a compassionate thing to do and have long supported it. My problems though with this now are down exclusively to Putin’s aggression and President Obama’s inability to properly anticipate and counter Russian aggression. Now is not the time to be indulging Putin’s allies as his global footprint grows and Cuba sits 90 miles away, I sympathize with the need to life the embargo but now is not the time.
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KK, I totally disagree with your logic and you are unfortunately entirely wrong about Cuba.
In fact, with all due respect, you, like most people, know absolutely nothing about Cuba.
I do. I’ve traveled to the island many times over the last decade.
The reason that Russia is part of the equation is EXACTLY why we have to engage with Cuba immediately. We cannot continue to dick around with this issue.
The Russians AND Chinese are already there in Cuba. But the Cubans WANT and would rather do business with us!!!
And we need to open business with them RIGHT NOW. We can’t wait. It will be too late. There is no better time than now.
And we are not rewarding Russia because we would be trading with Cuba. That us just dumb and makes no sense.
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Again I don’t disagree with the logic of engaging Cuba. I have long advocated lifting the embargo, but given Obama’s weakness on Russia, any further sign of weakness encourages Putin and his Chinese allies. What this President has allowed to happen while he was napping was an alliance of great economic and military might being consummated that now threatens our social and economic interests across the globe. It is true Cuba is a minor part of that, and I would not object if the embargo was lifted but the timing could be completely misinterpreted by Putin to his advantage. President Obama has shown no ability for five and a half years to properly read Russia or contain Putin. That is my fear.
Ultimately, I hope your scenario plays out actually. That would be best for the people of Florida and Cuba as well as for our security interests.
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KK, Well, We agree on one point…your last line…that states “That would be best for the people of Florida and Cuba as well as for our security interests”.
But again, you’re over-analyzing all the international ramifications with Russia.
The bottom line is that it’s now or never..we cannot let this stupid embargo go on a minute longer. Cuba will happily deal with us over Russia, China and every other country in the entire world that they currently have no other choice but to deal with because of the sad embargo that is only there but to enrich all my loudmouth Cuban compatriots that can’t get over the fact that they lost their family farm or business a half century ago!
Note to Cubans who lost your stuff…Your NOT getting your stuff back!
They have to get over it! It’s been long enough!
It’s time to get on and start the healing process with our closest foreign neighbor.
Charlie Crist is taking the right stand.
END THE EMBARGO NOW, NOT LATER!
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When Blogs collide.Florida Democratic Party: Let’s Stack the Deck
BY: NANCY SMITH | Posted: June 8, 2014 2:49 PM
Here’s an ICYMI for you.
Florida Democratic Party leaders’ bizarre war against their own members has heated up.
Now they’re urging Charlie Crist backers to help them by blanketing The Florida Squeeze (TFS) with comments hyping Charlie’s credentials and the need to blindly follow their lead.
FDP leaders took to Twitter last week with this incredulous tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/NotSqueezed/status/474256183503900672.
“Leave comments in support of campaign plan we are executing for the party and Crist on @Fl_Political_Sq please! We are being drowned out.”
The tweet follows a poll question posted on Kartik Krishnaiyer’s liberal TFS site: “Should Nan Rich Drop Out of the Governor’s Race before Qualifying?”
Nan obviously saw the question quickly and didn’t waste a minute answering it herself and letting Democrats know what she’s going to do no matter how they vote. She tweeted out this:
I will not be withdrawing from the Governor’s race! Vote in the poll: http://bit.ly/U7EOtK #StandWithNan
TFS’ poll results showed that by a greater than 2-1 majority (68.78 percent to 29.35 percent), Democrats want to see a Crist-Rich debate. Krishnaiyer even took pains to weed out multiple votes: “If you voted more than once from the same computer, your vote was only counted once,” he said.
“Drowned out” is right. FDP leadership clearly senses a tidal wave building.
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AFL-CIO admktting records on labor do not matter if you say the right things in an endorsement screening.
Very sad. They would have been better off not endorsing in a primary.
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The unions have no credibility and little juice. They cannot even deliver half their memberships. More symbolic than relevant.
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What’s the need to keep the embargo?
Crist is right. These Cold War policies have no relevance today.
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The unions not only have no loyalty but they are struggling for relevance in this state.
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No way AFL-CIO was going to backNan Rich whose campaign is little more than an annoying joke.
The endorsement of CC though speaks loudly as to how AWOL the unions are and simply a part of the FDPs desperation.
So this is more about the failure of the FDP to actually develop and cultivate its own candidates and unions inability to think for themselves.
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Mary, Nan;s campaign is very annoying to the short sighted sell outs of the Dem. Party but it is certainly not a joke to the loyal activists who work their donkey tales off to get out the vote. Disloyalty and greed often have a price to pay.
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I am a Crist backer but the Cuba statement was just silly. A shallow attempt to seem legitimate to left-wing Democrats the same ones Justin and Kartik constantly call out here for being “war weary” and “reactive” on foreign policy. Now he is paying the price.
As far as the AFL-CIO is concerned, sorry but they are being pragmatic. Backing Nan Rich would make them, like everyone else supporting her marginal and almost irrelevant. They did the right thing.
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Scott a hypocrite on tuition. Crist did the right thing then. We were in a tough economy then.
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Ditto to Cuban American on lifting the embargo….but endorsing Crist by the AFL-CIO is no surprise, they have always appeared to support the Public Unions ….have the larger
membership in the state and don’t necessarily vote Democratic, than the labor unions whose pension contributions are from the membership.
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When Charlie made the “Cuba Policy Statement” I had to pinch myself. Thought he might be running for President.
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The SEIU and Teamsters broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005 in a dispute over use of resources. The AFL-CIO for years endorsed and funded candidates in the hopes of influencing labor policy. The SEIU and Teamsters felt they weren’t getting their monies worth preferring to use the funds to grow membership and support GOTV efforts on behalf of progressive candidates.
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The fundamental issue is how Crist pivots to hit Scott on tuition hikes. So far his responses to these sorts of attacks on his record simply haven’t been good enough.
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Man you Nan Rich people are the biggest cry babies cause you can’t see the reality staring you in the face that Nan’s campaign is sucking wind and dying and over and you you can’t see the bigger picture here that the Democrats need a win after 20 straight years of losses…BADLY!
So you (ie Susan Smith) trash every teacher in the state that’s scared to death of loosing their hard earned pensions and retirement to the Republicans because the Teachers Union looks at this race pragmatically and realize Nan us done and endorse Crist who by the way has two sisters who are lifelong public school teachers!!
And Now the solidly Democratic Unions, AFL-CIO, Teamsters, SEIU have also looked at this race pragmatically and seen the same thing as the FTP-NEA and endorse Crist and now the Nan crybabies are trashing ALL unions!!!
And on top of that Charlie take the RIGHT position on Cuba to drop the 59 year old failed trade and travel embargo against Cuba, which is supported by 80% of ALL voters of every political persuasion and demographic except the old dying Republican exiles and you Nan Rich supporters trash that too!
And I got a news flash for you Nan dreamers too…Hillary ain’t stepping into this mess in Florida to help old Nan…she’s selling books and running for President and at the White House lunch with Hillary and Obama a couple of weeks ago it should be clear that the OFA train is also rolling for the Governor from Florida who got the big hug to stave us off from a Depression.
Look I know it’s hard for you Nan people to face a loss and especially accept Charlie Crist as your Democratic standard bearer but really what is your choice?
Rick Scott?
Really?
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Crist raised tuition but did it in a tough economy because we needed revenue.
Scott has done it to pay for his irresponsible tax cuts.
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Crist ought to start hitting back on his record and being proactive on what is coming.
Instead he’s the one who is AWOL.
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Kartik,
USA USA related your most recent article I saw last week on unhealthy nativism in the American game was brilliant and had political undertones.
You should cross post it here.
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Thanks!
Short but sweet article. Got right to the point 🙂
http://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/06/06/bruce-arenas-nationalistic-criticisms-of-jurgen-klinsmann-have-no-place-in-american-soccer/
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Crist is saying nothing but these endorsement and coaxing of the Democratic establishment REALLY helps him.
He will beat Rick Scott!
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[…] perhaps trickier. I have long supported a complete lifting of the embargo but also realized due to excellent polling done by specialists in Hispanic voting patterns that Charlie Crist could be very hurt in Miami-Dade County by taking the courageous stand he did. […]
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