Author Archives: Kartik Krishnaiyer
#StayatHome Listening and #QuarantineReading: Claude Pepper v George Smathers
While most modern historians and political activists would point to November 7, 2000 as the most significant election in Florida’s history as far as national implications, it can be strongly argued the most important election in the state’s history as far as impacting national politics was on May 5, 1950. The 1950 US Senate Democratic Primary […]
Eastern’s Florida: April 26 1970
Eastern Airlines was from the 1920’s until the 1980’s the primary airline transporting people to/from Florida In the days of airline regulation, Eastern was awarded the bulk of lucrative north/south routes from Florida. Eastern served 15 Florida destinations in 1970. Below is a list of where Eastern flew from Florida, in a timetable dated 50 […]
#Stayathome reading suggestion: Kevin Phillips’ Wealth and Democracy
If one author drives obsessive reading out of me (besides David Frum) it is the books by former Republican Strategist turned radical Independent thinker, historian, social commentator and pundit Kevin Phillips. Today for a #StayatHome COVID-19 reading suggestion, we look at Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich which was written during George W. […]
Robert King High: Legendary Miami Progressive
Mayor Robert King High, the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1966 was a leading liberal in Florida. A supporter of Civil Rights and a reformist Mayor of Miami, he cut a very different figure than most Democrats in Florida at the time. On this week’s Florida History Podcast (Episode 51) we discuss High, who died […]
#Stayathome reading suggestions: Water Management in South Florida
River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2010 is a complete and definitive history of the Everglades ecosystem in the second half of the 20th Century. The book which is incredibly well-researched and written covers the draining of significant portions of the Everglades, the original channelization of many of the rivers in […]
Revisiting Florida’s Tort Reform debates: Many Conservatives have now shown true colors on human life.
In the late 1990’s conservatives throughout the country were pushing Tort Reform as a larger scheme to “defund the left.” Florida was an epicenter of activity as Jeb Bush’s Republican Party made breaking the Trial Lawyers and Teacher’s Union (via merit pay, school vouchers and other education “reforms”) the priorities of having complete control of […]
COVID-19: Florida’s non-diversified economy is in big trouble. What do our readers think should be next?
I’ve recently been hyper-analyzing future airline schedules and have come to a very unfortunate conclusion – major US airlines are looking to ramp up service to a large percentage pre-pandemic levels everywhere in the nation outside of Florida. Part of this is to receive bailout money which comes with strings attached (servicing destinations that might […]
Foundation of Georgia leads to the War of Jenkins Ear for Florida
The following is a brief excerpt from my forthcoming book Albion Florida. The book should be complete later this year. The British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733 as a buffer state against Spanish Florida. Florida had continued to be a haven for runaway slaves and St Augustine had by this […]
COVID-19 fallout: Why this progressive thinks neoconservatives are needed to help solve the Democrats unprincipled, anti-intellectual and non-ideological drift toward oblivion
I’ve been critical in the past of how easily Trump-era Democrats and its media allies have welcomed Bush-era neoconservatives into the camp with open arms. But the handling of COVID-19 and how messaging has developed in this period has changed my perspectives pretty dramatically. Neoconservative critiques of Trump continue to be spot-on and go directly […]
The Florida Squeeze 