Tag Archives: Florida
Flashback Friday: When Reapportionment meant the most
This week’s redistricting Special Session is the latest in a long run of map drawing and redrawing exercises the legislature has had to undertake since the Justice Department began strong enforcement of the Voting Rights Act in 1991 vis-a-vis minority-access and majority-minority districts. Prior to 1968, Florida’s legislature was badly apportioned. While the state had […]
Florida’s Democrats should consider positives of the Iran deal
As we come up to the 70th Anniversary of the atomic bomb strikes on Japan (which I feel were justified and saved American lives and that of many Japanese civilians that would have been lost in an invasion of the island) preventing nuclear proliferation is a critical part of global diplomacy. Even as a liberal […]
Thursday Bookshelf : 1775 and why Florida didn’t join the American Revolution
Kevin Phillips 1775: A Good Year for Revolution is a definitive and intellectual look at the causes of the American Revolution. Like Phillips other woks we’ve reviewed here on the “Bush Dynasty” and the politics of the American wealthy and the developing theocracy that appeared during the 2000’s , Phillips makes any subject interesting. The former Republican political consultant […]
Darren Soto and the 2015 Session
The reaction to my article published Thursday morning about State Senator Darren Soto was visceral in some quarters while favorable in others. Let me explain why Soto is a target of mine and why I find some of defenses of him disingenuous. Democrats in Florida are badly in need of developing a values based party that […]
Clearing up some reapportionment misconceptions
Florida’s Supreme Court rightly threw out several Congressional districts basically invalidating the entire state map on Thursday. Under the “Fair Districts” law, Florida’s Congressional map was a complete disgrace. Florida’s Republicans have arrogantly drawn maps that skirt the boundaries of the law. The long-standing arrogance and sense of entitlement that Florida’s Republican leadership has demonstrated […]
Back to the Future: Tallahassee Leaders Look to Chiles’ Era Reform Efforts to Address City Concerns
By Dr.Rachel Sutz Pienta In recent months, Tallahassee leaders have made efforts to address a number of city issues – from food deserts and disparate health outcomes to youth violence and early learning deficits. Earlier this year, Mayor Andrew Gillum convened business leaders for a Children’s Summit. What many thought would herald a move to […]
Flashback Friday: Civil Rights, Southern Manifesto and Voting Rights in Florida
In light of recent Civil Rights related controversies a look back at some of the sorry history of Florida members of Congress during the Civil Rights era. The Southern Manifesto (1956) from Florida. According to the official US House of Representatives site: ” Howard Smith of Virginia, chairman of the House Rules Committee, introduced theSouthern Manifesto in a […]
Flashback Friday: Florida’s first African-American member of Congress
Republican Josiah T. Walls was Florida’s first African-American Congressman, and a powerful symbol of the Reconstruction era in the state. Walls was born into slavery in Virginia and captured by the Union Army during the Peninsula Campaign. Eventually he was discharged in Florida after the Battle of Olustee and settled in the Gainesville area. Following […]
Flashback Friday: Charley Johns, The “Pork Chop” Gang, The Purple Pamphlet and the shame of Florida’s circa 1960’s Legislature
Senator Charley Johns (D-Starke) is one of the best known figures in the Florida Political History for multiple dubious reasons. The leader of the infamous “Pork Chop Gang”. Johns became Governor in 1953 after Governor Dan McCarty the first Governor elected from southern Florida died just months after taking office. Prior to 1968, Florida had […]
Why Democratic activists do not trust Florida’s Democratic Party leaders
Less than 24 hours after losing with an incumbent in one of the most visible positions in the state, Florida’s Democratic Party leadership is again taking it on the chin from armchair pundits across the state. While many FDP backers have taken to Twitter and Facebook to downplay the party’s failures and throw stones at […]
The Florida Squeeze 