Jac VerSteegJust a quick word about the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s decision to investigate whether Context Florida columnist Daniel Tilson is a threat to Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
The FDLE sent an agent to Tilson’s home after he wrote a column about Gov. Scott’s gimmicky tax-cut booth and promoted his work on Facebook with a reference to Beatles lyrics that included the phrase “Coming to take you away.” The column is here, and Tilson recounts his contact with FDLE here.
Tilson is a threat only in the sense that he is smart enough to see through BS and gifted at writing satire that punctures the targets of his astute observations. For political hypocrites and talking-point poseurs, that is a threat indeed.
But any suggestion that Tilson poses a physical threat to the governor or anyone else is laughable and foolish.
Which brings me to the statement the FDLE issued in response to the brouhaha that its “investigation” of Tilson provoked.
Here’s the statement:
“On March 27, an FDLE analyst from our Ft. Myers Region came across the blog post, “Coming to take you away, take you away… #RickScott.
“The analyst passed the information on to her supervisor who forwarded it to FDLE’s Miami Region. The Miami Region asked an FDLE Special Agent to speak with Mr. Tilson to determine whether the post was merely referencing a song or something more. Following their conversation, the mater was closed.
“FDLE Agents will always err on the side of caution when judging the context of a blog, email, or other posting. However, Commissioner Swearingen is reviewing the incident and believes FDLE could have better evaluated the post and is speaking to all regions to ensure better coordination in the future.”
The core of this statement is that “FDLE Agents will always err on the side of caution.” That is a tried-and-true excuse.
But it also is an excuse that can be easily abused. That’s the case here. FDLE did not err on the side of caution. It either erred on the side on political intimidation, or it erred on the side of idiocy.
Given the Scott administration’s apparent willingness to play politics with state agencies – see the dismissal of FDLE chief Gerald Bailey and accusations leveled by former Department of Corrections chief Mike Crews – it is impossible to completely rule out political intimidation.
That leaves Floridians in the uncomfortable position of having to hope that this incident was just an example of idiocy.
That’s not a very happy prospect, either. The FDLE, with 1,700 employees and a budget north of $300 million, not only protects the governor, it is, as its name implies, the state’s premier law enforcement agency. If FDLE can’t make better decisions than agents made in this case, there are reasons aplenty for Floridians to be worried.
The FDLE needs to realize that in this case it did not err on the side of caution. It simply erred.
Jac Wilder VerSteeg is editor of Context Florida. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
