Guest Author, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJune 9, 2014

You’ve got to celebrate incremental victories when you’re dealing with the Florida Legislature and its National Rifle Association sycophants. Between state Republicans drunk on their collective brand of toddler “I do it,” and the NRA’s determination to arm Floridians for their jaunts to the big box stores and burger joints, Florida shares with Texas pride […]

Guest AuthorJune 9, 2014

The rosy picture laid out recently about the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund’s status isn’t quite so rosy once you look at the real facts and consider the financial damage a storm would do to our state, given our reliance on government mechanisms and public debt rather than private capital. The managers of the Cat Fund […]

Guest AuthorJune 8, 2014

As I looked over the cliffs to the beaches leading to the sea, I was awestruck with a sense of history and American pride. All is calm today, much unlike June 6 70 years ago. It had been more than a year in the planning. Decoys had been staged in places as far north as […]

Guest AuthorJune 8, 2014

Must democracy be a scam? Today, the Florida Constitution has all the moral weight of a dry-cleaning ticket. That’s not the way that venerable document is usually perceived or how it’s supposed to be perceived. Yet, to be honest, that’s just the way it is — or how it has devolved. Politicians invoke the Constitution […]

Guest AuthorJune 5, 2014

Summer is right around the corner – that glorious time of year when parents and children take a break from life to concentrate on each other. But after the first morning ends in a bitter, half-hour argument about whether Family Guy is inappropriate or high-quality humor, then what? How about some math and reading? Unfortunately, […]

Guest AuthorJune 5, 2014

Every four years soccer fans around the globe focus on the FIFA World Cup, this year being held in Brazil. The national teams of countries compete to become World Cup champions in the name of patriotism and pride. I am a fan of almost all sports, but especially soccer – so I cannot contain my […]

Guest AuthorJune 4, 2014

On Tuesday, I watched a man that I have long admired, Thad Cochran, fight to hold his seat in the U.S. Senate. With 99.5 percent of the votes counted, challenger Chris McDaniel and Cochran each have about 49 percent of the votes cast in this Mississippi Republican primary. They likely will meet again in a […]

Guest AuthorJune 4, 2014

Columnists are called to dissect and analyze tragedies, and last week’s horrible killing spree in California is no exception. We try to draw conclusions about why it happened, and how it might be prevented in the future. More gun laws. Better education about women’s equality. More and better services for people in psychological crisis. More and better services […]

Guest AuthorJune 4, 2014

Back in the 1950s, my nana squeezed out her sixth kid and decided to get a job. Without even a high school diploma, she enrolled in nursing school and made it happen. This was a radical thing to do. But Kitty Durkin was a radical chick and didn’t care that her neighbors and friends thought […]

Guest AuthorJune 3, 2014

When some voices are stilled, a chorus must sound in their honor. Maya Angelou falls in that category. The woman who gave a spectacular lyricism to a childhood under Jim Crow stepped off stage last week. Her shadow will linger for a long time. For me, an immigrant, a man of color, I discovered Maya […]

Guest Author
This exhibit celebrates late-blooming artistry, proving it’s never too late for bold creativity.

Linda Grist Cunningham: You’ve got to celebrate judge’s ruling on local gun control

Tom Feeney: Florida’s Cat Fund isn’t as rosy when you look at the facts

John Grant: At Normandy, they did not die in vain

Stephen Goldstein: Florida elected officials trash constitutional amendments

Catherine Durkin Robinson: Make summer fun and full of learning

Erin O’Flaherty: Soccer needs to advance beyond its tinge of racism

Rick Outzen: Tea Party-backed challenger poised to defeat respected senator

Julie Delegal: The California killer is a stranger who is very familiar

Catherine Durkin Robinson: Why most women should work outside the home

Andrew Skerritt: Maya Angelou helped black women find their voice