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

Florence SnyderNovember 30, 2016

It’s been ten years, almost to the day, since Congressman-elect Charlie Crist pulled $360 out of his pocket to pay for a year’s supply of thermal blankets for 12-year-old Kevin Estinfil, and pulled the plug on state lawyers who’d been fighting in the Third District Court of Appeal to deny the boy the basic supplies […]

Florence SnyderNovember 29, 2016

The death penalty used to be a big story in Florida. Print and broadcast executives gave sustained and thoughtful consideration to coverage decisions. The moral, religious, public safety, and financial dimensions of this irrevocable punishment are vast, and cry out for quality journalism. For years after Gov. Bob Graham signed John Spenkelink‘s death warrant, the beat was […]

Florence SnyderNovember 28, 2016

“We have a spending problem in this state,” says House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Land ‘O Lakes), and nobody in their right mind could argue with him. Florida spends more stupid money than a drunken sailor on shore leave. Any state worker can — if they trust you — rattle off a Top Twenty list of […]

Florence SnyderNovember 27, 2016

For most of history, dying was an event. These days, it’s a “process,” and one that can go on for decades. It’s rough on families. And it’s a gold mine for those who had the cash and the foresight to invest in the burgeoning “assisted living” industry. Old folks’ homes are springing up here faster […]

Florence SnyderNovember 24, 2016

No matter how often the trained professional experts at the American Psychological Association tell us that the human brain was not designed for heavy-duty multitasking, we keep stockpiling toys that tempt our drivers to distraction, and sometimes death. Just in time for the holidays, Neal Boudette of The New York Times reminds us that American […]

Florence SnyderNovember 24, 2016

According to front page stories everywhere, America is bracing for a tense holiday weekend. Our biggest seasonal challenge used to be arranging the place cards to keep Drunk Uncle’s hands away from Junior’s girlfriend. After years of practice, most families have survival strategies for annual airings of grievances over who Mom loves best. But is […]

Florence SnyderNovember 21, 2016

For an academic who can’t keep his hands off the co-eds, friends with funds sure do come in handy. That’s the takeaway from the tawdry tale of the University of South Florida’s Herb Maschner. The aptly named anthropologist left his longtime professional home at Idaho State University for USF, bringing with him a long-standing relationship […]

Florence SnyderNovember 18, 2016

Call him Ismael, and don’t be surprised if he turns up in Carl Hiaasen‘s next ripped-from-the headlines novel. Ismael Labrador is a very real purveyor of strip mall surgery and beneficiary of Florida’s laughably lax enforcement of laws aimed at protecting the public against charlatans peddling plastic surgery on the cheap. As owners of south Florida […]

Florence SnyderNovember 17, 2016

Cellphones are here to stay, and so, it seems, are the staggeringly stupid things we do with them. Facebook fiascos are infinite in variety now that people of limited impulse control have a high-powered computer at their 24/7 command. It’s a problem for people of all ages, and from all walks of life. Not for the […]

Florence SnyderNovember 15, 2016

Death really does come in threes. This week, people who care about journalism are mourning the loss of Paul Hogan, Gwen Ifill, and J.T. Rushing. Hogan was one of our last links with an era when a kid could volunteer at the Marietta (Georgia) Daily Journal, bypass college, and rise to become the editor of […]

Florence Snyder

CNN reports, eloquently, on the nightmare that is Florida Medicaid

In Saint Augustine, a dead priest pleads for the life of his killer

For Richard Corcoran, a Sisyphean task

Florence Snyder: The Walking Warehoused

On Thanksgiving, advice from AAA. And Mom

At Thanksgiving, three ways to trump politics

USF’s Herb Maschner loses title, but not money

South Florida is still ‘skin tight’

In St. Johns County, an uphill fight to put the genie back in the bottle

Florence Snyder: Hogan, Ifill and Rushing, rest in peace …