Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorNovember 26, 2013

This week, Americans will gather together with their family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. The original American Thanksgiving was a holiday designated as a religious celebration of the abundance and good fortune of living in this country. Sad to say, Thanksgiving is not what it used to be. Like many of our American institutions, the […]

Peter SchorschNovember 25, 2013

From the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee to Charlie Crist’s waterfront condominium in St. Petersburg and from a cafeteria in a drug rehab facility to a Cracker Barrel in Wesley Chapel, politicians across Florida will gather around Thanksgiving dinner tables to celebrate the most American of holidays. Before they dig into dishes of Parmesan roasted Florida […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 25, 2013

Here we go again. Some politician hungry for a headline — in South Dakota this time –wants to make school children recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag as a daily ritual. Applause erupts countrywide. My ContextFlorida colleague Steve Kurlander endorsed the idea last week. I dissent. True patriotism is taught, and learned, only […]

Guest AuthorNovember 25, 2013

In this football-mad state capital, Famous Jameis Winston is so much more important than Rick Scott, and what goes on at Doak Campbell Stadium is more relevant than happenings at the Capitol. There are probably more prayers being offered from pulpits for the Florida State quarterback than for the stricken people of the Philippines. Yes, […]

Guest AuthorNovember 24, 2013

On the morning of Oct. 30, the Florida Department of Corrections told a legislative appropriations committee that it would need $58 million in the 2014-15 budget to meet the needs of a burgeoning prison population. Less than 12 hours earlier, Congressman Trey Radel, R-Ft. Myers, was caught purchasing cocaine from an undercover police officer in […]

Peter SchorschNovember 24, 2013

Pardon me while I channel my inner David Simon… Can’t Congressman Trey Radel find some measure of political comfort in last week’s Quinnipiac poll showing overwhelming support by Floridians for the medical use of marijuana? By now you know the tragic story of Radel and his arrest on possession of cocaine. The freshman lawmaker is now on his […]

Daniel TilsonNovember 24, 2013

Like a minor leaguer who shockingly grabs an established star’s spot in the majors, has an out-of-this-world first few seasons, then overthinks his meteoric rise and falls back down to Earth; Marco Rubio is his own worst enemy as he keeps trying to snap out of a prolonged slump. Not long after ascending to anointment […]

Julie DelegalNovember 24, 2013

All I remember was the look on my teacher’s face. It was first-period French, and the loudspeaker had commanded all of us to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. What was it that compelled me to stay seated? Thirty years later, I don’t recall the specific injustice I no doubt thought I was fighting. It […]

Peter SchorschNovember 21, 2013

There’s logic to limiting the number of hospitals that pop up in an area: if a region has too many, resources are spread thin and costs may not be easily recovered. Florida has a process for managing new hospital construction, and generally speaking, it works. But trauma centers are different. People using trauma centers don’t […]

Guest AuthorNovember 21, 2013

Trey Radel, we barely knew you long enough to spell your name correctly (I fact-checked the spelling at least three times while writing this column). I don’t know what surprises me more: that a member of Congress was caught buying cocaine in DuPont Circle (he was actually arrested at his apartment), that his dealer rolled […]

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Steve Kurlander: We must be thankful for our important institutions

Peter Schorsch: Florida politicians should be thankful for their good luck

Martin Dyckman: Forcing people to recite the Pledge is unconstitutional

Andrew Skerritt: Football fanaticism skews our sense of right and wrong

Jeff Clemens: Radel was wise to buy his cocaine in D.C., not Florida

Peter Schorsch: Radel’s arrest more evidence that ‘War on Drugs’ is lost

Daniel Tilson: If Marco Rubio has ‘still got game,’ what is it?

Julie Delegal: The promise of the Pledge requires work, determination

Peter Schorsch: Trauma patients shouldn’t be treated like ‘market share’

Jamie Miller: Hey Trey, you hurt yourself, your district, the state, the House