Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorFebruary 14, 2016

It’s Presidents’ Day again, a day when the schools and banks are closed, the local, state and federal bureaucracies leave us alone, and everyone else is busy working to pay for it all. The holiday goes back as far as 1879 and was originally intended to honor George Washington. This was later amended to include […]

Martin DyckmanJune 1, 2015

With all the horrors continuing to occur in the world, notably including the massacres perpetrated by Boko Haram in Africa and ISIS in the Middle East, the evangelist Franklin Graham has not exactly overlooked them. But it’s to some other crisis that he has been devoting most of his public preaching lately. He’s been praying […]

Guest AuthorNovember 18, 2014

“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” Those sweeping words of the First Amendment are the crown jewels of our Bill of Rights, the equivalent of “Let freedom ring,” the bedrock of our Republic. If Americans cherish anything, it is their constitutional protection to speak their minds. But however […]

Guest AuthorJune 2, 2014

Amidst the Memorial Day barbecues, shopping sprees, sporting events and endless miles of “are we there yet?” there were speeches and commentaries to remind us of the fallen and the freedoms they died to protect. Typically, these tributes mentioned the rights specified in the Constitution: religion, speech, assembly and press. U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross wrote […]

Bob SparksMarch 24, 2014

The right to express one’s opinion unhindered by the government stands at the top of the list of citizen rights. The founders thought it important enough to rank it first on the list of the Bill of Rights. With minimal limitation, people can pretty much say what they wish, no matter how distasteful, hurtful or […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 20, 2013

A narrow majority on the Supreme Court reads the Constitution as if the calendar had not turned since 1791. According to Justice Antonin Scalia, the court’s duty is to “begin with the text, and to give that text the meaning that it bore when it was adopted by the people.” The trouble — and yes, […]

Tag: Bill of Rights

Tim Bryce: Presidents' Day – Could they be elected today?

Martin Dyckman: Franklin Graham praying for destruction of the U.S. Constitution

Stephen Goldstein: Democrats must become better liars than Republicans

Martin Dyckman: Republicans are winning the gerrymander game in Florida

Bob Sparks: Government can foster, not define, civility

Martin Dyckman: Court’s ‘originalism’ rulings threaten American Republic