Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanApril 6, 2015

The original Religious Freedom Restoration Act – RFRA for short – was intended to protect faith-based practices from unnecessary government interference. That’s the opposite of trying to use it to justify faith-based discrimination against others. But of course irony and hypocrisy are hardly strangers to politics. Congress enacted RFRA in 1993 in response to the […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 8, 2015

If you need to go to court, do you want the judge wondering, as a politician might, why your lawyer didn’t contribute to her campaign? Or didn’t give enough? That’s the crux of a Florida case to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on January 20. Yanell Williams-Yulee, a Tampa lawyer, is appealing a […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 8, 2015

If you need to go to court, do you want the judge wondering, as a politician might, why your lawyer didn’t contribute to her campaign? Or didn’t give enough? That’s the crux of a Florida case to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on January 20. Yanell Williams-Yulee, a Tampa lawyer, is appealing a […]

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 AuthorSeptember 9, 2014

De facto, the United States has devolved into a theocracy. Religion — or, more exactly what a relative handful of schemers has perpetrated in the name of religion — has trashed the Constitution. The Founders would be appalled. But, either because they are afraid of burning in hell or, more importantly, not getting or staying […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 2, 2014

Post-primary punditry about low voter turnout in Florida (especially in Democrat-rich Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties) is as predictable and prolific as it is paltry. Adding up the numbers, analysts–I use the term loosely–have come to the unremarkable conclusion that Charlie Crist’s chances of defeating Rick Scott are in doubt. Henny Penny’s sky is […]

Adam WeinsteinAugust 4, 2014

I’ve been trying to catch up with Marion Hammer, the former president of the NRA and top lobbyist for the pro-gun group here in Florida, for years. I’m a lifelong gun owner, but she’s never accepted my offers to meet up for a range day. So I was glad to see she’s writing here at […]

Guest AuthorJune 29, 2014

If you think anti-abortion activists swarming around clinics are sweet, helpful Good Samaritans, you’ve sniffed a snoot-full of cockamamie pixie dust. Or you’re swooning over the perfectly coiffed spokesmen (and, why is it they are almost always men?) whose carefully modulated tones and messages reassure that protesters are simple caring folks handing out pamphlets and […]

Guest AuthorMay 18, 2014

Recently the resignation of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich stirred quite a controversy and rightfully so. That the left’s intolerance prompted the Mozilla board to force Eich from his job is an abomination and contrary to the freedom of expression America stands for. In case you missed it, Brendan Eich is an American technologist and […]

Guest AuthorApril 20, 2014

Out there on the West Coast, the courts seem to have a demented understanding of the Constitution. I refer especially to the most reversed appellate court in the country, The Ninth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Often referred to as the “Ninth Circus Court of Appeals,” it has struck again. This is the same […]

Tag: First Amendment
Dozens of vehicles were torched in a fire at a Jacksonville International Airport fire in a garage May 16. Image via Jacksonivlle Aviation Authority.

Martin Dyckman: Religious freedom isn't license to discriminate

Martin Dyckman: Will U.S. Supreme Court listen to Florida on campaign financing and judicial integrity?

Martin Dyckman: Will U.S. Supreme Court listen to Florida on campaign financing and judicial integrity?

Stephen Goldstein: Democrats must become better liars than Republicans

Stephen Goldstein: Don’t oppose same-sex marriage in God’s name, or she’ll get even

Stephen Goldstein: Voters aren’t apathetic; They’re sick of political lies

Adam Weinstein: NRA and its “Docs vs. Glocks” law treat gun owners like children

Linda Cunningham: Protected by its buffer zone, court bans them at clinics

John Grant: Some liberals have no tolerance for conservative positions

John Grant: Court supports school officials who played ‘hide the flag’