Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJuly 20, 2014

Probably not time to order the cake or get those wedding attire alterations done, but if you’re a-hankering for a gussied up Key West wedding, you’d better book the venue. On Thursday, 16th District Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia pulled the first thread that will unravel the Florida straightjacket prohibiting marriage equality. Garcia overturned the […]

Guest AuthorJuly 9, 2014

One of our phone conversations before the aneurysm burst and John died barely past his 50th birthday went like this: Me: Well, we always said we’d know we were old when “Chorus Line” returned as a Broadway revival. John: Yeah, the previews are great. Want me to book three tickets for October? You, Ed and […]

Martin DyckmanJune 30, 2014

Listen up, Tea Party. I’m going to talk about Rand Paul. Favorably. But first things first. As we all remember from school, the independence we’ll celebrate this week was a revolt against taxation without representation. Although the revolutionary agenda was actually more complex, taxation certainly was the spark. But even today, 238 years later, there […]

Martin DyckmanJune 26, 2014

There are few things worse than a 24-year-old man seeking sex from a 13-year-old girl, or so it would seem. They should lock him up and throw away the key, or so it would seem. But sometimes, things aren’t what they seem. This is about a young man we’ll call by his initials, JFD. His […]

Martin DyckmanJune 19, 2014

In George Orwell’s classic novel, Animal Farm, the pigs who become tyrants of the barnyard declare that although all animals are equal, “some animals are more equal than others.” He was satirizing communism, but the point applies to our democracy as well. Your “equal” vote may be gerrymandered into uselessness. The politician takes calls from […]

Martin DyckmanMay 27, 2014

Now you know — as if there was ever doubt — why the right wing is desperate to take over the Florida Supreme Court. Why there’s a constitutional amendment on the ballot to let Gov. Rick Scott pack the court if he is re-elected. The Supreme Court itself illustrated the reasons late Tuesday afternoon when […]

Daniel TilsonMay 21, 2014

Florida is nearing what could be a major step forward on marriage equality. And we have some ugly reminders that the ignorance, prejudice and downright stupidity that plagued us in a dark past, are still alive and unwell today. A ruling is expected soon in a lawsuit filed in Miami District Court in January. Equality […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 26, 2014

North Carolina, the vacation or retirement home for throngs of Floridians, seems to be competing with the Sunshine State for dishonors. The Tarheel state is winning. North Carolina’s legislature has managed to repeal a century of progress in a single session. Its new voter suppression law is among the nation’s most diabolical. In just one […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 14, 2014

As a fourth generation Floridian, I care deeply about protecting our waterways and environment. I believe that Florida has always had the best expertise and resources to determine how to protect our waters, as does each unique state. Under the current administration, the federal Environmental Protection Agency continually seeks expanded authority to trump state regulation. […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 10, 2014

Where is the outrage? The news that University of South Florida anthropologists found 55 bodies buried on the property of the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna prompted the usual anger from former inmates and relatives of boys who died there. But the silence from our state’s legal and political establishment is disconcerting. Attorney General […]

Tag: Pam bondi

Linda Cunningham: It’s time to think about booking Key West for gay weddings

Linda Cunningham: Two Key West men challenging state’s gay-marriage ban

Martin Dyckman: Let’s celebrate July 4 by restoring felons’ voting rights

Martin Dyckman: Did the police entrap student during sex sting?

Martin Dyckman: In Florida, poor people whose woes are of a civil nature are on their own

Martin Dyckman: Right wing is desperate to control Fla. Supreme Court

Daniel Tilson: Ugly reminders on road to Florida marriage equality

Martin Dyckman: Feds should force Florida to restore right to vote to felons

Pam Bondi: Florida joined suit against EPA to limit federal ‘overreach’

Andrew Skerritt: Where is the outrage over the bodies at Marianna?