Author: opinionstogo

Porter’s Punishment

To no one’s surprise, the house arrest-probation-psychiatric evaluation-community service sentence handed Jennifer Porter by Judge Lamar Battles met with a polarizing response.

A case can certainly be made that she got off easy after her hit-and-run accident left behind two dead children and a distraught mother. The racial rationales were as expected as they were understandable.

But of all the factors that mitigated matters in favor of Porter, none was more critical than her counsel. She had access to Barry Cohen. We should all be so fortunate when we’re dead wrong.

Cohen was able to marshal psychiatric testimony that obviously impressed Battles, inevitably cast as a poor man’s Solomon. In effect, the judge was apprised, Porter was traumatized by the accident and was in the throes of diminished capacity when she drove off in an altered state.

In reality, this carried the day – not the color of her skin.

Same News, More Coverage

Recently WTVT-Channel 13 announced that it was developing a new 11 p.m. newscast to accompany its incumbent newscasts at 6 and 10:00 p.m. It’s likely to debut before the end of the year.

I know we’re now the 12th largest TV market in America. And I’m as big an advocate of our supply-and-demand marketplace as the next guy. But can there really be a market, let alone a need, for another glibly co-anchored, news-Vipirized weather-sports triumvirate?

And even more perplexing, it replaces M*A*S*H reruns.

“Under Instruction”

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays continue to make all the right moves. On the marketing front, they’re pitching a shutout: from free parking, a liberal refreshments policy and more community involvement to No More Naimoli and LaMar. Rocco Baldelli will be here long term and Tropicana Field upgrades are already underway.

“Under Construction,” indeed.

Then the Rays moved on to the next phase.

They shored up a glaring in-house weakness: precious little baseball experience between top management Wunderkinds Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman. That was addressed with the hiring of well-regarded, veteran baseball executive Gerry Hunsicker, the man most responsible for putting together the National League pennant-winning Houston Astros.

Call it: “Under Instruction.”

Puttering Around The River

EDAW, the company the city hired to design the downtown Riverwalk, has thrown out some preliminary ideas and listened to input from a public forum. The winnowing process has begun.

What everyone agrees on, however, is that it’s an excellent idea to open up the Hillsborough River. So it can be seen and enjoyed. It’s also acknowledged that the river is as underutilized and aesthetically bludgeoned a natural resource as any city could have ever allowed.

But of all the proposals being aired, one stands out, so to speak, from the rest.

Two words: No mini-golf.

The Washington Power Grid: From Liddy To Libby

Much has been made of the irony of Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s indictment.

He’s charged with lying to cover up an ostensible non-crime, the leaking of a covert CIA agent’s identity. And that’s a fair assessment. It’s questionable that his out-of-school media prattling about Valerie Plame could survive the parsing of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 or the 1917 Espionage Act.

But this isn’t, as partisans and some pundits would have it, merely a case of “criminalizing politics.”

Perjury is serious, felonious stuff, as Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald took pains to point out. Whether it’s a “truck driver paying bribes in Chicago” or powerful Washington insiders dropping character-assassination dimes. It’s not some prosecutorial consolation prize or a “technicality,” he underscored, unless right and wrong, lying and truth-telling are fundamentally immaterial to our system.

But the Libby “lying” is not classic irony. It’s classic presidential administration – any administration – hardball politics and blind loyalty. The dark side of Capitol culture. It’s G. Gordon Liddy with a better pedigree.

Liddy, the Watergate expediter, once explained what it was all about.

It’s about “power,” he declaimed, and what you do to “get it” and what you do to “keep it,” because your partisan cause and your country are worth it. It’s true believers and power trippers not taking prisoners if they don’t have to.

It’s an amoral context at the top, where dirty tricks are a given, some dirtier than others. In Liddy’s case, from compromising opposition candidates with call girls to assigning burglars to the Watergate headquarters of the Democratic Party chairman. Co-opting any chance of a McGovern Administration was worth any price. If America had to be saved from itself, so be it. It’s no quantum leap to blindsiding those denouncing a key rationale for war.

The ends justified the means, however unethical, however sleazy, however, if necessary, criminal.

It didn’t start with Liddy; it won’t end with Libby.

Presidential Dilemma

Speculation continues apace about what President Bush can do to get his pre-Libby, Miers, Katrina, Social Security, budget deficits, Iraq insurgency and WMD mojo back.

One consensus is that he has to “reconnect” with the American people. As a generic strategy, it means getting back to basics and reminding the electorate of who you are and what you were saying when you were initially elected. Ronald Reagan is often cited as a precedent in his recovery from Iran-Contra.

Only one problem. The scenarios couldn’t be more different.

At his core, Reagan was a pleasant fatherland figure and personally liked even by ideological adversaries. From the start, he waxed on about “morning in America.” The nostalgia card played well.

He also had the perfect partner, Mikhail Gorbachev, in sun-setting the Cold War. And Reagan was juxtaposed to the malaise-connoting Jimmy Carter, hardly a tough act to follow.

Bush’s presidential roots hearken back to the embittering, divisive controversy that was Bush-Gore. We’re also reminded that George W. Bush was a self-defined “uniter, not a divider.” Moreover, he would see to it that “honor” would be restored to the White House. And his administration would be “open,” with a focus on what was “right,” not just what was “legal.”

Bush, of course, is not avuncular, which is not a problem. But neither, alas, is he presidential. He still has his frat boy, “Heckuva job, Brownie” moments when he goes off script.

We also know that before “neo-con” became part of the political parlance, Iraqi “regime change” was on the table – well before Sept. 11, 2001.

Not that there isn’t nostalgia.

We do remember Colin Powell before he was a kept man and Condoleezza Rice before she was steamrolled into irrelevance by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. And recall wistfully when Karl Rove was merely “Bush’s brain” – not his moral compass.

Then there’s the other consensus. It calls for a Reaganesque shake-up of Bush’s inner circle. Perhaps a latter-day Howard Baker will appear to keep the political hordes at bay and buy some time and credibility. But that seems a long shot. Washington is deus ex machina -challenged these days.

Unless Patrick Fitzgerald would be interested.

Professor Dogg?

Just when you think the popular culture is Hades-bound in a handcart, we learn of “Stand In,” one of MTV Network’s hottest new properties. It’s about celebrities as surprise, guest instructors at institutes of higher learning. It’s actually the spin-off MTVu, which is aimed at college campuses.

OK, you go where your market is, and you have to do something when it’s not Spring Break. If you’re MTV, this is smart. But it also requires the considerable cooperation of the institutions. This smarts.

Granted, some guests, such as Bill Gates talking about new technologies and career possibilities to a University of Wisconsin computer programming class, are beyond reproach. The ultimate, real-world input for students that is also a promotional coup for UW and Microsoft. Hey, best of all worlds.

The series actually began last year with the maestro of self-promotion, Jesse Jackson, and has included Kanye West, Ashley Judd, Snoop Dogg, Sting and the ever-edgy Sen. John McCain. Madonna has appeared at Hunter College, Marilyn Manson at Temple University and Cameron Diaz – speaking on building designs that protect the environment – at Stanford University.

Let’s call this what it is. Absent a Gatesesque guest, it’s a sell-out by universities that would allow their good offices to be commercialized in such a cheesy, pandering fashion.

But if they need the publicity and a link of “relevance” to their “market” so desperately, at least book these self-serving acts into Marketing 101, where they belong.

The Lopez Legacy

When Al Lopez died at 97 late last month, he left a legacy that few will even approach.

He made it to the Hall of Fame and was, until Wade Boggs, the only Tampa native so honored. This son of Ybor became a source of immense pride to Tampa’s Latinos. But “El Senor” transcended his ethnic roots. Accomplishment on a national stage and a lifelong common touch will do that. How you comport yourself, how you treat people always mattered most. Al Lopez: A gentleman, a caballero.

Many who have come after him — Lou Piniella, Tony LaRussa, Tino Martinez, Luis Gonzalez and Boggs among others — were fortunate to have had such a role model and learned lessons about life away from the field of play.

But a few never took the first note. And Dwight Gooden’s not the only one.

Tampa’s Front Page Ink

It’s not often that Tampa is referenced on the front page of the Wall Street Journal — let alone in the lead of the top story. But thanks to this city’s integral role in a Verizon piece, that’s what occurred two Fridays ago.

Nationwide, Verizon is battling to hold its own in the free-for-all that is today’s telecommunications marketplace. According to the WSJ , Verizon’s upgrade plans involve spending some $20 billion to fiber-optic its service areas. Part of the scenario includes “squaring off against local governments” as it seeks to offer additional service, such as cable TV. And these local governments, such as Tampa’s, can be pretty demanding when it comes to a quid pro quo for granting permission.

City officials, noted the WSJ, presented Verizon with a “$13-million wish list, including money for an emergency communications network, digital editing equipment and video cameras to film a math-tutoring program for kids.”

The WSJ chronicled Verizon’s pique, suspension of talks and subsequent deal with Temple Terrace, which resulted in ads that sardonically urged Tampa residents to move to Temple Terrace if they wanted more TV choices.

Verizon later “turned on the marketing charm,” noted the WSJ , and the two sides resumed talking. According to the Journal , “Verizon says it’s confident any outstanding issues will be resolved and that its video plans eventually will get the city council’s blessing.”

Not editorialized in the WSJ article: These days Verizon better make sure that it’s anticipating a blessing — not a rubber stamp.

Stretch Limos No Longer A Mainstream Reach

Time was when limousines were the almost exclusive purview of the affluent, the powerful and the celebrated – with allowances for the ritualistic: brides, grooms, prom queens and deceased.

“Years ago, limos were mainly for the rich,” says Julie Herring, owner of Clearwater-based Julie’s Limousines and Coachworks Inc. “Now, it’s much more mainstream. They’re affordable.” For the record, that means an industry range of $60-$160 an hour depending on vehicle, amenities and fuel surcharge.

“There is a decided trend toward a younger clientele,” notes Herring, who has owned Julie’s for 19 years. “Those in their 30’s who have landed the right job, are now making real money and going up the ladder. They rent a lot of limousines.”

Bachelor-bachelorette parties and bar-hopping accounts for a lot of that business, adds Herring (with discounts if a wedding booking results). “They’ll go from the Blue Martini (International Plaza) to SoHo and Ybor,” says Herring. “It’s a familiar route.”

The perspective is no different at Tampa’s Premier Limousine. “We’re seeing more and more young professionals, the up-and-comers,” says sales manager Victor Chambers. “Renting a limo is part of doing business. But when it’s for nights out on the town – they like Hummers. And they like being safe. As one customer told me, ‘$400 is a lot cheaper than a $7,000 D.U.I.'”

And they like the cachet.

“For some people, the luxury limo represents a chance to play a role or indulge in a fantasy,” says Tampa psychologist Alan Lewis. “You get a chance to look like you normally don’t. It’s fun.”

Which helps explain the popularity of Hummers, the latest in “exotics.” It’s not just Cadillacs and Lincolns that are being stretched these days, points out Chambers. If you cut it down the middle, add paneling, reinforce the frame and modify the engine, you can also have a Stretch Porsche or a Stretch Lexus.

On the inside, there’s a lot more than a bar and NBA-style leg room. Premier has the largest H2 Hummer in central Florida. It seats 18-20 and has five flat-screen TVs, a DVD/CD surround sound system, sub-woofers galore, mirrored roofing, granite counters, leather upholstery with snakeskin motif, laser strobe and fiber optic mood lighting, private VIP bar and entertainment system, a lighted disco style floor, lava lamps and 5-passenger VIP seating in the rear.

Not to be overlooked, however, is the chauffeur.

“You know, a great stereo is still important, and the vehicle has got to be pretty and clean,” says Mickey Velilla, the owner of St. Petersburg’s Patriot Limousine. “But the most important factor is the chauffeur. They can make the difference. They have to think like a concierge, be flexible and understand etiquette – and act like a host.”

And, chances are, they are driving to a party near you this holiday season.

“The holidays mean real busy, real fast,” says Herring of Julie’s. “We’re talking company parties, and everybody has Christmas parties. And they get earlier each year.”

For Patriot, which is top-heavy in corporate clientele, the holiday season is a reverse of the normal pattern. “Things change drastically,” explains Velilla. “Probably 70% of the business is parties. It took a while after 9/11, but I think people feel good about spending money again.”