Opinions to go Online

Joe Biden, a good, decent man and a bulwark for liberal democracy, deserved better. From his first wife and daughter being killed in a car accident to his adult kid Beau dying of cancer to Hunter’s drug-driven run-ins with the law to his timing as a president who looked and acted like a man past his prime.

He wanted to “restore the soul of America.” Instead, he ironically enabled the comeback chances of the soulless Trump, the uninformed, authoritarian, nativist, misogynist grifter.

Biden championed the economy-mitigating, COVID-context $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the $1 trillion Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act and the $800 million Inflation reduction Act. He worked well with allies and revived NATO. GDP remains strong, unemployment is at a half-century low and inflation has gone from 9.1% in 2022 to 2.4% in September. It wasn’t, however, enough in an era of bumper-sticker ideology, MAGA magnetism and prices that nobody likes.

Biden was an influential senator for 36 years and a vice president for eight years. He wasn’t divisive. He knew the players—both domestic and international.

But a key turning point was 2016, when President Barack Obama backed Hillary Clinton—not VP Biden—as the Democrats’ next-up presidential nominee. While it’s true that empathy over the impact of Beau’s death played a role in Obama’s decision, the result was a mismanaged-and-James Comey-impacted campaign. It hurts to lose a win-able race on unforced errors.

When Biden took over in 2020, his prime, if not memories of his interactions with Anita Hill, was behind him. The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was humiliating, optics from the border were unsettling and periodic, awkward lapses were embarrassing—ending with his regrettably lame debate performance and withdrawal from the race. And then the Hunter Biden pardon, which for all the understandable father-son empathy, hardly helped the Joe Biden image. “The most tragic figure in American politics in my lifetime,” underscored Democratic strategist James Carville.

Joe Biden’s legacy? He was well qualified and well regarded until he passed his prime. That’s like a lot of us. Only we’ve never been president.

 

A MAGA-enamored, fealty-first cabinet is a further guarantee of a third-rate administration. Maybe a secretary of vetting would have helped. A theme of retribution, including cherry-picking in Florida, has been playing out. Only one post-election surprise: Pam Bondi wasn’t named provost of Trump University.

 

If open carry ultimately passes in this Gunshine State, heads up for neo-Nazis and their proudly brandished guns. The public safety, common sense argument doesn’t register with that Reich wingnut crowd.

But there’s always hope. Perhaps the impact of awful, media-magnet optics and an inevitable, high-profile shooting on tourism will make a meaningful, legislative difference.

 

* Some politicians stand for the truth. As its replacement.

* Signage of the Times:

^ “I’m Fat—so Don’t Park Close!!!!! Have a Nice Day!”

^ “Beware of Smartphone Zombies.”

^ “This is a Private Sign. Please Do Not Read.”

^ “Never Mind the Dog. Beware the Owner.”

 

* Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, who has labeled Trump a “con man” and those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 as “unpatriotic,” “un-American” and “low lives,” more recently noted that “God protected President Trump” on the Pennsylvania assassination attempt. Who knew God was a Trumpster?

* Trump won Miami-Dade County by 11 points. Kamala Harris thus became the first Democratic presidential candidate to lose there since Michael Dukakis (who lost to George H.W. Bush) in 1988.

* Flori-duh update: Surgeon General Joseph LaDope-o checked another inexplicable healthcare box. He opposes fluoride in drinking water.

* The largest port in Florida is Port Tampa Bay. According to a report (by Martin and Associates), it generated more than $34 billion in economic value in 2023 to the Sunshine State. That included 35 million tons of cargo and 1.1 million cruise ship passengers. It’s also directly and indirectly responsible for nearly 200,000 jobs.

* Florida-based Spirit Airlines, the biggest U.S. budget airline, has filed for bankruptcy. protection.

 

* Other than faculty and students, everybody seems on board with changes to New College’s mission statement and core curriculum.

* “If we approve this, there’s going to be a war in South Tampa.”–That was Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson, in reference to a vote to move forward with a major storm water system update in South Tampa, one that includes box culverts along residential streets and on South Howard Avenue.

* Community-police relations and transparency are civically and racially impactful. No surprise, then, that the Free State of Florida would prohibit municipalities from enforcing any ordinance related to civilian oversight of police-misconduct investigations. That, alas, includes Tampa’s Citizen Review Board. It’s imperfect, sure, but important, of course.

* The Onion bought Infowars—with plans to turn it into a parody of itself. Quite the challenge: Making a parody out of a parody.

* NBC News exit polls showed Trump won 55% support from Hispanic men. Whatever the cherry-picking, economic rationale and “anti-socialist” bumper stickers, how ironico that this president-elect is a belittling, nativist, anti-immigrant faux populist.

* “From my point of view, (X) has become basically unusable, overrun by bots, trolls, cranks and extremists.”–Paul Krugman, NYT.

* “Numerous politicians have seized absolute power and muzzled the press. Never in history has the press seized absolute power and muzzled the politicians.”–David Brinkley.

* Turkey-pardoning at the White House: beyond silly. SNL has enough Cold Opening material.

* Qatar officially withdrew from its role as mediator between Israel and Hamas. It cited frustration with both parties’ refusal to negotiate in good faith.

* According to the Council on foreign Relations website, “Puerto Rico is a political paradox: part of the United States but distinct from it, enjoying citizenship but lacking full political representation.” Puerto Rico recently voted (56%) to endorse statehood.

* The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of crimes against humanity. It is beyond ironic that an Israeli leader should be on the wrong side of genocide.

* The Rays will play next season at Steinbrenner Field. Too bad it’s a post-hurricane scenario that ripped off the Trop roof. So this, now, is as close as the franchise will come to relocating to Tampa, the hub of the Tampa Bay market, where it has always belonged.

* BTW, the minimum MLB salary is $760,000. Not everybody hates the economy.

* The school with the most Number 1 NFL draft picks: University of Southern California, 6. Among those with a number one pick: University of Tampa, 1: John Matuzak, 1973.

* Mike Tyson, 58, who hasn’t been heavyweight champion since 1990, recently lost to Jake Paul, 27, a former social media influencer. The bout attracted a huge live audience, including Trump and Elon Musk, and drew some 60 million households on Netflix. That’s where we are now.

* College football and basketball were in a far better place when references were only made to “recruiting”–not “acquisitions.”

* “Keep America Chaotic & Embarrassed.”–Reality slogan for Trump’s early Cabinet nominees.

* It’s hardly surprising or coincidental that Trump’s win has emboldened fringe right-wing influencers, including “Your Body, My Choice” misogynists. BTW, the song that greeted Trump at this summer’s Republican Convention was “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown.

* “J-6 Hostages”: How Trump refers to convicted rioters at the 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection.

* The nomination of anti-vaxxer activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services underscores that America’s choice is seemingly either “Medical Freedumb” or “Nanny State.”

* “Matt (Gaetz) has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”–Donald Trump, who else?

* Trump said he’d put in place 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports. According to Wells Fargo, this would, for example. push up prices for US-assembled cars by an average of $2,100.

* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently visited with Trump at Mar-A-Lago to make the case for backing away from those threatened tariffs. He underscored that lumping his country in with Mexico over the issue of drugs and migrants was grossly unfair to Canada. The two borders are vastly different. Obviously.

* “History’s greatest comeback.”–How Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized Trump’s presidential win.

* Trump’s White House press secretary will be Karoline Leavitt, 27, who had been press secretary for his campaign. She doesn’t have a tough Trump act to follow. His previous WH press secretaries included Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany.