Opinions to go Online

• Amtrak has announced daily, direct, round-trip travel between Miami and Chicago—with a stop in Tampa. It begins Nov. 10.
• “Uhurus Guilty of Conspiracy” was the TBT headline. The bottom line: Never a good time to be a Russian ally. Another bottom line: “Useful idiots” is still a post-Soviet strategy.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Edward Glazer is a major donor to the Trump campaign.

• Ron DisAstrous wasn’t available for a presidential phone call regarding Hurricane Helene. He didn’t try to call back, let alone join the president in assessing Florida damage and federal aid. Likely reason: He knows that then-Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took some GOP backlash for meeting with President Obama to thank him for federal help after Hurricane Sandy.
• “I will be voting no (on Florida’s amendment to codify abortion access).”—Donald Trump.
• “In Florida, we’ve seen the state and the presidency decided by 537 votes, so any group can potentially sway an election or the presidency.”—Miami-based, Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi.
• No, there is no vaccine against Surgeon General Joseph La-dope-o.
• According to the Brennan Center for Justice, voter impersonation is virtually non-existent. Apparently, Florida’s “Election Police” never got the memo.
• DisAstrous’ Agency for Health Care Administration has created ads and a website to oppose (the abortion-permitting) Amendment 4. Outtake: “Florida is protecting life: Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.”
• A new law provides for the creation of several potential new license plates—such as “Margaritaville.” But, no, “Freedumb” and “Anti-Woke” are not in the running.
• The “Swifties for Kamala” Instagram page has more than 55,000 followers.

• Twenty-five million Americans—one in four—saw “Birth of a Nation” in the first two years of release, the most ever for any picture without sound.
• Edison Research recently reported that the number of Americans who say they use Twitter (X) has dropped from 27% to 19%.
• Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp and You Tube have banned RT, the Russian state-owned media network. RT remains extremely popular in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

 

• The repressive regime of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega has been in power for 28 of the past 45 years.
• While most refugees lose refugee status when they acquire citizenship elsewhere, Palestinians do not.
• Canada is the largest foreign owner of U.S. land—14.2 million acres. China holds about 250 acres.
• Relative presidential ageism: The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, is expected to run again for president this fall. Biya, 92, has been president for 42 years. If re-elected—and it’s all but assured—he will rule until 2032. If he lives out the term, he would be 98.

• This could be Billy Napier’s last season as Florida football head coach.  Prominent among the names mentioned as a successor: Lane Kiffin, now the coach at nationally-ranked Mississippi. But he’s a portal punk, who’s nothing like his late father (Monte). More wins would help, but the Kiffin image would be a step backward.
• Would football be better (at least to watch) if there were no showcasing of “swagger” and “chip-on-shoulder” optics? Enabled by TV coverage, it comes across for what it is: showboating and arrogance in the name of enthusiasm.

• The United States should “build a wall of steel, a wall as high as heaven” against immigrants. No, that wasn’t Donald Trump. It was what Georgia Gov. Clifford Walker told a Klan rally in 1924.
• “Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”—Liz Cheney.
• “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”—Dick Cheney.
• “Their (Democrats) rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country.”—Trump in a recent interview on Fox News.
• BTW, in 2016 reported hate crimes jumped by 226% in counties that hosted Trump campaign rallies, a hellish harbinger of the Trump era.
• Trump being shot at: Product of Secret Service negligence, Trump-fomented political violence–and karma.
• JD Vance recently campaigned with Tucker Carlson. Carlson was a key advocate of Vance as Trump’s running mate.
• “It is Team Misogyny with Trump.”—Former Virginia Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock.
• “Child care is child care. … You have to have it.”—Donald Trump. Oh, and you have to increase tariffs to pay for it. But, no, higher tariffs don’t mean higher prices. Whatever.
• Conspiracist and right-wing nut Laura Loomer seems like a good fit as a Trump inner-circle intimate. She’s even been labeled a racist by Marjorie Taylor Green–yes that MTG.
• “I think you are better than Martin Luther King.”—How Trump referenced North Carolina’s controversial “black nazi” lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson.
• Evangelical dystopia: “Christians warn us about the anti-Christ for 2,000 years, and when he shows up, they buy a bible from him.”
• Imagine, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. served as a Trump spin room representative at the debate. The same RFK Jr. who had referenced Trump as “unhinged,” “barely human” and “probably a sociopath.” Presumably, Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan weren’t available.
• No, history will not absolve you. Too bad you won’t be around for the reckoning.
• Grifter fundraising update: Trump has launched a collectible coin with his image for $100k. Steaks, sneakers, bibles, coins. What’s next for monetizing? Framed nude fashion photos of Melania?

• “There will always be forces that pull our countries apart. … Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than the forces pulling us apart.”—President Joe Biden, in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly.
• “American policy, when it comes to Israel and Gaza, is incredibly unpopular worldwide.”—S. Hellyer, a Carnegie Endowment Middle East scholar.
• “The fact is that a successful president is much more about organization, vision and values than it is about the scope of a given legislative package.”—Jamelle Bouie,
• “Tariffs…it’s a very populist message. But the fact is … They’re a tax.”—Former Kansas Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.
• “What Trump has done to the Republican Party, Musk has done to Twitter. … Musk has transformed Twitter into a dull, fetid cesspool of white nationalism and paranoid lies.”—Michelle Goldberg, New York Times.
• “The only way people leave Washington is in a pine box or in handcuffs. This power stuff is addictive.”—Democratic political strategist James Carville.
• “Are we looking at crime rates at a return to pre-pandemic levels? I think a reasonable person would look at that and say, ‘Yes, that’s what has happened.’”—Brian Griffin, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
• “The same faculty who are quick to assert their academic freedom are always silent on the duties that accompany that freedom.”—Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of Florida’s state university system.
• “Like someone came in with a bulldozer and just tore everything down.”—How Sam Henderson, the mayor of Gulfport, described the impact of Hurricane Helene on downtown Gulfport.

We live in a complex, self-serving era where you don’t only choose your own self-validating media, but you choose your own definitions–from patriotism to populism. The latter used to refer to prioritizing “the people,” as in average—not elites. “The people,” as in workers, not the wealthy.

Now we have an election where both sides employ populist rhetoric. One side does it, because it still reflects what it stands for. The other side does it, because hypocrisy and disingenuousness seem to work. It also sees opportunity with greed heads, the Clampett vote and a cult-figure candidacy. So what if CEO’s now make 68 times what the typical worker makes.

The Democratic ticket, VP Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, are alums of Howard University and Mankato State, respectively. Both Donald Trump and JD Vance have Ivy League resumes.

Trump is renown for being born rich, pushing tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest, stiffing sub-contractors, orchestrating real estate red lining, pushing nativism, preying on females, keeping his taxes as inaccessible as his Penn grades, being oligarch-friendly and insulting the military. A populist? No, this is not a William Jennings Bryan sequel.

Before becoming a senator and vice president, Harris, the daughter of immigrants, worked her way through law school and into the role of prosecutor and California attorney general. She prosecuted those who imperiled every-day Americans–from bank fraudsters to drug pushers. Her running mate is a former high school social studies teacher and football coach. “Coach Walz” is an avatar of populism and Mid-West neighborliness, a status that is deep rooted.

And no, JD, the path to a better America has nothing to do with “childless cat ladies.”

Right now I’m in Blue Ridge-elevated Asheville, N.C. as a seasonal visitor. It serves as a welcome diversion from heat, humidity, hurricane paranoia and ever-ratcheting anti-woke politics. But some things are inescapable, namely our national politics. Trump held a rally in downtown Asheville recently, and I dropped by to observe the optics. What the hell was I thinking?

The line to get into the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium was long and wound down Haywood Street for nearly a quarter mile. A chain link fence kept Trump partisans separated from anti-Trump demonstrators. Luckily, I had a shady seat in front of a bistro to note-take at a political DMZ.

Optics, from Uncle Sam outfits and “Will Never Forget 1/6” signage to a banner declaring “One Nation Under God” with a skull and crossed assault rifles and crude invective were on full display. Both sides were yelling “USA” amid background music of “God Bless the USA” and “Macho Man”. Chants of “Nazi!” were countered by “No, you’re a Nazi.” Shouts of “Liberals suck” and QAnonesque “Baby Killers” were responded to with “Trump is a liar” and “Trump is a scumbag.” And more than a few F-bombs. Maybe the most deplorable sign was carried by a young teen: “Say No to the Hoe.” What the hell was I expecting other than a cacophony of crudeness?

And there was a digital “WEIRD” van nearby with Trump’s image. Enough. On the circuitous, security-expedited way out, there appeared ever more signage to sigh for. From “Proud Deplorable” and “I’m Voting for the Felon and the Hillbilly” to “Jesus is my Savior and Trump is my President.” Another day at the orifice.

But it could have been worse. I could have been inside hearing Trump blather that “Our country has become a Third World country.” Only with his compliance.

BTW, Trump prepaid $82,000 to rent the auditorium on a short-notice booking. When Trump left the White House in 2021, he left about $850,000 in unpaid rally debt. Most remain unpaid.

I remember when political convention entertainment didn’t mean a major pop culture star or two or three performing. Word of a possible Beyonce sighting recently–and annoyingly–tantalized the media on the last night of the Democratic Convention. But I still remember covering the 2000 GOP Convention in Philadelphia, and the entertainment was provided by Pensacola Congressman/guitarist Joe “Morning Joe” Scarborough and his band, “Regular Joe.”