Big Turnout In Context

Hold down the celebration, although the news is good.

We now know that the recent election turnout, more than 131 million, was the highest ever. We also know that the percentage of eligible voters voting was the highest in 40 years.                                         

Some context.                                

One of the reasons that more people voted is that we have a lot more people. But still this is a good sign.

That portion of eligibles who actually voted last month was 61.6 percent. It stands to reason that with the United States at war, at partisan fever pitch, in the throes of economic turbulence and at a crossroad in history, the presidential election would prompt a big turnout. Then add the historic African-American candidacy of Barack Obama.

Still, a higher percentage of voters turned out for the Nixon-Humphrey election of 1968. It also means that with so much at stake, 38.4 percent – or nearly two out of every five eligible voters – didn’t vote.

We are again reminded that ours remains a democratic work in progress. 

For the record, Minnesota had the highest turnout rate, 77.8 percent, and Hawaii and West Virginia the lowest rate, 50.6 percent. Florida finished at 67.1 percent. Hillsborough County, at 72 per cent, had its highest rate ever.

Melrose Update

A Melrose by any other name.

After a 13-year hiatus as an ESPN broadcaster, Barry Melrose flopped as a coach of the Lightning and was fired after only 16 games. He never related to the players and never had their respect. Ownership made a bad hire.

Although he’s being well compensated now that he’s back in the broadcasting booth, he’s still being paid by the Lightning. But it obviously wasn’t hush money.

The other day Melrose showed that he not only lacked coaching chops; he also lacked class.                                                    

On Canadian radio, he cheap-shotted the Lightning ownership, interim coach Rick Tocchet and rookie Steve Stamkos. Melrose called Tocchet a puppet of ownership.                                                           

It’s one thing to lose. And it’s another thing to get fired for losing. No one is at their even-tempered best.

But nothing — a month removed — justifies that mean-spirited, juvenile insult he fired off from Toronto’s 590 AM: “I hope that Tampa Bay doesn’t win a game the rest of the year.”

A Melrose by any other name.

Stinks the same.

Obama: Strategic Shuffle, Not Liberal Tap Dance

     Everyone with an opinion, seemingly, has publicly rendered it concerning President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet choices. Especially when it comes to national security. The range is across the political spectrum.

     Many on the left, especially Obama true believers, feel disappointed, if not betrayed, by the national security troika of Sen. Hillary Clinton, secretary of state; incumbent Robert Gates, secretary of defense; and retired Marine Gen. James Jones, national security adviser. All were to Obama’s right on the Iraqi invasion, the president-elect’s seminal issue when he began his presidential journey nearly two years ago.

     They wonder if Vice President-elect Joe Biden, the one with the acknowledged foreign policy chops, hasn’t already been marginalized. Their worst-cast fear is that Obama turns out to be more changeling than change agent.

     Many on the right, of course, wouldn’t trust the inexperienced, black “socialist” with Hussein for a middle name if he had named Sean Hannity, Donald Rumsfeld and Rush Limbaugh to man the foreign-policy ramparts.

     Many in the middle acknowledge pragmatic, political choices – but speculate about Clinton subplots. While they understand continuity, they also wonder whatever happened to “no drama Obama”.

     The most optimistic — and, hopefully, realistic — take is a variation on a familiar foreign-policy tenet. If you’re going to make a significant tilt in one ideological direction, you’re best advised to line up salespeople who at least list, including symbolically, the other way.

     It’s why Colin Powell, hardly a hawk, was the one who made the “case” for the Iraqi war at the United Nations. Rumsfeld, a pre-emptive-war advocate, would not have been credible.

      It’s why Richard Nixon, the consummate Communist archenemy, was the one to make realpolitik history by visiting China and chatting up Mao. It’s why a peacenik “President McGovern” wouldn’t have been able – domestically – to pull off what Nixon, the old Red antagonist, managed to accomplish.

     Having Clinton, Gates and James – none of whom regard diplomacy as a character flaw or a synonym for appeasement – on board arguably gives Obama enough cover to start altering – and ultimately – reversing some of our worst, most counter-productive geopolitical policies. From those impacting our Cuban “adversaries” to those affecting our Middle East “allies.”

     And don’t forget the hybrid portfolio given to Secretary of Commerce designatee Bill Richardson. Trade agreements are a major extension of foreign policy and national security. Richardson’s bona fides include considerable international trouble-shooting experience. He’s the polar opposite of the man he would replace, the ideological hardliner Carlos Gutierrez. Richardson’s potential impact on long neglected Latin America, in particular, cannot be underestimated.  

     If, indeed, Obama is playing the cover card to facilitate meaningful — not token or incremental — foreign-policy change, we’ll soon know.

     The world is watching. Much of it hopeful — yet skeptical. Obama won’t have much time to disprove the skeptics. Here and abroad.

Clique To Click

            Normally, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the 10-term Republican from South Florida’s 18th District, is known for her hardball politics and her Cuban-exile- community clique.

            For a while last week, she was nationally known for her click. As in the sound of a phone being summarily hung up. As in President-elect Barack Obama being on the other end of the line. As in Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, being on the other end of the next call.

It finally took yet another call – from Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee — to persuade Ros-Lehtinen that Obama was really wanting to talk to her. And would try again. The third time was, if not the charm, at least the clincher.

            Ros-Lehtinen, in her defense, explained that she thought it was a hoax. That she was being “punked” by an Obama imitator. And in all fairness, such hoaxes – typically the work of talk-radio pranksters — are hardly unknown in the Miami area.

            Two points:

            First, if Obama is calling a foreign-policy obstructionist like Ros-Lehtinen, he’s truly serious about reaching across the aisle. Ros-Lehtinen is a major reach.

            Second, when it comes to hoaxes, this state and these United States have been getting punked for a generation by Ros-Lehtinen and her Cuban embargo-supporting, Congressional cohorts, Carlos and Lincoln Diaz-Balart. For them, the U.S. relationship with Cuba is personal. For them, what’s in the best interest of the United States is subordinate to what the Little Havana vendetta crowd wants.

Hajj Help?

            Item: Ever since 9/11, there’s been criticism – often in private, sometimes public circles – that the worldwide Muslim voice of outrage is still too muted when it comes to jihadi terrorism. When it comes to the horrific targeting of the innocent. When it comes to cherry-picking the Koran to rationalize sadistic murder.

            Item: Millions of Muslims, representing nearly 100 countries, recently converged on Mecca as part of the annual hajj pilgrimage. 

            Reportedly, there was no evidence of any “Stop Murdering People In Allah’s Name” signs.

tbt Timing

            As anybody who has ever served knows, jury duty is an exercise in down time. Dante could have dedicated a whole circle of hell to waiting rooms with nothing to read.

            As I looked around at the hundreds who were recently packed into the jury auditorium of the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse, I noticed how many prospective jurors were reading tbt, the St. Petersburg Times daily tabloid. For a lot of folks, it surely beat rummaging through all those Town & Country Wedding, Motorcyclist, Ladies Home Journal, Boating World, AARP and Road & Track magazines to unearth the only Sports Illustrated or Smithsonian.

            The would-be jurors were reading tbt because it had been given to them earlier as they came streaming down E. Twiggs Street heading for the Courthouse.

            It’s called good marketing.

Zero Tolerance: Only When It Works

            For the most part, I’m not a zero-tolerance proponent. Too often it’s a politically-driven, knee-jerk reaction to something in the headlines. Typically, it amounts to zero tolerance for common sense. And as a result, it is not usually effective enough to warrant a draconian trade-off.

            But sometimes it does work. And the greater good carries the day. Then it would be at odds with common sense to not continue it.

            Case in point: the Hillsborough County School Board’s “zero tolerance” for bomb-threat hoaxes. Actually, it’s more like a year-long expulsion, as opposed to previous – and ineffective – suspension policies. But it is a significant ratcheting up of punishment. It was prompted by a record 138 bomb threats in 2000-01. Last year there were 16. So far this year, three.

Bomb threats are not harmless pranks but serious interruptions of the educational process that already has enough challenges. It’s more than trashed lesson plans. Some students wander off and skip extra classes. Some stay home the following day out of fear or pretext.

“When you evacuate a school, you take the risk of kids being injured,” points out Lewis Brinson, Hillsborough’s assistant superintendent for administration. “All kinds of things happen when you’re trying to get hundreds and thousands of kids out of school, and nobody knows if it’s a false threat or not.”

Inevitably, there are complaints from those who have been “expelled” – and from their parents. A hierarchal chain of guilt and peer pressure are typically cited. Also noted: the less-than-ideal academic environment provided by on-line courses and alternative programs. 

Two points:

1)      “Expulsion” is part of the price to be paid for thoughtlessly compromising

every other student’s learning environment. To those who find the penalty unfair: Too terribly tough. Be glad it’s not forever.

2)      Actually, such “expellees” are, of course, learning something. Namely, that

what they did was serious – and has a commensurately serious consequence. If truly learned, the lesson will last a lifetime.

The No-Show Bowl

It was disappointing – but hardly shocking – to see all the fans disguised as empty seats who turned out for last Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game at Raymond James Stadium. For the record, attendance was less than 28,000 – and thousands of those were freebies. It was, alas, the perfect storm for a high-profile, athletic event.

            Tampa was a neutral site for the teams, Boston College and Virginia Tech. Local appeal was negligible. Plus, the Gators-Alabama game would be on television a little later in the day.

Moreover, the two universities only sold 5,000 of their allotted 20,000 tickets. That’s because neither team knew it would be in the game until a week prior. Fans then had to book last-minute flights at last-minute prices.

And these necessarily hard-core fans also have likely holiday bowl games on their agenda. In a turbulent economic environment, the last-minute cost and logistics of the ACC championship game is a tough sell.

Next year, the game will be here again. Hopefully, Florida State University will be as well, and the Seminoles will play a de facto home game.  

But there was a consolation prize to this year’s under-attended ACC championship game. Nationally-televised games always come with those aesthetic establishing shots and the cut-aways of the city skyline, Ybor City, boats, beaches and palm trees. The balmy weather speaks for itself. No chamber of commerce could afford that kind of network exposure.

School Calendar Update

           Here’s hoping that when the Hillsborough County School Board meets next month, it will vet the recommendation of a committee of parents and educators that the county eliminate religious holidays beginning in 2009-10.

            Recall last year’s fiasco when classes were held, so to speak, on Good Friday. A majority of students and 40 per cent of bus drivers were no-shows. This year Good Friday falls during spring break, so the religious-holiday bullet is dodged.

But next school year will be the test. The school board should heed the committee’s advice and then plan accordingly – including acting like responsible, sectarian adults who are staying the non-religious-holiday course and managing all parties’ expectations.

            That means, among other things, acknowledging that this is not about religious insensitivity. Or selective intolerance. In truth, it’s about treating all religions equally. None will get their own holiday. And, candidly, who is to say — from animists to atheists — who else would have been queuing in that “give-us-our-religious-holiday-too” line?

            And here’s another suggestion: Rethink “Fair Day.”

            How do you make the case that you — as a school board — are to be taken seriously on such a sensitive, multi-cultural issue when you annually free up students to opt for dunk tanks, ferris wheels and corn dogs in lieu of school?

            But if you must keep the date, then, at least, re-label it. How about “Respecting Everyone’s Religion Day.” Observe it in your own way. In a church. At a mosque. At a synagogue. At home. At the County Fair.

            Good Friday? How about Much Better Friday?