By Any Other Name

David Shuster, network talking head for MSNBC, was recently suspended for crassly referring to the way the Clinton campaign had been using Chelsea Clinton to call celebs and super delegates. He said they had “pimped out” Chelsea. Ouch.

The “P” word, of course, is very insensitive and should never have been uttered. Shuster should have used more polite language — “exploit” would have worked — to convey that the campaign, which had imposed a tight gag rule on the 27-year-old saying anything public, was, indeed, pimping her out for the Clinton cause.

The Clinton campaign understandably — and vociferously — complained. But it wasn’t Chelsea doing the vociferous complaining. She only talks to celebs and super delegates right now.

Tortuous Rhetoric

Last fall Hillary Clinton changed her position on torture. She said, “As a matter of policy, it cannot be American policy, period.” That’s straightforward and consistent with American ideals, even in a perilous world.

The previous year she had said, “In the event we were ever confronted with having to interrogate a detainee with knowledge of an imminent threat to millions of Americans, then the decision to depart from standard international practices must be made by the president, and the president must be held accountable.” She called it a “very, very narrow exception within very, very limited circumstances.”

She was slammed by Barack Obama for having taken that initial position.

Two points.

First, what’s wrong with changing your mind, especially after getting military input? As if there were no precedent for presidential candidates changing, indeed, routinely overhauling, multiple positions to accommodate the politics of the moment.

Second, maybe she, ironically, shouldn’t have changed at all.

Maybe just fine-tuned a more appropriate response. To wit:

“If I, as president, were ever confronted with a situation where we have a detainee – and not some low-level dragnetee – who we know – not just suspect – has knowledge of an imminent – not indeterminable — threat to millions of Americans, then you can rest assured that I would do what most Americans would want their president to do: err on the side of millions of American lives. And then be prepared to take whatever heat is generated.”

Candor has to count for something.

On-Air Arrogance

Like most news junkies, I watch way too much political analysis. Indeed, I have found myself actually taking a break from the nightly chatterfests that trivialize the process with that day’s snapshot of who’s up, who’s down and who’s spinning what.

Having said that, it’s now nigh on to impossible to not watch this current spate of Democratic primaries. And I tend to watch a lot of MSNBC. I like “Hardball” host Chris Matthews when he’s not interrupting, if that’s not too oxymoronic. But I don’t watch “The Countdown” with Keith Olbermann. Haughty and self-important have never appealed.

But when there are actual main events – such as the South Carolina primary, Super Tuesday and the Potomac primaries – the dynamic gets weird when Matthews is paired with Olbermann.

Matthews has been living politics since working for Tip O’Neill and Jimmy Carter. Olbermann, quick of study and wit, is not nearly as steeped in politics – which bespeaks of a guy who came over from ESPN. The chemistry is forced, the collegiality non-existent, the face time vied for. It’s obvious that viewers aren’t the only ones who find Olbermann arrogant.

The Race In Pennsylvania

It’s a political aphorism that Pennsylvania looks a lot like Alabama between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who’s backing Hillary Clinton, underscored that labeling recently.

“You’ve got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate,” Rendell told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .

Hey Ed, even though Hillary, the faux feminist and risk-aversion candidate, is your choice, why not remind Keystoned Dems that this isn’t Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson or some other race-baiting, professional black opportunist running against her. This is a legitimate candidate – albeit one who is vulnerable to being hammered on specifics and experience. Call him a Template Candidate with soaring rhetoric. But don’t let this racial atavism fester under your watch – even if it helps your candidate.

And, lest we forget, the Pennsylvania primary, which is April 22, could be, alas, decisive this year.

Just A Phase?

Spending money on a city amenity — such as the new Curtis Hixon Park — is always problematic during challenging financial times. And the legal uncertainty of revenue generated by the downtown Community Redevelopment Area, of course, hardly helps.

Mayor Pam Iorio, however, seems determined to make the waterfront makeover happen, and the case can certainly be made for Tampa finally having a downtown gateway that doubles as the city’s official, long-sought, community gathering place. One that aesthetically complements the Museum of Art, the Children’s Museum and the Riverwalk.

Having said all that, however, what’s with those cheesy, 50-foot glass pylons that would spell out the city’s name near Ashley Drive? Did Rafael Vinoly have something to do with the Curtis Hixon Park rendering?

At least the pricey pylons are part of Phase 2 – and subject to likely change.

Still Evolving

That was some kind of intriguing public hearing last week in Orlando where views were aired on evolution. The purpose: to influence the state Board of Education’s proposed science standard that evolution is the “fundamental concept underlying all of biology” and is “supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence.” Understandably, a myriad of scientific societies have signed on to that wording.

Polls, however, suggest the public is still split on the issue.

In seemingly unrelated news, another Elvis sighting was reported in Orange County, and a Panhandle waitress claimed a space alien was her common-law husband.

Gov. Crist Won Big – But He’s Still Rolling The Dice

Gov. Charlie Crist, we are continuously reminded, is on a roll. The popular Republican hybrid has been riding high since hitting the daily double with John McCain and Amendment 1.

No one doubts Crist’s political instincts – ever since taking one for the team and sacrificially running against the unbeatable Bob Graham in the 1998 senate race. It brought Crist statewide name recognition and a bunch of IOUs. And his gut obviously didn’t desert him when it came to getting out in front on behalf of fellow maverick McCain as well as the delusory property-tax cut.

But if Crist really wants to take one for the home team — as in the state of Florida and its long-term economic viability — there’s something that needs all the political capital and bully-pulpit skills he can muster. Right now.

How about trying really hard to help fix a broken tax system, one that hasn’t changed meaningfully since LeRoy Collins was governor? One that has yielded – thanks to the end of the rapid-growth era and the onset of mortgage meltdowns and property-tax cut fever — a $2 billion shortfall. And, no, that locust-like, once-every-20-years Taxation and Budget Reform Commission won’t do anything dramatic.

It’s time for Florida’s quintessential populist — the one who’s “open-minded” and all about doing “the people’s business” — to do the right thing by getting behind the sort of tax reform that Florida’s 21st-century economy demands. The sort of tax reform that would make possible truly substantial property-tax cuts across the board. The sort of tax reform that is, perforce, politically dicey and would take guts as well as “open-mindedness.”

To wit:

*There’s the $100 billion laundry list of sales-tax exemptions, a sizable chunk of which is NOT for food, prescription drugs, health services and solar-energy investments.

*We are a service economy. Yet, we don’t tax services. Sure, it cost Bob Martinez in his re-election bid, but a real leader with a real feel for the financial fix that Florida is in today won’t continue to treat services like another political third rail.

*And as Florida Tax Watch has noted, this state could reduce property taxes by at least $2 billion annually if Florida collected sales taxes owed on Internet purchases. Of course, it’s problematic, but nearly two dozen states belong to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, which hopes to build enough leverage to prod Congress into mandating collection of e-sales taxes by retailers. Florida is not among those states.

*And then there’s Floridians’ birthright: No to even a minimal state income tax, the least regressive alternative of all.

Meanwhile, Crist keeps manipulating the ad hoc shells of the revenue-raising game. Expand the lottery. Sell the lottery. Lease bridges. Raid a trust fund. Oversell Seminole gambling. Impose strip-club surcharges. Delegate state services to locals.

The time for making the tough, gutsy calls is never politically ideal. But with the governor riding high and Florida’s future riding on serious revenue reform, the time right now is as good as it will get.

Watch The Wording

The passage of Amendment 1, even with the 60 per cent threshold, is a reminder of what is so critical to the passing of a referendum issue. How well financed the opposing sides are and who has the better demagogues are obvious. But even more determinative is how the issue is viewed in its most simplistic terms.

We have the law of unintended consequences imposed upon us thanks to “smaller class sizes.” Who’s not in favor of better student-teacher ratios? The average homesteaded home owner will now save $240 per annum, but might not like the quid pro quo of services reduced or eliminated. Who’s not in favor of paying less in taxes?

And remember how Gov. Jeb Bush characterized his educational reforms and initiatives? We have the onerous FCATs because the issue was couched in terms of “accountability” in our schools. Who’s not in favor of accountability?

The question ultimately begged is this: Anyone not in favor of reading the fine print?

High School “Free Agency”

The trend of high-school students transferring for better athletic opportunities isn’t new. It was happening when I was coaching football in the ’70s in Pennsylvania; it happened long before then; it happens in a lot of places now. Notably, places that have really good teams and really successful, high-profile programs.

Call it “free agency” or “passive recruiting.” It happens. Especially in Florida. And it can be abused. That’s why Miami-Dade and Brevard counties now have rules that penalize students (with lost eligibility) who switch schools — sometimes yearly — for purely athletic reasons. That’s a sham.

But excellence in anything is always its own allure. Ask Brandon or Plant or Armwood High Schools. If they’re a standard for excellence and a beacon of opportunity, that should be acknowledged — and lauded.

But too often school transfers for athletic purposes are defended by equating such transfers with those for other purposes. A typical analogy is the student who might transfer to, say, a better music program.

Please.

Such reasoning is specious. The case should be self-evident that music or other arts are well within the curricular mandate of a school. Any school. It’s part of educating the whole person, a theory that’s been around a while. It’s not exactly the new enlightenment. And those blessed with certain aptitudes would understandably want the best learning vehicle available.

But football, basketball, wrestling? They are extra-curricular, societal adjuncts of a school. They are fun; they help give schools a rallying point; and they provide post-high school opportunity for some athletes. Period.

Student transfers, whether for sports or aesthetics, will continue. But let’s not confuse the issue. Unless sophistry is now a sport.