Commentary
Four more children dead, and a nation shrugs. Is enough finally enough now? | John L. Micek
(*This column was updated at 3:10 p.m. on Friday 12/3/21, to reflect that the accused shooter’s parents have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of four teenagers) Families in Michigan will set an empty place at the table this holiday season in the wake of the mass shooting at Oxford High […]
We’re Florida — we couldn’t get through the day without a helping of mendacity
What is it with Florida and reality? We don’t believe in facts, don’t believe in science, don’t believe the evidence parked right in front of us by people who actually know what they’re talking about. This goes double for the people who run the state. Instead of trying to protect Floridians against COVID-19 by insisting […]
Feds dragging their feet on a plan to feed starving Florida manatees
The first time I met Martine de Wit, she was dressed in scrubs, ready to step into a laboratory containing eight dead manatees. Her job, and that of the dozen people assisting her in this St. Petersburg lab behind Eckerd College, was to find out what killed them — sort of a “CSI: Sea Cow,” […]
Carrie Meek spoke with the soft voice of a young girl — but you’d be wrong to treat her like one
Nothing shy about her. Carrie Meek, the legendary Florida office holder who died Sunday at 95 in her Miami home after a long illness, was a joy to be around. And she never met a stranger. She spoke with the soft voice of a young girl, but you would make a mistake if you tried […]
In defending Paul Gosar, Republicans show just how scared they are
What does it say about a political party that defends a member as toxic and repulsive as Paul Gosar? What does it say that 207 of the 210 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives — including the other three from Arizona, Andy Biggs, Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert — stood in defense of a […]
A few things we Floridians can be thankful for
Thanksgiving is always a special holiday for us Floridians. In fact, historians say the first Thanksgiving actually occurred here. That whole Pilgrim story you know from school plays, TV shows, and Publix salt-and-pepper shakers? Those guys were Johnny-come-latelies. More than 50 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, about 800 Spanish settlers led by […]
Giving thanks to America’s medical community for life-saving vaccines
If we were not still in the grip of a deadly pandemic, with the seven-day average U.S. death toll from the coronavirus hovering just over 1,100 a day, I probably would not have thought of giving thanks this year for the medical researchers who have given this country protection against many life-threatening illnesses. Back in […]
The demise of a notable law firm in Florida’s capital: The end of an era and a sad time
Tallahassee is a town that will always be full of lawyers. The presence of state government offices and the Florida Legislature requires a lot of watching from good legal minds. But there is not likely to ever be another law firm that will replace the notable firm started more than 40 years ago by former […]
Waiting for the Rittenhouse verdict as the world falls apart
While waiting for the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial, I stepped out to visit the principal at my kids’ high school — the same school I attended, Madison East. East has been in the local news a lot lately for a series of rowdy protests and fights, including a recent melee in which […]
It’s our right as Americans to breathe open air without wearing some wussy libtard face diaper
INFECTED TALLAHASSEE — Who the hell does Joe Biden think he is, trying to force people to get life-saving vaccines? It’s our right as Americans to breathe the open air without wearing some wussy libtard face diaper, just as it’s our right to die intubated in a hospital. It’s all about your freedom, baby. Gov. […]
The Florida DOT’s latest ‘Billionaire Boulevard’ plan has rural FL outraged
Last month, because of Halloween, TV was full of horror movies, including one cleverly titled “Halloween.” That one, released in 1978, featured a frightened young woman, played by scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, fleeing a masked and murderous psycho named Michael Myers, whose dialogue consisted of him breathing very loudly. At the film’s climax — […]
How we move forward after the Rittenhouse trial
On Aug. 23, 2020, Jacob Blake was shot seven times, in front of his kids, as he walked away from police. While Jacob survived the shooting, he is paralyzed and his life will never be the same. Two days later, a 17-year-old white supremacist drove over state lines and shot two people, murdering two of […]