Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 30, 2008, at 2:39 pm
It sure looks like that could have happened. In a story to be published in our print edition tomorrow, I write about how at least one invoice for a Blair campaign billboard was sent directly to a company owned by developer Stephen Dibbs:
The billboard on Ehrlich Road in north Tampa touting the re-election of Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair reads, in fine print at the bottom, “Political advertisement paid for and approved by Brian Blair, Republican for Hillsborough County Commission, District 6.”
It appears, however, that his campaign did not pay for the billboard advertisement. Blair’s campaign finance reports show no such expenditure. And according to an invoice obtained by Creative Loafing, the bill for the $2,500-a-month roadway sign was sent to North Dale Development, which is owned by Stephen Dibbs, a controversial and prominent developer who has supported Blair in the past.
If Dibbs did pay for the billboard, it would appear to exceed the limits in the state campaign finance law, which caps direct or in-kind contributions to candidate campaigns at $500 and requires disclosure of any contributions.
Among Dibbs’ various holdings is the Bourbon Street Plaza shopping strip center where the billboard is located. It is not clear from the invoice whether Dibbs paid for the board. The invoice was provided to CL by a source who requested anonymity because the source was not authorized to release the document.
The invoice, from CBS Outdoor, which sells the billboard’s advertising space, was dated Aug. 20, 2008, for use of the billboard in the month of August. The 10-foot-by-36-foot sign is highly visible to anyone driving west on Ehrlich from North Dale Mabry Highway. It was still in place last week when CL visited the site.
Neither Dibbs nor Blair responded to numerous telephone and e-mailed requests for comment for this story.
Who paid for this campaign billboard on Ehrlich Road in Tampa?
UPDATE: Neither Blair nor Beckner has spoken to Creative Loafing about this story, but a Tampa Tribune reporter told me Tuesday that Blair has now produced a campaign check cut to CBS Outdoor on Sept. 19 and insists he paid for all his campaign advertising himself. Blair spoke to reporters with the Trib and Times after he was criticized during Tuesday’s county commission meeting about the subject of the story.
Make a notation in your PDA of choice for Thursday night at 9 p.m. for the vice presidential debates between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. I’ll be here (sorry, I was on the road traveling last Friday night for the first presidential debate) ready at the enter key for the veep battle, and I will open a thread just before the show starts.
In the meantime, some reading material background for you to digest so you can have informed and intelligent comments (along with the usual barrage of partisan insults and snarky remarks). This is from the Marist Poll, full text after the jump:
Congress slips in authorization for Tamiami Trail bridge to aid Everglades restoration; Miccosukees outraged.
Oh, and by the way, the Everglades restoration is bogged down and costing us more by the minute.
Bloodied after her first encounter with Couric, Palin brings her dad to the second one.
Lawyers delight: Court case deciding which government pays for roads near schools is over. Either way, the taxpayers were paying, so the only ones who benefited were those people racking up billable hours.
City’s largest union turns down contract with 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase and 3 percent merit raises. How many folks out there got a 6.5 percent bump this year? Raise your hands? Anyone? Thought so.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 29, 2008, at 4:31 pm
Our financial reorganization is drawing quite a bit of interest from all over the place (on the same day, unfortunately, that the Tampa Tribune is laying off a few more workers, including editorial page columnist Joe Brown). Here’s a sampling:
It is the unfortunate direction of all print media. Newspapers, magazines, and such media depend on advertising to survive. Why would someone want to pay $10-30 for 3-4 lines of text in classified advertising when a free ad with unlimited text, anonymized response links (so unknowns do not call your home), and multiple photos on a place like Craig’s List [tampa.craigslist.com]? The Tribune, TBT, and Creative Loafing still get more overall local readers, but until they update, they cannot compete. One would think by now the Tribune would even have special links in the ads so that those that pay to list them can have pictures added online.
I like Creative Loafing because of the activity listings and local stories (the Tribune seems to have little real local content that isn’t focused on car crashes, press releases, or celebrity news). When is the last time anyone recalls the Tribune really doing an in-depth, politically dangerous expose on any subject? They did have a long article regarding accidental arson in Plant City years ago, but I wouldn’t really term that as an expose. — comment on tbo.com
Eric Deggans reports on a dispute between CL and one of the investors who financed the Chicago-Washington purchase last year:
Despite a story on the Washington City Paper Web site quoting Creative Loafing Inc. president Ben Eason saying “this filing has little to do with the acquisition,” documents included with the bankruptcy filing indicate the company had trouble keeping up with payments on a $30-million loan taken last year to pay down $15-million in debts and to purchase the two newspapers.
According to documents included with the bankruptcy filing, Creative Loafing missed an interest payment of $282,219 on Dec. 24, a $10,000 servicing fee on Dec. 31 and an interest payment of $294,369 due Jan. 24.
Also according to the documents, as the media economy grew worse, Creative Loafing negotiated agreements to modify the financing terms with Atalaya Funding in New York and BIA Digital Partners. But last week, Atalaya said the company was in default, though Creative Loafing disagrees, according to the court document.
Creative Loafing has asked the court to prevent Atalaya or Atalaya and BIA from taking control of the company, allowing Eason to focus on reorganizing to better meet its debt obligations and develop the online revenue sources prompting the Reader and City Paper purchases.
The move does contain good news for editorial departments in the chain. Eason announced that cuts to edit staffs at all the papers would be rolled back but stressed that all the papers should proceed with “Web-first” publishing strategies, in which writers and editors customize their content for the Internet and subsequently transfer that content into their print products.
The bankruptcy filing comes the same day Creative Loafing sued Atalaya Administrative LLC, Atalaya Funding II LP and BIA Digital Partners SBIC II LP asking a judge to stop a default on $40 million in loans. In the suit, filed with the same court, Creative Loafing said the lenders failed to act in good faith when they refused to negotiate lowering the financial covenants. Without the injunction, Creative Loafing says it has no other options in stopping the default, as it would be “too late to save the debtors’ businesses, reputation, and close-knit and effective management.”
Likely means the BIA funding went south, somewhere along the line, as of course did the company’s fortunes. The company also denies any connection between the acquisitions last year and Ch 11, and says there won’t be any major layoffs…lotsa spin in there, if you ask me.
In a telephone conversation with executives of his newspapers, Eason sounded relentlessly chipper, and he emphasized that all his company seeks from bankruptcy is the opportunity to restructure its debts. Liquidation is not being considered. “This is a profitable business,” he declared. “The company has a good cash flow. It has a good market position. Online revenues more than doubled in the last year.” But print revenues have fallen off dramatically over the past year at Creative Loafing and throughout the newspaper business. He said in the past three months total revenues were down 10 to 15 percent from the same months a year ago.
Food for thought: So Creative Loafing, an alt-weekly chain/parent company thing that mostly covers cities you would not live in with even with somebody else’s dick, totally screwed the pooch and declared bankruptcy so that its papers — including Washington City Paper — can better “focus” their efforts online. You can see where we might be going with this: With the Philadelphia Weekly having been rumored to have slashed its freelance budget entirely (no shit! more on this later!) and the City Paperspectacularly lunching its most spectacular issue of the feckackular year, is this a trend that might look juicy to guys like Paul Curci and Anthony Clifton? Our guess: Not yet, but it will.
This may be just a foreshadowing of some painful days to come for alt-weeklies in general—we also hear the Village Voice may be on the verge of some layoffs.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 29, 2008, at 2:57 pm
From her press spokeswoman, Kathy Castor’s statement in the wake of the failure of the $700 billion bailout plan in the House:
After thoughtful consideration and review, I voted against President Bush’s $700 billion bailout. The Bush plan does not provide sufficient help to middle-class families in the housing squeeze or taxpayer protections.
I assisted hundreds of Tampa Bay families at my foreclosure workshops this summer and I understand the need for direct, immediate action. The Bush plan failed to provide such action.
I will work to ensure that this freewheeling deregulation that has brought our great country to this serious day does not happen again. I strongly support the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigations which begin this week, and will push for accountability for those responsible for the damage to our communities.
Congress should go back to the drawing board as soon as possible this week to tackle the issue.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 29, 2008, at 2:20 pm
Our parent company filed a Chapter 11 reorganization case in federal bankruptcy court this morning, the result of a slowing economy exacerbated by debts it took on in May 2007 in buying the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper alt-newspapers.
CEO Ben Eason
“I don’t see this as bad news,” CL’s CEO Ben Eason said at a noon staff meeting in Tampa. Many other media companies have been hurt in this economy, and others are successfully reorganizing their finances or changing the terms of their debt to cope, he added.
Eason addressed staff in Tampa this morning to announce the legal action after the media company’s board voted early this morning to file in bankrtupcy court in Tampa. He was upbeat about Chapter 11’s ability to ease the debt crunch the newspaper chain is facing as it tries to increase its online presence while at the same time dealing with falling print revenues because of the housing crisis and resulting slower economy.
“This company has got cash,” he said. “This is not a cash issue. This is not a management issue. It’s strictly the economy tanking.”
Eason continued: “This company is not a sinking ship. We have an excellent shot at coming out of this with a fresh start” and redrawn debt repayment terms.
Eason added that employees and vendors would continue to be paid and the newspapers in six U.S. markets would continue to publish weekly. No layoffs or other changes are anticipated as part of the Chapter 11 case, he said.
Ironically, CL was poised across all its newspapers to make cuts in its editorial budgets by the end of October in an attempt to free up more cash to make debt payments. With the debt issue on hold because of the bankruptcy court action, Eason said he has told editors those cuts now do not have to be made. The cuts had not been revealed here in Tampa, but in Washington they had been the focus of stories in the press for about a month.
The bankruptcy filing was caused by an inability to generate enough revenues in the current advertising sales slump nationally to satisfy the debt payments and terms of the debt taken on in the purchase of the Chicago and Washington papers last year.
Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code shields a company from its creditors while it puts together a reorganization plan that must be approved by the court. While it is possible that the court could take many different actions — from dissolving the company to forcing its sale or breakup — Eason said those actions are highly unlikely in CL’s case. “We’re going full steam ahead” in growing the newspapers’ online presence, he said. “Just watch us.”
Among the largest unsecured creditors is Fayetteville Publishing Co., which prints the Tampa Bay edition and some of the other papers in the group. The Georgia Department of Labor, the Georgia Department of Revenue and the IRS are also among the creditors. The listing of creditors on a bankruptcy filing doesn’t indicate, as some news accounts suggested, that Creative Loafing was not paying its vendors or taxes, Eason said; it is merely a court-required list of those companies that do business with CL.
Creative Loafing was founded in 1972 by Debby Eason in Atlanta and later opened several other papers in the Southeast. Ben, who owned the Tampa paper, acquired the rest of the family newspapers in 2000.
Sen. John McCain has announced he will be attending tonight’s debate after all. I guess he got tired screwing up the economic bailout, grabbed a nap and upon waking realized that skipping the debate would be campaign suicide. Good to see McCain’s not suicidal.
As a reminder, we’ll be live blogging the debate tonight starting at 8 p.m. (Perhaps you’ve noticed our snazzy countdown clock at top-right.)
You didn’t think the McCain campaign’s little ploy would shut down the CL live blogging of the debates, did you? Not a chance! Tomorrow night at about 8 p.m. we’ll be opening a thread and hammering away at the candidates and the issues during the first presidential debate of the 2008 election season. Or we’ll be yakking about the most interesting town hall meeting of the campaign. Who knows, maybe even Bob Barr will make an appearance? No matter the news between now and then, bring your wit and wisdom to PoHo blog tomorrow night and let the debate begin!
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 24, 2008, at 4:49 pm
In front of a capacity crowd at a minor league ballpark in Dunedin, Barack Obama today said that it will take a bipartisan solution and a different mentality at the White House to fix the economic crisis.
“So we need to act and act now,” Obama said, according to his prepared remarks. “This cannot fall victim to the usual partisan politics or special-interest lobbying. But it also can’t be negotiated by the Administration with the same my-way-or-the-highway mentality that is all too familiar.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 24, 2008, at 4:34 pm
In a scene reminiscent of the Schooner Tuna ad at the end of Mr. Mom (”When this crisis is over, we’ll go back to our regular prices … Schooner Tuna, the Tuna with a heart.”), John McCain said today he would suspend campaigning to rush back to Washington and work on the financial bailout issue.
(The full text of his announcement after the jump.)
Yeah, you know it; he musta got some awfully bad internal polling numbers on the economy issue.
He also asked Barack Obama to delay the first debate as a result of the financial crisis. (Early reaction from Camp Obama was that it’s still game on.) And he asked Obama to suspend his campaign, as well, and return to Washington to get down to convincing Congress to fix the economic mess. McCain’s staff said he had determined that the Bush $700 billion unsupervised rich-man bailout plan had no chance in hell of passing.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 24, 2008, at 10:06 am
At the halfway point of the week, here’s all the political and media news that fits (on the Internet). Plus, updates throughout the day in the box on the right:
Faithful PoHo readers will note the addition of a countdown clock at the top-right of the blog. The tick-tock is counting down to CL’s live blogging of first presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. The debate is scheduled to begin this Fri., Sept. 26, at 9 p.m., and we’ll have a thread open for live blogging before, during and after the main event. Expect something similar to what we did for both party’s conventions, with participants adding color commentary, instant fact-checking and the analysis with attitude that you can only get from Creative Loafing.
If you can’t make it on Friday, fear not faithful reader: We’ll be also be live blogging the other debates (two additional presidential debates, one V.P. debate), giving you four chances to add your voice to the animated conversation surrounding one of the most exciting presidential elections in American history.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 22, 2008, at 1:23 pm
Answer: The Ecology Party! (It has 40 registered voters in the state of Florida, in case you didn’t know; there’s one in Pinellas and two in Hillsborough.)
ECOLOGY PARTY OF FLORIDA NOMINATES RALPH NADER, URGES OBAMA TO DEBATE
The Ecology Party of Florida is proud to announce that Ralph Nader, legendary environmental, consumer, and anti-corporate activist has accepted our ballot line and will be on with running mate Matt Gonzalez in Florida this November. No other candidate better represents the principles the Ecology Party espouses. Mr. Nader, well known for his environmental record, was instrumental in the passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as in the creation of the EPA. His energy policy, spurred by an intelligently designed carbon tax, paves the way for an economy 100 per cent free of carbon and nuclear power, and his commitment to curb corporate abuses will ensure citizens’ voices are heard. A Nader administration will give our environment the priority it deserves.
Mr. Nader is just as happy to be allied with the Ecology Party. “This country needs new political energies to accomplish quickly what should have been done four decades ago. We are at the brink of an environmental crisis, which was avoidable and is now reversible. We need to support groups like the Ecology Party, who will stand up to the corporate toxicrats who seek to exploit the environment and its denizens for financial gain,” said Ralph Nader, adding that the Ecology Party ballot line is the place for high expectation voters to be on Nov. 4, 2008.
Cara Campbell, Chair of the Ecology Party, is thrilled with Nader and has harsh words for Barack Obama. “I am honored and excited that Mr. Nader has accepted our ballot line. We’re a new and growing party and look forward to having Ralph Nader as our standard-bearer. Americans deserve to hear alternative political viewpoints and that can only be accomplished by having fair and open debates. Unfortunately, Barack Obama seems only concerned with spouting sound bites and platitudes and is unwilling to face candidates who offer real alternatives to the corporate parties.”
While John McCain has agreed to debate outside of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Obama insists on debating only within the narrow confines of the duopoly- controlled press conferences that now pass for “debates.” When the CPD took over in 1987, the president of the League of Women Voters, the organization that had previously sponsored the debates, had this to say:
“The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debates . . . because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates’ organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The league has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public.”
The LWV’s prediction has come frighteningly true. We are appalled that Barack Obama has refused to participate in real debates. The American people deserve the opportunity to hear a vigorous, no-holds barred debate with ALL candidates on enough state ballot lines to win the election. Americans are being denied exposure to vital ideas, opinions, and solutions that will not be presented at the two-party controlled sound bite meetings. The Ecology Party urges candidates and voters to support the non-partisan Citizen’s Debate Commission.
The Ecology Party was founded by environmentalists who believe the corporate controlled major parties will never adequately address burning planetary issues.
On May 4, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that he was willing to debate with “any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 22, 2008, at 10:26 am
Just how many people watched Sarah Palin speak at the GOP-built The Villages over the weekend? Don’t look to the MSM, they’re all over the map:
25,000. Fox in Orlando: “The outdoor rally took place at the Lake Sumter Landing Market Square. More than 17,000 tickets had been handed out for the event and an estimated 25,000 people attended.”
60,000. The News-Press: “‘Sa-Rah! Sa-Rah!’ they chanted at every mention of her name, applauding loudly and waiving tiny American flags that were distributed — along with free water bottles — by local volunteers. The fire chief estimated the crowd at 60,000.”
30,000. Tampa Bay’s 10: “At a campaign event on Sunday drawing about 30,000 people, Governor Sarah Palin criticized Senator Barack Obama for - she says - telling his supporters to “argue” with those who have a different point of view, and to ‘really get in their face’.”
Thousands. Orlando’s News 13: “Thousands gathered in The Villages to see the Alaskan governor.”
Tens of thousands. AP: “But she was welcomed like a star, with tens of thousands cramming into a plaza and nearby streets in this enormous retirement community about an hour north of Orlando. Some waited more than five hours in 92-degree heat to see her speak for 23 minutes.”
25,000-30,000 or more. Miami Herald: “But Palin drew thousands more than the estimated 20,000 people that turned out for Bush. A fire rescue official estimated the crowd at 25,000 to 30,000, while the Republican Party of Florida pegged the audience at twice that size.”
Who knows? St. Petersburg Times: “There was no official crowd estimate and unofficial estimates, from 25,000 up to 60,000, were impossible to verify. By comparison, President Bush drew an estimated 15,000 to The Villages four years ago.”
25,000+. Tampa Tribune: ” ‘The most appropriate sign there - ‘Sweatin’ for Sarah,’ she said, opening her speech to a crowd security officials at the scene estimated at 25,000 or more.It may have been the largest crowd ever for a presidential campaign event in Florida. George W. Bush was reported to have drawn about 20,000 in 2004 at The Villages, a complex with about 80,000 residents; Obama drew more than 15,000 in Tampa in May, the largest crowd for a campaign event in the city.”
For those who weren’t in the crowd, which neared 1 million, here’s a clip:
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 22, 2008, at 8:09 am
Today’s theme for our links to the best political and media stories this morning? Excerpts, my friends, excerpts. Oh, and updates throughout the day in the box to the right:
Obama “likes to point the finger of blame,” she said, “but has he ever lifted a finger to help?” “No!” the crowd yelled back.
59 percent of voters predicted the economy would stay the same if Obama was elected, and 64 percent said it wouldn’t change if John McCain won.
Just when Palm Beach County elections officials thought they were within minutes of putting a three-week nightmare of a judicial race behind them, yet another ballot-counting problem surfaced Sunday.
Florida SayNo2 campaign against dangerous and deceptive Amendment 2 has just announced a contest to create your own commercial against Amendment 2!
So in most of the news, stocks have “slid” and markets “gyrated” but not “crashed.” Companies have “tottered” and “struggled” rather than moved toward failure and bankruptcy.
Anyway, newspapers today are online and they feature breaking news. That’s fine — except when the still listed breaking news is 18 hours old.
George Will closes by saying “John McCain showed his personality this week… and it made some of us fearful.”
The best way to hear Randy Newman is alone. Hearing him at home with someone else snickering along to his jokes isn’t much pleasure. Hearing him live, with other people around you, is peculiar torture.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 22, 2008, at 7:40 am
It must feel kinda shitty these days to be a past winner of the Hillsborough County Moral Courage Award now that county commissioners have renamed it to honor their campaign sugar daddy, the power broker who defined the term pro-growth.
That’s right. Hillsborough’s top award for civic activism has been renamed for the late Ralph Hughes, a pardoned ex-felon who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars he made in the precast concrete construction business to influence political campaigns in Tampa Bay. It will hereafter be called the Ralph Hughes Moral Courage Award.
Hughes died earlier this year at the age of 77.
The award’s new name has shocked and angered level-headed folks in Hillsborough — among them some past winners of the Moral Courage Award.
Cam Oberting, for example, who won the first one, in 1992.
“Hughes used his money and power to get his way,” Oberting said in the Tampa Tribune coverage of the renaming debate. “He gave big campaign contributions, paid for commissioners’ meals. … But to public officials or candidates who disliked him, he intimidated those that didn’t agree with him.”
That doesn’t sound like moral courage as much as hardball politicking and influence-buying. All five who voted to rename the award received beaucoup bucks from Hughes: Jim Norman (who floated the cockamamie idea), Ken Hagan, Kevin White, Brian Blair and Al Higginbotham. Mark Sharpe and Rose Ferlita voted against the renaming.
There’s another good point about the renaming made by this year’s winner, Dave Brown of Sun City Center.
“You’ll have to decide whether that’s an award you want to accept,” Brown said in the St. Petersburg Times. “Next year’s recipient, I think, will have a moral decision to make.”
We’ll make it easier for those folks. Given that the Hillsborough County Commission has ceded the moral authority to dispense the Moral Courage Award, Creative Loafing will take the baton.
I got the OK from the higher-ups here to give Moral Courage Awards annually, starting this December, for people in Tampa Bay who demonstrate, in the words of the county’s award, “exceptional ethical behavior and the moral courage to challenge the actions of government.”
It makes sense to have an independent arbiter for this award anyway; there is something that is, on its face, wrong about a government deciding who best challenges it. Wouldn’t the person who really raised the most hell, who had the most courage in the face of an intransigent government, also have possibly earned the enmity of that government?
Here are the rules:
Anyone who is not in government or paid to undertake the actions they are being nominated for is eligible. Civic groups or other nonprofits are eligible as well.
Nominees must live in Hillsborough or Pinellas County.
The nominee must agree to be nominated.
Nominees must have shown courage and morality in working to change our community for the better, against great odds or opposition, or against pigheaded government officials.
Anyone that Ralph Hughes disliked or fought politically against gets bonus points from us.
In deciding the award recipients annually, Creative Loafing will consult past winners, experts in morality and civic engagement and a bipartisan group of people involved in public affairs matters. We will highlight these civic winners in one of our December issues annually.
To make a nomination, send an e-mail to wayne.garcia@creativeloafing.com with the nominee’s name, address and telephone number; a short biographical paragraph about the nominee; and why you think the nominee has exhibited great civic moral courage in Tampa Bay in 2008. Include your name, address and telephone number as well, please.
The deadline for entries is midnight, Oct. 31.
Oh, and we promise never, ever to name the award after anyone, whether alive or dead or somewhere in between.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 19, 2008, at 4:25 pm
From Emily’s List, the national pro-women advocacy group, here’s the first installment of what they promise will be a series of videos mocking Sarasota Congressman Vern Buchanan.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 19, 2008, at 3:50 pm
Props to our brethren over at the Tampa Bay Business Journal for taking 10 awards in this year’s FPC judging. From the paper’s website:
The staff won first place for general news writing, second place for special sections and second place for its online publication.• Margie Manning and Michael Hinman won first and second place, respectively, for breaking news reporting. Manning also was honored to receive a second place Lucy Morgan award for in-depth reporting.
• Kathleen Cabble won second place for portrait/personality photography and second place for pictorial photography.
• Abdiel Rios won first place for info-graphic presentation.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 19, 2008, at 1:32 pm
Ahh, this one never gets old. You see, “Liberal Hollywood” is really what is wrong with this country. All those raunchy movies and drug-filled songs. Plus the money they take from us good, God-fearing Americans at the box office and then redistribute to their liberal pals in the Democratic Party. Like Barack Obama, who recently raised scads of cash from these filth merchants, including Barbara Barbra Streisand. (An aside: A Star is Bornwas on one of the HD channels this morning as I prepped for work, and looking at her made we wonder, did anyone in the ’70s really find her sexy?!?)
So the merry pranksters at the RPOF today made their down to an Obama field office to present him with his own Hollywood walk-of-fame star.
Hee-yuk, hee-yuk:
GOP state Chairman Jim Greer had this to say about the vast left-wing conspiracy:
“In spite of the fact that his proposals are completely out of touch with voters in this state, Floridians want to ensure that Barack Obama does not begin to miss the red carpet treatment during his fundraising stops in the Sunshine State this weekend. Whether it’s his opposition to offshore drilling, support for higher taxes, or proposals to hold unconditional negotiations with hostile leaders like Raul Castro, Obama has failed to demonstrate the judgment that Floridians are looking for in the next Commander-in-Chief.
“Until Senator Obama can make his way back to Hollywood where he fits in with his celebrity friends, we hope this celebrity star of fame reminds him of the very real and critical challenges facing hard-working Floridians every day.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 18, 2008, at 5:24 pm
A great job of fact-checking by NBC Nightly News last night, in a move that ought to be echoed by other nets and with all the candidates. The only way to get them back to telling the truth more often is by the systematic and unending checking of what they say against the verifiable record:
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 17, 2008, at 9:13 am
In the aftermath of the wild party that was The Loafies Awards ceremony and after-party last night, here’s our hangover edition of political and media news that is must-read. Plus: updates throughout the day in the box to the right:
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 16, 2008, at 2:18 pm
Pre-show estimate/hoped-for attendance at the McCain Rally in downtown Tampa: 4,000-5,000 as quoted by Trib’s William March from campaign sources in coverage today.
Actual attendance in Tampa: 2,500, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 16, 2008, at 8:43 am
Politics, media, and breaking daily news updates in the box to the right:
Someone (I’m looking at you, Sen. McCain) is testing negative pro-Palestinian messages against Barack Obama among Jewish voters.
McCain in Jax: “Still, the fundamentals of our economy are strong but these are very, very difficult times. I promise you, we will never put America in this position again.“
McCain on the way out of Jax: Obama didn’t mean Palin when he said “lipstick on a pig.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 15, 2008, at 5:06 pm
Readers of the St. Petersburg Times on Sunday found a little rancid bonus in their newspapers this weekend: a DVD called Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, which is a hate film ostensibly about Islamic terror. It’s really a thinly veiled attempt to influence the presidential election by flooding anti-Muslim sentiment ahead of the Obama-McCain balloting in November.
Nothing like infusing the voters’ minds with fresh images of terror, especially little children as jihadists, only 50 days away from the day we decide whether to put a man named Barack Hussein Obama into office.
I’ve already heard from one reader, Kathy Bonin in St. Petersburg, who said she’ll cancel her subscription over the DVD insert. The self-proclaimed good-old-fashioned-Kennedy-Tip-O’Neill Democrat and recent arrival from Massachusetts said she called the paper to complain and was told that since it was an ad, there was nothing the paper could do. (Not entirely true; the Times has advertising standards and has, in the past, refused advertising from political campaigns and the Church of Scientology.)
According to Editor & Publisher, the DVD was also be inserted in the Tampa Tribune. (Anyone out there get one this weekend? Can’t find one in our copy here.)
E&P says the New York Times distributed more than 100,000 of the discs — in selected areas:
A spokesperson there said the Times last Sunday inserted 145,000 DVDs in its papers delivered in the following markets: Denver, Miami/Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando, Detroit, Kansas City, St Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee/Madison. Note: These are all in swing states.
The documentary showcases scenes of Muslim children being encouraged to become suicide bombers, interspersed with shots of Nazi rallies. ‘The threat of Radical Islam is the most important issue facing us today,” reads the sleeve of the DVD. ”But it’s a topic that neither the presidential candidates nor the media are discussing openly. It’s our responsibility to ensure we can all make an informed vote in November.”
In this clip from the video, Hitler is tied to the Arab national movement and, therefore, radical Islam:
And here’s a couple of little Arab girls who tell the cameraman that they hope Bush dies in flames and that he is a pig:
Bonus cut: Some interesting background about the folks behind the film, the Clarion Fund.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 15, 2008, at 1:48 pm
Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair went a bit off track in an interview between himself and challenger Kevin Beckner on ABC Action News’ Flashpoint talk show on Sunday, cracking a racial joke about himself and singer Michael Jackson both being from the same Gary, Ind., neighborhood.
The exchange comes near the 8-minute mark of the second segment of of the show, moderated by Channel 28 anchor Brendan McLaughlin:
BECKNER: This is part of Mr. Blair’s agenda of marginalizing people in our community. He’s had a history of it. He’s marginalized the Muslim community. He’s pushed for banning books in our libraries. He slighted our African American community. Mr. Blair has done more to drive down the socio- and economic value of our community than anybody other than former commissioner Ronda Storms.
BLAIR: That’s a complete fabrication. First off, I just supported giving the NAACP $15,000. I’ve been on the Urban Caucus for the last four years. I’ve coached black kids. Black children stay at my home almost every weekend. I was born in Gary, Indiana, you know where that is, Kevin.
There were very few white people in my neighborhood. I didn’t know what prejudice was. Probably the only two white people in my neighborhood were myself and Michael Jackson. My friends were all black. … You’re flat-out wrong. [emphasis added]
Why, some of my best friends are black people.
Now for those who are racial-sensitive challenged, Michael Jackson is an African-American man who has lighter skin as the result of a condition called vitiligo. And while making jokes about Michael Jackson’s sexual activities (alleged) and apparent whiteness are certainly a national sport, it still seems, well, racially ignorant to use a joke about him as an example of how racially progressive you are.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 12, 2008, at 5:22 pm
In the highest profile one-on-one meeting in the campaign so far, incumbent Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair and challenger Kevin Beckner have taped an appearance for Sunday’s Flashpoint with Brendan McLaughlin on ABC Action News Channel 28.
The interview gets real lively about halfway through when the topic turns to social issues. Blair, a conservative, has fought against gay pride and the anti-bullying “Day of Silence” in public schools, gets an earful from Beckner, who is preaching more tolerance and fiscal planning.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Sep. 12, 2008, at 3:18 pm
Pretty stunning news in this morning’s Times that Doug Tuthill, who was a corporate exec at Creative Loafing in Tampa for three years, and St. Petersburg Times editorial writer Jon East, are joining the state’s No. 2 school-voucher advocate (behind only Jeb!), John Kirtley, in the Florida School Choice Fund.
The fund raises corporate dollars that are used as part of a state program that awards private-school vouchers. Tuthill, CL’s former chief operating officer, will be president of the Fund; East becomes its communications director.
Both had been anti-voucher in the past but told the newspaper that their new jobs do not amount to a flip-flop on the issue:
People say, ” ‘Gee, Doug, you suddenly flipped your position on school choice.’ That’s not true,” Tuthill said.
Tuthill said he heard many of the same arguments now raised against vouchers when he helped set up the International Baccalaureate program at St. Petersburg High School in the early 1980s. “Our argument was all we’re trying to do is create more learning options (for kids),” he said.
“My core values are the same,” said East, the former Times editorial writer. But, “I sincerely feel that (tax credit vouchers) don’t compete with or undermine public education, which is different than the way I used to feel.”
One wag in Pinellas who has often disagreed with the Times editorial board called me to smirkingly offer this “translation” of East’s quote: “My core values are the same; it’s just paying my bills makes my core values a luxury that I can’t currently afford.”
Ouch.
I like and respect East, who was one of the most thoughtful and informed editorial writers on that board over the past two decades, and worked directly with Doug here at CL and respect his knowledge and commitment to education. They are good guys; their move to the Fund and onto the side of tax-credit vouchers is less testimony to a flip-flop than a signal (as Ron Matus points out in his excellent story) that perhaps we’re closing in on a middle ground in Florida education reform where smart folks on both sides of the voucher issue can get something good done.
(UPDATE: East contacted me and offered a correction to the Times story, pointing out that he did not retire and take the buyout package at the newspaper and left to take this new job. “I came here not because I needed a new paycheck, but because I decided I needed a new cause,” he wrote in an e-mail.)
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