Obama Craters in Florida

It's time to ratchet up the class warfare and scare the daylights out of granny.

Whether it’s in a crowded field or one-on-one, Rick Perry is the man to beat in the party’s race for the White House, a new poll shows.

The Texas governor leads rival Mitt Romney by 9 percentage points in the crowded race for president, according to the survey from Quinnipiac University that also found Perry would best Romney if Sarah Palin hopped in the race or if the contest was a simple head-to-head matchup. The other seven candidates poll in the single digits.

The poll also suggests Romney won’t get much political mileage out of attacking Perry for calling Social Security a "Ponzi scheme." More than half of Republicans — the only ones who can vote in the upcoming winter primary — say it’s "fair" to describe the entitlement program that way.

Perry’s comments, though, could prove more problematic in a general-election race, with 58 percent of all voters saying the comment comparing Social Security to a criminal-funding swindle is "unfair." Also, voters in Florida — where more than half of the electorate is older than 60 — aren’t sure if he wants to end or fix Social Security, which they don’t want changed.

Romney’s relative weakness in the eyes of Republican voters — that is, his perceived moderation — would be a strength in a matchup against President Obama, whom the former Massachusetts governor bests by a 47-40 percent spread thanks to the support of independent voters.

Perry is statistically tied with Obama, who earned his lowest job approval rating ever in a Quinnipiac poll. Only 39 percent approve of the way Obama’s doing his job, while 57 percent disapprove. More than half of voters say Obama does not deserve a second term. Only 41 percent say he should be re-elected.

“Gov. Rick Perry has the lead — and the momentum — among Florida Republicans, while former Gov. Mitt Romney can point to a better general election showing,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a written statement.

Tonight's debate should be a barn-burner as Romney tries to make up ground on Perry. At this juncture it matters little that Perry is in a statistical tie with Obama. If Obama's numbers remain anywhere near as low as they are now he can kiss Florida, and likely his presidency, goodbye.

Republican Mayor Who Acted Like a Democrat Gets Fired

The mayor of Miami was a Republican. I say was because yesterday they held a recall election and the citizens of Miami fired him. In the two-page article I read there was no mention of his political affiliation and I assumed he was a Democrat, but needed to verify it and, lo and behold, he is a Republican.

You can understand my confusion when you see some of the reasons the citizens of Miami were fed up with him.

The campaign to recall Alvarez was launched in October by billionaire businessman Norman Braman after Alvarez successfully pushed for a property tax-rate increase to help plug a gaping budget hole. At the same time, Alvarez pushed for labor contracts with employee unions that included pay hikes for most county workers this year.
...
In March 2009 Alvarez successfully pushed through a controversial deal to use hundreds of millions of dollars in public money to build a new ballpark for the Florida Marlins. Then in August 2009 The Miami Herald disclosed that as Alvarez was calling for shared sacrifice amid the searing economic downturn he handed large raises to close aides, including Chief of Staff Dennis Morales, whose 11 percent pay hike put his yearly salary at $206,783.
...
In May, Alvarez came under fire for shopping for a new BMW 550i Grand Turismo sedan subsidized by an $800-a-month car allowance. He got the new car even as he already had two Chevy Suburbans to ferry him around on official business. Alvarez — earning a $233,123 salary and $92,187 in benefits — refused to get rid of the car allowance, saying he wasn’t “going to do something that is symbolic.”

I dare anyone to tell me that doesn't sound like any Democrat you know from Charlie "Taxes are for the little people" Rangel to Nancy "I'll use the plane any damn time I want" Pelosi. Raising taxes, pay raises and benefits for your cronies and free-wheeling spending of taxpayer dollars.

Good riddance, and I hope Miami chooses wisely in the next election.

Burn Or Not Burn?

Protesters burn a church in Sukkur, 480kms northeast of Karachi, Pakistan.

The burning question of the day seems to be whether a small church in Florida should go ahead with it's planned event to burn at least one Koran, different reports have different numbers on just how many of the terrorists handbooks should be burned. Guess I tipped my hand there.

Today the old dinosaur media is running the story of how Gen Petraeus and some of the other commanders with actual skin in the game feel about this event. They see a growing resentment in Afghanistan since news of this has made it over there and hope the church will rethink their plans. They cite a very real threat to the soldiers serving and possible long term impacts to what they are trying to accomplish. I respect their opinion greatly and thus am left in a position that is most uncomfortable.

I don't for one second believe that the Taliban or Al-Queda will quit for one second in their pursuit of killing Americans. The question is will it give them more cult followers willing to strap on explosives and become part of the red spray parade that is emblematic of the Islamic faith. I am tired of being told that we need to be sensitive to the Muslim culture. I am sick and tired of handing this fight to them all in the name of not offending their delicate nature.

I think we have seen how delicate their feelings are in the constant stream of stories of them gassing girls in schools. beheading those who disagree, stoning of women for the pleasure of a machismo society they have, and the very graphic stories of the torture chambers and houses which hold their prisoners.

Somewhere there has to be a line drawn in the sand and the civilized western world as got to tell the barbarians that we will no longer agree to their demands and extortion or pay their protection money. Allowing them to dictate the terms under which we are allowed to act is the same as living by their rules. In other words it is sharia by stealth.

I will really worry about Muslim sensitivities when I see a Catholic cathedral built in Saudi Arabia, when possession of a Bible in an Arab country is not subject to the death penalty and murderers of civilians are not heralded as heroes.

Afterthought: Maybe I am just in a bad mood because today we are burying two service members from the local area, one Marine and one soldier, who were killed in Afghanistan recently. Some how burning a Koran just doesn't rate up there.

I wish to remind folks that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of the management, Jammie in other words, and are mine solely, so please direct the comments and the hate mail to the appropriate party.

Send Allen West To Congress Florida

LTC (Ret) West won his primary battle to be the Republican representative for Florida's 22nd congressional district. His opponent in the general election will be the current incumbent Ron Klein.

For some reason when I visited Mr Klein's web site I had trouble figuring out which political party he belonged to, even though I already knew. It appears to be another case of a Democrat running away from the brand. If you snoop around a little you will find a reference to him being a Democrat, but the real enlightening part is all the information he has up touting his bona fides to the military community. It is almost as if he knew who his opponent would be and went to work trying to improve his street cred in the military and veteran community.

I want Allen West to win this seat so bad. He is just the sort of guy we need in Washington. He is a leader not a manager. He doesn't run from anything he has done and unless you want the truth don't ask the question.

So Florida, please pull your collective heads out of your fourth point of contact and send Allen West to congress.

And if you don't know the story of LTC (Ret) Allen West do a little snooping around the intertubes. I think you will find yourself learning about a man that you would follow through hell with gasoline soaked underwear.

Florida Fails to Pass Law Banning Bestiality

As Ernie Anastos might say, you can keep fu--ing that chicken if you reside in Florida.

Goat lovers rejoice.

From every angle, a ban on bestiality, long pushed by state prosecutors and animal rights activists, seemed poised to finally become law this year, with Republicans and Democrats in both chambers of the Florida Legislature joining forces to push it through.

Yet it failed.

The inability to outlaw something so repugnant reveals how difficult it can be to get even the most carefully crafted, widely supported bill passed in the Florida Legislature.

Its advocates say that in the political stew of a legislative session, the very outrageousness of the topic worked against it.

Lawmakers said they did not want to be accused of wasting time addressing a rare crime when Floridians needed them to help create jobs. They also did not want to debate the icky subject in public meetings occasionally frequented by children.

``The whole thing just kind of collapsed, unfortunately, and so we are back to square one,'' said Nan Rich, the Senate's incoming minority leader, who has tried since 2008 to close this loophole in the law.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner said he had hoped for a different outcome.

``I made a personal commitment last year to make sure the House would criminalize that type of disgusting, barbaric behavior,'' he said.

News reports of Floridians having sex with animals are infrequent, but draw fierce outrage all the same.

There was the Panhandle man who sexually battered and asphyxiated a pregnant goat in 2008. In West Palm Beach, there was a man who molested his neighbor's dog in 2004. Leon County has the story of a man who sexually battered his guide dog in 2005.

``While it is not something that we think is a widespread problem, Florida ought to be able to prosecute these cases when they do happen,'' said Jennifer Hobgood, Florida State Director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Animal rape was not always legal.

A 1971 Florida Supreme Court decision struck down a law written in 1868 that banned bestiality on the grounds that is was too vague. The law prohibited, ``abominable and detestable crime against nature, either with mankind or with beast.''

State prosecutors said the court decision made it difficult to convict people who have sex with animals. They must prove the suspect violated Florida's animal cruelty law, which prohibits tormenting or hurting an animal.

``Obviously it is not as easy to prove that it [the sexual act] tormented the animal as it would be as easy to say, `it is illegal to have sex with an animal,' '' said Georgia Cappleman, a chief assistant state attorney in Leon County.

As a result, prosecutors might only pursue misconduct charges or other lesser crimes, said Jeanne Howard, a chief assistant state attorney in Palm Beach County.

``We often have to prove injury or repeated inflictions of pain that we are not always able to do with these kinds of cases,'' she said.

Still, few lawmakers have expressed interest in banning bestiality in recent years.

``They just don't like to discuss sex and animals,'' said Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Feel-Good Second Amendment Story of the Day

Let's hear it for concealed carry permits. A shame every state doesn't have them.

A bank robber in Palm Bay couldn't get away from a bank Thursday, because a customer of the Space Coast Credit Union on Malabar Road had a gun and a concealed weapon permit. The customer used his gun to stop the robber.

Police identified the suspect as 23-year-old Floyd Francis. He's facing robbery charges.

The man who stopped him, Ruben Torres, actually had his gun in his car in the parking lot. He had enough time to go out to his car, get his gun and then go back in and hold Francis for police.

"Me, being from New York, I’m always on alert," Torres explained.

Of course had this robbery taken place in New York, Torres would have been at the mercy of the criminal.

Torres went to the Space Coast Credit Union to pick up some cash for a cruise this weekend and was on his way out when he noticed a man walk in, give him a weird look, pull out a Walmart bag and put it on his head. It was the first sign it wasn't going to be just any visit to the bank.

"It's not Halloween. You don't walk in and put a bag over your head unless you’re going to do something," Torres said.

Torres, a trained, professional security guard with a concealed weapons permit said he didn't even think twice about what he was about to do. He went to his car, grabbed his handgun and went back inside.

Francis was sitting, waiting for the cash he was trying to steal. Another teller confirmed for Torres that Francis was trying to rob the bank and, when Torres saw an opportunity, he drew his weapon.

"As he was walking out, I put him down with the gun in the back of his back," Torres said.

The Palm Bay man said Francis didn't fight back or try to run. Torres said he was never scared, just a little nervous, and was surprised to hear what Francis had to say.

"He apologized to me and I said, 'That doesn't matter now,'" Torres described.

Palm Bay police arrived moments later. Police said, while they don't encourage people to take matters into their own hands, they said what he did was appreciated and courageous.

Special Election in Florida's 19th District

It's flown well under the national radar, but today there's a special election in the heavily-Democratic 19th Congressional District in Florida to fill out the term of the departed Robert Wexler. Expect the Democrats to spin this as a win for ObamaCare if they hold the seat while the GOP will gain huge momentum if their candidate somehow pulls this off.

Polls are open in Florida's 19th Congressional district, where a special election is being held Tuesday to fill former Rep. Robert Wexler's seat. The contest is also the first federal election to be held since the congressional passage of the Democrat's health care plans, and the controversial reforms could play a large role in the election results.

Republican candidate Ed Lynch says he wants to repeal the new law. The 44 year-old contractor is making opposition to President Obama's health care legislation a major part of his campaign. Lynch is also critical of the federal stimulus program, and of the president's handling the war in Iraq. The Democratic candidate, 44 year-old State Sen. Ted Deutch, supports the new health care law.

About four in ten voters in the district are senior citizens, and many national polls indicate that older voters were opposed to the health care reform legislation. Republicans hope to pull off an upset similar to Scott Brown's victory in January in a special election in Massachusetts to fill the seat of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

The heavily Democratic district stretches from northern Broward County into Palm Beach county, just miles inland from Florida's Atlantic coastline. The nine-term Wexler, who was very popular in the district, stepped down at the beginning of the year to lead a Middle East think tank.

The district voted 65% for Obama in 2008.

The Democrat outraised opponents by 20 to 1. If she doesn't win it'll be a massive humiliation for Democrats. Believe it or not, weather could play a factor. What, is it going to be under 75 degrees?

Typically, Bucher said, a special election gets 15 percent to 20 percent turnout, Bucher said. "We're hopeful that we get better than the standard, but it's hard to tell," she said.

Snipes said bad weather depresses turnout. If Tuesday is anything like Monday, she said, "that'll be a disaster."

Meanwhile, more grim news for Democrats on the national level.

Meet Lt. Cmdr. Dan Fanelli

Dan Fanelli is the Republican challenger to that loud mouthed, uncivilized, thuggish, and obnoxious representative from Florida, Alan Grayson.

Mr. Fanelli brings something to the campaign that is a breath of fresh air: humor.



I sincerely hope the folks in this district do not send Grayson back to Congress since he has proven himself to be nothing but an embarrassment, not only for the people he is supposed to represent, but to America in general.

I especially like the comparison of Grayson to Fred Flinstone.

ACORN Members Busted on Fraud Charges

How long until the whiny left complains this is just a distraction from Bammy's speech tonight?

Let's look at the upside: There are 11 fewer Obama czar candidates this morning.

Arrest warrants have been issued in Miami for 11 people suspected of falsifying information on hundreds of voter registration cards -- including registering the name of the late actor Paul Newman -- the Florida State Attorney's office told FOXNews.com.

The FBI and state authorities took six people into custody Wednesday as it issued 11 arrest warrants for voter registration fraud in Homestead, Fla., in June 2008.

"Names were filled out on the registration forms that were not actual voters," said Ed Griffith, a spokesperson for the State Attorney's office. Griffith said the names included people who were already registered voters, fictitious names, and the name of the late actor Paul Newman, who died in Sept. 2008.

Griffith said the workers being sought were hired to register voters by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. He said ACORN alerted the state attorney's office after it reviewed hundreds of voter registration cards it suspected were fraudulent. Griffith said that none of the names in question actually voted.

In a statement sent to FOXNews.com. on Wednesday, Florida ACORN board member Leroy Bell said, "we want to commend the State Attorney for taking decisive action. Today's action demonstrates the seriousness we brought to the task of not only expanding the electorate, but also of protecting the integrity of the voting process."

He apparently said that with a straight face.

Do We Need Sandwich Control in Florida?

They're counting this as the second sandwich assault in Florida recently, but they're overlooking the cheeseburger assault earlier this month.

PORT ST. LUCIE — A 20-year-old welder accused of throwing a sandwich at his girlfriend and hitting the top of her head with his fist is facing a battery charge, according to a police report released Monday.

It's at least the second alleged sandwich attack in Port St. Lucie that sent a man to jail in about a month.

The recent incident reportedly happened Friday morning when Matthew J. Rubin, 20, allegedly hurled a sandwich at his 19-year-old girlfriend during an argument.

The girlfriend told police Rubin argued with his mother about renewing his car insurance, and he reportedly denied that she told him to do so. Rubin allegedly "snapped" when his girlfriend told him his mother did tell him about the insurance.

Clearly it may be time for background checks and five-day waiting periods before people are allowed to safely purchase sandwiches, as well as licensing and training on the dangers of sandwiches and how to safely handle them.

Do it for the children.

Florida Still Has 30,000 Felons on Voter Rolls

In a stunning development, felon Democrats outnumber felon Republicans.

More than 30,000 Florida felons who by law should have been stripped of their right to vote remain registered to cast ballots in this presidential battleground state, a Sun Sentinel investigation has found.

Many are faithful voters, with at least 4,900 turning out in past elections.

Another 5,600 are not likely to vote Nov. 4 — they're still in prison.

Of the felons who registered with a party, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one.

Florida's elections chief, Secretary of State Kurt Browning, acknowledged his staff has failed to remove thousands of ineligible felons because of a shortage of workers and a crush of new registrations in this critical swing state.

A crush of new registrations. Hmmm. Can you say ACORN, boys and girls?

Browning said he was not surprised by the newspaper's findings. "I'm kind of shocked that the number is as low as it is," he said.

Asked how many ineligible felons may be on Florida's rolls, Browning said, "We don't know."

The Division of Elections has a backlog of more than 108,000 possible felons who have registered to vote since January 2006 that it hasn't had the time or staff to verify. Browning estimated that about 10 percent, once checked, would be ineligible.

"This is part of a big mess," said Jeff Manza, professor of sociology at New York University and author of a book on felon voting. "It's almost certain there will be challenges if the election is close enough that things hinge on this. Both parties are armed to the teeth with legal talent in all the battleground states."

Hard to believe this can happen in the land of the hanging chad, isn't it?

Florida registers voters largely on an honor system, asking applicants to affirm on a signed form that they are not convicted felons or that their rights have been restored. State law requires the Elections Division to conduct criminal records checks only after voters are added to the rolls, and it takes months or even years to remove those who are ineligible, the Sun Sentinel found.

"It's scandalous, really," said Lance deHaven-Smith, professor of public policy at Florida State University. "Why do they have to cull the rolls after they get registered? They shouldn't get on the rolls in the first place."

No kidding.

Actually, it's not scandalous. It's completely insane.

Human Life Now No More Important Than Sturgeons

That is the message that the federal government and the Army Corps of Engineers offered in response to questions raised about why they continued to release water from Lake Lanier, the main source of water for the 4 million+ residents of metro Atlanta.

In the spring of 2006, the corps began releasing billions of gallons of additional water from Lanier and the other federal reservoirs on the Chattahoochee to assist fewer than 10 federally protected Gulf sturgeon fish in laying their eggs.

The northern part of Georgia has been experiencing drought conditions, according to this report for a couple of years, but which became painfully apparent at the end of last year and we are still struggling to recover. We are at Mother Natures mercy in this regard. While portions of the state are getting plenty of rainfall and their sources of water have recovered Lake Lanier still remains critical. For some reason while the rest of the state is getting soaked and the lakes and rivers are recovering Lake Lanier is not. Part of that reason is that we are under federal mandates to release a certain amount of water every day to go downstream for Florida. Yes Florida. The state that is surrounded by water on three sides and home to second largest source of fresh water in the United States, Lake Okeechobee.

Lake Okeechobee is at the center of South Florida's regional water management system, and is located in south-central Florida. The massive lake is a 730 square mile, relatively shallow lake with an average depth of 9 feet (2.7 meters), and is the second-largest freshwater lake located wholly within the continental United States, second only to Lake Michigan. Lake Okeechobee's drainage basin covers more than 4,600 square miles (11,913 km2).

But there is plenty more in the story of how the Atlanta area continues to suffer through water shortages while all of our neighbors continue accusing Georgia of being stingy in sharing our resources.

But when the corps' sent copious amounts of water down to Florida for the prehistoric fish and several types of threatened and endangered freshwater mussels, with very little scientific data to support the need for the additional water, Gov. Sonny Perdue and state Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch protested, to no avail.

In a letter to the corps in May 2006, Couch foreshadowed Lanier's precipitous drop to levels not seen since the lake was filling in the 1950s and warned "draining Lake Lanier to such a low level could cause serious harm throughout the [Chattahoochee] Basin in 2006 and for years to come."

Lake Lanier is a man made lake, so while we had the foresight to try and build a water basin for northern Georgia, we now have to share that with a far larger group then it was ever intended for, and I am pretty sure when the plans were drawn up lake Lanier they didn't include sending water downstream to protect fish and mussels for the folks in Florida.
Pictures of our drought here.

No Plan B as Democrat Divide Deepens in Florida

Just imagine, we have five full months to watch this Democrat civil war unfold. Guaranteed to be bloody, nasty and likely fatal to their chances to regain the White House.

As Clinton's camp calls for counting the January results, Obama's campaign has rejected them, arguing that the contests in Florida and Michigan were invalid because both candidates had agreed not to campaign in the two renegade states. Obama's name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.

''The rules are the rules. Michigan and Florida both knew they wouldn't be seated if they moved their primaries up,'' former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, an Obama supporter, said Sunday on Meet the Press.

''If we want to make sure that Michigan and Florida are seated,'' he added, ''make it a 50/50 division'' of delegates.

Several members of Congress have suggested other formulas, using the results of the January primary to apportion delegates.

Allan Katz, an Obama supporter and Tallahassee attorney, said there could be support for ''some iteration of a 50-50 split'' in which Clinton could end up with an edge of superdelegates.

''The two campaigns have to figure out what they can live with,'' Katz said.

Several of Clinton's top donors in Florida are using their purse strings to pressure Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to mediate the dispute. The New York Times reported Saturday that several have threatened to withhold contributions to the DNC unless it agrees to acknowledge the results of the Jan. 29 primary or schedule new elections.

'I told [Dean] `If my vote doesn't count and my state doesn't count, then my money's not going to count,' '' Clinton donor Ira Leesfield said Sunday, referring to a recent conversation he had with the DNC chairman. ``We've told him he's got to grab the bull by the horns and either have a revote or recognize the election.''

Dean, though, has repeatedly ruled out recognizing the January results, saying he doesn't want to change the rules in the middle of the campaign.

How deliciously ironic that here we are nearly eight years after the 2000 recount, Florida once again becomes ground zero in the electoral process.

The Democrats have only themselves and Howard Dean's arrogance to blame for this mess. Back when all signs pointed to an easy coronation for Mrs. Clinton, they never imagined their condescension towards states that wanted to move up their primaries would every be a factor.

Now that it is, they're left baffled, befuddled and absolutely clueless as to what to do.

Tome Bevan at RCP calls it Nightmare on Dem Street.

Get the popcorn ready, kids, this one's going to be a hoot.

Algore Was Unavailable for Comment

Possible snowfall in Daytona Beach. How can this be?

Ominous silence from the global warming hysterics.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A hard freeze expected in parts of Central Florida early Thursday will bring a chance of snow flurries in Daytona Beach and other areas as temperatures drop into the teens and low 20s.

"There will be clouds that are similar to the clouds that are generated in the Great Lakes states when we have lake-effect snow," Local 6 meteorologist Larry Mowry said. "I'm going to call for the possibility of snow flurries early Thursday morning near the coastline."

Mowry said residents in Daytona Beach, Titusville, Palm Bay and Melbourne may see the snow flurries Thursday.

Clinton Appointee Blocks Florida Voter Registration Law

The Democrats have been throwing a temper tantrum for seven years now after their unsuccessful attempt to steal the 2000 election for Al Gore.

Since then, new procedures have gone into place. Nothing draconian, just simple rules requiring voters to have valid driver's licenses or Social Security numbers validated in databases.

Well, that's just not fair, according to Clinton appointee Stephan Mickle.

A federal judge blocked enforcement Tuesday of a Florida law that prevents people from registering to vote if officials cannot match their Social Security or driver's license numbers to federal or state databases.

With six weeks before the state's presidential primary, U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle issued a temporary injunction against the law, which is meant to prevent election fraud.

"The court recognized that this law is in direct conflict with federal laws designed after the 2000 election debacle to make sure every eligible citizen can have their vote counted," said plaintiffs' lawyer Justin Levitt, who is with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning maintained the state law complies with federal ones and said he would immediately appeal.

"I also think it is unwise to introduce such a major change in Florida's election procedure on the eve of Florida's presidential preference primary," Browning said.

Three civil rights organizations argued the statute violates federally protected voting rights because the databases are unreliable and the matching process is prone to human error, computer glitches and other problems.

"There could be typos," said Elizabeth Westfall, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers. "Someone could be using their married name, but their Social Security number might be entered under their maiden name."

The use of two last names by Hispanics and nontraditional names or spellings favored by many blacks put them at greater risk of error, said Westfall, an attorney with the Advancement Project, a civil rights legal group based in Washington.

Democrats just can't bear to have clean and fair elections.

They might not ever win anything.