World Politics

Allen West as Rick Scott's Lieutenant Governor? We Say Yes!

Rick Scott may have opened the door to what would be quite the dynamic duo of derpness at the top. Scott told a Tampa-area radio station that he would be cool with considering former Rep. Allen West as his next lieutenant governor. Actually, Scott basically just gave a polite answer when asked abou ... More >>

Hugo Chavez Dies, and Weston Rejoices on Twitter

It didn't take long for the tweets to start rolling in. Weston, which has the highest percentage of Venezuelans of any Florida municipality besides Doral, rejoiced at the news of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death. He reportedly died of infection. Across Broward County, the number of Venezu ... More >>

Roger Stone for Governor: Legalize Pot, Gay Marriage

Right Wing wild card Roger Stone may throw his hat in the ring of the 2014 Florida governor's race. The ace in his hole: marijuana. He wants to legalize it, and gay marriage. How serious is he? It's always a thin line with Stone, who so revels in outrage it's like he does things just because he ... More >>

Rick Scott Denies Request to Extend Early Voting by One Day

During the 2008 elections, early voting lines went long. So then-Gov. Charlie Christ extended early voting, allowing more people the chance to vote. That was pretty much when the Republicans started to hate him because a lot of them blamed Obama winning Florida on that move. Because everyone being a ... More >>

Marco Rubio Gets After Joe Biden's Latest Gaffe

Crazy Uncle Joe was campaigning in Charlotte on Tuesday and did that thing where he said stuff that makes Democrats smack themselves on the forehead. Speaking of Mitt Romney and how he and Paul Ryan would raise taxes on the middle class, Biden said, "How they can justify... raising taxes on the mid ... More >>

Romney Campaign Does Impossible: Gets Obama to Brag About Rick Scott

Bloomberg had an interesting scoop yesterday: The Mitt Romney campaign asked Gov. Rick Scott to tone down his bragging about Florida's economy because it was interfering with Romney's message of economic apocalypse under Barack Obama. The report also said Scott "was asked to say that the state's job ... More >>

Jeb Bush Courageously Endorses Mitt Romney

​Former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has taken the brave and politically risky move of endorsing presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a long-shot candidate who is only 300 delegates ahead of his competition.Romney has won only 16 primaries, including Florida's, which was held almost two months ago.

"Rick Santorum or Megadeth's Dave Mustaine?" Quiz Is Genius

​You probably read recently, maybe even here on County Grind, that Megadeth's Dave Mustaine has a hankering for some Rick Santorum. We were kind of grossed out by the whole affair, but after some tossing, turning, and musing, we let the sitch lie. However, someone brilliant over at Mother Jon ... More >>

Nicolas Sarkozy Wins the Republic but Loses His Wife in "The Conquest"

Boca Raton Teenager, ACLU of Florida Suing to Let Kids Donate More Money to Candidates

​With the way campaign-financing laws are going these days, this may not even be surprising -- the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and a 17-year-old girl from Boca Raton are challenging a state law that prohibits minors from giving as much money to state and local political candidates as ... More >>

Newt Gingrich to Make a Lunch Stop at Wings Plus

​Somewhere in the history of politics, a candidate stopped for a bite to eat and was spotted by his adoring public... That was probably the watershed moment that began the tradition of restaurant stops.  After all, nothing says "I'm one of the people" like a politician with ketchup on his tie ... More >>

Florida Legislators Want to Declare That Osama bin Laden's Death Was a Good Thing

​It hasn't passed either chamber of Florida's Legislature yet -- so it's not official -- but memorial bills filed in the House and Senate suggest that Osama bin Laden's death was a good thing.Ranking somewhere around Sen. Stephen Wise's "Christmas break" bill as far as importance is concerned, the ... More >>

SoFla Charter School Connections to Tallahassee

​The booming business of charter schools in South Florida is no accident. Local charter-school operators such as Mavericks in Education Florida and Charter Schools USA have ties to powerful politicians in South Florida and Tallahassee. For instance: 1. Ed Pozzuoli, former chairman of the Broward R ... More >>

Gary Johnson Schedules an Appearance in West Palm Beach Hosted by South Florida Tea Party

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson​After his polling numbers dropped this fall and he was no longer being invited to the debates with other GOP presidential candidates, the probability of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson's running as the Libertarian Party candidate in 2012 looks a bit more lik ... More >>

Herman Cain's Florida Tour Gaffes: Was Media Criticism "Over the Top"?

Herman Cain, the presidential contender who loves to shout the number "nine," took a whirlwind tour through Florida last week, visiting Sweetwater, Miami, Coral Springs, West Palm, and Palm Beach. While he was down in Miami, he bent to Spanglophone tastes by shouting "nueve, nueve, nueve" instead.Bu ... More >>

Connie Mack Enters U.S. Senate Race With 23-Point Lead Over Other GOP Hopefuls

FlickrConnie Mack​Whereas "someone else/not sure" was the overwhelming leader in previous polls for the Republican nomination in next year's U.S. Senate race, Rep. Connie Mack's entrance into the race changes things a bit.Mack enters with the support of 32 percent of Republican voters, according t ... More >>

Florida Democratic Party's New Fundraising Technique: Identifying the "Rickpublicans"

​Forget Kevin Bacon, the Florida Democratic Party is playing the "Six Degrees of Rick Scott."How do you play? Well, apparently by launching a website identifying the state's "Rickpublicans."Sure enough, hometown favorite Rep. Allen West landed a Bacon Rick number of one, with a direct connection t ... More >>

We Get Letters: The Sheriff and Sexism and AK-47s

Rick Scott and Private Prisons Engaging in "Pay to Play" Politics, Teamsters Complaint Alleges

​Florida politicians received nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from two private prison corporations last election cycle -- GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America -- and an ethics complaint filed by the Teamsters union yesterday claims $30,000 of those contributions that went t ... More >>

Ron Paul Says Uninsured Shouldn't Be Left for Dead; Tea Party Audience Disagrees (Video)

Texas Rep. Ron Paul​In our poll yesterday, around 42 percent of our readers thought that the Tea Party audience made the most outlandish comment at Monday night's CNN/Tea Party Express Republican debate.Texas Rep. Ron Paul was asked a hypothetical question during the debate by moderator Wolf Blitz ... More >>

Allen West Insults Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Didn't Have the Guts to Do It to Her Face

Rep. Allen West would prefer to be insulted to his face but pulls his punches via email or at Tea Party gatherings.​Rep. Allen West decided to insult Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz again over the weekend, but in spite of his angry email tirade to her saying Wasserman Schultz "doesn't have the guts" ... More >>

Rick Scott Takes the Lead in Race for "Worst Governor Ever"

Rick Scott, currently the most popular candidate in at least one election.​Gov. Rick Scott's numbers are going up -- at least in the race to elect the "Worst Governor Ever."Scott was in fourth place around 11 p.m. Monday but is currently in first place as of around 8 a.m. today.The Florida governo ... More >>

A Thank-You Note From Rick Scott

No, thank you, Mr. Governor.​When one arm of the government fails to speak to another, bizarre things occur. For example, a reporter might write a lengthy critique of Florida's governor and his legislative accomplishments, including a cover illustration of him as the evil emperor from Star Wars. F ... More >>

Rick Scott Removed From Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame List; Confederate Soldiers Remain

fourfour.typepad.comI don't think that's what he meant.​Florida officials have been working on a list of people to nominate for the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame -- a list that originally included Gov. Rick Scott and six Confederate soldiers as well as 15 others.The list of all-white, military ve ... More >>

Rick Scott's Quiet Campaign Against the Environment

Parks and trees? Who needs 'em!​Remember the environmental apocalypse Rick Scott was supposed to create?While campaigning for governor, Scott called the Department of Community Affairs, the state agency charged with overseeing local development projects, a "jobs killer." He said he'd heard complai ... More >>

Marco Rubio as Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential Pick a "Dream Ticket," Romney Adviser Says

Marco Rubio​Republican presidential candidates are going to need an incredible campaign strategy to dismantle President Obama in the 2012 election.Two of the biggest challenges are winning large swing states, like Florida, and figuring out how to get Hispanic voters to pick in their favor.The answ ... More >>

Tea Party Trying to Weasel Its Way Out of Paying the Bill for Donald Trump Rally

fark.com​We're not sure what's more laughable -- the fact that the South Florida Tea Party can't keep up on its bills for a Donald Trump rally they held in Boca Raton, or the fact that they held a rally for The Donald to begin with.The city has sent invoices for the $6,145 the Tea Party owes for b ... More >>

Gov. Rick Scott Allocates $370 Million of Stimulus "Disaster" Money Into State Budget

tolivetolaughtolove.comFlip flops: The official footwear of Gov. Rick Scott​Remember that campaign talking point Gov. Rick Scott had about President Barack Obama's stimulus package being a "disaster," when Scott said he would endlessly fight the stimulus money?Well, he managed to leave $370 millio ... More >>

Is Debbie Wasserman Schultz a Self-Hating Jew? (Part Deux!)

Debbie Wasserman Schultz​(Note: This is the second part of a blog post, and I'm picking up en media res. If you haven't read the first bit, you probably won't understand what follows. Read the first part here.)Despite the ominous tone of Matt Brooks' letter, J Street isn't some kind of Arabic th ... More >>

Bill Nelson Warns Rick Scott to Veto Election Bill or Face a Federal Investigation

State lawmakers want to keep people from having sex with animals. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson wants to keep lawmakers from screwing voters.​Although it seems like Gov. Rick Scott will make the bold and progressive move of banning bestiality, he still plans to screw voters. The election overhaul bill, wh ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Russell Pearce and other illegal-immigration populists rely on misleading, right-wing reports to scapegoat immigrants and terrify penny-pinched Americans.

Report: Threat Linked To Joyce Kaufman's Call To Arms

Channel 7 is reporting that the man who allegedly threatened to shoot up a Pembroke Pines school was prompted somehow by Joyce Kaufman, the acidic right-wing radio show host who was named yesterday newly elected Congressman Allan West's chief of staff. This whole thing is still murky, but  ... More >>

"Michael The Black Man" Buys Sentinel Ad For West, Rubio

I guess it was only a matter of time before "Michael the Black Man" made his mark on this election season. On page 9B of the Sun-Sentinel is a sixth-page advertisement headed: "GOOD BLACK PEOPLE SUPPORT GOOD CANDIDATES LIKE: Allen West ..." ​The ad -- which has no disclaimer --als ... More >>

Seized: Inside the Brutal World of America's Kidnapping Capital

Local Tea Partiers Diversify, but Black Preacher Has Radical Anti-Female Views

It's been hard for tea partiers to diversify their ranks, adding to the perception that they're all white people who aren't just mad about taxes; they're mad about being taxed by a black president for social programs that benefit the black community.Nothing if not image-conscious, the tea partiers ... More >>

South Florida's Fidel Castros Find It Isn't Easy Sharing a Name With a Despot

Alleged Tea Party Interloper Fires Back at Critics

Flickr​Karin Hoffman of Coral Springs (that's her in the video below) says that no matter what you've read on this blog -- or in the national media -- she absolutely is a member of the tea party movement. And the meeting that Hoffman and her allies recently had with Republican Party Chairman Micha ... More >>

Endgame Grandstands the Final Days of Apartheid

Why Palm Beach Should be Glad Kucinich Isn't Coming to Dinner

Flickr user: SEIU InternationalGuess who's not coming to dinner.​Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman known for his love of television cameras and his quixotic presidential bids, will no longer be the keynote speaker at this Saturday's Palm Beach County Democratic Party dinner. He canceled the gi ... More >>

Local Lebanese-American Tells Fellow Arabs to Let Money Do the Talking

Ali Elhajj, a 35-year-old software engineer who lives in Weston, grew up Muslim in Lebanon. Eight years ago, he converted to Christianity. He found peace in his new religion, but he was also alarmed by how American Christians spoke of circumstances in Palestine. "I find ... More >>

Trickster in Chief

Famed political hit man Roger Stone takes a special interest in would-be Broward Sheriff Scott Israel

The Jewish Problem

Rev up your Swift Boats, boys. The Obama campaign is coming to town.

Adiós, Fidel

And hello again. Why Broward-Palm Beach immigrant groups are tired of the endless Castro drama.

Charlie Crist Is NOT Gay

And other things the Republican Party wants you to believe on Election Day.

Contra Campaign

An Iran-Contra conspirator joins the Swift Boat crowd. It was bound to happen.

Political Therapy

Talking war with dissident Jim Mullins is good for a battle-scarred psyche

Bobbing for War

Florida's senator should get out before he gets in

Hawking for Israel

South Florida reps push for war. But who are they pushing for?

Best Restaurant Row

Gateway Plaza

Equal-Opportunity Dissident

Julian Jorge Reyes was a child of Castro's revolution who turned against his leader. Now he's taking on el exilio.