Tag Archive for 2011

Herman Cain Suspends Presidential Campaign

December 4, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

After weeks of allegations against him from his past. Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination for the United States Presidency.

The buzz started earlier this week when word came that he was “reassessing” his campaign. There were rumors that there could be some changes in campaign leadership or perhaps a different strategy for fighting a two front political war. One against his Conservative competitors and the other against Gloria Allred and the group of women that accused Cain of sexual misconduct and extra marital affairs.

Today, in what was suppose to be a happy occasion, with the originally planned speech opening a campaign headquarters, turned into a somber affair ending his campaign and political career. At least for the time being.

This is an especially frustrating event for Herman Cain supporters here in Florida. Presidency V launched Cain into the mainstream and led to his rise in the polls. Florida Republicans propelled the Cain train towards his temporary frontrunner status. There is no other way to put it…

Florida is the reason Herman Cain had any chance to begin with.

There were a lot of skeptics, including myself. The math behind the 999 plan didn’t add up and he couldn’t defend it, He’s a newbie to foreign policy (remember that long pause on Libya and when he didn’t dictate the pace of the dialogue he became frustrated.

What now? What are Florida Conservatives to do? Do you jump behind Newt Gingrich who, at times was pretty buddy-buddy with Cain? Do you finally just embrace he horror and support Mitt Romney? Or do you take a look at Rick Santorum or hope that Rick Perry can keep his words straight. It’s certainly not an enviable position but a choice we’re all going to have to make.

So, the Herman Cain story ends (for now) and there are so many other endings that would have suited a self made man, like Cain. It does however demonstrate that it can be done. A self made, businessman with no previous political experience can be competitive in a Presidential race.

An unfortunate end to a campaign that inspired many.

CF News 13: Local candidates worry presidential hype may hurt their fundraising efforts

September 19, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

ORLANDO –

In just a matter of days, contenders for the Republican presidential nomination will be in Orlando.

The GOP Presidency 5 event will be highlighted with a debate later this week.

The candidates will be looking to court many of Florida’s Republican activists.

“Right now, these candidates are preparing for this debate, this is one of the biggest debates in the election cycle so far,” said Political Strategist Frank Torres.

While some local elected officials have already thrown their support behind certain Republican presidential candidates, others are waiting to make a final decision.

The Republican presidential candidates will also try to raise money while in the sunshine state, but they’re fundraising efforts may clash with the local candidates trying to get elected in 2012.

“Once there is a candidate that is selected, we’re going to have to struggle with how do we raise money with a presidential race going on,” said State Representative Lake Ray, of Duval County.

Many running for a local or statewide office have already begun their fundraising efforts since the legislative session will begin earlier than usual in January.

The three day conference kicks off Thursday night with a debate, and a Florida straw poll on Saturday.

Pelosi's Super Committee picks adds Diversity, Nothing More

August 12, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

The final members of the SUPER COMMITTEE were picked yesterday by former Speaker of the House and current minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

Before, I completely tear down Pelosi’s picks because, let’s face it guys, these were the worst picks in the lot. I have to give credit to Nancy Pelosi for adding diversity to one of the most important special committees in recent memory.

Up to this point, all 9 of the 12 existing SUPER COMMITTEE members are Caucasian. Pelosi adds the lone Black and Hispanic members to the committee for a grand total of 10 Caucasian lawmakers, One Black lawmaker, and one Hispanic Lawmaker.

What is this? The Orange County Redistricting Committee!

Let’s review these diverse but, clueless selections.

James E. Clyburn-SC:After the Democrats suffered major losses in the House of Representatives last year, and lost their Majority, Rep. Clyburn was kind of out of a job. He was the Majority Whip and now he is the err…..Assistant Democratic Leader, that’s it. He was working on the debt ceiling talks with Biden and McConnell but, like the rest of Pelosi’s picks have been instructed to seek revenue increases.

Chris Van Hollen-MD:Van Hollen was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman until 2010 when, the Democrats took November 2nd off and suffered big losses. What’s a Maryland Congressman to do?

Xavier Becerra: I actually watched Becerra go a few rounds with Neil Cavuto a couple of weeks back and he’s a soft spoken guy that likes to blame W. for a lot. He got Cavuto to laugh a few times and it was a generally polite debate. He is attracting some negative attention for using this appointment as a fundraising tool. For my Hispanic readers, he is the highest serving Latino member of the House of Representatives.

Becerra rounds out the picks for the Super Committee

So, Here is a complete, final list of Super Committee Members.

Senate Leader Harry Reid’s Selections:

John Kerry-D-MASS
Max Baucus- D-MONT
Patty Murray-D-WASH

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Selections:

Jon Kyl-R-ARIZ
Pat Toomey-R-PENN
Rob Portman-R-Ohio

Speaker of the House John Boehner’s Selections:

Dave Camp-R-MICH
Jeb Hensarling-R-TEX
Fred Upton-R-MICH

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Selections:

James E. Clyburn-D-S.C
Chris Van Hollen-D-MD
Xavier Becerra-D-CALI

Boy, are we in trouble!

Pelosi’s Super Committee picks adds Diversity, Nothing More

August 12, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

The final members of the SUPER COMMITTEE were picked yesterday by former Speaker of the House and current minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

Before, I completely tear down Pelosi’s picks because, let’s face it guys, these were the worst picks in the lot. I have to give credit to Nancy Pelosi for adding diversity to one of the most important special committees in recent memory.

Up to this point, all 9 of the 12 existing SUPER COMMITTEE members are Caucasian. Pelosi adds the lone Black and Hispanic members to the committee for a grand total of 10 Caucasian lawmakers, One Black lawmaker, and one Hispanic Lawmaker.

What is this? The Orange County Redistricting Committee!

Let’s review these diverse but, clueless selections.

James E. Clyburn-SC:After the Democrats suffered major losses in the House of Representatives last year, and lost their Majority, Rep. Clyburn was kind of out of a job. He was the Majority Whip and now he is the err…..Assistant Democratic Leader, that’s it. He was working on the debt ceiling talks with Biden and McConnell but, like the rest of Pelosi’s picks have been instructed to seek revenue increases.

Chris Van Hollen-MD:Van Hollen was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman until 2010 when, the Democrats took November 2nd off and suffered big losses. What’s a Maryland Congressman to do?

Xavier Becerra: I actually watched Becerra go a few rounds with Neil Cavuto a couple of weeks back and he’s a soft spoken guy that likes to blame W. for a lot. He got Cavuto to laugh a few times and it was a generally polite debate. He is attracting some negative attention for using this appointment as a fundraising tool. For my Hispanic readers, he is the highest serving Latino member of the House of Representatives.

Becerra rounds out the picks for the Super Committee

So, Here is a complete, final list of Super Committee Members.

Senate Leader Harry Reid’s Selections:

John Kerry-D-MASS
Max Baucus- D-MONT
Patty Murray-D-WASH

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Selections:

Jon Kyl-R-ARIZ
Pat Toomey-R-PENN
Rob Portman-R-Ohio

Speaker of the House John Boehner’s Selections:

Dave Camp-R-MICH
Jeb Hensarling-R-TEX
Fred Upton-R-MICH

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Selections:

James E. Clyburn-D-S.C
Chris Van Hollen-D-MD
Xavier Becerra-D-CALI

Boy, are we in trouble!

The Queen of Rage? The Michele Bachmann Cover Everyone is Talking About

August 11, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

Don’t you hate bad pictures? You know? The ones where you’re at a party talking to a circle of friends when, this wise guy taps you on the shoulder and blinds you with a flash. You’re surprised, and most of the time looking just weird.

Imagine if it ended up on the cover of Newsweek…

A bad photo? Of course but, she still looks good...

That’s exactly what happened to Congresswoman and Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann this week. Newsweek took a bad photo of her with a “Queen of Rage” caption in bold letters beneath it.

We see bad pictures of lawmakers all of the time in this game. Heck, we slap bad pictures of candidates on mailers and zip them to thousands of voters every election cycle. I’m sure Bachmann will get over it. Especially, if she can take the Ames Straw poll this Saturday and have a strong showing at the Debate tomorrow.

Senate Passes, President signs Debt Ceiling Deal

August 2, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

74-26, like a lopsided College Football game.

It’s over folks (until 2013 anyways)! Earlier today, the Senate passed a deal that raised the debt ceiling and ensured that the country would not default on it’s finances. Not long after that, the bill was signed by President Obama and the country breathed a sigh of relief..

Being trillions in debt never felt so good…

The deal that would raise the ceiling without raising taxes was mostly considered a stalemate amongst the parties. Not cutting taxes for the wealthy was the main concern of Democrats, while Republicans wanted preferred the Cut, Cap, and Balance Bill. Everyone waits to see how the economy will react over the next few weeks and if the credit agencies will lower our shining AAA credit rating.

Things aren’t going so well for President Obama. While, Speaker of the House John Boehner is catching some static from the Tea Party, Democrats are asking themselves “What Happened” to all of the conditions that lead up to this stand off.

The Tea Party should forgive Boehner, no taxes were raised. Are the hefty lefties going to forgive President Obama? Eventually, but this is viewed as caving under pressure, for the Democrats.

The President pushed back at press conference vowing to close the tax loopholes for the wealthy and ensuring that medicare would be preserved for future generations. Here is a statement from that conference.

“I’ve said it before; I will say it again: We can’t balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession. We can’t make it tougher for young people to go to college, or ask seniors to pay more for health care, or ask scientists to give up on promising medical research because we couldn’t close a tax shelter for the most fortunate among us. Everyone is going to have to chip in. It’s only fair. That’s the principle I’ll be fighting for during the next phase of this process.”

Well, I’m glad this is over…Back to everyday business tomorrow and you know what that means!

No matter how much we go into debt, they’ll never take Charlie Crist away from us..

Is Anthony Weiner getting treatment in Orlando?

July 22, 2011 Uncategorized One comment

Is former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner undergoing rehab in the City Beautiful?

The New York Post seems to think so, it published this article online, this morning.

All of you remember Anthony Weiner of course. The former controversial lawmaker, once considered a favorite to be the next Mayor of New York, was caught tweeting lewd photos of himself to several women on Twitter. He came out swinging, denying it outright and even lashing out at the media over it’s accusations. The coverage didn’t go away and what you had was this…

Anyhow, Weiner did eventually resign and vowed to seek treatment. The Post says that he might possibly be getting that help from the Leaf Center in Winter Park. Which provides outpatient therapy for sexual addictions and compulsiveness.

Imagine that, sitting at Fiddlers Green with a Guiness or having lunch on Park Ave and seeing the Anthony Wiener at the next table?

Paired with the Tiger Woods scandal, this isn’t exactly the type of coverage you want Orlando to get. Harry Potter and Mickey Mouse? Great. Military simulation and medical research hub? of course!

A sexual rehab sanctuary? No.

Anthony Weiner is seeking help and that’s all good and well but, let’s hope he’s getting this coverage towards the end of his rehabilitation.

This photo was taken on a flight from OIA to NY

Allen West Issues Verbal Smackdown to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

July 20, 2011 Uncategorized One comment

Check this out….

“Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up.”

-Congressman Alan West in an email to Congresswoman and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

If you’re not familiar with any of these two Reps from South Florida, this behavior is nothing new. These two fireballers are right at home doing sort of thing on the hill, on television, or in front of supporters. If faced with only 10 minutes before the end of the world, they would spend it on cable TV shredding the opposite party.

To have them break the political 4th wall like this by going directly at each other is interesting. This office communication was sent with the intention of “putting someone in check”, filled with language designed to push one off of his or her perch. West goes on to add in his email “that you are not a Lady” and “shall not be afforded due respect from me!”

Are those exclamation points? In an email to a colleague? How often do we shout in written communication with language meant to maim one’s professional focus and bearing?

What set this off? Cut, Cap and Balance which is a plan supported by many conservatives and includes a balanced budget amendment like the one we have here in Florida. Wasserman-Schultz didn’t like it and issued this speech on the house floor, after West had just finished voicing his support….

Okay guys, check it… Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is an awful representative for the Democratic Party. Why she was assigned to chair the DNC? I don’t know but, she’s got issues and there are so many other liberal members of the House that can communicate better than this lady.

Col. Alan West is an old Army guy like me. Now, I was an enlisted guy so, I actually did the work while, he sat in the tent and drank coffee but, the fact that he sent the email doesn’t surprise me. We confront our enemies face to face and look them in the eyes. One could believe this communication exercised restraint. Lord knows what this email would have looked like if Wasserman-Schultz was a guy! The fact that he got channeled Churchill and insulted a woman didn’t surprise me either.

Lady Astor to Churchill “Winston, if you were my husband I would flavour your coffee with poison”
Churchill: “Madam, if I were your husband, I should drink it”

If your an everyday, moderate voter, you shouldn’t be fans of either of these two but, Alan West was right. If you’ve got something to say about someone say it to their face and not after they’ve left the room. How did West handle it? Well, I’ll leave you with that to decide.

Does this look like someone who doesn't confront his critics?

Happy 4th of July!!!

July 5, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

May your BBQ be cooked just right..
May your family arrive and depart safely….
May Casey Anthony Coverage not distract your guests..
May God Bless our Soldiers serving all over the world…
May the Lake Eola Fountain work properly upon being lit…
May this be the best 4th of July for you and yours ever..

Have a great and blessed 4th of July

The Rock Pink Celebrity Bowl-o-rama

June 26, 2011 Uncategorized No comments

What an awesome event.

This is my favorite non-political event of the year and it raises loads of money for a cause that affects all of us in one way or another.

It’s the Rock Pink Celebrity Bowl-O-Rama and every year they bring together every day folks like you and me and dozens of local celebrities in TV, Radio, Sports and Music for an afternoon of bowling and hanging out.

Every year, it feels like this event is getting bigger and better, this was my second Bowl-a-rama and the Boardwalk Bowl on Colonial was full on a stormy afternoon, absolutely perfect conditions for an event indoors. There were also auctions, food, raffles, and other games if bowling wasn’t your thing.

I was on Dirty Jim’s team, he’s one of the Monster’s in the Morning on Real Radio 104.1, a terrific celeb to bowl with and our squad was a great group of guys.

A great group of guys to bowl with, a first class event. I'm also doing a mean "Where's Waldo?" impression here.

There were some political opinion leaders there too. Scott Maxwell- Orlando Sentinel, Lauren Rowe- WKMG’ Flashpoint, Jim Philips- Real Radio 104.1, and John Morgan- Morgan & Morgan, and CF News 13′s The Agenda.

In the end, it was all about raising money for Rock Pink, an Organization that works, so hard in the fight against breast cancer, and to see the community come together again, is another reminder of how great the people of Central Florida are.

Here is RockPink’s website, if you would like to help.

How many celebs can you spot in this short video?

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