Half of Navarre Beach Road To Open May 9

The eastern half of Highway 399 linking Navarre Beach to Opal Beach will reopen May 9, according to the Daily News of Fort Walton Beach. Gulf Islands Park superintendent Jerry Eubanks says "it's not the new, first-class road some people might expect."

Work continues on the western half of the water front road that leads to Pensacola Beach. Eubanks is predicting that stretch of highway "could be" reopened by summer.

Repairs to the Opal Beach picnic and swimming facility, midway between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach, are not yet finished. Port-a-potties will be in place, however, along with a few picnic tables.

The highway and popular Opal Beach facility were devastated by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Commissioners Vote for Deeds

"Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer— except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs."

-- George Orwell, Animal Farm

At the special two-county commissioners meeting we mentioned the other day, Escambia and Santa Rosa county commissioners approved a formal resolution asking U.S. Representative Jeff Miller to sponsor legislation authorizing the issuance of fee simple deeds to Santa Rosa Island beach property. Presently, owing to restrictions in the original federal deed of Santa Rosa Island to Escambia County, all property on Pensacola Beach is held under leases, most of them for a renewable term of 99 years.

Jamie Page had the early afternoon story yesterday ("Commissioners Push Beach Ownership") on the PNJ web site. This morning's PNJ repeats much, but not all, of that earlier dispatch ("Lease Fight Heads to D.C.").

Among all ten combined commissioners, the lone dissenters were two from Escambia County. One of them was Kevin White from the northern section of the county. White has been outspoken in wanting to preserve public access on the beach.

The other dissenter was Grover C. Robinson IV. Robinson represents District 4, which includes Pensacola Beach. He, too, has expressed concern about maintaining open public spaces on the beach. Robinson also has been popular with, and trusted by, a large majority of beach residents.

Commissioner Robinson voiced objections that not enough was known about the details of any deed-for-taxes proposition. Until the specifics are known, he said, it would be imprudent to support such a move; it could turn out to the disadvantage of both beach residents and mainlanders.

Also speaking against the resolution was long-time SRIA board member Dr. Thomas Campanella. Campanella has been a reliable voice for Pensacola Beach residents since first being elected by them in 2002. In brief remarks to the commissioners during the open forum, he expressed concern that opening the beach to unrestricted deeds of beach lots could lead directly to over-development on the beach.

After the meeting, Campanella told us that he fears "greed is behind" the resolution. He explained that the SRIA has been under pressure from the county for years to allow more intense development, greater densities, and higher revenues from residents and businesses. If the county persists, he said, "they're going to ruin the very resource that we need."

Voting in favor of the deeds resolution, among others, were Escambia County Commissioners Mike Whitehead and Gene Valentino. Whitehead has a long history of opposing beach resident intiatives and advocating for abolition of the Santa Rosa Island Authority. Valentino pretty much votes as if he were Whitehead's sock puppet.

So, what's going on here? Beach residents who want the guarantee of a deed if they're ordered to pay real estate taxes have to be nervous when natural predators like Whitehead and Valentino claim to be "helping" them and proven allies like Robinson and Campanella are on the other side.

The short answer is that we'll just have to wait and see. Much depends on the exact wording of any legislation congressman Miller is able to shepherd through Congress. It seems unlikely that any legislation Miller sponsors can be approved by Congress before it recesses for the year. So, equally important will be the composition of the Board of Commissioners if and when the time finally arrives to implement any deed-exchange.

As always, the future of the beach is in the grip of those we elect to run county government. Among a list of horribles one can foresee is the distinct possibility -- one which was advocated by former SRIA board member Bill Griffith about a dozen years ago, although he later renounced the idea as having been inspired by Mr. Whitehead -- that any residents seeking a deed in lieu of a long-term lease should be required to make a one time payment equal to 65 percent or more of the assessed value of the land and improvements.

Another IED that could be hidden along the roadway is Whitehead's long-held ambition to abolish the Santa Rosa Island Authority altogether. The SRIA has directly governed the beach for nearly sixty years. While its efforts to preserve the beach from unsustainable development have not been an unalloyed success, on the whole the island's governing authority has been far more eco-friendly and attuned to island residents' and business needs than Escambia County commissioners.

Congressman Miller, himself, could allay many of these fears if he makes a sincere effort to enlist knowledgeable beach residents and their representatives, like Campanella and Robinson, in the process of drafting the legislation. There are at hand on the beach a number of knowledgeable people -- lawyers, judges, real property finance experts, former legislators, urban growth experts, public administration specialists, environmentalists, and others -- who could be of service to the congressman as he drafts the legislation.

We will soon see if Congressman Miller calls on them, or instead takes his marching orders from our new-found beach "friends" like commissioners Whitehead and Valentino.

Dept. of Amplification

Must-Have Pensacola Beach Book: William L. Post's "Deceit Beach"

Beach Melee Videos

Sad to say, a number of vacation videos from Pensacola Beach like the one above are likely to be making their way onto A&E's "First 48" television series, or some such true crime program.

This past Sunday an afternoon gathering at the west end park of a predominantly young, African-American crowd turned nasty. If history is any guide, it isn't likely to be the last such scene this year.

Michael Stewart has been covering the story for the News Journal with admirable skill. Monday's article, "Several Arrested After Crowd Becomes Unruly," was thorough, balanced, and exceedingly well-sourced. Today's follow-up, "Weekend Gathering Spurs Confrontation," is equally deft, although it adds few new facts to the story.

What it does add is mostly news about the profusion of cell-phone and video camera clips of the episode that are making their way onto YouTube. No shocking Rodney King stuff, here. Not this time, anyway.

But give it time. Everybody -- the deputies, the young people, the amateur video artists -- are still learning. If the SRIA doesn't get a handle on how to safely accommodate the local minority community's needs, someone's bound to be hurt very soon. And we'll all get to see the results on YouTube.

Further Amplification

See: "A Different Drummer"

Island Deeds-for-Taxes Resolution

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. (April 29, 2008), the elected commissioners governing both Santa Rosa and Escambia counties will meet in the county commissioners' meeting room in Pensacola "to discuss title issues on Santa Rosa Island and the Regional Transportation Finance Authority." It could be more than a "discussion." If the commissioners act sensibly, it might lead to a revived and expanding beach economy.

Jamie Page succinctly describes the background above the fold in today's PNJ Local News section.

All the land on Pensacola Beach is the property of the federal government, but Escambia County government holds the master lease. Residents with homes and commercial buildings on Pensacola Beach pay lease fees on the land. They have a 99-year lease, with various options for renewing, on the land.

It's a similar situation on Navarre Beach, except all leases have a continuous 99-year renewable lease.

These Santa Rosa Island residents also pay property taxes to their respective counties, and that doesn't sit well with many.

By "master lease" reporter Page no doubt has reference to the loose legal threads arising from the original titling of Santa Rosa Island to "Escambia County" rather than to the "State of Florida" and the subsequent sublease of the Navarre Beach portion of the island to Santa Rosa County.

Neither Escambia nor Santa Rosa are charter counties with an independent existence under the Florida Constitution. Both counties, therefore, effectively are administrative subunits of the state. Consequently, however the federal deed may read, it's the State of Florida that has the ultimate ownership power over the island, although in practice the state legislature often, though not invariably, routinely approves county actions.

The big thing Page's article fails to mention is that a specific resolution will be up for consideration at this rare joint meeting of both county commissioner boards. The detailed agenda includes a resolution, presumably to be voted upon separately by both county bodies:

RESOLUTION R2008-___

A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE SANTA ROSA COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS REQUESTING THE SUPPORT OF CONGRESSMAN JEFF MILLER TO RELEASE CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON CONVEYANCE FOR PROPERTY ON SANTA ROSA ISLAND; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

WHEREAS, on January 15, 1947, the United States of America conveyed to Escambia County, Florida, a portion of Santa Rosa Island, more particularly described in that deed recorded in Deed Book 248 at page 161 of the public records of Escambia County, Florida; and
WHEREAS, the deed recites that the property shall “always be subject to regulation by said County whether leased or not leased but never to be otherwise disposed of or conveyed”; and
WHEREAS, Santa Rosa County has an interest in the easternmost four miles of the property conveyed to Escambia County (Navarre Beach) pursuant to that certain Lease Agreement between the Santa Rosa Island Authority, an agency of Escambia County, Florida, and Santa Rosa County, Florida, dated February 11, 1956; and
WHEREAS, the Lease Agreement contemplates that Escambia County will convey Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County and that the parties will cooperate “in obtaining such conveyance and congressional and legislative approval therefore”; and
WHEREAS, Escambia County and Santa Rosa County agree that it would be in the interests of both counties to release the restrictions on conveyance to facilitate transfer of Escambia County’s interest to Santa Rosa County and other persons and entities having leasehold interests on Santa Rosa Island; and
WHEREAS, the counties wish to express their intent to cooperate in drafting proposed legislation to release the restriction on conveyances and developing a process to convey Escambia County’s interest to Santa Rosa County and persons and entities with a leasehold interest on Santa Rosa Island, and to request the support of Congressman Jeff Miller to sponsor federal legislation to release the restrictions on conveyance; and
WHEREAS, the counties will direct their respective staffs and attorneys to cooperate in drafting proposed language for the legislation; and
WHEREAS, each County, through its Board of County Commissioners, has considered this Resolution at public meetings of their respective Boards.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT JOINTLY RESOLVED BY THE BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FLORIDA:

1. The above recitals are true and correct and incorporated herein by reference in the body of this Resolution.
2. Escambia County and Santa Rosa County hereby request the support of Congressman Jeff Miller to sponsor legislation to release the restriction on conveyances for property on Santa Rosa Island, which shall be mutually agreed upon and drafted by the counties.
3. Each County’s staff and attorneys shall cooperate in drafting the legislation, which will be approved by each of the Boards at future public meetings and subsequently forwarded to Congressman Jeff Miller for consideration.
4. The Clerk of the Board of the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners shall furnish a certified copy of this Resolution to Congressman Jeff Miller immediately upon its adoption and execution by both counties.
5. This Resolution shall become effective upon the date last adopted by each of the Boards of County Commissioners.

Why this resolution? And why now? Reporter Page doesn't address that, either.

Our guess is that it has a lot to do with the still-pending cases challenging the 2004 tax assessments issued against residential beach property lessees. Cross motions for summary judgment are scheduled for three hours of argument before Judge Michael Jones on May 2 beginning at 9:00 o'clock. If the above resolution passes, it could be the basis for settling all of the outstanding tax and lease fee issues.

This would be a just and fitting end to the tangled history that has plagued Island and county politics for decades. Equally important, it would at last provide a foundation for a prosperous island economy comparable to other Florida beach communities, for the reasons we described in a parable we authored some time ago.

As we pointed out there, via a series of links to contemporary economic land tenure studies, deeding the land outright to present-day island leaseholders in exchange for their assent to pay ad valorem real estate taxes would rescue Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach from a stultifying, repressive, and counter-productive economic morass that is almost identical to the way rural land is leased in the People's Republic of China.

Yes, the People's Republic of China has a booming economy, overall. But as anyone who has visited there for any time can attest, and as the economic studies we cited in the parable convincingly show, the rural economy in China is in shambles, largely because the land there is owned by the government and leased to occupants on terms strikingly similar to those on Santa Rosa Island.

Before the 1920's, Santa Rosa Island was owned outright by Escambia County. When the then-mosquito infested swampland with a newly-abandoned 19th century cannon fortress was deemed a financial burden to maintain, the county gave it away to the U.S. War Department. After World War II, stewardship of the island passed to the Interior Department.

Jane Johnson picks the story up at that point in her excellent history of the island (pdf warning):

The Department of Interior reverted the portion of Santa Rosa Island (from Fort Pickens to Navarre Beach) back to Escambia County, in 1947. The Deed of Conveyance specified: “...that the above described land shall be retained by the said Escambia County and be used by it for such purposes as it shall deem to be in the public interest or be leased by it from time to time in whole or in part or parts to such persons and for such purposes as it shall deem to be in the public interest and upon such terms and conditions as it shall fix and always be subject to regulation by said county whether leased or not leased, but never to be otherwise disposed of or conveyed by it… .”

In Escambia County the Santa Rosa Island Authority was formed in 1947, an outgrowth of the island advisory board formed in 1946.

On February 11, 1956 Santa Rosa County began leasing Navarre Beach from Escambia County. The lease was for 99 years at the rate of $100 per year... .

To populate the island and promote the tourist trade throughout the ensuing decades Escambia County promised, in written advertisements in national newspapers and magazines and in promotional literature distributed locally, "tax free" leaseholds on the newly named Pensacola Beach. Archives held by the Santa Rosa Island Authority include hundreds of examples of these newspaper ads and brochures. Some in private hands have even made their way to Ebay as collector items.

As we have pointed out before, "some of this history was later memorialized by the state legislature in the preamble to House Bill No. 3913, 1976 Laws of Florida, chap. 76-361." Overall, it can be said that as long as the county kept its word Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach prospered. The tax-free promotions worked, to a degree that Pensacola Beach eventually -- after half a century -- reached the maximum sustainable population of 4,128 units allowed by a state-approved building cap.

Thus, all was well enough until the late 1990's when county commissioners, spearheaded by Mike ("Deer Slaughterer") Whitehead , began agitating to impose ad valorem taxes on beach leaseholds in addition to the annual leasehold fees they pay. Then, lawsuits were filed. Some of those suits, including one over the issue of beach business leases and another over Navarre Beach condominium leases, were lost in front of appeal courts who issued one-word opinions.

But the granddaddy of them all, the Pensacola Beach residential leaseholders class action, has always presented the most compelling claim. History, facts, legal precedent, economic reality, and common sense are all on the residents' side.

Maybe, just maybe, this has at last sunk in with county commissioners. If so, the resolution being proposed tomorrow should pass unanimously. Most island residents are willing to exchange their leases for a deed and to pay real estate taxes like beach residents on other beaches, including nearby Fort Walton Beach. All sides benefit. County government gets the tax income. Beach residents get a deed absolute. Everyone in Northwest Florida profits by having, at long last, a truly free market in land tenure.

The People's Republic of China, communist as it may be, has come to realize that individual deeds to land holdings is good for everyone. Let's hope our county commissioners are at least as smart as the Chinese.

UPDATE

Commissioners Vote For Deeds
April 30, 2008

Dept. of Amplification

Must-Have Pensacola Beach Book: William L. Post's "Deceit Beach"

Six Little Words

Pensacola News Journal: still paying O'Brien?
Yes. He steals ideas, writes badly.

The Other Side of the China Story

We were startled to recognize a person we know in a photo of the protestors in this week's anti-CNN demonstration in downtown Chicago. You might have missed the news. There has been no national news coverage of it.

News of public protests in foreign climes has been there for the reading, albeit abbreviated. Most readers probably know there have been public demonstrations in Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Jinan, among many others. And there has been some slight media coverage in the West about calls by millions of Chinese to boycott certain French businesses.

But almost no U.S. media outlet is reporting that all across the United States tens of thousands of Chinese-Americans took to American streets last week to express outrage at our own media's news coverage of the tensions over Chinese rule in Tibet. What coverage there has been is largely local, which is how we happened to learn of it.

The Chicago man we recognized is a very nice, very smart older businessman who emigrated to the U.S. almost four decades ago. He owns a successful retail shop near the loop. He, his wife, and children are as American as... well, as Jack Cafferty, you might say.

We know the fellow in the photo to be mild-mannered, progressive, and exceptionally even-tempered. But he and his friends are really hot about what they see as a virulent anti-Chinese bias in the U.S. media.

As it happens, we had a chance to speak with him later the same day. We asked him, Why the protest? He answered, "It's not about opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It's about getting the facts wrong."

Referring to recent news reports of violence in Tibet, he told us of one shooting that the U.S. media attributed to Chinese soldiers when in fact, so he says, Nepalese gunmen were behind it.

How he knows this we can't say. But there certainly is substance to complaints about American media bias which echoed throughout the Chicago loop and in other U.S. cities over the past week.
As for the larger issue of China-Tibet relations, a number of Chinese-American friends have told us there is another side to the story that U.S. media never mentions. In their view, a large part of the problem is that as long as Tibet was ruled by the Dali Lama the Tibetan people were hopelessly mired in grinding poverty.

"They were living in the Dark Age," one man told us. "No clean water, no sewers, no medicine, no roads, no schools for the children, no economy. All the time the [Buddhist] temples grew richer and richer."

Certainly, it's true that Chinese government censorship in Tibet contributes in a large way to alienating the world's press and thus undermining any effort we might want to make to become better informed about the issue. Speaking for ourself, we simply don't know enough about the history of Tibet, or China for that matter, to have an informed opinion.

Except for this: If there is another side to the story, a Chinese side that's being voiced right here in the streets of the Land of the Free, or in obscure college newspaper columns, why aren't we hearing about it in the "fair and balanced" U.S. media?

The Other Amazing Race

Lots of others are worrying over the Democratic presidential primary race. Will she or won't she? Can he or can't he?

To hell with it. We're moving on. Another amazing race is happening, one that's even more difficult to dope out. The Chicago Cubs, now in the hundredth year following their last World Series win, are leading the Central Division of the National League.

Leading! Bleeding Cubbie Blue always has the latest commentary and, we promise you, George Stephanopoulos doesn't get a word in edgewise.

Earth Day -- Postponed Again

This year, once again, Earth Day won't be celebrated with the public at the Gulf Ecology Division on Pensacola Beach. As we noted two years ago:

Skipping Earth Day at the GED on Pensacolsa Beach is worse than merely losing one field day trip for school children. Earth Day Week traditionally has been the one time every year when the Gulf Ecology Division opened its doors -- or at least, some of its doors -- to the general public. The GED not only uses the occasion to cleverly educate children about the important scientific work they do, but it goes a long way toward dispelling the faint whiff of mystery that many islanders think hangs over the facility.

It's no mystery why the EPA's annual Earth Day Open House celebrations on Pensacola Beach are no more. According to research ecologist Stephen Jordan, it's the triple whammy of tighter security restrictions after 9-11, the added burden on staff after Hurricane Ivan, and steadily diminished federal funding over the last seven years.

"We just don't have the resources anymore," Jordan told us today. "Everyone here has been so tied up doing more and more with less and less budget."

No one should be surprised to learn that under the Bush administration the EPA "has been plagued by significant budget cuts." Among them are "sizable budget reductions for... science and research."

We always thought Earth Day week at the GED was one of the most fascinating, enjoyable, and intellectually stimulating activities of the entire year on Pensacola Beach. Staff scientists and facility managers spent up to three weeks, Jordan says, preparing hands-on activities for children and multiple outdoor educational exhibits for a walking tour of marine life and ocean ecology. There was always plenty to do, and learn about, for visitors of every age, from one to 100.

On rare occasions, Jordan says, it's still possible for a select few to make special arrangements for a tour of the facility. As an example, he mentioned that a small group of local 5th graders who are taking an advanced science class will be visiting the facility late this week. But that's a special case. Those particular kids are well ahead of their peers in science education.

For the rest of us, all we can say is "Wait 'til next year." If Congress and a new occupant of the White House can get their act together quickly enough to bump up the EPA budget, maybe GED could coordinate a "welcome back" celebration with the reopening of the road to Ft. Pickens, currently scheduled for next Spring.

Blogger Injury

How were we hurt? Well you see, doc, it's like this....

We were at home, quietly working on this little essay for our blog. It was all about how George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson turned last week's ABC presidential primary debate into a travesty by devoting the first fifty minutes to inconsequential minutia. How that demeaned the candidates as well as the audience. And, indeed, the entire democratic process.

You know what we mean, doc? Asking Barack and Hillary why they dress like they do. Like, "Where's the flag in your lapel, boy?" Or, "Hey, honey! Isn't that a bit too much cleavage?"

And more questions like these: "Who did you befriend three decades ago? The despicable Mark Penn? The former Weather Underground organizer Bill Ayres?"

Or, even, "How do you spend your free time, candidates? Listening to angry Sunday sermons? Hearing your spouse confess his infidelities?"

Y'see, doc, we thought Stephanopoulos and Gibson had reached a new low. ABC should be deeply ashamed. They were treating two candidates for the highest office in the land like some two-bit entertainers who didn't have a serious thought in their heads. It was as if they'd been brought into the ring at the Roman Coliseum for the ABC lions to eat, just for our entertainment.

Why, the very foundation of democracy in the digital age might be hanging in the balance, we wrote.

It was a pretty good piece, even if we do say so our self. We wrapped it up with a ringing series of rhetorical but penetrating questions. Questions like, "Is commercial TV determined to turn everyone in America into a bunch of dopes so they can sell us more stuff we don't need, like drugs that put our legs to sleep and vaginal spray deodorant?"

No! we wrote. Say it ain't so!

Presidential elections are a serious business. Lives are at stake. The nation's safety. The world's future. The media should treat all the candidates with the highest degree of respect and seriousness, not just the Republican all the reporters want to win. Etc., etc., etc.

At last we were done. We reached for the mouse, ready to click it and publish. But then this email alert flashed up on our screen. It was from someone known as WWE.

"News from the campaign trail," it said. "Watch the video now."

And that's when we were injured. By a slap to the forehead. The mouse was still in our hand.

Take a look, doc. You'll see. Just be sure you aren't holding anything hard in your hand.

Official English Lesson

Overnight, one habitue of the Pensacola News Journal's miserable message boards thought he had a piece of wisdom to share in a post titled "10 Things About Obama You Should Know":

* * *
2) Obama and Hillary both voted against an admendment that would make ENGLISH ( that which you so love ) the official language.
* * *
4) Obama and clinton voted for the bridge to know where too

In the following comments, no one seems to have noticed anything wrong.

We won't provide a link for fear of polluting your computer with terminal stupidity.

News You (Can't) Trust

"Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand":

Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.

Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, records show. They have been taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. They have been briefed by officials from the White House, State Department and Justice Department, including Mr. Cheney, Alberto R. Gonzales and Stephen J. Hadley.

In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.

A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

"It was them saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’" Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, said.

ABC-TV Covers the Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Obsidian Wings has the scoop:

LINCOLN: Thank you very much, Charlie and George, and thanks to all in the audience and who are out there. I appear before you today for the purpose of discussing the leading political topics which now agitate the public mind.

We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you think Mr. Douglas loves America as much you do?

LINCOLN: Sure I do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But who loves America more?

LINCOLN: I’d prefer to get on with my opening statement George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If your love for America were eight apples, how many apples would Senator Douglas’s love be?

And there's more hilarity...

Diminishing Democracy

"Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, though a bit more extreme and really more transparent... in just how vapid they are, were really doing what the establishment media does pretty much without exception, in terms of how it covers our political culture."

Glenn Greenwald, interviewed on Democracy Now! by Amy Goodman:

From the transcript:

Now, leave aside the question as to whether or not journalists holding themselves out as political journalists have an obligation to focus on the more substantive matters, independent of what they can do in order to generate as high ratings as possible, even if you assume that political journalism ought to simply feed the public whatever the public wants, there’s no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the American public is more interested in Barack Obama’s bowling score or whether he wears a lapel pin than they are in how our political leaders are going to address the grave economic insecurity that the country faces or extricate ourselves from the debacle in Iraq that’s becoming increasingly savage and brutal without any end in sight. This is a fiction, an invention on the part of political journalists to justify their never-ending coverage of trash.

And in fact there’s much evidence to suggest—and you can ask any political elected official—that when they go back to their district, what they hear continuously are grave complaints from their constituents and others about just how ridiculous and inane political coverage is and how dominated it is by matters that have nothing to do with their lives and with the problems that they face. And these journalists believe that they’re sort of spokespeople for the people in the heartland and speak for them and patronizingly say that they’re interested in these insipid issues and that’s why they’re covered. The reality is there’s no connection between the establishment journalistic class and the people whom they claim to represent, and the reason they cover those issues is because they, the journalists, want to cover them, not because the people want to hear them.

Friday Haiku Blogging

Barrier Island Girl,
on Pensacola Beach,
recovers from her
Mayan trip by
tramping in the sand
while thinking of the
Long Count in Haiku.

Wouldn't you?

Health Care Fun

HT to Kevin Drum: Political ad by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Or):

For more info click here:
Stand Tall for America