FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Wednesday, February 16, 2005

"Ongoing Cultural War"

    Thanks to the Gainesville Sun:
    A few years ago, when Robert J. Baker, a Catholic bishop in Charleston, wrote a letter urging that the Confederate flag finally be lowered from the South Carolina statehouse, he argued:

    "We know that symbols used well can inspire faith and good works, but used inappropriately they can divide and destroy." Baker deplored the Confederate flag as a symbol that "will not unite us for good but will continue to foster division and cripple our future."

    His remarks about the power of symbolism - for good or evil - came to mind when a coalition of religious organizations, including the Florida Catholic Bishops, announced on Valentine's Day the kickoff of a state constitutional amendment initiative to ban same-sex marriages in this state.

    Florida, of course, does not recognize same-sex marriages. By Florida law, marriage can take place only between a man and a woman. No court has attempted to force Florida to sanction same-sex marriages. There is virtually no political or popular support in Florida to allow such marriages.

    So why amend the constitution to "save" an institution that is in no distress?

    Because such an amendment will have great symbolic value in the ongoing cultural war being waged in America. Timing the referendum for the 2006 ballot will virtually force Florida's politicians to declare sides in one of the most divisive ideological conflicts of our day.
    "Divisive symbolism". More bluntly, it is simply "GOTV, GOoPer Style".

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