x

x

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
"every political insider should be reading right now."

E-Mail Florida Politics

This is our Main Page
Our Sister Site
On FaceBook
Follow us on Twitter
Our Google+ Page
Contact [E-Mail Florida Politics]
Site Feed
...and other resources

 

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.

 

Older posts [back to 2002]

Previous Articles by Derek Newton: Ten Things Fox on Line 1 Stem Cells are Intelligent Design Katrina Spin No Can't Win Perhaps the Most Important Race Senate Outlook The Nelson Thing Deep, Dark Secret Smart Boy Bringing Guns to a Knife Fight Playing to our Strength  

The Blog for Tuesday, September 13, 2005

"Jeb!" and the Politicization of FEMA

    Back in March, in the middle of the Schiavo media malestrom (and largely unnoticed at the time), the following story appeared in the Sun-Sentinel: "State records show Bush re-election concerns played part in FEMA aid". We posted it on March 23, 2005 ("Abuse of Power"). With the Schiavo story dominating the news, there was little follow up to the Sun-Sentinel piece (which perhaps explains why "Jeb!" released it in the middle of the Schiavo mess).

    In any event, the Sun-Sentinel story reveals that
    "Jeb Bush's storm-related e-mails [were] initially requested by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Oct. 13," well before the November election; and

    "Jeb!" stonewalled, and "finally released the documents Friday [March 18, 2005], after threat of a lawsuit by the newspaper", well after the November election.
    The documents that "Jeb!" had delayed releasing show that Dubya, Brownie, "Jeb!", FEMA consultants/political hacks were playing politics with FEMA prior to the 2004 election. That revelation is particularly significant now: in the wake of the Katrina tragedy, it has been exposed that FEMA has been run by campaign operatives and GOoPer hacks since Dubya took office.

    Now we have this recapitulation from Independent Media TV:
    Homeland Security sources told the [Washington] Post that after the hurricanes that Brown "and his allies [recommended] him to succeed Tom Ridge as Homeland Security secretary because of their claim that he helped deliver Florida to President Bush by efficiently responding to the Florida hurricanes."

    The South Florida Sun-Sentinel uncovered emails from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that confirmed those allegations and directly implicated Brown as playing politics at the expense of hurricane victims.

    "As the second hurricane in less than a month bore down on Florida last fall, a federal [FEMA] consultant predicted a "huge mess" that could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability, records show," the Sentinel reported in a March 23 story.
    "FEMA Chief Brown Paid Millions in False Claims to Help Bush Win FL Votes". See also this diary at dKos: "Michael Brown--More Explosive Revelations!"

    [As an aside, it is no no wonder "Jeb!" has been spouting off in recent days about how wonderful he thinks FEMA is: "Governor Bush defends FEMA response". See also "'Jeb!' Embarasses Himself"]

    While Florida's media - with the exception odf the Sun-Sentinel - was asleep at the wheel - perhaps the national media will give "Jeb!"'s involvement in the politicization of FEMAA the attention it deserves.

6:23 AM

<< Home