Most of Florida’s supervisors of elections [one per county] are non-partisan. They have to be elected [except for Miami-Dade], but they are usually people who started in the office as clerks and worked their way up to the top and then waited for the old supervisor to retire. They aren’t interested in talking to the media about controversy, they want to avoid any. They need the media for voter outreach for elections, but they want to talk to feature reporters, not the people on the police beat, or the political reporters.

Knowingly voting in the wrong precinct is a felony in Florida, but no one, especially in an area like West Palm Beach wants to get carried away with a criminal case if they can avoid it. They want to keep their records in order, produce election results in a timely fashion, finish all of their paperwork, and hope for more money in the next county budget. After the 2000 election, Palm Beach County does not want any election problems.

That is what make this Associated Press report, Ann Coulter Says She Won’t Cooperate in Voting Probe, so stupid. The woman goes to the office, corrects the paperwork, says “oops, sorry”, Dr. Anderson says “naughty, naughty, don’t do it again”, and the problem goes away.

By stonewalling, the supervisor of elections is being forced to refer this to the state attorney. He doesn’t have a choice, the woman was recognized and a complaint was filed. The man operates a bureaucracy and there is a blank that needs filling. Until it is filled, it is an open sore in the filing system.

As Terry at Nitpicker notes, this could be Coulter’s last chance to vote in Florida if she keeps messing around.

When Truman ordered the desegregation of the military, the opponents yelled “Unit Cohesion and Morale!” When women were given greater opportunities in the military, the opponents yelled “Unit Cohesion and Morale!” Whenever homosexuals are mentioned in relationship to the military, the opponents yell “Unit Cohesion and Morale!”

The reason for the phrase is that it is vital in a military action for all of the members of unit work together as a single entity. When the bullets are flying and you are moving through “the rockets red glare and bombs bursting air” you are dependent on the other members of your unit doing their job – your life hangs suspended from the cord made up of all of the members of the unit. That is what “unit cohesion” means. As Franklin put it: hang together or hang separately.

The US has just suspended the search for a missing member of the American military because the Iraqi government demanded it. I understand the pressures on the Iraqi government and why they demanded it, but I don’t understand why the American military agreed. The Commander in Chief, the Secretary of Defense, the Commander of Central Command, and the commander of American forces in Iraq has just violated the “prime directive” of unit cohesion and the military itself: you don’t leave anyone behind.

[Read more →]

Florida GOP Lawmaker Resigns After Scandal

A state lawmaker under fire for leaving a message filled with obscenities and a racial slur on a colleague’s voice mail resigned Wednesday from the Florida Legislature.

State Rep. Ralph Arza had been urged to step down by fellow House Republicans and by Gov. Jeb Bush.

In a news conference Wednesday, Arza apologized for his actions and said he didn’t want to distract from the work of the Republican-led Legislature.

Family values strikes again.

There was once a vetting process for candidates, now they don’t even submit a resumé. This is no way to run anything, waiting for opponents to do the background checks.

Obviously they need more people on the ground to help them get out the vote, as CNN reports – Federal observers and monitors heading to polls:

The Justice Department plans to dispatch more than 800 federal observers and monitors to 20 states to protect voting rights in potentially troubled polling locations, officials announced Tuesday.

That is a record number of federal officials watching polling stations in an off-year election.

“Yes, the anticipated closeness of races is one factor in our decisions about where we’ll be sending people,” said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan Kim.

Kim said he would not identify until Monday the more than 65 cities and counties to which the observers will be sent.

The locations where federal observers will be stationed are selected because of past polling problems, an uneasy history among ethnically or racially diverse groups, or where fears and allegations of potential violations are asserted.

This wasn’t necessary when Reptilicons were ahead in the polls, only when their power became threatened.

I realize I’m being cynical, but Gonzales and Rove go way back and this Justice Department is not exactly known for its initiative.

At first glance it might appear that the state of Florida was making it easier to eliminate problem alligators in this AP report, Florida considers letting homeowners battle gators:

The changes would downgrade gators from a species of special concern to a game animal within five years and then remove them altogether from the state’s list of imperiled animals.

That could lift restrictions that now make it illegal for homeowners to kill nuisance alligators on their property. Currently, they must contact the commission, which contracts with a trapper to remove the gator.

Too bad, but what is really going on is a shift in the cost of dealing with them. The state has been dealing with them because they were protected, but now the homeowner has to deal with them.

I am just going to be thrilled with some retired guy from Newark blazing away at what he thinks is an alligator in the bayou. If you shoot one, what do you do with the body? You have to wonder who thought this was a good idea?