Open the coffers for GOP and let loose a throng of protesters
By SUE CARLTON
Published June 12, 2006
Sure. Why not host the GOP?
Though an $85-million taxpayer tab for the 2008 Republican National Convention might smack you with some serious sticker shock, Tampa would look great on TV, right?
Except for those protesters. What a buzz kill.
They showed up by the thousands for the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004. Based on that, some predict as many as 500,000 here, pitching tents in the parks and crowding the streets.
Nah, says Al Austin, businessman, big-time Republican and convention host committee pooh-bah.
Austin told St. Petersburg Times reporter Janet Zink last week that we'd get 20,000 protesters, tops.
And if things got crazy, well, nearby MacDill Air Force Base could handle security.
After all, he said: "They're the ones fighting the war on terror.''
So let me get this straight.
Anyone who protests, speaks out against the war or Republican priorities like banning gay marriage is akin to a terrorist?
For disagreeing in public?
Funny. I'd be more inclined to call them "people doing what you get to do when you're lucky enough to live in a democracy.''
n n n
Speaking of the convention, Miami's not interested.
Like the most fickle of prom dates, the city won't make a play to play host. Miami wants to leave those dates open in hopes that MTV will come calling with its annual awards blow-out.
Like that would be more fun than a bunch of Republicans.
n n n
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio did her voice-of-reason thing, saying the city would spend no more than $1-million on the shindig.
For the record, that's in keeping with the $1-million the city spent on the last Super Bowl here.
Hey, you know the difference between a political convention and a football game? In one of them, you don't know who's going to win.
n n n
Gov. Jeb Bush got all folksy when he signed a bill to let restaurants serve people and their pooches at tables outside.
The governor said the new law will let dogs and their owners "have a brewski together, have a hot dog together or whatever they want outdoors.'' (Of course the dogs have to be legal drinking age, but that's like 3 in dog years.)
Later came a more boneheaded law.
Bush also signed a bill that keeps you from being able to find out if someone has a concealed weapons permit. Come July, this information will no longer be public record.
There are legit reasons it should be, beyond finding out if your neighbor, your co-worker or your scary ex are legally packing.
The government has the power to decide who gets these permits. The rest of us should get to know what kind of job the government's doing with that power.
Soon, it'll be anybody's guess.
n n n
For Jurist of the Year, I nominate U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell of Orlando.
Forget things getting contentious in the courtroom. In an insurance settlement case before him, the two lawyers couldn't even agree on where to hold a deposition. The wheels of justice weren't exactly spinning here.
When the lawyers asked the judge to pick the locale for them, he'd had enough.
Presnell ordered that if they couldn't agree on a place, they were to meet on the steps of the federal courthouse.
There, he decreed, "counsel shall engage in one game of rock, paper, scissors.'' Winner picks the deposition spot.
Maybe Presnell should actually be father of the year. Apparently having decided the lawyers were acting like children, the judge decided to treat them accordingly.
Sue Carlton can be reached at carlton@sptimes.com.