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I was going to weigh in on the latest developments regarding the Rays and Mayor Bill Foster - but please, how about we hold off jumping up and down until there's actually some agreement in place? Reports simply indicate a deal that a deal along the lines of Councilman Charlie Gerdes' proposal to have the team talk to Tampa official in exchange for writing a check to the city may evolve....
Back in Washington, the Obama administration avoided a painful embarrassment yesterday when a proposal sponsored by Michigan Republican Justin Amash that would have limited the collection of "metadata" by the National Security Agency narrowly went down to defeat 217-205. It was the first serious congressional challenge to an NSA surveillance program since Edward Snowden went public last month.
As is usually the case with civil liberty issues, liberals and conservatives came together in an unusual alliance, both in support of the legislation and against it. Most local Republicans opposed the measure with the exception of Dennis Ross and Vern Buchanan. Most liberal Democrats in Florida had a hard time opposing their president, but that didn't deter Orlando's Alan Grayson.
Tampa's Kathy Castor told CL last month that she had serious concerns after Snowden's revelations about spying on Americans went public, but she stood by her president in last night's vote.
A new poll came out yesterday on St. Pete's mayoral contest. It shows Mayor Bill Foster looking good at the moment to get into the run-off. It also showed that Rick Kriseman still has some work to do in introducing himself to black voters if he wants to challenge the incumbent in November.
On Monday Senator Bill Nelson told CL (and the Tampa Tribune's William March) that he wasn't about to call on the Florida Legislature to reconvene in a special session to address problems with Florida's Stand Your Ground law. That doesn't mean he doesn't have issues with the law, as his chief spokesman told CL yesterday.
Well, they don't make 'em like they use to, do they? Or maybe that's too harsh a reaction to the news that the Sarasota Republican Party is honoring Sean Hannity in September as their "Stateman of the Year,"following in the tradition that had the party honor one Donald Trump a year ago.
