Here's everything you'll need. Go down the list, make sure you have it all.

Light Rum (I recommend Bacardi Light)
Dark Rum (I recommend Bacardi 151)
Passion Fruit Syrup (tough stuff to find. Try a liquor store, not your local supermarket)
Lemon Juice (I recommend fresh-squeezed)

Mix equal parts of light and dark rum with twice as much passion fruit syrup (maybe 2 oz. of each rum, then four oz. of the syrup). Add half as much lemon juice as one part rum (so, in our scheme, about 1 oz.). Shake it all over ice, pour into a glass (should be a hurricane glass, but go with what you've got). If you're really feeling fancy, garnish the drink with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry, skewered on a cocktail umbrella.

As stated, the passion fruit syrup can be tough to find. It's too late for the upcoming Ernesto, but in the future, you can order hurricane mix from Pat O'Brien's, the New Orleans bar that created the drink some 50 years ago. The bar's online gift shop is right here.

The end result should look something like this as far as color and glass shape (but I've taken out the parts that involve a blender, since, you know, we may have no power for a while).

Stay safe out there, but don't listen to those preachy TV reporters who whine about people having hurricane parties and hanging out on the beach as the waves get nasty. They're only complaining because nobody invited them to a party. Good luck!

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 10:01 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Districts 25 and 27-40 cover South Florida. However, only even-numbered districts are up for grabs this year. Let’s go to the board.

I'll also be mentioning some of the more-interesting state senate races elsewhere in the state.

South Florida State Senate races
District 28: southern St. Lucie, eastern Okeechobee, Martin and northern Palm Beach counties
Incumbent: Ken Pruitt, Republican
Outlook: Pruitt consistently wins by large percentages every year. Additionally, he’s raised almost half a million dollars, while the Democrat, Stan Smilan, has raised about four grand. Don’t look to the state party to help him out much. First, this district isn’t competitive. Second, Smilan has a history of bad-mouthing the Democrats, lumping them together with the GOP in the “culture of corruption.” He may have a point, but it doesn’t help his chances.
Web sites: Kenpruitt.com and Stansmilan.com
(STAYS GOP)

District 30: Palm Beach and Broward counties, just west of the Intracoastal
Incumbent: Senate Democratic minority leader Ron Klein, who is running against Clay Shaw for the U.S. House seat in District 22.
Outlook: Perhaps the most hotly contested state senate seat, this one comes down to Democrats Ted Deutch and Irv Slosberg, with write-in candidate George Harageones and Libertarian Karl Dickey locking other voters out of the primary. Deutch has raised about half a million dollars and spent half that amount. Slosberg has raised about $1.5 million and already gone through just about all of it, doling out heaps of cash for those cheesy, folksy “Let Irv Serve” commercials. I should also point out that the vast majority of Slosberg’s money comes from $1.4 million in loans, while Deutch garnered his cash primarily from campaign contributions. Given the plague of Slosberg advertising, I’m inclined to say Slosberg will pull this one out, though it’s possible that Deutch will pull ahead in the next couple weeks as Slosberg runs out of steam – I doubt it though. Which is sad, because I think I prefer Deutch — it’s a question of substance over style. Both men are middle-of-the-road, boring Dems, though – Deutch, for example, served on the national committee of the Lieberman for President campaign. Despite being so hotly contested, this race kinda leaves me shrugging my shoulders.
Web sites: Dickey2006.org, Letirvserve.com, TedForFlorida.com
(STAYS DEM)

District 32: North Central Broward County
Incumbent: Walter “Skip” Campbell, Democrat, is term-limited out and running for state Attorney-General
Outlook: Another hotly contested race, and another one decided by the Democratic primary, with write-in candidate Kenneth Lunkins locking out other voters. Of the three candidates — Ben Graber, James Haddad and Jeremy Ring — we can pretty much discount Haddad, who has raised less than 10 grand. Graber, on the other hand, has raised just over $200,000 and spent about $121,000, while Ring has pulled in about $600,000 and spent nearly $578,000. Like Slosberg, most of Ring’s money comes from loans, while Graber’s money mostly comes from political donations. Graber also has name recognition, having previously served in the state house of representatives and as a Broward County commissioner. In those jobs, he’s developed a reputation as perhaps the cleanest man floating in an ocean of sleaze. Besides, I rarely like the rich-guy-running-for-political-office candidate, and former Yahoo exec Ring fits that bill to a tee.
Web sites: JeremyRing.com
(STAYS DEM)

District 34: South Central Broward and central Miami-Dade counties
Incumbent: Nan Rich, Democrat
Outlook: Rich is running unopposed
Web sites: NanRichForSenate.com
(STAYS DEM)

District 36: Central Miami-Dade, just west of the Intracoastal
Incumbent: Alex de la Portilla, Republican
Outlook: Aside from write-in candidate Angie Rodriguez, De La Portilla is running unopposed – sad given the slew of campaign violations he had to pay fines for back in 2000. Originally cited a staggering $311,000 for 311 violations, he eventually paid $8,170 for 17 violations. Hell, he even tried to get out of that, claiming in court that he didn’t have the money. After reviewing his ownership of two homes, one valued at $800,000, the judge ordered him to pay up. Amazing you can be this sleazy and still coast to re-election. Says something about the lopsidedness of districts, caused by the gerrymandering of politicians on both sides of the aisle.
Web sites:
(STAYS GOP)

District 38: Central Miami-Dade, nestled between districts 34 and 36
Incumbent: J. Alex Villalobos
Outlook: Challenger Frank Bolanos makes the Republican primary a nailbiter. Both candidates have raised similar amounts of cash. Bolanos is running from the right, painting Villalobos as a liberal sympathizer. The claim doesn’t hold much water, since Villalobos’ conservative creds aren’t in doubt, only his vote against a few rather ridiculous plans by Jeb Bush to ignore the will of the people in the classroom-size amendment. He further ostracized Jeb by voting down the governor’s school-vouchers plan. Jeb, being the petulant little bastard he is, has supported Bolanos in what seems to be nothing more than vengeance for disloyalty. If the Cuban Republican political machine can turn out voters the way they usually do, Bolanos will go for the upset. If not, look for voters to re-elect the incumbent as usual. Given that shadowy groups such as the Citizens for Conservative Values have compared Villalobos to Hillary Clinton and, bizarrely, Ted Bundy, though, this campaign has gotten ugly fast. Also, while Villalobos is far from liberal, he is, admittedly, a lot closer to the center than Bolanos, a Miami-Dade County School Board member who has referred to the teachers’ union as “socialists.” Ah, yes … you know you’re in Miami when you hear anti-Communist rhetoric in a 21st Century American election.
Web sites: Frankbolanos.com
(STAYS GOP)

District 40: North Central Miami-Dade
Incumbent: Rodolfo “Rudy” Garcia, Republican
Outlook: Rudy’s running unopposed.
Web sites:
(STAYS GOP)

You’ll notice that, in both this and my blog entry on the Florida State House elections, I’m not calling for a single district to change hands. Gerrymandering by both parties has really curbed the people’s ability to elect proper representation. But whattaya gonna do?

Meanwhile, in State Senate races in other parts of Florida
Most of the really interesting races are taking place outside of South Florida this election cycle. Some really great stuff to look at. I'm just going to focus on a couple of competitive ones, and leave all the unopposed candidates and obvious winners alone.

District 08: the coastline of Nassau, Duval, St. Johns and Flagler counties
Incumbent: Jim King, Republican
Outlook: Similar to the Bolanos/Villalobos Republican primary in District 38, Republican inbumbent Jim King faces a challenge from an ultraconservative, Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue. For those unfamiliar with Operation Rescue, it's the largest anti-abortion organization in the country that actively practices civil disobedience -- often blockading abortion clinics, and so on. Terry himself was arrested more than 40 times in the 10 years he led the organization (1987-1997). He refers to Republican Christine Todd Whitman as "left wing," leaving me to wonder how he refers to actual left-wingers like Dennis Kucinich -- unpatriotic traitors, more than likely. He has disowned both his adopted son and two adopted daughters, the former for coming out as gay, the latter for both getting pregnant outside of marriage. Although King has raised about three times as much money, the write-in candidates assure that only Republicans will vote in the primary. Hopefully, cooler heads in the Republican Party will prevail. While King certainly has his flaws -- morbidly obese flaws filled with filthy lucre -- he's a million times better as a state senator than a dangerous lunatic like Terry, who ran for Congress from New York in 1998 with the motto: "no property taxes, no IRS, no social security, no abortion and no homosexuals." Yikes.
Web sites: JimKingForSenate.com, RandallTerry.com
(STAYS GOP)

District 10: East Hillsborough County, with small areas of Southeast Pasco and West Polk counties
Incumbent: Senate president Tom Lee, Republican, is running for the state's Chief Financial Officer.
Outlook: Former state house member Sandy Murman, local business owner Ray Young and county commissioner Ronda Storms are going against each other in the Republican primary, with the winner facing off against Democrat Stephen Gorham in the general election. We can pretty much discount Young, who has raised less money than either of his competitors and spent nearly all of it already. Storms will make the primary competitive, especially with her security-mom-focused campaign, in which she has focused on national security, porn filters in public libraries, and other issues that are allegedly important to paranoid soccer moms everywhere. However, Murman enjoys a 3-1 edge in fundraising, as well as name recognition and party support. She'll probably win the primary and face Gorham in the general. Gorham, a veteran of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, is calling for college tuition paid for returning vets, promoting jobs that pay a living wage, doubling the Homestead Tax Exemption from $25k to $50k, repealing all of Bush's asinine anti-labor laws, universal healthcare for school-aged children by 2015, and equal protection under the law for everyone, including gays. That last point will probably kill him in this heavily Republican district. Look for Murman to scream "gay marriage" all the way to the state senate.
Websites: RondaStorms.com, SandyMurman.com, StephenGorham.com and VoteRayYoung.com
(STAYS GOP)

District 14: all of Alachua and Gilchrist counties, plus surrounding areas of Columbia, Union, Bradford, Putnam, Marion and Levy counties
Incumbent: Rod Smith, Democrat, is running for governor
Outlook: The only state senate race with both Democratic and Republican primaries. For the Democrats, state house representative Ed Jennings, Jr., will likely best former state house rep. and Alachua County Commissioner Perry McGriff, Jr. I say this mainly because of the fundraising advantage, but I also like Jennings' focus on affordable housing, and it'd be nice to have a black man in the state senate -- there's damn few black people there as it is. In fact, Larcenia Bullard of District 39 and Frederica Wilson of District 33 are the only two who spring immediately to mind, though there may be others I've forgotten. In any case, on the Republican side, Travis Horn takes on Alachua County Sheriff Steve Oelrich. Oelrich has a massive fundraising lead and will probably take this primary. In fact, the fundraising lead is so large that he'll head into the general election with a sizable war chest. Jennings will probably pull this off, but if the GOP has a chance to take a state senate seat away from the Dems, it's here.
Web sites: EdJenningsJr.com, PeterMcGriff.com, SteveOelrich.com and TravisHorn.com
(STAYS DEM)

District 16: Eastern Pinellas and Western Hillsborough counties
Incumbent: Republican Jim Sebesta is term-limited out
Outlook: Republican primary will feature state house rep. Kim Berfield taking on state house rep. Frank Farkas. Berfield has a slight fundraising advantage and is about 10 times hotter than Farkas. She wins. She'll then take on Democratic state house rep. Charlie Justice in the general election. Justice ought to win for his name alone (much like Sheldon Whitehouse in the Rhode Island U.S. Senate race, but I digress). Because he's running unopposed in the primary, he'll have a lot of cash on hand once the smoke clears and the Republican primary produces a competitor. It's a heavily Republican district -- I mean, it's so red it bleeds -- so I doubt Justice can pull it off.
Web sites: Berfield2006.com, CharlieJustice.com and FranklyFarkas.com

That's pretty much it. The rest of the state senate races are either unopposed or the incumbent or obvious winner faces paltry competition. Hold onto your butts. Should be a great election year.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Florida House of Representatives

Districts 78 and 80-120 pretty much cover South Florida. I’m going to leave off all the incumbents — I’ll more or less guarantee that they’ll all be re-elected. I've tried to include Web sites whenever I could, but sometimes I couldn't track them down. I find it almost impossible to believe that, in this day and age, a political candidate wouldn't have a Web site, but if I couldn't find it through Google or on the Florida Department of State's candidates site, I gave up. Anyway, as I said, no incumbents, just the open seats. Let’s see what that leaves us with.

District 82:
Incumbent: Republican Joe Negron is running in the GOP primary for state attorney-general (the spot being vacated by Charlie Crist, who is running for governor) against Bill McCollum, who memorably lost the 2004 GOP U.S. Senate primary to Mel Martinez after Martinez decried the extremely conservative McCollum as a favorite of “homosexual extremists.”
Outlook: Republican William Snyder, better funded, better supported and running in a mostly Republican district, will trounce Democratic contender Catherine Hilton.
Web site: SnyderForState.com

District 86
Incumbent: Democratic Leader Pro Tempore Annie Gannon is leaving her seat to run for Palm Beach County Tax Collector
Outlook: Four Democrats — Joseph Abruzzo, Harriet Lerman, Maria Sachs and Mark Alan Siegel — want to replace Gannon. Abruzzo opportunistically stepped into this race and left Republican County Commissioner Mary McCarty uncontested. Sachs has a big-time Republican donor for a husband. Siegel got hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit in New York. Harriet Lerman has a radio show, in which she comes off as shrill and angry — but hey, Democrats are pretty damn angry these days. I like Lerman.
Web sites: HarrietLerman.com, PeopleForSeigel.com, Sachs2006.com

District 90
Incumbent: Democrat Irv Slosberg is running for state senate against Ted Deutch
Outlook: Once again, four Democrats — Harvey Arnold, Sheldon Klasfeld, Kelly Skidmore and Len Turesky this time — want the job. I’m not familiar with Arnold. Klasfeld went down to disgrace a few years back after the charter school he ran was shut down because of fiscal and academic violations. Len “Babyface” Turesky sent out mailers that slimed opponent Skidmore. Which, of course, brings us to Skidmore — basically, there’s a reason Turesky slimed her instead of Klasfeld or Arnold. Skidmore’s the winner.
Web sites: KellySkidmore.com, LenTuresky.com

District 93
Incumbent: Democratic Minority Leader Chris Smith is term-limited out.
Outlook: As in a couple of the aforementioned districts, this one’s between Democrats. Alain Jean, Randy Smith, Perry Thurston, Sallie Bell Tillman-Watson and McKinley Williams are all running. Jean wants to get tougher on dumping, something I didn’t even realize was an issue — but he has also raised far more cash than his opponents. Smith has an array of stances, but focuses especially on increasing teacher salaries, reforming the insurance industry and offering tax incentives for solar energy use. Attorney Thurston has some political experience, unlike his novice competitors. Tillman-Watson is a long-time community activist. Williams filed late and no one seems to know a thing about him. We can forget about Williams, and I think most would-be Thurston voters will go for Jean. Smith’s got some good ideas, but one of the black candidates (i.e. every other candidate) would probably better represent this district. I’m inclined to think that Tillman-Watson can pull this off. While other candidates have more cash, she’s put a lot of shoe leather into this campaign.
Web sites: AlainJean.com, ElectRandySmith.com, Sallie4Florida.com

District 95
Incumbent: Democrat Ron Greenstein is term-limited out
Outlook: Democrats Chris Finnegan, Amy Shapiro Rose and Jim Waldman all want the job. I can’t say much about Finnegan. Waldman was the mayor of Coconut Creek, and is endorsed by outgoing representative Greenstein. Rose is the 32-year-old three-time president of the Broward Young Democrats. Both Waldman and Rose have great views on all the issues, and both of them would make excellent representatives. But given his years of experience in the district, the election will probably go to Waldman. That said, Rose should have a great future ahead of her. She’s a fighter, and she ought to be in Washington, not Tallahassee.
Web sites: ElectAmyRose.com, ElectJimWaldman.com

District 99
Incumbent: Democrat Eleanor Sobel is term-limited out
Outlook: In one of the most hotly contested state house districts of this year, the winner of a Democratic primary between Arthur Palamara, Barry Sacharow and Elaine Schwartz will face Republican Juan Selaya in the general election. Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 2-1 in the district, though, so the primary election will likely decide who will be the next representative. Elaine Schwartz has the backing of outgoing representative Sobel and Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti — of course, having the backing of someone as loathed as Mayor Mara isn’t necessarily a good thing. Palamara, a medical doctor, is a strong advocate of patients’ rights. Sacharow, who brought back Hollywood’s beloved CanadaFest in 1993, has also promoted several other festivals in the area. He’s also for universal healthcare, gay civil unions, and giving teens age 16 and older the right to vote in school board elections. Hell, the guy's probably the only candidate in the whole state with his own MySpace site. I freaking love it. Schwartz is the Joe Lieberman of this race — in with the political establishment and more center-right than actually progressive. Sacharow is the Ned Lamont. It’s difficult to say where Palamara fits in, but this race really comes down to Sacharow and Schwartz. If Hollywood wants a progressive Democrat, they’ll vote Sacharow. If they want a crony of Mayor Mara, they’ll vote Schwartz. Let’s hope the former rather than the latter.
Web sites: ArthurPalamara.com, BarrySacharow.com, ElaineSchwartz2006.com

District 100
Incumbent: Democrat Tim Ryan is term-limited out
Outlook: Bizarrely, Evan Jenne is running unopposed. Given the fact that his dad, Sheriff Ken Jenne, has suffered under the weight of massive scandal this year, I’m shocked that someone didn’t try to go against his son. It really speaks to the power of his father in the Broward Democratic Party that no one touched Evan. I’m vehemently opposed to political dynasties of any stripe, and since sonny-boy is already being referred to as the “newly elected” representative of district 100, he hasn’t even bothered with a Web site explaining his position on the issues. I’ll keep an open mind and assume that 28-year-old Evan will be a good representative, but given the corrupt state of the BSO and Evan’s utter lack of experience, I’m not holding my breath.

District 105
Incumbent: Democrat Ken Gottlieb is term-limited out
Outlook: Democrats Henry Rose and Joe Gibbons want to replace Gottlieb. This election is notable because of the absence of a write-in candidate. In other districts where only one party is running, the party gets a write-in candidate to run. That way, there’s more than one party in the race, and the primary is open only to members of that party. That hasn’t happened here. So, the primary is open to everyone. That’s reflected in the candidates, neither of whom take the strong, progressive stances of candidates in many of the other Democratic primaries. Instead, both Rose and Gibbons focus on local issues and what they can do for their communities — it’s not sexy, but it’s probably more honest. Both candidates have some name recognition, Rose as a long-time community activist (Pembroke Pines’ Citizen of the Year for 2006) and Gibbons as a City Commissioner of Hallandale Beach. Both candidates have raised similar amounts of cash too -- Gibbons somewhat more, but not enough to make much of a difference. This one’s a tossup.
Web sites: ElectHenryARose.com, ElectJoeGibbons.com

District 107
Incumbent: Republican Gustavo Barreiro is term-limited out
Outlook: The winner of a primary between Republicans Arthur Arnau, Frank Carollo, Robert Fernandez, Eric Padron and Xavier Suarez will face Democratic Miami Beach City Commissioner Luis Garcia in the general election. This one’s sort of the reverse of District 99 — it’s a heavily Republican district, so the primary will likely decide the representative. Although the district includes fairly Democratic South Beach, it also includes rabidly right-wing Little Havana. We can pretty much dismiss Arnau as a nonentity. Padron has the endorsement of Barreiro, Fernandez has the most cash and the endorsement of Jeb Bush, Suarez is the former mayor of Miami and Carollo is the brother of former Miami mayor Joe Carollo. Suarez and Carollo will probably burn each other out. All in all, I’m inclined to go with Fernandez.
Web sites: VoteFernandez06.com

District 108
Incumbent: Democrat Philip Brutus is retiring
Outlook: Democrats Ronald Brise, Kathy Emery, Hans Laurenceau, Eddie Lewis and Peter Walsh square off in the primary, with the winner facing Prospero Herrera in the general election. As with a couple of the other elections, the primary will really decide this race, as Herrera will probably get crushed. Brise, a high-school teacher, champions a living wage and greater funding of the Department of Children and Families; he also has the endorsement of outgoing Representative Brutus. Laurenceau sounds more like a Republican than a Democrat, calling for more funding for cops and longer prison sentences, along with the usual platitudes about improving healthcare and the environment; he has also raised the most money. Lewis is, well, crazy. Walsh touts improving education above all else and has picked up a few major endorsements, such as Janet Reno. Kathy Emery is a Community Council member, but has raised very little money, coming in second-to-last (Lewis being dead last). We can pretty much exclude Emery and Lewis. Brise started strong, but has almost run out of cash. That leaves Walsh and Laurenceau. I like Walsh, but I think Laurenceau will win this one.
Web sites: ElectWalsh.com, HansLaurenceau.com, Home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-winprospero2006, Rab4108.com

District 120
Incumbent: Republican Ken Sorensen is term-limited out
Outlook: Republicans Sal Gutierrez, David Rice, Spencer Slate and Jeff Wander battle it out for the chance to face Democrat Ron Saunders in the primary. Count out Gutierrez — he’s raised almost no money. Monroe County Commissioner Rice has raised the most money by far — more than almost any other candidate in any state house race. Both Slate and Wander have raised enough cash to make things interesting, but Rice should pull this out in the end. Rice seems like a pretty good guy — none of the religio-crazy, bullshit family values talk you get from most Republicans. In fact, like Slate, his main issue is affordable housing for workers in the Florida Keys, the entire island chain being part of district 120. Unlike other districts, though, Rice will go on to face some pretty tough opposition in the general election. Saunders was the state representative for district 120 from 1986-1994. He’s a fifth-generation native of the Florida Keys, the sort of old-school cracker than can siphon off a few Republican votes while holding onto the Democratic base. It should be a great race, but I imagine Rice will win in the end.
Web sites: DavidRice2006.com, JeffWander.com, Ron120.com, SpencerSlate.com

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

So my own company's local daily, the stalwart Sun-Sentinel, reported on the video I discussed in my previous blog entry today. In a story by Madeline Baro Diaz, Major John Brooks, the ranking officer present as the policemen viewed their brutal handiwork, says, "The comments were inappropriate and unprofessional and I shouldn't have made them. ... I'm apologizing to the people being talked about, I'm apologizing to the BSO and to the public."

You know what, Major Brooks? Not good enough. Tell you what. How about you wear a red dress, stand in the middle of the street, and let the innocent woman your colleagues maimed while her back was turned spray you with rubber bullets. Sound fair?

But that's not the only thing that irks me about the latest story covering these sadists in our local police force.

I really wish the story would've offered some perspective from the other side. Instead, it just quotes the police.

"I just keep thinking back on the events ... the rocks and chunks of bricks that were coming at us and all of a sudden you hear pop, pop, pop, pop, pop," [Brooks] said on the tape, referring to the sound of guns firing rubber bullets and pepper spray pellets. "That weapon saved us a lot of injuries."

Funny how there's no tape of protestors slinging rocks and chunks of brick at the cops, no? That weapon "saved us a lot of injuries"? No, that weapon caused a lot of injuries -- to innocent victims of police brutality like the story's Elizabeth Ritter and the few people I discussed in yesterday's blog entry.

Anyway, the story goes on to quote police spokesman Elliot Cohen's casual dismissal of the tape. "There's a difference between violating department procedure and just being inappropriate," he said.

I agree. There's a difference between violating department procedure and being staggeringly, disgustingly, nauseatingly "inappropriate." But screw the tape that shows officers laughing at the pain they've caused. What about the actions themselves? Can Cohen actually look us in the eyes and tell us that shooting an unarmed woman in the back and head -- five freaking times -- violates no procedures?

Well, he'll likely say that the officers were in danger and she was caught in the crossfire -- absolutely ridiculous to anyone who sees the tape. And besides, as I pointed out in my last entry, I witnessed plenty of police-instigated confrontations that day, but none that were started by protestors. So save me the insults to my intelligence.

I'm hoping that maybe this video's surfacing will pick open a few old wounds. I know it has with me. To my knowledge, not a single officer has ever been disciplined, much less fired or -- the most proper outcome -- criminally prosecuted for the vile, wholly unjutified tactics exhibited at the FTAA protests. The story mentions that several lawsuits are underway by the ACLU, but I doubt that much will come of them. Why should it? When people see something like the Rodney King video, they can understand it -- it's a few bad apples committing police brutality, and that happens. But when you show them video of dozens upon dozens of officers engaging in behavior reminiscent of Nazi brownshirts and the Soviet occupation of Czechoslavakia, they just shake their heads and say something like, "Surely, the protestors did something first. This is just the reaction." It's hard for people to wrap their minds around the idea of widespread brutality at the hands of American police. All I can say to those people is, "You weren't there."

Before November 2003, I trusted police. Before then, I believed the same thing that most people do -- police brutality is the result of a few, twisted individuals. After what I saw that day, I am a different person. More disillusioned, perhaps, but far more honest.

Miami Police on Nov. 20, 2003, busily protecting and serving the public

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 1:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From the American Heritage Dictionary:

sadism (n) 1. Psychol. a. Sexual gratification from infliction of pain on others. b. A psychological disorder in which sexual gratification is derived from infliction of pain on others. 2. Delight in cruelty 3. Extreme cruelty.

I read the Miami Herald story this morning (by former New Times colleague Ashley Fantz, it should be noted) about a video depicting Broward Sheriff's Office deputies watching a video of their own, which showed police at the Nov. 20, 2003 FTAA protest spraying a woman with rubber bullets. The video of the BSO deputies then depicts them sharing a good laugh over this.

I decided not to write a blog about this until my temper had cooled a bit, but it hasn't worked. You see, I was at the FTAA protests in November of 2003. In fact, that was perhaps the most personal formulative political experience of my life. Sure, the stolen 2000 election, 9/11 and other such major events shaped my outlook in ways they did many other people. But to be in Miami that November ... well, it represented my final disillusionment with the establishment. After the jackbooted brownshirt tactics exhibited by police that day -- violence instigated by the police it should be noted -- I abandoned any last sentiments that the cops were in any way on my side. Hell, I only escaped being beaten and tossed in the slammer myself by yelling "PRESS!" and praying they heard me through the riot gear -- they did, and I suppose they didn't want the heavy bad publicity that comes with beating the shit out of a journalist. Pity the people near me didn't have the common sense to lie and say they were media too.

What I find particularly egregious, though, is not the fact that BSO deputies watched the depraved handiwork of their Miami colleagues and had a good chuckle about it -- though, believe me, I find that piggishness morally repugnant. No, what really pisses me off about Fantz's story is Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss, who has the
fucking chutzpah to say that only a few dozen people were injured at the FTAA protests. That is solid bullshit. No, scratch that. The better descriptor would be to say that it is runny, diarrhetic bullshit. Because for anyone who was there that day, the lie that there were only a couple of dozen injuries oozes out of Moss' mouth and slips easily to the ground, among the rest of the filth. I witnessed at leased half that many injuries myself -- with my own two eyes -- and you're going to tell me that I just happened to witness half the injuries dealt out by these thuggish police-state Gestapo in the entire City of Miami? What does Moss think? That no one who was there will read this? Does he honestly believe that this will hold up to even the slightest scrutiny?

Since that day, I have often made the argument that the police are not my friend -- and not your friend either. Think about it. How often do you speed? Jaywalk? Commit any other infraction? I'm willing to bet that you do something illegal pretty damn often. So, given the fact that you are an outlaw far more often than you are the victim of the crime, tell me how the police are your friend? Especially when they're so willing to spray you with rubber bullets and laugh about it afterward. The only reason you think the police are your friend is because, when you do need them, they're a pretty damned good friend to have. But a Colt Python in your nightstand drawer will stop that burglar a lot faster than a call to the cops.

Defenders of the status quo will point out this bit of Fantz's article:
"Commander Armando Guzman, a 25-year-old police veteran and leader of the Miami Police Swat Team during FTAA, said officers faced violence that wasn't publicized.
Protesters set fire to freight pallets they placed on the street and fired ball bearings at police using ''wrist rockets,'' sophisticated high-velocity sling-shots, he said.
Demonstrators also flung pieces of brick and rebar at cops, said Guzman."

First off, my bullshit detector goes off the minute I see that the officers faced violence that "wasn't published." How terribly convenient. But, I will say that I did see one guy throw a rock at police that day -- after he'd been shot by a rubber bullet and just before he was shot by about half a dozen more. Not once -- not one bloody time -- did I see protestors instigate violence that day. Not once.

Here's Carl Kesser, who was shot in the temple at the FTAA protest by a bean bag bullet. His offense? Filming the police beating the hell out of other protestors.

Here's Nikki Hartman, holding a rag to her head to stop the bleeding from a rubber bullet:

Think she was some sort of violent protestor? Nah. Here she is awhile earlier, meditating with prayer beads:

So, by all means, come to sunny Miami

They treat you right here, don't they? Christ, it's been almost three years and my hands are still almost shaking as I write this. If you take anything away from it, at least read Fantz's story and realize this -- the woman the police shot in the head in her story? Just another downtown Miami resident. Just like many of you. It still pains me in my gut -- seethes and quakes in the lowest, angriest parts of my heart -- that half of the damned police force wasn't tossed in jail for what they did that day. Ah well -- at least for a day I got to know what it feels like to live in a police state. I learned I didn't care for it much. So the next time you may read a blog entry here at Doomed Generation about the erosion of civil rights in America (I know I'm wont to get off on rants on this particular subject), don't roll your eyes and say, "It can't happen here." Because it can, and it has, and it will again. And goddamn it, free speech and peaceful assembly -- those are worth fighting for. Hell, they're worth dying for. And if you were in Miami on Nov. 20, 2003, you know that at the very least, they're worth bleeding for.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In my last blog entry, I called Ned Lamont to beat Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary by 6-10 points. He only did it by 4.7 percent, according to the official results from the Connecticut Secretary of State (plus a few quick calculations by yours truly). In any case, there's not a whole lot left to say about it that hasn't already been said, but this editorial from the New York Times has perhaps the best take on it.

To sum it up: The Lamont victory was not a reaction by an angry, antiwar left. Instead, it was a reaction by angry moderates over how far to the right the country has turned. It's only because the country has gone so far to the right that moderate voices seem left-wing.

Here's a few paragraphs, but do read more at the link:

"The rebellion against Mr. Lieberman was actually an uprising by that rare phenomenon, irate moderates. They are the voters who have been unnerved over the last few years as the country has seemed to be galloping in a deeply unmoderate direction. A war that began at the president’s choosing has degenerated into a desperate, bloody mess that has turned much of the world against the United States. The administration’s contempt for international agreements, Congressional prerogatives and the authority of the courts has undermined the rule of law abroad and at home.

Yet while all this has been happening, the political discussion in Washington has become a captive of the Bush agenda. Traditional beliefs like every person’s right to a day in court, or the conviction that America should not start wars it does not know how to win, wind up being portrayed as extreme. The middle becomes a place where senators struggle to get the president to volunteer to obey the law when the mood strikes him. Attempting to regain the real center becomes a radical alternative.

When Mr. Lieberman told The Washington Post, “I haven’t changed. Events around me have changed,” he actually put his finger on his political problem. His constituents felt that when the White House led the country into a disastrous international crisis and started subverting the nation’s basic traditions, Joe Lieberman should have changed enough to take a lead in fighting back."

All in all, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 11:51 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Polls in Connecticut close in just three and a half hours. Let me say right now, before any exit polls or results come in, that I predict Lamont will win by 6-10 points .

Ned Lamont, alleged future senator

The big news across the Internet about this campaign has been some sort of dark allegations by the Lieberman campaign of web-site hacking on the part of Lamont. Whether the Joe2006.com Web site was even hacked or not, though, seems largely in dispute. In fact, political blogger Kos relates that, more likely, the site crashed simply because the campaign was only paying $15/month for a Web site with limited bandwidth. Thus, when election day hit, the sheer traffic caused Joe's site to crash. You get what you pay for.

But who cares, really? This sort of last-minute sniping by campaigns goes largely ignored by the general voting public. Moving back to my early prediction that Lamont will win, I'd also like to say this: I'll be damned glad if he does.

Mind you, my Lamont support doesn't neccessarily stem from similar outlooks on the Iraq War (though there is that) or any other issue. I just like when the system gets shaken up. It appeals to the wicked anarchist in me. A Lamont win over Lieberman probably wouldn't change much for Connecticut -- if Lieberman loses and goes Independent in the general election, he'll probably wind up winning anyway -- but I like what message it would send to the Democratic Party. A Lamont win says, "We are sick of the status quo. Change something, bubba, or you're next!" Hot damn, nobody wants to be the next head on the chopping block, do they?

Possible fate of other Democratic political careers

No sirree, Bob! A Lamont win means that other Democrats who have largely gone along with this revolting war-crime-in-progress in Iraq will have to look at themselves in the mirror and decide if they enjoy wielding power -- and if you're a politician, you most assuredly do. And as the Democratic Party veers left, it'll open the door for more chaos and bloodshed between it and a Republican Party that's so far to the right it's beginning to make those Nazi comparisons, once discounted as ludicrous, seem pretty apropos.

But, hell, I like just about anything that shakes up the system. A colleague and I were talking about this today, and he recalled Oliver North's senate run in Virginia. "As a citizen," he said, "I was repulsed. But the reporter in me was like [picture gleeful rubbing of hands]."

Former senate candidate Oliver North

I can't help but agree. In that way, Oliver North's senate run and Ned Lamont's are similar. The difference, though, is that Lamont makes the citizen in me happy, too. All sides are appeased. But, really, it's the writerly side that usually wins out in political battles. And it's dying to see what happens next.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 4:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Yeah, me neither. The Palm Beach Post came out with a story today that included commentary from half a dozen former members of her campaign. Among them was Jim Dornan, her first campaign manager, and one of at least three who have left her staff. Their quotes about Harris are absolutely priceless. Particularly revealing is Harris' bizarre obsession with Starbucks coffee, even going so far as to berate any aide who comes to her office when they don't come with a Starbucks for her.

Caffeine addiction is an ugly thing, the Addiction of the 21st Century, now that everything else but alcohol and tobacco has been banned, tobacco is extremely frowned upon, and alcohol only slightly less so. We have so puritanized ourselves that people like Harris, who actively court a religio-crazy base, have only a Starbucks addiction to keep them up.

Back in the late 19th Century, a wealthy woman of means like Rep. Harris wouldn't have bothered with a pissant addiction like caffeine. She'd have had a bottle of Laudanum with her at all times, and that would've been the end of it.

In fact, opiate addiction would go a long way toward explaining Harris' behavior.

I mean, just have a look at her:

Rep. Katherine Harris, alleged caffeine and/or laudanum addict

The heavy makeup is simply her attempt to mask the paleness and frailty associated with the heavy laudanum user. The freakish, high-strung meltdowns described in the Post story could easily be explained as the fevered rantings of a laudanum addict in dire need of a fix. Her recommendations to female staffers that they freeze their eggs for later use can only be ascribed to the dreamy meanderings of a woman deeply in the throes of an opiate trance. Clearly, Harris is chasing the dragon, under the spell of a tincture of opium. Believe me, folks, I know about these things.

Then again, it could just be the coffee. I hear that stuff does mighty strange things to people. But I wouldn't know. I try to stay away from it. Just one cup in the morning, to cut the effects of the hydrocodone cough syrup I developed an addiction to during my last chest cold. I gotta do what I gotta do.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 3:27 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

but were afraid to ask.

I realize I just gave out a homework assignment in my last blog entry, but dammit, this one's just as good. Must-read stuff.

In perhaps his most heart-rending song, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," Bob Dylan wrote/sang, "Money doesn't talk, it swears." Perhaps this New York Times story is what he meant.

Just check out the story's first three paragraphs:
By DAVID JOHNSTON and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

"WASHINGTON — In 1992, Brent R. Wilkes rented a suite at the Hyatt Hotel a few blocks from the Capitol. In his briefcase was a stack of envelopes for a half-dozen congressmen, each packet containing up to $10,000 in checks.

Mr. Wilkes had set up separate meetings with the lawmakers hoping to win a government contract, and he planned to punctuate each pitch with a campaign donation. But his hometown congressman, Representative Bill Lowery of San Diego, a Republican, told him that presenting the checks during the sessions was not how things were done, Mr. Wilkes recalled.

Instead, Mr. Wilkes said, Mr. Lowery taught him the right way to do it: hand over the envelope in the hallway outside the suite, at least a few feet away."

If you care at all about this country, the knowledge that the above sequence of events happens each and every day, a hundred times over, in Washington is gut-wrenching stuff. Something very basic and very needful has been stolen from each and every one of us when this is what it means to live in our democracy, to live in America, to be a citizen of this country. We the people are being controlled by vermin. It's as if the nuclear war that everyone feared during the Cold War has already happened. Or at least, it may as well have. Because either way, the cockroches are ruling the world.

Additional note, 8/9/06 -- By the way, the recorded version of "It's Alright Ma" on 1965's Bringing It All Back Home is excellent, but if you want to hear a jaw-droppingly outstanding version, check out the Halloween 1964 show at the Philharmonic Hall in New York, widely available as a bootleg for years, though an official release came out in 2004 as Bootleg Series Vol. 6. That version of the song is quite indescribable. Guaranteed to induce weeping in the overly sentimental -- and most others, for that matter.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 10:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Read Jimmy Breslin's new column in Newsday. The man retired a while back, and only puts out columns intermittantly, but every time he does, it's a must read. The guy's a fucking stud. Here's a bit:

"By the way, there are many American soldiers fighting in the Middle East.

In case you haven't noticed, they get killed. A lot of them get killed.

I was watching the endless television coverage of Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon killing women and children and then picking up the papers to read almost exclusively of the same thing. I found no picture on television and almost no mention in newspapers of Americans dying.

The dead babies of Lebanon and those dismembered by rockets in Israel are considered to be glorious distractions that allow our government to stroll the hallways that appear to have no blood on the floors."

Say, did you know 50 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq since July 1? Me neither. Breslin brings it home in a way that breaks your heart. And breaks the Bush administration's balls.

Anyway, read the rest here

Jimmy Breslin, stud with a pen

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 9:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

HA! Kidding, of course. Saying those two words in the same breath can get a man killed in Florida, especially these days. Half of Miami and every newspaper from there to Palm Beach has gone batshit insane over Fidel's surgery. The fact that even the Palm Beach Post fills its front page with breathless rapture-like accounts of Fidel's possible death leaves me scratching my head. With everything that's going on in the world, is this old codger's gastro-intestinal tract really the most newsworthy item?

What about Lebanon? What about Israel? What about Iraq? What about the fact that, if the Bush administration has its way, America will look a lot like Cuba? I doubt a lot of the Cubans dancing down Calle Ocho care too much, since as long as it comes from the right-wing it can do no evil as far as they're concerned, but a few news stories that should have been major news dropped completely off the radar over the post couple days. Taken together, they essentially cast aside Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the recent Supreme Court decision that found Bush's treatment of so-called enemy combatants to be unconstitutional.

This may be yet another naked power grab by the executive branch, yet another ruination of the system of checks and balances. But it's probably the biggest so far.

First, there's the Associated Press report of Bush's new terror detainee bill. According to the draft of the bill, the military would be able to detain any and all "enemy combatants" until "hostilities cease." The term "enemy combatants" is then defined as anyone "engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners who has committed an act that violates the law of war and this statute."

OK. So, since the War on Terror essentially has no end -- not even the craziest of the Strangelovian neo-cons believes terrorism can be completely eradicated -- this bill essentially gives the military the right to detain "enemy combatants" forever. And that broad definition of "enemy combatants" pretty much gives the military the right to arrest and give a life-term without possibility of parole to just about anybody.

Oh, and while they're cooling their heels for the rest of their lives, these alleged "enemy combatants" will spend their days being slowly tortured to death, if Attorney General/Grand Inquisitor Alberto Gonzales has his way. According to a New York Times story that came out yesterday, Gonzales is asking Congress to specifically define torture -- with the understanding, of course, that his jackbooted thugs will then be able to carry out whatever gruesome tactics Congress fails to include in its definition.

Grand Inquisitor Alberto Gonzales, alleged sadist

I mean, just look at that guy. Look at that leering, sadistic grin. Doesn't he remind you of Peter Lorre, a man whose weaselly persona practically had him typecast as sadistic toadies?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

This creepily soft-spoken loon represents everything that has become degraded in the American character during the Bush presidency. The very idea that America's attorney general has gone to Congress to ask for a narrower definition of torture than that of the Geneva Convention should fill this country's citizens with outright disgust. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but down here in South Florida, Gonzales doesn't even appear as a blip on the radar. We're too busy drooling over Castro's bloody intestines.

Some old dude whose life and/or death has no effect on me

What I really like about all the Castro coverage on the local TV news stations, though, is how amazingly black-op it all seems. How many times a night now have we heard anchors say something along the lines of, "Miami Cubans call for Revolution in Cuba!" or "Coming up next... Miami Cubans take to the streets and tell their brothers in Havana to do the same!" or "As Miami's Cuban population marches through the streets, they await a similar turn of events in Cuba" and so on and so on. Christ, if I didn't know better, I'd say our media is as state-controlled as Cuba's.

All of this, of course, is not to say that Castro isn't a total douchebag -- he is. But he's not our douchebag. And we've got so damn many of them to deal with that it's disheartening when one of them can just waltz into Congress, say, "Yeah, can we get a little leeway on this torture thing?" and then go back to the important business of trying to scrub all of that blood off his hands.

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