Free Republic

Florida Rep. Perry Thurston failed to disclose $11,000 in donations from gambling interests when he blasted Gov. Rick Scott last week on gaming issues. A subsidiary of a Malaysian-based casino company donated the money to a political action committee listing Thurston as its sole “associated legislator.” Thurston, a Democratic candidate for Florida Attorney General, issued a scathing press release Thursday attacking Scott for failing to finalize a new gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Scott and other Republican lawmakers have said a new agreement with the Seminoles must be completed before passing new gambling legislation that might allow...

A young man with two handguns walked up to a group of people in front of a Liberty City market on Monday evening and opened fire, killing a 52-year-old woman and wounding two men, Miami police said

Tied to an unpopular president and his signature health care law, Democrats in the nation’s largest swing state see medical marijuana as a potential antidote to political malaise in this year’s midterm elections. Party operatives are pushing a constitutional amendment that would make Florida the first state in the South to legalize some pot use. Polls show the measure has widespread public support, and it’s particularly popular among young voters—a critical part of the Democratic coalition with historically weak turnout in non-presidential election years. “I wish that it didn’t take medical marijuana on the ballot to motivate our young voters,”...

Showing just how important a strong Democratic showing in Broward County is to Charlie Crist’s hope of returning to the Governor’s Mansion, the first field office for his campaign is set for Planation. The campaign plans to dedicate the office next week. What’s being described as the South Florida headquarters will be located at 320 South University Drive, Plantation. The grand opening is at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The only other Crist office so far is the state headquarters in St. Petersburg. Broward, which has more registered Democrats than any other Florida county is critical for the party’s hopes to win...

Photograph_by_Jocelyn_Augustino_taken_on_09-18-2004_in_Florida.jpg/800px-FEMA_-_11135_ SB 296, the Florida bill that would remove restrictions on citizens carry of guns during an emergency, passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee on the  8th of April.  The bill reflects the philosophy of the second amendment, that guns in the hands of citizens enhance public safety.   Currently, the rights of Florida residents to carry arms are significantly restricted.   The open carry of weapons is restricted to certain activities, such as hunting, target shooting, fishing, and on a persons private property.  Concealed carry of weapons is restricted to people who have some training and who pay the fee...

After Crimea, what next? In an unauthenticated audio, Ambassadors Chubarov and Sergei Bakharev laugh about taking over areas in Alaska, Venice, Scotland, Catalonia and Miami. Watch out, the Russians are coming! ... The pair...joke that Russia will take control of Alaska, Venice, Scotland and Catalonia, a region of Spain which wants a vote on independence, reports The Guardian {link at URL]... The recording has been posted on Youtube, reports The Guardian [link at URL] ...

The group that pushed Florida's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is intervening in lawsuits filed by gay couples that raise challenges... Florida Family Policy Council officials said Wednesday they would seek to preserve the constitutional amendment approved by more than 62 percent of voters... A coalition of black and Hispanic civil rights groups and pastors is also defending Florida's constitutional ban.

When someone misinterprets the Second Amendment, it's usually the first part they get wrong. Facts “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” They'll quibble about the meaning of “militia,” or opine about the framers' intent behind “well regulated.” It's usually not the second part of the amendment, the “keep and bear” part, that gets misconstrued. That, however, is exactly the part that the Florida Sheriff's Association seems to have trouble understanding. A bit of background: The chaos that ensued after...

Photograph by Jocely Augustino taken 9-18-2004 One of the last times people would want to be disarmed is during a widespread emergency, where responders are spread thinly and people may be forced to move from the safety of their home and neighborhood. In order to protect second amendment rights during emergencies, a bill is in the Florida legislature to prevent firearms from being confiscated from people who are not committing any crimes.   Such legislation has been passed in numerous other states.   It became popular after police and other government forces illegally confiscated numerous firearms in the chaos after Hurricane...

TALLAHASSEE -- A voter purge by Secretary of State Ken Detzner in 2012 violated the law, a federal appeals court ruled today in the most recent episode of a heated legal battle over the program and its possible successor. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Detzner that the effort to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls did not violate a federal law barring wide-ranging efforts to cleanse those rolls within 90 days of an election. In the 2-1 ruling, justices also said they took a case that would otherwise be moot because of the possibility...

Below is a link to a youtube video of some of the Testimony before the Florida House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, March 17, 2014. It shows the Florida Sheriffs Association OPEN OPPOSITION to your right to carry your firearms with you during a mandatory evacuation under a declared state of emergency. Further, despite words of the Founding Fathers in the Second Amendment, it is their opinion that you only have a "right" to own firearms and not a "right" to bear firearms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qogTYo4mPuo Under the video screen you will see heading that says, "Published on Mar 28, 2014" and a...

This week, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin vowed to roll out her "Mama Grizzlies" endorsements, and she endorsed conservative Florida Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto on Wednesday for the FL-19 U.S. House seat. Palin called Benacquisto a "proven conservative" with an "unwavering commitment to the principles of our Founders and to the sanctity of life." The congressional primary will be held on April 22nd. The general election for the seat being vacated by Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) will be on June 24th. Palin called Benacquisto the only conservative in the race and, as a bonus, touted her as a candidate...

SEAL Team Six, the U.S. military group credited with taking down Osama bin Laden in 2011, could have Fort Lauderdale next in its sights. A proposed operation in the city — involving hovering combat helicopters, exploding flash-bang devices and the sounds of gunfire — is in the works. (snip) What type of exercises can be expected? The agreement mentions the possibility of using low-flying helicopters and simulated ammunition to train personnel on a "rooftop fast-rope insertion" into a building.

With President Barack Obama heading to the Sunshine State on Thursday, he is drawing fire from an old foe in Gov. Rick Scott. Rising to political prominence by opposing Obama’s federal health-care law, Scott went after Obama for taking funds from Medicaid Advantage to fund the law. "Today, President Obama is coming to Florida to raise money and do a campaign-style event,” Scott said. “No one knows specifically what he’s going to talk about, but it’s safe to say he won’t be addressing the 1.3 million Florida seniors who are in danger of losing their health care benefits, doctors and...

It is an article of faith on the Left that voter fraud does not exist beyond the imaginations of racist right-wingers, hellbent on imposing "unconstitutional" voter ID laws fashioned to "suppress" minority turnout in elections. These objections are race-baiting nonsense; they're unsupported by both empirical evidence and Supreme Court precedent. The high court upheld Indiana's law in a 6-3 decision in 2008. The ruling was authored by uber-liberal Justice John Paul Stevens. And after Georgia implemented its own law in 2007 (which survived a legal challenge), minority voter participation increasedin the next two election cycles. ABC News has called voter...

Says this is from November, but just posted a week or so ago.

"............David Jolly was nearly abandoned by the Republican Party — apparently all too willing to reconstitute a circular firing squad. A Politico article less than a week before the election (probably designed to help Alex Sink) offered this pearl of political reporting: Over the past week, a half-dozen Washington Republicans have described Jolly’s campaign against Democrat Alex Sink as a Keystone Cops operation, marked by inept fundraising, top advisers stationed hundreds of miles away from the district in the state capital and the poor optics of a just-divorced, 41-year-old candidate accompanied on the campaign trail by a girlfriend 14 years...

... She called Jolly to congratulate him.

Florida is one of five states that generally ban the open carry of firearms.  As with all such states, exemptions to the general ban are included in the law.  Florida second amendment supporters are pushing for a restoration of open carry rights in the state.  They have organized a number of open carry events under the exception for open carry to, from, and during fishing in the State.  Spacecoast321 at opencarry.org relates what happened when he attempted to join one of these events a few days ago (March 2014): Well after a lengthy hiatus I was finally able to...

Just came over the Pinellas County Election website- David Jolly wins! 225 of 225 Precincts Reporting Percent Votes David W. Jolly (REP) 48.43% 88,294 Alex Sink (DEM) 46.56% 84,877 Lucas Overby (LPF) 4.83% 8,799 WRITE-IN 0.18% 325 182,295