Free Republic

David Byrne is suing the governor of Florida, alleging that he used the Talking Heads' 1985 single "Road to Nowhere" without permission or proper licenses. Byrne is seeking $1 million in damages from Gov. Charlie Crist, who's also Florida's former Attorney General, and his senatorial campaign for use of the song earlier this year in a website and YouTube ad attacking his then-Republican primary opponent, Marco Rubio. Crist has since changed his campaign and is running as an independent candidate. The suit (Case Number 8:10-CV1187-T26 (MAP)) was filed early Monday afternoon in the United States District Court for the Middle...

Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist’s gamble to run as an independent for the U.S Senate seems to be paying off. He narrowly leads Republican Marco Rubio 33%-32.7%, according to Real Clear Politics’ poll average. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic front-runner, lags far behind at 17.3%. Crist is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman. But for that strategy to succeed, he’ll need Barack Obama and the national party to disown Meek.

Charlie Crist, who previously opposed repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell when he was a Republican but has since been under pressure to take a stand on current repeal efforts, will now support the repeal compromise, his spokesperson confirms to me. Until recently, Crist had been saying that the current policy works. But with the repeal compromise moving forward in Congress, both Republican Marco Rubio and Dem Kendrick Meek, each for their own reasons, have been pressuring Crist to take a stand on the compromise. Now Crist is coming out for it. His spokesperson, Michelle Todd, emails a statement from him:...

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division, announced today’s sentencing of attorney Scott Rothstein, 47, of Fort Lauderdale, in connection with the operation of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme through the defunct Ft. Lauderdale law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A (RRA). Today’s sentence follows Rothstein’s January 27, 2010 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to violate the racketeering influenced corrupt organization (RICO) statute...

<p>Breaking hard--Jim Greer has been arrested at his home. Charges currently unknown.</p>

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says it is “very lonely” running as an Independent. Since he quit his party, Crist says he has discovered that people he thought were friends turned out to be only Republican friends who dropped Crist after he left the GOP. Crist has lost so many campaign staffers that his sister is now running his third-party effort. “When you’re not affiliated with a party, it can be very lonely, particularly initially,” Crist told The Hill in an hourlong phone interview. Still, he insists he has no regrets about his decision, and offered criticism for the GOP activists...

Jim Greer was arrested and charged with fraud If you think former Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer is having a bad day today, just imagine how Gov. Charlie Crist and Miami- native Marco Rubio feel. Each is tied to the newly incarcerated GOP fundraiser who had a penchant for spending money that didn't quite belong to him. And on the other side of the coin is Democrat U.S. Rep Kendrick Meek, who can point the "Republicans can't be trusted finger" at his opponents for the 2010 U.S. Senate and hope the votes roll in. Crist's connection is a...

Here's an observation from President Obama's Louisiana trip you might have missed on Friday because, let's face it, you and I know that you checked out (physically, if not mentally) by Thursday afternoon. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who has been keeping his boot on the neck of the Obama administration, which has been keeping its boot on the neck of BP, was out of the close-up shot when the president spoke. Jindal was as far away as he could get without appearing rude. After all, they were all gathered in his state. So who did get in the shot?...

Charlie Crist has tried his best to distance himself from the scandal surrounding Jim Greer, the former Chairman of the RPOF. "I didn't know anything about this Victory Strategies thing," Crist told a St. Petersburg Times reporter a day after saying "I do not feel complicit," despite his close ties to Greer. Greer’s shell company, Victory Strategies, INC., was being used to siphon money from the Party coffers. Coincidentally, Victory Strategies, LLC was incorporated in such a way as to hide from view the person or persons who are officers of the corporation. To do this, Greer used a law...

On May 25, BP sent Florida a $25 million "grant" for, well, let's see. Hazmat suits, sand berms and containment booms to counter the looming threat of oily muck? Well, no. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is using the funds for an "emergency tourism marketing campaign" to preserve and protect, we assume, the image of the Sunshine State.

Burmese pythons a no-go in Sunshine StateGov. Charlie Crist has signed bills banning the ownership of Burmese pythons and other reptiles and requiring tracking of over-the-counter ephedrine sales. The reptile bill (SB 318) signed Thursday prohibits importation and personal ownership of seven nonnative species. They've become a problem in the wild when they escape or are released and one killed a child last year in Sumter County. The ephedrine law (SB 1050) is designed to help catch those who use of the substance for making illegal methamphetamine. Crist also signed bills loosening Florida seaport regulations so they'll be more competitive...

While Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist have snagged most of the headlines in Florida’s Senate race, Democrat Kendrick Meek has mostly been ignored — even by his own party. With two Republicans splitting the vote, a Democrat should have sailed into the lead … or at least into second place. Instead, Meek consistently comes in third in the three-man race in polling, and key Democratic strategists have begun to give up on Meek:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist -- an former Republican -- has hired another Democrat to work on his independent Senate campaign. Crist brought Josh Isay aboard his campaign to work in his communications shop, according to the USA Today. Isay formerly worked for one of the top Democrats in the Senate, Charles Schumer (N.Y.) The Florida governor is running against former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) in November. Crist hired Eric Johnson, a former staffer for ex-Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), to serve as his political director late last month. Crist has been trying to build...

Gov. Charlie Crist personally signed off on his former Republican Party chairman's confidential fundraising role with the state party, according to Jim Greer's attorney, whose allegation contradicts the governor's statement that he "didn't know anything" about the deal now part of a criminal investigation. State investigators say Greer and the party's former executive director, Delmar W. Johnson III, secretly set up a shell company called Victory Strategies to divert party money and enrich themselves. Greer was charged Wednesday with fraud and money laundering. But Greer's attorney, Damon Chase, said Saturday that the deal giving them a 10 percent cut of...

Gov. Charlie Crist personally signed off on his former Republican Party chairman's confidential fundraising role with the state party, according to Jim Greer's attorney, whose allegation contradicts the governor's statement that he "didn't know anything" about the deal now part of a criminal investigation. State investigators say Greer and the party's former executive director, Delmar W. Johnson III, secretly set up a shell company called Victory Strategies to divert party money and enrich themselves. Greer was charged Wednesday with fraud and money laundering.

What does a man whose only political principle is his own survival do when attempting to distance himself from his former political party? If you answered “go pro-choice,” then you get the Florida kewpie doll. Charlie Crist has scrubbed his campaign website of its former support for the pro-life cause, but not quickly enough to keep Marco Rubio and Life News from noticing it: ..................................................... Recently, as Mr. Crist addressed the AFL-CIO, headlines emerged in Florida papers reading, “Crist: Open Ear About Employee Free Choice Act.” Crist stated he would be “open” to a bill that would put 600,000 jobs...

Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- In the latest development in the race for the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Governor Charlie Crist is coming under fire for removing the pro-life section of his campaign website. This comes on the day the legislature sent him a bill that would allow women to see an ultrasound of their baby before an abortion. Crist has already hinted he will veto the legislation, which also allows Florida to opt out of some of the abortion funding under the new national health care law President Barack Obama signed. That he would potentially veto a pro-life...

Florida lawmakers passed a bill that would require doctors to perform an ultrasound on women who want to kill their babies during the first trimester and to describe what they’re seeing. Unless women can prove they were impregnated through rape, incest, or domestic violence (killing a baby because of how he was conceived?), they would be required to view the sonogram or listen to a description of it. (Source) This week, Governor Charlie Crist, running for the U.S. Senate, will decide whether to sign the bill. In a move that may indicate his intentions, the former Republican removed a pro-life...

The shameless Florida chameleon who shed his Republican clothing last month when it became obvious he wouldn't be winning his primary race has sunk to a new low. Ed Morrissey reports that Charlie Crist has shed his pro-life convictions as he continues his effort to siphon off enough support from Democrat Kendrick Meek to stay viable in the general election. The screenshot of Crist's website in Ed's post got me thinking. What else is Charlie Crist missing?