Free Republic

Legacy media like Florida’s Orlando Sentinel are so predictable with their constant attacks on Gov. DeSantis that they’re boring. In their “Special Report,” available only to subscribers, the Sentinal accuses DeSantis of being, wait for it, successful! From the headline, “How Ron DeSantis consolidated his power over Florida government l Special Report,” a reader may think they will read a step-by-step instructional manual from the country’s most popular and effective Governor, but it’s just another cheap smear job.

Seven hundred kids. That’s how many students would have lost their scholarships—and a chance at a better life—if Fifth Third Bank hadn’t come to its senses. Instead, after a week of uncertainty, the company sat down with Florida parents and pastors and decided not to listen to Florida’s cultural bullies. It’s one thing for a company to support LGBT extremism. It’s quite another, the bank agreed, to hurt needy children in the process. Most kids had already left school for the weekend when they got the good news: One of the biggest contributors to the Florida voucher program wasn’t dropping...

The principal newspaper in Orlando, Fla., where the president is set to kick off his reelection bid Tuesday, has already announced its 2020 White House endorsement: anyone but Donald Trump. “We’re here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020, or, at least, who we’re not endorsing: Donald Trump,” the editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel announced Tuesday, hours before Trump is set to appear in the city’s Amway Center to launch his campaign for a second term. “Some readers will wonder how we could possibly eliminate a candidate so far before an election, and before knowing the identity of...

A construction worker has been arrested after authorities say he buried his boss in dirt using a front-end loader. Citing an arrest report, the Orlando Sentinel reports 32-year-old Erick Cox of Sanford was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery. Man Accused of Taking Pricey Ring From Boca Bathroom Witnesses say Cox was arguing with 57-year-old Perry Byrd of Orlando at a construction site in DeBary when Cox dumped two loads of dirt onto Byrd, pinning him to the ground. The report says Cox then began hitting Byrd in the head with a 6-foot aluminum level. Byrd was knocked unconscious and sustained...

The gunman accused of chasing and killing a 21-year-old man at a west Orlando apartment complex on Thursday told police he was pursuing a suspected burglar and acted in self-defense after he was attacked. A police account of the shooter's self-defense claim obtained by the Orlando Sentinel suggests this could be the latest local homicide in which the state's controversial "stand your ground" law becomes a factor. Police were called to the shooting just before noon Thursday at the Fountains at MetroWest apartments. They arrived to find 21-year-old Ricardo Sanes dead in the grass, surrounded by six .45-caliber shell casings....

Mark Russell, whose nearly three years as editor of the Orlando Sentinel were marked by coverage of the Trayvon Martin case and the hazing death of a marching band member at Florida A&M University, was ousted Wednesday in a reorganization that eliminated his job. Russell was replaced by Avido Khahaifa [pdf], a corporate manager who is also African American and for whom the editor's job will be an additional role. Both men were at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week in nearby Kissimmee, Fla...........

SNIP Now the president and his supporters are attacking Romney because his long-term budget blueprint calls for money-saving reforms to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, three of the biggest drivers of deficit spending. Obama would be more credible in critiquing the proposal if he had a serious alternative for bringing entitlement spending under control. He doesn't. Romney is not our ideal candidate for president. We've been turned off by his appeals to social conservatives and immigration extremists. Like most presidential hopefuls, including Obama four years ago, Romney faces a steep learning curve on foreign policy. But the core of Romney's...

Voice recognition experts who spoke to The Daily Caller questioned the methodology and conclusions of a voice-identification analysis published by the Orlando Sentinel on March 31. Using two different forensic methods, the Sentinel’s chosen authorities determined that a scream heard in the background of a widely aired 911 call was not that of George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26 A police recording of the call captured part of the struggle that ended Martin’s life. The Sentinel’s reporting has landed a blow against Zimmerman’s self-defense claims, suggesting that it was Martin, not Zimmerman, who...

There was another attack where 2 black thugs are alleged to have attacked a 50 year old man in Winter Springs, FL. Not far from the Sanford case. (see below for the rest)

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

Obama was “appointed by God”, we are instructed by a man boasting academic credentials. Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, Jeremy Levitt, “associate dean for International Programs and a distinguished professor of international law at Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando,” makes this case at the conclusion of a rambling attack on critics of ObamaCare and the right in general:

Your humble correspondent has had problems with the Orlando Sentinel in the past, especially when it published a silly global warming alarmism story which presented various map scenarios of Florida being flooded over. However, I must extend congratulations to that periodical for its excellent live blog coverage of a phony stacked deck "town hall" meeting conducted by Congressman Alan Grayson which could serve as a model for other newspapers on how to cover such events. First a description of the event as covered in the regular way via Orlando Sentinel article: Grayson's hastily called meeting took place in the International...

The Orlando Sentinel, in line with the directive of its cost-cutting owner, Sam Zell, has had major cosmetic changes starting with the Sunday edition. Here is how it was described in the Wall Street Journal: The Orlando Sentinel landed on newsstands Sunday with a new layout featuring more graphics, quick-read digests of top news, blog summaries and other changes aimed at making the newspaper more appealing to harried readers.Orlando is a proving ground for Sam Zell's effort to reinvent floundering Tribune Co., owner of a string of television stations and newspapers, including the Sentinel, the Chicago Tribune and the Los...

Two holders of concealed-weapons permits surprised armed thugs in west Orlando this week. Both men opened fire rather than surrender... Amezaga said Tuesday. "If more people stood up for themselves, a lot of crime could be prevented. And the concealed-weapons permit, that's great." The men say they exercised their constitutional right to own guns, carried them legally and defended themselves within the state's deadly force law. Amezaga, 25, and Stephen Soto, 23, were...outside Soto's apartment when two strangers walked by them two or three times...when both strangers walked up to Amezaga's parked car, where the men were standing. "What time...

Editor Charlotte Hall stood in the newsroom of the Orlando Sentinel and began reading out names. The names were the latest in a growing list of those who have been laid off from the newspaper—some after decades of service. Several people said she mispronounced some of the names; others said she was just nervous as her eyes moved from the piece of paper with the list of names to glance around at the crowd that had assembled. The best estimate is that between two and three dozen newsroom employees accepted buyout offers, which struck at lower and middle ranks but...

I don't think this latest General Motors car-giveaway campaign -- where GM has partnered with conservative radio and TV talk-show host Sean Hannity -- is a very good idea. The initial reaction of a substantial portion of readers will be this: "Of course you don't think it's a good idea, because you are a card-carrying member of the liberal drive-by media who want nothing more than to tear down all that is good and right with America!" Well, yes, of course, that's certainly true, but that isn't why I think GM's giveaway is stupid. And though I think Sean Hannity...

The Tribune Co., parent of the "Orlando Sentinel," has reported a 62 percent drop in net income to $87.8 million, or 28 cents a share, from $233.4 million, or 73 cents a share, a year earlier. Chicago-based Tribune (NYSE: TRB - News) also pointed to cutbacks from national advertisers and falling circulation ...

AP) The Orlando Sentinel is eliminating about 50 positions through layoffs and leaving open jobs unfilled as a cost-cutting measure, the newspaper's publisher said Tuesday in a memo to workers. Publisher Kathy Waltz said 21 employees had been laid off, and 33 positions would be eliminated from a staff of about 1,300. Some of the positions being eliminated were left open by "retirements and other voluntary departures," Waltz wrote in her memo, which was posted at The Poynter Institute's Web site. A year ago, the Sentinel cut 20 jobs and stopped publishing a magazine for apartment hunters. "Of the positions...

NEW YORK Orlando Sentinel Publisher Kathy Waltz told staffers in a memo today that the paper would likely cut "a limited number of positions," but did not state how many jobs would be eliminated or from which departments they would come. "As we finalize plans, decisions will be communicated first to affected employees, then companywide in the next few weeks," she said in the memo, which was first posted on the Poynter.org Romenesko Web site. "Our company's goals remain the same -- to serve our readers, advertisers and communities, expand our audience and grow revenues. To accomplish this, we are...

It was the summer of 1972 and John Kerry's group, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was in the midst of an anti-war march through the streets of downtown Gainesville. ... I was disgusted to see that they were not only carrying the American flag upside down, they were carrying the flag of the communist Viet Cong as well. ...The freedom to protest is an important one. ...However, we did not go into harm's way to allow our fellow citizens to help our enemy. ...Now, we have some new Hollywood military experts. The latest is comedian Bill Maher, who made...