A killing at sea marks America’s descent into lawless power

 

The peremptory strike on a speedboat is a warning to all who serve. Remember your oath.

By Jon Duffy

September 8, 2025

The United States has crossed a dangerous line.

Last week, an American military platform destroyed a small vessel in the Caribbean, killing 11 people the Trump administration claims were drug traffickers. It was not an interception. It was not a boarding with Coast Guard legal authority. It was a strike—ordered from Washington, executed in international waters, and justified with little more than “trust us.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox that officials “knew exactly who was in that boat” and “exactly what they were doing.” He offered no evidence.

This was not a counterdrug operation. It was not law enforcement. It was killing without process. And it was, to all appearances, against the letter and the spirit of the law.

For decades, the U.S. military and Coast Guard have intercepted drug shipments in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific under a careful legal framework: Coast Guard officers would tactically control Navy ships, invoke law enforcement authority, stop vessels, and detain crews for prosecution. The goal is not execution; it is interdiction within international law.

This week’s strike ripped up that framework. The people on board were not given the chance to surrender. No evidence was presented. No rules of engagement were cited. The administration claimed authority to kill on suspicion alone.

International law does not permit such action. A vessel in international waters is not a lawful target simply because officials say so. Contending that narcotics pose a long-term danger to Americans is at best a weak policy argument, not a legal justification for force. Unless this boat posed an imminent threat of attack—which no one has claimed—blowing it out of the water is not self-defense. It is killing at sea. A government that ignores these distinctions is not fighting cartels. It is discarding the rule of law.

Beyond the gross violations of the law and the Constitution lies an enormous strategic danger. By redefining traffickers as legitimate military targets, the administration has plunged the United States into another war without limits.

Who is the enemy? “Cartels,” we are told. But cartels are not armies. They are networks that span countries and blend with civilians. Declaring war on them is like declaring war on poverty or terrorism—a plunge into an endless campaign that cannot be “won.”

Where is the battlefield? The Caribbean? Venezuela? Central America? Overnight, officials shifted their story about the destroyed vessel’s destination: first, it was “probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean,” then it was among “imminent threats to the United States.” If geography is that malleable, there is no limit to where the next strike may fall.

And what is the objective? To “blow up and get rid of them,” in the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That is not strategy; it is bravado. We have tried it before, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen. Killing “high-value targets” didn’t end the war on terror.

The U.S. is drifting into an undeclared war of assassination across half a hemisphere, led by unaccountable officials who equate explosions with effectiveness.

Even more dangerous is the backdrop: the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents are immune from prosecution for “official acts.” Experts warned this would give the commander-in-chief license to commit murder. The majority waved those fears away. Now the president has ordered killings in international waters.

Eleven people are dead, not through due process but by fiat. The defense secretary boasts about it on television. And the president will face no consequences.

This is no longer abstract. The law has been rewritten in real time: a president can kill, and there is no recourse. That is not strength. That is authoritarianism.

What does this mean for the principle of civilian control, when those who wield it face no consequence for abuse? What does it mean for our military, when they are ordered to carry out missions that violate the standards they have sworn to uphold?

What happens abroad does not stay abroad. A government that stretches legal authority overseas will not hesitate to do the same at home. The same commander-in-chief who ordered a strike on a boat in international waters has already ordered National Guard troops into American cities over the objections of local leaders. The logic is identical: redefine the threat, erase legal distinctions, and justify force as the first tool. Today it is “traffickers” in the Caribbean. Tomorrow it will be “criminals” in Chicago or “radicals” in Atlanta.

This strike is not only about 11 lives lost at sea. It is about the precedent set when the military is unmoored from law, and when silence from senior leaders normalizes the abuse. 

The cost will not be measured in a destroyed boat. It will be measured in the corrosion of law, strategy, and trust. Legally, the U.S. has abandoned the framework that distinguished interdiction from assassination. Constitutionally, presidential immunity has been laid bare: the commander-in-chief of the most destructive military power in history has been placed beyond the reach of law. Strategically, we have entered another endless war against a concept, not an enemy. Internally, the erosion of boundaries abroad feeds the erosion of boundaries at home.

The laws of war, the principles of proportionality, the training drilled into every officer—all run counter to what happened in the Caribbean. Yet silence has prevailed. And silence is acquiescence. Each concession ratifies the misuse of force until it becomes routine. That is how institutions corrode. That is how democracies die.

The strike in the Caribbean is not the action of a strong nation. It is a warning. This is about whether the U.S. military remains an institution of law and principle, or whether it becomes an obedient weapon in the hands of a lawless president.

A republic that allows its leaders to kill without law, to wage war without strategy, and to deploy troops without limit is a republic in deep peril. Congress will not stop it. The courts will not stop it. That leaves those sworn not to a man, but to the Constitution.

The oath is clear: unlawful orders—foreign or domestic—must be disobeyed. To stand silent as the military is misused is not restraint. It is betrayal. 

Jon Duffy is a retired Navy captain. His active duty career included command at sea and national security roles. He writes about leadership and democracy.

 

For want of home-grown tomato ...

On April 4, 2009, I responded via email to a question from Dan Dewitt, a reporter for the “St. Petersburg Times. He had heard I was living in a small community called Spring Lake growing muscadine grapes and an organic vegetable garden. After an apparent failure at trying to start his own small garden, he wondered why doing it seemed to be getting popular generally and was wondering why the phenomenon, why was it becoming a ‘thing’? In 2009, remember, we were deeply into a world-wide recession, suffering economically, and involved in a perplexing and costly “War Against Terror.”

-----Original Message-----
From: Sonny Vergara
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 7:55 PM
To: Dan DeWitt
Subject: Why the backyard garden?

Dan,

No, I don’t live directly on the lake, but it was, in fact, surrounded by groves at one time.  In fact, most of the open pastures and hay fields in Spring Lake were groves before the winter freezes of the 1980’s.  One can still see the faint outlines of their rows in the terrain on my 20 acres, for example, which is now a pasture.  Not sure in what year the worst freezes occurred but when they did it devastated Florida’s citrus industry … again.   

The first time the industry was hit in Florida was toward the end of the 19^th century when the citrus belt was much farther north of here.  The little town of Satsuma near Lake George and just south of Palatka was named after the Satsuma orange, for example, which was planted ubiquitously throughout that area.  In the early 1980’s, I lived in an old wooden house on the St. Johns River just north of East Palatka that was built to house grove workers. Interestingly, they had used sphagnum moss for insulation between the walls. I was told there was at one time a dock nearby where barges carrying the fruit to the Jacksonville market and elsewhere would tie up to receive their loads. That was where the citrus belt was then, running east and west, coast to coast.   

After the freeze of 1898 (?), the citrus belt moved south and by mid-century was running generally east and west through Orlando including Hernando County and as far south as Highlands County.  Even so, most of the land at that time was just woods, I believe, because the country’s focus was obviously on WWII and recovering from the Great Depression. 

After the war ended, the citrus industry’s markets expanded exponentially through the fifties and sixties and the central Florida citrus belt became more defined.  “Woods” were converted in large scale and the citrus industry as we know it today was established.  Ownerships were consolidated and “barons” like Emmitt Evans, Charlie Lykes and Ben Hill Griffin were created. 

It all changed again in the late 1980’s.  My memory isn’t clear, but I remember it happening somewhere around Christmas 1988, maybe.  After that freeze, the citrus acreage in Hernando County was massively reduced, as it was across all of central Florida.  But as fate would have it, farmers found houses could be “grown” just as profitably, perhaps more so, and land development became the new face of agriculture … and we all know where that has taken us today. 

But significant to Hernando County, citrus as an industry was reduced to a few acres and agriculture as an industry was moved to the brink of extinction.  Farmers who held on to their land and didn’t sell to developers were faced with losing their green belt tax status and thus their property to impossible ad valorem land taxes.  So, if they didn’t sell outright and they didn’t replant citrus, they planted pine trees.  Lots of them. 

Drive around Spring Lake today and you’ll see sour root orange trees growing among rows of planted slash pine.  Why?  Because most of the fruit trees then were sweet orange wood budded onto sour-root stock.  The sour-root stock was heartier and disease resistant.  The freeze killed the budded part of the tree but not the sour-root so it came back as a sour fruit tree. 

Thus, the central Florida citrus belt moved south again, and agriculture became essentially a hobby in our area to be pursued for tax purposes or because you don’t play golf.  The big guys like those mentioned concluded that it made no sense to tempt the whims of Florida weather a second time, so they again moved further south to Collier, Desoto, Hardee, and Okeechobee counties, anywhere the land was cheap, and the new belt was established there. 

I remember having to process a water use permit for one grove that was 40 square miles, so large it could be identified by satellite.  It was developed and managed by one entity with portions sold to others, many from outside the country.  I’ve long forgotten the name of the company but the regulatory folks at the water management district could probably identify it. 

So, what is happening to bring our national focus back to a vegetable garden in the back yard?  In my estimation? It’s the hard realization that we, as a country or a people, are not invincible.  Terrorism can and probably will reach us again.  It’s the fatigue of an unpopular, unwinnable, intractable, unending war that is creating an historic national indebtedness that can steal the future of our children and theirs. 

It’s the disastrous failure and subsequent loss of confidence in one of the greatest economic machines ever known to man.  It’s the realization that the system in which we entrusted our savings and therefore our fate as aging citizens is so cynical and infected with fraud that our final years as secure and comfortable elderly humans may well have been stolen from us. 

It’s realization that our political presence on the world stage is waning even after so many wars, battles, lives and trillions of dollars spent over the last century ostensibly to make the lives of others better.  

It’s the realization that we will have to pay more than any of us can afford for energy, and we can and will be held hostage until we pay the ransom. 

It’s the realization that it is foolish to debate further that our planet is at risk due to our own actions, because we all now know for a fact that the risk grows even more ominous every day. 

It’s because the new global economy which sends us most of the goods we use and the food we eat, commodities which touch our lives at every level and which we can no longer produce ourselves, can arrive poisoned and dangerous. 

It is because of the growing realization that the endlessly partisan and inflexible dogma of our two dominant political parties is, alas, not at all aimed at improving our lot as a nation of people, but only to perpetuate and protect the advancement of their own existence even if it risks the very soul of the nation. 

Only because I grow weary just thinking about all the other problems we can mention, I might offer, finally, that we are interested in growing our own gardens because we realize how dangerously complex bringing any one of these issues to resolution will be, much less all of them.  And if we can’t solve all of them what’s going to happen … to us? 

I hear a national sigh of resignation for want of something as simple as a home-grown tomato.

To you I suggest that growing a tomato would seem much more satisfying and predictable than all the misery of the present world, despite your unfortunate experience.  Try again.  It’s good for the soul.   

Drop by sometime.  I’ll show you my muscadine vines and organic garden and share a glass of homemade muscadine wine, if you’re so inclined.

 Regards,

Sonny

Again, an email thread suggests an historic truth about the "Water Wars" of Tampa Bay

What really brought about the end to Tampa Bay's decades long "Water Wars?

This thread occurred in April 2009 after I heard Cynthia Barnett give a talk in which she suggested Florida is not committing enough attention or dollars on alternative water supplies. My email was to inform her of SWFWMD's specific efforts in that regard and gave its participation in bringing about the historic "Tampa Bay Partnership Plan" as an example of its efforts.

From: Sonny Vergara 
To: Cynthia BARNETT 
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2009 5:05:11 PM
Subject: Alternative Water Supply Funding 

Good morning, Cynthia!

It’s trying to rain here. Glory!

When you spoke to the group in Tampa recently, you made the point that it was unfortunate more wasn’t being spent on alternative water supplies and urging the public to be more conservative and use less water. This was in support of your position that continuing to pump more groundwater and divert more surface water to meet growth needs isn’t sustainable, with which I agree by the way. You suggested it was shortsighted and unwise, therefore, that the legislature was in the process of reducing the funds it had been allocating for development of alternative water supplies for the last few years, a threat to both the environment and the state’s growth-based economy.

I suggested that it might be of interest to you to find out what the water management districts have been spending on alternative water supplies and water conservation. My thought was that when analyzed, you would find that what the state was putting into the program was paltry to the point of being irrelevant compared to that of the districts. So, I asked Gene Schiller (SWFWMD Deputy Director) to give me the numbers that SWFWMD has spent over the last ten years. I am right. It is an astounding $856,176,165! Nearly a billion, just within the 16 counties of SWFWMD! (see attachment)

My point is that it’s going to take decades and billions to meet the needs of the future and what the legislature is contributing is laughable. I think I remember the legislature has been funding something like 20 to 25 million a year for the entire state. That’s about what it costs to build one small conventional water treatment plant. What it will no longer be contributing, if it’s no more than that, therefore, is not going to make a ripple of difference to the currently ongoing efforts by the water management districts, in my opinion, or meeting the state’s growing needs.

In context, it was Joe Davis of Wauchula, as a SWFWMD Governing Board member, who strove to establish what would become the most progressive and assertive effort in the state and maybe even the nation, to change the way water use was occurring by both residential, agricultural and other commercial users in our area. 

What he did was convince the governing board and the district’s basin boards to begin setting aside $20 million each, a total of $40 million a year, for development of alternative water supplies. It was called the New Water Source Initiative. And, it was this fund which, after he had left the Board and the funds cumulative total was approaching about $100 million, that put us in a position to contemplate the precedent-setting Partnership Agreement with, then, West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority. 

Ultimately, the District’s total commitment for the agreement was about $300 million including its participation in the cost of the desalination plant at TECO and the land for the 15 billion-gallon Young Reservoir (for which the district used about $26 million of state land funds, as I remember).

One final thought. I keep hearing how the so-called “water wars” were brought to an end by the restructuring of West Coast into Tampa Bay Water. That’s like saying it was the gasoline engine that brought about the Model A Ford. In one sense it’s not exactly untrue, but in another it completely belies the fact that it was Henry Ford who conceived the revolutionary idea of building many widgets at a time by moving them along a line and letting a string of stationary assemblers put the part for which they were responsible on each widget as it passed. This instead of a bunch of people building one widget at a time, of course. Thus it was mass production that made the Model A affordable, and it was affordability combined with Henry Ford’s entrepreneurial genius, not the gasoline engine, that made the Model A such an historic success.

Similarly, it was SWFWMD’s intentional shift away from dependence upon its use of regulatory police powers and its new focus on the strategic commitment of funds that gave West Coast the means and the motivation to begin building its way out of the water “hole” it was in. And it was being able to get SWFWMD’s funding and becoming motivated to achieve the goals of the Partnership Agreement that required West Coast to be reorganized into Tampa Bay Water. Tampa Bay Water did not come about through some internal revelation of genius or political largesse by its continuously feuding members. So, the water wars were ended not by the birth of Tampa Bay Water as much as it was by the strategic targeting of dollars by SWFWMD and its reaching agreement with West Coast on how those dollars would be used.

I should also mention that it was the unwavering courage and larger-than-life drive of Roy Harrell (SWFWMD Board member of 12 years and chairman when the agreement was being negotiated) who saw the opportunity presented by Joe Davis’ New Water Source Initiative funds and conceived the idea that eventually resulted in the Partnership Agreement.

To close, you should feel free to contact Gene Directly at SWFWMD: gene.schiller@swfwmd.state.fl.us or 352-796-7211.

Again, I much enjoyed your comments both before the group and on my copy of Mirage. Am certain you’ll be getting a call from Oprah anytime asking if she can promote it on her show.

Regards,

Sonny

-------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Gene.Schiller@swfwmd.state.fl.us
Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 1:21 PM
To: Sonny Vergara
Subject: Re: Alternative Water Supply Funding 

Sonny, the majority of the dollars mentioned are just District funding with a like amount provided by the cooperators for an investment in access of $1.5 billion thru partnerships. Take care.

Gene Schiller
Deputy Executive Director
Management Services
SWFWMD
352/796-7211, ext. 4605

-------------------------------------------

From: Sonny Vergara 
To: Cynthia BARNETT 
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2009 5:05:11 PM
Subject: Alternative Water Supply Funding

Cynthia, 

Please see Gene’s comment after he read what I sent to you.  He makes the point that the district’s expenditures were only about half of the real total.  Since most of the contracts entered by the district with its partners requires them to be an equal contributor thereby essentially doubling the amount in play. 

FYI
Sonny

 ----------------------------------------------------------

To: Sonny Vergara 
From: Cynthia BARNETT 

Dear Sonny & Gene,

Hello, thank you as always for your emails Sonny, I hope that you keep them coming. I always learn a lot from them. I thank you for the background on the water wars. Yes, understand the very paltry amount of money that the Legislature is spending on anything related to water. I find it so odd that the entire country is swept up in a green craze that ignores the primary color -- blue. I was doing some national research and found that Sacramento, which prides itself on being green and calls itself "Sustainable Sacramento" has the highest per-capita water use in California ...in one suburb nearly 500 gallons per person per day.

Not necessarily "alternative" vs. groundwater/surfacewater, I was trying to make the point that we spend so much more attention and money on the "hard path" water-supply projects than the "soft path" -- demand-management which, as SWFWMD has proven better than any other district, can get you to the large numbers of gallons that you get to by taking the hard path. Your numbers seem to confirm that ... it looks like conservation project spending is about 1% this year.

At any rate, when I speak in SW Florida, I usually do say that SWFWMD is making inroads on the demand side, while the state as a whole doesn't have the vision. Here is the direct line that I use:

"I do want to say that I think southwest Florida is doing a better job than anyone else in the state of helping farmers reduce water use. For example, the West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan, or WRAP, envisions offsetting 40 million gallons of agricultural water use a day in this region by 2025. But again, statewide, our top priority is on building new water-supply projects rather than helping farmers, other businesses and people use less."

I think the false premise is the idea that we need more and more water in the future to grow and prosper. In everything we do as a society, we are using less and less, even as we grow, and even as we prosper. It doesn't have to be this way. It's up to us. I think Americans' buy-in on the green craze would be equally passionate on the "blue" side, but it is oddly being left-out of both the state and national conversation. Why do you think this is? 

Thank you again, both of you. 

Cynthia. 

Cynthia Barnett
Senior writer, Florida Trend magazine (www.floridatrend.com)
Author, Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. (www.cynthiabarnett.net) 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------

Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority - An email thread and a bit of History

 Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority - An email thread and a bit of History 

Too often the lens through which we view the past becomes dimmed with time and fading memories. I post this email thread which took place on April 29, 2018, only in the interest of keeping the story straight. It is a series of emails between a few of the players in the early history of the PR/MRWSA that reflects a snippet of some the personalities and extraordinary decisions that made it happen. (Email addresses have been removed for the privacy of the senders.)

.... for history's sake.

The Players in this scenario:

Sonny Vergara, Exec. Dir., PRMRWSA

Pat Lehman, PRMRWSA Engineer, Executive Dir. (post Vergara)

Gene Schiller, Director Admin Department, SWFWMD

Thomas Tryon, opinion editor, Herald-Tribune Media Group

Ed Johnson, DeSoto County Commissioner, PRMRWSA Bd. of Directors

Charley Richards, Sarasota County Commissioner, PRMRWSA Bd. of Directors

Don Ross, Charlotte County Commissioner, PRMRWSA Bd. of Directors

Franz Ross, Charlotte County Commissioner, PRMRWSA Bd. of Directors

Ed Chance, Manatee County Commissioner, PRMRWSA Bd. of                          Directors, PRMRWSA Local Government Coordinator

Ray Pilon, Sarasota County Commissioner

Mabry Carlton, Sarasota County Commissioner, PRMRWSA Bd. of Directors

Patrick Lehman, Exec. Director, PRMRWSA

Sam Stone, PRMRWSA Permitting Manager

Jerry G. Hill, DeSoto County Commissioner

Charley Black, Chairman, Southwest Florida Water Management District

John Zimmerman, Manatee County, Water Manager

Mr. Wilford, Director Manatee County Utilities

Bucky Waldron, DeSoto County Manager

RV Griffin, DeSoto County Commissioner

Bob Allen, DeSoto County Commissioner

THE THREAD

-----------------------------------------------------

From: Gene Schiller 
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2018 9:34 AM
To: Gene Schiller 
Subject: Fwd: Sarasota Herald Tribune E-Edition Article: Peace River

For your info

Subject: Sarasota Herald Tribune E-Edition Article

Follow the link below to view the article.

Thomas Tryon, opinion editor
Herald-Tribune Media Group

------------------------------------------------------------

On Sunday, April 29, 2018, Sonny Vergara  wrote:

Gene,

Thanks for sending this.  Interesting how history gets writ by those who’ve apparently forgotten it. Pat Lehman wasn’t working with the authority when we, Ed Chance and I, spent weeks/months convincing all the governments involved (Char. Co., Mana. Co, Sara. Co., DeSoto County, SWFWMD Gov. Bd., Mana Basin Bd., City of North Port, and the City of Punta Gorda) to take the plunge and make the purchase from the failing General Development Corp.  

With Ed’s announcement (before he lost his next election) that maybe the Authority should buy the Peace River Plant from GDC using $50,000,000 that Manatee Co. Utilities had in is capital reserve fund, they all freaked. But then Ed and I met with Charlie Black (SWFWMD Bd. Chair.) and urged him to commit $2,000,000  toward the purchase, Charlotte and North Port, the harshest critics of the idea, had to back off and the Manatee County “threat” while always there eventually evaporated.  

This, after we convinced the Authority Board that Charlotte County, pursuant to their demand, could own the bond sale of $73,000,000.  (Behind that negotiated point was the lobbying of their bond advisors who suddenly became the bond sellers who then made millions (?) on the sale).   

Meantime, Ed lost his election.  I then hired him as my “local government coordinator” and we continued to negotiate the deal. When it was becoming clear the purchase was going to happen, I hired Pat Lehman who was just released from the City of Tampa (he was blamed for some things that were not his fault; classic political fall guy.) because I needed a competent operations engineer, and rehired Sam Stone who GDC had released a year or two before.  Sam had worked for years as the GDC plant’s permitting person dealing with SWFWMD, a respected, ethical and knowledgeable techie whom I knew would be invaluable.  

There were many very wise folks on the various commissions who were also Authority Board members in addition to Franz Ross who were instrumental in moving the Peace River toward a regional water supply leader such as RV Griffin, Bob Allen, Jerry Hill and Ed Johnson from DeSoto County, Mabry Carlton and Charley Richards from Sarasota, and Don Ross from Charlotte County.  

Pat L. has done a wonderful job navigating the treacherous waters of having to keep so many local governments engaged in benefitting all their interests rather than just their own and nothing here is to disparage that, but, to lay the historic success of the organization primarily at his feet is not accurate and disparages all else who also deserve inclusion.  

A last point while I'm at this, in order for the PR Authority to own the PR plant and be a regional water supplier, we had to negotiate and renegotiate water supply agreements with all the aforementioned entities who were so afraid one would get the upper water supply hand over the others that Don Ross once asked me how could one agreement be put before so many governments at one time so all could sign the same exact agreement at the same time.  Recognizing that would be impossible, each approved as their boards met but it would not take effect until the last party approved it, like a real estate closing.  

We went on to administratively reinstitute the plant from a private to public entity while maintaining in place the entire operations crew and begin the planning for a true regional water supply authority. I named the plan the Peace River Option which became the guiding blueprint for what Pat Lehman, all to his credit, built.

----------------------------------------------------------------

From: Ed Johnson 
To: 'Sonny Vergara' 

cc  'Charley Richards' ; 'Tom Tryon' ; 'Don ROSS' ; 'Patrick Lehman' ; 'Jerry G. HILL' <; 'Ray Pilon' 

I appreciate the article.

Lots of water has gone through the pipes since the first shots were fired.  I’m the only living board member who remains that hired you and fought to protect my county from those who would have run rough shod over us except for this old Marine and few of his fellow county commissioners were game for the fight. I didn’t even get an honorable mention, much less an invite to the last Bar-B-Q; and my grandmother was born just a few yards south of that plant in March 1883.  And history is once again rewritten by those who were not there.  I guess we have to keep everything warm and fuzzy and politically correct, but that’s not the way I remember it.  I remember going up the beach, not watching from the boat.  I was there when it happened, I remember it well. 

I still remember Ed Chance, Mabry Carlton and Col Ross with deep respect.  Good men with honorable intentions and back bone enough to stay the course. 

Take care and stay well.

Thanks, Ed Johnson

-----------------------------------------------------------

From: Tryon, Tom 
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2018 2:28 PM
To: Sonny Vergara 
Subject: Re: Sarasota Herald Tribune E-Edition Article: Peace River 

PS please reconsider the “disparage” remark: I don’t believe that happened and it was damn sure not my intention. 
To be honest: I’m one of the few left who know most of the story and care.  

Tom

----------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tom Tryon
To: Sonny Vergara 

I haven’t forgotten my history, Sonny, and I respect your contributions as well as those of others.
Unfortunately I had 425 words to explain 30 years. 
I hope to write the rest before either of us sign off.

---------------------------------------------------------

From: Sonny Vergara 
To: Tom Tryon

Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2018 4:50 PM

Cc: 'Ed Johnson'; 'John Zimmerman'; 'Don ROSS'; 'Patrick Lehman'; 'Gene Schiller; Ray Pilon
Subject: RE: Sarasota Herald Tribune E-Edition Article: Peace River

Tom, yes, I withdraw the inference as it relates to you, gladly, and apologize. I agree you were a great, true friend of Eddie’s and one of the forward thinkers who understood what was happening and supported us in all the important issues.  The focus of my comment was toward those who are surely in your ear today and would spin the history of this grand story toward the advancement of their own personalities and politics at the expense of those, some of whom are no longer here to defend themselves or at least set the record straight, who long ago worried and risked greatly to do the right thing for the people and the future of the region’s natural systems.  Please do write “the rest”.  Time is, as is said, flying.

 -----------------------------------------------------------

From: Tryon, Tom 
To: Sonny Vergara 

Thanks, Sonny.

 We should get together and have a beverage.

Trust me, please, no one is spinning or pissing in my ear. I checked in with Pat several weeks ago, thinking that it was time to remind that Charlotte would be up the canoe with no paddle or water without the project. He agreed to stop by my office and update. I added in today's board members as a strategy  because we need to get them to fight hard and publicly for Orange Hammock acquisition because for some reason Swiftmud is dragging on it. Can't even get a straight answer from Swiftmud these days and the board members' emails are not even public, best I can tell.

 I hope we get a decent governor and appointments moving past 18.

-------------------------------------------------- 

From: Ray Pilon 
To: Sonny Vergara 

Glad you still have your memory! Great commentary

------------------------------------------------

From: Ed Johnson 
To: 'Sonny Vergara' 

Sonny,

Both you and I were there from the very beginning of any serious discussions.  You and I date back to a Desoto County Commission Meeting circa 1977-78.  The others are building on the beach head that was fought out in the late 1980’s and established in the early 1990’s.  Maybe they should read the plaque on the wall of the Water Plant to see who the “survivors” were.

Bucky Waldron asked me a couple of years ago now that I am older do I chose my fights.  I told him no, I was afraid I would miss out on a good one. 

Thanks, Ed Johnson

PS:  It is doubtful that there would be a Regional Water today, if it were not for the many hours of hard work, a few fights along the way and a diligent effort to make it work, long before these others ever arrived on the scene.  Hang in there Captain. Holler if you need help.

PSPS:  I wish I had all of the cut film on Honey Rand’s editing room floor.  There was a lot more history told than published.

-------------------------------------------------------------

From: Ed Johnson 

Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2018 5:00 PM
To: 'Sonny Vergara' 
Subject: RE: Sarasota Herald Tribune E-Edition Article: Peace River

 Sonny:
 Did I miss something or are these just ricochets flying around?
 Thanks, Ed Johnson
 PS:  Is anyone other than you and I still standing from that 1992 Water Plant agreement?

------------------------------------------------

From: Sonny Vergara 

Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2018 5:20 PM
To: 'Ed Johnson'
Subject: RE: Sarasota Herald Tribune E-Edition Article: Peace River

Sort of.  He reacted to my inference that his article didn’t exactly recognize others who should’ve been.  He’s a good guy so I apologized.  In reality, I’m a bit miffed that Pat is letting his “spinners” suggest the current crew, himself and the current pols, are the ones that achieved it all.  All the work of so many, such as yourself, appears to becoming systematically relegated to the latrines of history and unceremoniously buried. 

Sonny

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From: John Zimmerman 
To: Sonny Vergara 

Hi Sonny,

Thanks for that walk down memory lane.  I think you are right that Ed C. may have suggested that Manatee County should buy the GDU plant.  That was because our Director at the time (Mr. Wilford) was suggesting that to him.  We were reviewing the Water Supply Plan that the Authority had out in draft which actually suggested the Authority build a plant upstream of GDU.  We were telling Mr Wilford that was a bad idea with GDU downstream and thought it would be better if the Authority bought out GDU.  He liked the idea of having Manatee buy GDU’s plant and shared it with Ed C. and all is history after Ed took off with it.  Although I’m pretty sure Ed proposed it as a way to get the Authority moving.  At the time he used to tell me he thought of the Authority as a tumble bug which would never get its act together.  That was after years of focusing solely on emergency interconnects.  Best thing we did was hire that flower dealer - you - who knew how to negotiate. 

Have you visited the plant lately?  I’m not even sure where the administrative offices are now.  Making me think I need to attend a meeting now and then, to see how the Authority is doing.  BTW Your photography is awesome.

 Thanks again.
 John Zimmerman
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Trump's irrational rant - What does Google's Gemini say about his mental state?

Trump recently produced a remarkable rant that is, to put it politely, nothing short of unhenged, irrational and indicative of a man who perceives his world is beginning to crumble beneath his imaginary bone spurs. It is so demonstrably desperate of a person who is convinced his saying it will make it true, I asked Google's Gemini to analyze it. 

Here's the rant. After it, see my queries and what Gemini had to say:

"There has never been a President that has worked as hard as me! My hours are the longest, and my results are among the best. I’ve stopped Eight Wars, saving many millions of lives in the process, created the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country, brought Business back into the United States at levels never seen before, rebuilt our Military, created the Largest Tax Cuts and Regulation Cuts, EVER, closed our open and very dangerous Southern Border, when previous Administrations were unable to do so, and created an “aura” around the United States of America that has led every Country in the World to respect us more than ever before. In addition to all of that, I go out of my way to do long, thorough, and very boring Medical Examinations at the Great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, seen and supervised by top doctors, all of whom have given me PERFECT Marks — Some have even said they have never seen such Strong Results. I do these Tests because I owe it to our Country. In addition to the Medical, I have done something that no other President has done, on three separate occasions, the last one being recently, by taking what is known as a Cognitive Examination, something which few people would be able to do very well, including those working at The New York Times, and I ACED all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know. I have been told that few people have been able to “ace” this Examination and, in fact, most do very poorly, which is why many other Presidents have decided not to take it at all. Despite all of this, the time and work involved, The New York Times, and some others, like to pretend that I am “slowing up,” am maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true, and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before. I will know when I am “slowing up,” but it’s not now! After all of the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean  “THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.” They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it. They have inaccurately reported on all of my Election Results and, in fact, were forced to apologize on much of what they wrote. The best thing that could happen to this Country would be if The New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful “source” of information. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Sandspur: What does it suggest in terms of Trump's mental state?

Psychological experts who have analyzed Donald Trump's language, including posts like the one provided, suggest it indicates traits consistent with 

narcissism, paranoia, and potentially cognitive decline. 

Key Suggested Traits

• Grandiose Narcissism: The post is rich with self-aggrandizing statements and superlatives ("hardest," "longest," "best," "Greatest Economy") that mental health professionals often point to as signs of narcissistic personality disorder. He expresses a need for constant admiration and has a very high opinion of himself, suggesting he feels superior to others.
• Paranoia and Defensiveness: Trump's strong reaction to criticism and his characterization of The New York Times and others as "Enemies of the People" who engage in "seditious, perhaps even treasonous" FAKE reports can be seen as indicators of paranoia. The heightened anger and quick reaction to criticism are also considered characteristic traits.
• Need for Control and Lack of Empathy: The text's aggressive tone, heavy use of capital letters, and focus on personal power and achievement are often interpreted as a desire for control and a potential lack of empathy.
• Potential Cognitive Decline: Linguistic analyses have noted an increase in "all-or-nothing thinking" (use of words like "never," "always") and a less positive vocabulary in his recent communications, which some experts link to potential cognitive decline. The use of rambling or unfocused statements and a focus on specific, concrete details like the "Great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center" or the "large numbers of doctors and experts" could also be seen as potential indicators by some experts, as it mimics speech patterns observed in some patients with dementia. 

Sandspur - FYI