GOP Hypocrisy at its worst - MTG

"Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is begging the federal government to urgently “send the funds” to help the American southeast recover in the wake of Hurricane Helene, even though she herself stood in the way of emergency relief funds just last week."

"The storm was supposed to come directly across my district, but when it came through Georgia, it went to the east, and we mainly just got a lot of rain,” Greene told Real America’s Voice’s Terrance Bates. “When we go back to Washington, we will be working hard to make sure that states like Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina get the funding that they need, She says”

Hypocrite MTG Now Demanding Hurricane Relief Funds She Tried to Block | The New Republic

 Questionable Land Swap Approved by Florida Cabinet

Jane Goodall has said, “As humans we are losing our indigenous wisdom.” What she meant by that is, as a society our daily decisions and actions are based too much on our needs and intentions of today and without regard for the impact those needs and intentions will have for tomorrow.

This morning, I read about a land swap approved recently by Florida’s Cabinet that would exchange a 324-acre designated conservation area for a remote 861 acres of planted pines which, presumably, would one day be clear-cut and sold as timber.

Curiously, the action was presented as an emergency item on Florida’s State Cabinet agenda which, notably, prevents having to meet the prior public notice requirements normally associated with non-emergency items. Also, there was no staff presentation or even a quizzical thought by Cabinet officials as to why it was an emergency, what the fiscal implications were, or why the exchange was under consideration in the first place. And, the item was presented and approved in less than 30 seconds, according to the report.

Okay, very unusual. So what?

The primary members of the Florida Cabinet are Governor Ron DeSantis, State Attorney General Ashley Moody, Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Petronis. The decisions these people make on any given day can and do have important repercussions upon the state’s future. The land swap they approved so casually and demonstrably without reasonable public notice is an example.

The 324-acre parcel was originally purchased in 2016 by the Florida Department of Transportation for $6,000,000 to mitigate the permanent loss of another area of natural Florida that would be destroyed by construction of the Suncoast Parkway. It was then deeded to the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which in turn leased it to the Florida Forest Service for management.

So, the purpose of the acquisition was out of concern for the loss of a part of natural Florida and, as such, was done out of respect for the state’s future and the importance of preserving as much of Florida’s disappearing natural systems as possible for future generations.

Here’s where this story goes badly awry.

The 324-acre designated conservation area is located immediately adjacent to a golf course previously known as Sugarmill Woods Country Club and World Woods Golf Club. In December 2021, Cabot SMW OpCo LLC, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, purchased the golf course and associated properties. Since then, it has planned a complete renovation of the property involving a world class golfing experience, luxury homes and related golfing amenities. According to public records of the County Clerk’s office, Hernando County has approved “Community Development District” status for Cabot’s 1200-acre redevelopment project which will allow Cabot to issue $250,000,000 in bonds to finance the project.

Again, so what?

Well, Cabot, recognizing how highly beneficial the adjacent 324-acre conservation acreage would be for expanding its redevelopment project, then offered a proposal to acquire it in exchange for that remote 861 acres of planted pines near Cedar Key.

As mentioned, the exchange was then presented to the Cabinet and approved in less than 30 seconds with no staff or Cabinet-member discussion and the Department of Environmental protection was delegated responsibility to get it done.

What’s wrong here is this: 1), the item was added to the agenda only 24 hours before the meeting without public notice; 2), apparently, to make this possible, emergency status was given the item without proper justification; 3), no appraisals were provided for discussion or concerns mentioned that once the property becomes part of Cabot’s project the 324 conservation acres will be fully developed and its value will skyrocket to tens of millions, well beyond any value that might be associated with a remote 861 acres of planted pines; and most importantly, 4) its purpose as an environmental offset for the natural area destroyed by construction of the turnpike will be negated and lost forever to the diminishing remainder of natural Florida.

This action reflects stark disregard for how fast the state’s natural systems are disappearing, and why Jane Goodall would rightly be appalled. The decision was wrong and should be reversed.

 Here Today Gone Tomorrow

There was an opinion piece in the St. Pete Times by Jim Aylward who wrote back in 2011 about how lives that have passed through his, just disappear. 

It’s a light piece but I’ve noticed the phenomenon as well, and the older I get the more unnerving it can be. Friends who would “check in” from time to time, just stop. Or someone who had for some reason put me on their list to receive “forwarded” emails suddenly just stop forwarding them.

The sudden end of hearing from someone seems by itself a kind of "last communication."  The silence, maybe that's the message. 

When it happens, whatever the connection that tethered two people together becomes just inert nothingness. Whatever kept them aware that the other still exists in this world is simply dissolved into utter quiet.

Whatever actual communication had occurred, as well as whatever may have  been resultantly constructed in the mind's eye of the sender, would also now be forever sandwiched between two question marks. One, symbolizing what was not known before there was a mental image of that person. The other, symbolizing the end of any further input that would change it.

I have no idea why I send stuff around. Maybe I just want to keep marking myself present in this world by pushing that last question mark out a little longer in time. 

One day, nevertheless, I’ll probably just stop, too, and then there will be only silence and you’ll have to guess whether it was because I just got bored, tired or died. Maybe it’ll be all three. And maybe that's the message.

But until then you’ll just have to put up with me.

Fleeing FSU

Letters to Richard,

When I borrowed that hundred dollars from CD and started walking west on US 90 out of Tallahassee, I had no idea where you were. Maybe New York. I had no idea where Snell was either. It must have been about October 1963.

I had run into depressing times. While John Donne’s “Three Person’d God” was totally incomprehensible to me, it wasn't my only failing. I was finding that my only opportunity to engage the fair sex was to walk close enough behind them to catch a snoot full of their young, sweet musk, in the spring when their shoulders were bare and their laughter was easy and often. It was tough. I had no car, no money, no style, no nothing. I had none of the social skills or tools needed to navigate in their world of money and practiced social graces. It was depressing. I concluded it was just not going to be. I needed to get out of there before self disappointment became a permanent part of my psyche. Inferiority, perceived or valid, can be terminally destructive. I hated the feeling. Fortunately, in all our many conversations with you and Snell I realized there was another world “out there.” My focus at FSU was not on learning.  Penetration and good times, yes. But not learning. I needed to get away.

To grow as a person, one needs to seek sights not seen and try things not tried. Brooksville had never been a place where one might seek awareness and knowledge, and it was now apparent that Tallahassee was becoming less than a positive experience. Given my small-town mindset, it took a lot of courage for me to step beyond my mental boundaries with no intentions other than to engage and learn about a larger world. While I was convinced that we are all just pawns of fate dropped upon this planet without choice, I also believed we are obliged to engage it and if we don't we are not worthy of having had the opportunity.

Hitchhiking in those days was an innocent and acceptable means of travel. It was not considered unwholesome or dangerous to impose upon the good graces of others who happen, as fate might have it, to be traveling in the same direction as you and who might be willing to share a ride. The Country had not yet suffered the loss of an ill-advised war, the assassination of a revered President and his brother, or the murder of a legendary black leader that would wound our hearts. Nor had the destructive scourge of illegal drugs yet infected our national innocence. We could still trust people we had never met enough to stop and invite them into our cars. Folks would pick you up if it appeared you needed a little help or maybe, out of curiosity, just to ask where you were going.

So it was on a cool Tallahassee morning, carrying my faux leather suitcase and wearing levi's and a powder-blue Troy Donahue nylon jacket that I held out my thumb and headed west in search of a road untraveled. Snell had said it is not the destination that is relevant. It is what happens along the way.

The day I left FSU, CD and I had walked from our apartment behind the Sweet Shoppe on the south side of the campus to Tennessee Street, a couple of miles away on the north side. Tennessee Street runs east and west through downtown Tallahassee and is also U.S. Highway 90 which will take you to New Orleans straight as an arrow, 400 miles west . My decision to leave that depressing time of my life brought with it a growing sense of release though what I was about to do had yet to sink in. I was eager to embrace what was ahead. I was 21 years old and unafraid. There was a comfortable, cool breeze out of the north.

We dodged the morning traffic and trotted across to the north side of Tennessee Street. CD stopped as we stepped up on the curb.

“Well, man, you really going to do it?”

“Guess so,” I said.

He smiled that smile which somehow always seemed to be on only one side of his face.

“Send me a post card.”

“Yep.”

There was a moment when we looked at each other not knowing what next to say. Then we shook hands firmly, and without looking back he turned and walked south, back across Tennessee Street and joined the growing groups of students on their way to class.

I started walking west toward New Orleans.

FSU was over.

Lying on the world stage; DJT’s gift to a new way of life in America?

So, DJT gave his acceptance speech the other night and, as we have come to expect from this sorry and deeply flawed man, it was packed with a train load of plain and verifiable lies. There was hope he would try to offer a more unifying message for our country which has become increasingly and dangerously divided by a storm of false declarations, but that was too much to expect.

When I was growing up, lying would get you sent straight to hell according to my dear mother, the Bible, and practically every adult person in my young life. Here's what the Bible says about being untruthful:

1. 
   Exodus 20:16: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This is one of the Ten Commandments, directly prohibiting lying1.
2. Proverbs 12:22: "The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy"2.
3. Colossians 3:9: "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices"2.
4. John 8:44: Jesus speaks about the devil, saying, "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies"2.

These verses suggest lying is not only discouraged but is seen as contrary to the nature of God and harmful to human relationships and human communities.

Being "Trustworthy" is also the first commandant of the Scout Law which entails twelve points:

TRUSTWORTHY. Tell the truth and keep promises. People can depend on you.

LOYAL. Show that you care about your family, friends, Scout leaders, school, and country.

HELPFUL. Volunteer to help others without expecting a reward.

FRIENDLY. Be a friend to everyone, even people who are very different from you.

COURTEOUS. Be polite to everyone and always use good manners.

KIND. Treat others as you want to be treated. Never harm or kill any living thing without good reason.

OBEDIENT. Follow the rules of your family, school, and pack. Obey the laws of your community and country.

CHEERFUL. Look for the bright side of life. Cheerfully do tasks that come your way. Try to help others be happy.

THRIFTY. Work to pay your own way. Try not to be wasteful. Use time, food, supplies, and natural resources wisely.

BRAVE. Face difficult situations even when you feel afraid. Do what you think is right despite what others might be doing or saying.

CLEAN. Keep your body and mind fit. Help keep your home and community clean.

REVERENT. Be reverent toward God. Be faithful in your religious duties. Respect the beliefs of others.

If you were a Boy (or Girl) Scout, you probably had to say these twelve points together before each meeting as Troop 71 did back in the 1950's when Frank and Chan Springstead, Jack Underwood, and Jack McGee were our Scout Leaders. Obviously, DJT was never a Scout and never pledged allegiance to such fundamentally important human behaviors.

Lying would also get you sent to the Principal's Office in a heartbeat if you were caught in one by your 6th grade teacher. One of my teachers at Hernando High, Ms. Parrot, could make you feel like death would be a better punishment if she caught you lying.

So, how is it that lying is now as common as a crows call on a berry farm these days? How is it that politicians practice it like it's a proper pursuit for a politician? How is it that a very practiced or cleverly presented lie can potentially get one elected to the highest position in the land? And how is that millions of people have accepted DHT's incessant lying to the extent that his lies have become their Truth, their life’s Gospel. 

The one great lie of DJT is that the election of 2020 was a fraud and that he won the election instead of Joe Biden. Not only has this lie eroded the very foundations of the governing institutions fundamental to our American Democracy, it has also instilled in public behavior the poison of violent dissent.

CNN counted at least 20, TWENTY ! lies in DJT’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention the other night where he was nominated the 2024 GOP candidate for the presidency of the United States. CNN called them “false claims,” but, in fact, they were lies. You can find CNN's assessment HERE.

What in our decaying nation has happened to the thought that lying is not good, not good for you, not good for me, and certainly not good for the world where it is now being so easily spewed at the national level by a former and potential future leader of the most powerful nation ever established by mankind? What on this earth is he going to be lying to us about next?