I’ve never been in Broward Circuit Judge Peter Weinstein’s courtroom, but I watched him at work for years in another venue – the state Capitol.

I covered Weinstein for many years when he was a state senator.  Or should I say, a great state senator.

Now it’s déjà vu, a flashback to all those past Weinstein campaigns I reported on.

Weinstein is running again for election..as chief judge.

Broward Chief Judge Vic Tobin is stepping down in February.   Weinstein is stepping up.

JAAblog, the courthouse blog, first reported this news. It stated that “the word on the street is he’s already got the votes.”   

Weinstein told me about his prospects: “I have had a good response.”

His opponent appears to be Family Court Judge Susan Greenhawt.

The 90 Broward judges elect their own chief.

Weinstein is a perfect fit for chief judge, which I equate to herding cats.

Being the head of 90 raging egos in black robes is not an easy job.  Neither is accomplishing anything in the state Senate.

Weinstein was remarkably successful in the state senate because he was a consensus builder.  This Jewish kid from Queens made friends in unexpected places, such as among the conservative Pork Choppers of North Florida.

That’s how he passed laws that cracked down on travel agent fraud, increased regulation of adult congregate living facilities and auto repair shops and made it easier to conduct child abuse investigations. That is only four of dozens of bills from the productive Sen. Weinstein.

The same traits that made him successful in the Senate will serve the judiciary well if he is elected chief judge. I found him to be bright and most of all, affable.

Elected in the giant shakeup of 1982* caused by reapportionment, Weinstein never held public office before.  He was a Brooklyn Law School graduate (Class of 1970) and an assistant District Attorney in Queens before moving to Florida in 1977.

Once he took office, Weinstein quickly became a leader in the state Senate.

He was the first member of the Broward Class of 1982 to head a major committee.  He was named chairman of Senate Judiciary-Criminal after only three years in the Senate. 

He was elected by his Democratic colleagues to be Senate Majority Leader in 1990-92.

He left the Senate to run for Congress in 1996, losing to former U. S. Rep. Robert Wexler.   His loss was not surprising since it was largely a Palm Beach seat.

Gov. Lawton Chiles appointed Weinstein a judge a year later, in August, 1997.

“I’m running on my experience,” Weinstein said.  “I have been a judge for 13 years.”

He served about 10 years on the criminal bench.  He has been in civil court for the past three years.

There are a lot of judges with experience, but Weinstein has a big advantage others can’t duplicate:

His political past connects him to the centers of power that are so important to funding the judiciary and building a new courthouse. He is known and liked by the county commission and in the state Capital.

I have nothing against Greenhawt.  I don’t know the woman

On resumes alone, she can’t match Weinstein.  A former nurse who graduated Nova Southeastern law in 1993, Greenhawt had a family law practice when she was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in May, 2003.

I don’t have a vote.  Only judges do.

From the outside looking in, the choice appears clear to me – Weinstein.

XXXXX

*Others elected for the first time to the Legislature from Broward in 1982 were state Reps. Tom Armstrong,D-Plantation; Bill Clark,D-Lauderdale Lakes; Peter Deutsch, D-Sunrise; Anne Mackenzie,D-Fort Lauderdale; Debby Sanderson, R-Fort Lauderdale; Bob Shelley, R-Pompano Beach; Joe Titone, D-Coral Springs and Jack Tobin, D-Margate.  Tom McPherson, D-Fort Lauderdale, was elected to a Senate seat in 1982 after 12 years in the House. Weinstein was a Democrat from Coral Springs.

The latest crusade of the Right are the so-called “anchor babies” of illegal aliens.
 
They are freaking out because the 14th Amendment automatically confers citizenship on “all persons born” in the United States without regard to how or why they are in the country.  It is argued that the secret strategy of the illegals is to use their “American child” to create an “anchor” so the whole family can become American citizens.
 
 The xenophobic Right (redundant) has a meat axe solution of amending the Constitution.
 
 This is nothing new for the Right.  In recent years they have demanded amendments to the Constitution to block abortion, flag burning, gay marriage, etc.
 
It seems they would like to put the Constitution on an Etch-a-Sketch.
 
Here is a simple legislative solution to undermine this dastardly plot by illegal aliens. 
 
Congress is empowered to write citizenship laws.  Nothing prevents Congress from permanently and irrevocably excluding citizenship to the immediate family members (mom, dad, siblings) of “anchor babies”. 
 
Nothing prevents Congress from denying citizenship  to the children of “anchor babies” if they are born outside the U.S.  We did this with the Philippines our former colony. Mom and dad are U.S. citizens but kids born outside the U.S. after Philippine independence (July 4, 1946) are not.
 
I am not at all unsympathetic to this legislative approach.
 
Something has to be done about these goddamn Canadians before they overrun the place!
 
It is the Canadians, isn’t it????

A firm doing business with Broward was asked earlier this year to sponsor the Florida Association of Counties conference where County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman was named the group’s president.

Nothing illegal in that.  But at the same time the ethics of commissioners are being question, this one doesn’t looks right.   

The request from the Florida Association of Counties came out of the blue.  The firm’s government relations official had never been solicted by the association before.

The corporation had issues pending before the Broward County Commission when it was asked to sponsor the conference.

The solicitation of the money is interesting because of the debate about ethics at the county commission. 

Reformers argue that businesses should not be solicted by commissioners or fund raisers using their names.  Such solictations smack of pay-for-play, reformers say. 

The Association wanted the money to sponsor the group’s annual conference June 29-July 2 in Tampa.  Lieberman became president of the association at conference. 

Sponsorships costs from $1,000 to $5,000.

Lieberman is one of those county commissioners being investigated in the wide-ranging probe of corruption involving the relationship between special interests and the commission, according to numerous sources and printed reports.

She has not been accused of any criminal wrong doing.

I have no idea if Lieberman had anything to do with the solicitation. Maybe it was just clever researcher at the association who found the name of the business and were trying to pay for the conference.

Among the association’s major sponsors listed on its website are Waste Management, CITI’s municipal securities division and PBS&J engineering consultants.  All three have business in Broward along with many other places in Florida.

Lieberman was reported by The New Times today to be traveling in China on a trip sponsored by the National Association of Counties.  The Florida group is part of the national association.

Bud Chiles will quit the governor’s race within hours, according to The Miami Herald.

Chiles was under pressure from Democrats to leave the field to their candidate Alex Sink, said the paper.

This is my earlier post on Chiles:

Bud Chiles should join Kendrick Meek as a former candidate.

I want Chiles to drop out just like I wrote yesterday that Meek should drop out.

Note to those who said I was a bigot for asking Meek, an African-American, to quit his campaign for U. S. Senate:  Chiles is white.

Chiles is running for governor as an independent.

His standing in the polls has dropped as voters learned he was not the reincarnation of his father, Lawton Chiles.

Chiles is confusing the election.  He could steal votes from the Democrat’s best shot for governor in two decades – Alex Sink.

Right now polls show Chiles taking votes from both Sink and Republican nominee Rick Scott.

But once voters focus on Chiles positions, watch out!  They are decidedly Democratic.

It is a Democratic position to support gay adoption, like Chiles.  It is usually Democrats who want to reduce the impact of PACs and special interests on politics, as Chiles does.

It is a Democratic position to talk about releasing non-violent offenders to community rehabilitation programs. It is a Democratic position to talk about banning oil drilling off our coast with a constitutional amendment.

Yes, Chiles is against gun control.  That’s a universal position in Florida statewide politics.

Most of his positions are far into the Democratic column, maybe even on the left side of the party.

That’s why he will steal votes from the Ds. That’s why elements of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party are leaning towards Chiles.

You know what a Florida progressive is?   A dewy-eyed liberal who puts policy over pragmatism, which is why I can’t think of one progressive who won statewide office in Florida.

Much as I like most of Chiles’ stands, this is about practical politics. 

Chiles can’t win.   Just like Meek won’t win.

Both complicate their races and make it difficult to stop scary Republicans from winning.

Have you ever looked at Rick Scott’s platform?

Cut taxes, mostly corporate taxes, of course. Cut regulations.  Allow businesses to do what they want.  

“Let’s Get To Work” Scott says.

In Scott’s mouth, the phrase reminds me of something barked by the overseer on a Southern cotton plantation.

Because if Scott has his way, the rest of us slaves will march off to our low paying jobs in the new corporate plutocracy he creates.  

That’s why it is so important to block Scott.  And that’s why Chiles should drop out and not be a spoiler in the race.

*****

Here is Mike Mayo’s take on the same subject.

They are no  “Wierd Al” Yankovic. 

But two guys named Tim Black and Patrick Mesmer wrote songs about a School Board up the coast that could have been written for Broward. 

They are making the rounds of activists here.

I picked two to entertain you: 

 Here is the parody of I Feel Pretty.  Here is another of Yesterday.

Congressman Kendrick Meek needs to quit the race for U. S. Senate now.

Not in a week or in a month. 

Now.  Immediately.

Meek can leave on a upswing having beat billionaire Jeff Greene in last week’s primary. 

It is time to end Meek’s failed campaign, which has not caught on after more than a year. 

Either Meek quits, or he will be responsible for handing the U. S. Senate seat over to the Tea Party’s favorite Marco Rubio.

Almost every vote he gets in November will be stolen from Gov. Charlie Crist’s independent campaign.  Thus, every vote for Meek is a vote for Rubio.

Votes for Meek are wasted.  Meek can’t win.  No way.  No how.

Meek has consistently trailed other candidates in this race by at least 10 percentage points.

Even the day after winning the primary when his popularity should be high, Meek was third in the race. Rassmussen’s poll done the day after the primary found Rubio had 40 percent, Crist 30 percent and Meek 21 percent. 

Either Rubio or Crist is our next senator.  

Guest Columnist Sam Fields predicted here months ago that Democrats like him will abandon Meek if they believe he can’t win.  The liberal Fields is considering voting for Charlie Crist for one reason — to block Rubio.

It’s time the Ds start pressuring Meek to leave the field to Crist.

I won’t hold my breath.  Too many Democrats so driven by their own partisanship that they can’t see what’s good for Florida and the nation.

Quit now, Kendrick.

Or go down in Florida history as the candidate who put Tea Party Marco in the U. S. Senate.

Florida House District 91 candidate Yomin Postelnik was gracious in defeat.

Unlike other cry-baby losers, Postelnik posted a classy appeal on Facebook asking his supporters to back the candidate who beat him in the GOP Primary – George Moraitis.

Moraitis now faces Democratic nominee Barbra Stern.

Contrast that with former state Sen. Steve Geller.  County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger is still waiting for a call from him, I am told.  

Here is Postelnik’s post.  He could show Geller, who he backed in the campaign, a thing or two about class:

“Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your support over these past months. We put forward new ideas that are absolutely needed to secure the future of our state. Many of these ideas were picked up by other campaigns as indeed they should be.I thank all of my supporters.

My wife Leah (Postelnik) and Gerry Hoffman in particular put in long weeks and hard days. Unfortunately we found ourselves caught in the middle of a strong two way fight between two strong groups and were unable to make needed headway. 

 We’ve received much encouragement. I thank congressional candidates for standing by me in the midst of this, as well as the encouragement of state leaders such as Dr. Marion Thorpe, former Chief Medical Officer of AHCA, as well as the support of national and state groups. 

The vibrant conservative message of our campaign scared the media. Local newspapers had their fun listing me as a “web publisher” even when I corrected them (my magazine, Autism Health and Wellness, is a print magazine and one of the most info packed in the nation). They repeatedly talked down the race and my candidacy, enough to make serious fundraising moot and to convince voters that someone “could not win” a state house race, an assertion that has never before been put forward in a local primary.

Yet the joke is on them. In the midst of it all, a man of exemplary leadership, principle and character emerged victorious. George Moraitis and I did not know each other before we both decided to run, but meeting him has been one of the high privileges of this race. George Moraitis is a man of honor, integrity, vision and community service. He is a former Naval Officer and Annapolis graduate as well. 

George is supported by a diverse group of supporters. No matter one’s political stripes, one can appreciate his honor, integrity and steadfast devotion to public service.

So I ask for one more thing as my supporters. Please make George Moraitis’ campaign a priority in keeping this important seat. 

George has served our country well. His wife Heather has served as President of the Junior League and has won awards for the curricula that she has introduced to public schools.

District 91 has a true leader and man of honor in our next State Representative, George Moraitis.

So I ask you, if you support me, please support my friend.

Please go to www.ElectGeorge2010.com and walk with him, donate to his campaign and place phone calls, so that we may indeed have a better Florida.

Sincerely,

Yomin Postelnik

PS Please also please join his facebook group and please invite all of your friends to do the same – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=206364934415

PPS Please help us spread the word about this important campaign. Please email your friends and tell them what a great candidate we have in our nominee, George Moraitis!”

What does the Taliban’s vicious murder of ten medical missionaries for allegedly preaching Christianity in Afghanistan have to do with attempts around the U.S. to block the construction of mosques?
 
They both object to other religions and are convinced that they have the “one truth”.

But are afraid to compete in a free market of ideas.
 
You don’t have to go to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia (which has the death penalty for preaching something other than Islam) or even New York City to find these nuts.
 
You don’t have to go any farther than the Reverend O’Neal Dozier who tried to block a mosque from being built in Pompano.

 O’Neal Dozier

Railing against Moslems, Dozier and his followers proclaimed that“Islam is evil.”   Pompano Beach city commissioners ignored him and okayed the mosque.

Dozier became even too much for his buddy Jeb Bush.  The Jebster removed him from the Judicial Nominating Commission for attempting to establish a religious test for those seeking a seat on the bench.

Dozier resurfaced this year when he endorsed a religious Jew, Yomin Postelnik,  in the GOP Primary for a northeast Broward House district.  Postelnik came in last of three candidates, which indicates that Dozier doesn’t have the influence to match his mouth.  

 
  COUNTERFEIT DIOR–WHO CARES

 
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit arrested eight persons in late July involved a ring that was counterfeiting upscale products like Dior and Gucci.
 
Why we are spending one second or cent of our resources to protect products, whether legitimate or counterfeit, that are not made in the United States?
 
I see no reason to protect brand names that do nothing for our economy except suck the life out of it.
 
Retailers like Macy’s or Bloomies should know they won‘t get help from Uncle Sam if they buy counterfeit products from Third World sweatshops.
 
If Nike finds that someone in Vietnam is counterfeiting the Air Jordans they make in Indonesia, let Chairman Phil Knight go to Ho Chi Minh City and sue.
 
Why should the U.S. Customs and U.S. Marshals save his brand name when there are unemployed in Portland still willing to do the work?

SUPERMODEL = SUPER SCUMBAG

Someone who has convinced herself that she is above the law not to mention moral decency is British supermodel Naomi Campbell.
 
Not content with repeated arrests for assault and battery, it now appears that she has stooped to perjury to protect “blood diamonds” personally given to her by Liberian mass murderer Charles Taylor.
 
I might be sympathetic if her courtroom bullshit was based on a misplaced loyalty to Taylor. But the truth is that she is only worried that someone might demand she return the diamond.

  
LAURA SCHLESSINGER REALLY IS AN ASSHOLE
 

When the wife of an interracial marriage complained about the racist remarks of her in-laws, radio talk host Laura Schlessinger pooh-poohed her and repeatedly used the word “nigger” in her response.
 
The next day she apologized for use of the “n-word,” but defended the notion that the caller was “hypersensitive” and should not have married out of her race.

That’s right. Let’s blame the victim. 
 
Let’s follow that logic. 

If women didn’t want to get raped,  they should wear burquas.  If banks didn’t want to get robbed, they shouldn’t have money in the till.
 
What she should have told her was: “What’s wrong with your husband?  He needs to smack his relatives upside the head.”

 
WE’RE NUMBER 50!
 

In light of the Sunshine State now having the lowest per capita expenditures for education Mississippi has changed it’s license plates to read: “AT LEAST WE’RE NOT FLORIDA.”

There has been a lot of Internet discussion about the dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait getting only four years probation after admitting they passed out bribes all over Broward.

Sometimes prosecutors have to make deals with very slimy people to convict even slimier people:

In 1991, the mobster John Gotti was known in the New York City tabloids as the Teflon Don after repeated attempts to convict him failed.

Along came his right-hand thug with an offer the feds couldn’t refuse –Underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano would testify against Gotti in return for a reduced sentence.

Sammy “The Bull” Testifies

Gotti got life and died in prison.

Sammy The Bull, who admitted 19 murders, got five years! 

Sammy didn’t even serve the nickle.  He got released early.

He then wrote a best-selling book “Underboss” and was arrested again a few years later for drug dealing.

State Attorney Mike Satz is following an old playbook when he made a deal with the Chaits.  It is called dealing up.

Satz wants the scalp of elected officials on his belt. 

He is right to make the electeds the target.  He’s right to deal with the Chaits to get their testimony.

Satz is wrong to give them such a light sentence. 

Four years probation. What a joke.

You face 60 days in jail for some cases of driving with an expired  license tag!  That’s 60 days more than the Chaits will serve in jail for bribery.

When the Chaits take the stand against those corrupt politicians, guess what the first question from the defense will be?

“Have you received favorable treatment from the prosecution for your testimony?”

When the Chaits answer that they got their sentence reduced to four years probation, watch the jurors’ faces.

The Chaits’ light sentence could backfire.  Jurors might decide the Chaits are lying in return for the ridiculously light sentence.

I’ve learned one lesson from the Chaits.

If I’m ever charged with a crime, the first call I make is to their defense attorney David Bogenschutz. 

Bogenschutz cut the deal for the Chaits.  He couldn’t have done a better job.

We’ll soon see if Satz made a good deal, too.

Watching opponents of health care reform use the Pledge of Allegiance to drown out the opposition made me look into the history and purpose of the Pledge.

It has led me to the conclusion that I have pledged my last pledge.
 
Contrary to local myth, the Pledge of Allegiance was not written by Bob Lockwood, the late Clerk of the Courts.*

Ironically, what has become a rightwing cudgel, was authored in the 1890’s by Francis Bellamy, a well-known socialist.  It went through various versions until 1954 when “under god“ –which I scrupulously avoided saying–was added. 
 
Even the salute has undergone change.  Although used before Hitler was old enough to be Bar Mitzvahed, the original Pledge salute looked just like the Nazi salute.  

Whatever Bellamy had in mind, it has long since become nothing he intended.
 
In the 1988 election, Poppy Bush attacked Michael Dukakis’s patriotism for vetoing a bill that would have made the pledge mandatory
 
Dukakis had it right.  Requiring people to publicly repeat a pledge for “…liberty and justice for all.”  might be the irony of ironies.  It was certainly unconstitutional.
 
The American Rightwing has co-opted the Pledge along with the flag and the National Anthem.  What should be symbols of freedom have become weapons of obedience to the government.
 
Following family tradition, I have always flown a flag on National Holidays.  

A while back, when the Right attempted to amend the Constitution to make it criminal to burn Old Glory, I reconsidered that tradition. Instead I hung it upside down…a distress code. 
 
When a symbol of freedom becomes a weapon of oppression, I know which side of the road I need to be on.
 
I can’t imagine one person has ever become a better American because they regularly repeated an oath. 
 
I’m through with saying it.

XXXXX

*Robert Lockwood was elected Broward’s clerk of the courts in November, 1976  and served to January, 2000, when he died of cancer.  The former insurance executive was part of the Democratic landslide that accompanied the election of Jimmy Carter. 

Lockwood was well-known for leading audiences in the Pledge of Allegiance at hundreds of events he was invited to during his tenure. Although he knew the Pledge by heart, he carried a copy in his wallet.

Republican Ed Kennedy was appointed to fill the vacancy after his death.  Kennedy lost an election that same year to the current clerk, Howard Forman.    — Buddy Nevins.