I'm a fan

A fan of Sarah Palin.

She's good for conservatism right now. And she's got more balls than most Republican male politicians. And more than any Democrat male.

Would she make a good president? Well, she's more qualified than Obama. And she's getting better.

But that's not the question right now, is it? Hell, it's three years to the next election.

I'm a fan for a number of reasons, but a significant one is that I know who her enemies and detractors are. That tells you much. And she stands up to them. That tells you more.

Hell, I'm just a fan.

Why Trial Attorneys are Despised

By Walter Pacheco, Sentinel Staff Writer

12:32 p.m. EST, November 20, 2009

Casey Anthony's lawyers on NBC's Today Show this morning said former meter reader Roy Kronk is as much a suspect in Caylee Marie's death as their own client, Casey Anthony.

"There is as much circumstantial evidence implicating Roy Kronk as there is implicating our client," said Andrea Lyon, one of Anthony's defense attorneys, to Today's host Matt Lauer. "He's the only one who's been with the body. He's the only one who magically discovers it. He takes a day off before he discovers it in December."

Got that? It was somebody else, not the murdering mother.

Forget about Anthony's numerous other stories!

Forget about her daughter being missing for two months being held by the baby sitter.

Forget about about Anthony's mother and father being suspicious...of her.

Nope, forget everything else. It had to be Kronk.

Because some other dude did it.

Trust the lawyer. He's following legal ethics.

Well, that's good news?

Hey, Great News!!!

Or is it?

Ocala's unemployment rate held steady at 13.4 percent from September to October, the fifth-highest rate among 23 metro areas in the state, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

The number of jobless was actually down in the metro area, which covers all of Marion County, from 18,643 to 18,549.

Our unemployment rate stayed the same!! Well, it didn't go up again, so yep, that is a little good news. But not great.

Also this: "But the number of employed was also down slightly, from 120,700 to 120,332, reflecting a shrinking labor force."

Oh, well. So yeah, let's be glad we're treading water. Ya' takes yer good news as you find it, I guess.

How long do we have to keep paying for New Orleans?!

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has been bought off for $100 million of TAXPAYER funds for her health care vote. So, okay, she's a Democrat politician/money whore so what else can you expect? (Right-like there was really any doubt which way she will come down on this.)

But dig this: "According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the provision would cost the federal government $100 million. Landrieu, though, said she believed it would provide her state with $300 million and said even that amount would not be all the funds Louisiana needs."

Now, I have family and friends in Louisiana of whom I'm real fond. But goddamnit, how much more and for how much longer is the rest of the nation to pay for that state for one goddamned hurricane?!

I know a lot of Louisiana was damaged during Katrina, but that was frickin' years ago. And there's been a shitload of money already spent there. Most of the money has been pissed away in New Orleans even though most of the damage was result of political graft and greed in the decades previous to Katrina. Which is still ongoing...hell, it's New Orleans! That's what they do. And I'm sure the next "Katrina" will cause equal damage. And we'll have to pay for that again.

I went through New Orleans TWO YEARS after Katrina and much of the place still looked storm damaged even after pumping two years of blood money into that money pit. And it was the most unfriendly place I visited in that state. Upstate on the other hand was very nice. (My relatives who used to live in Bossier City were and are among the nicest on the planet.)

(Now, when I was much younger, I used to go to NOLA for the partying. The booze - and other substances - were quite nice. But I never found the people as a whole to be nice and friendly as advertised. It was a dangerous place to be if you weren't aware of your circumstances.)

But now Mary Landrieu thinks she getting $300 million MORE. I have to ask: "How long do we have to keep paying for New Orleans?"

And if I offended anyone not from NOLA, I apologize. But I'm tired of paying for a disaster that wasn't my fault and in fact was significantly caused by the very same people who are holding up the US Treasury right now for more money. [And that includes the little RINO congressman who sold out his "bi-partisan" vote in the House a couple of weeks ago. And he got shit for his vote. Cheap date.]

UPDATE:

For better and more coherent assessments and news on the health care vote and things Louisiana, you gotta check out And So It Goes In Shreveport. Also on Twitter.

The Travolta Family - Good Citizens

John Travolta and his family are celebrities, yes, but they have also been very good Marion County citizens. They have given generously of their time and money and have not been seen as "Hollywood" by their neighbors.

All three Travoltas appeared at the Ocala/Marion County of their movie "Old Dogs" and as usual combined this with a charitable event.

I've always been cautious of crediting any celebrity's actions with anything other than self-interest, but John Travolta seems to be out of the ordinary. And it's good to see that some famous people can be just people.

From the moment the Travoltas emerged from their white stretch limo Friday night, their Marion County neighbors showered them with well wishes, hugs and kisses.

And lots and lots of cheers.

In their first public Ocala appearance since the January death of Jett Travolta, John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their daughter Ella Bleu Travolta greeted hundreds of local fans on the red carpet at Regal's Hollywood 16 before the Ocala opening of the trio's new Disney comedy, "Old Dogs."

The night was a fundraiser for five charities but it also served as an emotional community embrace for Marion County's most famous family.

"Kelly, Ella and I want to thank all of you for supporting us over the last year," Travolta told the crowd. "It's meant the world to us. We know that we have a community. We know that we have friends. And we know that we are loved. We appreciate it. Jett appreciates it. We love you, Ocala."

With a voice cracking with emotion, Preston echoed her husband's words, noting, "You guys are all so down to earth, loving and caring." Nine-year-old Ella concluded their remarks with the words "Love you, Ocala."

From the crowd response, the sentiment is mutual.

Thank you---John, Kelly and Ella---for being good citizens who put their money AND time where their mouths are.

" Americans Are Messaging Each Other 'S.O.S.' "

"It's clear that the clowns are in charge, and they're quickly giving away the circus."

That's a line from the linked article. The title of this American Thinker article is Americans Are Messaging Each Other 'S.O.S.' and, yes, it does make you think.

In many and varied ways, Americans are tapping out the international distress signal to each other since Washington, D.C. isn't listening.

To all except the most zealous supporters of the Democratic Party, the intentions of the party in power have become clear in less than a year. It's also clear that there's not much we citizens can do about it until the 2010 elections. For now, we hunker down and watch the train wreck in slow motion. This is not defeatism. For now, it's reality.

**********

Those Americans who align themselves with the GOP have watched their elected officials awaken to the warning signs many of us saw back during the election. Now Senator Lindsey Graham offers sound-bite criticism in his questioning of Attorney General Eric Holder, a man he once voted to confirm. Graham thinks the NYC terrorist trial is a bad idea. Like Detective John McClane, who in the movie Die Hard finally manages to alert the police to a hostage situation by dropping a terrorist's body on a patrol car from several stories up, our message to Graham is "Welcome to the party, pal." His friend John McCain, who wouldn't use candidate Obama's middle name during the campaign, is now so bold as to say the s-word: socialism. Welcome to the party, John.

**********

So it's neither to Republican nor Democrat politicians that many Americans are tapping out their S.O.S. We're messaging each other. Occasionally, even complete strangers. The angst felt by many for the future of the country, and for some the future that awaits children and grandchildren, grows daily. There are fewer jokes on the street about Obama than there were about Bush. For many of us, none of this has a humorous edge to it. Satire, occasionally. But humor, so little now as to be none.

**********

So we're messaging each other, tapping out . . . _ _ _ . . . to the like-minded, regardless of any political party proclivity, any status in life or community, any vocation, any color, anything. Their name is Legion, for there are many of them. And their numbers are growing. This should alarm the career politicians of both parties, for it makes their future much less predictable.

Lord Obama and the rest of the Democrat gangsters are fomenting a revolution of which they seem unaware or do not care. This gang has taken on the trappings of royalty and "the peasants be damned" attitude. This may not end well...for all of us.

One more paragraph of the article: "Most of us probably have a friend or two who explained his or her pending vote for Obama by offering assurances that Obama would move to the center if elected and govern in bipartisan cooperation with a Republican Congress. That analysis looks silly and naïve in retrospect."

No, not silly. This was willful wishful thinking at the minimum. Every voter for Obama...and for any Democrat in a leadership position...has much to answer for. Fortunately the true believers are still easily identifiable...they still have the bumper stickers.

"Post-Racial" America

Yep, when "we" elected Lord Obama, "we" were sure we were finally in a post-racial epoch. All the horrors of our past were atoned because of the election of a black man.

How's that working out? Oh, just about the way any thinking person knew would happen. Race is even worse. Criticize Lord Obama and you're obviously a racist.

Hell, even not voting with the Democrats is now a racial act. Seems like a black man isn't black if he doesn't support Lord Obama and fellow Democrats.

When Alabama Congressman Artur Davis voted against the health-care bill that passed the House earlier this month, he probably expected some grief from fellow Democrats. But he couldn't have anticipated being accused of selling out his race.

Mr. Davis was the only black Member to oppose the legislation, and his vote earned him a rebuke from Jesse Jackson at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation reception Wednesday night. "We even have blacks voting against the health-care bill," said Mr. Jackson. "You can't vote against health care and call yourself a black man."

**********

Liberals insist that America still isn't "post-racial," notwithstanding the election of President Obama. But when a politician's skin color is gratuitously invoked in a debate about whether the government should have more control of health care, you have to wonder if the political left has any serious interest in a color-blind society. Former President Jimmy Carter suggests that whites who oppose the President's policies are racists; Mr. Jackson says blacks who oppose them are betraying their race.

Even in the age of a black President, too many liberals still believe they have more to gain from identity politics than from a post-racial America.

Yep, "Hope and Change" was and is the slogan of idiots.

America...Led by America Haters

Lord Obama's lackey, AG Eric Holder, appeared before Congress to explain why "his" decision to bring terrorist murdering scum to the US for civilian trial is not political. All he succeeded in doing was proving the aware citizens that is all it is.

And it is more than just his and Obama's hatred of Pres. Bush; there has always been more than a hint of America hatred. After all, his law firm defended some of the terrorists at Gitmo.

Holder spoke of the trials as a correction of Bush-era delays and an overdue attempt to seek justice for the victims of 9/11, but many present disagreed with his definition of justice. "To give these animals due process and to afford them constitutional rights is obscene," said John Owens, whose brother died in the towers on 9/11. (Peter Owens would have turned 50 next week.) "It angers me to no end that this guy is gonna get a platform, paid for by us, in the shadow of Ground Zero where my brother died."

Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who chaired the hearing, touted the backing of Peaceful Tomorrows, a pacifist group of 9/11 families, in favor of the Holder plan, but the showing of support in the gallery was sparse. The antiwar protesters of Code Pink only mustered two uncharacteristically quiet women. The Jersey Girls, a politically active group of 9/11 widows, released a statement supporting the decision two days after the hearing.

At times, emotions bubbled over, causing Leahy to call the crowd to order once. Holder's assertion that "failure is not an option" in these prosecutions raised senatorial eyebrows and snickers from the crowd. "Well, that's an interesting point of view," said Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.). Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) added, "I don't know how you can say failure is not an option. I'm a farmer, not a lawyer, but it seemed to me ludicrous."

Jon Kyl, the Arizona Republican, raised cheers from the gallery with his sharp questioning of Holder, who contended that his decision to bring 9/11 terrorists to civilian courts was based, not on politics, but on where he'd have the best shot at conviction.

"How could you be more likely to get a conviction in federal court when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has already asked to plead guilty to a military commission and be executed," he asked. "How can you be more likely to get a conviction in a [civilian] court than that?"

Remember just how much better things were going to be when we got rid of Bush and put a post-racial president in charge? Once more, the pricks who voted for Obama or sat on their asses instead have so much to answer for.

(Does it sound like I'm angry? Damned right, I am.)

What an embarrassing spectacle!

So Obama goes to Japan as President of the United States and meets the Japanese Emperor.

And bows deeply to him.

Now as far as I know the Emperor is an okay guy. Got nothing against him. But a subservient bow?

WTF!

This is the same bozo who bows to the Saudi king and then denies it.

As Scott Johnson writes in his post: "Ashamed of his country but arrogant about himself--what a disgusting combination."

Christ...you pricks who voted for the bozo-in-chief have much to answer for.

You got a problem with that?

Bunch of racists are whining about Lord Obama and his AG Holder bringing murdering terrorist scum to America for trial in civilian courts. What the hell is their problem?

Lord Obama doesn't call a murdering major a terrorist. So what? Only a racist would criticize that.

So Lord Obama goes overseas and trashes the America that was before his coronation. Big deal. What's your problem...other than racism?

All you bunch of crybaby racists have to do is one thing.

Suck it up and...


(I don't know where I got this image so I can't credit it.)

And About Damned Time!!

Sniper John Allen Muhammad refused to utter any last words as he was executed, taking to the grave answers about why and how he plotted the killings of 10 people that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.

The 48-year-old died by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched from behind glass, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond.

Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Go For It, Kurt!

Kurt Kelly says he might challenge Grayson

By Bill Thompson
Staff writer

Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:15 p.m.

State Rep. Kurt Kelly says he would "seriously consider" challenging U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the controversial Orlando Democrat who has lit a fire under liberals and conservatives alike for his provocative rhetoric on health care reform, the wars in the Middle East and even Fox News.

Kelly, an Ocala Republican, said in an interview Wednesday that he's waiting to see how the GOP search for a candidate in Grayson's 8th District shakes out before deciding to enter the race.

Kelly admitted he is conflicted about the decision. Victory would mean leaving a job he loves - representing Ocala in the state Legislature.

Yet Grayson - whose district stretches into eastern Marion County including parts of Ocala, Silver Springs Shores and Fort McCoy - is philosophically and temperamentally wrong for the constituents he represents, Kelly said.

"If someone doesn't step up, I will seriously consider it."

So as I was saying, before interrupted.

Yeah, I know I've been gone for almost 3 months.

But I have a reason.

I had to return to the Obama Re-Education Camp. I tried...I really did...to get into the Praise Lord Obama mode again, but it never held.

So I agree with this posting on The American Spectator:

The Man Who Despises America

By Mark Hyman on 11.11.09 @ 6:09AM

The very next paragraph is going to make the nut jobs on the far left excitable beyond belief. I am not referring to all Democrats or even a majority of liberals. I am singling out the "they've-lost-all-touch-with-reality" crowd. This includes Media Matters for America led by the admitted hit-and-run, drunk-driving serial liar. The group includes the unshaven, bathrobe-clad unemployed who live in their mother's basement and are devout followers of MoveOn.Org. It is also the bitter, aging spinster working at the New York Times, the morbidly obese documentary film maker, and cable TV news' resident drama queen who hosts MSNBC's Countdown. They are about to simultaneously suffer from brain aneurisms. So without further delay, I'll say it.

Barack Obama despises America.

So here's what happened to me today

I had a colonoscopy. It went well and I don't have any obvious problems. Good to know.

What an interesting experience.

This was my first time and I'm pushing 60 years old.

(Okay, at the risk of giving TMI, it was my first time that didn't involve drinks, dinner and a movie.)

I Agree...Thank You President Bush

I followed this link from Lucianne.com.

I somewhat differ from Hillbuzz.com comments in as much as I was a supporter of President Bush throughout his 8 years, even when I disagreed with him.

But these are true words:

We will never look at the Bushes, the Bush presidencies, or their legacies the same again…and someday when his presidential library is built, we will be so proud to visit there and tell anyone will listen about November 10th, 2009, the day we finally appreciated former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.

Thank you for your service, Mr. President. We’re sorry we didn’t appreciate you while you were in office, but we thank Heaven we’ve wised up and can see the good you are out there doing, under the radar, today.

Observing Veterans Day - 2009

I must confess I didn't do nearly as much to honor our veterans today. I had 2 doctor appointments, but that doesn't excuse it.

I did pass our Veterans Park twice today on the way to and from the appointments and saw from a distance the ceremonies that were going on. And I did give thanks to all veterans.

Still it wasn't enough respect and honor to show our veterans, some in my own family.

Saying thanks is not enough, but it is heartfelt.

And now for something else

Personal note: my high school graduating class held its 40th reunion a couple weeks ago. I wasn't able to attend even though messing with the past isn't usually a good idea.

But while pondering this, I thought of a couple of Rolling Stones songs that were popular while I was going to school and thought I'd share:

Under My Thumb (a geek's wet dream)

Sympathy for the Devil (my personal favorite of all Stones songs)

Enjoy my memories, won't you?

How not to improve your golf game

A local example of how not to use your golf clubs.

A man sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for brutally attacking his girlfriend with a pair of golf clubs said he simply “snapped” during an outburst.

“It was a moment of anger. I snapped,” said Jonathan Pearson, 26, during a formal sentencing hearing. Pearson said that because he continued “to be attacked verbally,” he reached a point where, “I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Pearson admitted to brutally attacking his girlfriend, Joi Partain Mraz, with a pair of golf clubs June 14 at their northeast Ocala home. It was a beating so vicious it left Mraz, 22, on a surgery table for seven hours and led to the loss of vision in her left eye.

Bastard should have gotten lots more time.

How to get rid of a house guest?

A local woman found an effective, though drastic, process to evict an unwanted house guest in 2 steps:

Step 1 - shoot him to death

Step 2 - go to jail for 10 years

The Silver Springs woman who cocked a gun and pulled the trigger on a male house guest after he allegedly told her to “just go ahead and kill him,” was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest to manslaughter.

Janice Benton, 68, was arrested in December 2008 after relaying the bizarre turn of events to law enforcement officers. She had met the victim, 51-year-old Ricky O’Connor, at The Pub bar in Ocala two weeks earlier. He informed her he had just been released from prison; she agreed to put him up at her residence in the 200 block of NE 118th Avenue Road in the Ocala National Forest.

Jealous of Benton’s attentions to other males, O’Connor would utter “rude remarks” to the defendant, according to a police report.

Rude remarks to a lady, eh? Bastard must have deserved it.

Be careful what you ask for...in Florida

For the first time...ever...Florida lost population for the first time since WWII.

Now I'm one of the born/bred Floridians and I recall lots of us "natives" saying stuff like-it this state isn't as good as the one you left, then get the hell out.

Well, that wish has come true. Now this could be a bad thing...or a good thing. Time will tell.

But how the hell is it that Marion County INCREASED our population?!

While Florida lost residents over the past year for the first time since the end of World War II, Marion County added population from April 2008 to April 2009 - with 1,022 new residents for 330,440 total.

Just to the north, Alachua County saw the largest population growth in the state, according to the figures from the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research. The county grew by an estimated 3,844, to 256,232, from April 2008 to April 2009.

The UF agency does not have demographics to show who is coming and going and why - that won't be available for a year, said director Stan Smith - but observers say jobs may be behind the movement into Alachua, and retirees for growth in Marion.

Florida lost 58,294 residents in the 12-month period ending in April, which Smith attributed to the economic slump. If past trends are any indication, those residents moved to other Sun Belt states such as Georgia, Texas and California - or back to their home states in areas where the economy is not doing as poorly.

Ocala-the Center of the Universe (Part 3)

I've been VERY light on posting for some time. But there have been several news items pertaining to Ocala and Marion County that have affected the rest of the USA.

One of the most significant is the bankruptcy of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company based here in Ocala. This has been a horrible failure that has severely hurt our county, but has and will have further far reaching effects in the overall financial system.

I know several who were impacted by it. Hell, I was one of them. And life still goes on. But it's pretty crappy.

What a long vacation it's been

Still around, but not posting. Working up to it but not there yet.

However, in my youth I really liked a song by Jefferson Airplane called "Volunteers" that showed "true patriotism" was questioning authority.

Remember way back then?

My how times have changed, what with the Lord Obama in charge.

But I must admit, the song now has new meaning, a fresher meaning, for me now.

Yep, Volunteers of America...gotta revolution.

Check it out.

Still Around

Yep, still here, but can't seem to get it together to post much. I started but didn't finish a few halfassed posts about the gangster administration in DC. And about how the lifestyle nazis are in charge. And about how it's funny that Bush was portrayed as a dictator who was using a crisis to take power, but Lord Obama is just doing it for the people. Crazy ass world, my friends.

So, just for the hell of it, here's "Master Jack" with the refrain: "It's a very strange world we live in" which seems appropriate for my attitude right now.

***************

Oh, what the hell...try "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet" for a hint of where we are.

And maybe..."Talk Talk" for the bullshit that the MSM is putting out.

And, let's see...here's "Lies" to keep with a theme.

Then..."For What It's Worth" just because.

Oh, WTF, here's "The End" because, well, maybe it is.

So what happens next? Maybe "Psychotic Reaction"?

And then, it can only be "Wild in the Streets" for the end.

Okay, that's enough.

Thank you, Veterans

For keeping my nation and my family free.

To the living and the dead heroes and for all who have served...thank you.

Been taking

some "Me" time. Will be back soon.

Swine Flu in Marion County

Yeah, we had a confirmed case right here.

The Marion County patient is a 17-year-old West Port High School student who stayed home after becoming ill, has recovered now, and was expected back at school on Monday, according to local officials.

Kid in school didn't feel well and stayed home. Went to doctor. Got better.

Ho Hum.

The Florida Budget

Okay, it's mostly over. All except the subsequent reality.

The fiscal year 2010 budget is pretty much a done deal.

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

$65 billion in state spending

A $28 per student increase in public school funding

An 8 percent increase in university and community college tuition

A 2 percent pay cut for state workers making more than $45,000 a year

$1-a-pack cigarette tax increase

$830 million in fee increases

$5 billion in federal stimulus money

A $120 million shift of state road-building funds to other programs

This will be an interesting year.

Glad I'm not a smoker.

Doing it the Chicago Way

Why does anyone act surprised that Lord Obama is acting as head thug of a criminal enterprise?

That's how he was taught in Chicago.

That's why he went to Chicago.

What I want to know is why any supposed conservative refused to vote for McCain...or worse, voted for Obama. You have lots to atone for. Hope you-and we-get the chance.

Just trying to help out a friend, officer.

Yep, we have prostitution in these parts, pilgrim. Just like in the big cities, bub.

But sometimes I think we're just like the off-off-off broadway tryouts for a new comedy play.

Cases in point...

Allen Ray Williams told his wife he was going to Home Depot. Instead, he went to the Marion County Jail.

Williams, 37, was arrested on a charge of soliciting prostitution Thursday in a reverse sting operation that also netted four other people.

**********
In Thursday’s “Reverse John” operation, Williams told agents all he did was stop and ask “a stupid question.” He said it was his first prostitution arrest.

“I did something stupid, and now I’m going to lose my wife and kids,” Williams said.

His wife, who didn’t want to be identified, told her husband when she showed up on scene, “Consider yourself divorced.”

Not very understanding of her.

But my favorite is...

But perhaps the oddest arrest was that of Armondo “Mondo” Brown and his friend Zella Nease Meaders.

Meaders told officials that Brown had not had sex in quite some time and she wanted to make sure his needs were met. She reportedly drove home, picked up Brown, who was drinking, and took him by the Golden Spur Motel where two women were hanging out by the corner.

Meaders said she gave the women $10 each and a bottle of Russian bottle.

What the two friends didn’t know was that the women were undercover law enforcement officials.

**********

Meaders told officials she felt bad for the prostitutes and wanted to get them off the street for 30 minutes because she used to do what they do.

She was charged with driving while license is suspended or revoked and solicitation of a prostitute.

Of course, if a playwright were to write something like this, he would be kicked out of publisher offices pretty damn quick.

Well, maybe not if the publisher was in my town.

Florida Legislature needs more time

You see, one legislative session is just not enough time, don't you know.

Well, it happened again. The regular session ended, but the most important item wasn't completed. So a special session is in order.

As expected, House leaders drew fire from some anti-tax groups last week when they agreed to back a $1-per-pack cigarette tax in order to pass a new state budget.

Americans for Tax Reform, a group headed by Grover Norquist, sent a letter to House members earlier in the week reminding them that they had "got it right" by opposing new taxes in their budget plan, opting instead to balance the $65 billion budget with deeper budget cuts.

But to break the budget deadlock, House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, announced the House would support the cigarette tax, which will raise about $900 million a year.

Cretul was asked how that decision meshed with his signing of the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" with Norquist's group.

Cretul said he did not remember when he signed the pledge, but he added that leaders need the option to be flexible on the challenges they face.

"Responsible people at times may have to do something that might be different than the position that they staked out," Cretul said. "And to be so closed-minded, I don't think that's the right thing to do, and it doesn't serve the citizens of the state of Florida. I'm sure that Norquist will have a comment when I cast my vote. So be it."

It didn't take long. This appeared on the ATR's Web site shortly after Cretul's comments were reported:

"Judging from Florida House Speaker Cretul's quote, he seems to think that responsible people break promises they make to others sometimes (raising taxes)," wrote Nathan Pick, the ATR's state affairs manager. "Is this acceptable? Responsible legislators don't raise taxes on their constituents, especially when they can least afford it. Responsible people look to solve problems (cutting excessive spending), rather than looking to patch them with taxes on a declining source of revenue (cigarette taxes)."

Now, I'm a fan of Larry Cretul. But, Larry!?