maitre ‘d at Joes taking 20’s, what can a blogger do for inspiration?
Turn his weary sweat drenched eyes north, where that county north of the border and its characters never fail to inspire our insipid prose.
ITEM: The Sun Sentinel reported on a "key" moment in Dania Beach politics:
Dania Beach City Commissioner John Bertino, a 63 year old real estate broker will be charged this week with a misdemeanor for allegedly keying a 2-foot-long scratch into another man's car in a dispute over a parking spot. Apparently on June 11 Fox and his family pulled into Grampa's Bakery & Restaurant, in Dania Beach. Fox said he and the driver of a white vehicle both eyed the same parking space. When Fox pulled in first, he said the other driver began honking his horn. After Fox's wife and the man briefly bickered, the man found a different spot. After breakfast, Fox discovered a 2 foot long scratch on his front-passenger door.
While there is never a police officer around when you need one…Charlie Crist and his band of roving do-gooders to the rescue!!!
Assistant Attorney General Cindy Bruschi, who had been eating breakfast with her husband, met Fox in the parking lot and told him she saw a man use a key to scratch his car, the report stated. Fox and Bruschi identified the man as Bertino from a picture that appeared in an advertisement. Fox said the restaurant manager told them Bertino was a city commissioner.
"A person with this moral or ethical character, in my opinion, has no business being an elected official," said Fox.
Rumpole responds: Au contraire mon ami. Mr. Bertino exhibits all the necessary
characteristics of a City of Miami Commissioner, with the exception that Mr. Bertino is only being charged with a misdemeanor and not a felony. While Bertino has the right aspirations, he is not ready for the big time of Miami just yet.
As to Mr. Fox, we suggest he visit his "abuelo" in Dade and not his gramps in Broward. As a good and faithful Miami resident, Fox has no business eating in the wilds of Broward County. However, we are confident that if the situation were reversed and some poor unfortunate resident North of The Border found himself in a parking dispute with a politician of our fair city on the way to score some cuban toast and a cafe con leche, the matter would have been resolved the Miami way: Can you say “say hello to my little friend” ? We Miamians have the proper respect for cars and would rather fill a driver full of lead before we would ever stoop to scratching a car.
ITEM: Muslims not welcome in Pompano:
Again we are quoting from the Sun Sentinel (motto: we’re not the Herald and we’d like to keep it that way.)
In Pompano Beach (we said Pompano not pompous) Preachers from some of the northwest area's most influential churches plan to bring their flocks and sermons to City Hall tonight to demand that leaders keep a Muslim mosque from opening in their neighborhood.
"We want to make such a fuss that the Muslims will pack up," said the Reverend O’Neal Dozier, of the Worldwide Christian Center.
Rumpole pauses at this moment to thumb through his bible to see just what commandment or psalm says “The lord commands you to hate all other religions.”
Hmm…can’t find it.
“do unto others…” no that’s not it.
“Love thy neighbor…” nope, not that one.
We’re sure it must be somewhere. We’ll get back to you on that.
Anyway, this is not just any old Reverend who is off his religious rocker.
This Reverend happens to be a an appointee of Governor Holly Go Lightly Bush to the Judicial Nominating Commission, which as we all know is the body of open minded, conscientious, and highly intelligent folks who decide which lawyers they believe have the right stuff for the Governor to appoint to the bench.
In a news release late last month, Dozier called Islam "a cult'' and said the mosque's plans have residents in the predominantly "black Christian neighborhood" feeling less safe and secure."Their general welfare is being jeopardized by knowing that Muslims are invading their neighborhood," Dozier said.
Off course students of history will recognize that Dozier was paraphrasing some of the very most enlightened leaders of our nation including:
Abraham Lincoln: “A house divided between Muslims and Christians cannot stand.”
John Kennedy: “ask not what your country can do for you. Rather, ask what you can do to hurt your Muslim neighbors.”
Martin Luther King: “I have a dream…that one day this will be a totally Christian nation with all other religions and peoples outlawed.”
The Sun Sentinel article noted that:
Dozier, 57, is a key figure in Republican Charlie Crist's effort to reach black voters in the attorney general's race for governor.
In Broward County, Dozier has been a controversial figure on the judicial screening panel, asking judge candidates if they were "God-fearing."
Dozier said he was learning that he needed to "just do right and please God and not try to please man."
"I still love the governor,'' he said. "
I just hope they replace me with another black with a law degree."
Rumpole hopes that they replace Dozier with any man or woman who is without prejudice towards any religion, and who has a brain that works.
But before we get too excited, lets remember we're talking about North Of Border, where Muslims are as apparently as welcome as a Miami lawyer at a Judge Ross Calendar call.
the pilots who were drunk for amerca west. the 3rd dca affirmed the convictions of judge david young.
ReplyDeletein a 43 page opinion released today
What's going on with the Brummer/Richardson lawsuit?
ReplyDeleteGO GABRIEL MARTIN! TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!
I believe Rothenberg thinks she gets paid by the word
ReplyDelete"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletethe pilots who were drunk for amerca west. the 3rd dca affirmed the convictions of judge david young.
in a 43 page opinion released today"
i wasnt aware that judge young convicted the pilots. i thought it was a jury.
maybe you meant that david young convicted them by his rulings before and during the trial?
A quick look at the site meter shows how the readership of the blog multiplied when the blog was publicized in the Herald and DBR (when the judicial elections started to get spicy). Then, around filing deadline, the Readership was at its ultimate high- now, the readership is going down, down, down.
ReplyDeleteMay be that the candidates are exhausted of blogging about themselves.
It may also be that the blog moderation just sucks.
It's not candidate exhaustion. It's just plain sucky moderation.
ReplyDeleteI agree, rothenberg gets extra bonus when the pages she writes exceed 35 pages.
ReplyDeleteHooray the blog is back?
ReplyDeleteAny idiot can write a PCA or one paragraph order. But neither one really offers us much guidance.
ReplyDeleteFor whatever it's worth, I think it's great that Rothenberg writes long opinions. It let's us know what she's thinking. Detailed opinions help us fram our future arguments.
My only regret is not wanting to eat at Grampa's anymore due to publicity. Miss you all down in Dade, since leaving for the "wilds" of the Broward County Courthouse last year.
ReplyDeleteChurch, mosque, temple, Goodwill center, elderly living in their homestead tax excempt property (their home), if it does not pay property taxes, the City of Pompano Beach does not want it. The City of Pompano Beach will either fine the property with code violations for not enought landscape, too much landscape, lawn not mowed short enought, dog loitering on lawn, etc., until the fines exceed the value of the property and/or the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency will condemn and take the property. Either way the City will acquire the property and sell it to a developer for a nice profit. Industrial parks pay property taxes. Churches complaining about a mosque in Pompano Beach does not matter ... they're both goners.
ReplyDeleteRegards the Pilots who got no compassion:
ReplyDeleteThey did not deserve prison. It was there first offense and the better sentence would have been the max fine and a with-hold sentence of the max and I mean max probation.
We treat career criminals with slaps on the wrist, why are we sending 2-guys that yes made a huge error in life to prison. First time it’s a mistake, second time you do not pass go, you go directly to jail.
Probation you say does not send a message. It does because a max probation is better than a soft prison sentence because if they fuck up they will get prison on the max withhold sentence.
Why is there no remorse for these guys. They have families, wife's, a mom and dad.
We have become to quick to just throw away a life. Many factors should come into play at sentencing not just public pressure (and a Judge is supposed to not rule under public pressure). Does there whole life of never doing anything wrong and being stellar Americans mean nothing?
Why then should we all be good decent citizens if when at our lowest point in life we cannot cash in on all the good we have done as American’s.
We all at some-point in life will commit human error.
We all should be able to cash in on all the good we have done for a one-time break (ie. special probation conditions that put the defendant in prison for the max if they violate probation).
The problem is these pilots did not have any connection to Miami so they had no political ties that could have helped as we know has helped many of our more famous local crooks in time of need. If our judges were appointed for life just like Federal Judges they would not have had the rulings or the sentence they received. Look the district court federal judge at first trumped the charges (although reversed on appeal). That federal judge was not under national and local public pressure.
Is there no human compassion in our legal system for human error? Before you disagree with this stop and think for just a moment that maybe, you get wrongly accused and wrongly convicted do you want to cash in all the good deeds you did in life for compassion for your first human mistake.
2:19 poster...........get real. Those pilots were guilty as hell.
ReplyDeleteYou really think that someone can lead a decent life, "build up their chips," and then be excused for endangering others? C'mon, get real. It's that kind of "I'm above the law thinking" that leads so many politicians and public officials into doing stupid stuff. NO ONE is above the law. NO ONE gets to commit crimes even if they've been exemplary citizens.
PS----how would you feel if you or your family members were on a plane and found out that the pilot was drunk?
duh... thats why I said max probation and max sentence if they fuck up even once
ReplyDeleteWow. You make a compelling argument. Give 'em another chance. Why not? They only endangered a whole plane full of unsuspecting passengers. We wouldn't want to send a message to other pilots who drink and fly or anything.
ReplyDeleteGreat argument.
One can certainly take issue with Rev. Dozier's JNC questions, however, if you should happen to study the Koran at all, you would see that he is right on regarding the intolerance and violence it teaches. No other religion encourages violence! He seems to be afraid of vulnerable youths falling prey to the extremist element of the religion. Is that really such an unwarrented fear?
ReplyDeleteunwarranted
ReplyDeleteSadly that is a realistic fear!
ReplyDelete