The people of Florida havent been so mad at a British guy since English General James Oglethorpe launched a barrage of cannonballs at the Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine in 1740.

Tony Hayward, the chairman of British Petroleum, is the current whipping boy, and the barrage is now going the other way and will continue this week as nearly every Florida politician running for office launches an attack on the company for the oil it has sent to the states money-making shoreline.

Chris, be careful when you call a story up. It should have a note shaded in green at the top that says you'vebeen locked in as the user. If it's red, someone else is in the story and get out of it as soon as you can. You could cause that person to lose all of his/her editing changes.

Always remember to hit "save" at the bottom once you've read the story.

WASHINGTON -- When a long-ago South Carolina legislator described his state as "too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum," he might have added, "but just perfect for a bordello!"

Perhaps it is the humidity. Throw in a cocktail, stir with human nature, and you've got that ol' fleeting magic.

WASHINGTON -- Today, as it has been for a century, American politics is an argument between two Princetonians -- James Madison, class of 1771, and Woodrow Wilson, class of 1879. Madison was the most profound thinker among the Founders. Wilson, avatar of "progressivism," was the first president critical of the nation's founding. Barack Obama's Wilsonian agenda reflects its namesake's rejection of limited government.

The plotline of Floridas summer of oil got a little thickerlast week.

Tar balls started making their way onto Pensacola Beach as sheen from the Deepwater Horizon rig neared the states Gulf coastline for the first time since the April 20 disaster. State leaders including Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink all made detours to the Florida Panhandle with political careers and the states tourist industry now at stake.

Attorney General Bill McCollum told some 500 business leaders and water experts in Orlando Friday that he has a specific plan -- in fact, a two-pronged policy initative -- for keeping groundwater flowing in Florida.

A new third party with a familiar name calling for scaling back the size and cost of government has emerged in Florida hoping to take advantage of voter discontent. The Florida Tea Party is fielding three congressional candidates across Florida in the 2010 election cycle and hopes to have as many as 20 candidates running for seats in the Legislature.

Theres a new powerbroker behind Florida Republicans -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Huckabee has moved to Florida and is playing an increasingly prominent role in the Sunshine States politics.