Columns

Floridians owe a debt to Randy Fine. During the last six months, the South Brevard County Republican quietly made himself an environmental hero, a champion for the Indian River Lagoon.

Florida’s political history has been shaped by many different people -- the French, English, Spanish, Cuban, African-American, Puerto Rican, Yankees, Southerners and more. While Florida politics are not as Celtic-influenced as, say, those of Boston or New York, there have been a few leaders with Irish roots reigning over the Sunshine State.

With the nomination and likely confirmation of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, President Trump will soon have a trusted adviser who can prepare him for his upcoming summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Pompeo's first job is to make sure Trump understands one thing going into those talks: North Korea has no plans to give up its nuclear weapons at the negotiating table.

In the final weeks of the 2018 legislative session, immense tragedy struck a quiet community right here in our state. Our elected officials rightfully focused their remaining time and energy on ensuring school safety and addressing mental health issues in the wake of the Parkland school shooting.

She can't let go. She can't stop talking about what happened. She wrote an entire book about it. Now she's telling people in other countries about why she should have won. In India last weekend, she told an audience that she won in all the smart, cool places and then hit a pandering low that puts a catalogue of others to shame. Hillary Clinton just can't quit herself.

Bill Nelson, the senator whose name fewer than 50 percent of Floridians know but who's been in or hanging around elected office since Richard Nixon was president, tells us he can still be fresh and new.

I don’t care how loudly Howard Dean screams a lie, it’s never going to make it true.

What will Citrus County school authorities do about white supremacist teacher Dayanna Volitich? I hope, the right thing.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., led a group of U.S. Senators this week in a letter urging U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to reaffirm America’s commitment to democratic principles and human rights in Egypt ahead of their presidential election later this month. 

The group's name sounds innocuous enough -- Organize Florida. Could mean anything, right? 

Controlling the public narrative is the most important tool of propaganda. And after the horrendous Florida school massacre, the public narrative in the mainstream media and "correct" political circles has been to portray guns as the villain, and to call for more restrictive gun-control laws. It is all so predictable. 

President Trump's announcement that he will impose stiff tariffs on American companies that purchase imported steel and aluminum should have come as no surprise. From moving our embassy to Jerusalem to pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, Trump is a president who does what he promises. Unfortunately, his proposed tariffs undermine his ability to deliver on many other important promises he made in the 2016 campaign.

Remember the challenge filed by Rick Boylan, regarding how Florida’s Democratic National Committee members are elected?

Rep. Katie Edwards-Walpole -- widely admired around the state, a lawmaker Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz told me Monday "is among the top five most effective legislators in either party I've ever worked with" -- has announced she won't run for reelection in November.

Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, which ripples over the steep hills of this Pittsburgh suburb and stretches south to the West Virginia border, has not had a competitive congressional election since 2006. The fact that it will have one on March 13 makes this the most important 2018 voting before Nov. 6.