I'm In Florida,So Here's Story About Ponce de Leon And Other American Myths

Painting of Agueybana greeting Juan Ponce de León from U.S. Military. Painting by Puerto Rican artist Agustin Anavitate. (Source: Wikipedia)From the New York Times:

Florida probably was first sighted by Portuguese navigators, or perhaps by the Cabots sailing from England. Either way, it started appearing on maps as early as 1500. By 1510, its distinctive peninsular shape had emerged clearly on maps in Europe. By 1513, when Ponce de Léon first arrived, so many Europeans had visited Florida that some Indians greeted him in Spanish.

Sounds about right.

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Clutch Magazine: Stop the Vote! Someone Has An Election To Steal

This week for Clutch Magazine The Snob went political (one of my favorite things to do) and tackled how Florida Republicans are trying to push the Sunshine State into Mitt Romney's favor by purging their voter rolls of "possibly" illegal voters. They're currently fighting the Department of Justice as the DOJ says this purge is in violation of the Voter Rights Act. Hey, if the fight against non-existent voter fraud errs on the side of Democratic-leaning citizens not being able to vote, Republicans are willing to make that, ahem, sacrifice.

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Trayvon Martin Investigation-By-Media Devolves Into Victim Blaming

Predictably, the tragic shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin has turned into another round of "What did the victim do to cause his own death?" instead of "Why is George Zimmerman acting as a vigilante, sentencing a kid he stalked to death because of possibly winding up on the losing end of a fist fight Zimmerman instigated?"

It's disappointing, but ... alas, not surprising.

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Sanford Police Chief Steps Down After Accusations of Botching Trayvon Martin Shooting Investigation

While he's saying that he's "become a distraction" to the Trayvon Martin case, Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr.'s biggest problem was taking George Zimmerman's word for it, then not actually investigating anything. There's also the little matter of those who overheard the shooting saying officers tried to coerce them into saying it was Zimmerman screaming for help and not 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

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No Apologies: On The Killing of Trayvon Martin And Being "Good"

In the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin, there's no safe place. There's no real excuse to cling to. None of the usual dismissals work or fit. It's just bad. Real bad. And sits there and stares at you with it's cruelty and unfairness and ugliness and says, "Take this."

Take this load. And pick it up.

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Going Newt-clear In Florida, Romney Surges Ahead Vote

Today's the day of the Florida Republican Primary! (Although early voting has been going on for a bit and more than half-a-million votes were cast before today.) Although its still (technically) a four-man race, Rick Santorum is tending to a sick daughter and Ron Paul is focusing on greener primary pastures. That just leaves your unloveable front-runners, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

And Mittens is in the lead ... (for now).

That lead didn't come easy, since Gingrich was on the rise after race-baiting his way into a South Carolina win. But will a poor debate performance from Gingrich and a lot of passive aggressive "Isn't that so sad that Newt Gingrich is so unfaithful and pathetic? He just can't help it!" from Romney.

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GOP Establishment Realizes Hurricane Newt Is Coming For Landfall

There's another GOP debate tonight! Batter the hatches! 

They thought he was dead. They thought they killed him in Iowa. They thought wrong. Newt Gingrich is back, baby! And like the awful B-Movie he is, he's out for revenge. At first it was just about teaching that damn Mittens a lesson, but the Newtster messed around and race-baited his way into a South Carolina primary win. Then Mittens lost Iowa several weeks after winning it. And now it's all come up Gingrich. Even an old sex scandal couldn't stop him. He just kept swinging and won't go down.

If I didn't find the man completely repugnant I'd almost admire his audacity.

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Florida Gov. Is Down With the Homies Because He Grew Up Poor 'N Stuff

Florida Gov. Rick ScottIn a moment of confusion I forgot what day it was this morning. Mostly because I thought I posted my Charlie Rangel story on Thursday, but the tagline said Wednesday, so I thought today was Thursday for a moment, when it is in fact Friday. Being confused about the date is part of my "new reality" where I juggle random jobs and people and places and things and run from one situation to the next. But work-related confusion can happen to anyone. Like, take Florida Governor Rick Scott who thought, through a confusing haze, that he'd get down and relate to Florida's black legislators by talking about growing up poor with uneducated parents. Which, you know? I guess would be signifiers of blackness if it weren't for things like "Not all black people come from poor or humble backgrounds" and "Not all white people are born in pristine Ivory towers."

I mean, has the man NEVER listened to a country music song? Poor white people aren't novel, just invisible in popular culture outside of country music. Just like their opposite day, counter-part -- the bougie, affluent "Cosby Show-esque" Negro.

More after the jump.

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Allen West First Republican In CBC Since 1996

And he's terrifying, but more on that in a second.

Allen West is one of two black Republicans who joined Congress after wins in November. He recently announced he's joining the Congressional Black Caucus which hasn't had a Republican member since 1996 when Gary Franks of Connecticut was part of the caucus. And West's membership should be interesting considering he is certifiable, and not in that, "We politely disagree way," but in a, "He believes in violent voter suppression and almost killed a guy" kind of way.

More after the jump.

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