Comments for jonetta rose barras http://jrbarras.com/site jonetta rose barras publishes investigative reports that focus on the work of federal and local governments. Reporters are supported by the jonettarosebarras.com Investigative Fund. Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:42:33 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on GOP FEVER: READING THE FLORIDA TEA LEAVES by Marilyn Boren http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1470&cpage=1#comment-1033 Marilyn Boren Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:42:33 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1470#comment-1033 Absolutely great article. Gave me the overall Florida political picture as seen through this primary; answered many of my "why's?" I certainly can better understand the forces/personalities as we approach the November general election. Thank you and congratulations for your new opportunity. Absolutely great article. Gave me the overall Florida political picture as seen through this primary; answered many of my “why’s?” I certainly can better understand the forces/personalities as we approach the November general election. Thank you and congratulations for your new opportunity.

]]> Comment on AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: In peril…or in Transit? by Richard Hebert http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1466&cpage=1#comment-1028 Richard Hebert Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:15:51 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1466#comment-1028 Charles, tyou are of course correct. No argument that the goals and objectives of the rebels of the '60s were far different from those of the far-right-fringe today. My point is that, when stripped of the "why," the '60s rebellion had considerable similarity with the "how" of today (e.g., mass ralies with angry venting, and tearing down what is with no clear idea of what to replace it with). And the prospects clearly appear just as frightening to the establishment of today as it did to the established power centers then. RH Charles, tyou are of course correct. No argument that the goals and objectives of the rebels of the ’60s were far different from those of the far-right-fringe today. My point is that, when stripped of the “why,” the ’60s rebellion had considerable similarity with the “how” of today (e.g., mass ralies with angry venting, and tearing down what is with no clear idea of what to replace it with). And the prospects clearly appear just as frightening to the establishment of today as it did to the established power centers then.

RH

]]> Comment on AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: In peril…or in Transit? by Charles Kalmykow http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1466&cpage=1#comment-1027 Charles Kalmykow Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:31:02 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1466#comment-1027 Well reasoned and eloquent as usual! I share your eternal optimism that we are a resilient nation and that this too shall pass. I do challenge your broad comparison of the Tea Party movement to the anti-war/civil rights activists of the 60s and the flower children and their espousals of peace. love, and hallucinogenics. The anti-government persuasion of those latter groups was motivated primarily by the horrors of the Vietnam War and the misguided foreign polices of Johnson and MacNamara and the paranoid leadership of Richard Milhouse. Their objectives were simple and naive but were, for the most part, worthy and constructive - end a senseless war, work for racial and sexual equality, demand corporate integrity, and seek a more meaningful existence for all. The current rebellion from the right smacks of far less high minded goals and seems largely prompted by greed, racial and religious fear mongering, and the age old hunger for power and control. The left leaning voices of the 60s included college students, educators, clergy, artists and crafts people who articulated their anger and took to streets but whose ends were peace, reason, and harmony. The Tea Party's ends are hardly harmonious - threats of armed resistance and succession and the outright hatred of large segments of the population including socialists, liberals, baby killers, communists, Muslims, and an obvious inability to accept a black man as their President. What is now different is the new wave of mass communication tools, the internet, cell phones, etc. that allow the instant and wide spread dissemination of close-minded opinion and misinformation. It fuels and inflames the simple into believing only what they want to hear and creates large networks of like minded individuals who by themselves are relatively harmless, but as group, gain a voice and are dangerous. Democracy can be a scary thing when reason and understanding are in short supply. Well reasoned and eloquent as usual! I share your eternal optimism that we are a resilient nation and that this too shall pass. I do challenge your broad comparison of the Tea Party movement to the anti-war/civil rights activists of the 60s and the flower children and their espousals of peace. love, and hallucinogenics. The anti-government persuasion of those latter groups was motivated primarily by the horrors of the Vietnam War and the misguided foreign polices of Johnson and MacNamara and the paranoid leadership of Richard Milhouse. Their objectives were simple and naive but were, for the most part, worthy and constructive – end a senseless war, work for racial and sexual equality, demand corporate integrity, and seek a more meaningful existence for all. The current rebellion from the right smacks of far less high minded goals and seems largely prompted by greed, racial and religious fear mongering, and the age old hunger for power and control. The left leaning voices of the 60s included college students, educators, clergy, artists and crafts people who articulated their anger and took to streets but whose ends were peace, reason, and harmony. The Tea Party’s ends are hardly harmonious – threats of armed resistance and succession and the outright hatred of large segments of the population including socialists, liberals, baby killers, communists, Muslims, and an obvious inability to accept a black man as their President. What is now different is the new wave of mass communication tools, the internet, cell phones, etc. that allow the instant and wide spread dissemination of close-minded opinion and misinformation. It fuels and inflames the simple into believing only what they want to hear and creates large networks of like minded individuals who by themselves are relatively harmless, but as group, gain a voice and are dangerous. Democracy can be a scary thing when reason and understanding are in short supply.

]]> Comment on AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: In peril…or in Transit? by Annette Cappella http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1466&cpage=1#comment-1026 Annette Cappella Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:29:15 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1466#comment-1026 Richard, your optimistic viewpoint so beautifully expressed, is inspirational in these tumultuous times. Thank you for reminding us of what we should already know and understand if only we would take time out of our busy, bustling lives to reflect and think things through. --Annette Richard, your optimistic viewpoint so beautifully expressed, is inspirational in these tumultuous times. Thank you for reminding us of what we should already know and understand if only we would take time out of our busy, bustling lives to reflect and think things through. –Annette

]]> Comment on IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREENE — A Parody by marty http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1464&cpage=1#comment-1018 marty Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:01:31 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/2010/08/04/it%e2%80%99s-not-easy-being-greene-%e2%80%94-a-parody/#comment-1018 Right on! If this guy wins the primary, we will lose EVERY race in November. Black voters and Progressives may sit this one out, in disgust, or vote for "The Tan Guy". Either way, we lose. Wake up, people, this guy is a plant if I ever saw one..... Right on! If this guy wins the primary, we will lose EVERY race in November. Black voters and Progressives may sit this one out, in disgust, or vote for “The Tan Guy”.
Either way, we lose.

Wake up, people, this guy is a plant if I ever saw one…..

]]> Comment on IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREENE — A Parody by Elaine Lhota http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1464&cpage=1#comment-1017 Elaine Lhota Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:53:48 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/2010/08/04/it%e2%80%99s-not-easy-being-greene-%e2%80%94-a-parody/#comment-1017 You did it again, Richard! Excellent article. I wish we could put this in the Miami Herald for all those who don't know any better and believe all the crap Jeff Greene throws out on TV & in the mail would wise up. Elaine Lhota You did it again, Richard! Excellent article. I wish we could put this in the Miami Herald for all those who don’t know any better and believe all the crap Jeff Greene throws out on TV & in the mail would wise up.

Elaine Lhota

]]> Comment on IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREENE — A Parody by Richard Hébert http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1464&cpage=1#comment-1016 Richard Hébert Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:10:56 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/2010/08/04/it%e2%80%99s-not-easy-being-greene-%e2%80%94-a-parody/#comment-1016 This just in: In his most recently mailed mudsling, Jeff Greene states that Meek is identified as “one of the two most corrupt Democrats in Congress” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW lists eight Democrats on its list of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress. Meek is not one of them. Check for yourself at http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/. CREW’s “Crooked Candidates” list does include Meek, however. In fact, five of the dirty dozen are from Florida (no other state comes close), and four of those are running for the Senate seat. In addition to Meek, they include newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist, Republican and Tea Party darling Mark Rubio and – drum roll, please – Jeff Greene. It appears the pot is calling the kettle black, or at least hoping you won’t look stuff up for yourself. You can find that list, with brief explanations for each entry, at http://www.citizensforethics.org/crookedcandidates2010. This just in:

In his most recently mailed mudsling, Jeff Greene states that Meek is identified as “one of the two most corrupt Democrats in Congress” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). CREW lists eight Democrats on its list of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress. Meek is not one of them. Check for yourself at http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/.

CREW’s “Crooked Candidates” list does include Meek, however. In fact, five of the dirty dozen are from Florida (no other state comes close), and four of those are running for the Senate seat. In addition to Meek, they include newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist, Republican and Tea Party darling Mark Rubio and – drum roll, please – Jeff Greene. It appears the pot is calling the kettle black, or at least hoping you won’t look stuff up for yourself. You can find that list, with brief explanations for each entry, at http://www.citizensforethics.org/crookedcandidates2010.

]]> Comment on POLL-VAULTING: The Billionaire Party-Crasher by Philip Ewanicki http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1400&cpage=1#comment-1012 Philip Ewanicki Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:10:54 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1400#comment-1012 Wealth in the U.S.A. is increasingly concentrated in fewer hands, great personal wealth is increasingly a prerequisite for election, and the influence of wealth upon legislation and government policies is increasinging rapidly through lobbyist financing and direct corporate payments. No theory or ideology here, just fact. Is there a credible study of the correlation between the success or failure of past nations and societies and the extent of the concentration of wealth within them? I would be very interested in such a study and the facts (versus opinions) it reveals, but I have no idea where to begin to look. Wealth in the U.S.A. is increasingly concentrated in fewer hands, great personal wealth is increasingly a prerequisite for election, and the influence of wealth upon legislation and government policies is increasinging rapidly through lobbyist financing and direct corporate payments. No theory or ideology here, just fact.

Is there a credible study of the correlation between the success or failure of past nations and societies and the extent of the concentration of wealth within them? I would be very interested in such a study and the facts (versus opinions) it reveals, but I have no idea where to begin to look.

]]> Comment on RX FOR LEFTIES: Take Off the Gloves by Elaine Lhota http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1458&cpage=1#comment-1004 Elaine Lhota Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:43:52 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1458#comment-1004 Excellent column Mr. Hebert. Since I'm a Floridian you know my heart is leaning & praying for Alex Sink & Allan Grayson. There is no other way we can straighten out this mess we are in. The health care reform is a must if we are to survive. Too many are without health insurance. Immigration movement must continue. We are not Arizona. Our parents, grand-parents were once immigrants and that's why we are Americans. Lets act like American. We are United - are we not? We took this land from the Indians & now we say who can live here and who cannot. And racism still exist, in my opinion. Sad isn't it? Time for change. Excellent column Mr. Hebert. Since I’m a Floridian you know my heart is leaning & praying for Alex Sink & Allan Grayson. There is no other way we can straighten out this mess we are in. The health care reform is a must if we are to survive. Too many are without health insurance. Immigration movement must continue. We are not Arizona. Our parents, grand-parents were once immigrants and that’s why we are Americans. Lets act like American. We are United – are we not? We took this land from the Indians & now we say who can live here and who cannot. And racism still exist, in my opinion. Sad isn’t it?
Time for change.

]]> Comment on TEA PARTY PICNIC: Getting Georgia Off My Mind by Anna Griffith http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1455&cpage=1#comment-988 Anna Griffith Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:16:30 +0000 http://jrbarras.com/site/?p=1455#comment-988 Very, very revealing of "middle" America. Middle America has become mediocre minds making a mess. There are quite a few of us applying for Resident Visas (equivalent of Green Card) in Mexico and several million who already have them. It will take 5 years and about $300 a year. Drug lords are a minor inconvenience (they usually kill each other, and cannot conceive of greed on the scale that Wall Street and Washington practice) in the overall picture. In Mexico one can obtain better health care at a fraction the price - so much so many of us forgo Medicare, without a second thought - we pay little or no property tax, and no insurance. We don't need cars (although you can have one), a HUGE saving, because public transport is spectacularly good and inexpensive. I haven't seen the America I miss for 20 years, and it's clear I wouldn't find it in Georgia. Very, very revealing of “middle” America. Middle America has become mediocre minds making a mess.

There are quite a few of us applying for Resident Visas (equivalent of Green Card) in Mexico and several million who already have them. It will take 5 years and about $300 a year. Drug lords are a minor inconvenience (they usually kill each other, and cannot conceive of greed on the scale that Wall Street and Washington practice) in the overall picture. In Mexico one can obtain better health care at a fraction the price – so much so many of us forgo Medicare, without a second thought – we pay little or no property tax, and no insurance. We don’t need cars (although you can have one), a HUGE saving, because public transport is spectacularly good and inexpensive. I haven’t seen the America I miss for 20 years, and it’s clear I wouldn’t find it in Georgia.

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