3. Are We the Worst?

Howard Troxler

Are we? This is a question I posed to Howard Troxler a few years ago. For those of you who don't remember Howard, or weren't fortunate enough to be living here when he was writing for the St. Petersburg Times, he was a beacon in the night.
He was often the only one, with pen mightier than sword, willing to point out that "the emperor had no clothes". One of his favorite targets was the Florida State Legislature. If you've lived in Florida for any length of time, and you have the least sense of fairness, then you are already aware that the Florida State Legislature is stupifyingly wretched.

            Flori-Duh

I would be remiss not to include some of the Great Mans words. Here is link to one of his 2011 columns that starts with: "It's only the first week of the Legislature, and already it has set a record for The Worst Idea in the History of the World ".
Golf Courses in State Parks - The Worst Idea in History

Now just in case you think this kind of thing is ancient history, here are some of the stories from this week in the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) newspaper.
Elected leaders make stupid laws and cost the taxpayers a fortune
Legislators reckless porkbarrel budget
Lawmakers protect their own sweet deal on health insurance

I was lucky enough to once get interviewed by Howard when my neighborhood was fighting a particularly egregious and unwanted boneheaded commercial development plan. Over the course of the next few years, I would periodically reach out to him. One time I asked him how it was that perfectly good and decent people could enter political office and transform into such Napoleonic weasels.

Shadenfreude: Pleasure derived from
 the misfortune of others

His theory was that perfectly normal people sit up on the dais, with other people looking up at them, hanging on their every word, beseeching them for favors, and treating them as if their opinions mattered. After a while, they start believing it. Keep someone in office long enough, and they start to believe that the laws no longer apply to them. I think that's a pretty good theory.


Of course in Florida we've gone one better, and elected The Worst Scumbag in the History of Florida Governors, and that's saying a lot. The voters of Florida, deciding that they couldn't bear the thought of a Governor becoming a criminal WHILE in office, decided on a preemptive strike and elected a criminal TO office.

Rick Scott (The Ricktator) was Chairman/CEO of Columbia/HCA, the company fined $1.7 billion by the federal government for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. It set a record for the largest fine of its kind in history. The company plead guilty to 14 felony violations of fraud. Here's an interesting piece about Snotty Scotty that was written BEFORE he was elected, so it's not like anyone didn't know.
Steve Forbes: Why Rick Scott can't be trusted.

It is so shallow to judge anyone by their personal appearance. It's just not right, and something this author abhors, making it all that more problematic that Scott bares an uncanny resemblance to Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.

I do NOT                                              Resistance is futile

This comparison is, of course, massively unfair to Lord Voldemort, as he has never received so much as a parking ticket, much less overseen a criminal enterprise. I'm sure his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mort, are lovely people.

Another time I asked Howard if he thought the Florida State Legislature was the worst in the United States. He said that it may not be the VERY worst, that you could never really count out Louisiana, but Florida was certainly in the running.
So...... we have one of the worst State Legislatures in the nation, and an ethically bankrupt Governor. What is the common thread between these two things?

I sure of it, I DID poopies!

It's the Florida voter. It's OUR fault. We seem to forget that these people we elect for reasons unrelated to their qualifications for intelligent governance, make decisions that directly affect our lives. Many people these days, particularly those on the right, believe they are channeling the Founding Fathers. They can pretty much get away with this since everyone napped through history class anyway and has no idea what the Founding Fathers really said. They said stuff like "..if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded." Noah Webster.

Not sure if Howard Troxler ever came out and said, "Hey Floridians, if you keep voting stupidly, you get what you deserve".  He probably did. We have no one but ourselves to blame.

Years ago, there was a comic strip called Pogo. I leave you with this thought:       ARE we the worst?