The most dangerous man in the Florida Senate

The most dangerous man, or woman, in the Florida Senate is Democrat Gary Farmer from Ft. Lauderdale – and given recent events, that’s saying something. An unabashed proponent of medical marijuana, Farmer sees no danger at all in moving to the next step – legalized recreational grass. This is something the medical profession and law enforcement agencies saw coming and why they so strongly opposed an ill-conceived constitutional amendment for medical pot. In a recent interview, Farmer blithely segued from legalized pot to his frustration over Florida’s opioid crisis. And what does every study in the history of mankind show as the first drug of use prior to opioid addiction? Marijuana! Guys like Senator Farmer are a very real danger to Florida’s future.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Good initial effort by our Chief Executive in the State of the Union. The “Americans are dreamers, too” remark will live on in history. And young Joe Kennedy acquitted himself nicely in the reply although it lacked the positive tone you would have expected from his forbearers.

2. Next Wednesday, we have the opposing confluence of Valentine’s Day, a day of chocolates and sumptuous dinners, and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a season of self-denial. Another quirk of the calendar is six weeks hence when Easter falls on April Fools’ Day.

3. The failure of the 911 system over a large part of the greater Tampa Bay area is downright scary. The public needs an explanation and vastly improved safeguards - like yesterday.

4. Idle question: why on the days folks have the most leisure time (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) is the Clearwater main library open the fewest hours – just five hours each day?

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time if you dined at the Lum’s Restaurant on Gulf to Bay Blvd. – famous for their hot dogs steamed in beer.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. On the eve of the Super Bowl, a report notes that interest in the NFL is down – most alarmingly in certain demographics the league holds precious – young men. There’s some spin doctoring going on as to the cause of such a significant fall – blaming the concussion issue. But let’s be honest – a bunch of spoiled brats taking a knee during our national anthem has done irreparable harm to the NFL.

7. We justifiably take MLB’s Commissioner to the woodshed below, but his ideas on speeding up the game (a proposed limit of six mound visits a game and keeping batters in the batter’s box between pitches) makes a lot more sense than a pitch clock. Let’s hope the player’s union sees the light on this one.

8. Local media gave just three lines to the most significant baseball trade of the off-season – Christian Yelich going to the Milwaukee Brewers making them the odds-on favorite to win the AL Central Division.

9. Word on the street is that ex-Blue Jay Jose Bautista, who has Tampa roots, would like to play for the Rays - advice to Rays’ front office – run, don’t walk.

10. Remember when the Dallas Cowboys were known as America’s team during the Tom Landry era. Now, they vie for the title of America’s most disliked team along with the New England Patriots.

Bud Selig’s weak-kneed successor:

Congratulations to MLB Commissar Rob Manfred who now has forever cemented his legacy as the man who stripped a 70-year old icon off the jerseys of Cleveland's American League baseball team. This is the team that brought the first African American player to the American League in Larry Doby - a team of Catholics like Herb Score; those of the Jewish faith like Al Rosen, in addition to Doby, pioneering Black stars like Al Smith, Luke Easter and baseball's first Black manager Frank Robinson; early Latin American players like Bobby Avila, Chico Carresquel and the current Francisco Lindor. In short, this franchise doesn't have a racist bone in its body, but political correctness and Rob Manfred must prevail. Manfred strips away the iconic Wahoo logo while looking the other way as wife/girlfriend beaters get a slap on the wrist instead of the lifetime ban they deserve. We only thought Bud Selig was bad; he comes across as another Judge Landis when compared to his weak-kneed successor.

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: pioneer radio station, free agents and 60s shopping