Established in 2014, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national politics, sports, lifestyles and Tampa Bay memories from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

Will the last non-Scientologist vacating downtown Clearwater please bring the flag?

Leading off: A blueprint for 2025

The Wall Street Journal’s outstanding editorial columnist Kimberly Strassel authored a bestselling book last year, The Biden Malaise, a blueprint of how to pull America out of the doldrums caused by the Biden administration’s mismanagement. She marches us through common sense solutions to our weakness as perceived overseas, the border mess, energy problems, inflation, and a half dozen others. She compares Biden to Jimmy Carter and the similarities are exceptional. The solution to Jimmy Carter, in two words from Ms. Strassel, was Ronald Reagan. The Gipper is no longer with us to implement cures. Certainly no fan of Biden and very lukewarm on Trump, she would seem to have preferred Cotton, DeSantis, Haley, Pompeo or other policy wonks. Her admonition at book’s end was “Choose wisely.” A year later, it’s apparent we have not. Now, we can just pray that (1) Biden is not re-elected and (2) that Trump provides a more level-headed policy approach than his first four years. Regardless of November’s outcome, Ms. Strassel’s book is worth a read.

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Last week, the bay area lost two fine men who were stalwarts in their business careers and their faith. Frank Palms was an F-100 pilot during Vietnam and had distinguished careers with GTE and Dillard’s while faithfully serving his church. Frank, a Clearwater High grad, was 80.

Rich Clemow’s family-run insurance agency was built on a foundation of integrity. The Largo native also was very active in his faith. He was 85.

Norfolk Southern agrees to a $600 million settlement in District Court in Ohio. Fine and dandy IF that cash makes everyone damaged whole and is not frittered away by a bunch of bureaucrats.

The sick number of the week: $60 million - the amount of money pro-abortion radicals plan to spend in Florida to try to convince folks that it’s okay to kill unborn children.

Related: Governor Ron DeSantis believes Florida voters will reject both the pro-abortion and legal grass initiatives in November - from his lips to God’s ears.

Biz note: Ford will lose $4.5 billion on EVs this fiscal year. That’s a lot of dough!

Factoid: There has never been a pay phone (remember them?), jukebox or any kind of vending machine in a McDonald’s. From an older, but fascinating book Grinding It Out by franchise czar Ray Kroc - more on this gem of a book in a week or two.

Speaking of the Golden Arches, can’t wait to nab America’s best doughnut (Krispy Kreme) as the two companies are joining forces.

We’ve always bragged that our alma mater, CHS, has produced two of the nation’s astronauts. But how about Bronx High School of Science that has produced nine Nobel Prize winners – the latest is Claudia Golden, winning in Economics.

This week (April 14-20) is National Volunteer Week - a thought shared with us by Paul Gregory of the Retirement Home for Horses in Alachua: “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”

Born 100 years ago this week (April 16) in Cleveland was 20 time Grammy winner and composer Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther, Charade, Mr. Lucky, Moon River and many more).

Sports, media and other notes:

From the 5:05 Newsletter this note: At the White House Easter Roll Hunt last month, the kids found 64,000 Easter eggs, 26 classified documents and 30 grams of cocaine.

Idle thought: the “Frozen Four” doesn’t get nearly the amount of attention it deserves. Maybe it should stage on a weekend when they’re not playing golf in Augusta.

Another black eye for the LA Dodgers: the threatening manner in which they treated the woman who caught Shohei Ohtani’s first home run ball as a Dodger.

Pitching, pitching, and pitching. Already two of our division picks have been shaken by serious arm injuries in Houston and Atlanta.

… One last thing: Saving a queen of the seas

At the extreme ends of the United States are two hallowed ocean liners. At Long Beach, CA is the Queen Mary; in the Delaware River at Philadelphia is the U.S. United States. The two ships that once plowed the Atlantic have had different fates since their retirements. The Queen Mary is a functional hotel and events venue in California while the United States sadly sits at a pier in Philadelphia. As the ship deteriorates despite the best efforts of its conservancy group, a potential savior has come forth in the presence of real estate firm RXR who would repurpose the fabled liner into a 1000 key hotel as well as a dining and event destination with a home port of, ideally, New York near the Javits Center or some other major port city on the east coast (Florida has been suggested). We hope this works out as it may be the last chance for a proud ship that, to this day, holds the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic in both directions. In the words of the late Walter Cronkite, “If America’s flagship is lost; it will be a crime against history.”

UP NEXT: Baseball fairy tale; MOR TV; $50 to shop at Target?

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