Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot sounds good until you read the fine print. Then you realize the real costs to local communities. Now you can do the calculation for yourself — check out the link below.

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

One of the most consequential decisions we will make in the midterm election doesn’t involve candidates for office, but a change in how we tax ourselves in Florida to fund essential public services.

Amendment 3 sounds great on paper if you are a homeowner or own commercial real estate. It would increase the amount you can deduct from your property’s value, thus reducing how much property tax you have to pay.

What’s not to like?

Well, the answer to that is this: The Legislature, in creating this ballot proposition for us to vote on, utterly failed to provide any alternative sources of revenue if taxes are reduced.

For instance, in the southwest Florida community where I live, county government would lose $39.8 million, and our fire and rescue services would be slashed by more than $18 million.

Enjoying the prospects of contracting dengue fever? Well, our mosquito control program would see a $1.5 million hit. Conservation and water management would take a $4.7 million clobbering. And the list goes on.

Said another way, Amendment 3 isn’t on the level. It’s a political stunt. And we would all pay the price in reduced services, a reduction in quality of life—and, most likely, a real reduction in property values as our communities become less desirable to live in.

But don’t take my word for it. The Florida Sheriffs Association is opposing it, as is the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association. City and county leaders all over the state are warning of dire consequences. As does the Florida Democratic Party.

You can see for yourself what the impact would be like where you live.

The Florida Policy Institute has created a handy, easy-to-use calculator where you can see how much money your town would lose if Amendment 3 passes.

That’s where I got the information I shared with you earlier in this column about the losses my community would face.

Check it out for yourself with the link below. It will open a website; all you have to do is plug in your ZIP code, and the numbers you need will pop right up.

Service Cut Calculator

“We really hope this will be a one-stop shop and something easy to use where people can see how the amendment would impact the community,” Sonia Lindell, director of communications and marketing for the Florida Policy Institute told the Florida Phoenix.

Sadaf Knight, CEO of the institute, added:

“There is a lack of understanding to a certain degree about what our property taxes fund and how those impact all of us in our day-to-day life. And so, what we’re hoping with our calculator is to show that these are not just services that you might typically think of running the local government … but it’s also things like mosquito control …. What we wanted to illustrate is what property taxes fund and what’s at stake so it can become more real for people and understand what the other side of the ledger really is when it comes to Amendment 3’s impact.”

Like all constitutional amendments in Florida, it would require approval by 60% of voters to enact.

Mail-in voting has already begun. So the future of our communities in Florida is already being decided.

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Things you need to know about Amendment 3

Amendment 3’s property tax cuts would reduce funding for public services by billions of dollars statewide beginning in 2027–$13.7 billion in the first two years alone. But the statewide number doesn’t show how the impact could be felt where you live.

What Do Property Taxes Pay For in Florida? A lot.

Property taxes help fund valuable services including Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services, law enforcement, libraries, parks, hospitals, afterschool programs and other everyday community services. Cutting property taxes won’t eliminate the cost of providing those services. Communities will have to replace the revenue through new taxes and fees, make major cuts to services, or a combination of both.

Would Every County Feel the Impact Equally? No.

The impact won’t be shared evenly either. Counties with a smaller commercial tax base, many of them rural, have far fewer ways to make up the difference than large urban counties.

What if You Don’t Own a Home? Rents most likely will increase.

If passed, Amendment 3 will impact everybody, whether you rent or own your home. If communities raise fees and assessments to make up for the lost revenue, the costs will be passed on to renters and homeowners alike. Property tax rates could also be increased for non-homestead properties - which include apartment and home rentals - to make up the gap in revenue, which landlords would pass on to renters. In fact, renters will most likely see higher rents due to this cost shift.

From the Florida Policy Institute’s tax cut calculator page at

https://amendment3.floridapolicyinstitute.org/

News2Use

This is your one-stop shop for election information. News2Use is a handy reference library with links to useful information, including election deadlines, how and where to register to vote, how to contact your elected representatives, and more. Check it out.

Thanks for your support

Since we launched this newsletter a year ago, thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making it one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

In addition to subscribing, you can make a huge contribution to this effort by sharing these posts with friends. If you are reading this as an email, you can simply forward it. Or use the handy link below.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

This is your Trump Administration, celebrating with champagne, whooping it up, having a grand old time in the White House while Americans are struggling, wondering whether to put gas in the tank or food in the fridge.

It’s a real Let Them Eat Cake moment.

This picture and two more we’re sharing here today tell you everything you need to know about Donald Trump and the grifters and gnomes he’s surrounded himself with.

This image is a screen grab from a longer video posted online by Dan Scavino, Trump’s deputy chief of staff. It’s AI-generated, and it really is a challenge to understand why someone in such a high position in the Executive Branch of the United States of America would think this is OK.

In addition to Scavino—the guy grasping the champagne bottle—are his wife, Erin, holding a shoe, and Eric and Lara Trump.

"This is not an intended for the Dems heads to explode—Being some of the post State Dinner party has gotten out, I felt inclined to share mine as well, in complete transparency, with the American People. GOD BLESS THE USA!!!" Scavino wrote in an Instagram post containing the video.

The reaction to the post was scathing, including this from former federal and state prosecutor and MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski:

“These people make Marie Antoinette look connected to the people and empathetic by comparison. They laugh at what their own voters are going through as they continue to mock them as they enrich themselves and have a great time.”

This still image is from one of several videos Trump has been running on TV. and online. The White House claims they are public service ads, so they are entitled to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars to broadcast them.

They are, in fact, self-promotional commercials, unquestionably political in nature, advertisements designed to boost Trump and Republicans as the midterm elections approach.

One ad that ran during weekend college and NFL football games appears to be a largely repurposed campaign ad from Trump’s election in which he’s strolling down a White House corridor warning:

The major difference between the 2023 and 2024 political ads and this one is that now there’s a tagline that reads: Paid for by the U.S. Government. Meaning you and me.

And not to put too fine a point on it, but just when is Trump going to get around to expelling the warmongers from our government? Last time I checked, he’s the warmonger-in-chief. Does he plan to self-deport?

The screenshot shown above is from a similar ad, a chest-pounder where Trump brags he’s going to protect us from a communist takeover.

What’s so ludicrous about this is that the ad ran while Chinese President Xi Jinping was being feted at the White House (hence the champagne), where credible reports suggest that Trump offered to sell China American-made weapons.

No need to worry about communist Chinese paratroopers landing on our shores when our president is handing them the key to the castle.

Reaction from Democrats was harsh:

“This is the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and utterly illegal misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” congressional Democratic appropriators wrote in a letter Friday addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

The letter was signed by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Rep. Rosa De Lauro, D-Conn.; and Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Then there’s this image, captured during the weekend football game between the Texas Longhorns and the Tennessee Volunteers.

Yep, that’s Natalie Harp, Trump’s constant companion, capturing the commander in chief’s attention with something on her ever-present laptop—nobody knows what—keeping the easily distracted octogenarian entertained, as if the action on the field weren’t enough.

Can’t this guy go anywhere without her?

Apparently not.

Can he be so oblivious that he doesn’t realize how embarrassing this is?

Apparently he doesn’t care.

Break out the champagne.

Leave a comment

News2Use

Check out the latest section on the Tropic Press website, News2Use, a handy reference library with links to useful information, including election deadlines, how to contact your elected representatives, and more. It’s a construction project, and we’re adding to it on a regular basis.

Thanks for your support

Since we launched this newsletter a year ago, thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making it one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

In addition to subscribing, you can make a huge contribution to this effort by sharing these posts with friends. If you are reading this as an email, you can simply forward it. Or use the handy link below.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

If you requested a vote-by-mail ballot for the Nov. 3 General Election, it should be on its way from your local Supervisor of Elections Office.

In some locations, you may have already received an email notifying you that it’s in the mail.

If not, give it a day or two, but if you don’t see it in your mailbox soon, it may be worth calling your local Elections Office.

Roughly a third of all Americans use vote-by-mail ballots, but you have options on how you submit them. You can, of course, mail them back to your Elections Office. Or you can drop them off in person if that feels more secure (it’s what I do). You can also deposit them at early voting sites, which by law will be opening no later than Oct. 24, although some counties extend those dates.

In the Tropic Press News2Use section, you’ll find a complete list of early voting Frequently Asked Questions. It also includes information on how to contact your Local Elections Office.

What you need to know

Three constitutional amendments are on the midterm election ballot, along with contests to choose our next governor, U.S. senator, congressional delegation, representatives and senators in the state Legislature, and other public offices.

There’s a lot at stake, not least of which, nationally, is control of Congress.

Sorting through all this can be a challenge, which is why I am directing your attention to the 2026 Voter Guide that the Florida Phoenix has just published online.

As regular readers of this newsletter know, in addition to original reporting and commentary here at Tropic Press, we’re also committed to uplifting important journalism from individual reporters and news organizations in the state.

We’re fortunate here in Florida to have several nonprofit newsrooms doing great public service reporting, and we are pleased to share stories from them, including those from the Phoenix.

Check out their helpful guide to the 2026 election here:

2026 Voter Guide

It is also a good idea to double-check that your voter registration is still active, as Florida has been very aggressive about purging voter rolls. You can do that online at your local elections office.

The deadline to register to vote in the General Election is Oct. 5.

That Was the Week That Was

Are our homeowners’ insurance rates fair?

A series of reports by two Florida newspapers, based on state documents, is calling that into question: property insurance companies claimed losses while funneling more than $1 billion to affiliate organizations.

Attorneys for the state demanded that the newspapers—the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun Sentinel—destroy the long-hidden reports they legally obtained, and the newspapers refused.

In fact, beyond their reporting, they posted the documents online for everyone to inspect as an act of defiance. You can read them here:

See the secret documents

Related: News organizations publish Florida’s secret examination of insurer profits

Dems chances of winning the House improve

The highly regarded Cook Political Report says the G.O.P. is on track to lose its majority in the House of Representatives, as 15 tight races nationally have now shifted toward Democrats.

Democrats currently hold 215 seats, meaning they need to gain just three seats to take back the majority. But the realm of competitive and potentially competitive districts is fairly small. The most likely outcome at this point is that Democrats pick up five to 15 seats, resulting in Democrats holding 220 to 230 seats in 2027 — a fairly slim majority in modern U.S. history. That range could shift further in Democrats’ favor over the next five weeks if Republicans are unable to effectively stem the bleeding.

Supreme Court sides with Trump on voter database

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision on Friday allows the Trump administration to deploy its revamped federal database—the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program—to help states verify registered voters' citizenship status.

However, federal law limits the immediate threat of massive voter roll purges ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The majority opinion noted that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) bans broad, systematic voter roll purges within 90 days of an election.

Still, voting rights groups are worried that naturalized citizens could be disenfranchised and that voters’ privacy rights could be violated.

Read More

DeSantis staff quietly rehired jilted lawyers who helped secure Hope Florida settlement

Just after the 2024 elections, the DeSantis administration awarded a new contract to lawyers who helped secure a legal settlement that the governor’s staff then used to fund political activities, otherwise known as the Hope Florida Scandal.

Independent investigative journalist Jason Garcia has the story, and it's posted on the Tropic Press website.

Read More

Photo of the Week

Thanks, Trump!

Quote of the Week

“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me.”

—Donald Trump to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the U.N.

(For the record, CNN said no such thing. It was Trump who banned CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, a decision that was quickly overturned in federal court, although further hearings on the matter are scheduled in the coming weeks.)

Letter of the Week

“David Jolly should take a lesson from (Alex) Vindman, deciding not to debate his primary opponent (Angie) Nixon. Refusing to debate Donalds, who he calls a liar, but not being willing to get on the stage to demonstrate his ability to dominate Donalds publicly is a huge mistake. People need to see these two guys standing up publicly, answering questions. That's how we'll take the measure of the men, not by the incessant texts and emails we get asking for money.”

—George Terranova, M.D.

(Editor’s Note: Nearly 1,100 Tropic Press readers responded to a poll question on whether Jolly should reverse his decision not to debate Donalds, and 83 percent agreed with Doctor Terranova that he should debate.)

Looking Ahead

When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)

Sept. 28. Today is the deadline for CNN, Politico, and MSNOW to file their briefs in federal court to permanently enjoin the White House from banning them. They currently have a temporary restraining order that has allowed them to return. The White House has until Oct. 2 to file its response.

Sept. 29 is Confucius Day. My favorite quote of his (also paraphrased by Bruce Wayne’s dad in Batman Begins): “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Bruce Wayne, of course, went on to become Batman, but he never was as powerful as the Green Lantern. Which really bugged him.

Sept. 30. International Podcast Day, celebrating those daring souls who put it all out there to share their thoughts with the world, such as Florida’s newest: Jeff and Dave Save the World.

Oct. 1 is International Coffee Day. Drinking 2-4 cups of coffee a day has been associated with a reduced risk of dying from all causes, including heart disease. It also protects against Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and falling asleep on the Florida Turnpike. You can grow coffee plants in South Florida, but not in the rest of the state where it gets frosty.

Oct. 2. White House deadline to file its briefs in federal court on why it is entitled to ban several news organizations.

Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines

In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.

Byron Donalds is the latest Florida Republican to ghost Trump during campaign

Byron Donalds’ effort to hide from Trump backfires on social media

David Jolly, declaring ‘you can’t debate a liar,’ foregoes chance to face his gubernatorial rival

What do these pictures tell us about Donald Trump, Natalie Harp, and the Kennedy Center?

Further thoughts on why we need a strong and vibrant news media in Florida

President What’s-His-Name, who used to be on TV, now cavorts with Communists

How Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida quietly hollowed out Florida’s safety net

How scared should we be of furries? Take the poll.

News2Use

Check out the latest section on the Tropic Press website, News2Use, a handy reference library with links to useful information sincluding election deadlines, how to contact your elected representatives, and more. It’s a construction project, and we’re adding to it on a regular basis.

Thanks for your support

Since we launched this newsletter a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making it one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue. And please share this newsletter with your friends.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

If you’re not familiar with him already, let me introduce you to Keith Boykin. He’s the guy talking in the video above, and I encourage you to watch it all the way through.

By way of background, Boykin is an author, political commentator, and was a special assistant to President Bill Clinton in the White House from 1993 to 1995.

Although he was born in St. Louis, he moved to Clearwater at 15, where he became student government president and editor of the school newspaper. So, he’s got some Florida and journalism chops.

This video shows the kind of social media blowback Byron Donalds’ decision to scrub Donald Trump from his campaign website has sparked.

Donalds may end up wishing that he’d left well enough alone, as all it has largely done is cast a spotlight on his relationship with Trump, which is exactly what he was trying to minimize.

That’s kind of hard to do, though, when your entire political career centers on Trump’s endorsement, which is clearly a double-edged sword—it’s why so many G.O.P. candidates are now playing duck and cover.

The latest poll numbers show Trump’s popularity among American voters even lower than it was just a few weeks ago. According to the latest surveys, about 60% of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency, in general. And when pollsters for The New York Times asked registered voters who they favored for Congress, Democrats were significantly favored over Republicans, as you can see in this chart:

No wonder Republicans like Donalds are erasing Trump from their websites. But the problem with Donalds and others, as Boykin points out in this video, is you can’t erase a history of servility.

ON IRAN

Donalds: "The president has not committed troops on the ground in Iran and won't spend years fighting never-ending military entanglements like we saw in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Reality: It’s been nearly seven months since the war started on Feb. 28, and the end is not in sight.

ON THE PRICE OF GAS

Donalds: "Energy dominance actually gives you the ability to stabilize prices, because energy is a component cost of everything that the American people buy."

Reality: The price at the pump is $1.30 higher than a year ago.

ON THE ECONOMY

Donalds: "When Republicans are in charge, the economy is better, and I got more money in my pocket."

Reality: Inflation is up 3.4 percent from a year ago.

ON TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION STYLE

Donalds: “I think it's important for the American people to have a commander-in-chief, have a president who speaks his mind... The American people want to hear from their leader. It may not always be nice but is what needs to be said because our country is in decline. We need to get it back on track and Donald Trump will fix it."

Reality: The polls speak for themselves on whether the nation thinks Trump has gotten the country “back on track.”

Which is precisely why Donalds is erasing Trump from his campaign.

There’s a somewhat dated saying cops used to use way back when I was on the police beat: “You can run from my cruiser, but you can’t outrun my Motorola.”

And you can’t outrun your history, either.

Latest on the Jolly/Donalds race

Donalds, while raising far more money for TV advertising than his Democratic opponent, David Jolly, is still slipping in the polls.

Here’s the latest update from Decision Desk HQ, which said in a social media post Wednesday that it is moving the Florida governor’s race from “Leans Republican” to “Toss Up.”

"In our gubernatorial forecast update, Florida's gubernatorial race has shifted into the Toss Up column. Byron Donalds now has a 60% win probability, down from 68% at the start of September," the post said.

Still, they show that Donalds is still narrowly favored, as you can see in this graphic:

Should Jolly debate Donalds?

I asked readers that question in an earlier column after Jolly said he couldn’t debate “a liar.” More than a thousand of you responded. Here are the results.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Remember the TV spot that Byron Donalds used to launch his campaign for governor back in February? The one with him and Donald Trump, face to face, Old Glory in the background, with the words:

TRUMP TRUSTS BYRON

Well, Trump’s trust might have been misplaced.

This week, Donalds pulled some prominent references to Trump from his website, joining a growing number of Republicans, including here in ruby red Florida, who are dumping Trump for this election.

Small wonder: With Trump’s approval rating in the toilet, with so many voters unhappy about the cost of living, with concerns about the cruelty of Trump’s mass immigration roundups (not to mention the murder of American citizens), and his war of choice in Iran, they’ve realized a Trump endorsement is toxic.

Not to mention tearing down the East Wing, the ballroom fiasco, the possible demolition of the Kennedy Center, and all the rest of the craziness.

So, it was time for a little redesign of Donalds’ website.

• “Enact the Trump Agenda”: This has been removed from the top of his campaign’s priority and agenda landing page, replaced with “affordability” as the primary issue.

This, after Donalds unabashedly supported Trump’s Big Beautiful Budget Bailout for billionaires.

• Photographs: Donalds removed a featured photo of him and his wife posing with Trump.

You know, pictures like the one above that he used to launch his campaign.

• Prominent Endorsements: He also stripped out multiple explicit mentions and outward displays of Trump’s endorsement, relegating it to a standard rolling banner alongside other conservative figures.

Donalds isn’t the only Florida Republican running from Trump.

Last week, Florida Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar told Trump in a new ad that Hispanic voters feel betrayed because of his immigration policies.

In the ad, Salazar looks into the camera, speaking directly to Trump:

This followed polls showing Hispanic voters abandoning the G.O.P. in droves.

According to The New York Times:

In an average of high-quality national polls over the last month, Democrats led Republicans among Hispanic likely voters by 35 percentage points, 64-29, on the generic congressional ballot, which asks voters which party they will support for Congress.

That would mark an extraordinary reversal since 2024, when the same pollsters found Kamala Harris leading Mr. Trump by an average of only seven points among Hispanic voters in their final surveys.

A shift toward Democrats on anything like this scale could remake the electoral map — threatening longtime Republican incumbents, new Republican gerrymanders and the party’s crown jewel, Texas — and represent a final unraveling of his winning 2024 coalition.

Things are, indeed, shifting.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Remember Donald Trump?

He used to be on TV a lot, first as a pretend business genius on The Apprentice, then later as the pretend stable genius in the Oval Office.

We used to see him preening from behind the Resolute Desk, soon to be renamed the Donald Desk, with all those TV cameras pointed at him while he used his Sharpie to sign his latest executive orders—284 and counting as of this morning. Pretty much a repeat of The Apprentice, only with more gold tchotchkes on the walls.

But the TV cameras aren’t there right now.

And why is that?

Because in one of the weirdest and most self-defeating things he’s done since being elected to his second term—and that’s saying a lot—he ran them out of the room.

Oh, he didn’t run them ALL out, just the ones he impulsively was annoyed with the other day when he banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House and confiscated their press passes.

Why was this stupid?

Besides being illegal, if he knew anything about reporters—and they are, admittedly, a rowdy lot—they have a history of showing surprising solidarity about things like censorship.

So, because of his ignorance, Trump didn’t count on all the other major TV networks joining hands with their colleague-competitors and announcing that they, too, would leave the room.

Leaving Trump without the audience he craves, the daily attention his muddled, narcissistic mind needs, and, frankly, what his entire career has been based on.

After all, his first and best role in life has always been as a “celebrity,” not an actor, certainly—apparently he was a nightmare to work with on the set of The Apprentice—just someone strutting around craving attention, kind of like an obese Kardashian but with bad makeup.

So, this week, with the cameras turned off at the White House, he really was at a loss. So, he traipsed over to New York for a quick photo op with the mayor—Zohran Mamdani, a notorious Democratic Socialist, or, as Republicans are calling all Democrats these days, a Communist.

This friendly meeting has G.O.P. heads exploding, but the real eruption will be this week when Trump hosts a genuine, actual Communist in the East Room of the White House: Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Sadly, Trump’s new ballroom/bomb shelter won’t be ready in time for this celebration.

The timing for this glitzy gala is a little off, some Republicans are griping.

While Americans are struggling with the rising cost of gasoline, medical bills, rent, and fretting over Trump’s undeclared war in the Middle East, he’s playing footsie with a Communist?

“I don't think people really want to see you toasting the Chinese premier,” one Republican close to the White House told The Daily Beast.

Well, it remains to be seen if anyone will see it with the cameras turned off.

The Republicans’ fixation with Communists is their last-ditch, desperate effort to find something—anything—to campaign on in the midterm elections.

They’ve crawled back into their 1950s shell—you know, better times when America was run by rich white men, and women and minorities knew their places.

Now they’re seeing Communists under the bed and want all of us to be as scared as they pretend to be.

Here in Florida, our appointed U.S. Senator, Ashley Moody, has decried her opponent, State Rep. Angie Nixon, as stealing all her moves from the “Communist Manifesto.” So far, Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, hasn’t pulled the Red Menace card on his Democratic opponent, David Jolly, but it may only be a matter of time.

Although, as noted in my previous newsletter, it apparently won’t be at a debate, as Jolly has said he can’t “debate a liar.”

Which most readers of this newsletter seem to feel is a mistake, based on the comments I’ve gotten so far today on that post.

What do you think?

But back to the TV-less Trump:

To be clear, what the networks have done, in showing their solidarity with CNN et. al., is to refuse to be part of the “pool” report. The networks rotate this duty among themselves because there simply isn’t enough room in the Oval Office or Air Force One for all their cameras, so they share their video feeds with one another.

This is the way it has worked since the time of FDR, so Trump should have at least given some small thought to the notion that these people, despite being competitors, know how to cooperate with one another.

But, hey, nobody besides Trump has ever said he was smart.

That seems to include the Brit-turned-American Mark Burnett, the creator of The Apprentice, who has distanced himself from his former star and who, most likely, regrets hiring him in the first place.

His quote:

If anyone ever invents a time machine, my bet is Burnett will be first in line to go back and have a do-over with his Apprentice casting.

Leave a comment

Note to readers:

Ordinarily I try to restrict my scribbling to one post a day out of respect for everyone’s cluttered inboxes. This morning, I emailed a post to subscribers about Jolly declining to debate Donalds, but I just felt compelled to say something about Trump’s attempt to muzzle the press, and I didn’t want to wait another day to send it. Thanks for your understanding, and I really will try to control these impulses — I promise.

J.C.B.

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

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J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly has decided to bow out of a chance to face his Republican rival, Byron Donalds, on the debate stage.

It’s a risky move that forgoes the opportunity to reach a broad television audience at a time when Jolly is being heavily outspent by his opponent.

But here’s his reasoning:

“You can’t debate a liar.”

He added:

Debate avoidance seems to be the new thing in Florida politics.

As the Miami Herald notes:

Jolly’s announcement further dampens the prospects that voters will see candidates in significant races debate before they vote. Neither Jolly nor Donalds debated their primary opponents, and with Election Day less than six weeks away … and mail ballots going out … candidates up and down the ballot are either shooting down debates or accusing their opponents of ducking them.

Among those races that will be debate-free is the other big statewide race for the U.S. Senate between appointed incumbent Republican Ashley Moody and her Democratic opponent, State Rep. Angie Nixon.

Moody has turned down several proposals from the Nixon campaign to meet on stage because, as she’s told reporters, Nixon’s playbook is straight from the “Communist Manifesto.”

Moody apparently defines communism as showing support for higher minimum wages, the expansion of health insurance benefits, and opposition to corporate corruption, all parts of Nixon’s platform, which you can read for yourself here.

Nixon’s response to this:

If Moody’s “too weak to step on a debate stage, she’s too weak to represent and fight for Floridians in the U.S. Senate.” She added:

“The only people Moody listens to are the insurance executives and extremist DC donors lining her pockets. She knows I’m running to actually deliver for working Florida families – lowering rent, slashing property insurance rates, getting healthcare and childcare for all, and so much more. It’s a vision she could never deliver on because she’s too busy hiding from the $10 million in healthcare money she helped steal from sick kids, and apparently also hiding from me. “

Back to Jolly and Donalds:

Donalds, who has raised over $100 million—dwarfing Jolly’s campaign war chest—is spending liberally on TV ads suggesting that among other taxes Jolly would levy as governor would include a $1,000 tax on every Florida household.

“No governor would do that,” Jolly replied. “It’s all lies.”

As WLRN reports:

What Jolly has proposed is a state-backed “catastrophic fund” for homeowners’ insurance, fully removing hurricane and wind coverage from the private marketplace and putting it into a state sovereign wealth fund, which he contends would substantially cut homeowners insurance rates.

He says the fund would be paid for by making insurance companies pay taxes that they now avoid, adding that fees on real estate transactions (better known as Florida documentary tax stamps) and existing tourist development taxes are also “on the table” to build up that fund.

Be that as it may, long-distance debates through the news media or on social media are not the same thing as face-to-face confrontations with opportunities to set the record straight.

Jolly’s gamble is that he doesn’t need that to succeed, and recent polling shows the race is much tighter than expected.

This from WESH:

Even though Republicans have 1.5 million more registered voters than Democrats, Donalds and Jolly are separated by just a fraction of a point at 43.5% for Donalds, and 43.4% for Jolly. Just over 13% are for other candidates or undecided.

But with six weeks left, anything can happen. Including, I suppose, a change of heart about these debates. We’ll see.

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Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

A little-known state government advisory board has been meeting in secret, and it could determine how controversial herbicides are used to combat aquatic weeds in public waterways.

In the Gulf of Mexico, artificial reefs are being built off Florida’s coast that will eventually create “a fluid highway of sorts for the migratory fish and other marine species to move up the coastline safely.”

Because of legislation—pushed by special interests—”some untold number of condo residents across Florida would end up being forced to pay more to protect their buildings against hurricanes and other risks — and they could end up paying that money to an insurance company they never wanted to do business with in the first place.”

And fewer aspiring lawyers seeking admission to the Florida Bar have been able to pass the exam this year following a Florida Supreme Court ruling that allows students from schools other than those accredited by the American Bar Association to take the test.

I know all this from reporting by independent news organizations, not big corporate media outlets.

These were stories originally published in The Florida Trib, WGCU News, the Seeking Rents Substack site of journalist Jason Garcia, and Florida Phoenix.

I’m prompted to share this in response to an email I received Sunday from Michael Braun, the managing editor of WGCU, the public media station at Florida Gulf Coast University. Braun wrote in response to my Sunday newsletter in which I bemoaned the loss of so many journalists at the state’s newspapers. But I also highlighted the work of several independent reporters and non-profit news outlets.

His letter:

I spend a good portion of every workday (which is every day) scouring stories online, and I am very familiar with the great work at the state’s public media stations, including WGCU, which is close to home, and WUSF at the University of South Florida, my alma mater.

Tropic Press has often reprinted stories from Florida Phoenix and Florida Trident, two of the state’s better-known non-profits, but less so from The Florida Trib and Suncoast Searchlight. You can look forward to seeing contributions from them more frequently in the future, including this piece from Trib reporter Nicolas Rivero that I mentioned above:

It’s already been posted on the Tropic Press website, and you can read it here.

You can also find the highly informative article about artificial reefs by reporter Tom Bayles of WGCU, which I also mentioned at the top of this column:

It’s also on the Tropic Press website here.

And at Michael Braun’s suggestion, I also spent some time perusing the Suncoast Spotlight website. I was already pretty familiar with their work—and the many awards they have won. But I was especially drawn to this story headlined:

The Suncoast is Losing Reporters. What

Happens When No One is Watching?

It’s by the Spotlight’s executive editor-in-chief, Emily Le Coz, and it tracks many of the points I was making Sunday in my newsletter about the erosion of oversight with the decline of newspapers. You can read her full article here, which I commend, and I was especially taken by her closing argument:

Which is why independent media is worth supporting.

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

The good news about windows is that you can see out of them. The bad news—for some people, anyway—is that photographers can see in.

And photojournalists relish looking through the windows of President Donald Trump’s various aircraft to see just what’s going on inside.

And that has been making big news lately.

These two images—the top looking into Donald Trump’s helicopter, and the second, spotting him aboard Air Force One—speak volumes.

That’s Natalie Harp in the top photo, Trump’s ever-present 35-year-old “personal assistant,” peering out the window with the 80-year-old commander-in-chief, right around the time that Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff offered this critique of Trump’s unseriousness. He said Trump just …

Heads exploded over Osoff saying out loud what everyone had been thinking about the president’s cringy relationship with his “human printer,” a woman who obsessively follows him everywhere—at taxpayers’ expense—to fluff his ego with flattering stories she scours from the web.

That hasn’t slowed down their relationship, though. She was spotted Saturday flying back to the White House from Camp David, where Trump cut short a weekend visit because of actual presidential duties demanding attention—the senseless war he started with Iran.

Trump took one helicopter. Harp another. You paid for the pilots and the fuel. God forbid Natalie might have to drive the 60 miles from the White House to the president’s weekend hideaway like the rest of the help.

The second, more recent photo shows Trump apparently examining a plan to demolish the Kennedy Center.

Trump, as we know, hates, hates, hates the fact that he’s not allowed to rename the Kennedy Center after himself, and now he says it will probably have to be torn down.

Let’s try to follow the logic here:

Trump stuffs the Kennedy Center board with cronies. Then his board names him chairman. Then the board votes to rename the center after Trump—which the courts shoot down. So, Trump, who was perfectly happy to preside over the venerable cultural center, decrees it must be torn down unless his name can be plastered on it. As if he owns the joint. Which he does not.

And now he’s caught looking at demolition plans. A spoiled brat who threatens to break all the toys if he can’t have them to himself.

Turns out, the citizens of Washington, D.C., are not all swelled up with joy.

Another photo: This was the scene outside the Kennedy Center Friday and Saturday as thousands swarmed the site, presumably to create a human barrier against any unannounced bulldozer attacks by Trump, who specializes in sneaky stuff like that (re: the East Wing).

Big crowd. It kind of looks like a No Kings Day rally, right?

Imagine that.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible so we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

The news media was writing about the news media this week, and the stories were grim.

Two big developments:

Here in Florida, the Miami Herald’s owner, McClatchy Media, announced it was firing more than a third of the newspaper’s editorial staff, about 30 people.

As a Miami Herald veteran (and native Miamian), this felt like a double-barreled blast of bad news—not just that the newsroom of Florida’s most prestigious paper was seeing a third of its staff let go, but that 30 people comprised such a large percentage of what remains of that staff.

When I was at the Herald—admittedly many years ago—the paper could be found in news racks all over the state—it was Florida’s largest paper and nationally recognized, referred to in the same breath as the New York Times and Washington Post.

The downtown Miami newsroom was sprawling, employing hundreds of reporters, photographers, artists and editors. The paper’s Broward County bureau alone was larger than most other newspapers in the state.

Now that same legendary news organization has fewer than 60 editorial staff members left?

You can’t properly cover a metropolis like Miami with a newsroom that small. It’s a shame.

It also speaks to why we are seeing independent news outlets pop up all over the state and nation.

Reporters like Ted Lund in Key West, who single-handedly does what an entire newspaper staff used to do, watching over City Hall and county government with relentless coverage.

How independent journalist Jason Garcia doggedly investigates the influence of big business on the state’s public policy decisions.

How civic activist Sandy Parker has stepped up with her own newsletter to keep readers in Southwest Florida up to speed on local government meetings since the local daily has abandoned that responsibility.

How independent non-profits such as Florida Phoenix and Florida Trident are admirably filling the gap left by the decline of the state’s newspapers.

That’s also what we do here at Tropic Press, with original reporting and commentary, as well as sharing the great work of independent journalists around the state such as those I just mentioned.

But the news that the once-mighty Herald is enduring this humiliation is really tough to bear.

The news was also alarming in Washington this week, when our 80-year-old president declared that he’d had it with news outlets that insist on telling the truth about his conduct in office, declaring that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW will be banned from the White House.

Why?

He made no bones about it. He doesn’t like what he sees as “negative news,” which he calls FAKE NEWS (always in capital letters), fake because it fails to flatter him sufficiently.

Really, it’s a badge of honor to be banned, and it won’t stop the coverage of Trump’s criminal misbehavior and his flagrant disregard for the Constitution.

But in Trump’s mind, this is how he bends people to his will. He pressures and presses until he gets his way. And, sadly, he’s had some success at that, most recently his destruction of what once was one of the most storied news organizations in the United States, CBS.

Not to overstate the obvious, but our democracy will not survive without a free and independent press fulfilling its watchdog role over government.

Which is why this week’s news is so disheartening.

That Was the Week That Was

Dengue fever spreads and claims first victim

Florida, in the midst of an historic outbreak of dengue fever, has recorded its first fatality from the mosquito-borne disease.

The Florida Department of Health confirmed the death Friday, and the Tampa Bay Times said the victim was an elderly Tampa woman.

More than 130 locally acquired cases have been reported in Hillsborough County, which has seen the highest concentration of dengue fever cases this year — 130 — far above the handful typically seen.

“This is wildly unusual for us,” county spokesperson Chris Wilkerson told The Associated Press.

State health officials have reported 152 locally acquired dengue cases statewide so far, already the second-highest total on record. Nearly 200 cases were reported in 2023.

All we need is a strong and smart president

Will self-aware computers take over the world and destroy all of humanity like in the Terminator movies?

Some serious scientists are worried, one so much that he quit his job and went public with his concerns, setting off a flurry of debate over the future of AI. Into this confusion, Donald Trump offered this message:

“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”

It is unknown to whom he was referring.

Pity the children

The Trump administration has started sending a majority of undocumented children who came to the US alone and have new immigration court cases to Texas, where government facilities for them are unlicensed, their chances of getting a lawyer are low, and advocates fear that “a deportation churn-out factory” awaits them, The Guardian reported.

Almost 80% of children in federal custody who arrived unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian and who were placed in immigration court proceedings in July – and over 90% in August – have been funneled into shelter networks somewhere in Texas, a dramatic upswing from the months prior, according to analysis shared exclusively with the Guardian from researchers at the immigration data insights platform bklg.org.

Meme of the Week

Quote of the Week

“There is really only one explanation for why they would cancel votes tomorrow and send us home early before the midterms, and that’s because they are afraid that the House of Representatives will vote to impeach Pete Hegseth.”

—Rep. Melanie Stansbury

Letters of the Week

Clearly the Republicans, nationally and in this state, are the party of big government. They want to control everyone one way or another, and extract more money from ordinary people in order to benefit the super-wealthy. Donalds is just like his boss, Trump: a constant liar.

—Lewis Pulsipher

The Donalds campaign has been lying and name-calling from day 1. If we elect him, we will deserve what we will get.

— Jeffrey R. Orenstein, Ph.D.

Looking Ahead

When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)

Sept. 21. International Peace Day. If only.

Sept. 22. Autumnal Equinox. This is the official start of fall, although the hours of daylight and night won’t be exactly the same unless you happen to live on the Equator. In Florida, that event, called the Equilux, takes place between Sept. 26 and 27 depending upon where you live in the state (the farther north, the later it arrives).

Sept. 23. Survivor’s 51st season premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS. More than 40 contestants from Florida have been among the castaways during the show’s more than two decades of broadcasting. Casting locations in the state have included Tampa and Pompano Beach.

Sept. 24. In Florida, local Supervisor of Elections Offices should begin sending out vote-by-mail ballots starting today through Oct. 1. If you do not receive your ballot soon, contact your local Elections office. A directory of all offices can be found in the Tropic Press news2use section.

Sept. 25 is National Comic Book Day, which naturally raises the question: Who is the most powerful superhero in all of comicdom who doesn’t actually possess any supernatural abilities, you know, like Superman or Captain Marvel? The answer many would automatically give is Batman, maybe because Batman Day was Saturday. This is incorrect. The correct answer is the Green Lantern known as Hal Jordan. Opinions vary. A case could be made for Tony Stark.

Sept. 26 is Johnny Appleseed Day, celebrating the life of John Chapman, who was among the legions of Americans wandering westward after the Revolutionary War. He sold apple trees and seeds, and planted apple nurseries, hence his nickname. He never made it to Florida, but few did back then before the invention of air conditioning.

Oct. 5 is the deadline to register to vote in Florida for the Nov. 3 General Election.

Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines

In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.

BREAKING NEWS: Alligator Alcatraz violated federal standards for humane treatment of prisoners

Supreme Court slaps down Trump’s illegal scheme to disrupt mail-in voting

Floridians are drowning in insurance costs. David Jolly has a plan to fix that, but Byron Donalds is attacking it

Florida’s candidates for governor debate the future of big AI data centers

BREAKING NEWS: House members told to go home to avoid Hegseth impeachment vote

House considers impeachments of Trump and Hegseth -- one down, one to go

News2Use

Check out the latest section on the Tropic Press website, News2Use, a handy reference library with links to useful information such as election deadlines, how to contact your elected representatives, and more. It’s a construction project, and we’re adding to it on a regular basis.

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

UPDATE: Since this post was published earlier today, House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House of Representatives prematurely rather than allow a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to go to the floor.

This was in the wake of the House last night voting for the fourth time to block President Trump from taking further military action against Iran. The vote was 220 to 204, with a handful of Republicans crossing over to join Democrats in the condemnation of the illegal war.

Rather than risk a similar embarrassment on the Hegseth impeachment vote, Johnson threw in the towel and is sending Congress home a day early.

“I think it shows the cowardice of the Republican Party,” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said. “They are canceling votes to do business for the American people because they are afraid that that impeachment resolution of Pete Hegseth would pass on a bipartisan basis.”

Leave a comment

Related:

House speaker calls early recess before midterms amid AI regulation frenzy

House votes to limit Trump’s power to strike Iran for 3rd time, as 7 Republicans defect

By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Will Donald Trump be impeached before the House of Representatives shuts down at the end of this week?

How about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth?

We have a definitive answer to the first question, and the second is up in the air.

Yesterday, a resolution to impeach Trump sponsored by Democrat Rep. Al Green of Texas—his second in two years—failed by a 232-147 vote.

So, no, Trump’s job is safe for the time being. By the end of this week, House members will be flying home and are not scheduled to return until after the Nov. 3 election.

The outcome was interesting, though, if not unexpected. The last time Green tried this—in June of 2025— it was shot down by a bigger margin, with 128 Democrats joining 216 Republicans.

This time, only 18 Democrats added their votes to the Republican majority, with 46 Dems merely voting “present,” among them Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

It wasn’t just Democrats who voted present. Another was Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who yesterday also introduced a separate resolution calling for Hegseth’s impeachment.

In a 67-minute floor speech, Massie, in part, said:

As ABC News notes:

Unless GOP leaders change the floor schedule, the House must hold a vote on the resolution within two legislative days -- by Thursday, which would force Republicans to go on the record defending Hegseth ahead of the high-stakes midterm elections. GOP leaders could offer a motion to table the resolution or cancel the legislative session scheduled for Thursday to avoid the vote.

It’s all political theater, of course, and even if a vote is held, Republicans likely have the votes to defeat the resolution.

Still, it shows how wobbly things are becoming in Congress, with polls showing that Democrats are likely to win enough seats in the midterm election to take over.

Which is why Trump is so desperate to interfere with this election.

Al Green’s resolution may not have had the traction it needed this time. But it could be a different story come January when a new Congress is seated.

Leave a comment

News 2 Use

Andy Rock asked a pertinent question in response to yesterday’s post announcing the new News 2 Use section on the Tropic Press website, where we are compiling a library of reference articles on commonly asked questions.

Here’s the answer I got from my local elections office:

A registered voter who requested a Vote-by-Mail ballot but decides to vote at the polls should surrender the Vote-by-Mail ballot at the polls so it may be cancelled.

A registered voter who requested a Vote-by-Mail ballot but cannot surrender the Vote-by-Mail ballot will be allowed to vote a regular ballot. After voting in person, we request that the voter destroy their original Vote-by-Mail ballot if they left it at home or if they come across it in the future.

A person who requested and returned a Vote-by-Mail ballot to the Supervisor of Elections office may not go to the polls to vote. Voters who vote more than once in the same election commit a felony and will be turned over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

This was from Collier County, but rules regarding mail-in voting are generally applicable throughout Florida.

For more localized information, you need to check with your local office depending on where you live in the state.

There is a handy link on the News 2 Use page where you can find your local office. You can check it out here.

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Subscribe now

By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Will Donald Trump be impeached before the House of Representatives shuts down at the end of this week?

How about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth?

We have a definitive answer to the first question, and the second is up in the air.

Yesterday, a resolution to impeach Trump sponsored by Democrat Rep. Al Green of Texas—his second in two years—failed by a 232-147 vote.

So, no, Trump’s job is safe for the time being. By the end of this week, House members will be flying home and are not scheduled to return until after the Nov. 3 election.

The outcome was interesting, though, if not unexpected. The last time Green tried this—in June of 2025— it was shot down by a bigger margin, with 128 Democrats joining 216 Republicans.

This time, only 18 Democrats added their votes to the Republican majority, with 46 Dems merely voting “present,” among them Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

It wasn’t just Democrats who voted present. Another was Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, who yesterday also introduced a separate resolution calling for Hegseth’s impeachment.

In a 67-minute floor speech, Massie, in part, said:

As ABC News notes:

Unless GOP leaders change the floor schedule, the House must hold a vote on the resolution within two legislative days -- by Thursday, which would force Republicans to go on the record defending Hegseth ahead of the high-stakes midterm elections. GOP leaders could offer a motion to table the resolution or cancel the legislative session scheduled for Thursday to avoid the vote.

It’s all political theater, of course, and even if a vote is held, Republicans likely have the votes to defeat the resolution.

Still, it shows how wobbly things are becoming in Congress, with polls showing that Democrats are likely to win enough seats in the midterm election to take over.

Which is why Trump is so desperate to interfere with this election.

Al Green’s resolution may not have had the traction it needed this time. But it could be a different story come January when a new Congress is seated.

Leave a comment

News 2 Use

Andy Rock asked a pertinent question in response to yesterday’s post announcing the new News 2 Use section on the Tropic Press website, where we are compiling a library of reference articles on commonly asked questions.

Here’s the answer I got from my local elections office:

A registered voter who requested a Vote-by-Mail ballot but decides to vote at the polls should surrender the Vote-by-Mail ballot at the polls so it may be cancelled.

A registered voter who requested a Vote-by-Mail ballot but cannot surrender the Vote-by-Mail ballot will be allowed to vote a regular ballot. After voting in person, we request that the voter destroy their original Vote-by-Mail ballot if they left it at home or if they come across it in the future.

A person who requested and returned a Vote-by-Mail ballot to the Supervisor of Elections office may not go to the polls to vote. Voters who vote more than once in the same election commit a felony and will be turned over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

This was from Collier County, but rules regarding mail-in voting are generally applicable throughout Florida.

For more localized information, you need to check with your local office depending on where you live in the state.

There is a handy link on the News 2 Use page where you can find your local office. You can check it out here.

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

Subscribe now

By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

President Donald Trump’s absurd scheme to use the U.S. Postal Service as a tool to disrupt mail-in voting in the midterm election has been shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This means that mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election can proceed as usual, a crucial win for voting rights as a full third of all American voters choose to use the mail to cast their votes.

Trump had urged the high court to overturn a Boston District Court Judge’s injunction that halted the implementation of Postal Service rules that would have created chaos in the election, now only seven weeks away.

Trump’s scheme would have required states to turn over their lists of eligible voters to the federal government, redesign the envelopes for mail-in ballots with new bar codes, and allow the Postal Service to reject potentially tens of thousands of ballots for any glitches in this last-minute proposal.

Massachusetts Federal Judge Indira Talwani was not having any of that when she told the government:

In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court agreed.

To a certain degree, though, Trump may have accomplished part of his aim to suppress voter turnout just by casting doubt about the integrity of voting by mail, despite numerous studies showing it is safe.

But it was always clear that there was a huge constitutional hurdle Trump faced in trying to inject the federal government into elections which, clearly, are spelled out in the Constitution as the duty of the states.

Solicitor General Dean John Sauer’s absurd arguments to the contrary apparently did not pass muster with the Supremes. He had claimed that unless the Post Office was given the right to play hall monitor in the election the “federal mails will be used to perpetrate voter fraud—a particularly pernicious species of fraud that dilutes the votes of lawful voters, prevents election results from reflecting the will of the American people, and undermines ‘public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.’”

A lot of gall there, given the only party trying to commit fraud in this election was Trump and his flunkies like Sauer.

The court majority offered a terse view of that line of reasoning:

The government, it said, was “unlikely to succeed on the merits.”

Reaction among Democrats was immediate:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom hailed the court’s rejection of Trump’s attempt to “rig the election” and urged voters: “Let’s show up this November and take Congress back!”

Leave a comment

Previous stories:

Trump still tries to disrupt mail-in voting. Will the Supreme Court let him get away with it?

Curses! Foiled again! Federal judge--one more time--blocks Trump mail-in ballot scheme

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and,hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

Share Tropic Press: J.C. Bruce

Subscribe now

President Donald Trump bragged that prisoners would have to run away from alligators if they wanted to escape Florida’s Everglades concentration camp.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis thought it was oh so clever to dub it Alligator Alcatraz.

But now the Inspector General from the Department of Homeland Security has issued a report that doesn’t use the word clever to describe the conditions prisoners endured, especially the closet-sized wired cages prisoners were held in to “calm them down.”

So, not only was DeSantis’ hastily erected publicity stunt in the Everglades a huge financial boondoggle (costing Florida taxpayers more than a billion dollars), it also failed to comply with a host of federal detention standards.

According to reporting from The New York Times:

The report said the use of the enclosures was unprecedented among facilities the watchdog, the department’s Office of Inspector General, has previously inspected and presented “significant risks” to detainees’ health and safety.

The report raised further questions about a facility that became synonymous with the Trump administration’s harsh treatment of immigration detainees.

Federal investigators found that the metal enclosures — each providing only about 18 square feet of floor space — were used as “calming areas,” where detainees were held for periods ranging from several minutes to nearly two hours. Although facility staff said that detainees asked to spend time in the enclosures, federal investigators found at least one instance in which the enclosures were used to discipline a detainee who “failed to comply with a lawful command.”

The report said the facility’s staff failed to provide detainees with sufficient living space. National standards require detainees to be given at least 75 square feet of floor space per person. But at maximum capacity, the facility's housing units provided only 28 square feet per detainee, according to the report.

There had been no comment from the Governor’s office at the time this report was filed.

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Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Knock on wood, but will we have any hurricanes at all this year?

On Saturday, we set a record for the longest hurricane-free stretch in modern record-keeping. Heretofore, Sept. 11 was the latest date in hurricane season that our first hurricane spooled up. And every day since then, including today, extends that record.

Mid-September is typically the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, but as we have discussed here before, a Super El Niño in the Pacific—unusually hot because of global warming—is disrupting normal weather patterns.

The upshot has been that we have had only five weak and short-lived tropical storms this year, and no hurricanes at all.

As Miami hurricane expert Bryan Norcross reports on his Hurricane Intel website, “The hostile environment persists, and there is no sign of tropical development in the foreseeable future.”

This week

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented Monday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. EDT on NBC. Shows with the largest number of nominations across numerous categories include The Pitt, Hacks, Widow’s Bay, Pluribus and Beef. You can catch up on the (very long) list of nominations here:

Emmy Nominees

Speaking of television, the fall lineup of returning and new shows is underway. TV Insider has a comprehensive lineup that you can view here:

Fall TV Lineup

Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15 and runs through Oct. 15, honoring the history, culture, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans.

The U.S. Supreme Court has in hand an appeal from President Donald Trump to overturn a lower-court ruling that forbids him from implementing his mail-in voter suppression scheme. At this writing, it is unknown if the court will rule this week, but it will be one of the most important issues in the news that we will be tracking.

For more about the week ahead, check out the Onward Thru the Fog feature below.

That Was The Week That Was

What price deportation?

Gov. Ron DeSantis likes to brag about Florida’s deportation record—and he still insists that Alligator Alcatraz was not just a cheap publicity stunt to make him look tough on immigrants.

The state still owes contractors who serviced the Everglades concentration camp millions, all coming from funds originally created to respond to natural disasters such as hurricanes, which, as noted earlier, we’ve not had to worry too much about this year— so far.

As the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes, the state has a pay-first, appropriate-later budget system for emergencies, designed to allow speedier response to disasters, which actually makes a lot of sense.

For real emergencies.

Unfortunately, that also allowed DeSantis to rack up eye-popping costs for his prison camps, a tab that, in the worst-case scenario, could show a $1.5 billion deficit by next summer, it was reported last week.

So, he’s gone to the Legislature to get some money to keep the bill collectors off his back, and on Friday a Republican-dominated committee in charge of these appropriations gave him the $250 million he needed to pay off overdue bills—but more will be needed.

So much for fiscal conservatism.

Hispanic voters leaning Democratic

The Cook Political Report released a survey of Hispanic voters that, while focused on Texas, may portend shifts elsewhere, including Florida.

The poll found that Democratic candidates in the Texas Senate and gubernatorial contests are leading their GOP opponents by a 2-1 margin as Trump’s job approval rating has sunk to just 33% among a demographic group that swung hard in his direction in 2024.

The survey also noted that Hispanic voters understand the important role they play in Texas elections. Seven in ten said they think Hispanics in the state have a lot or some political influence, including 41% who said they have “real political power.”

And we know that is also true in Florida.

Donalds: Too soon for more abortion laws

Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds says it’s too soon to add more abortion restrictions in Florida, not that he isn’t in favor of the idea, Florida Politics reported.

At a chapter of Turning Point USA—Charlie Kirk’s outfit—at the University of Central Florida, Donalds said the state’s Heartbeat Protection Act, which bans abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, was the “right move.”

But he said it’s too soon to pile on.

“I do understand where people will say, ‘Well, let’s move to the next legislative step.’ But what my view is, is that you have a legislative step, you implement that step. That’s what’s happening right now. You provide more information and you educate the public around what the nuance is, and then you make the next legislative step.”

The real takeaway from that mumbo jumbo: The MAGA zealots who want to continue to restrict women’s reproductive rights, having already created one of the most repressive environments in the United States, actually want to make it even more severe.

And Donalds is sympathetic to that.

Jimmy Kimmel’s Talarico interview trumps convention speech.

Jimmy Kimmel’s interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico drew more than 5.8 million views on YouTube, easily surpassing the audience for Trump’s own convention livestream, Aaron Parnas reported.

It was on YouTube and not TV because of Trump’s threats of retaliation against ABC through the Federal Communications Commission.

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Meme of the Week

Quote of the Week

“I am asking you to pretend I’m on the ballot. I’m on the ballot. I’m on the ballot. Just one more time.”

— Donald Trump at his midterm convention

Letter of the Week

If I was a Republican running for re-election I would be trying really hard to have some exotic disease to keep from having to attend the mid-term convention. Thinking about it, maybe having Trump’s name associated with a candidate could be considered a disease in itself.

— Jim Hunter

Onward Thru the Fog

When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)

Today. The NFL’s regular Sunday games begin with the Buccaneers taking on the Cincinnati Bengals; the Jaguars facing the Cleveland Browns; and the Dolphins facing the Las Vegas Raiders.

September 14. National Sober Day. After a full day of football watching, yeah, maybe a good idea.

September 15. International Day of Democracy. If we can keep it.

Sept. 16. Happy birthday, Marvin Middlemark. Born on this date in 1919, he was a failing inventor who thought water-powered potato peelers would be a hit. Then he created the rabbit-ear TV antenna, an essential broadcast television device for many decades. In fact, they’re still in use. Some people may be using them to watch the Emmys.

Sept. 17. It’s Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, commemorating the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

Sept. 18. Today is National Cheeseburger Day, a time to start arguments with friends over who makes the best burger, which is silly since it is served in Longview, Tx., at a joint named Jucys. Opinions on this matter vary, of course.

Sept. 19. Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated today. We have consulted Capt. Jack Sparrow, and these are the key terms to use today. Bonus points for combining them all in one sentence.

Ahoy: Hello.

Matey: A friend or crew member.

Me Hearties: Plural of matey.

Avast: A command to pay attention.

Arrrgh: Just what it sounds like.

Shiver me timbers: Shocking!

Blimey: Also shocking.

Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines

In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.

Trump wants to make election all about him. With his poll numbers tanking, Dems couldn’t agree more

So much has changed in the past 25 years, but we should recall the lesson of 9/11

Trump still tries to disrupt mail-in voting. Will the Supreme Court let him get away with it?

It may not be bribery, but Trump’s $5,000 promise rings hollow based on his history of lies

Trump’s Misguided Midterm Strategy: Total Control

You’re an ICE agent with Cubans on your hands. Which country should you send them to?

Guess what story you haven’t read so far in this year’s news cycle

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Today is the 600th day of Donald Trump’s second term and the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Two unforgettable tragedies on the same day.

But let’s not make today about Trump, despite all his efforts to interject himself into the history of that awful day by suggesting he had to be rescued by first responders from Ground Zero.

Remember, he also claimed to have seen thousands of Islamic people celebrating the collapse of the Twin Towers in New Jersey, which was a complete fabrication.

And, in a typical show of his lack of class, he also offered this about his major downtown property:

“40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest—and then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.”

For Trump, it’s always about him.

But about 9/11:

If you are at all like me, you may find it hard to believe it's been 25 years since that shocking day.

It seems like yesterday that I was in the newsroom in Dayton, Ohio, watching the second hijacked jet slam into the Twin Towers, and Tim Gaffney, a reporter who covered the sprawling Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, turned to me and said, “We’re at war.”

And he was right.

And unfortunately, so were the people who said, “This changes everything.”

I remember writing at the time that if that prediction for the future of our country were true, then the terrorists had won.

And to the degree that this disaster ushered in—or at least accelerated—the surveillance state we live in now, and paved the way for xenophobic ICE thuggery, I stand by that prediction.

Our children were teenagers at the time, and for them, 9/11 was a horror that disrupted their childhood and altered their worldview forever, much like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy distorted ours.

It was transformative in other ways, too. At least for a short while.

For a brief time, America felt united.

Nothing like a common enemy to pull a tribe together.

As New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at the time:

Hard to remember that spirit, given the venomous atmosphere of division that clouds our contemporary culture.

I’m in Delaware as I write this, just a mile or so away from former President Joe Biden’s house.

And while we all may wish Biden had played his decision to run for a second term differently, one of his recurring messages still resonates today:

“There is more that unites us than divides us.”

Today is a great time to reflect on that, and how we can use our power as voters to change our country's trajectory for the better.

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Update on the news: Federal appeals court upholds ban on Trump’s mail-in voting suppression scheme

A federal appeals court has shot down the Trump administration’s scheme to disrupt mail-in voting for the midterm election.

An appeal before the Supreme Court is still pending, however.

A three-judge panel on the First Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the White House’s request to reverse a lower court’s block on new Postal Service rules for mail-in ballots, which would have given USPS the authority to reject and return ballot mailings.

The judges’ ruling was direct:

They said there is “no record evidence of past fraud or a likelihood of impending fraud” tied to the November election, and agreed with the district court that the rule may violate the Constitution’s Elections Clause by allowing an executive agency to regulate elections in a way reserved for states and Congress.

Here’s the exact text:

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Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible to increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Republicans supporting Herbert Hoover for president nearly a century ago promised voters “a chicken in every pot” if Hoover won the election.

Instead of a chicken dinner, his 1928 election marked the start of the Great Depression.

Now comes Donald Trump promising $5,000 for every adult in the United States if voters return enough Republicans to Congress so the G.O.P. can retain control.

“So if the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said at his “Trump-a-palooza” pep rally in Dallas last night.

“It will be called the Trump Dividend.”

Trump isn’t the least bit embarrassed about this shameless attempt to buy votes. He’s desperate. Democrats are leading in the polls, and if they take over—at a minimum—the House, the investigations into Trump’s criminal conduct will begin with vigor.

Unsaid, of course, is exactly how Trump’s promised largesse would be paid for. There are about 250 million adult citizens in the U.S. If the federal government wrote each a $5,000 check, that would come to $1.3 trillion.

It’s money the government would have to borrow, adding to every single American’s share of the national debt, which now tops $40 trillion, $11 trillion of which has been accumulated during Trump’s two terms—so far.

Can you imagine how Republicans would react if a Democrat promised this kind of giveaway?

Certainly sounds like Trump’s mouth is writing checks his bank account can’t cash. Certainly not his personal bank account.

It’s outrageous, of course. But is it illegal?

Probably not.

While federal laws like 18 U.S.C. § 597 make it strictly illegal to pay people how to vote, legal experts say there’s a crucial difference between illegal vote-buying and campaign promises.

Put another way, it’s not illegal for politicians to make promises they can’t — or don’t even intend to — keep.

And by now we’re used to Trump’s dishonesty.

• He’s the guy who promised Mexico would pay for the wall.

• He continues to lie about how the 2020 presidential election was “stolen.”

• He bragged that the Iran war would be over in a week.

• He lied to Americans about the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, claiming it would be “over like a miracle.”

• And he continues to boast that he’s created the “greatest economy in the world” when, in fact, the numbers show the economy was stronger under both the Clinton and Obama administrations.

And, speaking of the economy, it certainly wouldn’t be stronger with yet another $1.3 trillion in debt layered on top of the trillions in red ink from his atrocious giveaway to billionaires in his Big Beautiful Budget Bill.

It’s tempting to suggest that if he’s going to bribe voters, he should have stuck with chickens. Or Big Macs.

After all, Americans are way too smart to fall for something like this, right? Right?

What do you think?

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal is to reach as many voters as possible to increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Republican candidates facing strong headwinds in the upcoming midterms have been urged by their party’s leader—Donald Trump—to make the election all about him.

“I’m not on the ballot, but in a certain way I’m on the ballot, so please go out and vote,” Trump exhorted MAGA faithful at a recent rally.

He’s trying to resurrect his election victory in 2024, but that only works if he’s able to draw to the polls the marginal—often under-informed and infrequent — voters who supplied that margin of victory.

It’s not a great strategy.

Imagine you are a Republican candidate for Congress or a statewide office. Why would you want to link your candidacy to Trump when his ratings in the polls are so far underwater you’d need a submarine to find them?

It would be like tying your political dinghy to Trump’s Titanic and praying for no icebergs.

Which is why many GOP candidates have been revising their websites to minimize Trump, and why at this week’s "Trump-a-Palooza" midterm pep rally in Dallas, many Republicans realized they'd better stay home and campaign instead.

The price tag is more than a little daunting, too. It’s $25,000 a head for congressional candidates. Then there are add-ons:

• Roundtable with Donald Trump: Priced at $250,000.

• Photograph with Donald Trump: Priced at $88,600.

• Meeting with JD Vance: Priced at $75,000.

• Photograph with JD Vance: Priced at $35,000

And where will all that cash go? Ummm. Trump’s not saying.

So, what are the odds Trump’s self-centered strategy will work?

Don’t bet on it.

As political prognosticator Charlie Cook put it:

“…Republicans should brace themselves: The three most plausible outcomes are that it will be bad, really bad, or truly horrible. Conversely, a Democrat should at least briefly consider that the good fortune they may have in November will come compliments of the president, not as a result of much that they have done.”

And as Florida pollster Mark Schulman notes:

You can read Schulman’s full report on his Substack site. It is entitled: Trump’s Misguided Midterm Strategy: Total Control. I’ve also republished it on the Tropic Press website. It’s data-rich and filled with smart analysis.

Mark Schulman

As Schulman also notes, independent voters will play a huge role in this year’s elections, and that’s especially important in Florida. While Republicans have a commanding 1.5 million more registered voters than Democrats, there are a whopping 3.3 million voters registered as No Party Affiliation. How they turn out and vote will be crucial.

Here are the numbers:

National polling shows independents are leaning Democratic. This is from Schulman’s post:

As you can see, these independents favor Democrats 2-1. Couple that with what could be a lower-than-usual Republican turnout, and unexpected things could happen on Nov. 3.

Maybe making it all about Trump will help.

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

It’s amazing how Trump administration officials can say the most absurd and outrageous things with a perfectly straight face.

Exhibit A: Solicitor General Dean John Sauer.

It’s his job to present the government’s side of things in disputes before the U.S. Supreme Court. And that’s just what he did this weekend as he hurried off an appeal to keep Trump’s hopes alive of disrupting the midterm elections.

This emergency pleading arose in the wake of a decision by a Massachusetts federal judge blocking the president’s scheme that would require states to turn over their lists of registered voters for federal review. It would also require states to redo their mail-in ballot envelopes to add special barcodes that would allow the Postal Service to toss out ballots, usurping the role of state election officials.

This is illegal and unconstitutional. The states, not the federal government, run elections. Which is why U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued an injunction last week blocking this scheme — her third time doing so — that is now being appealed.

Here’s where it gets darkly amusing. In arguing that the Supreme Court must urgently step in and overturn Talwani’s decision, this is what Sauer argued. He said Talwani's injunction:

How he could address the highest court in the land with this blather while keeping a straight face is incredible. Here’s the truth:

There is no widespread or meaningful voter fraud in the United States. Numerous reviews have established this. This is not a sincere effort to safeguard elections.

The only fraud that is being attempted here is Trump’s illegal and unAmerican efforts at voter suppression. By casting doubt on the security of mail-in voting, and by disrupting it through lawsuits like this, he hopes to discourage voting in the midterms. In his mind, lower turnout means less risk of losing Republican control of Congress.

When Sauer refers to “diluting” the vote, the real effort at watering down the vote is being perpetrated by Trump.

When he refers to the “will of the American people,” that is best expressed by high voter turnout, not lower.

And the cherry on top is his heartfelt expression of concern that unless the court steps in that public confidence in elections will be undermined.

Give me a break. The only efforts at undermining confidence in our elections are being perpetrated by Trump and his flunkies like Sauer.

This is all a bunch of deceptive Orwellian doublespeak.

Now, the Supremes have this test before them. Will they uphold the Constitution—which is their duty—or will they turn the country’s elections over to a would-be dictator?

Not much at stake here, just the future of our democracy. And I’m writing that with a straight face.

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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has initial responsibility for emergency appeals from Massachusetts, directed the challengers to file their response by 4 p.m. EDT today. Stay tuned.

For more background on this, check out this excellent report from Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog:

Trump administration again appeals mail-in ballot dispute to the Supreme Court

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

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J.C. Bruce

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News item: Aristides Fernandez Garcia is among a group of Cubans captured by ICE, held at Alligator Alcatraz, then shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to a country he had never heard of before—the Central African Republic, a nation so dangerous that the U.S. State Department warns against travel there. Does this make sense?

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By J.C. Bruce

Tropic Press

Imagine you’re an ICE agent.

Yeah, I know, an unpleasant thought, but bear with me.

You’ve rounded up some undocumented people from—say—Cuba, and now you have to load them on a plane and ship them out of the country because they don’t belong here, never mind all that blather on the Statue of Liberty about the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

So, based on that geography class you endured back in the sixth grade, which destination would make the least sense:

1. Havana, Cuba

2. Mexico City

3. Guatemala

4. Costa Rica

5. Africa

If you picked Number 1, I would redirect you to the question where I said “least” sense. So, try again.

Hint: Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica are close by and all speak Spanish.

OK, you’re not an ICE agent, so you know the correct answer is Africa, which would be an absurd place to send a Spanish-speaking person who didn’t know a single soul on a continent clear across the Atlantic Ocean.

What would they do with themselves when they arrived? Where would they turn for assistance? Who could they call?

Talk about hopeless and helpless.

So, of course, that’s just what American immigration officials are doing, as chronicled in numerous news stories in the past few weeks, including those of Cuban ex-pats in Florida, herded aboard planes in chains and dumped off on the other side of the world.

Why would we do such a thing to anyone? Is this someone’s idea of a cruel, sadistic joke?

The official explanations usually center on several points:

1. Sometimes “illegals” can’t be returned to their homelands because they might be endangered if they showed up there again. And there are laws that prevent that.

2. Sometimes their countries of origin won’t take them back.

3. We have deals with other nations to take refugees off our hands, so it’s all hunky-dory.

On that last point, it can’t be overemphasized that we’re the ones who drew up those deals. You can’t cook up schemes like this and then justify mistreating people because you have deals you, yourself, manufactured.

Sure, it’s not hard to imagine why a refugee from Cuba (or Venezuela or Iran or wherever) might be endangered returning home. We all get that.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we should at least consider the possibility for at least some of these people THAT’S WHY THEY RAN AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Which is why we have all those words on the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Because that’s what America is: A sanctuary for desperate people yearning for a better life.

Message to all you ICE agents. Unless you are of Native American heritage, you are either an illegal immigrant yourself or the offspring of illegal immigrants because there never was a Customs Office processing passports and visas set up by the original inhabitants of this land.

Our ancestors just barged their way in, unannounced, unauthorized. Because they could. And they showed up here for the same reasons as those people you are now deporting.

Which is not to say there isn’t an issue here with illegal immigration, nor that there shouldn’t be a strategy in place to resolve it.

But scooping up people like roadside litter, and using the rest of the world as America’s dumpster, is as thoughtless as it is inhumane.

We’re supposed to be better than this.

Related Reading:

Cuban Man in South Florida Says He Was Deported to African Country He’d Never Heard of Without Being Told His Destination

Is dumping a Cuban person in Africa ‘deportation’?

Leave a comment

Thanks for your support

Since this newsletter was launched a year ago, hundreds of thousands of subscribers have joined the Tropic Press community, making this one of the fastest-growing publications of its kind.

Our goal here is to reach as many voters as possible, so that we can increase engagement in the political process and, hopefully, raise interest in voting this coming November.

If you are encountering this newsletter for the first time, please consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, consider upgrading your subscription to help this work continue.

Regardless, every person you share this with is one more potential vote for change.

Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.

Thanks.

J.C. Bruce

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