Island Issues

America Has Survived Worse Than The Biden-Harris Duo

America Has Survived Worse Than The Biden-Harris Duo

Can America survive a Joe Biden Presidency if he’s eventually declared the winner?

If the United States can survive inept leaders like Jimmy Carter (1976-80), James Buchanan (1857-61) pictured above, center; Franklin Pierce (1853-57) pictured above far left;  Andrew Johnson (1865-69), pictured above far right;  John Tyler (1841-45) and Millard Fillmore (1850-53), it can certainly survive an incompetent, old geezer whose primary campaign strategy was to yell and wheeze at parked cars.

However, Joe Biden isn’t the greatest threat to the country. It’s Kamala Harris, his socialist vice president with her Hilary Clinton cackle and Marxist ideals.

It’s obvious to everyone that Biden is clearly in the early stages of severe cognitive decline. At age 78 he may not make it through the next four years, and we’ll end up with Harris as president.

Three of the country’s worst presidents got the top job because the elected president died and as vice president they moved into the Oval Office. Tyler was the first vice president to succeed a president when William Henry Harrison died of a respiratory illness in 1841 after serving only 30 days. Fillmore took office in 1850 following the death of Zachery Taylor. Andrew Johnson stepped up in 1865 following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Buchanan, Pierce, and Carter were spectacular failures on their own and a disgusted electorate rejected them after one term.

How awful were they? Here’s a brief synopsis of each of the country’s most spectacular presidential failures.

John Tyler

John Tyler: Tyler, a staunch supporter of slavery, was not only a presidential failure but a traitor that committed an act of treason against the U.S. government. Sixteen years after leaving office, when the Civil War seemed inevitable, Tyler embraced the Confederacy and urged fellow Virginians to join him. He was eventually elected to the Confederate Congress, which was officially at war with the country he once served as president. Dubbed “His Accidency”, he was the first vice president to ascend to the presidency setting the succession precedent that exists to this day. His own party, the Whigs, expelled him, a first for a sitting president, sparking his entire cabinet with the exception of the Secretary of State to resign over his policies. He was the first  president to have an impeachment resolution introduced against him. It failed. He is also the first president to have a veto overridden by Congress taking place on his last day in office. On a positive note it was his wife Julia who started the tradition of having the Marine Corps Band play “Hail to the Chief” at official events.

Millard Fillmore: The second vice president to ascend to the presidency was Fillmore, who assumed that role upon the death of Zachery Taylor in 1850. He was the last Whig president. Unlike Taylor who wanted the country to remain united under any circumstances and opposed slavery, Fillmore wanted to compromise with the south. He supported the Compromise of 1850 that included the abhorrent Fugitive Slave Act that required the federal government to help return escaped slaves to their enslavers. This caused him the 1852 nomination when his own Whig party rejected him. In 1856 he ran for president as a member of The Know-Nothing Party, an anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic party. In that election, Fillmore only won the electoral votes from the state of Maryland and was defeated by James Buchanan.  On a positive note under his administration the U.S. and Japan agreed to trade between their two nations mostly through the efforts of Commodore Matthew Perry.

Andrew Johnson: The most well-known failed vice president who became president is Andrew Johnson, who assumed office following Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. In a 2010 Siena College survey, Johnson was called the worst president in history and a C-SPAN academic survey ranked him as the second-worst president, just ahead of James Buchanan. Lincoln was a tough act to follow and Johnson wasn’t up to it. He opposed the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Fourteenth Amendment. In the end, Johnson did more to extend the period of national discord than he did to heal the wounds of the Civil War. Most importantly, Johnson’s strong commitment to obstructing political and civil rights for blacks is principally responsible for the failure of Reconstruction to solve the race problem in the South and perhaps in America as well. He will be remembered as the first president to be impeached. He is the only former president to be elected to the U.S. Senate, running for his old Senate seat from Tennessee and winning in 1875. Ironically, he was sworn in by the same Senate that almost impeached him a few years earlier. He died four months later.

Franklin Pierce: In addition to being an alcoholic and the youngest person (47) to be elected president up to that time, Pierce is also known for falling off his horse several times during the Mexican-American War. He was given the rank of Brigadier General even though he had never previously served in the military. Despite being from the North, he was pro-slavery. During the election of 1852, his Whig opponents mocked him as “the hero of many a well-fought bottle.” As a slavery advocate he supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, that repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 turning the Kansas territory into a hotbed of violence over slavery. He appointed as his Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who eventually became the President of the Confederacy. During the war many in the north considered Pierce a traitor. On a positive note his administration accomplished the Gadsden Purchase, land purchased from Mexico in present-day New Mexico and Arizona that completed the boundaries of the continental US.

James Buchanan: Following Buchanan’s election investigators uncovered multiple frauds that had occurred in several states that worked to the Democrats’ favor including in Philadelphia where a clerk admitted forging 2,700 immigration forms so that recent immigrants could vote. Sound familiar? Biographer Jane Baker say that Buchanan failed as president “not because he was weak but because he pursued the wrong policies vigorously.” As secessionist states began preparing to leave the union Buchanan did nothing but voice his opposition unlike Andrew Jackson who earlier sent troops to South Carolina forcing them to comply with federal law and stopping its succession. Buchanan instead left his successor, Abraham Lincoln, the worst situation that ever awaited an incoming president in all of American history.

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter: Carter’s presidency is most remembered for the 13-month hostage crisis in Iran, where Iranians held 53 American diplomats after breaking into the US Embassy in Tehran. His efforts to release them failed including a spectacular rescue mission that ended up with the deaths of eight American servicemen and burning US helicopters and airplanes left in the Iranian desert. He was elected on the back-to-back traumas of Vietnam and Watergate. His lack of eloquence and failure to deliver on his promises contributed to him being a one-term president. Biographer Alvin Felzenberg said: “If Carter had invested the same amount of time in mastering how Congress functioned as he did scheduling the White House tennis courts he might have been able to advance his agenda.” His famous “malaise” speech where he blamed the American people for the energy crisis among other issues didn’t help. On a positive note he did secure a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

The most successful vice president to assume the presidency was Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909) following the assassination of President William McKinley. One of the worst not listed above was Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969), who became president following John Kennedy’s assassination. He left behind a legacy of a devastated black community due to his misguided Great Society programs and a divided nation with his misadventures in Vietnam. Gerald Ford (1974-1977), who took over after Richard Nixon resigned, was a decent man with good intentions and did no harm.

Would Joe Biden be as bad as any of the worst? I hope not. However, I don’t think it’s Biden America has to worry about. It’s his vice president, Kamala Harris.

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The Biggest Loser: Michael Bloomberg spent a billion dollars of his own money in the Democrat primary and didn’t earn a single delegate. Then he tossed in more than $100 million of his cash backing Democrats in Florida, Texas, and Ohio, which were all won by Trump and other Republican candidates. When his wife was sitting at the kitchen table balancing the checkbook did she ask: “Honey, what the hell did you get that cost one billion, one hundred million dollars?” His answer would be: “Nothing darling.”

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Meanwhile Back At The Ranch: Fernandina Beach residents now have a chance to isolate pompous, self-righteous, spendthrift City Commissioner Chip Ross and slap some restraints on his co-conspirator,  City Manager Dale Martin. Bradley Bean was successful in his Commission election and David Sturges is in a runoff with Genece Minshew December 8. If Sturges wins the runoff Ross will have no allies and he’ll just be an amusing isolated side show. Martin will be forced to do as Len Kreger, Mike Lednovich, Bean and hopefully Sturges dictate, otherwise he’ll be shown the door. That’ll  be refreshing and fun to observe. Sturges got 3,734  votes to 2nd place Minshew’s 2,563. It’ll be interesting to see who third place finisher Alexandria Lajoux asks her voters to back if anybody.

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Calling It As He Sees It: Nobody has described today’s media better than Wall Street Journal opinion page writer Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. in Wednesday’s, November 4, edition when he wrote: “A culture of actual stupidity reigns in many newsrooms where careful reasoning is jauntily eschewed in favor of treating facts as unrelated adornments on predetermined story lines.”

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And Your Mother Wears Combat Boots Too! The head of Fernandina Beach’s building department, Stephen Beckman, made it abundantly clear in comments here last week that he doesn’t care for me. And that’s a fact. In fact, it’s the only fact he’s provided despite the fact he says that he’s loaded with facts that he says I ignore.

So, let’s fact check the facts that Mr. Beckman says he tosses my way helter-skelter.

On October 16 I wrote that a local building engineer and developer teamed up to analyze publicly available data for a hotel being constructed at Main Beach and then compared the actual city fees to what Nassau County would have charged.

The Fernandina investigative duo discovered that The City of Fernandina Beach fees for the hotel were $455,114.27 while the county’s would have totaled $80,160.81, a whopping $374,953.46 less than what the city charged the hotel builder for the same exact project. The city charges are 5.7 times more. What does the hotel builder get from the city that is worth almost six times the county’s cost Mr. Beckman?

Mr. Beckman didn’t offer an explanation, nor did he deny the fact that developers and builders are being screwed by the city.

Local watch dog group Common Sense founder, Jack Knocke, and I both confirmed that the city’s building permitting, and review fees are close to six times higher for commercial buildings. In addition, city fees are more than two times higher for identical residential properties for exactly the same services provided by the county. Where are the facts that justify that Mr. Beckman?

I, and others have long suggested that the city outsource these services to the county, which obviously has a more efficient mechanism and cost-effective system in place that would result in a huge savings to city residents and builders currently being outrageously gouged by the city.

Fernandina is in the county and all Mr. Beckman  has to do is walk across the street to take advantage of the savings – no tricks, no gimmicks, no expiration date, no high-pressure sales tactics, and no hidden fees. Residents of the city win a huge cash savings and Mr. Beckman loses his job. But that shouldn’t bother him because last week he told me he can make more money in the private sector anyway.

In his comments to me Mr. Beckman didn’t dispute any of the financial facts in the city-county comparison or explain why the city fees are so much higher.

Instead, he said a comparison between the city’s and county’s fee structure isn’t feasible because they’re “different”. He didn’t explain how they are different despite the city being located smack inside the county. He also says the city has conducted a cost study to justify their fees to the state.

He also took issue with my criticism of the online Fernandina Observer for publishing what I called a “puff piece” about his department. Coincidentally in the same issue the Observer printed a letter by Common Sense’s Jack Knocke criticizing Beckman’s function and the cost disparity.

Here’s what an angry Mr. Beckman had to say to me about that: “I think this will be my last comment made here as it is obvious to me that facts are ignored and that you are sure that we are all criminals. Further comment here is a waste of my time.”  In other words, he’s angry because I won’t regurgitate the hype he submits to the Observer which obligingly prints anything the city offers up. It’s the more than obliging propaganda arm of the city.

I am fact deprived he claims. “If you had all the facts, you would know that I started a dialogue with the Observer long before I ever heard of your blog. The Observer and I agreed that I will do public information pieces throughout the year for public out-reach and education, blah, blah, blah. My goal is not ‘puff’ pieces, but rather education about why it all matters and how it works.”

I thoroughly searched through Mr. Beckman’s “public information piece” and couldn’t turn up one single fact justifying the dramatic differences in costs between the city and the county. What did I miss Mr. Beckman?

Here’s more from Mr. Beckman’s “fact-filled” comment posted here last week: “If you had all the facts, you would realize that I am taking action to address properly setting fees long before you ever said a word, blah, blah, blah.”  The only fact there is a weak admission that current fees are not “properly set” and he’s working to address that. How Mr. Beckman?

“If you had the facts, you would know that months ago the city and county began a dialogue to put together an inter local agreement…. We are working on how we can all do more and do better together in ways that benefit everyone in the city and county.”

Again, no facts there that I could find, just a slick salesman telling me how great things will be if I buy into his pitch. If the county lets this guy do anything “to benefit the county”  it’ll be “Katie, Bar the door!” Nassau developers, builders and buyers will need to brace themselves for a financial shellacking.

Mr. Knocke and I  are not alone in our opinion of the city’s rip-off permitting and review scheme.

Two alert local readers of this blog – author, pundit, journalist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and political observer, Ken Timmerman; and author, investor, local developer, attorney and political observer Pat Keogh – both perceptive well-informed area citizens who keep abreast of goings on in the city closer than most, pointed out Mr. Beckman’s stinginess with facts that he says he provides so generously and claims I gratuitously disregard.

Mr. Timmerman called him out saying, “You mention ‘the facts’ five times in your comment, four times in the phrase, ‘if you had the facts;’ and yet, instead of citing a single fact, you just string out bromides and claim you are doing all that is ‘right and best’ for the community. Excuse me, sir, but there’s a name for that. It’s called Bravo Sierra.”

Mr. Keogh’s response to Mr. Beckman added: “……the citizens of the city are also citizens of the county and the services you insist on providing are offered better and much less expensively by the county literally across the street. Your response so far seems to be a plea for understanding on why you are “different”. So far we only get words from you. When will we get better, lower cost service?”

Mr, Beckman concluded his scolding of me saying: “So, go ahead with your crazy conspiracies and half checked facts. We will continue doing the work we need to do to the best of our abilities. None of your accusations or beliefs are driving what we are doing. We are miles ahead of you.”

I suggest Mr. Beckman seek another line of work. It appears that used car salesman or fulltime Observer staff writer would be a good fit.

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Things I Wish I’d Said: “Journalists are such abusive scoundrels nowadays that when people wish to insult someone’s obvious lack of integrity, they should stop comparing them to used car salesmen and start likening them to reporters and news anchors.” – Burt Prelutsky.

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Drinking, Dining & Dancing: Chet Huntley, the general manager of the newly opened Boat House the corner of downtown Ash and South 2nd Street tells me that his restaurant and bar has instituted a “Happy Hour.” It runs Tuesday through Friday, from 3:00- 6:00 pm. Well drinks are $4.00, domestic draft is $3.00 and import/microbrew $4.00, domestic bottle beers $3.00 and import/microbrew beer $4.00. House wine, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir goes for $5.00 a glass.

22 Comments

Bill Owen - 12. Nov, 2020 -

I’m a black gay guy and I can personally say that Obama did nothing for me. My life only changed a little bit and it was for the worse. Everything is so much better under Trump though. I feel respected — which I never do when democrats are involved.

Robert Steele - 11. Nov, 2020 -

Dave, a little lively debate can help clear the air, but this comment from one of your contributors is breathtaking: “Please cite what your evidence is that Biden is cognitively impaired…” I submit that there is such a wealth of evidence that only someone blinkered by white hot hatred for the President could possibly miss it. I would invite your correspondent to spend just a few minutes visiting something called YouTube and typing “Biden” in the search field to get a full measure of the depth and breadth of Mr. Biden’s crippled cognition. I don’t like picking on a man in the throes of senility, either. But facts are facts, and much is at stake. Mr. Biden ought to be kept away from the levers of power in the same sense that a blind man, however pleasant a fellow he may be, ought not to be allowed to captain an aircraft full of passengers.

Vince Cavallo - 08. Nov, 2020 -

Interesting point there Tony. Both Vietnam and the Towers fatalities were the result of a war or terrorist event both from adversaries. Since it is well known this virus originated with China, a foe, are you suggesting we should go to war with China? BTW, according to CDC, less than 15K have died solely from Covid. You allege that Trump did not listen to advisors. Like Fauci who once said the virus was not airborne and masks are not needed? Trump did close the borders, he flattened the curve which was suggested as a good course while it virtually destroyed the economy. Biden says he has a plan. Well, we see what: assemble a task force? Seems that was done. The point is he has no plan except BS. Yeah he could force everyone to ware a mask. Oh, how different has the virus spread been between locked down states and those who did not lock down or require masks? NIL. The “expert” has had quite an interesting history too. I recall him saying there would soon be a vaccine for HIV, in the early 80s. I must have missed the announcement of it I guess. BTW the self acknowledged President Elect is not such and will not be till the votes are certified and the college meets. Till then he is the AP president, nothing more.

Bruce Smyk - 07. Nov, 2020 -

FACTOIDS:
One of Tyler’s grandsons recently died, leaving a surviving brother. That is an amazing fact.
Some historians credit Fillmore with holding the union together with compromise.
Johnson was a racist, and widely disliked. He was basically impeached because he was an SOB.
Pierce served in the Mexican-American War under Gen. Scott, as did US Grant and Robt. E. Lee (who briefly met).
Buchanan was the only bachelor president and is thought by some to have preferred men.
Carter was a walking cluster-(expletive deleted).
Trumpists (or Trumpeters?) had trouble with science, now math.

Tony Crawford - 07. Nov, 2020 -

With respect to the National election. The simple fact is it looks like Biden will win with record numbers. Those who are on the “voter Freud ” bandwagon should really think twice. President Trumps own hand picked FBI Director, Mr Wray has assured us that it just doesn’t exist in any meaningful way. Should Trump win, Wray will be out on the street for telling the Truth. I wouldn’t worry about him, Dr Fucci we be there to keep him company for telling the truth as well.
Now that the election is over ( almost ) we should really focus on the biggest problem we have since WWll. The pandemic. It really baffles me that when the towers went down, we as a Nation pulled together. We mourned, we Prayed and we even went to war as a result. We honored those 3,000 souls who died. I can’t wrap, what is left of my brain, around the fact that every 3 days we have another 9/11 and about 3,000 more souls die. We have about quadrupled the number killed in Viet Nam and by the beginning of the year, this virus will have killed about the same as those who were lost in WWII. Think about that for a moment. The top expert in this field has been sidelined and replaced by a Fox news Radiologist with no experience dealing with this, or any other virus. Oh, he does however say what he is told to say. Once again loyalty wins over science and facts.
We need to do two things, well three really. Get over it, Trump lost. Try in some small way to do something to help reunite the division that has been apparent. Take this virus seriously.

Don’t matter what side your on. The games is over, shake hands, and LIVE to play another day

Bill Owen - 07. Nov, 2020 -

Nope, not gonna happen. After putting up with vitriol from supposed loving enlightened liberals, I look forward to returning the favor. Joe Biden will never be my president, because he’s a nothing, a frail, feeble minded basement dwelling cowardly puppet whose strings are being p I lied by the Marxists on the left.

Stephen Hall - 07. Nov, 2020 -

The problem isn’t completely with the impending rise of the annoying VP Harris person, it’s the legions of ideological fanatics that hover over Biden’s White House memory care camp. It’s like a Covid swarm, just more dangerous.

Bill Owen - 07. Nov, 2020 -

True. There’s Airhead on Crack, Pocahontas (Lie-a-Watha), Komrade Bernie and more. AOC is already calling for truth squads to prosecute Trump supporters. Wonder if she can be impeached and tried for violating her oath to uphold the Constitution, which allows freedom of expression under the first amendment? Or could she not read and comprehend those words? After all, her college education could not be great, she was a bartender..

Helen Michaelson - 07. Nov, 2020 -

It is absolutely critical that we all get out and vote for Sturges in the runoff. I’ve already gone around my whole neighborhood talking about this. Tell your friends and neighbors. We need Sturges to “right the ship” of the sinking Fernandina Beach. Sturges has an opportunity right now to get out to every neighborhood and give his pitch in person. I sure hope he is reading this. Do it by bike or scooter! Get out and pound the pavement.

Patrick J Keogh - 07. Nov, 2020 -

Dave:

He’s back! I thought Mr. Beckman divorced you and your blog last week. Didn’t he say “further comment here is a waste of time”. I guess just more empty words from this guy. Well, we now get another episode of Bend it Like Beckman. He bends the truth to get us to believe that he has a unique insight into the foolishness of the county. The county is losing money on every transaction! Gratefully, he stopped short of telling us they make it up on volume. I recently completed a development project in the county and sent off a thank you note to the county manager for all the staff’s responsiveness. Wonder how many thank you letters Mr. Beckman will get. More importantly; can you imagine this guy structuring a deal with the county to access better, lower cost county permitting and inspection services. No? Me neither.

Ed - 06. Nov, 2020 -

The election proved to be a victory for democracy. We get to keep it for 4 more years. The danger is what if the next candidate is a COMPETENT authoritarian.?? Your party should consider vetting their candidates in the future. Your president did win the most Covid infected parts of the country so congrats on that. And you win the most flags on your trucks and golf carts award…and yard signage too. Please cite what your evidence is that Biden is cognitively impaired (especially compared to our current president) before just spewing forth crap like you do. As a sidenote, we met some while ago..you ignored me choosing to hit on my date instead..She and I got a good laugh out of that one. Most cogent people wish you would just STFU…no one likes an angry old person

Bill Owen - 07. Nov, 2020 -

Do you and everybody else think that Quid Pro Joe has some magic want to make the virus go away? His so-called ‘plan’ is the same thing that is currently taking place – another example of his plagerism. That, and ‘Build Back Better’ – how is that different from Make America Great Again? Are you looking forward to being locked down and forced to wear a face diaper? To being overrun by illegal aliens when he tears down the wall and allows anybody (including terrorists) to pour in? When he raises your taxes to pay for health care and college for these freeloaders?

The man is a total brain fart, a placeholder who has accomplished absolutely nothing in his entire adult life except to leverage his VP office for personal gain, according to his own son. And he WILL acomplish nothing, because he will be removed before the end of his term so his Marxist running mate (who correctly called him racist and incompetent before giving in to the power) will take over.

Stephen Beckman - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Mr. Scott, please allow me to say that I am not offended, nor do I not dislike you. I’ve never met you. The fact is that if the county charges $900 for a single family home, they loose money. The Florida Building Code dictates certain minimum inspections, and for example, a single family home has about 30 depending on details of construction. At a mere $35 each inspection, which is what the city charges, the county would loose money on every house. This also does not account for many other costs incurred for permitting a house and doing inspections. If they loose money in the building department because they do not collect enough in fees, it would have to come from the tax payers. As I said earlier, the county operated at a significant loss last year and they can do this because they have a surplus in the bank that they have to spend down. When you look at all the financial information, it will be shown that our fees capture our costs fairly well. Regarding the cost to permit the hotel, the hotel is an anomaly in the city. We don’t see that type of project very often. The average commercial project is not 6x higher. Sorry if my comments came across to you in such a way as to really anger you. I was just trying to say that there is much more to the picture than you are stating. The other facts I was trying to get across is that city staff works hard to benefit the community. Other things we do behind the scenes are Not always broadcast. Property owners will start getting 20% lower flood insurance due to building staff efforts. Community members will receive emergency management services that will be enhanced from city/county cooperation and building staff efforts. There are other benefits that come from what we do that have value in our community. It is unfortunate that these things are not talked about. I work with many others at the city that I know work hard to provide services to the community that I also know many appreciate. I am proud to be a part of what the city does for its residents. My comments about comparing our value to the private sector were made to say that many choose to work in public service jobs because of a sense of duty to others. Being in a position where we can make a difference in the health, welfare and safety of the community brings a satisfaction and purpose that drives many of us. I know it does for me.

Robert Steele - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Not that it matters all that much, but what must the rest of the world think of us? Those observing us from distant shores have widely regarded Trump as some sort of clown because of his transparency (rare indeed in a holder of political office) and his tweets.

Never mind the right instincts about taxes and regulation resulting in a turbo-charged economy. Never mind the most rapid and efficient response to a pandemic previously imagined. Alas, his disdain of fashionable causes like climate change and wrecking the energy industry in favor of solar-powered windmills, to name just two—refreshingly sensible disdain, in my opinion—have rendered him a laughingstock among the oh-so-supercilious both here and abroad.

Ok, we knew all that. But now we’ve apparently gone and replaced him with a doddering old fool who can’t complete a sentence without visual aids; who has been slithering through the vineyards of public office for half a century and accomplished not one single thing of note, even in those halcyon days when he was relatively still compos mentis; and whose family’s illicit influence-peddling and political grifting have been an open secret for decades.

In a nation of 328 million, this is the best we can do? Now THAT’S something for the world to laugh at.

Richard Norman Kurpiers - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Re: Harris As President. Here’s the difference:. Trump highjacked the GOP and did so with the blessing of his followers, who also showed up en masse in this election. Sanders, Warren, and Harris, all progressives, lost in the primaries to a moderate Biden. Democrat voters have spoken. If you need more proof then look no further than the infighting already taking place between Democrat moderates and far left candidates; with the latter being blamed for voters rejecting enough Dems running for the Senate to prevent the Dems for taking control. Dems, just like Republicans, want to get elected. It would be political suicide for the Dems to push for a progressive agenda should Harris become president.

Lou Goldman - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Can America survive a Biden Presidency? That should be easy after surviving almost four years of of Trump’s Presidency.

DAVID LOTT - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Gwen Shea, that is the way the process works. Put it another way, more people voted against Sturges than voted for him. With the runoff, voters will have to make a clear choice. In the city’s runoff election history I believe that the candidate that finished second in the general election goes on to win the runoff election. We will see on December 8 which candidate is more successful in getting their supporters to turn out. I think either candidate will bring strong fiscal and management experience to the Commission.

Gary McKillips - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Great historical look! Don’t forget Jimmy also deprived our talented Olympians of having a shot of seeing their lifelong dreams come true.

Jenifer Steele - 06. Nov, 2020 -

I needed this this morning. Our house is a very sad place right now and it’s not because it’s going to snow on Monday again! Miss you guys!!!

Gwen Shea - 06. Nov, 2020 -

David Sturges is in a runoff with Genece Minshew because Lajoux was in the race. That was the plan. It is virtually impossible to get 50% of the vote when there are three people running. Minshew didn’t even come close to Sturges in votes, but gets to be in a runoff because Lajoux siphoned off votes.

Peg Dickinson - 06. Nov, 2020 -

Dave, it’s hard to believe I agree with you for once. I am hoping Biden does well and brings some peace to our country, but Harris doesn’t thrill me. I would like to change the subject and thank the voting system in FL and particularly Nassau Co for a well run vote! As a state we went from the laughing stock of the country with our hanging chads to one of the best run with compliments. As we still await results I can only hope other states learn from us.

Neil Borum - 06. Nov, 2020 -

It occurs to me that if the Golf Course and Marina were run the same as the building and utility departments are run … at least maybe our taxes wouldn’t be so high.