August 24, 2006 Issue

After an exhaustive, independent, 20-year parallel study of republican leadership in Okaloosa County and the United States as a whole, some amazing trends have been revealed. The most shocking of the results of the study are that Republicans aren’t who they say they are.

Just over 20 years ago, Sheriff Larry Gilbert, Clerk Buddy Brackin, and others left the Democratic Party and joined forces with the Reagan led Republican resurgence. Northwest Florida, long a conservative, Democratic stronghold, rapidly became solid Republican territory. So solid, in fact, that in the most recent elections, 10 Republican candidates did not even have a Democratic opponent.

What has occurred in our area over the past two decades under total Republican leadership is interesting. Republicans, the party of less government, less taxes, more personal freedom, and a strong military have had a long time to accomplish their goals in our area.

This year, property taxes have, in some cases, increased more than 300 percent. In Fort Walton Beach and Destin a whole new level of government has appeared under the guise of Community Redevelopment Associations. Development has been allowed to metastasize to the point that it has now turned on itself; damaging not only it’s own future, but also killing the goose that laid the golden egg. The party that is supposed to be for fiscal government responsibility turns into a war party every time Eglin Air Force Base is threatened with cutbacks in an effort to lower our military expenses.

On a national level the Republican Party is obviously confused regarding economic priorities. The oil industry, dominated from top to bottom by Republicans, enjoys record profits while consumers pay more at the gas pumps. The same dependence on oil fueling our busted Middle East policy and threatening our environment keeps their coffers overflowing.

The insurance industry, always run by Republicans, is not itself broken, but it has shattered the lives of many American citizens and businesses. It too enjoys record profits while the public suffers from its greed. Home insurance has become unattainable in many areas of Destin, and when it is attainable it is unaffordable. After a catastrophe, it is often worthless, its fine print disclaimers and deductibles rendering it unenforceable.

If you think the real estate market in Destin is in shambles now, just wait. When potential purchasers of property here do surface they will be faced with the prospect of having to pay cash for their real estate. Banks won’t finance property that cannot be insured.

The only war the Republicans have won in recent history was the frightening conflict in Grenada. If you think Americans can’t find Iraq or Iran on a map, let them have a stab at locating Grenada.

The most devastating conflict the Republican Party has given us may be the never-ending war on drugs. It started with the great American leader Nancy Reagan and her battle to get Americans to “Just Say No.” The war on drugs has been nothing more than a war on people. It has filled our jails with people who, in many cases, don’t belong there and has created a huge economic drain on our economy.

The Republicans have also waged a war against a woman’s right to decide what is best for her. Hard line Republicans still insist that a woman carry a fetus to full term even if she is not a woman, but a young girl. Even if the father of the fetus is not a husband, but a rapist. Even if the father is a family member and the girl is pregnant through incest.

Karl Rove and his minions want you to believe that those who speak out against the war in Iraq are leftist radicals. They are not. They are the majority of Americans who now overwhelmingly think the war was a mistake and want our soldiers brought home. Most Americans also believe that we are at greater risk for terrorism now than before Bush began his disastrous attack on Iraq. Checking billions of our citizens for shoe-bombs at airports has not comforted their fears.

A recent newspaper poll asked locally elected officials (all Republican) to grade President Bush on his performance. He received A’s and B’s (with an A+ from Rep. Sansom). Talk about out of touch. Bush’s mother and wife wouldn’t give him an A+.

In the next presidential election we may see John McCain and Hillary Clinton. I hope John Edwards will be there. But in two years the person we will probably need to run this country won’t be around. That person is Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In Destin you can often find the Democrats in our county at one table eating lunch at Harbor Docks. There will be Chris Cadenhead, Larry Anchors, Chris Wilson (who my father drove to register to vote), and myself. If you get a chance, stop by and say hello.

We will explain to you that unless you are wealthy, white, and male and unless you have no conscience or heart or means of rational thinking, you need to turn this county and this country around. Backwards if you will, but I’d would argue forward to the future.
You need to be a Democrat.

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