When Jeb Bush wanted to keep felon purge data secret, who did he turn to? EVIL TRIAL LAWYERS! "A politically connected Miami law firm wants Florida taxpayers to pick up a $5,000-plus tab for its chairman's private jet ride to Tallahassee. That bill is part of the approximately $149,000 in legal fees and expenses that Steel, Hector & Davis says it's owed for representing Secretary of State Glenda Hood in her unsuccessful bid last month to keep an error-riddled list of suspected felon voters out of the hands of the press. 'Because of short notice, we had to use a private jet to accommodate Mr. Klock's schedule,' the firm wrote to state officials to justify the $5,385 flight. The letter refers to Steel, Hector & Davis chairman Joe Klock, the election-law specialist who represented Hood when she was sued last month by Cable News Network and a host of Florida news outlets, which demanded the right to investigate a list of 48,000 suspected felons on the state voter rolls."

"U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, speaking on a conference call designed to discuss G. W. Bush's record on issues key to black voters, said there was a "lack of accountability from the state of Florida" during the disputed recount process. A mere 537 ballots decided Florida's 25 electoral votes, ones that sealed the presidency for Bush. "The governor was like bin Laden after the 2000 election,' said Meek, the Florida chairman for the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign. 'No one could find him when they had issues as it relates to so many African-American votes that were left on the floor in many supervisor of elections offices throughout the state.' President Bush's win came amid claims thousands of ballots from minority voters and others were not counted."

Proposed legislation in Florida legislation would allow a city or county to take an individual's land and sell it to a private developer for a shopping center or office building. Proponents say, in effect, that communities have to steal from ordinary people to give to the magnates because enormous tracts of land for businesses -- think WalMart -- are essential to the local economy. You can imagine what opponents say, because you're probably saying it yourself right now.

"Currently, nursing home residents can be hospitalized up to eight days and Medicaid will pay the nursing home to keep their beds open. ...Medicaid calls this the 'eight-day bed-hold.' Bush proposes saving $23-million this year by eliminating it. In dollar terms, the bed-hold proposal pales beside a total of $300-million Bush hopes to cut from this year's nursing home budget. Florida spends more than $2-billion each year on nursing home care through Medicaid... Besides the eight-day bed-hold, Bush hopes to cut $260-million from the nursing home budget by suspending payments for staffing increases mandated by the 2002 Legislature. About $60-million of that proposed cut represents money for future hires. The other $200-million represents reimbursement for new nurses and aides already hired."

"Modern-day slavery is alive and well in Florida, the head of a human rights center said Tuesday as it released a report on people forced to work as prostitutes, farmworkers and maids across the state. Human traffickers bring thousands of people into the United States each year and Florida is believed to be one of the top three destinations, along with New York and Texas, according to the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University. Although there have been several prosecutions of human trafficking in Florida, no one knows how many people in Florida are under the control of traffickers... 'All you have to do is look where cheap labor is required and where there is a potential for labor exploitation, which pretty much can put you anywhere in our state,' according to Robin Thompson, director of the research project." Read the report at the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights: http://cahr.fsu.edu

"Gov. Jeb Bush joked during a Florida Cabinet meeting that the people of San Francisco may be endangered and, 'That's probably good news for the country.' The subject was environmental land and Bush was looking at a map of locations with a lot of different wildlife at the time. 'It looks like the people of San Francisco are an endangered species, which may not be a bad thing. That's probably good news for the country.' People in the room broke into laughter." Atrios comments, "Can't wait 'til I can bring out my vast arsenal of witty 'ha ha look at the dead hurricane victims' jokes. ...Wait, maybe Jeb ain't so bad after all. Here's his spokesman: 'Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre later explained the governor's thinking: 'The Cabinet was talking about endangered species and everyone knows that Republicans are an endangered species in California.' So, it's a good thing for the country that Republicans are an endangered species in CA? Sounds about right to me. Preach on, Brother Jeb!"

So much for the famed Bush family "moral values" (ha! what values?!). Only after tens of thousands of letters and phone calls re: the Terri Schiavo case, has Jeb Bush decided to "look into" the matter. Yet, after days of Schiavo's slow starvation, he refused to intervene directly using his governor's clout. Seems he didn't find it so hard to intervene for Cynthia Henderson, not once but repeatedly, using that same governor's clout. That leads one to wonder...is it perhaps that Bush identifies more with Schiavo's husband, alleged by many sources to have been eager to "unload" his "inconvenient wife?"

John Sugg writes, "I was working in Miami in the early 1980s when Jeb Bush popped up on the scene like a malevolent jack-in-the-box. Doors, especially those in Little Havana, swung open wide for the 'vice president's son.' My interest was drawn to one particular door - an HMO owned by Miguel Recarey [who] had ties to the Contra terrorists in Nicaragua and the Mafia family of Tampa's godfather, Santos Trafficante. Bush brushed aside the mob allegations and declared that Recarey was 'a good supporter of the Republican Party.' And Bush helped arranged for the HMO to treat wounded Contras - part of the larger clandestine, and very illegal, Reagan Administration scheme to help the terrorist outfit (a group that, as it would later turn out, was padding its coffers by smuggling drugs into American cities). Bush.. opened doors in Washington to get a massive infusion - a billion bucks or so - of Medicare funding. Recarey stole $230 million of the taxpayer's cash and fled the country in 1987."

"A federal audit that was delayed at the request of Gov. Jeb Bush's office during his re-election campaign found that Florida's public pension fund owes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $267 million. The department's inspector general's office said the state, which receives federal money to pay employees working in federally funded programs such as Medicaid, charged too much for pension benefits between 1999 and 2002. The audit said the state should refund the money from the $12.8 billion in surplus funds in the $93 billion pension plan, either by paying all at once or over the long term by reducing future pension costs for the federal agency... The audit was originally scheduled to begin in April 2002, but Janet Rehnquist, daughter of U.S. Supreme Court [In]Justice William Rehnquist [who appointed Dubya] and then the Health and Human Services inspector general, postponed the audit until July 2002 after receiving a call from Kathleen Shanahan, Bush's chief of staff."

Mike Thomas writes: "Jeb Bush calls politics a 'blood sport.' Unfortunately, he's the one bleeding in Tallahassee right now. This malpractice reform spectacle revealed chinks in his political armor that were covered up in his early years by a budget surplus and legislation that all Republicans could agree on. In reality, Jeb is a Republican version of Jimmy Carter. Like Jimmy, Jeb has alienated many members of his own party who see him as aloof and arrogant. Like Jimmy, Jeb is awful at personal, political connections. Like Jimmy, Jeb never was in a legislative body [correction: Carter was a State Senator] and seems to have little use for them. Like Jimmy, Jeb doesn't grasp the subtleties of when to reward and how to threaten. Like Jimmy, Jeb is smart enough to have figured all this out, but hasn't. Jeb should not be in this position." What an insult to Jimmy Carter! Write Mike at mthomas@orlandosentinel.com

"Gov. Jeb Bush's office was trying to distance itself Tuesday from another memo that appeared to link the governor to planned demonstrations by doctors outside the offices of Republican state senators. The memo, titled ``These Boots Were Made for Walking,'' was sent Monday by the Sarasota Medical Society to its members. It said the governor's office, working through the Florida Medical Association, had asked that groups of 100 doctors demonstrate Monday outside the offices of Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota. The two are among the Republican senators who have steadfastly opposed Bush's push for a $250,000 cap on jury awards for pain and suffering in malpractice lawsuits. Beckett Shady-King, leader of the Sarasota Medical Society, said she had no comment when asked if the governor's office was involved in the planned demonstrations."

Jim DeFede writes: "We are told the death of 5-year-old Zachary Bennett was an isolated incident. We are told this isolated incident does not represent the fine efforts of Gov. Jeb Bush and Jerry Regier, the Secretary of the DCF, to reform that troubled agency.... Zachary Bennett. Deondre Bondieumaitre. Kelton Wright. The DCF is once again the Department of Child Fatalities. Yet while these children were being left to die in the hands of unfit guardians chosen by the DCF, the agency's secretary, Jerry Regier, was mounting a witch hunt to fire six competent DCF employees because the grandmother of Republican FLA Sen. Rudy Garcia wasn't immediately escorted to the front of the line to receive her welfare benefits at a service center in Hialeah [Miami]."

"In the latest case of a youngster's falling through the cracks of the Florida child welfare system, a 5-year-old boy was beaten to death on Tuesday. His father, in whom the state had placed his care without a thorough check that would have disclosed a violent criminal past, has been arrested and charged with murdering him. The caseworker and the supervisor assigned to the boy's case both resigned today in the face of dismissal... The agency, the Florida Department of Children and Families, has been afflicted by problems that were first exposed after it lost track of a 4-year-old girl, Rilya Wilson, and did not notice that she was missing until 15 months later, in April 2002. She remains unaccounted for."

"Dozens of e-mails detailing a lobbying campaign by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his staff on behalf of Bacardi Ltd. have been filed with a U.S. trademark court as evidence of illegal 'political pressure' by the resident's brother. Havana Club Holdings S.A., a joint venture between Cuba and France's Pernod Ricard, is using the governor's e-mail traffic to try to convince three administrative law judges at the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to reconsider a Jan. 21 ruling that Bush's one-sided contacts with U.S. Patent and Trade Office officials did not break any law. Federal rules prohibit ex parte communications on the merits of a case between interested parties and certain agency officials. The governor's e-mails flowed while the world's biggest rum maker and its Miami-based executives poured tens of thousands of dollars into the political war chests of Bush and the Florida Republican Party -- more than $200,000 since 1998, the Miami Daily Business Review reported in October."

"Janet Rehnquist, the daughter of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is leaving her job as the Health and Human Services official who investigates fraud and waste in Medicare and a range of other social programs. Congressional officials are investigating Rehnquist's management decisions as the HHS inspector general, but Bush administration aides said she was not pushed out [yeah, right!] She delayed an audit of Florida's pension fund at the request of a top aide to Gov. Jeb Bush. The delay ensured that the audit would not be completed until after the November election, in which Bush won [STOLE!] a second term. Several top career staff members in Rehnquist's office either quit or said they were forced out. Rehnquist also kept a government handgun in her office, raising questions about whether she was authorized to have the weapon. In addition to Congress' GAO, Rehnquist's management is under review by the Integrity Committee of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency."

From NY Post: "Jeb Bush came to Spain looking forward to establishing trade ties, but ended up looking back to the violent past, mistakenly calling the country a republic. In the kind of gaffe for which his brother, George W., has been famous, the governor temporarily forgot King Juan Carlos II as he complimented Jose Maria Aznar, the prime minister whose title in Spanish is president of the government. 'I would like to finish by thanking the president of the Republic of Spain for his friendship with the United States,' Bush told reporters yesterday in fluid, Miami-accented Spanish. Spain has not been a republic since the 1930s, when Gen. Francisco Franco crushed Republican troops in the Spanish Civil War. His nationalist dictatorship, on paper a kingdom for most of its life, lasted until his death in 1975, when Spain became a constitutional monarchy.'"

Lucy Morgan writes for the St. Petersburg Times: "We're having a little environmental control problem in Tallahassee these days. The governor and other public officials we see every day want to control their environment by determining when -- and sometimes which -- reporters will be allowed to see and hear what they are doing. The governor's staff says they want 'a controlled environment,' so they strictly limited access to Bush for a recent round of interviews looking ahead to the new year. Sometimes access is so controlled that press aides start saying 'one more question' about the time reporters have asked the first question. Gone are the days when a public official faced reporters and answered all the questions we had. Instead they flee the room with reporters at their heels trying to get the answer to one last question. Sometimes their flight makes them look like mobsters running from a camera."

Peter Wallsten writes: "As if being a two-term governor of the fourth-biggest state isn't enough to put Bush in line for the presidency, this governor also bears the country's most successful political brand name, won reelection with a surprisingly wide margin and enters the second term with an office that -- because of his own handiwork and a series of constitutional changes -- has greater influence over more facets of state government than any previous incarnation. Those circumstances have led many to wonder if Bush is in the ideal position to succeed his brother, the president, as leader of their party in 2008 and therefore heir to the family throne as the third Bush to rule the White House... How Bush handles the second term -- with its looming budget crisis, near-certain deficits and an expensive constitutional mandate for smaller class sizes -- will say far more about his political dexterity than the first four years of robust budgets and easy tax cuts."

A draft audit of Florida's pension fund would have been completed before Gov. Jeb Bush's re-election if federal investigators hadn't agreed to delays sought by his office, according to government documents provided Thursday to congressional investigators. Janet Rehnquist, the embattled head of the audit office, released the documents and said her decision to grant the delays "was based on the merits and not motivated by political reasons." Congressional investigators are trying to determine whether Rehnquist, the Health and Human Services inspector general and daughter of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, improperly delayed the audit - ensuring it wouldn't be completed before the president's brother won re-election last month.

"Jeb Bush, has been instrumental in securing the release from prison of militant Cuban exiles convicted of terrorist offences, according to a new book...[In] 1984...Jeb Bush began a close association with Camilo Padreda, a former intelligence officer with the Batista dictatorship overthrown by Fidel Castro. Jeb Bush was then the chairman of the Dade county Republican party and Padreda its finance chairman. Padreda had earlier been indicted on a $500,000 embezzlement charge along with a fellow exile, Hernandez Cartaya, but the charges were dropped, reportedly after the CIA stated that Cartaya had worked for them...The president's younger brother was also on the payroll in the 80s of the prominent Cuban exile Miguel Recarey, who had earlier assisted the CIA in attempts to assassinate President Castro...In 1985, Jeb Bush acted as a conduit on behalf of supporters of the Nicaraguan contras with his father." There's also Felix Rodriguez, who ran the Contra Supply operation for BushDaddy.

Palm Beach Post writes, "This year, Gov. Bush raised at least $10 million; that number will be higher when final reports come in. More important, the Republican Party of Florida raised at least $40 million, funneling a lot of that to the Bush campaign. Another $3.2 million came to the state party from the national GOP Senate fund, even though there was no Senate race in Florida. Where Mr. Chiles ran to limit the influence of money and signed laws to do so, Gov. Bush and his party revel in fund raising, saying they can't have enough money. So the question after Gov. Bush's victory is: If the people won in 1990, who won this year?...So whatever Gov. Bush declares to be his agenda for the next four years, the fact is that he and his party begin the new term in hock to a long list of political creditors. Their money was private; the payoffs will be public."

Palm Beach Post editorializes: "When candidate Jeb Bush campaigned in 1998, he said, 'Florida can do better.' Thanks to the work of his Democratic predecessor, he inherited a budget surplus of roughly $2 billion. Florida was poised to do better, even to do great things. Instead, Gov. Bush squandered the surplus on tax cuts that have returned nothing for the state. Having made lower taxes for a few corporations and the wealthiest 4.5 percent of Floridians his priority, the governor provided slogans and gimmicks that he hoped would fulfill his campaign pledge. [Jeb] is resorting to ads that lie about almost every McBride position and jab frantically at every hot-button issue... This is the Jeb Bush who in 1994 falsely accused Lawton Chiles of blocking a child-killer's execution. The same Jeb Bush ran in 1998. He just used a different script. Once in office, however, he reverted to the ideologue of eight years ago, taking a wrecking ball to state government before he has a blueprint."

Columnist Matt Towery writes, "While the cumulative InsiderAdvantage tracking poll - which has surveyed Florida voters every day since Oct. 2 - has shown an ever-dwindling lead for Bush, the survey's latest weekly 'horse race' numbers show an unexpected development: Democrat Bill McBride now leads" by 49%-45%. "A Bush defeat in Florida would suggest to the nation - and to the White House - that the Bush name does not guarantee political invincibility. Absent concerns about homeland defense or Iraq, a popular candidate - be it Jeb Bush in 2002 or George W. Bush in 2004 - can quickly tumble if more pedestrian issues, like education or the economy, start edging to the fore... If these trends continue, [W] might have to make Florida his second home as Nov. 5 approaches. Such a strategy could cost Republicans elsewhere and be considered foolish and selfish" - in other words, quintessentially Bushian!

CubanAmericanDemocrats.com reports: "Governor Jeb Bush continued to mislead Floridians on Thursday about his stance on benefits for disabled military veterans. In a(n)...interview with CNN's Judy Woodruff, Bush said, 'I do support concurrent receipt.' However, in a Sept. 18th letter...to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Bush calls for continuation of unfair penalties on the retirement pay of 460,000 disabled veterans. McBride stands by all disabled veterans and sent a letter on June 27th to US Senators supporting their plan, which provides all disabled military retirees with full retirement pay in addition to their disability compensation. In his letter, Bush backed the House plan, which excludes more than 460,000 disabled veterans from receiving both their disability compensation and retirement pay (also known as 'concurrent receipt.')...'He has taken himself out of the Governor's race,' (said) Dan Pettigrew, National Legislative Director for the Uniformed Services Disabled Retirees."

CBS News reports, "With his brother in an unexpectedly tight battle for re-election as Florida governor, [Shrub] is topping off the state GOP's campaign coffers with another $1 million and dashing through Georgia to aid the top of the ticket there. The Florida gubernatorial contest has been a grudge match from the start, with Democrats hungry to avenge Al Gore's [stolen victory] there in 2000, a [theft] that cost him the presidency. A poll this week showed Gov. Jeb Bush in a statistical tie with Democrat Bill McBride, who defeated former Attorney General Janet Reno in last month's primary. A Bush loss would deeply embarrass [Shrub], and cloud his own prospects for re-election in 2004. The state carries a rich cache of 27 electoral votes in the next presidential election, up from 25."

Sun-Sentinel columnist Stephen Goldstein writes, "Bushwhacked-Floridians are worse off than we were four years ago. Thanks to Jeb Bush's voodoo economics, smoke-and-mirrors education reforms, environmental poison pills and right-wing pandering, the state is in shambles. Florida needs regime change. Here are 24 reasons to vote the governor out of office on Nov. 5... In 1998, candidate Jeb asked you to give him four years, so he could create a better Florida. Many of you kept your end of the bargain; he didn't. 'Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me.' -- the truth of the adage should not be lost on voters. Stop the bushwhacking: Whack Bush out of office on Nov. 5."

Until his surprise primary win over Janet Reno in September, Bill McBride was barely known in Florida. In head-to-head matchups with Jeb Bush, he trailed by 20-30%. But the 2 latest polls put McBride only 3% behind Jeb, which is within the margin of error, hence a statistical tie. Jeb's lesbian smear of Rilya Wilson's caregivers, and his claim to have a "devious" plan to sabotage a state constitutional amendment limiting public school class size, have given McBride momentum - the "big mo," as Poppy Bush used to brag. Florida Democrats are united and determined to dump Jeb. You go, McBride!

Palm Beach Post writes, "A Florida Elections Commission member who urged the panel to investigate Dem Bill McBride owns a business that received $20,000 from the GHP, rents office space at state party headquarters and lists as one of his clients Gov. Bush. Richard Heffley, a lobbyist, also once had as a client Tidewater Consulting, whose president served as the GOP lawyer at the 8/15 hearing that reversed the FEC staff's finding that McBride had done nothing illegal. Heffley was one of 2 commissioners who pushed the panel to investigate television ads supporting McBride. Heffley did not disclose his financial ties to the GHP at the meeting. Ron Meyer, called the conflict of interest 'outrageous,' and said he would ask the FEC to remove Heffley from any further discussions... Campaign records show that Heffley's 'Strategic Direction' political phonebank received $20,654 from the GHP in 2001. Heffley said he hopes to receive more business from the party in the coming months."

Florida has the resources and location to be a veritable paradise. But under Jeb Bush, the state has gone downhill steadily and is now resembles tropical dictatorships like Nicauragua under the Somosa family. Miami is now the POOREST city in the nation, up four places since the 1990s - most of the loss coming during the Bush regime, at a time when the rest of the nation prospered. In Jeb Bush's Miami, 61% of all families headed by single women with young children live in poverty. Overall, one-third of all Miami residents live below the poverty line. Good job, Jeb - Slum Lord to the State of Florida. And just think, what Jeb Bush has done to Flordia in four years is just a HINT at what Bush may do the the entire U.S. if left unchecked for two more.

Something very strange occurred during Jeb Bush's latest debate with Bill McBride and some people seem to think that -GASP - Jeb cheated! Did Jeb Bush have the names of the "anonymous concerned citizens" as well as the nature of their questions before the debate, or has Jeb been hanging around at the psychic friends network? And how much time will the Republican media spend on this latest Jeb scandal, compared to the Harkin-Ganske tape or Streisand's Caesar hoax?

Palm Beach Post reports: "Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican Party have not reported as much as $221,000 in donated corporate airplane flights it provided his campaign, despite a state law requiring that such gifts be listed. Paradoxically, the full costs of the expensive flights are listed as donations to the state Republican Party, and GOP sources say those records are kept -- to the penny -- so Bush will know exactly how much help each company provided to his reelection campaign. The total value of the donated air travel exceeds the $50,000 limit for cash and 'in-kind' assistance his campaign is allowed to accept from the party. 'In-kind' contributions refer to services that are provided free, such as printing yard signs, providing meals or flying the candidate, and no money is exchanged.... In early September, Bush refused to acknowledge a Post reporter's question about his use of donated airplanes." Refused to answer? Defeat ALL Corrupt Republicans!

Jason Zengerle writes "For more than a year Bill McBride touted himself as the man who could fulfill Florida Democrats' wildest dream: He could beat Jeb Bush. 'I've sized him up,' McBride would say in his folksy drawl as he stumped for votes in the state's Democratic gubernatorial primary. 'I can take him.' A combat-decorated Marine, [McBride doesn't lack for confidence. Jeb Bush's attack ads confirmed] for Florida Democrats what McBride had been telling them all along: He could beat Bush... The potent synergy of public dissatisfaction with state education and Democratic animus toward Bush was on display when McBride addressed a meeting of the FEA... The teachers' union, of course, supports McBride -- [but] as much as the teachers like McBride, they detest Bush... One FEA member sported her own homemade pin: Jesus Loves You, Jeb. Everyone Else Thinks You're An Asshole."

"DONAHUE: We also have a lot of Enron money going to Florida... PALAST: First of all, it’s another twofer. No. 1, Enron goes bust. The Florida state pension fund has lost 1/3 of a billion dollars. That’s more than any other state threw onto the Enron roulette wheel. A third of a billion dollars... DONAHUE: Because of its extraordinarily large investment in Enron stock. PALAST: Unbelievable investment in Enron stock. DONAHUE: 330 million, gone. PALAST: That’s right, 1/3 of a billion dollars. So what’s happened is the state of Florida is hunting for every Enron asset and for all the assets of Enron executives, to try to get back some of the money which is basically stolen from the pensioners of Florida. What happens 45 days after the money disappears into a hole in Houston? The governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, goes to the home of the ex-president of Enron and picks up a check for $2 million, a campaign contribution from a fund raiser held at the house of the ex-president of Enron."

Mark Silva writes that a TV advertising attack on Democrat Bill McBride and his campaign for governor could backfire on Jeb Bush. "Bush defended the GOP's intervention in the Democratic primary race, saying he thinks the TV attack ads had held down McBride's rise in the polls. [Analysts say McBride's TV ads are] largely responsible for his improved standing. Nine in 10 Democrats know who McBride is. But Bush's attacks also have boosted McBride's name recognition, while offering him a platform... 'I'm convinced that Bush's attacks on McBride have backfired, and Bush is in the process of potentially producing a very strong general-election challenger to himself,' said Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia. 'Assuming McBride wins the nomination, Bush has taken a likely re-election and turned it into a nip-and-tuck battle... Bush has purchased himself an awful lot of trouble.'"

Salon's Anthony York writes that a Justice Department lawsuit against a former business partner of "Jeb Bush is raising new questions about yet another Bush's old business dealings... As one Florida Democratic operative puts it, the key to erasing Bush's double-digit lead over his potential Democratic challengers, former US Attorney General Janet Reno and Tampa attorney Bill McBride, is to tell the story of how Bush 'came to Miami with chickenshit, and turned it into chicken salad.' Bush has endured a long, hot summer of hideous headlines -- on everything from his daughter Noelle's drug conviction to the ongoing scandal at the state's social services agency. [So far, neither Reno nor McBride] has been able to use the bad news to gain traction against Bush. [That could change] if this latest Bush business scandal develops legs."

Jeb "arrived in Miami in 1980 so broke that he used his American Express card to pay his MasterCard bill is now worth $2.4-million...He tapped his father's Washington connections to recruit help for some questionable businessmen, including one felon who remains a fugitive wanted by the FBI. He embraced business deals that have prompted lawsuits alleging mismanagement, stock manipulation and special treatment...Bush also made money working on land deals with former CIA staffer [Richard] Lawless, who represented Asian buyers. The two began a series of real estate ventures in 1989 through a flurry of private companies...Lawless created U.S. Asia Florida, among other shell companies. Lawless...was widely reported...to be linked in 1988 to efforts to free U.S. hostages in Lebanon. Though it was denied at the time by the Reagan administration and Lawless, the U.S. intelligence officer was reported to be acting as an emissary between then-Vice President Bush and the government of Iran."

Tyler Bridges writes, "A man suing a one-time business partner of Gov. Jeb Bush's in a Nigeria water-pump sale that went awry amid allegations of bribery wants to call Bush as a witness in the case whenever it goes to trial, an attorney confirmed Monday. In a related development, the governor said Monday he does not want a federal judge to seal records in the case, as his former business partner, J. David Eller, is seeking, If the judge does not seal the records, any pretrial deposition that Bush gives could become public... Democrats are hoping the legal case will force Bush to answer a question he has never fully addressed: What did he do to earn the $648,250 paid to him by Eller when Eller bought Bush's share of a different company, Bush-El Trading, in 1994?"

"Intimate Treasures, a sex shop in the resort town of Fort Walton Beach...received a low-interest, 25-year loan for $410,250, guaranteed by George W. Bush's Small Business Administration (SBA). Why?... Intimate Treasures possesses one attribute that makes it a highly attractive destination for federal dollars: It's located in Florida...According to a report in The Palm Beach Post last year, the Bush brothers' political advisers hold a joint weekly conference call to discuss Florida strategy and how Washington can help Tallahassee...And the new pots of federal money come with remarkable frequency...the White House has sent Washington dollars to buttress the three primary themes of Jeb's reelection effort: education, homeland security, and the environment. 'If you want to do a new initiative, and you want to get funding for it, you better show how it's going to help a state that was close in 2000, like Florida. Obviously, the word is out to help Jeb any way you can.'"

Jack McCarthy writes "I'm glad I'm not alone in believing that Jeb Bush is more vulnerable than some would like to admit. [Mr W's political Rasputin, Karl Rove], put Florida in the same column as nine other states that the Bush political operation consider to be in trouble this fall... Although recent polls show Jeb with a sizeable lead, his negative ratings have gone from a low 15 to a present day 35 percent. Polls similarly show that despite a post 9/11 blip in approval ratings, a majority of Florida voters give Jeb an F+ for his education plan... A credible candidate, who can articulate the case against 'What Jeb Bush has done to Florida,' should have no trouble closing the gap on this less than beloved governor."

"A Miami lawyer who could become the Florida Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice is under fire for his ties to a militant anti-Castro activist once accused of plotting to blow up a Cuban airplane. A Miami radio host is exhorting listeners to call Gov. Jeb Bush to complain about Raoul Cantero, one of five finalists for an open seat on the high court, because he once helped represent Orlando Bosch. Bosch was held in a Venezuelan jail for 11 years on charges of masterminding the October 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed all 73 people on board. Later acquitted, he arrived in Miami, where lawyers, including Cantero, eventually were able to secure his residency after he served time in federal prison. He left prison in 1990 and remains a controversial figure." In 1990, the BushDaddy ordered the release of Bosch at the urging of Jeb, which the Bush gang traded for Florida votes in the '92 election (See Online Journal, 3/1/01).

AP writes, "Gov. Jeb Bush wants Floridians to elect their first woman governor ... 'It's about time a woman became governor of the state of Florida,' Bush told 300 female high school seniors. The girls, who were in the House chambers taking part in a mock Legislature, roared their approval. So did the Janet Reno campaign. 'We couldn't agree more,' said Reno spokeswoman Nicole Harburger. 'Careful what you wish for, Mr. Governor.'"

On September 7, four days before 9/11, Jeb declared Florida a State of Emergency because of a terrorist threat. We have learned since then that nearly all of the pilots of the planes lived (at some point) in Jeb's state, including Jose Padilla. Also, there was a soldier from Fort Stewart who tried to detonate explosives near a power plant (by the way, he was released with a slap on the wrist- hmmm a CIA operation?) Now we learn that another Florida man, Safraz Jehaludi, had plans to blow up a Florida power plant and the White House.

"In a lawsuit filed in Tallahassee, two businesswomen say the Bush administration stole their idea for creating a user-friendly state budget that could be accessed on the Web. Keystrokes, program features and the entire concept for placing the phonebook-sized state budget on the Internet were pilfered during meetings the women had with state officials, the suit contends. The women say they are victims of intellectual-property theft, conducted by the governor's budget director in concert with top House and Senate budget officials. 'All they did was pick our brains for two years and then designed their own system,' said Anna Mattson, a former longtime state budget systems expert whose company, GroupThink, has filed the suit in Leon County Circuit Court. 'They just weren't going to let two little old ladies make any money off them,' she added."

How many ways has Jeb broken the 10 commandments? Let us count the ways. Jeb STOLE the Presidency for his brother George. Jeb LIED about not being involved in the theft of the Presidency. Jeb committed ADULTERY with Cynthia Henderson. Jeb puts the GODS of money and power before Jehova. Jeb makes the Republican elephant into an IDOL. Jeb forgets the SABBATH every week. Jeb COVETS everything that belongs to his neighbors. And we haven't even touched the Seven Deadly Sins. Hey Jeb, before you judge the souls of 100 million other Americans, don't you think you should examine your OWN sin-ridden soul?

We're as sympathetic as anyone to the tragic plight of Noelle Bush. But how can we fail to be outraged by her father's unbelievable hypocrisy? "Gov. Jeb Bush broke down and cried in a speech Tuesday as he thanked an audience of law enforcement and drug prevention professionals for their sympathy following his daughter's drug arrest earlier this year." Jeb pulled strings to keep Noelle out of jail: "Under a pretrial agreement between her lawyer and prosecutors, she entered an in-patient drug rehabilitation center, where she remains indefinitely." But Jeb has the GALL to oppose a "constitutional amendment in Florida that would have let certain first- and second-time drug offenders avoid jail and go to treatment" - he even called the measure's supporters "clowns."

Linda Kleindienst and John Kennedy write in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, "Florida legislators appear eager to approve a lucrative tax break sought by the state's biggest corporations but are less likely to relieve crowded classrooms when they return to the Capitol today for a two-week special session. The $262 million tax cut, which would allow 'bonus depreciation' on new equipment purchases, has been lobbied hard for weeks by Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida's most powerful businesses. It looks almost certain to win approval, even as legislators scramble to pull together cash for schools, social services and environmental programs that were hit hard by December's recession-driven budget cuts." Let's beat the Bushes!

According to the Orlando Sentinel, "The Republican Party, airing costly new TV ads touting Gov. Jeb Bush's concern for public schools, filmed its commercials in a private Christian academy. Bush wanted to avert criticism for campaigning in a public school, both the state GOP and the governor's campaign say, so he filmed the ads picturing him with children at Florida Christian School near Miami. But Bush's move has only invited criticism from Democrats challenging his commitment to public education. 'The only refuge for him is the private schools,' said Tony Welch, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association teachers union, which has endorsed a Democratic rival to Bush. 'It's so fitting. We see this ad as fantasy.'... Opinion polling has targeted education as the runaway concern among voters, and surveys show few voters credit Bush with improving the public schools since his election in 1998." That's because Jeb was way too busy disenfranchising voters and stealing the Presidency!

According to the St. Petersburg Times, "Jeb Bush's former business partner, prominent Republican contributor J. David Eller, twice flew suitcases of cash to offshore tax havens to hide his assets, the U.S. Justice Department contends in a lawsuit. The lawsuit also says Eller's MWI Corp., a Deerfield Beach water pump manufacturer, improperly used more than one-third of a $74.3-million U.S. loan to pay a Nigerian agent for the company. In turn, that agent and other company officials paid Nigerian government officials involved in buying MWI's pumps... The allegations of wrongdoing by MWI track the period when Bush worked for an affiliated company promoting the company's equipment overseas. A Bush spokeswoman, Katie Muniz, said Friday that the governor was unaware of any wrongdoing by MWI and that the absence of any reference to Bush proves what he has said for years: 'He had nothing whatsoever to do with the alleged wrongdoing of MWI.'" Why is EVERY Bush deal surrounded with corruption???

"A 17-month-old foster child in Duval County is beaten and then drowned in the bathtub. Her foster mother is arrested. Four young children say they were sexually abused in a Lake Mary foster home. Two people, including their foster mother, are arrested. Is the Florida Department of Children & Families doing a good job monitoring foster homes? An internal audit released to the Orlando Sentinel makes clear the answer to that -- at least in Central Florida -- is no. Local administrators are so hampered by sloppy and incomplete paperwork that they cannot tell in three out of every 10 cases whether foster parents are capable of handling the abused and neglected children the agency gives them. Staff sometimes skip out-of-state criminal checks, often leave safety concerns unaddressed and sometimes let experienced foster parents watch television talk shows and count that as continuing education." So reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Here is yet another Jeb Bush privatization scheme that has brought about disaster - this time to abused kids. "Amid mounting allegations of shoddy work and falsified records, the state Thursday canceled multimillion-dollar contracts with a Pinellas Park company it hired to investigate child abuse cases. The move is a blow not only to the nonprofit company, but also to state Department of Children and Families Secretary Kathleen Kearney, who just last week proudly recounted in an interview how rapidly the department had cut its backlog of abuse cases. The cancellations mean that already overworked state and local investigators are likely to get even higher case loads as the department severs ties with the company that had investigated more than 10,000 cases the department was too busy to manage." The Bushes think families can be strengthened through empty rhetoric, rather than economic assistance and well-managed public services. Where is the outrage???

According to the Miami Herald, "Hundreds of Bill McBride supporters have been 'spammed.' The spam artist is none other than the e-governor himself -- or, rather, his reelection campaign manager. In an e-mail sent to people who had signed up to receive electronic updates from McBride, the Tampa lawyer who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign manager urges people to consider voting for her boss. The spam was sent to some 300 users, much to the horror of McBride strategists who were at a loss to explain how the Bush campaign obtained their list. 'In e-mail etiquette, this is a no-no,' said Robin Rorapaugh, McBride's campaign manager. 'I think this is dirty pool.'" Just one more reason Florida voters should crush Jeb.

According to the Washington Post, "The Supreme Court ruled today that public housing authorities around the country may evict tenants because members of their households, or guests, are using drugs, even if the evicted tenant was unaware of the drug use." So will Jeb be evicted for Noelle's illegal drug use? If Florida's housing bureaucrats don't do it, the voters of Florida will!

Jeb's administration has been rocked by one scandal after another - but none of them ever appear in the state's news media, thanks to incestuous business relations between the media owners and the Bush organized crime family. Here's a quick review of several of Jeb's scandals - Jeb's affair with Cynthia Henderson, Noelle Bush's repeated drug offenses, and Enron's theft of $334 million from Florida's pension fund. But that's just the tip of the iceberg - Jeb's lies about his relations with Ken Lay, his giving the finger to Clearwater protesters, Florida's criminal purge of LEGAL voters, the Menorah Gardens Funeralgate scandal, and on and on - just type "Jeb" into our .compass search engine for Jeb's complete criminal record.

"Gov. Jeb Bush spent up to a half-hour on the phone last April with Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron Corp., the now-bankrupt Houston-based energy conglomerate that had an interest in breaking open Florida's energy market to outside companies. The disclosure that Bush talked to Lay was revealed in public records made available to several news organizations Wednesday. Bush said late last month he did not 'recall' meeting or talking with anyone from Enron during his tenure as governor, although he said he had met with representatives of an Enron subsidiary. Lay, who this week refused to voluntarily testify to Congress about the demise of his corporation, and Enron were one of the largest donors in the 2000 election to President George W. Bush, the older brother of Florida's governor. Several Enron officials -- including Lay -- also donated money to Jeb Bush's 1998 campaign for governor." So reports the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

According to two witnesses, Governor Jeb Bush gave the finger to a group of protesters in Clearwater FL. We guarantee Florida's presstitutes will never report this outrageous and disgusting behavior by the head of Florida's Foremost Dysfunctional Family. Hey Bill Bennett, where is the outrage?

A former Enron president will host a fund-raiser for Gov. Jeb Bush Thursday in Houston. Bush will attend the $500 a person reception at Richard Kinder's home. Kinder left Enron in 1996 and formed Kinder Morgan, an $18 billion energy company. Kinder has given $400,000 to President Bush and the Republican Party. Some Democratic leaders questioned Bush's decision. "The people who have lost their life savings have to be wondering about his judgment," state Democratic Party Chairman Bob Poe said. "I just can't believe with everything that has been going on about Enron they would do that." We can believe Jeb Bush - and all Republicans - would do ANYTHING for a few campaign dollars!

"The governor can say what he wants, but the revised state budget shortchanges Floridians and darkens their future. The Legislature will vote Thursday on more than $1 billion in spending cuts to bring the budget back into balance after the slow economy collided with $1.6 billion in tax cuts passed since 1999. Gov. Bush chose to say: 'We in Florida have been successful in meeting the priority needs of our people and preparing for a brighter future.' He's wrong...After a cut of $309 million in never-bountiful budgets, their schools must absorb the equivalent of 100,000 new students with no new money over last year...the state will cut 171 [probation] officers. Elderly and disabled citizens will settle for fewer health services from Medicaid and counties, if the counties can afford them. The Bright Futures student who planned to do her Legislature-mandated summer session this year won't get tuition money."

"Their struggle will center on a constitutional amendment [Democratic Senator Bob] Graham wants voters to support that would bring back the university system's board of regents...'It's like having Graham on the campaign trail without having him run for governor,' said Bob Poe, state Democratic Party chairman. 'That's very important because Bob Graham, who has enormous respect and credibility, will talk about what [Jeb] Bush has done to hurt education in this state, and that can only help Democratic candidates.' Bush, in Graham's view, was tearing apart the very legacy that Graham had built as governor from 1979 to 1987 …[when] Graham helped shepherd massive changes to a state school system that was held in disregard…Graham demanded more accountability from local school districts. He overhauled the state's testing systems, changed training for teachers and principals and increased control over curriculum requirements."

"Some prophets wait a lifetime or longer to be vindicated. For Larry Fuchs, Florida's former chief tax collector, it took merely two years. Fuchs said in the summer of 1999 that Florida was 'functionally bankrupt' and that the next inevitable recession would swiftly prove it. Though some leaders listened, it was mostly to laugh -- none more raucously than Florida's new governor, Jeb Bush, who boasted just a few months ago that he and the Legislature were on track to cutting taxes by a cumulative $6-billion before the end of his term... Now the Legislature must return to Tallahassee to cut this year's already lean budget by at least $1-billion, with even greater reductions looming for fiscal 2003." So writes a stinging editorial in the St. Petersburg Times.

Jeb Bush finally admitted that he fired Elder Affairs Secretary Gema Hernandez, but continues to lie about the reason. Hernandez had created a pilot project to give seniors real choices in local service providers, rather than making them slaves of local monopolies - no doubt with powerful Republican connections. Instead of telling the truth, Jeb says "She wasn't very good at managing people." Hey Jeb - let's talk about the management skills of Cynthia Henderson!

According to the Palm Beach Post, "Florida is under a state of emergency, legislators are considering closing committee meetings, and routine public records are being withheld in the name of a massive federal terrorism investigation. In the two weeks since suicide attacks killed thousands, civil libertarians are growing worried that Florida's ironclad Government-in-the-Sunshine Law -- the most open in the nation -- could become collateral damage. 'I understand the fear because I'm afraid. But this rush to close access doesn't do us any good,' said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation. 'At this time of national crisis, it's more important than ever that we know how well our government is functioning.' Petersen's concerns weren't eased Monday evening when House and Senate leaders announced the creation of special 'security' committees assigned to coordinate Florida's response to the national emergency."

After the attack on September 11, Jeb Bush declared a State of Emergency in Florida, and put state and local government agencies under the control of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (Florida's state troopers). This gives the state police broad powers to suspend state laws, commandeer state and local government employees, seize property, and evacuate residents. Pretty scary - especially since Jeb has thoroughly politicized the FDLE by firing career officers and appointing loyalist hacks. Right-wingers love to accuse Democrats of being dictators, but here's one in the flesh - and his name is Bush.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick" - that's Janet Reno's approach to politics. Instead of the usual brass-band announcement, Reno simply invited reporters to her home to tell them she was running for Governor. "I've spent the last three months talking to people all across Florida, and I think they share my vision for Florida -- building the best educational system in the country, preserving our environment, managing our growth and standing up for our elders," she said. Early polls taken before Reno became a serious candidate showed Reno was only slightly behind Jeb; the next round of polls will certainly show her gaining ground. With Jeb's tax giveaways running Florida's budget way into the red, Jeb will have a hard time convincing Floridians to give him another chance. And then, of course, there's the small matter of the Stolen Election...

AND THEY'RE OFF! A sellout crowd of 650 turned out for the Alachua County Democratic Party's third annual Lawton Chiles Dinner, which attracted 90 guests in previous years. Seven Democratic gubernatorial candidates took turns skewering Jeb. "One after another, Democrats tore apart Bush's record on education, race relations, tax breaks and the environment, and the crowd relished it. U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, D-Dunnellon, the emcee, set the tone by declaring at the outset: 'We only have one enemy.'" -Jeb. Jeb's seven potential opponents included Rep. Jim Davis, House Minority Leader Lois Frankel, State Sen. Daryl Jones, attorney Bill McBride, former Ambassador Pete Peterson, Janet Reno, and Oral Majority founder Bob Kunst, who was added to the program at the last moment. It looks like Florida Democrats have "Big Mo," as Jeb's daddy used to say!

In July, the Bush Organized Crime Family's Tallahassee branch office (also known as the Florida Governor's office) named an admitted embezzler as the state's chief technology officer. Less than two months later, Roy Cales was jailed for grand theft. It appears that Cales fraudulently obtained a $35,000 bank loan in 1996, then defaulted on it. If Cales was a Democrat, Jeb and the Republicans would be demanding his head. But because he's a Republican, Jeb is insisting on the "presumption of innocence." Cales is just another example of Republican "heartland values."

"Black freshman enrollment at the University of Florida is expected to be down by nearly half this year under Gov. Jeb Bush's ban on racial preference in public university admissions. Blacks represented nearly 12 percent of the freshman class last year, but the class starting this month will be only 6 percent to 7 percent black, said officials at the state's most elite public university. 'This is disappointing,' said provost David Colburn, the school's chief academic officer. 'We were a segregated institution for a long time. And for a long time after that we were an almost lily-white institution.' Bush announced in 1999 his 'One Florida' plan to remove affirmative action from state agencies. Critics of the policy have warned it would lead to fewer minorities enrolling. A Bush spokesman said Sunday the governor had no comment." Surprise! Well, we have one - Jeb, we will remember in November (2002)!

Cyndi Henderson fired Col. Terry Meek, commander of the Capitol Police. Cyndi also removed the number two commander, Major Robert G. Tippett. Tallahassee sources say Cyndi wants to control the Capitol Police to protect herself and Jeb from prying eyes whenever they meet in the Capitol building (hundreds of other state buildings throughout Florida are owned/leased by Cyndi's DMS and protected by the Capitol Police). Cyndi recently moved the Capitol Police from the 9th floor of the Capitol to the Winchester building, because they were right next door to her Legislative Liason Office. It is rumored that Jeb's wife, Columba, caught Cyndi and Jeb in a 'compromising position' in this office during the legislative session three months ago. Allegedly, Columba was forcibly removed from the Capitol by members of Jeb's FDLE protective service unit. But the rumor in Tallahassee was that the Capitol Police called FDLE after discovering the three of them arguing in the office next door.

Florida House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel gained national recognition for standing up for Al Gore during the recount fiasco. Frankel will enter the Democratic primary for Governor. In response to the NY Times expose, Frankel declared: "The New York Times investigation reveals the hardball tactics of the supporters of George W. Bush to slant the process by treating votes in an unequal manner. As with the events chronicled by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, this effort to ensure a Bush victory also led to voter disenfranchisement. I believe these are possible violations of the Voting Rights Act that demand investigation by the proper authorities in the U.S. Department of Justice and the Florida Attorney General’s Office."

Oral Majority's Bob Kunst has run twice for statewide office in Florida. Now Kunst is running in the 2002 Democratic primary for the opportunity to take on Jeb Bush and expose the Stolen Election. Speaking to Democrats in Cocoa Beach, Kunst declared "If you want a federal investigation of this High Treason, vote for Kunst! If you voted for Gore last time, do it again and vote for Kunst. If you want to impeach the U.S. Supreme Court Extremists, vote for Kunst!" Kunst also sent letters to Tom Daschle and John Ashcroft demanding an investigation of the crimes exposed by the NY Times.

Online Journal's Sally Slate has uncovered explosive details about Jeb Bush and his ex-playboy bunny mistress, Cynthia Henderson. Ms. Sally says Democrats.com was correct about Henderson's capitol lovenest. She says Jeb "broke" his bed while Columba Bush was away, and had the state pay $1,900 for immediate delivery of a new bed. Even worse, she reports that Columba caught Jeb and Ms. Henderson together, "at least once, when she came back from Miami early one Sunday morning, when Jeb expected her to return the afternoon of the next day... Jeb sported a black eye for two days, captured in a photo now in the possession of the Globe." Ms. Sally concludes, "Isn't the silence of the so-called mainstream media - you know, the folks who could not get enough of 'all Monica, all the time' and who are now obsessing over 'all Condit, all the time' - interesting in light of all the Jeb-Henderson stories making the rounds in Florida?" We demand a media onslaught!

According to Florida law, the state seal may NOT be used for any partisan political purpose. However, Jeb Bush broke the law to help "fix the race" for his brother by sending out hundreds of thousands of special letters to Republican-registered voters on stationery with the state seal. Furthermore, the letter told voters they could "vote from the comfort of their home," but under Florida law, absentee ballot can be used ONLY if voters are physically unable to get to the polls. As a result, many voters not entitled to absentee ballots cast a Bush vote. Totally absentee votes increased by 50%, and Bush beat Gore by 125,000 among absentees. When activists filed lawsuits protesting this illegal activity, judges dismissed the suits - not because of lack of merit, but because they felt the offense should be prosecuted as a CRIMINAL case, not a civil action. Yet prosecutors have done NOTHING. We demand the prosecution of Jeb Bush!

Sally Slate has joined forces with the wonderful Online Journal, and her debut column is sizzling! Sally weighs in on Gary Condit, and adds some details about Jeb and Cynthia. Check it out!

-"Two votes and three felony counts brought probation, not prison time, for Chris Carman, a former Manatee County Republican Party executive and brother of Bradenton city councilman Jeff Carman. It also brought a blast of criticism from the man who oversees elections. '[The] judge just spanked his hands,' said Bob Sweat, the county's elections supervisor. 'Poor people get slam-dunked. Those people with money and some influence, maybe with a brother who's on the City Council, they just walk away.' Chris Carman received his probation sentence Thursday from 12th Circuit Court Judge Marc Gilner, after admitting he had voted using the name of a former roommate during the 2000 presidential election and had cast a vote in his own name." Who appointed Gilner? Jeb Bush, of course (see http://www.state.fl.us/eog/press_releases/1999/July/Gilner.htm). We demand an investigation!

Jeb Bush has put Roy Cales in charge of a new state Technology Office, with 1,760 technology employees and a $600 million annual budget. There's only one problem: Cales is an admitted embezzler. Cales' position as technology czar presumably puts him in charge of election technology, which would allow him to conduct more illegal felon purges and manipulate the results of computerized vote counting. Florida beware!

Florida's economic development agency, often cited as an example of how government can run like a corporation, treats its top executives to bonuses and lavish travel - while making grants to businesses whose officers sit on its boards. Comptroller Bob Milligan's auditors said Wednesday that officials of Enterprise Florida Inc. set up a $2.38 million "private bank account" to cover exclusive club memberships, lobbying expenses and extra pay for leaders of the Orlando-based operation.

Under Jeb Bush, Florida is becoming more and more like Orwell's 1984 (especially through the proposed use of surveillance cameras). Now a newspaper editor in Key West who dared expose a possible police cover up was arrested and charged with a criminal misdemeanor. The arrest, based on an obscure law considered unconstitutional, was clearly aimed at silencing editor Dennis Cooper, who was investigating an internal probe by police into a 6-year-old incident in which the PD may have falsified information. Police chief "Buz" Dillon sounded just like a Bush boy when asked to explain himself regarding his use of an unconstitutional law to go after an editor. "This law is referred to as 'the Gag Law'. That's what this law is intended to do, so we can have a fair and impartial investigation." Hey, Buz, just get it to the Supreme Court - they'll fix it for you.

Does Jeb Bush hate kids or what? This year, the FLA governor vetoed every child safety measure proposed by the legislature, including a bill that would have prevented people from selling cribs that would fail current safety standards. Under the bill, cribs with lead paint, slats far enough apart to trap and strangle infants, loose screws, faulty latches, and other defects would be taken out of circulation. The bill would also require safety inspections of hotel cribs. JB brushed the latter off saying "There hasn't been a death or an injury in a [FLA] hotel with a crib." From this we can assume he is waiting for a death or serious injury before he acts. How typically Bush.

"Republican lawmakers from Florida are furious at the White House, saying it bungled opportunities to cultivate a state that has a high-profile governor's race next year and is vital for President [sic] Bush's electoral fortunes in 2004. These Republicans said they feared that President [sic] Bush was jeopardizing his party's position in Florida as resentment here over the disputed presidential election united and energized Democrats. While Republicans cited many concerns, they said their frustration boiled over last week when Mr. Bush traveled to the Everglades National Park... 'It was a missed opportunity by the White House not to reach out properly,' said Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL). 'If I worked at the White House, the sign above my desk would say, "It's Florida, stupid," and everything else should flow from there. They have to get their act together. Jeb Bush's election is on the line - and you have 2004.'" Yeah - without Jeb in the State House, Bush won't be able to steal the White House.

After evidence was presented that Ormond Beach cosmetic surgeon Madhusudan Parikh had disfigured the faces of five women and may have killed another patient by botching a liposuction job, the Florida Board of Medicine all but rewarded the quack. Parikh's license was not revoked and the board voted unanimously to fine him a laughable $10,000 (barely the amount of his next malpractice insurance payment). Board member Becky Cherney (who did not participate in this travesty) was so outraged she quit. A letter of resignation expressing her disgust was sent to Jeb Bush, who no doubt had a good laugh. In any case, he sure didn't step forward with any condemnation of HIS government med board appointees.

Jeb Bush says nasty rumors about him and ex-Playboy bunny Cynthia Henderson are just politically-inspired rumors. Are they, Jeb? Maybe you've gotten off the hook one too many times... we think this time your number's come up. We think you know it, too - why else would you suddenly be rushing to make public statements to be aired nationwide and the same day order Ms. Henderson's office moved to a new location, further from yours (after having a spokesperson in the form of rightwing columnist Lucy Morgan tell us Henderson DID NOT have an office in the Capitol Building)? We think you're covering your behind more vigorously this time because you sense your arse is in someone's sights, and they just might be taking aim...Better jump fast, Jeb! You may have gotten away with federal election tampering, but you can't outrun everything!

Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times falsely attacked Democrats.com in two recent columns. The St. Petersburg Times extended us the courtesy of publishing our reply, which corrects Morgan's errors. We thank the editors for their integrity.

Florida has been buzzing with the news that Janet Reno may challenge Jeb for Governor in 2002. A quick poll by the Miami Herald put Reno practically even with Jeb at 49%-43% - an amazing showing for an unannounced candidate. Remarkably, 40% of Floridians disapprove of the job Jeb is doing - especially black voters. Moreover, 37% of Floridians blame Jeb for stealing the Presidency. Bush gets less than 50% against all potential challengers, including some total unknowns. Hey Jeb - it's time to start working on your resume. The part about stealing the Presidency for your brother will go over great with Karl Rove.

In February, Jeb's girlfriend Cynthia Henderson hired a general counsel who is not licensed to practice law in Florida. Mallory Roberts, 30, recently married Michael Harrell, a golf buddy of Jeb's who lobbies for DuPont, Sprint and Walt Disney World. "Roberts' appointment comes as state employees nervously await an overhaul of the state's Career Service system that makes it easier to hire and fire them. Many fear the new Service First law that goes into effect July 1 will lead to increased cronyism." As the head of two state agencies, Cynthia Henderson has fired most of the experienced managers and replaced them with inexperienced Bush lackeys. She is already defending two lawsuits for abusing her staff.

"The Florida Democratic Party, Salon has learned, hopes to raise at least $15 million in its campaign to unseat Bush in 2002. For the first time in its history, the state party will be targeting donors in the other 49 states for at least half that sum. The campaign, called 'Focus on Florida,' will include direct mail solicitations as well as a series of fundraising events throughout the country, kicking off on June 11 in New York... 'A lot of people's anger about what happened during the recount may come out,' says Washington-based political consultant Nick Baldick." Democrats plan to highlight the fraudulent felon purge and Jeb's conspiring with the state legislature to overturn a recount.

Conspiracy investigator Al Martin claims that Jeb Bush and Cynthia Henderson were filmed together by the FBI at the 2001 Super Bowl in Tampa. Martin also claims that Cynthia threatened the FBI with a lawsuit to get the tape. Martin cites "a highly placed individual within the the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who has a long track record of credibility in such matters and who was in a position to know of this matter, to wit Jeb and the girlfriend at the Super Bowl." Martin also notes Cynthia's prior work for Neil Bush at Gulf Stream Realty Group during the Iran-contra days. "The reason the Bushes may have carried her all these years is because of something she found out about the extent of the Bush Brothers' frauds during the Iran Contra period. Nobody has investigated this... Maybe Ms. Henderson just knows too much about Neil and Jeb Bush's Iran-Contra profiteering..." Will any Florida newspaper look into these new charges?

Former Congressman Pete Peterson (D-FL) is planning to run for governor against Jeb in 2002 - and the Republicans are terrified. Peterson was a POW in Vietnam for 7 years, and was sent by President Clinton in 1996 to serve as our Ambassador. Peterson represented the Panhandle in Congress, which would allow him to cut deeply into the GOP base. Other possible candidates include Janet Reno, Palm Beach state Rep. Lois Frankel, and Oral Majority's Bob Kunst, who will take Jeb on for stealing the Presidency - an issue no other candidate has mentioned.

On May 12, St. Petersburg Times reporter Lucy Morgan inaccurately reported that Democrats.com was "the first to actually publish one of the rumors, suggesting a romantic relationship between [Jeb] Bush and [Cynthia] Henderson." In fact, Bill Cotterell of the Tallahassee Democrat was the first to publish "The Rumor" on May 10, referring to "the supposed Clintonesque dalliance of two high-ranking public officials," who he coyly refused to name. Democrats.com linked to Cotterell's article and supplied the missing names, which were known to every journalist in Tallahassee. (One day earlier, Democrats.com drafted a story about "The Rumor," but we never published it - as Lucy Morgan well knows, because she interviewed us about it.) On May 19, Morgan attacked us again, basically accusing Democrats.com of starting the rumors altogether - which is utterly false, and Morgan knows it. Tell Lucy Morgan (morgan@sptimes.com) to get her facts straight.

#10: So dumb, he used to cheat off George in school...

As the rumors of Jeb's affair with Cynthia have surfaced, Jeb's ship of state is going the way of the Titanic. Among the top officials who have abandoned ship in recent days: Deputy Chief of Staff Cory Tilley (who wants "to play a lot of golf"); former Chief of Staff Sally Bradshaw, who is not returning from maternity leave; and Ruth Sykes, head of Jeb's "reinventing government" effort. Are these top officials leaving because they know the truth? It sure looks that way! Jeb could fix the problem if he simply fired Cynthia - after all, her job performance has been appalling. So why is he protecting her at the expense of the rest of his staff?

Jeb is facing the end of his political career - which could bring down brother George as well, by allowing a future Democratic governor to expose the truth about the stolen election of 2000. To bury the truth, Jeb is doing what Bushes do best - a massive scrubbing operation. Plan A was to prevent the story from ever being published - but Democrats.com helped foil that plan. Plan B was to attack the Democratic Party for being the source of the rumors - but Democrats.com foiled that plan too, because we're totally independent of the party. Plan C is to attack any news outlet covering the story - which is why Vanity Fair editor Doug Stumpf scrubbed the affair from David McCullough's upcoming profile of Jeb, why Jeb's scrubbers threatened the supermarket tabloid Globe (which has a very suggestive photo taken in April), and why WPOW-FM's Bo Griffin got a "spooky" call from the Governor's office, demanding to know her source. (Kudos to Howard Kurtz for acknowledging Democrats.com's role!)

In a carefully staged performance, Jeb adamantly denied having an affair with former Playboy Bunny Cynthia Henderson - or anyone else! "I love my wife. I've been married to her for 27 years. I have been faithful to her, and there is nothing to these rumors. It is an outright lie." Is that true, or will other women come forward? Jeb also attacked the media: "Sadly, it's reached the point where it's being written about... But the fact you have to ask that question and I have to answer is sick, it really is." That's the trademark rhetoric of Newt Gingrich - who took "sickness" to new lows by impeaching Clinton for an affair while he was cheating on his own wife. Will this scripted denial scare reporters off the story - or encourage them to dig more deeply, as the Miami Herald's Tom Fiedler did when Gary Hart denied having an affair? Stay tuned...

"Media spinners in Florida (including Bush himself) have tried to cast these reports as merely sexual innuendo.. But it's never really been about sex: far more importantly, it's about favoritism and how Jeb runs the Florida executive office. Why did it take talk of a sex scandal to compel the Media Whores to finally (we hope) ask questions about CORRUPTION - and for Jeb to finally answer to the people of the state of Florida? The world awaits Jeb's explanation for the outrageous favoritism shown his scandal-ridden, unethical and incompetent former Playboy bunny agency head!" So writes Media Whores Online.

Before he started his victory lap last week, symbolically signing Florida's new election reform law for the TV cameras, Gov. Jeb Bush was asked about media recounts of last year's presidential ballots. "Well, I think they ought to get over it," Bush told FOX News. Hey Jeb - of course you want us to get over it! Because if we file criminal charges against you for stealing the Presidency, your next residence might be the State Penitentiary. So read our lips - we will NEVER get over the stolen election.

It should be quite a show on Monday, when Jeb points to Cynthia Henderson before a roomful of reporters and declares: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" He may even try to hurt our feelings by saying mean things about Democrats.com. But we'll be watching to see if any of the Tallahassee reporters has the guts to ask Jeb pointed follow-up questions - or if they simply parrot whatever lies he tells them. And the reporters should sure to ask Cynthia some tough questions - remember, it was Monica who spilled the beans, not Bill!

This week, Democrats.com began researching the widespread rumors in Tallahassee about an affair between Jeb Bush and his Secretary of Management Services (and former Playboy Bunny), Cynthia Henderson. We have not yet published our findings, but word got back to Jeb and he summoned Tallahassee reporters - off the record! - to insist that these rumors are "wild lies." "He has not been alone in a room with either official," reports Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times. Hey Jeb - that sounds awfully "Clintonian" to us! President Clinton said he was never "alone" with Monica, because there were always people just OUTSIDE the door. So what do YOU mean by "alone"? Also, you say you're "escorted by Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers everywhere," which makes hanky-panky impossible. But are the rumors true that you once slipped away from them for a few hours - and were eventually caught? If these are "wild lies," why don't you go on the record - or better yet, under oath? And why doesn't Cynthia?

In what amounts to a long advertisement to solicit confirmation of Jeb Bush's sexual liaison with the head of Florida's Department of Management Services and ex-Playboy Bunny Cynthia Henderson, Tallahassee Democrat columnist Bill Cotterell wrote today about "the rumor that won't die." The crucial thing that the story is missing is a few rich ideologues willing to fund an investigation to dig up the dirt and hand it over to journalists who have now adjusted to being spoon fed. At least, that's the way the far right does it, right?

"She looks a lot like Susan Hayward, star of such films as 'Top Secret Affair' and 'The Lusty Men,' doesn't she? Ms. Henderson was appointed by Florida Governor Jeb Bush to head the Florida Department of Management Services after a scandal-ridden tenure as the head of Department of Business and Professional Regulation, a position to which she was also appointed by Little Brother." Now Tallahassee is breathless with rumors about the exact nature of Cynthia's relationship with her boss. And why did conservative columnist Robert Novak say that Jeb might not run for re-election because of "family troubles"? Stay tuned!

"Gov. Jeb Bush says partisan politics will not play a role in his selection of university trustees, which he ranks among his most important appointments. But his record tells another story. In his 2 1/2 years as governor, Bush has appointed 212 people to community college boards of trustees and the state Board of Regents. The overwhelming majority - 83 percent of those who list a political affiliation - are Republican." Florida's higher education system will no doubt turn to lead, as has everything else ever touched by a Bush.

"Governor Jeb Bush has written to his brother, President [sic] George Bush, asking him to suspend federal environmental regulations which ensure that Florida has safe drinking water...State officials want to allow billions of gallons of untreated and partly contaminated rain and river water to be injected underground to help form underground reservoirs...If the plan goes ahead, however, the [EPA] would have to waive rules which require that any water pumped into the ground must first be treated to meet drinking water standards." The reason for all this -- Jeb wants to save costs. Gee, why didn't Jeb worry about costs before he created a $1 billion deficit for Florida, that is even worse than the $700 billion his big brother left Texas? Shame Jeb doesn't seem to care what matters to the Florida people -- when it comes to their votes or safe drinking water. Show of hands -- how many Floridians think it's worth the cost to make sure that you are not drinking contaminated water?

How much evidence do we need to see to understand that no Bush should ever be trusted with a budget? Bush the Smarter increased the national debt from $1 trillion to $5 trillion. Bush the Dumber left a $700 million deficit in Texas. Bush the Goner created a $1 billion deficit in Florida, so he wants to cut salary bonuses to alleviate the state's dire teacher shortage, treatment for epileptics without insurance, and prenatal care for low-income women. Where is the outrage??

In honor of Shrub's visit to Orlando, Florida Dems ran TV ads attacking Jeb's budgets. The latest ad accuses Bush of squandering a $1-billion surplus and cutting taxes for millionaires while cutting services to the elderly, the poor and children. Jeb is whining bitterly about the ads. Hey Jeb, we feel your pain!

Florida Republicans simply don't believe in elections. Chairman Al Cardenas has attacked Democrats for even considering running against Jeb in 2002. He said Democrats are following the "dumbest strategy I can think of" by pouring heavy resources into challenging a governor who enjoys "rock-star status." Given Jeb's contempt for democracy, "porn-star" is more like it.

Jeb Bush wants to spend taxpayers' money in Florida to promote abstinence among school children. But, as this document from SmokingGun.com reveals, Jeb ought to start promoting abstinence at home. Bush's 16 year-old son John (a.k.a. Jebby) was arrested for "sexual misconduct" in a car in a mall parking lot. By the way, Jeb's son George P., a.k.a. "the hunk," was arrested in 1994 for breaking into his former girlfriend's apartment in a rage. Jeb, you need to spend a little more time teaching moral values to your children - before you worry about ours.

Jeb Bush is nervous about a voter backlash come the next election. To add to these woes, Jeb's wife Columba is reportedly sick of their "fishbowl" existence. Even before Jeb stole the election, Columba surely didn't appreciate the news about her trying to smuggle $19,000 in goods past US Customs (http://www.naplesnews.com/today/florida/d270483a.htm). No doubt it pained her when her son George P. Bush's arrest record for stalking his girlfriend made the rounds (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/georgep1.shtml). And it certainly spoiled the party when 16 year old Jebby was caught in flagrante delecti with a half-nude underage girl (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jebby1.shtml). And it definitely put a strain on their marriage when rumors circulated about Jeb and Katherine Harris. But the media was downright forgiving of these "indiscretions" compared to how they would have treated Democrats. We would let them go too, but because Jeb helped steal the election for his brother, we will continue to bring up these and other "inconvenient facts" - until the Pretender 'n' Thief gets out of OUR White House!

Poor Jeb, more than 92% of the black voters in Florida disapprove of him, and he doesn't understand why. In fact, it drove him to tears the other day. For real.

Florida is one of only nine states where the right to vote is not automatically restored when a person convicted of a felony has completed his or her sentence. It's a law that dates back to the Civil War, passed mainly as a way of keeping former slaves from voting, according to election-history experts. As a result, 525,000 ex-felons in Florida are denied their voting rights - and so are many innocent voters with the misfortune of sharing the same name as an ex-felon. A bill is before the state legislature to repeal this legacy of slavery, but Jeb Bush is not supporting it.

The right wing Internet rag, NewsMax, says that the tabloids are about to break the story of the much rumored Jeb Bush-Katherine Harris affair. They claim the tabloids have witnesses who have passed polygraph tests. Remember, this is coming from a right wing house organ.

Stick a fork in him. If you think folks are angry at Jeb now, wait until the truth of the stolen election comes out - and it will come out.