Rick Scott for Governor?

[finehoe]

...try to run things like a mega-corporation ...

Rick Scott is, of course, best known as the disgraced former head of the Columbia/HCA health-care company that got caught up in a massive fraud scandal in the 1990s -- and nothing says victory in Florida like "Medicare fraud." Scott's firm later pleaded guilty to charges that it overbilled state and federal health plans, and agreed to pay $1.7 billion in fines, a record penalty for a health care company. The fines covered fraud perpetrated under Scott's watch, and he was forced out of his job as a result of the scandal.

More recently, Scott used his personal fortune to hire the Swiftboat liars' p.r. firm, and proceeded to launch a breathtakingly deceptive right-wing ad campaign in opposition to health care reform. He is, by the way, also at the center of an ongoing scandal stemming from his alleged fraud at a different health care company he created.

When the initial HCA scandal broke, and Scott was forced to give a deposition about his role, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment -- 75 times. After the second fraud scandal broke, Scott gave another deposition just days before he announced his gubernatorial campaign, but refused to let the public know what he said.

And despite his scandals and alleged crimes, and the fact that he's never held any public office and at any level, Rick Scot will now be the chief executive of one of the nation's largest states.

Interesting indeed.

[BridgeTroll]

Already,perhaps due to the fact that most "wins" have been only by thin margins.Many loyal Republicans and 'conservatives' voted for Sink- the first "D" to get their vote in a looooong time

Changing faces will not address the systemic problems and already now the call for 'compromise.Selfishly I say let the new faces have it all for a couple of years however the damage could be untold and besides,the power behind the new faces will no doubt manage to deflect responsibility in the comming years.Why not??

I think Garden Guy a few posts above had it right...

I'm just amazed at how lazy my fellow dems are....just plain laziness...we all just need to get ready for a good screwing from this guy

A a couple hundred extra dem voters in each precinct and Sink would have won... Shame...

[Ocklawaha]

Gonna apply tomorrow to have my driveway widened to 4 lanes...

OCKLAWAHA

[brainstormer]

Scott has no, zero, nada experience in government or politics.  He's either going to be owned by Thrasher and that crowd or try to run things like a mega-corporation which will get him exactly no where.

Going to be an "interesting" few years.  Like the Chinese curse.

Exactly!  Thrasher has already inserted his despicable hand into the puppet, per the TU.  It is hard to believe that someone who spent $73 million dollars of his own money, will really be able to understand the average Floridian.  I'm with Ock.  I'm out of here.  Education, gay rights, the environment, mass transit, the working middle class...all will be demolished within a couple of years.  People might call me a Debbie Downer, but I really think FL is headed right off the cliff.  I'm not about to be dragged along.

[Dog Walker]

Don't be so quick to run, guys.  Years ago we survived a term of Claude "Crazyman" Kirk.  His wack job of a wife, Erica, provided entertainment during the interim.

The lawyers are going to make a lot of money in the next four years too.

We will get bruised, disgusted and discouraged, but survive.

[Garden guy]

We can scream all we want but the right wing nuts of this state have elected him and we can now and henceforth blame all of his ilk on them their thiers....i can't believe how low the republicans can get...how can they look at this man and think he's going to be a good governor...what have we become...."HE'S A THIEF"...so get ready to get screwed....

[BridgeTroll]

The cross over of republicans to democrat for Sink was pretty significant.  Dems can only blame themselves for losing to Scott.  Young democrats couldnt be bothered...

[JeffreyS]

The cross over of republicans to democrat for Sink was pretty significant.  Dems can only blame themselves for losing to Scott.  Young democrats couldnt be bothered...

+1

[fsujax]

I hate to enter this thread, but....I found this in the Miami Herald. Maybe it adds a little perspective.

Sink lost Flager, Volusia and Collier (albeit, Scott’s home), where Obama won. Relative to Obama’s margins, Sink's support was also weaker than Obama's in Miami-Dade, Broward,  Hillsborough, Pinellas and Orange counties.

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/11/little-counties-pack-big-republican-punch-for-rick-scott.html?cid=6a00d83451b26169e20133f58d4830970b#ixzz14JkmUeeT

[tufsu1]

The cross over of republicans to democrat for Sink was pretty significant.  Dems can only blame themselves for losing to Scott.  Young democrats couldnt be bothered...

and the fact that independents swung strongly for Scott

[stjr]

Not another one of those Hitler diatribes. No matter how much of a crook Rick Scott, he does not approach Hitler levels. Hitler killed 6 million people, Rick Scott was strictly financial corruption and greed. This kind of post is what makes someone lose credibility. Don't get me wrong, I am not his biggest fan either. This election was a great example of the lesser of two evils, which with most of you leaves nothing to the imagination of who you thought was more evil. You know you are in a rut when you have to choose between two corporate charlatans.

Jaguar, I wasn't comparing Scott as a person to Hitler, just the way he performed as a candidate. Aside from Scott having been associated with questionable morals/behavior, he did not attempt to explain what he will do once in power (he refused to take questions from the press for the most part so he wouldn't have to elaborate his positions), relied on whipping the populace into an emotional frenzy over a single issue, jobs, for which he offered only platitudes, and exploited an overwhelming propaganda campaign via the mass media (a technique developed to an art form, by the way, by the Nazi's Goebbels who famously said that if a lie is repeated enough times the masses will believe it).

As to your comment, Hitler killed millions AFTER coming into office, not before, so I fail to see your comparison.  My intent was to focus on the fact that Hitler was supported by the populace for his populist economic promises and slants and used this to launch and excuse his nationalistic and criminal ambitions once he gained power.

I stand by my fear that if we elect enough candidates that run campaigns like Scott in which a candidate essentially is elected on a single issue, remains an enigma, and demonizes their opponents through overwhelming mass media "advertising", the odds of putting someone in office that exercises extraordinary abuse or misuse of power remains uncomfortably large.  Unfortunately, I see this happening more and more in our country and it makes me concerned for our future.

[Cricket]

stjr, as despicable a character as Rick Scott seemed to most of us, I don't believe that we should target him for taking advantage of a system of electing our leaders that is as corrupt as Scott himself. Once we come to the conclusion that elections in this country are not necessarily won by merit but by how much money can be spent in a campaign then we can understand how men like Rick Scott can rise from depravity to the governorship of a state the size of Florida. Our free market mentality, endorsed by our wise and peremptory Supreme Court, says that politicians are free to outspend each other to reach their political goals and no one should object, not even the President in his State of the Union speech. We should learn from the British system. So let's not lay the blame at the feet of Rick Scott, he did what he had to do to get elected, he spent his millions because he could. And let's not blame the media either especially the networks, Scott was their cash cow for months.

As far as the electorate being hoodwinked or lulled into some kind of hypnosis by all of Scott's commercials, the American people are not drawn to politicians for their character or moral stances. If that were the case we would have drafted Billy Graham years ago for the White House. We admire shady politicians the way we admire criminals who are smart enough to break out of prison over and over again.

[cityimrov]

stjr, as despicable a character as Rick Scott seemed to most of us, I don't believe that we should target him for taking advantage of a system of electing our leaders that is as corrupt as Scott himself. Once we come to the conclusion that elections in this country are not necessarily won by merit but by how much money can be spent in a campaign then we can understand how men like Rick Scott can rise from depravity to the governorship of a state the size of Florida. Our free market mentality, endorsed by our wise and peremptory Supreme Court, says that politicians are free to outspend each other to reach their political goals and no one should object, not even the President in his State of the Union speech. We should learn from the British system. So let's not lay the blame at the feet of Rick Scott, he did what he had to do to get elected, he spent his millions because he could. And let's not blame the media either especially the networks, Scott was their cash cow for months.

As far as the electorate being hoodwinked or lulled into some kind of hypnosis by all of Scott's commercials, the American people are not drawn to politicians for their character or moral stances. If that were the case we would have drafted Billy Graham years ago for the White House. We admire shady politicians the way we admire criminals who are smart enough to break out of prison over and over again.

Money isn't everything.  Just ask Meg Whitman.   There's something about Rick Scott that people actually liked other than he spent millions on commercials. 

[ChriswUfGator]

stjr, as despicable a character as Rick Scott seemed to most of us, I don't believe that we should target him for taking advantage of a system of electing our leaders that is as corrupt as Scott himself. Once we come to the conclusion that elections in this country are not necessarily won by merit but by how much money can be spent in a campaign then we can understand how men like Rick Scott can rise from depravity to the governorship of a state the size of Florida. Our free market mentality, endorsed by our wise and peremptory Supreme Court, says that politicians are free to outspend each other to reach their political goals and no one should object, not even the President in his State of the Union speech. We should learn from the British system. So let's not lay the blame at the feet of Rick Scott, he did what he had to do to get elected, he spent his millions because he could. And let's not blame the media either especially the networks, Scott was their cash cow for months.

As far as the electorate being hoodwinked or lulled into some kind of hypnosis by all of Scott's commercials, the American people are not drawn to politicians for their character or moral stances. If that were the case we would have drafted Billy Graham years ago for the White House. We admire shady politicians the way we admire criminals who are smart enough to break out of prison over and over again.

Money isn't everything.  Just ask Meg Whitman.   There's something about Rick Scott that people actually liked other than he spent millions on commercials.  

I think it's got much more to do with California being a whole different animal than Florida, than anything else. California doesn't have as big of a giant population of zombies that will just vote straight ideaology without any real thought, no matter how badly the candidate stinks, like Florida does.

[Ocklawaha]

The Nazi's Goebbels who famously said that if a lie is repeated enough times the masses will believe it).

As to your comment, Hitler killed millions AFTER coming into office, not before, so I fail to see your comparison.  My intent was to focus on the fact that Hitler was supported by the populace for his populist economic promises and slants and used this to launch and excuse his nationalistic and criminal ambitions once he gained power.

I stand by my fear that if we elect enough candidates that run campaigns like Scott in which a candidate essentially is elected on a single issue, remains an enigma, and demonizes their opponents through overwhelming mass media "advertising", the odds of putting someone in office that exercises extraordinary abuse or misuse of power remains uncomfortably large.  Unfortunately, I see this happening more and more in our country and it makes me concerned for our future.[/b]

You do realize the Nazi's had the cool uniforms and symbols don't you?

Some historical observations.

Hitler was probably as brilliant as he was mad. As time progresses we increasingly fail to see or understand the mentality of a highly refined and educated people (Germans) who transformed themselves into ravenous wolves.

To really understand, we have to UNLEARN a good deal of our 100-400 level history courses and appeal to our own gut instincts. Anybody here a Southron? Tell me Mr/Ms Southron, would you invite General Sherman over for Christmas dinner?  Ever seen the photos of Richmond or Atlanta or Jacksonville or... at the end of the war?
Ever get that sick feeling in your gut when you think of battles lost?Now imagine all of that emotion, plus such economic failure and famine that cannibalism and anarchy erupted in the burnt out city streets. Top this with an international league of nations determined to punish your country for losing... The frustration at being COMPLETELY powerless, and totally hopeless was the state of the German People after WWI.

For four long years Hitler fought along the front line trenches of the Western Front's most furiously contested battlefronts. These apocalyptic conflicts included the names of places still renowned for their valor and sheer scale of lives lost. All grace the colors of many a regiment. Yser, Ypres, Flanders, Neuve Chapelle, La Bassee, Arras, Artuis, Somme, Fromelles, Alsace Lorraine, Aillette, Montdidier, Soissons, Rheims, Oise, Marne, Champagne, Vosle, Monchy, Bapaume.

In 1918,
about two months after winning the Iron Cross, Hitler was blinded by mustard gas during a battle.

During those terrible years the future leader of the German people displayed exemplary courage in a conflict that involved more than forty battles. He was wounded on 5 October 1916 and hospitalized for two months. Then he was back at the front until 15 October 1918 when he was hospitalized again, this time for gas poisoning.

Throughout the course of the war he was cited for valor and distinguished conduct in the field. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class on 2 December 1914. He was also awarded the Bavarian Military Medal 3rd class with bar, and later the Iron Cross 1st class. He received, as did all wounded soldiers, the Cross of Military Merit.

Lieutenant Colonel Godin, in his official request that Hitler be awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class, stated:

He was a model of coolness and courage in both trench warfare and assault combat. He was always ready to volunteer for carrying messages in the most difficult and dangerous situations.

On awarding this recognition Colonel Anton Tubeuf further stated:

He was always ready to help out in any situation, always volunteered for the most difficult and most arduous, and the most dangerous missions.

A gifted speaker, as noted in his Army files, Hitler seized on the idea of laying blame for the failure of Germany to achieve victory on a defenseless people. When it was simply a minor political party raving about why Jews, Homosexuals, hyper-Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and mentally defective peoples were to blame, nobody paid much attention. When the party became the political force and the voice of the government, the people believed it just as American's today believe our own highly twisted versions of history... The Government says it and the lemmings all run off the cliff together...

Anyone want to start a thread on the MANY black owned plantations along the St. Johns River in Antebellum Florida? No? Yeah, I didn't think so, it just doesn't fit our story does it?


OCKLAWAHA