This is our regular feature where every day I do a post with the top 5 blog posts that I think people should read from the previous day. Posts are included here and ranked based on a combination of originality, focus on Florida, length (longer, more thorough analysis is better), quality of writing and impact of the story.
1. Generation Miami: The Day I Lost My Dad – Remembering the Bay of Pigs Invasion – “For decades, extreme fringes on both the right and the left have used the Bay of Pigs Invasion to advance their respective ideologies. Every year, the extreme right in Miami rewrites history and drums up memories of President Kennedy’s mishandling of the invasion as the ultimate recruitment tool for the Republican Party. Meanwhile, a contemptible extreme left in Latin America lies by describing men like my father and his friends as ‘terrorists’ and ‘imperialist mercenaries.’ They use today’s events as a boogey-man in an outdated propaganda war to scare and warn the naive masses of an American invasion that never materializes. Both sides do this in an attempt to flex their political muscle and strengthen their iron-clenched grip over a people. Just like all who have come before them and have resorted to similar distorted accounts of history, and appeals to anger and fear to mobilize nations, the extremists in this case are wrong — both factually and morally. But to those who parasitically live off the losses of others, virtues like honesty don’t matter. Today’s events are just their pawn in a chess game and an opportunity to attack the other side.”
2. madfloridian: Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund denied aid from U.S. Treasury – “An aide to Sen. Bill Nelson confirmed Wednesday that U.S. Treasury officials have said they won’t issue a line of credit backing up the Cat fund. Dan McLaughlin, Nelson’s deputy chief of staff, said that’s not the end of the line for possible federal help with the Cat fund.”
3. Incertus (Brian): Why’d it have to be us? – “Actually, that post title’s a bit disingenuous–I’m glad Ken Silverstein used Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as an example of how the military-industrial complex makes sure to keep unnecessary defense systems on the books, because it shows just how bought and sold everyone is on this topic.”
4. Smashed Frog: Green On – “It hasn’t been easy being green the past eight years.”
5. Bilerico Project Florida (Kate Kendell): Maintaining a United Front – “In light of the recent good news out of Vermont, Iowa, Washington D.C., Washington state, and the city of Gainesville, Florida, I’ve been reflecting about the values of our community and the goals of our movement. As a progressive, feminist organization, NCLR was founded on an understanding that an injury to one is an injury to all. I am proud to lead an organization that is committed to protecting every person’s right to dignity, autonomy, and self-determination.”
