tinyurl.com/al8c3 -> www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050918/COLUMNS/50917061/1096/editorials
Marco Rubio , R-West Miami, as the 2007-08 House speaker, Gov. Jeb Bush stepped to t he podium in the House chamber last week and told a short story about "u nleashing Chang," his "mystical warrior" friend. Here are Bush's words, spoken before hundreds of lawmakers and politician s: ''Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conserva tive principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in mor al values that underpin a free society. The crowd, however, could be excused for not understanding Bush's enigmat ic foray into the realm of Eastern mysticism. In a 1989 Washington Post article on the politics of tennis, former Presi dent George Bush was quoted as threatening to ''unleash Chang'' as a mea ns of intimidating other players. Bush's father, and refe rred to a legendary warrior named Chang who was called upon to settle po litical disputes in Chinese dynasties of yore. Jeb Bush's use, to mean the need to fi x conflicts or disagreements over an issue. Faced with a stalemate, the governor apparently "unleashes Chang" as a rhetorical device, signaling it's time to stop arguing and start agreeing. No word on if Rubio will unleash Chang, or the sword, as he faces squabbl es in the future. Let freedom ring One of the more heavily lobbied issues in the 2006 Legislature is likely to be the proposal to change the way Florida regulates mail-order wine s ales. Court rulings have invalidated the state's existing law, which bans out-o f-state wineries from selling directly to Florida consumers. The California wine industry is leading the lobbying effort to put Florid a among the group of states that allows consumers to buy directly from o ut-of-state wineries. But they are meeting resistance from Florida liquor wholesalers and packa ge stores that now largely control the sales. Florida has several choices to make the state law meet the federal consti tutional standards cited by the court rulings. They all come down to tre ating all the wineries the same. Under the old Florida law, in-state win eries were allowed to sell directly to consumers, while out-of-state fir ms were banned. Among the options lawmakers are now looking at are: allowing all wineries to have direct sales; allowing wineries to sell to consumers but putting a limit on those sales. Some opponents claim allowing direct winery sales could increase underage drinking in the state. Bush said he too is concerned about underage drinking, but he also m ade it clear this week he continues to support the effort to allow out-o f-state wineries to sell their goods in Florida. It dovetails with his o verall political philosophy of encouraging free enterprise. "You can't ignore the (court) ruling that took place,'' he said. "We're m aking recommendations to the Legislature going forward to change our law to adopt to the ruling that took place." Bush said there was nothing new about his support for out-of-state wine s ales. Compiled from reports by Joe Follick and Lloyd Dunkelberger of the Sun Ta llahassee Bureau.
|
http://csua.com/feed/