The Same Old Song in Florida

Well, let's see...Florida's state legislators have been very busy this past year working on tax relief which has meant so little money in the state coffers that they are now forced to cut vital services to education, the sick, the disabled and the elderly. Somehow the rich were not impacted by the tax cuts.

Florida's representatives and senators have also discussed whether Intelligent Design should be taught alongside evolution in our public schools. Some of these esteemed political leaders think that one of the creation stories in Genesis is literally true, which leads them to conclude that there must be a deity who was responsble for "intelligently designing" life as we know it. The teaching of Intelligent Design, they lie, has nothing to do with religion.

You will recall that Florida's elected representatives spent at least two days discussing whether or not to make it illegal to display replica bulls' balls from the back of a motor vehicle. One wingnut wanted to make such a display worthy of a $60 ticket.

Another debate of tremendous import for the state had to do with changing the state song, which, up to this point, has been the Stephen Foster classic, "Swanee River." Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, finds the song offensive and would not allow it to be played at his inauguration.

The legislature has spent a year fooling around with this business. Songwriters across the state were urged to enter a contest to come up with a new song. The winning song was something called "Florida - Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky," and yes, it's as bad as it sounds. It failed to make the cut as the new state song but as a sop to the songwriter will become the new state anthem!

Now it looks like Florida will keep the same old song, although the lyrics may be updated to make it sound less racist. Or, the song will stay exactly the way it was when adopted it as Florida's state song 73 years ago.

In Tallahassee, they call that progress.