Mel Martinez with an attitude

Mel Martinez, senator from Florida, will be resigning his seat and is not going back to Congress at the end of August.

That puts Governor Charlie Crist in the driver's seat: He gets to appoint someone to fill the slot temporarily until he can run for senator himself!

But there's more. What I found interesting was the attitude expressed in a letter Martinez sent out to his supporters. (Remember, Martinez, a Cuban immigrant, while not a rabid Repugnican, has nevertheless been a strong supporter of George W. Bush - his wars and his lies - and pretty much a party hack, following the Repugnican line down the line.)

The way it is supposed to work is that our representatives in Congress see their service as a privilege and not a sacrifice.

Not so with Mr. Martinez. "Twelve years ago," he wrote, "I offered myself as a candidate for public office in Florida out of a deep sense of appreciation for what America and the people of Florida did for me as a young immigrant to this country."

And then, "In 1997, Kitty and I decided it was time to give back and we entered the public arena ... I have gained the greatest respect for the people of Florida and have enjoyed serving their interests."


Notice the sense of sacrifice. Out of this "deep sense of appreciation," he "offered" himself in order to "give back" something or other. He could have gone on making money and gobs of it, but he left all that behind, sacrificing his own personal interests in order to serve the people of Florida.

Bah, humbug! He was privileged to be elected. He was privileged to serve. But Mr. Martinez certainly did not serve my interests or the interests of a good percentage of the people of Florida! He served the interests of the privileged few; the corporations; the war-mongers; those who helped bring on the current crisis!


Methinks there is more to this story. He, like some other Repugnicans of late, is quitting before the end of his term. Why would he do that? He doesn't explain, other than to write pious nonsense about how "it's time I return to Florida and my family."

Hmmm. Really? Could it be that the Dems have their eye on Martinez's seat? Could it possibly be that Martinez was asked to step aside so that Crist could appoint a seat-warmer until he could run himself. Crist remains relatively popular in Florida (mostly because the news media provides almost NO information about whatever the hell Crist is up to; or any other news about what goes on in Tallahassee!) and the Repugs probably figure if Crist runs they will retain that seat.

I'm glad Martinez is going. But as they say, sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know.

Something's in the wind. It's called Repugnican chicanery. And, as usual, it's wrapped in pious, patriotic claptrap.