On Friday, Governor Rick Scott was a guest on AM Tampa Bay on WFLA, a talk-radio show. Proof that things could get far worse here in Florida were vividly apparent when he answered a question about possible Lieutenant Governor candidates to replace the recently departed Jennifer Carroll.
On AM Tampa Bay, the governor responded to a question by saying [Allen] West “is a great American and a great patriot… he’d be a great Lieutenant Governor.”
Carroll resigned after being questioned by the FBI about her involvement in a $300 million multi-state racketeering investigation into the organization Allied Veterans of the World. Carroll also received criticism earlier in her term when she was embroiled in a scandal where a former aide alleged to have found Carroll in a “compromising position” with a female travel aide. Carroll proceeded to make the scandal much worse when she proclaimed, while giggling, that “black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that.”
If you didn’t think Gov. Scott could make a worse choice than Carroll to be his running mate in 2014, you would be wrong. Gov. Scott seems to be doubling down on being out-of-touch with average Floridians with his suggestion that Allen West would be a “great” choice to be his running mate, and possibly the future Lt. Governor of Florida.
Allen West, despite losing his bid for re-election to Congress, has remained a tea-party darling, and remains in the news due to his extreme actions. Recently, West issued threats to Florida Atlantic University students via Facebook, stemming from FAU students asking his wife questions that she did not choose to answer. Mrs. Graham-West, be ready for plenty of unwanted questions if your husband is picked to run alongside Gov. Scott in the upcoming race to become the next governor of Florida.
Though, this is hardly West’s most controversial moment in his checkered past. West became a hero amongst tea-party evangelists blinded by visions of Jack Bauer in the popular television show “24,” where the main character embraced interrogation techniques that were not allowed by conventional military codes of conduct. However, there’s a big difference between the fictional character of Jack Bauer and Allen West. Jack Bauer received actionable intelligence from his interrogations which is expected of a fictional hero, where West simply disregarded proper military interrogation procedures and threatened the life of a captured enemy and proceeded to discharge his firearm next to his head. Unsurprisingly, the information gathered following this brazen disregard for military codes of conduct was “meaningless information induced by fear and pain.” West was discharged from the military after 22 years of service for his unacceptable actions in Iraq, which propelled his ascent as a Tea Party hero and politician.
Get ready, Florida. It’s bound to get much worse.
We have the power to stop this nightmare.
Join the fight.
Let’s protect Florida.
