Members of the Obama Administration may still have to testify after reports surfaced that senators told Obama of Russian meddling in 2016  — and he did nothing. Thinking Hillary was going to win big, he didn’t want to "taint" her election.

Speaking of taint, the Clintons might finally have to answer for their nefarious Uranium One deal with Russia. About the time Hillary’s State Department approved selling 20 percent of our uranium to Russia, Bill accepted $500,000 to give a speech there and the Clintons accepted tens of millions of dollars in Russian donations to the Clinton Crime Family Foundation.

Now The Hill reports, “FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama Administration approves controversial nuclear deal with Russia.”

Just to recap, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is staffed up with a bunch of ex-Clinton/Obama supporters and is tasked with looking into unsubstantiated claims that Russia might have monkeyed with our election by colluding with Donald Trump. So far, says Mark Penn, a Clinton ally, only $6,500 of Russian Facebook ads went to electioneering. So, Congress spends $10 million-plus investigating $6,500 of Facebook ads.

Contrast that nothingness to the Clintons, who took millions in “donations” from Russians and gave them 20 percent of our uranium supply. Nothing to see there, say the complicit leftist media, which have not reported on this since The Hill bombshell a week ago.

Instead of pantsuits, the Clintons should be made to wear those NASCAR driver jumpsuits so we can better identify who all bought them. That pay-to-play Clinton Foundation scam needs investigating.

As I warned Democrats in February when they launched the frantically dubious Trump/Russian collusion witch hunt, you may be setting out to bring a president down, but it might surprise you which one you get.

Giving the Clintons the checkbook for their “foundation” is like giving your PIN to your alcoholic brother-in-law with a gambling problem who lives in your basement. The foundation was nothing but an influence peddling scam that gave away a very small amount of the money for which it shook down crony capitalists.

Hillary fell short in her historic quest for the presidency and for any hopes of the Clintons becoming a two-impeachment family. When Hillary was not elected, the jig was up and they had to shut down the pay-to-play Clinton Foundation. The Clintons ostensibly ran their “foundation” out of his publicly-funded “Clinton Library” in Arkansas.

Hillary can really pick her men. Apparently Harvey Weinstein’s donation money will not be returned. There's her buddy Anthony Weiner, and then there is Bill Clinton. Weinstein and Bill Clinton took sexual harassment of women seriously; Anthony Weiner just seemed to phone his in.

But she claims "sexism" lost her the election and that she works tirelessly for women’s rights. Now women have the right to drive in Saudi Arabia, at about the same time in history that cars are allowed to drive themselves.

To keep the spark in their marriage, the Clintons like to find new and exciting ways to engage in graft. The latest is her book deal. She got a $21 million advance on her "memoirs," similar to her husband's. That's good coin for the memories of a couple who could not remember anything under oath.

Hillary is now on a book promotion tour in England, where she defends Colin Kaepernick and kneeling for our national anthem. She said going down on one knee is not protest, it is a sign of “reverence.” Which goes a long way to explain all the “reverence” women had for Bill in the Oval Office.

She says in her book that the president stalked her and she thought “Back up, you creep.” He’s a man who makes her “skin crawl.” I am thinking about buying the book just to see which president she’s referring to.

All this Russian/Trump collusion mess really traces back to the bitterness that staunch Democrats harbor about losing the election. The opposition, in their minds, could not have had better ideas. They must have been evil, racist people.

In Hillary the left seems to want to continue romanticizing a lost cause. So how about we do a "lost cause" swap? The Northeast and West Coast can have Hillary, and the South can keep our statues.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Dems play Russian roulette with investigations

Most of us believe in prevention but we don't always practice it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, we've heard before.

The best way to keep a car healthy is faithful service. Changing the oil, taking care of the transmission and replacing parts are all part of the long-term game.

Our bodies are the same way. A friend of mine joked at 76, "If I had known I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself." The problem is he died at about 77 and spent the last few years of his life not walking much due to his 30-plus years of smoking cigarettes that had devastated his lungs.

A close family member who we loved suffered a lot the last three or four years of her life. Diabetes tormented her the last year of her life and brought a toll of suffering that was painful for her and us to watch. We had all watched her abuse herself with bad eating and beverage habits most of her life. Dialysis and spending most of her last two years in a nursing home was painful.

You can take good care of yourself 100 percent of the time and still end up with health problems. We see it happen to the best of people. You can take the best care of your car and still wreck it. A lot of healthy people wreck their lives so there is never a silver bullet.

However, we should try. We should eat less sugar, drink more water, and eat less red meat and exercise a little more during the week. Visiting the doctor and getting routine checkups are crucial as well. Senior adult friends have said to me in the past, "When you get old it seems about all you do is go to the doctor." As cars get old they require a lot of care and, if we are blessed with old age, there is going to be more routine care to keep us going. It's just part of it.

We have to be concerned about overall prevention in this country. We can't wait until we are ready to file bankruptcy to worry about the national debt. We can't wait to improve medical insurance for Americans. I am in favor of every American having health insurance but we have to improve what we are doing. I don't think the government simply issuing medical insurance to every American is going to work since we are already on the verge of bankruptcy ourselves.

Making insurance available across state lines is huge. Competition is important between insurance carriers, drug companies and hospitals. Medicare should be available for Americans to buy into if their insurance company ever disqualifies them because of a preexisting condition. If we are going to spend trillions on Iraq and Afghanistan we can at least make health care available to everyone.  

There is a lot of gnawing and gnashing in America over guns. I own several. Chicago is a shining example of why making guns illegal is a bad idea. I don't have any automatic weapons. Well, I have a shotgun that will fire off three shells, but that's it. If I thought ISIS was coming up through Mexico I would want access to some automatic weapons. I know our military would be there. Although I do know that when you call 911 it always takes a few minutes for the police to show up. You don't have a few minutes if someone is coming up your drive to attack you.

Americans must maintain the freedom to protect ourselves. If would be attackers know we have no protection in our homes we are sitting ducks for assault, robbery and maybe death. I do agree that we don't need the kind of weapons the Las Vegas shooter had recently; the ones that he used to kill and wound so many people.

There are a lot of areas where prevention is the issue. Building a wall sounds dumb to some people but it is one aspect of securing our country. It's not a cure all by any means. A healthy military that is cared for and has up-to-date vehicles, weapons, housing and enough persons to get the task done are all crucial.

Prevention requires a lot of effort. There are so many areas to cover that's important. It's not easy staying alive. Personally and as a nation we owe it to our families and fellow citizens to take care of ourselves.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Prevention requires a lot of effort

You’d think President Trump would be happy when his presumably favorite team, the Syracuse Orangemen, beat No. 1 Clemson last week. Instead, he picks a name-calling Twitter fight with our great Sen. Bob Corker as if he were Rosie O’Donnell.

Trump continues to isolate himself as a Party of One. He picks battles with the GOP about as much as Democrats do, alienating both. Then he laments that his legislation doesn’t get passed.

What we like about Trump, his anti-Washington “Drain the Swamp” crusade, has to be tempered with practical politics. Paraphrasing what Sen. Corker fired back, those in charge of the adult daycare at the White House had best show up for work. Otherwise, they are going to put those of us who care about good policy in the nervous hospital.

Trump can’t treat heads of state and senators like Bob Corker like he did Meatloaf on "The Apprentice." Corker is the accomplished chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Trump mispronounced the African country of Namibia as “Nambia.” If Corker wants to trip him up, he should suggest Trump give a quick teleprompter speech on civil unrest in Niger and see how that comes out.

Trump is petulant, bullying, narcissistic and impulsive, and he is not going to change. We knew that. But that does not mean he is not right on the issues; he mostly is. I defy any Republican to tell me where the president has been broadly wrong on an issue. He has cut regulations, confirmed a great Supreme Court nominee, and tried to end Obamacare and lower taxes.

Today the left is way far left under leaders like Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren. For the kids out there, there once was a more subtle time in politics when you could call an opponent a "communist" and not really mean it — and it wouldn't be taken as a compliment. Today’s hypocrisy has communist-leaning Democrats going after Trump for being too close to Russia.

Politics are clearly polarized now on issues, and everyone knows where they stand. You either want more government or less. More taxes or fewer. More freedoms or fewer. The issues are clear. Politics are so bifurcated these days; if you publicly state that you are "undecided" on an issue, you must be a lonely shut-in and just want to make your phone ring.

Nancy Pelosi, de facto Minority Party Whip, talks of “bipartisanship.” Yet all the Dems vote in lockstep as their leaders tell them to.

Even the shooting at the GOP baseball practice couldn’t bring them together. But they did stand together for a moment of silence at the actual baseball game the following day. It showed the American people that Congress can cooperate and accomplish something as long as it is just symbolic and meaningless.

The conservative issues, if well explained, will win the argument with voters. Getting the message around a “fake news” liberal media has been Trump’s forte. Trump explains issues like he’s talking to a group of union construction workers in their union hall. Ineloquent, yes, but effective.

Both parties talk over each other on issues. Trump and the GOP want to let the free market work to reduce health care premiums and deductibles. The Democrats wants to use government health care to cure their biggest health ailment: the inflamed redness in middle America. 

Dems think bipartisanship is Obama taking $400,000 per speech from Wall Street firms he vilified. Republicans think bipartisanship is limiting wars to three at a time. 

I am not sure we want both parties agreeing. The last time they did, we got the Iraq/Afghanistan worthless trillion dollar wars that are about old enough to legally drink now, and the equally costly Patriot Act. The parties agreeing is like calling a psychic hotline. It costs us a dollar for the first minute and then $1 billion for every minute after that.

In theory, both parties working together get results. Our biggest military success was killing bin Laden. Obama had the unexpected guts to send in Navy SEALs. But hunting and shooting bin Laden in the face was certainly an extension of the Dick Cheney Doctrine.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Trump might lead to ‘cafeteria politics’

"When humor goes, there goes civilization." —Erma Bombeck

On his deathbed, comedic actor Jack Lemon popularized the saying, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” He’d have no idea how hard comedy would get in the 2017 Orwellian world of PC police and Millennials who have been taught to be perpetually offended.

The left dominates humor. Their "jokes" have devolved to be condescending, self-righteous and not funny. They make themselves the heroes in their own jokes, as with the Second Amendment right after the Las Vegas  shooting. Daily Show host Trevor Noah simplistically sniffed, “I’m sorry that we live in a world where there are people who will put a gun before your lives.” The self-important comments about gun control, which would not have stopped the Vegas madman, were on display from late night comics. According to their theory, they would have saved 59 people from death; but by you not being totally on board with them, you caused the deaths.

My response to Vegas last week was some (maybe too soon) humor on a radio show. The host asked, “What was your thought when you first heard about Stephen Paddock shooting 59 people?” I said that I thought Stephen was an odd name for a Muslim.

Back in the Rat Pack days, we could say more. Once arrested for carrying a gun, Dean Martin was asked a leading PC question by a reporter: “Do you think people should have guns?” Martin said, “Well, in a perfect world no — just me.” Unfettered humor makes you both laugh and think about an issue. We can’t lose that.

The few of us who write political satire from the libertarian, right-of-center side get our jokes called "mean" if the left disagrees. We are called "racist" if we joke about Obama, the NFL or crime stats, and "sexist" if we do not totally agree with Hillary Clinton. The left uses identity politics to fan the fires of racial division. After eight years, it backfired on them when Trump turned that anger into his improbable election.

Humor can be hard to define. One man’s humor is another’s insult. In her book “What Happened,” Hillary Clinton blamed sexism, racism, and pretty much every “ism” — and others — for her election loss. Book stores don’t know which fiction section to put her book in: Horror or Humor.

Pointing out irony where there is truth makes for humor. Saying you feel sorry for Hillary that President’s Day and Valentine’s Day often fall on the same day is an example. Unlike slapstick pratfall comedy, political humor makes you think and laugh and is a power medium feared by the elites. It’s also the reason the leftist media make sure all late night show hosts are committed to their agenda and use their platform to advance it.

Mel Brooks joined the recent chorus of comedians who say that the PC culture has gone too far in stifling comedy. He says his classic movie "Blazing Saddles" would not be made today, and he blames the “stupidly politically correct.” Other comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Larry the Cable Guy, Dennis Miller, John Cleese and Chris Rock agree. Many say they will not play college gigs anymore because of the rigid PC pushback.

Since Aristotle, evolved and free societies have used political satire to make society better. It keeps community leaders in check and paves the way for progress. In the world of the left, socialists would not allow anything to be funny unless government declared it so. Think North Korea. We don’t want to become that.

I have found, contrary to the left’s narrative, the right to be far more tolerant of humor than the left. Twelve years ago, the only major pushback on my column from the right was displeasure at the title of a column about the hypocrisy of several televangelists, like Revs. Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, caught with their pants down. Its title was “Ministers Should do More Than Lay People.” More religious-right-type newspapers wouldn’t run it. It was one of the rare pushbacks from the right. Most meddling with my column comes from leftists.

Francis Bacon said, “Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he’s not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.”

I think God gave us a sense of humor in order to cope, and He clearly has one Himself. The latest example: Hugh Hefner’s death.

“Heff” died on Wednesday, Hump Day.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Political correctness leading to comedy's slow death

With all the cowardly decisions, especially the recent National Anthem enforcement and the concussions deceptions, the real question is: Why does Roger Goodell make $44 million a year for running the NFL, a monopoly sanctioned by Congress?

Maybe the NFL is in cahoots with Washington to distract the citizenry from lawmakers’ own doings, much like the “bread and circuses” of ancient Rome. Football diverts attention and placates the masses. (It’s also said to satisfy men’s innate lust for war but, just to make sure, Washington has us in a bunch of real wars, too.)

President Trump, to his credit, clearly loves football; why else would he wear that helmet hair? But getting rid of the taxpayer-subsidized, tax-exempt status, antitrust exemptions, etc. of the NFL would be a good move for Trump right now.

With all its revenues, why can’t the NFL stand on its own? Anheuser-Busch alone paid $1.4 billion for NFL rights. If you want to sell beer to 18-34-year-old males, the NFL’s the place. If you want to sell power tools, also advertise on the NFL.

The American justice system, like the NFL, has tons of laws and rules, often laws layered upon laws by the ruling classes so they can prosecute whom they want, when they want, for whatever they want. Thus, it is within the power of the NFL and its beleaguered commissioner, Roger Goodell, to pursue one thing and not another. Just ask “Deflate-gate” victim Tom Brady.

Goodell has had a long string of odd decisions. He toyed with penalties for uttering the N-word or sexist slurs. Yet he weighed free speech issues and reached a compromise: Players can listen to rap music but are not allowed to sing along.

Goodell has dictatorially tinkered with some rules; he once decreed that players can no longer celebrate TDs by dunking the football over the goalpost crossbars. That didn’t go over well. If Americans wanted to watch a sport with no dunking, we’d watch Ivy League college basketball.

Goodell threatened North Carolina and threatened to pull the Super Bowl from Arizona over legislation he viewed as anti-gay. He didn’t follow through with his threat, but the publicity dashed any hopes Arizona or North Carolina had of hosting the Tony Awards. And the gay rodeo business is non-existent in Arizona now. The NFL and Goodell feel that strongly homophobic attitudes should be confined to rap songs and its locker rooms.

California’s liberal laws create issues which make governing the NFL difficult. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the NFL should allow players to smoke pot. Yet if a player gets arrested for a bag of weed in California, the pot is legal but the plastic bag is illegal. Now with the Chargers, Raiders, Rams and 49ers floundering there, California has apparently also declared itself a sanctuary state for bad NFL teams.

The League is in constant litigation settlements. The NFL Oakland Raiderettes cheerleaders sued and settled with the team for $1,250,000 — or, as their lawyers told the ladies, a quarter-million dollars.

Per Snopes: Here’s what the game Operations Manual says regarding the National Anthem, according to an NFL spokesperson:

"During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses."

So Goodell does not enforce the NFL rule that teams must stand for the National Anthem, yet he prosecutes Tom Brady for “Deflate-gate.”

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Goodell runs a congressionally-sanctioned Monopoly; he needs to go

Doubters of Satan were furnished all the proof they should need as a living Satan arose to the top of Mandalay Bay hotel last Sunday night and unleashed hell for about 11 minutes.

Stephen Paddock acted only as Satan and someone possessed with evil knows how to act. He wreaked devastation in the deadliest mass shooting in the recent history of the United States. Fifty-nine deaths and over 500 wounded people were the result of Paddock's calculated, well strategized maneuver to bring about mass carnage.

Evil works hard to find a way. Evil is cunning, calculating, sly, secretive, hypocritical but works toward the goal of destruction.

Whether we are talking about devils who were involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that resulted in about 3,000 deaths or Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma bombing or the recent attack on a theatre in Paris, France, evil finds a way.

Evil can use a car driven into a crowd or a homemade bomb to mangle people. Evil can use knives, fire, poison, acid or other ways. We don't have to name all the ways that evil can bring about sadness and sorrow because evil works day and night plotting and thinking of how it can succeed in stealing, killing and destroying good people just so their lust for innocent blood is briefly satisfied.

Whether you believe that Satan is a horny-headed figure walking around with a pitchfork, a spirit, a fallen and disgraced angel from heaven or something else, surely you believe in the reality of evil. We saw evil, once again, on Sunday night in Las Vegas embodying Paddock and doing what evil always does.

We see evil breaking into people's houses and robbing people. We hear of evil robbing convenient stores. We hear of evil killing one another in Chicago or evil abusing a child or hurting a spouse. Evil rises up in all kinds of ways. Sunday, evil briefly rose up but seemed like an eternity to those fleeing for their lives. Las Vegas, our nation and especially all the families involved were forever changed.

For every Satan that rises there are hundreds and thousands of angels. We have heard many, many stories of good and wonderful people saving lives and rescuing people in Las Vegas. Countless stories have been told of people who gave their lives saving someone else. There are so many stories of heroes who did so much to aid and save people who had been wounded. Say whatever you want about Las Vegas, there were a lot of God's people at work helping people in that scene of real hell.

The massacre in Las Vegas reminds us that we live in a world of good and bad. Satan is real and he embodied Paddock to carry out his work. God is also very real and he embodied thousands of people in Las Vegas Sunday night from the police to the many concertgoers who worked so heroically to overcome evil with good.

We have to keep helping each other and working together. We must be angels soaring higher. We have to put race, religion and partisan politics aside.

We have to be on the lookout because there is always another Satan lurking and waiting to rise.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Satan rises in Las Vegas — angels fly high

I’m certainly not a Grammar Nazi or a  word-nerd, but people out there really need to focus on cleaning up their language, especially as it relates to overusing three words dumbing down the English language: "like," "literally" and "amazing."

When folks my age, those who can remember the TV show "Cheers," interview you for a job, use of the word “like” as some filler crutch word is maddening. And when done in a high-pitched, nasal, Kardashian-Valley Girl way, it’s akin to torturing us. It makes you seem vapid and, quite frankly, stupid. So, please, stop it.

You know how you kids use the word “amazing,” like, all the time?  Don’t.

Witnessing your child’s birth is amazing. Your sandwich from Whole Foods is not “amazing.” Synonyms in the dictionary for "amazing" include: astonishing, wonderment, astounding, stunning, shocking, breathtaking, spectacular, stupendous and phenomenal. So please stop using “amazing” for anything mildly above average.

The words “like” and “amazing” tend to be used by young women. For some reason, the men of this generation have taken to ending their sentences with a groan or a tapered-off grunt. I'm not sure why that started happening, but it is also annoying. Please stop.

Lastly, you know how both men and women use the word “literally” way too often? Please stop.

"Literally" is a crutch word, one used when you are trying to bring emphasis to an otherwise boring story about yourself. I heard a guy say the other day, “It was literally raining cats and dogs.” Now, unless there was an explosion at the humane shelter, this cannot “literally” be true. For "literally" to work, what you are saying must have a figurative meaning that is actually happening.

While on her book tour to blame everyone but herself for losing the election, Hillary Clinton was asked about her reaction to the results: “I was gobsmacked.”

Say what you will about Trump, he speaks simply and in blue-collar language America understands, not in pretentious words meant to show how smart he is.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: These 3 words dumb down the English language

When communities come together as a region to work toward a common goal, they can achieve great things.

For a shining example, you don’t need to look any further than the diverse counties of Northwest Florida, which just marked the six-month anniversary of an extraordinary effort to transform our region’s economic future.

It was remarkable that more than 120 leaders from across the region came together at an event to celebrate progress made in implementing the Northwest Florida FORWARD strategic initiative. When that plan was launched in February, few could have foreseen the extent of regional cooperation that has generated such positive discussion and engagement across county lines.

These leaders from economic, political, civic, business, workforce development, education and other fields acknowledged how exceptional it is to sustain so much enthusiasm and momentum long after the initial burst of excitement has passed.

Speaker after speaker cited the ongoing dialog as a clear indication that Northwest Florida truly speaks with one voice to advance the area’s economy.

The efforts to advance the FORWARD initiative are energized by the work of numerous individuals organized through five key councils — Talent, Business Vitality, Infrastructure, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Quality of Place — who have been charged to carefully assess the economic climate and tools of our region and consider how best to utilize them for regional impact.

There is clear excitement and anticipation as the Triumph Gulf Coast board begins developing its process for awarding grants from $300 million in BP oil spill money targeted for economic diversification, and we hope it will utilize Northwest Florida FORWARD as a framework for identifying impactful initiatives that will transform the region. Thanks to these two separate activities, our region now has a long-term vision and road map, as well as the resources to get us there.

At the Northwest Florida FORWARD gathering in Niceville, Gulf Power Company Chairman, President and CEO Stan Connally noted how the attendees’ ongoing involvement sets FORWARD apart from most strategic plans. Nowhere else in the state, he said, have 13 counties come together as a unified entity to move forward in the same positive direction.

State Rep. Mel Ponder, a former Destin mayor, reminded the gathering that success will require working together — as he phrased it, “recognizing that we’re not each other’s competition.”

His House colleague, Rep. Frank White, said the broad regional support of the FORWARD process, paired with a smooth startup of Triumph, will show lawmakers from the rest of the state that “we’ve got a plan, and we’re executing on it.”

The cooperation we have seen across Northwest Florida over the past six months is a monumental achievement. But Florida’s Great Northwest, the regional economic development organization behind the FORWARD initiative, has bigger plans in sight.

Transforming a regional economy will no doubt be a gradual process, but we know these efforts will result in a vastly better region than we see today.

The vibrant Northwest Florida of the future will be indebted to the hard work of those laying the groundwork — visionary individuals who had the foresight and ambition to act now.

To join us in this effort today, visit NorthwestFloridaForward.com to learn how.

Kim Wilmes is president and CEO of Florida’s Great Northwest, the regional economic development organization representing the Florida Panhandle’s counties.

The organization serves as the unified voice for Northwest Florida through advocacy, collaboration and promotion of the 12-county area as a top business location.

FGNW has helped lead the Northwest Florida FORWARD initiative, a regional strategy focused on driving economic vitality and growth in Northwest Florida.

"Transforming a regional economy will no doubt be a gradual process, but we know these efforts will result in a vastly better region than we see today."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Working together, Northwest Florida is moving FORWARD

Multitudes of people are suffering through the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Florida. The Keys and the Caribbean Islands are devastated. Other parts of Florida are suffering from damage and no electricity as well.  Food and clean water have run out for some.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Florida being warned well in advance that disaster was coming. I was on Interstate 75 and Interstate 24 and can attest that the highways headed north were bumper to bumper with many of the license plates saying Florida. Lots of Florida people got out of state. Obviously a lot of people stayed in Florida and rode the hurricane out. Television crews have interviewed more than one person declaring they wished they had evacuated. People throughout the Florida Keys and other parts of Florida have wished they had hit the road north.

Of course, not everyone feels this way, as many stayed at home.

Everyone didn't have the option to leave. Eight people in a Hollywood, Florida nursing home recently reported dead probably didn't have too many options. Some may not have had close relatives who could have transported them north. Most likely relatives of the recently deceased thought that the nursing home was a safe place for their loved ones to be. Sickly people need dialysis, oxygen and medication. Traveling is a major ordeal.

Millions of Florida people may have felt like they couldn't leave. Travel is expensive. Everyone does not have relatives or close enough friends to move in with for a week or so. Hotels north of Florida have been crammed with guests.

Many Floridians simply wanted to stay with their homes and ride it out and many did — some regrettably.

Of course, there are thousands of people who now cannot get back to their homes in the Keys. National media has been broadcasting the angry people trying to get past police barricades to return to whatever is left of their homes.

People should have a right to stay in their homes but people must realize the consequences. The consequences of those who do stay become an ordeal for everyone else. Police, the National Guard and all others involved in rescue efforts often have to risk their lives to try to save those who would not heed the plea for evacuation.

People were warned about Hurricane Irma. While the Caribbean was walloped it could have been much worse for Naples, Miami and many other cities in Florida.

The story is told of a man standing on the roof of his house surrounded by raging floodwaters. A rescue boat pulled up and someone on it said to climb aboard. The man said, "No, I'm staying here because God will save me." A few minutes later another boat pulled up and the rescue crew called out, "Climb in or you will drown." The man yelled back, "I am staying here because God will save me." Soon the man was holding onto the only visible part of his house and that was his chimney. A helicopter crew spotted him and they lowered the cage for him to climb into. He waved them off yelling to them, "I'm staying here because God will save me!" The man finally was covered up in water and drowned. He stood before God and asked, "God why didn't you save me?" God replied, "I sent two boats and a helicopter."

People were warned and warned about Hurricane Irma. Many boarded up and left town. Others boarded up and hung on for their lives. Many tried to prepare. Those who stayed were grossly underprepared for what they are facing. Sadly, the numbers of death and missing people are climbing. Millions of people are suffering with their lives reeling from the kind of chaos and loss that no one wants to experience.

Would you have evacuated? At this point it doesn't matter. Millions formed that opinion and made that decision before the storm hit. Like most of life's decisions we make them and live with them.

Our prayers are with each one and they are not alone. We will do everything we can to help them.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Florida Keys — would you have evacuated?

A Massachusetts woman won the second largest Powerball payout in history, $758 million. She elected to receive a lump-sum payment of $480 million.

Lottery jackpots seem like staggering amounts of money. It is the most money anyone (if you don't count Prince Charles) has gotten for doing nothing.

The winner of any big Powerball gets hundreds of millions of dollars — and two hundred new relatives and friends.

One thing is clear: The real winner in the lottery is government.

If you think about it, government is like the Mafia. It runs numbers games (the lottery). It controls drugs (DEA/Customs/FDA). It controls guns (ATF). It has run guns via the Justice Department's "Fast and Furious" program. And, via the ATF and state excise taxes, it exerts influence over booze through taxes as high as $34 per gallon on whiskey. Pot is now dealt at the state level.

Government operates about the same as the Mafia but with less predictability and better pensions. A Mafia Internal Revenue Service would not target Tea Party groups that are paying their taxes.

Here are some rough numbers (rounded up) gleaned from this near-record jackpot that illustrate just how much money the government takes from citizens to allow them to gamble among themselves. To buy a $2 Powerball ticket, most people would have to earn about $3 before taxes. Much like cockfights, drug dealers and massage parlors, government accepts only cash for lottery tickets.

Government sold about $1 billion in Powerball tickets (bought with $1.2 billion pretax dollars) for a Powerball jackpot advertised at about $750 million. I hope you are sitting down — our government lied to you about this number. Top line numbers: About $1.2 billion of pretax dollars were taken from citizens to give them a $750 million up-front pot.

But that's just the beginning.

There are federal taxes of 39.6 percent on that amount won. Tack on a Tax-achusetts state tax of 5 or 12 percent percent (if you are lucky), and the government "only" takes half.

The jackpot now is down to $240 million — if you do not plan to die. Die in a few years, and government gets up to another 50 percent in total state and federal estate taxes, leaving the winner's family to split about $120 million in her estate.

To recap: The government gets $1.2 billion, less the winner's heirs' $120 million: a net of $1.08 billion. The winner's heirs get $120 million, or 10 percent of the jackpot, while government gets 90 percent.

A recent study concluded that 70 percent of folks who win the lottery are broke within seven years. Money does not come with instructions, and what the government does not get, hookers and family hangers-on often do.

Like Democrats, people always proclaim how magnanimous they would be if they won the lottery. But that's an empty, self-serving, meaningless gesture with money they don't have — just like a political promise. Few winners, if any, follow through.

Some say the lottery amounts to a tax on poor people who are not good at math. But just try to take it away. They love it. If you buy a ticket, the odds of winning are one in 300 million — and about the same if you do not.

Government tells us that Powerball profits go to education. With all the lottery playing in America, one would think we would have the smartest kids in the world by now.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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"Government operates about the same as the Mafia but with less predictability and better pensions."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Powerball — government is the real winner