WaPo Columnist Hates Florida? Another Attack of BDS

By Warner Todd Huston (Bio | Archive)
January 30, 2008 - 12:45 ET

I have never seen, from a supposedly serious media establishment, a more hate filled rant against a particular state in this great country than this screed against Florida in the Washington Post. Granted, writer Libby Copeland has spewed hate filled rants in the past, but this one is particularly mean-spirited. Copeland seems to hate the elderly who've moved to Florida, she hates the business community there, appears to scoff at the asylum seekers from Cuba that settled there, and claims that all dreams die there. And what does it all boil down to? Al Gore's loss in the 2000 election, naturally! At this rate, I'd suggest she not vacation in Florida in the near future after this slam on everything Sunshine State.

Ostensibly, Copeland is using the fact that Florida is seemingly the end of Rudy Giuliani's road to the White House as the excuse for her evisceration of the state. According to Copeland, dreams are dashed in Florida just like Rudy's were. She warns us to "Beware of the Sunshine State, Where It's Easy To Get Burned," and thinks that Florida's good days are behind her, stranded in the 1970's, "since those were the good days for Florida."

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But it is obvious, really, that Giuliani has little to do with her disgust with Florida because he makes such a brief appearance in the long hit piece. In fact, of a 16 paragraph piece, Rudy's name only shows up in the first and the last two paragraphs. So it's plain that current political analysis is as far from her mind as can be and that beating up on Florida is her main goal.

Copeland's disdain for the state is palpable. Some of Copeland's slams, and there are quite a few, are as follows:

According to Copeland, Florida is:

  • A place of "land scams"
  • Florida "continually betrays us" ("two words: Al Gore," she says)
  • It's a place where dreams are "dashed"
  • The only good days for Florida were the 1970s
  • It's "tough on people" in Florida
  • It is "hell" to live there
  • The Everglades are dying
  • Politicians are "weird" in Florida

... and those are just the direct barbs. She also offers some underhanded snippiness and some vague slaps on top of those more obvious slams.

And she really loved the "dreams dashed" angle, here. She employs the lament three times.

  • Florida is the place for dreams... And for having your dreams dashed.
  • (Dreams dashed.)
  • So much for dreams, fading like the weak winter sunlight in a place far from Florida.

Now it's possible that Copeland is trying for sarcasm, or wry humor... though fails miserably. With the style she attempted, it seems that she imagines herself to be the next Dave Barry -- if the old one were gone -- or maybe a less informed P.J. O'Rourke with her offhandedness. Unfortunately she merely comes off bitter as opposed to amusing, blinded instead of probing.

But, like I said, her main complaint goes all the way back to the 2000 election. I guess that with Gore's loss there, it soured Copeland so on the state that she has nothing good left to say about it. In this, she is little different than most lefties in this country who are still bitter that Gore, the wooden former VP and current globaloney high priest, failed to beat Bushitler in 2000. Her sunshine disappeared that gloomy day never to return.

Florida is the place for dreams, political and otherwise. And for having your dreams dashed.

(Two words, as if they needed to be mentioned: Al. Gore.)

Yes it all comes down to her crying in her beer over the loss in 2000... STILL.

Of course, Copeland has raised eyebrows with her poisoned pen in the past. See her attack of Monica Lewinski that so many thought was just mean and lacking any merit for a little example of that.

Upon reflection, one wonders if Copeland turns to the pen as a replacement for a good therapist and feels compelled to spew her vitriol every so often like a release valve. Too bad, the rest of us are at the other end of that opened spigot from the acid vat of her soul. She must be such an unhappy person.

Sad that she tries to bring the rest of us down into her her private hell. Also sad that the Washington Post doesn't just ask her to hire a therapist instead.

Photo via Pew Forum.


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...opened spigot from the

January 30, 2008 - 13:00 ET by MidAmerica

...opened spigot from the acid vat of her soul.

  Warner!  dude.... are you channeling Edgar Allan Poe! (LOL)

Ha, ha

January 30, 2008 - 13:15 ET by Warner Todd Huston

Thump, thump, thump goes her hardening heart...

Florida

January 30, 2008 - 13:20 ET by iveseenitall

Right on, Warner.  Florida, according to Copeland-- "Darkness there and nothing more" (Poe)

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

What a mindless whiner

January 30, 2008 - 13:12 ET by not_lima_H

Didn’t Gore lose in his home state too? You would think she would be angrier with Tennessee. Her little utopian hippie dream didn’t come true (sniff).

I’d rather read a barf bag (used or not) than her columns. How about all those beautiful inner city slums the libs run? Is that closer to your dream Mzz. Copeland? And besides all that, you’re butt ugly.

Sorry about my mood folks. I’m angry at Florida for another reason.

Gore Did

January 30, 2008 - 13:44 ET by Del Dolemonte

Yes, Al lost Tennessee. What hurt him is that if he had been able to win there, he wouldn't have needed Florida to put him over the top.

He also lost his boss' state, Arkansas.

And he lost West Virginia...

January 30, 2008 - 15:15 ET by Prester John

....which even went for the peanut farmer in the great 1980 blowout!!

Florida!!

January 30, 2008 - 13:14 ET by Kirk Turner

Florida is the new California--it is an absolutely gorgeous place, a superior lifestyle, and lovely in every way. Florida is the future, its sugar-white sands stretching endlessly toward an eternal bliss.

The women in Florida are the best--friendly, bright, spirited, and independent, not dark-eyed goosestepping little trolls like Ms. Copeland 

Poor Kid

January 30, 2008 - 13:14 ET by Caringwhiteguy

Sounds like her boyfriend/or girlfriend dumped her right after their Florida vacation.

washington DC

January 30, 2008 - 13:20 ET by rubberpelletfrancis

My apologies, Libby. Do remind me of all the goodness that is Washington D.C..

Wishing to be friends again,

Florida

Al Gore Florida's Rainshine Boy

January 30, 2008 - 13:24 ET by Lame Cherry

It would help if Ms. Copeland actually addressed the issues she is speaking on instead of casting the net of blame.

I for one hope the GOP in every state along with the DNC stops what Florida and numbers of other states allow in Independents voting in mass screwing up elections.
It is not only unfair, but it borders anarchy.

Real Estate scams are the plague of the entire nation where poor people now no longer have those 12,000 dollar junker houses to move into and start out from. The eastern cartel has so jacked up those prices that those homes are now taxed $2000 a year a minimum which is putting the screws to all people.

Actually the wild lands situation in the United States is better than it has ever been. I ask people to actually LOOK at old photographs of wilderness areas and if you compare them to today you find the places are full of trees now where there was barren areas before due to massive fires.

I love Cubans, PERIOD.

All politicians are weird, like reporters are asses and actors are crazy.

Enough said.

Oh this Copeland needs a few shots of Mexican hooch, some sun and a real man to make her feel like a woman and she will stop being such a PMS zoinker.

 

*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

Looking at how all her other

January 30, 2008 - 13:35 ET by Bruzilla

Looking at how all her other non-political issues were out of date, I'm thinking her reference to real estate scams deals with the guys selling homesites on swampland back in the 1940s to 1970s. I've heard of several developments that turned out to be nothing but a roadless mass of scrawny pines and palmetto bushes. But these scams went the way of hand-cranked windows and cars without AC long ago.

I found that article to be

January 30, 2008 - 13:31 ET by Bruzilla

I found that article to be typical observations of people who don't live here. Yes, we have mosquitos, and so does every other state. I lived in Maryland for close to 16 years, and the summers in Maryland are much hotter and more humid than down here. Our summers last longer, but temperture wise we're usually cooler than Baltimore or Washington DC on most days. We have swamps, but I lived near a swamp when I lived in Maryland, so what's her point?

So what does Florida have that most other states don't that make it a desireable place to live? First off, there are no state, county, city, etc., income taxes!!! Yeah, we pay slightly higher property taxes, but it sure beats paying property taxes AND state, county, and city income taxes to boot. We have an abundance of recreational opportunities, employment opportunities, and a much lower cost of living than say... Washington, D.C. We also have pretty lax gun laws, so I guess she hates that too. Lastly, we have lots of Hooters and Bono's BBQ places to eat at, and that's enough for me!

Is she (and her employer)

January 30, 2008 - 14:07 ET by lotr

Is she (and her employer) for real? What kind of tripe is this that passes for journalism? Is she anti-democracy?

I bet she doesn't hate the

January 30, 2008 - 14:22 ET by mattm

I bet she doesn't hate the Floridian democrats who crossed over and voted for McCain in the Fla. primary....

Nah, it's RDS, not BDS

January 30, 2008 - 18:55 ET by JeffWeimer

Of course she doesn't discuss the dream that LIVED when his lost, does she? Republicans just don't count in her world, except as a hook to start her diatribes.

She's just letting her ideological slip show all the way to the waist. I perused her previous articles, and, almost predictably, when her articles concerned Democrats in general, they were fairly neutral to positive for the subject. Title in point: The Dreamy Candidate With the Swoon Vote, about Barack Obama, and The Love Song of Dennis J. Kucinich. When the subject is Republican, you can taste the cynicism, as in Welcome to the State, Fred. What Kept You? (title just drips with it, doesn't it?), and The Republicans, Vying to Be the Chosen People's Choice, where the subject seems to be GOP pandering for the Jewish vote. About the only time she hits Dems, is when there's a woman involved, like The Rules for a Fair Fight . She also has a soft spot for Code Pink, check out Protesting for Peace With a Vivid Hue and Cry .

See all her stuff at http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/libby+copeland/.

 

 

Beautiful F-L-A

January 30, 2008 - 15:20 ET by NoMoreClintons

I just got back from Florida (Deerfield Beach) a few days ago, arroximately my 20th time there.  Man, I love it there. The people were very friendly everywhere I went.  It's just beautiful.  I'd move there in a heartbeat but the wife likes the 4 seasons.  BWAAAAAH

Well if she hates it here so much...

January 30, 2008 - 15:40 ET by Jcon96

She probably need to quit shipping grandma and all her friends here every winter.

Uh oh!

January 30, 2008 - 16:17 ET by okiehawk44

It certainly appears that Libby could use some of our famous sun to freshen that tan of hers, but it would appear that I won't be able to interest her in buying my home with its white sand beach overlooking the lagoon right behind the barrier islands on the east coast of Florida. It's beautiful in the morning with the sun rising over the water and at night when the full moon is reflected off the water. Not to mention the warm and wonderful people I know here. No, she's right, we are living in horrible conditions and just don't know it yet. Sorry Lib - guess you won't get my home, my view or my life. No hon, you look like your life is WAY BETTER there in D.C. Now I've got to go into that 75 degree weather and fish. Not kidding Libby!

Now, something tells me that

January 30, 2008 - 16:21 ET by Warner Todd Huston

Now, something tells me that she'd have a major problem maintaining that particular color of "pallid" that she has worked so hard to achieve were she to hop one of them cheap flights to sunny Florida!

Victimized minority

January 30, 2008 - 16:19 ET by szamp

Florida is a victimized minority in this case. I think she should be fired and pay reparations to every floridian who felt offended by her comments. Can this logic be applied to liberals too?

I bet Libby Copeland's hatred of Florida is

January 30, 2008 - 19:00 ET by R D Helm

I bet Libby Copeland's hatred of Florida is really due to the fact that they have no state income tax there.

That is an insult to liberal sensibilities everywhere.

None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. -J.W. von Goethe