Doug Clifton: Crist’s flip-flop on Cuban embargo was canny and correct
Was Charlie Crist’s greater sin that he “flip-flopped” his position on the Cuban embargo or that his new position will anger voters and cost him the election? My view: Neither. With not even a muffled...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: DCF makes it harder to check up on its performance
If an agency is under fire for failing to live up to its statutory responsibility, it can respond in one of two ways. It can take immediate steps to fix the problem and swing the doors wide to public...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Bergdahl case: Another GOP-inflated controversy to discredit Obama
The jury is still out on the Bowe Bergdahl case but the verdict is in. Bergdahl is a traitor. The five Talibani prisoners we swapped for him are the most dangerous people on the planet and we’ll pay...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Cleveland needs more than LeBron to restore its greatness
I heard the first crack when a friend of mine called 15 years ago. He knew I was considering a move from my job as executive editor of the Miami Herald, a job I’d held for eight years. “I have some...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: The headline said, 'Miami Grows Up. A Little'
That snarky putdown headlined an opinion piece in The New York Times last week. Written by Pamela Druckerman, a former Miamian transplanted to Paris, where she gained notoriety with a book on the...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Miami Herald was right to pursue tip about Gary Hart dalliance
If you haven’t yet heard about political writer Matt Bai’s book on the failed presidential hopes of Gary Hart, you will. Bai, once political editor for the New York Times’ Sunday magazine and current...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Breathless talk of Obama-Castro handshake ignored crucial issue
It’s never a good idea to take on an issue after Jon Stewart has had his way with it, but you know what they say about fools. The subject, in case you missed it, was the Obama-Castro handshake at the...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Website readers risk being deceived by 'native ads'
“Times Publisher Sets Out Plan for ‘Native’ Ads” So read the headline that appeared over a 20-inch story telling Times readers its website would soon be carrying advertising content having the...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: With all the slaughter, how does gun lobby continue to win?
Guns. We are awash in them and words about them. Some of the latest came from Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal, which ruled that the University of North Florida could not ban students from...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Fear the loss of newspapers; a healthy democracy depends on them
We meet at 11:30 a.m. on the third Monday of every month, this informal group of retired Miami Herald alums called the HACKS. We’re former editors, artists, reporters, refugees from a time past. What...
View ArticleDoug Clifton: Fighting government secrecy takes patience, money
Hypothetically, what would you think if a government agency announced it needed $45 million to replace an 8-year-old building that was suffering from serious structural problems? If you’re anything...
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