Gangs and Politics

Gotta check out this story in the Palm Beach Post by Stephanie Slater and Dianna Smith about a deadly war going on between two Haitian gangs. It all stems, apparently, from a small-time music label called Top 6 Records. The B-Town Boys, one of the groups involved in Top 6, are breaking out -- and they're going out with a lot of gunfire. The Post reports that there have been two dozen recent shootings, with three dead gang members and a slain landscaper who was unlucky enough to have been caught in the fire.

-- Interesting story from Marc Caputo and Beth Reinhard on a political attack on Democratic governor hopeful Jim Davis concerning Freddie Lee and Wilbert Pitts -- two wrongfully convicted black men who were rescued from Death Row by the late, legendary Miami Herald journo Gene Miller some 30 years ago. In 1990, Davis voted against compensating the two men financially for being wronged by the state. The issue is raised by U.S. Sugar -- the hench-company for Davis's opponent, Rod Smith. Yes, Big Sugar, always the champion of the oppressed and falsely accused, is standing up for the little guys again, God love 'em. It's just more Rove-ian politics from Smith and his supporters. But the bad news for Davis is that it might be effective. Let's face it, the vote doesn't reflect well upon him and it could sway a few ever-important black votes in what is looking to be a tight primary.

-- Not that such trifles matter -- especially since votes don't count in Florida anyway. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration (hey, what else are blogs for?), but Herald reporter Ashley Fantz does show us that the early voting has started out with a screw-up. How reassuring.

-- Just got off Barry Epstein's 10 a.m. radio show on AM-1470 and we talked about Big Sugar's impact on the Democratic primary. Epstein, a long-time political consultant, says he thinks it's going to back-fire on Smith. As for Smith's attack on Davis's recent attendance record in Congress, Epstein gave the Davis campaign a free line:

"I had to come back to Florida to save the state from you and Big Sugar."