Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
@dkroberts.bsky.social
Writer, political columnist, childless cat lady. Allergic to fascists.
Mockingbird, Flamingo, Flamingo, Scrub Jay--and dirty water: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/12/d...
Don't be fooled by flamingo debate; Legislature is poised to do great harm • Florida Phoenix
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The 2026 Florida Legislative Session kicks off tomorrow. You psyched? I know I am. We can witness the majesty of democracy at work, the glory of our constitut...
floridaphoenix.com
January 12, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Mockingbird, Flamingo, Flamingo, Scrub Jay--and dirty water: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/12/d...
Here in Floor-duh, we love our water pollution: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/08/f...
Florida lawmaker is back with bill promoting water pollution • Florida Phoenix
This is such an exciting time of year for us Florida columnists! The 2026 legislative session begins next Tuesday, and we’re all waiting to see which piece of legislation will win the coveted title of...
floridaphoenix.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Here in Floor-duh, we love our water pollution: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/08/f...
Florida New Year's Resolutions: Gov. needs etiquette lessons: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/05/n...
New Year's resolutions for the state of Florida • Florida Phoenix
It’s a new year here in the Free State of Florida and you’re freer than ever! Free to tote guns; free to kill bears; free to drain and pave; free to call ICE if you spy some brown-complected fellows i...
floridaphoenix.com
January 5, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Florida New Year's Resolutions: Gov. needs etiquette lessons: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/05/n...
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
If you missed my appearance on @wmnf.org's "Midpoint" show this week talking about the Year in Weird #Florida News, here's a recording of the discussion: www.wmnf.org/events/wmnf-...
MidPoint
In-depth state and local coverage, plus national and international perspectives. Everyday Ethics discussion leads off the show.
www.wmnf.org
January 3, 2026 at 2:50 PM
If you missed my appearance on @wmnf.org's "Midpoint" show this week talking about the Year in Weird #Florida News, here's a recording of the discussion: www.wmnf.org/events/wmnf-...
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
Editorial: The academic money pit that has become New College of #Florida received kid-glove treatment in the @nytimes.com, but it’s because nobody checked the math. www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/01/02/t... via @sun-sentinel.com
The rest of a very sad story at New College | Editorial
A recent New York Times story painted a rosy picture at Florida’s New College in the wake of its hard-right turn. It left out a lot of details.
www.sun-sentinel.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Editorial: The academic money pit that has become New College of #Florida received kid-glove treatment in the @nytimes.com, but it’s because nobody checked the math. www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/01/02/t... via @sun-sentinel.com
Who needs Nobel Prize-winners? floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/22/w...
What have immigrants ever done for America? • Florida Phoenix
Foreigners! What have they ever done for us? I grant you there was that 18th century guy, that Marquis de Lafayette, who convinced the French government to back us against the British and used his own...
floridaphoenix.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Who needs Nobel Prize-winners? floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/22/w...
The fictional persecution of non-Christlike Christians. floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/15/t...
The Phony War on Christians • Florida Phoenix
Remember the War on Christmas, when conservatives worked themselves into a lather over America-hating freaks wishing people “Happy Holidays,” putting on community celebrations called “Winterfest” inst...
floridaphoenix.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The fictional persecution of non-Christlike Christians. floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/15/t...
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
Zillow removes climate risk score from its home listings because that way climate change won't be a factor in real estate at all, right? I'm sure #Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous suggested this. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c... h/t @mikegrunwald.bsky.social
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Zillow removes climate risk score from its home listings because that way climate change won't be a factor in real estate at all, right? I'm sure #Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous suggested this. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c... h/t @mikegrunwald.bsky.social
Your tax dollars at work: floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/01/t...
The Florida Legislature is not your friend • Florida Phoenix
Ever get the feeling the Florida Legislature hates you? It does. Unless you’re a developer, a lobbyist, or a fetus. Members are filing hell-born bills for the 2026 session, many apparently designed to...
floridaphoenix.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Your tax dollars at work: floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/01/t...
Florida alligators, iconic, no longer endangered, thanks to laws the Trumpist wildlike-haters want to water down or repeal. floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/27/t...
This Thanksgiving, everyone in Florida should be thankful for alligators • Florida Phoenix
The Pilgrims were idiots. If they had just taken a sharp left at Plymouth Rock and sailed southward for another 500 miles, they could have spent that first winter luxuriating at a hotel in St. Augusti...
floridaphoenix.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Florida alligators, iconic, no longer endangered, thanks to laws the Trumpist wildlike-haters want to water down or repeal. floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/27/t...
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
Column: Under Gov. Ron DeSastrous, #Florida has become the place where meritocracy dies and political cronyism rules. www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2... via @tampabaytimes.bsky.social
Florida, where meritocracy went to die
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointments will shape the state for years.
www.tampabay.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Column: Under Gov. Ron DeSastrous, #Florida has become the place where meritocracy dies and political cronyism rules. www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2... via @tampabaytimes.bsky.social
What do you want to bet Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an anti-Taliban fighter thoroughly vetted by the CIA, got radicalized in the anti-foreigner US?
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What do you want to bet Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an anti-Taliban fighter thoroughly vetted by the CIA, got radicalized in the anti-foreigner US?
Thanksgiving in Florida. An underdone turkey, but with excellent sides: floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/24/f...
Florida has much to be thankful for • Florida Phoenix
It’s the season of Thanksgiving: You know, the turkey before Christmas, the holiday with the Pilgrim hats, the football, and the frenzied online shopping. But let us take a break from stuffing our fac...
floridaphoenix.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Thanksgiving in Florida. An underdone turkey, but with excellent sides: floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/24/f...
The Florida legislature is trying to destroy every environmental protection we have left. Ask the candidates for Ron DeSantis' job what they think of that: floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/20/a...
Ask the gaggle of gubernatorial wannabes what they’ll do for Florida’s environment • Florida Phoenix
Hey Florida, congrats! We’ve just about made it through another hurricane season. But I should warn you that something even scarier is coming: A gubernatorial election. Board up your windows! Batten d...
floridaphoenix.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The Florida legislature is trying to destroy every environmental protection we have left. Ask the candidates for Ron DeSantis' job what they think of that: floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/20/a...
All the other shoes have dropped. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
All the other shoes have dropped. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
Enviro groups sue to stop President Convicted Felon from initiating offshore oil lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico (or whatever we're calling it this week). The suit cites the effect on the critically endangered Rice’s whale plus the BP oil spill. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c... via @nytimes.com
Environmentalists Sue to Stop Oil Lease Sales in the Gulf of Mexico
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Enviro groups sue to stop President Convicted Felon from initiating offshore oil lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico (or whatever we're calling it this week). The suit cites the effect on the critically endangered Rice’s whale plus the BP oil spill. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c... via @nytimes.com
DeSantis has taken your money to indoctrinate students and wreck a public college: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
DeSantis’s makeover of ‘left-wing’ Florida college has been costly
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s makeover of the public honors college has been thorough — and costly, a new report shows.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM
DeSantis has taken your money to indoctrinate students and wreck a public college: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
New College is on its deathbed--if not already deceased. floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/17/d...
Don't worry about indoctrinating college students. It's not possible. • Florida Phoenix
New College of Florida is on its intellectual deathbed. Once an authority-challenging, free-thinking institution for students passionate about learning, a place where difference was celebrated and cre...
floridaphoenix.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
New College is on its deathbed--if not already deceased. floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/17/d...
Franklin Adams is Glades genius: he understands the ways of the waters and the grasses and the critters. We need to believe him, not Ron "Zero Impact" DeSantis.
Longtime #Florida Gladesman Capt. Franklin Adams says he hopes enviro groups prevail in court against Gov. Ron DeSastrous' Everglades concentration camp, but fears the worst damage will have already been done to the River of Grass. www.news-press.com/story/news/e...
Gladesman on Alligator Alcatraz:
'Much of the damage will already have occurred'
Franklin Adams grew up hunting and fishing across millions of acres in the historic Everglades system, and now he's against Alligator Alcatraz.
www.news-press.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Franklin Adams is Glades genius: he understands the ways of the waters and the grasses and the critters. We need to believe him, not Ron "Zero Impact" DeSantis.
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
Longtime #Florida Gladesman Capt. Franklin Adams says he hopes enviro groups prevail in court against Gov. Ron DeSastrous' Everglades concentration camp, but fears the worst damage will have already been done to the River of Grass. www.news-press.com/story/news/e...
Gladesman on Alligator Alcatraz:
'Much of the damage will already have occurred'
Franklin Adams grew up hunting and fishing across millions of acres in the historic Everglades system, and now he's against Alligator Alcatraz.
www.news-press.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Longtime #Florida Gladesman Capt. Franklin Adams says he hopes enviro groups prevail in court against Gov. Ron DeSastrous' Everglades concentration camp, but fears the worst damage will have already been done to the River of Grass. www.news-press.com/story/news/e...
The Phipps family once cared about Leon County'swetlands, trees and waters. Now, aided by 3 of our 5 city commissioners, Jeff Phipps wants to build thousands of houses in the Lake Jackson conservation area. What is wrong with these people? www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...
'Community altering': Concerns mount over Comp Plan changes allowing Lake Jackson development
Concerned citizens, environmental groups and others are lining up to oppose proposed changes to the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan that could open the door to large-scale development north...
www.tallahassee.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The Phipps family once cared about Leon County'swetlands, trees and waters. Now, aided by 3 of our 5 city commissioners, Jeff Phipps wants to build thousands of houses in the Lake Jackson conservation area. What is wrong with these people? www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...
Why do Trumpublicans hate education so much? floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/27/n...
No ceasefire in the war on higher education • Florida Phoenix
Can you show us on the doll where education hurt you? According to the Right, schools and colleges are hotbeds of anti-American degeneracy propagated by teachers hell bent on indoctrinating the young...
floridaphoenix.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Why do Trumpublicans hate education so much? floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/27/n...
This is appalling. But on-brand for Wakulla County's slimy politicians. floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/23/f...
Florida county considers unpopular land swap with national forest • Florida Phoenix
Sometimes I think the most “Florida” county of the 67, the one that best encapsulates the good and bad of the Sunshine State, is Wakulla County up in the Panhandle. It contains lots of wild natural be...
floridaphoenix.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is appalling. But on-brand for Wakulla County's slimy politicians. floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/23/f...
Florida is next. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Faculty at Texas university fear entire liberal arts departments will be slashed
University of Texas at Austin faculty fear changes from new taskforce that could restructure humanities programs
www.theguardian.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Florida is next. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing
#Florida Senate sponsor of much-despised pro-developer SB 180, which 2 dozen local govts are now suing to overturn, promises to file a bill this year to fix it subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025... via @brucebritchie.bsky.social
POLITICO Pro: Senate sponsor of law change restricting local growth regs set to file bill limiting 'overreach'
subscriber.politicopro.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:55 PM
#Florida Senate sponsor of much-despised pro-developer SB 180, which 2 dozen local govts are now suing to overturn, promises to file a bill this year to fix it subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025... via @brucebritchie.bsky.social