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Tom Jackson has 30 articles published.

Recovering sports columnist and former Tampa Tribune columnist Tom Jackson argues on behalf of thoughtful conservative principles as our best path forward. Fan of the Beach Boys, pulled-pork barbecue and days misspent at golf, Tom lives in New Tampa with his wife, two children and two yappy middle-aged dogs.

In Pasco, big fireworks over low-profile job

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Ordinarily, the only thing less interesting than electing a county’s property appraiser is electing its clerk of court. At least people have a pretty good idea of what a property appraiser does. But when a long-time appraiser creates an open seat by announcing his retirement, and does so in a year in which Donald Trump declares all campaign customs to be obsolete, then all that was once normative no longer applies. Throw in a county — Pasco, a giant trapezoid squatting like…

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Tom Jackson: Donald Trump consumed by fire he kindled

in 2017/Top Headlines by

By all that is reasonable in the world of campaign politics, thoughtful people ought to be wrangling over Donald Trump’s economic plan, announced Monday in Detroit. It does, after all, present the possibility of an ambitious return to supply-side policies; encouraging private businesses both large and small with lowered taxes and a regulatory freeze. This could have been an important pivot, considering the long-suffering economy is not only a top concern but also an area where voters trust Trump more…

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Tom Jackson: Old-school Democrat hopes Hillsborough can make a deal

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

They’d reached closing statements at a recent forum for Hillsborough County Commission District 6 Democratic hopefuls in Bealsville, near Plant City, and Pat Kemp, the Tampa lawyer and serial candidate, was feeling magnanimous. The town center was a thing of beauty, she said. The town hall, expanded library, a roundabout with a flag at its center, the lovely boulevards linking them all. Just marvelous, she said. People of Plant City must be proud. As Kemp finished and took her seat,…

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Tom Jackson: Democrats suddenly in need of a ringmaster

in 2017/Top Headlines by

If the axiom describing how the major parties go about selecting their presidential nominees — Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line — had held up in 2016, the Jeb! versus Feel-the-Bern campaign ahead would be only slightly less bizarre than the one we have. Instead, the parties switched roles — which, in Caitlyn Jenner Nation, where every public restroom or changing facility is suddenly gender neutral, is to be expected — leaving us with the spectacle of loopy,…

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Tom Jackson: A GOP convention unlike any other

in 2017/Top Headlines by

At long last, it looks like Republicans are going to do this thing. This unexpected, astonishing and — not to put too fine a point on it — crazy thing. They’re going to nominate for president a demagogic, bullying, uncouth, uncurious, insincere, shifty, disloyal blowhard with minuscule thumbs and an unconscionable comb over. In short, out of all the constitutionally eligible Republicans in America, the party of Lincoln is about to anoint the grump at the end of the bar…

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Tom Jackson: Reeling from horror that is no longer unimaginable

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

There is no shortage of terms to describe what happened on the Riviera promenade in idyllic Nice, France, Thursday night. Grisly. Barbaric. Hateful. Unforgivable. Monstrous. The list goes on. The one word that no longer applies, however, is this: Unimaginable. We passed the threshold of the inconceivable years ago, probably in September 2001, when Islamist terrorists shrieking “Allahu akbar” slammed hijacked passenger jets terrorists into iconic American buildings. Every depraved act that followed in the name of this strange, vengeful…

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Just another (law-skirting) day in the life of Hillary Clinton

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Of course, Hillary Clinton isn’t going to face prosecution over Servergate. Hadn’t she told us herself? This, back in March: “That’s not gonna happen.” Four months later, her prediction was fulfilled, proving once more, if there’s anything a Clinton knows, it’s how to skirt the law. On that front, this, from NBCNews.com report, is noteworthy: “Over their decades in public life, the Clintons have survived special prosecutors, congressional probes, FBI investigations, lawsuits and impeachment. A few more days dealing with the politics of scandal is…

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