Throughout her time in office, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been on a crusade against gay marriage. Bondi has represented the state of Florida in five separate lawsuits to argue in defense of the amendment passed by Florida voters in 2008 that banned same-sex marriage. In all five cases, the judge ruled against her and said the ban was incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. Bondi has also fought to ensure that these rulings allowing same-sex marriage in Florida remain unenforced until the Supreme Court rules on the issue. Bondi herself is currently in her third marriage. Bondi should change course and fight for the right of gay Floridians to have a third marriage, too. A just-give-up-already DART goes to Pam Bondi.
Apple Inc.’s reputation as a company that values privacy has taken a big hit as of late. The recent hacking of iCloud accounts belonging to numerous celebrities sparked criticism about the technology giant’s security policies. Apple took a step in the right direction this week when it announced a number of new security measures. Most notably, the company announced that it will not unlock encrypted iPhones or iPads when it receives requests from law enforcement to do so. It’s probably still a bad idea to put your naked pictures in iCloud, though. We’re giving a password-protected LAUREL to Apple.
Few political careers have been as strange and dramatic as Rep. Mark Sanford’s, R-SC. Sanford came to national prominence when he disappeared without a trace for several days in 2009. Although aides claimed he was “hiking the Appalachian Trail,” Sanford later admitted to visiting his Argentine mistress, Maria Belen Chapur. The South Carolina State Assembly censured Sanford after it was revealed that he used taxpayer funds to pay for his amorous excursion. For whatever reason, South Carolina voters saw fit to elect Sanford to Congress in 2013. Sanford’s bizarre behavior continued this week when he posted a rambling Facebook post announcing his breakup with Chapur. Unfortunately for Chapur, she found out about the breakup the same way everyone else did — by reading the Facebook post. Ouch. A left-the-family-values-on-the-Appalachian-Trail DART goes to Mark Sanford.
Florida State University is, once again, flirting with disaster after the controversial star quarterback Jameis Winston yelled an obscene sexual phrase in a public place on the FSU campus earlier this week. While FSU decided to suspend Winston for the first half of Saturday’s game against Clemson, a half-game suspension is — at the very least — a weak punishment, given that Winston was accused of rape in 2013. The decision sends a message that star athletes only get a slap on the wrist for the sake of salvaging a defending championship. We say a full-game suspension — and the possibility of losing a crucial game — would knock common sense back into Winston. A shaming-shameless-Famous-Jameis DART goes to the ‘Noles.
