There are some ageless quotations from the bard’s many works that seem uncannily applicable to the big show now getting featured in Tallahassee. Not unexpectedly, the leading men are Governor Charlie Crist, Representative Marco Rubio, and Senate President Ken Pruitt. With a setting that has the legislative process reduced to an afterthought or backdrop to the melodrama of power plays and partisan politics, we are reminded that:
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages." As You Like It
When the devious plot to unleash a poorly conceived tax cut proposal was in its early stages, it was not hard for city and county officials to hear the echo of the three evil witches from the dark tragedy Macbeth hissing:
"When shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" and “Fair is foul and foul is fair" as long as it helps us get reelected. Macbeth
At this point, most of us have come to the sad realization that the tax cut proposal was indeed poorly conceived and prematurely thrust upon us and the propaganda about immediate and substantial tax relief was
“ but a walking shadow; a poor player,
“That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing." Macbeth
But, alas! The drama of a deteriorating relationship creeps in on Crist and Rubio who were once kindred republican spirits till an opportunistic rift presented itself over the Indian compact and the expansion of gaming, with Rubio adopting the self-serving conservative, moralistic and hypocritical position that was foolishly practiced by Bush and Chiles while Crist is pragmatically negotiating in good faith to secure the best interests of the people of Florida. For those close to this theater, it is not unreasonable to imagine Rubio (who’s gubernatorial aspirations are well known) having recently confided Iago-like to Pruitt: "I follow him to serve my turn upon him." Othello
And though the conspiracy is now blatant, surely the Governor saw it coming as he must have noted to trusted Chief of Staff George LeMieux: "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, He thinks too much; such men are dangerous." Julius Caesar
In dealing with the public, the current crop of term-limited legislators still need to learn to “Tempt not a desperate man” Romeo and Juliet because “ If you prick us, do we not bleed? …and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” Merchant of Venice
Sadly, by mindlessly following Rubio’s intractable (“I’ll not budge an inch.” Taming of the Shrew) agenda, it appears that they have surrendered their elected responsibilities and adopted allegiance to Rubio, as if to say: “ I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it.” As You Like It
Whether the machinations in the Capital are best deemed a true tragedy or a sad Comedy of Errors, the people of the Sunshine State are conflicted. Our hopes for needed tax relief were raised with empty promises and we should be sobered by this famous line from the mischievous Puck who said to Oberon (King of the Fairies):
"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises; and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits."All's Well That Ends Well
We can only hope this ends well for all of us but I am not encouraged as it is not hard to imagine our hero, Representative Jim Waldman, muttering to himself on the floor of the House:
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" A Midsummer Night's Dream
Slainte!
John Kelly