Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 2.1.22

By Peter Schorsch

Good Tuesday morning.

Tuesday is Children’s Day at the Capitol.

The event, which coincides with Children’s Week Florida, is expected to draw more than 700 people to the Capitol Courtyard for various interactive events and educational activities focused on young children and youth.

Sponsored by the Florida Lottery, Children’s Day will see the Capitol decorated with custom hand artwork from children across the state — what’s known as the “Celebration of the Hands.”

The day starts, however, with “Storybook Village.” Starting at 9 a.m., various children’s books will be brought to life through storytime, performances and music. Organizers expect some “celebrity readers,” and attendees will also be able to snag free books and something to eat. Performances run through 1 p.m.

At 11:45 a.m., Lottery Secretary John Davis, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, Sen. Loranne Ausley, Rep. Vance Aloupis and others will hold a news conference on the steps of the old Capitol alongside the winners of this year’s Children’s Week Florida advocacy award winners, which include Chiles Advocacy Award recipient Doug Sessions and Youth Advocate Award recipient Lauren Page.

Those who want to participate from afar can check out the documentary “No Small Matter” online through Feb. 4 using the password CW2022.

Tweet, tweet:

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Matt Bryza, the former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan and former deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, is joining Ballard Partners as a senior policy adviser.

Bryza has more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, culminating with the ambassador post, which he held from February 2011 to January 2012.

“Ambassador Bryza’s extensive experience in the White House and State Department brings a new dimension of international expertise to the firm, and we are honored to have him join our team,” said firm founder and President Brian Ballard. “Matt’s unique perspective will be invaluable to the firm’s global clients.”

From 2005 to 2009, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia and Director on the National Security Council Staff at the White House, responsible for the South Caucasus, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Eurasian energy.

He simultaneously served as the U.S. co-chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, mediating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and as U.S. mediator of the Cyprus, South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts.

Bryza, who lives in Istanbul, Turkey, is a frequent commentator in media outlets such as CNN International, Al-Jazeera, BBC, Fox News, the Financial Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, among others.

He currently serves on the board of Turcas, a publicly-traded fuel distribution and power generation company, and Nobel Upstream, an oil exploration and production company based in London. He is also CEO of environmental solutions company Lamor Turkey and is the founder and CEO of Eurasian Business Diplomacy, a strategic consultancy.

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Must-read — “10 years since Trayvon: The story of the first decade of Black Lives Matter.” via New York Magazine — On February 26, 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in Sanford because as a Black boy walking in a gated community, he was deemed “suspicious.” Zimmerman’s acquittal appalled a nation often willfully blind to the vulnerability of living while Black. Ten years later, “Black Lives Matter” has grown from a hashtag to a protester’s cry to a cultural force that has reshaped American politics, society, and daily life. At the same time, it is a specific collection of organizations and people whose decisions have attracted both applause and criticism, whose actions have been a source of intrigue, and whose personal relationships have strengthened and splintered under the stress and exposure. This special issue attempts to tell the story of the first decade of Black Lives Matter.

Assignment editors — Ken Welch, the first African American Mayor of St. Petersburg, will raise The Woodson Flag over City Hall to mark the official start of Black History Month. The flag depicts Dr. Carter G. Woodson, widely recognized as the father of Black History, noon, St. Petersburg City Hall, 175 5th St. N (flagpole at the corner of 5th St. and 2nd Ave. N).

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

Tweet, tweet:

—@Liz_Cheney: (Donald) Trump uses language he knows caused the Jan 6 violence; suggests he’d pardon the Jan 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election. He’d do it all again if given the chance.

—@WiltonSimpson: The anti-Semitism on display in Orlando this weekend has no place in our state. Floridians stand together today to reject these cowards and their hate.

—@ChrisSprowls: Yesterday’s disgusting display of anti-semitism in Orlando does not reflect the values of Floridians. These thugs and their hateful messaging are not welcome in this state.

—@ADL_Florida: We are alarmed that @ChristinaPushaw would first give cover to antisemites rather than immediately and forcefully condemning their revolting, hate-filled rally and assault.

—@BonillaJL: If you jump up and condemn (X) on the left’s schedule, you accept whatever thing they’re trying to smear you with by association, and you grant them the power to compel your speech. Ron DeSantis understands this.

—@MacStipanovich: You and Tater have been working like demented and mendacious beavers all day to clean up a huge mess you made through sheer incompetence. And this is just your most recent FUBAR outing. Tell us again about how bad Dem comms people are.

Tweet, tweet:

Tweet, tweet:

—@ShortFormErnie: Congratulations to Wordle, which proves that pawning off something you gave to your partner as a gift is sometimes a winning strategy.

—@DJMia00: If you want to live a long time, it never hurts to go for a walk. Walking 16,000 steps per day was associated with a 66% reduction in all-cause mortality compared to walking just 2,700 steps per day.