Published: April 22, 2008 06:44 pm            

OUR VIEW – April 23

A little courage, please

We're not all that worried over what tune they'll play at Florida's next inaugural ball. The multi-billion dollar budget shortfall seems a more pressing issue than whether to retain "Swanee River" as the state song.

Still, it's a legitimate question, and one we wouldn't mind seeing resolved once and for all. That's why we were disappointed to learn the way lawmakers plan to handle it.

A compromise is in the works to change the lyrics but keep the song - provided another tune, "Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky," is designated the state anthem. (The practical difference between a "state song" and a "state anthem" has yet to be explained by lawmakers.)

Either part of this compromise makes sense. Together, they're a disaster. Being politicians, Florida lawmakers would like to please everyone. In trying to do so, all they've shown is a lack of political courage.

Maybe they just wanted to be done with it so they could get back to grappling with the $3 billion hole in the state budget. It doesn't work that way, the way we see it. If legislators, fearful of alienating any given constituency, can't pick a state song, how will they ever find the courage to make the cuts needed to balance the budget?

Compromise is the founding principle of politics. But this one, for want of a better word, borders on the ridiculous.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.