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Lawsuit: Gov. Scott Running Florida a la Monty Python

Florida governor sued by blind woman for rules change

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 20, 2011 2:41 PM CDT

(Newser) – A blind Florida woman is suing Gov. Rick Scott over his order suspending the state’s rulemaking process—and her attorneys had some fun with the filing. Rosalie Whiley thinks the governor overstepped his constitutional bounds, while the governor says he has the “supreme executive power” to do so. In the suit, Whiley’s attorney—former American Bar Association president Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte—poked fun at him, writing, “The governor’s theory seems to have come from a Monty Python skit.”

“I’m not accusing the governor as going quite as far as the Arthur character,” D'Alemberte tells the Tampa Tribune. “But he does assert this idea of supreme executive power as though it’s magic.” But Scott’s attorneys knocked the reference in their own filing, saying D’Alemberte “caricatures the governor’s position.” Whiley, incidentally, is suing because Scott’s move prevented Florida from changing its food stamp rules to comply to a federal law making it easier for the blind to apply.

A screenshot from the scene in question.
A screenshot from the scene in question.   (YouTube)
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'Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!'   (YouTube)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
DewKeyy
Jun 29, 2011 2:35 PM CDT
I would pay good money to watch Colbert tear this guy a new one-Just dont let him get any of his Draco lizard spit on you!!
EileenRocks
Jun 21, 2011 8:46 PM CDT
"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you...  if I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away."   -- Dennis the Peasant (Not an Old Woman)
woodyTX
Jun 21, 2011 10:48 AM CDT
I believe Scott's middle name is Arthur.
 

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