Carl Hiaasen's 'Fever Beach' lampoons far-right extremism and Florida politics
Author Carl Hiaasen joins Morning Joe to discuss his new book 'Fever Beach,' which lampoons white supremacy, far-right extremism, dark money, billionaires, and our polarized culture, with Florida as the story's cultural backdrop.
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Axios
21 minutes ago
- Axios
California to sue Trump administration amid LA protest standoff, Newsom says
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Monday post that California will sue President Trump, saying he "illegally acted" to federalize the National Guard during protests against federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles. The big picture: Trump on Saturday signed a memorandum calling in the National Guard — despite opposition from the state's and the city's Democratic leadership. Driving the news: Newsom, after saying Sunday that the Golden State would be taking Trump to court, wrote in a Monday X post that the president had "flamed the fires." He added, "The order he signed doesn't just apply to CA. It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing. We're suing him." Trump's order cited "[n]umerous incidents of violence and disorder" and "violent protests" but did not specifically mention California or the Los Angeles area. The other side:"Gavin Newsom's feckless leadership is directly responsible for the lawless riots and violent attacks on law enforcement in Los Angeles," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement provided to Axios. Jackson continued, "Instead of filing baseless lawsuits meant to score political points with his left-wing base, Newsom should focus on protecting Americans by restoring law and order to his state." Friction point: Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other Democrats have argued Trump's deployment of the National Guard was an unnecessary escalation, while Trump administration officials have railed against their leadership. Border czar Tom Homan did not rule out arrests for Democratic officials in the state should they impede law enforcement or harbor undocumented immigrants in a Saturday interview with NBC News, but said he does not believe Bass had "crossed the line yet." "Come and get me, though guy," Newsom wrote in response. Homan, in a Monday morning interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" argued the NBC report was "dishonest." "I was clear they haven't crossed the line," Homan said Monday. "But they're not above the law either." Zoom in: Hegseth in his Monday post included a clip from an interview with commentator Brian Tyler Cohen in which the governor described Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as "a joke" and characterized Trump as "unhinged." "This is a preview for things to come," he said. "This isn't about LA, per se. It's about us today, it's about you, everyone watching, tomorrow." Context: Trump's Saturday memorandum, which called into federal service some 2,000 National Guard personnel for 60 days, cited rarely used federal powers and sidestepped Newsom.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Homan: Newsom, Bass haven't crossed line but ‘not above the law'
Border czar Tom Homan said on Monday that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) have not crossed the line amid tensions between law enforcement and immigration raid protesters, but they, like everyone else, are 'not above the law.' In an interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Homan sought to clarify earlier remarks that he said were taken 'out of context' by news outlets reporting that he declined to rule out arresting Newsom and Bass amid a clash between the federal and state leaders over the best approach to quelling protests in Los Angeles. Homan said his previous remarks initially focused on the protesters. 'Here's what I said: They have a right to protest, they have the First Amendment rights, but they can't cross that line. They can't cross that line of impediment. They can't cross that line of putting their hands on officers. They can't cross the line of knowing and concealing an illegal alien,' Homan said. 'These are all federal crimes, and they're in statute, and they will be prosecuted.' Homan said a reporter then asked him whether those rules apply to Newsom and Bass. 'He asked the question, 'Does that include Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom?' and I was clear they haven't crossed the line, but they're not above the law either,' Homan said, stressing that he noted Newsom and Bass would face prosecution only 'if they commit a crime.' The remarks came in an interview early Monday, when Homan was asked to respond to Newsom's dare late Sunday to arrest him. Newsom had been responding to reports that Homan threatened to do so if he or Bass interfered in immigration enforcement efforts. 'Come after me, arrest me. Let's just get it over with, tough guy, you know? I don't give a damn. But I care about my community. I care about this community,' Newsom told NBC News on Sunday. 'So, Tom, arrest me. Let's go,' Newsom added. But Homan, on Monday, brushed off the remarks. 'I'm not biting on that,' Homan said. After he clarified his earlier remarks, Homan said, 'That's what was happening. I never threatened to arrest Governor Newsom.'
Hamilton Spectator
15 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
New crime novels feature a locked-room mystery, a Scarborough stabbing and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist
It's a weird time in American politics, which means it's a perfect time for Florida novelist Carl Hiaasen to plumb the satirical depths of corruption and malfeasance in his home state. His last novel, 2020's 'Squeeze Me,' suffered from a subplot that attempted to satirize the once-and-current occupant of the White House, a Falstaffian spray-tanned figure so outrageous as to be almost impervious to satire. For 'Fever Beach,' Hiaasen wisely steers clear of POTUS and his inept administration, preferring instead to focus on wanton corruption at a lower level. 'Fever Beach,' by Carl Hiaasen, Alfred A. Knopf, $34.99. The new novel begins with a meet-cute on an airplane between Twilly Spree and Viva Morales. Twilly is a stock Hiaasen character: an independently wealthy Florida do-gooder who spends his time making life miserable for folks who litter, antagonize the local wildlife or otherwise cause environmental or social havoc. Viva's job is administering the foundation of a couple of rich right-wing octogenarians whose fundraising operates as a money-laundering front to finance the campaign of far-right (and profoundly stupid) congressman Clure Boyette, in hot water with his obstreperous father over a scandal involving an underage prostitute named Galaxy. Add in Viva's landlord — a Jan. 6 insurrectionist named Dale Figgo who heads the Strokers for Freedom (a white nationalist militia whose name is a rebuke to the Proud Boys' insistence on refraining from masturbation) — and his cohort, the violent and reckless Jonas Onus, and you have all the ingredients for a classic Hiaasen caper. Twenty years ago, German-born author Leonie Swann debuted one of the most delightful detective teams in genre history: a flock of sheep on the trail of the person responsible for killing their shepherd with a spade through the chest. After a two-decade absence, Miss Maple, Othello, Mopple the Whale, and the other woolly sleuths are back on the case, this time on behalf of their new herder, Rebecca, the daughter of the early book's victim. 'Big Bad Wool,' by Leonie Swann, Soho Crime, $38.95. Rebecca, her intrusive Mum, and the sheep are overwintering in the lee of a French chateau where there are rumours of a marauding Garou — a werewolf — that is responsible for mutilating deer in the nearby woods. Among other strange occurrences, Rebecca's red clothing is found torn to pieces and some sheep go missing — and soon enough there's a dead human for the flock, in the uncomfortable company of a group of local goats, to deal with. 'Big Bad Wool' is a charming romp, whose pleasure comes largely from the ironic distance between the sheep's understanding of the world and that of the people who surround them. ('The humans in the stories did plenty of ridiculous things. Spring cleaning, revenge and diets.') Their enthusiasm and excitement results in prose that is a bit too reliant on exclamation points, and some of the more heavy-handed puns (like the sheep's insistence on 'woolpower') seem forced, but this is nevertheless a fun variation on the traditional country cosy. Romance novelist Uzma Jalaluddin takes a turn into mystery with this new book about amateur sleuth Kausar Khan. A widow in her late 50s, Kausar returns to Toronto from North Bay to help her daughter, Sana, who has been accused of stabbing her landlord to death in her Scarborough mall boutique. The police — including Sana's old flame, Ilyas — are convinced Sana is the prime suspect, but Kausar is determined to prove her daughter innocent. 'Detective Aunty,' by Uzma Jalaluddin, HarperCollins, $25.99. Her investigation involves a couple of competing developers, both of whom want to purchase the land on which the mall stands, along with members of the dead man's family and fellow shopkeepers. On the domestic front, Kausar finds herself concerned with Sana's deteriorating marriage to her husband, Hamza, and her teenage granddaughter's sullenness and mysterious nighttime disappearances. Jalaluddin does a good job integrating the various elements of her plot, and the familial relationships are nicely calibrated. The momentum is impeded, however, by a preponderance of clichés ('Playing devil's advocate, Kausar asked …'; 'Kausar's blood ran cold') and a tendency to hold the reader's hand by defining every easily Googleable Urdu word or greeting too programmatically. More attention to the writing on the line level would have helped move this one along. Yukito Ayatsuji's clever postmodern locked-room mystery was first published in Japanese in 2009; it appears for the first time in English translation, which is good news for genre fans. 'The Labyrinth House Murders,' by Yukito Ayatsuji, Pushkin Vertigo, $24.95. Ayatsuji's narrative is framed by Shimada, a mystery aficionado, who is presented with a novelization about murders that took place at the home of famed mystery writer Miyagaki Yotaro, found dead by his own hand soon after the manuscript opens. Miyagaki has left a bizarre challenge for the writers gathered at his Byzantine Labyrinth House: each must write a story featuring a murder, and the victim must be the writer him- or herself. The winning author, as adjudicated by a group of critics also convened at Labyrinth House, will inherit Miyagaki's sizable fortune. As the writers compete for the reward, bodies start falling in real life and Ayatsuji has a grand time playing metafictional games with his readers, challenging them to figure out who the culprit is in the context of a story that owes more than a small debt to Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None.' But Ayatsuji does Christie one better; it is only once the afterword, which closes the framed narrative, has unfolded that the reader fully understands how cleverly the author has conceived his multi-layered fictional trap.
