Firing Lane

In this episode, we cover the Florida Governor’s race candidates and Croaky gives his “mostly” unbiased perspective on the race.

Overall, Florida isn’t a group chat. It’s 22 million lives—storms, insurance costs, property taxes, and families who never go to donor dinners. Stop grading candidates on “vibes” and start grading them on governability: executive competence, real records, and measurable delivery.

This Firing Lane wasn’t about clapbacks or outrage.

I read the Jay Collins hate mail, the bad-faith attacks, and the rumors flying around Florida’s governor’s race — and analyzed what they actually reveal about the field.

Layla Collins also ended up stopping by to talk about education, civic engagement, and why governing starts closer to home than social media.

Governance vs. Grievance.

This episode challenges a Florida Politics narrative that declares Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins "fallen," arguing the story is driven by biased coverage and pay-to-play media dynamics rather than facts. It reviews Collins’ military and legislative record, DeSantis’ measured praise, and the misleading use of early polling to declare inevitability.

The host exposes how advertiser influence and premature narratives shape political coverage, explains why Collins’ cautious timeline is strategic not weak, and contrasts a service-oriented candidacy with a media-driven power model. Listeners are urged to look beyond headlines, consider the record, and stay engaged in the 2026 primary conversation.

In this episode Croaky Caiman profiles Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins — a decorated Green Beret and amputee turned statewide official — and contrasts his governing background with the performative, clip-driven political class that dominates Florida media.

We unpack the January 2026 controversy over an edited clip about speech and antisemitism, showing how context and constitutional nuance were flattened into performative outrage, and explain the real First Amendment issues at stake.

The episode argues that Collins’ focus on results and ordered liberty threatens the noise-driven primary ecosystem, and that the preemptive attacks on him reveal more fear of competence than genuine concern about civil liberties.

This episode explores Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) and argues that America’s first major political crisis began with a collapse of legitimacy—governors grew distant and failed to protect people, provoking unrest rooted in insecurity and institutional failure rather than ideology.

It shows how Virginia’s elites responded by reasserting status and order, and draws parallels to today: legitimate concerns (like immigration and cultural continuity) are being turned into permanent emergencies that excuse power grabs and enrichment.

The episode’s central warning is that stability requires responsibility and reform, not distraction and endless outrage; institutions survive when leaders reclaim their duties, not when they manufacture crises.