Update: One reader was evidently confused about the letter in question so we drug it out of the trash, brushed off the coffee grounds, and posted it for his or her edification. On the back of the part you tear off and fill out with McCain-Feingold required disclosure info about yourself is the phrase, “Paid for the by the Democratic State Parties and the DNC as a joint fundraising program, www.democrats.org/victory fund. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”
We were just standing around the virtual Pensito Review water cooler, chewing over one of our favorite subjects: How stupid is Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman?
I think she’s regular stupid, hovering somewhere between feather head and judgement-challenged. Buck thinks she’s too stupid to live, brush her teeth unassisted, or wipe her own backside. Jon, a California resident, agrees with both of us.
Well moments ago, from whom should I get a letter in the mail? It’s our very own K.T., and she’s got great news for me!
The response to our 2007 Annual Fund Drive has been so overwhelming that we have decided to extend the deadline for gifts to September 14, 2007.
There are so many things wrong with that opener that I hardly know where to begin. For starters, was she really going to cut off donations because they didn’t come in by some arbitrary deadline? “Sorry, your check arrived too late. We don’t want it now.”
And where do you go, in requesting urgent financial assistance, after you’ve just described the response so far as “overwhelming?” It doesn’t exactly make me look over my finances and decide I can pay the electric bill next week but right now I must help Karen! She needs me!
I’m beginning to see it Buck’s way. This woman really does need to find additional new employment, besides her job as a lobbyist in an agency headed by the former chair of the Florida Republican party. I hope the response by Democrats to extending Karen’s deadline at the helm of the party is not overwhelming.
“regular stupid, hovering somewhere between feather head and judgement-challenged.. too stupid to live, brush her teeth unassisted, or wipe her own backside”
do either of you assholes take two seconds to think about the hateful things you say about people you know little about other than what you read online?
forget politics. based on the idiotic, semi-informed and downright disturbing things you both have written, i’d say you’re both pathetic disgusting cowards living in a fantasy world of your own creation. i don’t know thurman, but i’ve been in politics long enough to have gotten about a thousand fundraising appeals with that same line, or something even less sensical. like she or barack obama or hillary clinton or john edwards is actually writing you a letter. its obvious you’re a total newbie to politics, which explains youre stupid – too stupid to live stupid – comments. get a life and do something productive instead of just being an ass.
Anonymous, unless I’m missing something, you’re saying that stupid is the acceptable norm for politicians, but not for bloggers?
Would it be OK then if the blogger was also a politician?
What JohnDWoodsSr said. I don’t live in Florida and didn’t have a clue about Karen Thurman until I read about her in Pensito Review. However, I did know who Al Cardenas is, and was shocked to learn that a Democrat as highly placed as Thurman would work with a craven GOP type like him.
Why is “anonymous” so pissed off about this? As Hillary might have put it, it appears Trish & Buck have hit a nerve.
i’m pissed off because bloggers like you do absolutely nothing but inject hateful rhetoric into the political arena, making all bloggers, including those who have something substantive and constructive to say look bad. wonder why bill o’reilly has a field day with kos? idiots like you. you’re worse than mudslingers like karl rove. you should be ashamed of yourselves. you are pathetic, sad people. i dont care about karen thurman, but i do know she did some good things in congress and at the party she didnt let florida democrats blow the whole thing for the 10th consecutive cycle. but you’d never mention that of course because you couldn’t be all wanna-be-wonkette clever-nasty. newsflash: you’re not wonkette or remotely close to as entertaining as her(them). GET A LIFE.
Dear anonymous: I’d like to address you by your name, but you chose to be “anonymous.” I am not afraid to call an idiot an idiot in my own name and voice, and I’m not afraid to say Karen Thurman is an idiot. Now, if you don’t like that opinion, you are certainly welcome to confute it with, oh, I don’t know, maybe facts and stuff. We do not want to be nor do we pretend to be Wonkette. What we do have is convictions and beliefs and opinions and cool things like that, and we’re not afraid to put our names on them and take pea-brained criticism like yours as a result. The only positive thing I can say about your comment is that you showed amazing restraint in not resorting to the dreaded all caps until the final line. Of course, you didn’t use initial caps at the beginning of any of your sentences and you didn’t pay much attention to little things like grammar and syntax and stuff, but I’m not saying you’re as stupid as Karen Thurman. You’re in a class by yourself.
While Buck’s comments may be a little difficult to swallow for some, they are representative of what must be abhorred by any thinking Democrat.
The truth is that the Florida Democratic Party’s so called leaders have driven this party bus into the ditch.
Floridians need more people like Buck w/ the character, principle and focus, unafraid to speak up, tell truth to power and in turn to right this vehicle and get it back on the road again!
Nothing new, the pitiful performance of the FDP has been going on for years… It is our fault not having confronted forcefully these individuals earlier as well as publicly.
Floridians are subjected to high insurance, regressive tax policies and economic policy formulated by a legislative majority who have yet to take an economics class for one reason alone… There is NO credible OPPOSITION party in Florida.
As to the FDP, the likely progression will be Karen departing at some point, but never soon enough. Having visited party HQ in Tallahassee on one occasion recently, I found it manned by kids with no adult supervision.
That is, who is steering the ship? Not that any direction Karen might provide would be of any use… Who is putting together a strategy? Strategy… What’s that?
The only strategy one sees is for the FDP to give support/money to a very limited, pre-selected clique of candidate insiders who either use the party as their own exclusive platform, or are oath taking go-along/get-alongs who are dependent on the string pullers for their “career success.”
What does the FDP do in between elections other than try to raise a few bucks to be inappropriately wasted in the end, (See Above!)
The FDP needs a total overhaul. It is not just Karen that puts us in such a non-competitive position. The people need to replace the “appointed” purposefully in-effective leadership at all levels, with people who want to win for the people.
That means progressive candidates, not merely RIGHT WINGERS who just happen to wear a “D” on their banner because they can’t play as an “R.”
I am sick of listening to all the little “d” Dixiecrats like Karen and Bill and the innumerable infiltrators sprinkled throughout the state (DEC’s), who are in reality, REPUBLICAN operatives gumming up the Democratic party purposefully on the inside. Would the FRP allow such nonsense?
Insider facilitators can call me any name you want, but people who know me, understand that I do not lie or make things up.
I encourage potential donors to the FDP to save their coinage, and contribute to the CANDIDATE of their choice … rather than the party (FDP), as your precious resources will be more appreciated and better utilized.
John Russell, Dade City
Buck & Trish, I received one of these letters as well, but you are wrong on who it came from. It says Florida Democratic Party, but it’s really a Democratic National Committee program called Victory Fund, for direct mail fundraising. Notice the political disclaimer on the back of the letter. The fact that you are dead wrong and still decided to take a cheap shot at Karen Thurman, shows your political naivete and ignorance. Since this was a DNC letter, does that make Howard Dean stupid too? Get a life.
Trish Thank you as well for your report on FDP fund raising. It was illuminating. J R
John Russell You Would not have won your race if Karen had given you all the money in the world.
You are just a crack pot and the voters would have smelled that a mile away.
Aug. 21, 2007, 9:06 am
is right you two are like two fat old ladies gossiping over the clothes lines, yada yada yada yada
without even a glimmer of a clue what you are talking about.
you should write for Drudge, or was that Sludge?
“Having visited party HQ in Tallahassee on one occasion recently, I found it manned by kids with no adult supervision. ”
You mean the John Russell Campaign HQ?
Pensito — post the back of the letter (the back of the tear off donation slip) — it has the disclaimer.
“Paid for the by the Democratic State Parties and the DNC as a joint fundraising program, http://www.democrats.org/victory fund. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.â€
that means the State party gave them the name(s) List
Dough!
the complete disclaimer:
Federal Election law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year. Your contribution will be used in connection with Federal elections and is subject to the limits and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC Regulation 11 C.F.R. sec. 102.17. Your contribution will be divided between your State Democratic Party (95%) and the DNC (5%). The Democratic State Party Victory Fund is a joint fundraising project of the Democratic National Committee and all 50 Democratic State Parties and the District of Columbia Democratic State Committee. In accordance with 11 C.F.R. sec. 102.17 (c)(2)(i), you have the option of redesignating your contribution to another participating state party. If you wish to redesignate your contribution please contact DNCMemberServices@dnc.org. Notwithstanding this allocation formula, your contribution is subject to change if your contribution, when combined with previous contributions, exceeds the allocable contribution limit. The NJDSC does not accept contributions from any individual who owns or controls more than 10% of the profits or assets of a business entity that contracts with or is in the process of contracting with the State of New Jersey. Paid for by the Democratic State Parties and the DNC as a joint fundraising program. This communication not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Hey anonymous (man, does that sound dumb): It does not matter what kind of disclaimer is on the back of the letter, Karen Thurman’s signature (and, supposedly, her imprimatur) is on the front. She “signed” it so she’s responsible for the content. But thanks for doing all that heavy typing anyway.
Hey John and Buck,
We’ll leave the light on for ya.
Signed,
The Loony Bin
John, please get help. I hate Ginny Brown-Waite with a passion, but I could not bring myself to vote for you because I know that you are not stable. Please please please listen to your friends and get some serious psychiatric help as soon as possible.
That’s funny, Anonymous. My form doesn’t have the line about New Jersey in it, the one you started with, “The NJDSC does not accept contributions…” Mine also has “…exceeds the allocable contribution limit [TO A PARTICIPANT].” One might almost think you are copying and pasting boilerplate you have access to from another source. But since you’re hiding behind this “Anonymous” designation, we’ll never know exactly who it is you’re affiliated with. Which I guess is how you intended.
Sadly, what is clear from this exchange as well as similar differences of opinion in our local Democratic clubs is that if a Democratic Party leader “messes up” we will defend them anyway, sometimes even resorting to the “Well, he/she isn’t as bad as Mel Martinez, anyone in the Bush Administration or fill-in-the-blank with any name pulled from the GOP ranks.” Yep, that’s what we’ve come to. What Karen Thurman does with her free time is her business doncha know. And a girl has a right to make a living by golly! And yes, we all know that corporate lobbyists own both parties but you know Karen is honorable and is only doing what’s best for Florida! So get off her case already. Leave her alone so she can travel around Florida telling us how pleased as punch we ought to be that we sent some new Democrats to DC, even though they, like she and Mild Bill the Shill Nelsoon continue to support Bush’s war — make that THE GOVERNMENT’S war on Iraq. And watch ’em: let’s see how all our good Dems vote in September when they have yet another chance to say no to the war monger who would lead us into Armageddon with a smirk on his evil face. Bill Nelson says he’s “evolved” on Iraq and actually joined 52 other Senators in supporting the Leahy bill. When asked if he can be counted on to support it when he returns to DC and the vote will actually mean something, he didn’t answer yes.
But hey, they are Democrats right? And we have to support them because look at the alternatives.
Karen Thurman TOLD our DEC at a dinner last spring that Hillary would be our candidate. I told her then and I’ll repeat here that Hillary Clinton will never get my vote. She’s a war supporting, corporate owned elitist like most of the rest of them in Washington. We do not share similar values.
I will vote. I will not vote for a Republican. I will not vote for Clinton or Obama. But I will vote because it may be the last chance we have to vote, ever.
But Anon, go ahead and defend Ms. Thurman, even though we all know she has lied, twisted, and abused our trust. Hey she’s a Democrat so she can’t be all bad! Make that democrat-she doesn’t deserve the capital D.
Sadly knowing the honor of my party has slipped away….
Bev
Trish
just because you use your name does not give you ANY credibility
because you have none.
you are a lousy excuse for a blogger.
and John Russell what is with this:
Comment by Wanting so much to stay a Democrat | Aug. 21, 2007, 4:13 pm
you a nut and you write like a nut going on and on and on just plain nosense.
so not using your name does not help you. Just like the voters we can smell a nut a mile away
Wow, anonymous. What are you, 12? Does your mom know you’re using her computer?
I’ve been reading local and state wide blogs for a few years now — wayne garcia pointed to this posting and this was the first time I’ve heard of you guys.
Guess what — this is a horrible blog — i can’t believe there are so many readers?
Where is the insight/thought? I’m not sure if Karen is as dumb as you morons thinks she is.
This just screams ‘the pot calling the kettle black’