Tag: Florida

Greer Ignores Victims of 9/11

Buck Banks

Greer_small

How clueless is Republican Party of Florida Chair Joe Greer? How about in his list of folks he honors on the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center he leaves out the more than 3,000 who died — not “sacrificed” but murdered — that day. Oh, and then he does the tried-and-true Republican lock-step lying thing by associating 9/11 with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here’s Greer’s latest blurt:

Remembering 9/11: Reflections on Patriot’s Day

Tallahassee — The Republican Party of Florida and RPOF Chairman Jim Greer today released the following statement regarding the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks:

“It is with great admiration that we remember the courageous men and women who have given their lives to keep America safe and free. Let us remember not only those brave individuals who sacrificed their lives on 9/11, but all of America’s finest—our troops serving overseas, our local firefighters, and even our civilian volunteers. Every American has the distinct privilege of standing up for America but it is a select group that has laid down their lives for us. Their ultimate sacrifice has allowed us to live in freedom and preserve our liberties. I am always proud to be an American, but today I am also especially proud to call myself a patriot.”

I’m inclined to call Greer something, too. Rhymes with “patriot.”

Separated at Birth: Florida Republican Party Chair Jim Greer and Springfield Chief of Police Clancy Wiggum

Trish
Wiggum and Greer: the resemblance is more than skin deep.
Wiggum and Greer: the resemblance is more than skin deep.

We noticed the resemblance between The Simpsons’ Mr. Burns and former Vice President Dick Cheney a long time ago. But it wasn’t until Jim Greer, the chair of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), started the interview circuit that we figured out where we’d seen him before. The porcine Mr. Greer used a ridiculous — and now largely disavowed by other Republicans — claim that the president is trying to indoctrinate school children into a socialist regime by urging them to study and stay in school as a way of deflecting criticism of his use of donor money here in Florida.

The porcine Mr. Greer reminds us of someone

In using the “I know I am but what about you” defense, Greer reminded us of Springfield’s chief of police, Clancy Wiggum, who never seems to be responsible for any of the town’s egregious law enforcement debacles. Wiggum once broadcast this warning, which was about as helpful as most of the things Jim Greer says: “This is Papa Bear. Put out an APB for a male suspect, driving a…car of some sort, heading in the direction of, uh, you know, that place that sells chili. Suspect is hatless. Repeat, hatless.”

Other gems from Wiggum:

  • Oh, sure. We’d all love some real friends, Marge. But what are the odds of that happening?
  • I hope this has taught you kids a lesson: kids never learn.
  • Can’t you people take the law into your own hands? I mean, we can’t be policing the entire city!

Greer’s tortured missives are as logically challenged as Wiggum’s. This is the actual first tenet of “GOP Principles” on the RPOF’s web site:

I Believe… The proper function of government is to do for the people those things that have to be done but cannot be done, or cannot be done as well, by individuals, and that the most effective government is government closest to the people.

The Wiggumisms continue in the same document:

I Believe… In equal right, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, age, sex or national origin.

After all, who needs more than one right anyway? I mean you can only use one at a time. But the best Republican/Wiggumian belief, in 2009, has to be this one:

I Believe… The free enterprise and the encouragement of individual initiative and incentive have given this nation an economic system second to none.

Case closed.

GOP Pusher of Obama School Indoctrination Lie Also Pushes Republican Views at School Kids

Jon Ponder

It’s one thing to lie but quite another when the man who falsely accuses the president of the United States of seeking to indoctrinate school kids into liberal politics is known back home as a indoctrinator of school kids into the GOP.

Conservative talk-show host Joe Scarborough labeled Greer’s comments “insane talk.”

That’s exactly the situation we have with Jim Greer, the chairman of the Florida GOP, according to Scott Maxwell, a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel:

There once was a political operative who loved to tell crowds he had a simple way of explaining to children the difference between Republicans and Democrats.

“Republicans get up and go to work,” he would tell his son. “Democrats get up and go down to the mailbox to get their checks.”

This man not only talked to his son about Republican values, he went into public-school classrooms and talked about them as well.

That man is Jim Greer — the same Jim Greer who, as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, just threw a nationwide hissy fit, claiming that the classroom is no place for politics and Barack Obama’s “indoctrination.”

Maxwell called Greer to discuss this apparent hypocrisy, but as is typical of the Republican hypocrites of our era, Greer sees a big difference in his screwing around with the minds of children and what — without even having read the president’s speech, of course — he called Pres. Obama’s attempts to spread “liberal lies”:

[…]

Florida Republican Leaves Party in Protest

Trish
Not even a sea breeze can disturb the governor’s mane.

No one except George LeMieux seemed happy when Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) appointed LeMieux to fill the Senate seat previously occupied (in the literal sense only) by Sen. Mel Martinez. Charlie picked his long-time friend and former campaign manager to wait out the end of Martinez’s term until Crist can win the 2010 election for that office. As I stated when the selection was revealed, the Democratic response would be predictable. It was.

I figured the real fireworks would be on the Republican side, but even I am surprised at the latest announcement. You can almost smell the spent gunpowder from Lake County, where Ed Havill, the Republican property appraiser (in Florida, this is a constitutional officer’s position), is withdrawing from his party in disgust.

Havill: ‘Within five minutes of the governor’s announcement, I removed my voter registration from the Republican Party’

George LeMieux’s appointment by Gov. Charlie Crist to the U.S. Senate was the final straw that broke this Republican officeholder’s back.

Within five minutes of the governor’s announcement, I removed my voter registration from the Republican Party. I am no longer affiliated with any political party.

…By choosing his 2006 political campaign manager, George LeMieux, the governor decisively demonstrated two things:

He is only interested in what’s best for Charlie Crist, and he has utter contempt for what’s best for Floridians.

Havill also cites recent revelations about another Crist appointment, Jim Greer, the linguistically-challenged and bombastic head of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF).

[…]

Breaking: Florida Gov. Picks Senator to Replace Martinez

Trish
U.S. Senator-in-waiting George LeMieux

I knew it! I was saving the latest edition of George LeMieux’s email newsletter, which talked about his readiness to be the next U.S. Senator from Florida, because I had a feeling Gov. Charlie Crist would pick his safe old chum for the job. And he did. Crist’s former chief of staff, campaign manager, and one of the countless people on Karl Rove’s bad list, is in.

In the newsletter, LeMieux made it clear he wanted the job of replacing Mel Martinez, who announced he would step down as soon as a successor was tapped.

Who will Governor Crist appoint to the United States Senate? It’s the question everyone’s asking, so while we sit back and wait for the announcement (some sitting more anxiously than others!), here’s the answer to the question we should also be asking – Why does the Governor get to choose?

Le Mieux went on to explain how it came to be that governors get to select Senate replacements, then added:

What should we expect from LeMieux? Like his former boss Crist, nothing much.

The opportunity to receive an appointment to the U.S. Senate is the opportunity of a lifetime. The Governor has many outstanding current and former public servants to choose from, and we should find out this week who will represent Florida in Washington.

As we noted in an earlier column, Charlie, who is currently running for this very Senate seat, had to pick someone he could trust not to run against him in 2010. Whoever he put in as a placeholder would be an incumbent should they decide they like the air in Washington. But confidence in LeMieux’s loyalty to his old boss seems well-placed.

[…]

Mel’s Last Vote Leaves Us Wondering

Trish
What cha thinkin’ Mel?

At first blush, it’s not surprising that a dyed-in-the-wool Republican like Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.) would vote against extending the popular and successful “Cash for Clunkers” program.

Mel’s final act as senator was to do just that, keeping up a record that began with a dirty campaign that narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger, Betty Castor, by playing the terrorist card. From there, it was downhill all the way: a $99,000 fine for campaign finance violations, poor Cuba policy from America’s first Cuban-born senator, a vote to make Terri Schiavo continue forced feeding and ventilation, the exposure of a memo from the Martinez office that explained how Republicans could exploit the Schiavo tragedy, and short-changing Florida by juggling his senate duties with his dual role as chair of the Republican party for the 2007-2008 election cycle (another job he quit early).

Is Martinez leaving politics or just leaving Washington?

So while Mel’s last vote did little to redeem his legacy, it does make you wonder. Why is he still bothering to play politics? Is Martinez leaving politics or just leaving Washington? After all, he was said to have his eye on the Florida governorship back when Jeb and W’s people recruited him to run for the Senate. His abrupt departure from Washington would give him plenty of time to enter the governor’s race. His only primary challenger so far would be state Attorney General Bill McCollum. That’s the same Bill McCollum that Martinez defeated in the primary for the U.S. Senate seat he is now abandoning. If Martinez beat McCollum once, there’s no reason he can’t do it again.

Martinez’s resignation statement didn’t exactly say Mel was leaving politics.

My priorities have always been my faith, my family and my country and at this stage in my life, and after nearly twelve years of public service in Florida and Washington, it’s time I return to Florida and my family…I look forward to continuing to be an active and constructive voice on issues vital to Florida and our nation, and being an active member of Florida’s Republican Party.

Just how active Martinez will be remains to be seen. For Florida’s sake, let’s hope he just plans to do what a lot of retirees do and volunteer as a poll worker.

Alaskans Getting the Most Per Capita Stimulus Money

Trish

For all her histrionics about not accepting stimulus money, guess whose state got the most, per capita? According to a fascinating resource, Alaska is receiving $1,024.28 for each of its 686,293 Alaskans.

California is (obviously) getting the largest total amount: a whopping $15,719,496,704 to be exact. But that only breaks down to $427.66 for each of its many residents. My own Florida got $7,215,011,328, or $393.65 for each of us. I’ll take mine now, please.

So who got the least? The Northeast didn’t do too well. Poor little New Jersey will only be getting $2,143,010,560, or $246.81 per person. Vermont got the least total dollars: $298,910,336. Makes Alaska’s more than double figure of $702,954,752 seem hoggish, when you consider the Green Mountain State’s population is 621,270, or only about 9 percent fewer folks.

See where you own state and county ranks, and specifically where the money went at ProPublica.org.

Martinez’s Departure Puts Crist in Awkward Spot

Trish
Martinez has left the building. It’s your ball, Charlie!

Mel Martinez has shown more life in the past few days than he has in his five years as Florida’s junior senator. First he voted with eight fellow Republicans to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Then, like a certain first-term Alaska governor, he resigned. The first Cuban-American elected senator is now the first Cuban-American to leave before his term is over.

Martinez’s desertion seems to come as a surprise to the governor of his state. Gov. Charlie Crist is running for the seat Martinez was recently keeping warm. Crist will have to appoint a replacement, and even though his pandering and selling out to win the 2010 election lately seem to know no bounds, apparently even he has moral limits. Who knew? Charlie swears he’s not going to choose himself to fill the Palin-esque vacancy. So who will he pick?

Crist says he won’t choose himself to fill the Palin-esque vacancy. Uh-oh, he might be running against an incumbent.

Crist has to be careful, first and foremost, that he selects someone who will absolutely, positively not get up to Washington and decide to stay. He must be sure they would never, ever decide to run because then he’d be campaigning against an incumbent. On the other hand, they can’t hate politics so much that they won’t participate. And — oh yeah — they need to have 16 months to waste.

The order might not be that tall. In the 24 hours or so since Martinez revealed he was outta here, several names were already being bandied. One is former state attorney general Jim Smith. Smith ran unsuccessfully for governor as a Democrat in 1986, but took his loss as a signal to change parties. Now is he is a lobbyist with one of Tallahassee’s top-billing firms, Smith & Ballard, which just happens to represent the health care industry. What could be better, from a Republican point of view, than having a health care lobbyist casting votes in the Senate while Obama is pushing for reform?

There are other names in contention, but they’re mostly people who would likely want to hold the office on a continuing basis, so I would not expect Charlie to pick one of them. In other words, don’t get your hopes up, Jeb Bush.

Fla. GOP Chair Keeps ‘Ass’ in ‘Asset’

Buck Banks

Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chair Jim Greer continues his meteoric rise within the ranks of Der Party by being named to the Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee, the usual quote-mark-impaired press release announced.

No less of a light than RNC Chair Michael Steele offered the gregarious Greer a carefully worded congrats:

“Through his outstanding success in the private sector and during his tenure at the helm of Republican Party of Florida and on the Republican National Committee, Chairman Greer has proven himself to be visionary leader, earning the respect of his colleagues and fostering an environment that couples ambitious goals with a strategic plan of action,” said RNC Chairman Michael Steele. “I am confident that Chairman Greer will be a great asset to our leadership team as we work to build this great party.” (emphasis added to jibe with the headline)

Greer earned his ‘bones’ with the recent purge of Libertarians from the RPOF.

“Fostering an environment that couples ambitious goals with a strategic plan of action” just sounds ominous to me.

Seems Greer has a knack for making rules and enforcing them, though, from the recent purge of Libertarians from the party through manipulation of the RPOF’s Grievance Committee to his actual career, which the release describes this way:

A lifelong Republican, Chairman Greer served multiple terms in local government and worked as the President and Chief Executive Officer of a national regulatory compliance company he founded in Central Florida.

Hmmm, regulatory compliance …. Sounds like Greer’s just the guy for the RNC Rules Committee, which does this:

The RNC Rules Committee is a Standing Committee comprised of one member of the Republican National Committee from each state. The Committee is the primary body responsible for the governance of the RNC. The Rules Committee is responsible for reviewing the rules of the Republican Party and proposing recommendations to Chairman Steele as needed.

There’s no doubt that Greer runs a tight ship in the Florida Republican Party. He’s fond of pointing out that under his reign, not one state GOP congressional seat was lost in 2008, and indeed the party picked up one state congressional seat. Though I’m not so sure that’s attributable to Greer’s leadership as much as it is to gerrymandering and the fossilization of the Florida legislature. Hey, he delivered the Florida statehouse, it wasn’t his fault the state went blue for Obama.

But if the RNC wants a guy who will set the rules and enforce the rules, they’ve picked a tenacious bulldog in Jim Greer. And rules are important to a party that is hemorrhaging members but at the same time wants to maintain purity — hence the purge of the Libertarians whereby Greer earned his “bones” and received a national post as a reward.

And to show the rulesmeister’s softer side, the press release mentioned some personal details about the Greer family:

Chairman Greer and his wife Lisa Michelle reside in Oviedo with their four children, Hunter, Amber, Austin, and Aidan.

‘Nuff said.