Is It Time to Get Rid of the Constitution?

By Spartacus Thrace

As 2013 dawns across America, the Progressive Movement appears to be at the zenith of their power within the federal government and throughout major sectors of American society and culture.  Buttressed by decades-long control or domination of the academy, the theater, the press, labor, and the Democratic Party, the Progressives have fundamentally changed the state of the nation by creating a secular utopian statist path as an alternative to the religious individualistic minimalist government path set down by the Founders two centuries ago and expressed in the obligations of the government to the governed they enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The Declaration has long been treated by many in power as an irrelevant historical relic.  The radical notion that the Constitution is a “living document” has gained wide adherence across several parts of the societal spectrum, even among those who hold themselves out as experts on matters of constitutional law.  America is now governed by a semi-permanent ruling class, engaged in rampant self-entitlement, seeing itself as separate and apart from — and superior to — the governed.  The notions of the American melting pot of disparate peoples and American exceptionalism have been lost to Balkanization of the population along the classic imaginary socialist fault lines of race, ethnicity, gender, and class.  The fundamental concept of minimalism — where the power of government is a revocable grant from the governed and the government has only that power and authority necessary to perform the essential duties entrusted to it by the governed — has long been smothered by massive growth in the size, power, and reach of the federal government and the concomitant decrease in individual liberty.

Should Florida Supreme Court Justices Pariente, Quince, and Lewis Get the Boot?

Judicial Retention Sample Ballot

By Spartacus Thrace

An issue facing Florida’s voters in the November 2012 election is:  Should Barbara J. Pariente, Peggy A. Quince, and R. Fred Lewis each be allowed to keep their jobs as justices on the Florida Supreme Court?

Each is up for a merit retention vote this year, and each has generated considerable controversy with decisions that opponents describe as anti-democratic judicial activism in denigration of constitutional rule of law in Florida.  In particular, each has been accused of overstepping their authority in making law, as opposed to interpreting existing law, with far-reaching consequences for the people of the state.

Separation of Powers

As with all other states, Florida has organized its government upon the democratic premise that when a single person or group has too much power, that person or group can become dangerous to the citizens.  To prevent such concentration of power, Florida has embraced the trias politica principle espoused by John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu, which separates the government into distinct executive, legislative, and judicial divisions.  The Florida constitution also gives each branch certain defined powers not shared with the other branches, a concept knows as “separation of powers.”

Florida’s scheme of separation of powers is set forth in Article II of the state constitution which provides:

The powers of the state government shall be divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches unless expressly provided herein.¹

The Obama Campaign Follows a Porn Feed on Twitter

By Spartacus Thrace

We rightfully expect political candidates and the people around them to be morally upright and of excellent character as a condition precedent to the ability to properly conduct themselves in the affairs of government if and when elected.  The fact that a candidate for public office has pornography on his or her computer or subscribes to a pornography feed should be big news in any election, as it says a lot about the morals and character of the candidate.  Presidential candidates and their committees are no exception.  That is why it is significant and relevant to the election of our next President that the Barack Obama campaign subscribes to the pornography feed, https://twitter.com/ILikeTitsDaily, which features a daily posting of (often gaudy) photographs of the exposed breasts of women. Sometimes the breasts are not completely exposed, often the breasts are framed without showing even the faces of the women, and the sexual organs are exposed in some of the photographs.

Screenshot from @ILikeTitsDaily, showing image dated September 25, 2012.

Everett Rice and Bob Gualtieri Vying for Republican Nomination for Pinellas County Sheriff

By Spartacus Thrace

With the coming retirement of Sheriff Jim Coats the office of Pinellas County Sheriff will be on the 2012 ballot. The five announced candidates to date are Bob Gualtieri, a Republican; Randy Heine, a Democrat; Stephen W. Reilly, another Democrat;  Greg Pound of the Constitutional Party of Florida; and former Pinellas County Sheriff Everett S. Rice, another Republican.

More information about Gualtieri can be found on his campaign website. Candidates Heine, Reilly, Pound, and Rice did not have identifiable campaign websites as of June 13, 2011.

On June 13, 2011 Gualtieri made the following statement about his candidacy to the members of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC):

(Video Courtesy PCREC)

On June 13, 2011, Rice made the following statement about his candidacy to the members of the PCREC:

(Video Courtesy PCREC)

Leslie Waters and Jim Frishe Vying for Republican Nomination for State Senate District 13

By Spartacus Thrace

Florida State Senate District 13, comprising parts of Pinellas County, will be up for grabs in 2012 due to term limits precluding incumbent Republican Dennis Jones from running again. There presently are two announced candidates, and both are Republicans.

The first announced candidate is James C. “Jim” Frishe, currrently State Representative for District 54 in Pinellas County and Majority Whip in the House of Representatives. More information about Frishe can be found on his campaign website. On June 13, 2011 Frishe made the following statement about his candidacy to the members of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC):

(Video Courtesy PCREC)

The other announced candidate is former state representative Leslie Waters. More information about Waters can be found on her campaign website. On June 13, 2011, Waters made the following statement about her candidacy to the members of the PCREC:

(Video Courtesy PCREC)

Political Warfare and the Mainstream Media Hatchet Job

By Spartacus Thrace

One of the most enduring and effective weapons employed by the radical statists who comprise the mainstream media (MSM) is the political “hatchet job.” Wielded for decades with near-impunity by the MSM against conservatives, Republicans, and other political enemies, the hatchet job has been a potent force for the Left in its efforts to reduce or eliminate political debate at the national, state, and local levels. This article is a primer for conservatives and members of the New Media on what a hatchet job is and how it is employed.

Hatchet Job Defined

A hatchet job is a biased, maliciously destructive, and often cruel written or spoken critique or attack on the character or activities of a person, organization, or institution. In its most common form, a hatchet job comprises a printed attempt disparage, discredit, and ultimately destroy a targeted person’s or organization’s reputation in the eyes of the public and to deny the target public sympathy or support through the use of innuendo, inaccuracies, and misleading statements. It is also used for the inherently undemocratic purpose of intimidating and stifling political opposition or dissent.

The hatchet job is a work of pseudo-journalist art, psychological warfare, and political disinformation. Hatchet jobs are in derogation of the ethical rule that journalists should always be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.¹ While some hatchet jobs are one-time efforts, many are part of a sustained political campaign. The smear campaign waged by the MSM against Sarah Palin is an example of the latter. Few are blatant, and most are quite subtle. Sometimes, for example, a direct accusation against the target is merely the carrier for darker and more ominous insinuations. In many more cases, however, factual errors, innuendo, and implications of wrongdoing are placed alongside, and draw plausibility from, scattered truths to create a grossly distorting effect on the reader or viewer.

Eye on the Prize: The PCREC Prepares for 2012

Jay Beyrouti, Chairman of the PCREC

Jay Beyrouti, Chairman of the Pinellas County Executive Committee (PCREC) is not satisfied.

He is not content that the PCREC’s fundraising efforts have been immensely successful. He is not ready to relax given that that Republicans occupy the majority of elected positions in Pinellas County, and dominate the county board of commissioners and the state legislative delegation. The fact that a Republican occupies the Governor’s mansion does not make him complacent.

A believer in the Republican message of smaller government, lower taxes, and more individual freedom, Beyrouti points to the facts that registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by about 19,000 in Pinellas County, and that the county is home to 150,000 registered Independents. Beyrouti thinks the vast majority of the adult inhabitants of Pinellas County are conservative in their political and social views, that the Republican message resonates with a lot of people who are not members of any party as well as many who are members of the Democratic Party, and that the radicalization of the Democratic Party is a source of ongoing concern for these people.  He thinks this is so because, as a longstanding businessman in the community, he deals with such people on a daily basis, and he knows that many of them are ripe to be brought over to the Republican fold with the right approach.

Beyrouti’s goal is the defeat of President Barack Obama and Senator Bill Nelson in the 2012 elections.  He points out that Obama carried Pinellas County by 30,000 votes in 2008, and he does not want to see that repeated in 2012.  To accomplish this, he has begun a new Republican voter registration initiative, and has placed responsibility for its implementation squarely on the hundreds of precinct officers, club presidents, and other activists who make up the soul of the PCREC.

Pinellas Republicans: Work Hard, Think Deep, and Plan Long

Logo of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC)

(March 14, 2011) If one wants to see and feel just how much grassroots energy and strength is being generated by the Republican Party these days, one of the best places to go is to a monthly meeting of one of their county executive committees.

The county executive committee is the lowest level of formal organization in the Republican Party, and it is at this level that the future stars of that party are born and nurtured. One such committee worth watching is the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC), which has emerged as a political powerhouse in what traditionally has been one of the biggest swing districts in the State of Florida.  Led by its chairman, Jay J. Beyrouti, the unofficial motto of the committee seems to be “Work Hard, Think Deep, Plan Long.”

SB 428: Fired Judges Employment and Popular Vote Nullification Act of 2011 Filed in Florida Senate

Neutralizing the pink slip of democracy.

By Le Corbeaunoir

UPDATE: SB 428 and its House counterpart, HB 1033, died in their respective Judiciary Committees on May 7, 2011.

The 2010 elections were a wakeup call for members of the Florida political elite who both enjoy being in the ruling class and hate the uncertainties of democracy. Some are beginning to devise ways to push back against the popular will when it comes to deciding who is or is not suited to remain on the bench.

Let’s put this in perspective: Imagine that the you and the majority of the voters in a democratic election choose to fire and replace a sitting state trial court judge, appellate court judge, or a supreme court justice as being unfit to serve on the bench any longer.  Then imagine that a short time later you and everyone else who voted the same way you did learn that the person you and the majority rejected as not fit to serve on the bench is in fact back on the bench judging cases. Incredibly, this is exactly what could happen if Senate Bill (SB) 428 becomes law.

Nancy Bostock: Tough Choices for the Commission, But No Tax Increases Likely

Pinellas County Commissioner Nancy Bostock

By Spartacus Thrace

On Monday evening, February 14th (Valentine’s Day), Pinellas County Commissioner Nancy Bostock addressed the monthly meeting of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC) at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater hotel. Bostock, a conservative Republican, painted a picture of tough future budgeting choices for her and her fellow commissioners, but told the more than 120 assembled Republican activists that she was looking to a future where the primary budgeting concern of the Commission will not be what to cut, but how to spend the $1.6 billion in revenues they have.

Commissioner Bostock made early reference to the conservatives on the commission — referred to by some as “the 3 Ns” (for Neil Brickfield, Norm Roche and Nancy Bostock) — who, with other commission members, have changed the way the commission does business for the better. Bostock told the crowd that, among other impacts of this new way of looking at the budget, millage rates for property taxes will not be going up this year, despite a budget shortfall of approximately $21.5 million.

In the course of her 22-minute address, Commissioner Bostock covered a myriad of issues either before the Commission or affecting its work, including who’s up for election in 2012 (Kenneth Welch, Karen Seel, Neil Brickfield, and Nancy Bostock), the suggestion of a future storm water tax (which she opposes), usage fees for county parks, and recycling and garbage collection, emergency medical services, light rail, and other matters.

Commissioner Bostock’s bottom line was that taxes are not going to be raised but the commissioners and heads of county government agencies are going to have work together to come up with ways to trim their own budgets. She also made a plea for more of the regular taxpayers (as opposed to those with special interests in the county budget) to provide their input to the Commission either in person, by letter, or by electronic means about the tough choices that lie ahead. Bostock specifically asked citizens to participate in the public hearings on the budget set for September 6th and 15th at 6:30 PM at the County Courthouse.

Here is exactly what she said:

[Video of Nancy Bostock courtesy PCREC]