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.

Congressman Bill Young to Run Again in 2012

By Spartacus Thrace

(September 18, 2011) It looks like United States Congressman C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.) will be running for re-election in 2012.

State Senator Jack Latvala (R-St. Petersburg) made the announcement as he was introducing Congressman Young before a crowd of hundreds of wildly enthusiastic Republican activists at last night’s Reagan Day Dinner at the Marriott St. Petersburg.  The dinner is an annual fundraising event put on by the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC).

The money quote came at about the 4:23 mark in Latvala’s six-minute introduction of Young, when he made the somewhat oddly-worded statement:

And you know some of the best news that I’ve had in the past few weeks is when it became apparent to me that [Young is] preparing to run again.

Sen. Latvala’s remarks in their entirety can be seen in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Young, for his part, appeared aged but unbowed and looked to be in remarkably better health than he did when he last addressed the PCREC at its Lincoln Day Dinner in February (another annual fundraiser put on by the PCREC).  Among other remarks, Young told his audience that he had undergone back surgery, spent almost three months in the hospital, and had lost 50 pounds in weight and four inches in height (he used to be about as tall as Ronald Reagan) as a result of parts of his spine being fused.  Although he walked slowly and with a thick cane, his mind appeared to be as sharp as ever.  His remarks, which perhaps comprise his first campaign speech of the 2012 election season, can be viewed in their entirety in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Rep. Young has been in public service as an elected official for more than half a century.  He is considered by the pundits to be unbeatable in 2012, even at this early stage in the election season, barring a sudden decline in his health.  The backstory of this announcement of his plans to run for his twenty-second term in Congress is that the throng of those who have long hoped and planned to take Young’s place when he leaves the political scene (Sen. Latvala is among these) did not get the news they had hoped for and will have to bide their time a bit longer.  Some predict that if Young’s exit is not a “controlled crash” guided by political insiders, it will trigger one of the biggest political brawls in the history of Pinellas County politics.

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)

George LeMeiux Campaign Speech at the PCREC

(June 13, 2011) Candidate for United States Senator from Florida George LeMeiux brought his campaign to the June meeting of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC). LeMeiux, who briefly served in the Senate after being appointed by then-Governor Charlie Crist to complete the term of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Florida) after Martinez vacated the seat, laid out for his audience why he thinks he is the best qualified candidate to defeat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) in 2012. This is what he said:

(Video courtesy PCREC)

More information about George LeMeiux and his candidacy can be found at his campaign website, linked to here.

St. Petersburg Times Continues to Create False Controversies Involving Republicans

David DeCamp (St. Petersburg Times)

By Spartacus Thrace

David DeCamp, Staff Writer for the St. Petersburg Times, is trying to create the impression of controversy involving Republicans where none exists, as he has in the past.

Res Publica gives the DeCamp story on the PCHA 2 out of a possible 5 hatchets.

In a June 7, 2011 article titled “Pinellas Housing Authority land purchase could yield commission for former member,” DeCamp does not state, but strongly suggests without foundation, that members of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC) engaged in illegal or unethical activity involving a proposed real estate purchase. The truth of the matter is clearly and demonstratively otherwise.

The facts are straightforward: The Pinellas County Housing Authority Board of Directors has been looking for land for a housing complex for veterans. Housing Authority Chairman Joseph Triolo asked Jay Beyrouti, a Florida licensed realtor for over a decade, if he knew of any land the Authority could purchase. Beyrouti told Housing Authority Board Executive Director Debbie Johnson about a 13-acre plot on Lake Seminole (about a mile from the Bay Pines Veterans Hospital) owned by Cornerstone Community Bank which had originally been purchased for $4.3 million and for which the bank wanted $2 million. Johnson recommended the purchase to the full Housing Authority board of directors at an open meeting on the record, and the Authority made an offer to the bank of $1.5 million. The bank refused the offer and the land was not purchased. No money — taxpayer or otherwise — changed hands and, if the deal had gone through, any rightfully-earned commission paid to Beyrouti would have been paid by the bank in accordance with standard business practices. Everything was done out in the open and on the record, and there was nothing illegal, unethical, or immoral about anything that any of the persons involved did — period.

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.

Leslie Waters Kicks Off State Senate Campaign

Leslie Waters kicks off her campaign for State Senate.

(June 11, 2011) Leslie Waters, Republican candidate for State Senate District 13 in the 2012 elections went back to her roots and kicked off her campaign today before a crowd of about 100 enthusiastic supporters at Gulfport’s Habana Cafe, the same location where in 1997 she kicked off her successful campaign for the Florida House of Representatives. She is running against State Representative James C. “Jim” Frishe, who is also a Republican. Waters is considered a political moderate, is well-connected with the political establishment in Pinellas County, and is running on a “good government” platform that stresses her extensive experience in public service. More information about her campaign can be found at the Waters campaign website, located here.

Leslie Waters among her supporters.

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.