by John Sykes
I was at the BREC meeting Monday night to see if any of the real issues facing BREC would be discussed, something I have done a number of times before. This time newly-elected and paranoid Chairman Richard DeNapoli went all out to consolidate and protect his autocratic little corner of the world. The effect was that only those members who meet DeNapoli’s membership requirements may now attend any meaningful part of these charades. Censorship, favoritism and cronyism will continue to be the order of the day except that now those conditions will be even more obvious and obnoxious.
In Commissar DeNapoli Censors Press at Broward GOP Meeting Javier Manjares “El Sharko” writes:
In a brazen display of censorship that would warm the heart of any aspiring Communist apparatchik, Broward GOP President Richard DeNapoli exercised his authority to needlessly control and censor the proceedings of the Broward REC meeting on Monday Night. Commissar DeNapoli had security escort yours truly, your humble little finned reporter from the proceedings, as his newly issued ’party-approved’ rules served no other purpose other than to squash dissent and transparency at the BREC. Immediately after Commissar DeNapoli’s opening remarks, he advised two of his henchmen to ask me to leave the meeting because of the fact that I had a video camera. Commissar DeNapoli then joined in on the discussion, and shortly thereafter he became very agitated and animated, embarrassing himself and the rest of the Committee in front of former Congressman E. Clay Shaw, who was speaking at that exact moment.
During the course of this ‘discussion’, I asked Commissar DeNapoli why the Sun-Sentinel reporter was allowed to video and report on the proceedings, but I was not. Commissar DeNapoli responded by saying that only the Sun-Sentinel reporter and ‘credentialed’ press would be allowed to record, and that the Sun-Sentinel reporter was credentialed by the BREC, whereas I was not. I asked the Sun-Sentinel reporter if he was credentialed, and he responded that he had not been, and that he would not offer of press credentials if requested of him.
Kudos to the Sun-Sentinel reporter, Anthony Mann, for his stand in a more subdued but telling piece: Broward Republican Party limits access, stops web critic’s video recording .
Manjares continued:
I returned to the meeting with my ‘Capital Police’ press pass- a pass that I received after being thoroughly vetted by people way above Commissar DeNapoli’s pay grade. I then noticed that another local blogger was allowed to remain in the room with his camera- a blogger who writes for the Red Broward blog. In addition to the blogger, Commissar DeNapoli’s girlfriend was also allowed to stay in the room and take pictures with her camera-a camera with video-taping capability. Upon returning with my press pass and minus my camera, DeNapoli’s security henchmen, aka Sergei and Vladimir, shadowed my every move- a very creepy tactic whose purpose was clearly to intimidate those not in his good graces.
Cronyism is typical of the past actions of this crew who control membership through use of a pledge that requires all members to never ever again support anyone but a Republican lest one of their pesky and rebellious members stray from the fold and, gasp, support an Independent or Democrat. I would hazard a large bet that a large part of those members there last night have violated this oath many times over. Others openly laugh and advise that one sign the oath with the full intention of not honoring it, just like most others.
For years BREC has played with it’s membership process and rumors have it that DeNapoli intends to increase his control of this process. His members might look into why the membership process takes months and months. They might also look for rules changes requiring a prospective member to attend for multiple sessions so that the BREC bosses can weed out anyone with a modicum of independence.
The most glaring example of BREC’s rampant cronyism took place last cycle with their selection of Charlie “Flip-Flops” Crist as their senatorial choice over now-Senator Marco Rubio. Their various bogus parliamentary tricks and evasions of many of the members’ requests for a straw vote masterfully but too obviously prevented any semblance of member participation in candidate selection. This is the crux of the matter. Too many cronyistic Chairman and boards are picking candidates with out membership involvement in that process.
El Sharko continued:
Staying true to his word, the Commissar DeNapoli kicked out all guests and media before discussing party business- an unprecedented display of authority- perhaps in retaliation against those who called for a forensic audit of the BREC’s financials- a motion that was initially planned to be made, but never followed through with by members of the BREC. Commissar DeNapoli called this new policy “a member-driven decision.” He also stated that numerous complaints were emailed to him, and that the hotel in which the meetings are held in also received complaints about ‘video cameras’ being present in the hallways. If this is truly the case, in the name of ‘full transparency’- can DeNapoli furnish to all the members of the BREC copies of all those emails which should date back to at least July 30th, right?
I love it. A “member-driven decision” is politispeak for not holding votes or any other democratic process like straw polls. One of the nabobs makes a decision and announces that it is the wishes of the whole so that nothing messy or potentially dangerous to the leading cabal can occur.
Manjares closes with:
Before the meeting was closed, BREC Secretary Sheela Venero gave a presentation about the party’s website, emphasizing a need for the party to get out its message. Venero advised the BREC to “Stop hiding from the media. Stop hiding from the papers.” Read the rest of the Sun-Sentinel’s post here- BROWARD REC
Is this what Commissar DeNapoli meant by ‘GOP Unity’- the theme of DeNapoli’s campaign? Perhaps it is, sadly. Is this the example and the message that the Republican Party wants to send to not only to the rank and file, but also to the general public across the state? Under Commissar DeNapoli, it’s clear that hopes of greater transparency and accountability will remain words, just words.
The only heartening but patronizing moves last night were the several attempts by speakers to invoke the spirit and importance of the Tea Party movement’s momentous influence on GOP turnout and electoral results. Chairman DeNapoli was the only one of four BREC Chairman candidates who would not state his support of the Tea Party movement at a recent meeting. I suspect he is going to find Tea Party movement cooperation a bit less enthusiastic this electoral cycle.
I only wonder how long the patient BREC rank and filers will let Chairman DeNapoli sheer the flock?
No comments:
Post a Comment