Normally politicians’ Twitters are horrendously boring things. Dan Gelber’s is no exception, except for about a minute ago when the state senator from Miami Beach and attorney general candidate roasted Charlie Crist, and in effect, RPOF chair Jim Greer.
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​Crist visited Toussaint L’ouverture Elementary School today for a hurricane preparedness visit (with his real life lady wife). If you remember, Crist’s handpicked party chair made national headlines earlier this month for labeling President Obama’s address to school children as “socialist indoctrination.” Should parents have been given the option of keeping their kids home for the day so they were not indoctrinated in Charlie Crist’s dangerously moderate, style-over-substance ways? Discuss in the comments

Original Source

Charlie Crist

Remember that IRS complaint filed against Ray Sansom for his eye-catching use of a Republican Party of Florida-issued American Express? Now, an anonymous person has completed similar forms for Gov. Charlie Crist and RPOF Chairman Jim Greer.

“Jim Greer had a RPOF issued Amex card, like Ray Sansom,” reads the complaint, a copy of which was mailed anonymously to the St. Petersburg Times. “Greer will not disclose his Amex statements, thus raising suspicion that he has unreported income, etc.”

The second complaint asks whether the governor had a charge card. “If so, he should disclose his Amex statements concerning unreported income, etc.”

RPOF executive director Delmar Johnson said the party has not been contacted by the IRS — which does not confirm or deny complaints — regarding Greer or Crist. “Nor are we concerned about it. Anything the party pays for related to the governor or the chairman are essential party activities.”

Jim Greer

Gov. Charlie Crist‘s handpicked party chief, who once vowed to replace “divisive partisan rhetoric with common-sense solutions” has gone off the grid.

His hard-right turn began when he demanded a “stop to taxpayer-funded abortions,” even though none of the healthcare bills in Congress call for such a thing. Then he invited Carrie Prejean, a dethroned beauty queen best known for standing up to a gay blogger on national television, to headline a party convention.

And for the final flourish that thrust him into Rush Limbaugh‘s arms, Greer said Obama’s first-day-of-school speech this week aimed to “indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda.”

Damn you Jon Stewart and your ill-timed vacation!

In his absence, Greer became a cable-news commando, raising his own profile but delivering questionable benefits to Florida Republicans. He was roundly mocked by editorial boards and even the conservative stewards of the Wall Street Journal, the consensus being that telling kids to do their homework and stay in school was more Bill Cosby than Bill Ayers.

“Isn’t that a joke,” said Al Hoffman, a major Republican fundraiser from Fort Myers. “I think Greer is doing a big disservice to the party whipping up the facts like that. . .There are a lot of Republicans sitting on the sidelines scratching their noodles and saying, `What are we doing with a guy like this leading our party?’ ”

It’s probably not a coincidence that Greer’s pivot comes as Crist is running for the Senate against a conservative insurgent, former House Speaker Marco Rubio. Even Crist had to admit Obama’s speech would have “an acceptable message by anybody’s standards.”

The publicity bender followed his stunt at last month’s convention when he cut up an American Express card to quash an uproar over suspicious charges billed to the party by former House Speaker Ray Sansom. Some donors, including Hoffman, were unmoved.

“It was like saying, `I promise not to waste any more money, at least through American Express,’ ” said Hoffman, who has stopped writing checks to the state party.

Donor dropoff won’t hurt Crist, who is shattering campaign finance records in his bid for federal office. The man with the most at stake is Bill McCollum, whose run for governor depends on party resources. (In 2006, Crist put about $19 million in his gubernatorial account and twice that in the party’s coffers.)

“Ultimately, what is important to me is the governor’s race, and every minute spent talking about the president’s speech is off the target,” said Broward Republican Party Chairman Chip LaMarca. “If donors are turned off, party surrogates have to work twice as hard.”

Between April and June, the Florida Democratic Party outraised the state GOP for the first time during the same fundraising period since 1996. Although Greer has promised more transparency, the party won’t disclose how much its Statesman’s Dinner netted last month, leading to speculation that the GOP will continue to lag behind.

Before Crist made him chairman, Greer was a little known city councilman in Oviedo, an Orlando suburb known for the chickens that roam downtown. Now he can spear media coverage by toying with bids for Congress or national party chairman. (He ruled out both before he had a chance to lose.)

In contrast, Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman has kept a low profile since she clumsily handled the presidential candidates’ boycott of the state’s early primary last year. A party leader who scores ratings doesn’t necessarily win elections.

Jim Greer

Tallahassee– Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer tonight issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress.

“The President’s speech tonight was a good effort in discussing this important issue with the American public. I, along with many people, believe that our health care system has challenges which must be addressed and while I agreed with much of what the President had to say, there is still much that I cannot support when it comes to government run health care and the many unanswered questions that still exist.

“At the end of the day, the President was right when he said that the need for bipartisanship cooperation is crucial to passing health care reform legislation that all Americans can support.”

About the title:  I have decided to keep naming Greer “Boss” after his present party purging efforts which are reminiscent of a “Godfather” movie.

Jim Greer

TAMPA – Last week, Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer was creating a national sensation by criticizing President Barack Obama’s plan to speak to the nation’s schoolchildren.

Tuesday, after the speech, prominent Florida Republicans seemed reluctant to talk about the speech or Greer’s sharp criticism.

Greer seemed to back off from his contention that Obama changed the speech after Greer’s comments.

“I don’t know that to be factually when asked by CFP on Tuesday night about that contention, which he made on national television.

Among those who wouldn’t discuss the situation, or gave limited comments, were Gov. Charlie Crist, Greer’s political patron; Crist’s opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Marco Rubio; and Attorney General Bill McCollum, who’s running for governor.

Among GOP activists who did comment, some panned Greer’s role in the controversy and some praised it.

“Pandering” was the reaction of Dee Williams, president of the Sun City Center Republican Club. She said Greer is attempting to heal the rift between Crist and conservatives in the party.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not surprised at anything that comes out of his mouth,” she said of Greer.

But Republican National Committee member Paul Senft of Haines City said he believes Greer’s stance was justified “to a certain extent.”

“Sending lesson plans has never been the function of the federal Department of Education,” Senft said, referring to lesson plans made available to schools in advance of Obama’s speech. “They left themselves open to question about why they were doing that.”

Last week, Greer sent out a news release accusing Obama of using the speech “to indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda.”

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Education revised a few details in the lesson plans that appeared to focus on Obama’s image rather than the intended message.

Greer has been on a media tour since, appearing on at least 10 national news shows. Monday, he said in a CNN interview that he saw nothing wrong with the speech itself but seemed to contend that it was changed along with the lesson plans.

“It’s an upbeat speech, but is it the one the president was always going to give?” he said in the CNN interview.

“Clearly, last week there was a plan with the Department of Education … leading the students in an effort to push the president’s agenda,” he said.

Asked whether he had evidence the speech had been changed, he said, “No, I don’t, but I would anticipate, based on this president being so aggressive and so vocal, … I believe the speech he was going to give, based on the lesson plans, was different.”

Tuesday night, he sounded different.

“I don’t know that to be factually true,” he said. Asked whether he had made that claim on CNN, he responded, “I think I said we don’t know. I think there’s potential. I have no evidence of it.”

Crist, who backed Greer for chairman of the state party, appeared to defend Greer in comments to reporters Friday, according to news reports.

Tuesday, his campaign’s only response was a staff member’s e-mail saying Crist “is pleased that the speech now focuses on staying in school, studying hard and striving to achieve your dreams.”

There was no response as to whether that means Crist also believes the White House changed the speech.

Rubio, who often has accused Crist of refusing to take a stand on issues in his Senate campaign, had no comment on the speech or Greer, a campaign staff member said.

But Rubio couldn’t stop himself from tweeting about it.

“I have no problem with President giving political speech to kids……..if his name is REAGAN,” he said in one Twitter message.

McCollum, asked about the speech during a news conference Tuesday, said he saw nothing wrong with the Obama addressing schoolchildren.

A pair of Orange County Republican party leaders have been suspended by state party Chairman Jim Greer, and Brevard County GOP chief Jason Steele has been put on probation as part of a wider raft of punishments recently handed out to members who have been critical of the Florida party’s current leadership.

Orange Republican executive committee members Nick Egoroff — suspended for four years — and Ax the Tax activist Doug Guetzloe — suspended 13 months, two years of probation — both plan to file legal appeals to overturn the sanctions.

“This is nothing but trying to take out the groups opposing Jim Greer’s leadership,” Egoroff said.

Egoroff said a a host of other Greer critics from all over Florida suffered the same fate, accusing them of supporting non-Republican candidates or just being “detrimental” to the party. He expected that same group to file a class-action lawsuit against the party to get the probation and suspension terms killed.

Some in this singled out group have come to call the whole episode a Florida Republican Party “purge.”

“This is clearly a party purge,” Guetzloe said. “Party purges were popular with Stalin, Hitler and now Jim Greer all denying free speech.”

Guetzloe said he will tap long-time legal advocate Fred O’Neil to file a First Amendment lawsuit against Orange Chairman Lew Oliver, and possibly other local GOP officers.

“This is just really painful to me, because I’ve put a lot of work into this party,” Egoroff said.

Egoroff and Guetzloe have been at odds with current Orange GOP Chairman Lew Oliver, who filed the grievance complaints against the two dissidents. Another Oliver critic, Deon Long, had already been removed from his party post by the state.

Steele relested this statement:  statement said the probation was a price he was willing to pay for standing up for his principles.

Later by phone Steele said that if the state party hoped to “stifle” his activity with the official punishment, “that’s just not going to happen.”

“We can’t be stifled in Brevard County,” Steele said. “It’s unified the party here.”

Jim Greer

Looks like turbulent waters ahead for Jim Greer.  From what I have been told the Hillsborough REC will meet this weekend and decide to cast a no confidence vote on Jim Greer.

Greer has been busy making sure that his buddy Gov. Charlie Crist gets elected Senator hands down rather than remaining neutral. But also when you throw in the Party Purges that are happening from the Panhandle all the way down to Brevard County.  It will be interesting to see how they vote on Greer.

No status update from the RPOF on those grievances as of yet.

Pinellas County Republican Party of Florida official Tony DiMatteo has been appointed the chairman of the RPOF “grievance committee,” the body appointed by state party boss Jim Greer to “purge the party of the dissidents.” as Greer stated in a Palm Beach Post article (State GOP “impotent,” former chairman says) posted today.

The “party purge” began two weeks ago when Florida’s top African-American GOP leader, Winter Park attorney Deon Long, was abruptly removed from his position on the Orange County Republican Executive Committee and according to a letter from Greer “banned for life” from the Republican Party.

Long’s sin: challenging current Greer ally Lew Oliver for Chairman and then challenging the election result (Oliver ran the election, counted the ballots and declared himself the winner by one vote 122-121-2 after “disqualifying” 19 Long supporters the night of the vote.)

The purge continued yesterday with a “hearing” against Orange County GOP committeeman Nick Egoroff, a prominent Ron Paul meetup organizer and member of the Republican Liberty Caucus and Ax the Tax Chairman Doug Guetzloe, an elected member of the Orange county REC for 29 years.

The meeting began with DiMatteo literally “throwing out their own rules on evidence and witnesses,” stated Guetzloe.  “When we showed up we found out that Lew Oliver was allowed to bring 10 witnesses with him and reams of ‘evidence’ to be submitted at that moment without any prior disclosure as required by the RPOF rules.  The rules required that Oliver submit to us all evidence; witnesses and statements five (5) days prior to the hearing – not only did we not receive any of this in advance – but we were never told we could bring any evidence or witnesses with us.”

Egoroff and Guetzloe have retained First Amendment Attorney Fred O’Neal to represent them in this effort.  It was quickly shown to be an uneven playing field when Mr. O’Neal’s court reporter was thrown out of the room before the “hearing” got underway, with RPOF legal counsel stating that there would be “no recording or transcript of the meeting,” thus violating the Florida Rules of Evidence that allow transcripts of any quasi-legal proceeding to preserve the right to appeal with a complete record.  “Apparently RPOF wants no record of the meeting and RPOF also banned any of us from recording the meeting,” Guetzloe stated.

“Not being allowed to bring any evidence or witnesses was one thing, but then allowing Mr. Oliver to bring witnesses and present evidence instantly showed us that without a doubt, this is a party purge and it was a rigged operation,” Guetzloe stated.

Currently Greer has up to forty “grievances” against outspoken party leaders of which the common denominators are: Marco Rubio supporters; Draft Dockery for Governor supporters (Guetzloe and Egoroff are Co-Chairmen for that effort); open primary supporters; Republican Liberty Caucus members and Ron Paul supporters, thirty of these have not yet been submitted to the star chamber.

Brevard County REC Chairman Jason Steele was singled out for simply opposing Greer’s efforts to invoke RPOF Rule 11 that would have forced local REC’s to endorse his choices for the US Senate and Governor in advance of the 2010 GOP Primary.  The grievance committee will consider another seven (7) removals this weekend.

“The grievances against me included: using my radio show, The Guetzloe Report, to oppose the party purge; speaking out against Lew Oliver and supporting Deon Long for party positions – all clearly my rights under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights,” Guetzloe stated.

“We have since learned that Mr. DiMatteo has a record of opposing party inclusion as shown by this video and statement where he threatened other party leaders with personal violence:”

Daily Paul reports

Tony DiMatteo threatens bodily harm to Ron Paul supporter

December 1, 2007

She called Tony DeMatteo on Thursday to take issue with the unethical way the straw poll was conducted and the fact that she purchased a block of tickets only because of the information the REC provided her, to learn that the information was false. Tony DiMatteo then told Sophie ” it is too bad for you and if you start any trouble you will be hurt”.

Sophie, shocked, upset and concerned from being threatened called Clearwater Meetup Organizer Paul Bourgeois. Paul had previously talked to Tony about all of the rule changes. Tony made it clear that Paul BETTER not take it any further or it would make us (Ron Paul Supporters) look real bad.

Physically intimidating and threatening people are completely unacceptable behaviors. Tony DeMatteo’s actions needs to be addressed by the Republican leadership and the Pinellas county REC members.

Tony DeMatteo is the Chairman of the Pinellas County Republican Party.

Video here.

UPDATE: More here.

“After the verbal presentations by Egoroff, Guetzloe and O’Neal, the committee went into “Executive Session” and removed everyone from the room and then voted to ban both of us from the Republican Party for allegedly supporting “special meetings” of the REC so that business could be conducted.  To date, Lew Oliver has not had one meeting since his election in that a quorum was present.  We used existing GOP party rules to have a special meeting by petition, a meeting that Lew Oliver called, wrote and threatened individuals to ‘not attend,’” Guetzloe stated.

“We understand from sources that were present during the closed meeting of the committee that the vote was unanimous to remove Mr. Egoroff and myself from the Republican Party, a move that will be challenged in court,” Guetzloe stated.  “This is just the beginning of this battle, the first shot.”

Lew Oliver is currently facing several criminal complaints filed against him by Orange County Republican Executive Committee member Keith Recine with various law enforcement entities for allegedly “co-mingling” contributions to the party and for writing $14,000 in checks to himself without any documentation.

Additionally, according to court filings, Oliver is pursuing the taking the “jewelry and antiques” from the wife’s of two fellow Republican leaders – State RPOF member Jim Stelling and State Representative Chris Dorworth, all three were involved in the collapse of a multi-million dollar land deal recently.

Tallahassee–Tony DiMatteo, Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida’s Grievance Committee, released the following statement regarding the RPOF Grievance Committee Hearing held today in Orlando.

“This weekend’s Grievance Committee Hearing has received a significant amount of publicity at the hands of those involved with the individual grievances. Though the grievance process is an internal party matter, I believe it has become necessary to explain the proceedings and the Grievance Committee’s role within Republican Party of Florida.

“The Grievance Committee is comprised of members of the RPOF State Executive Committee. Our involvement with the RPOF is in a volunteer capacity. Grievances are a formal complaint from one member of the Republican Party of Florida’s county leadership structure to another member of the county leadership structure. All grievances originate at the county level and are filed with the State Party and then referred to the Grievance Committee.

“All parties involved are informed that a grievance as been filed, and given ample time to prepare for the Grievance Committee Hearing. At the hearing, the petitioner and the respondent are given an opportunity to present their arguments.  In the weeks following the meetings, the committee members compile a recommendation for final resolution on each grievance and then present the recommendation to Chairman Greer.

“Several recent news stories have mentioned a “purge” of certain members of county Republican Executive Committees. There is no ‘purge.’ To date, Chairman Greer has only removed one person from the leadership structure of the State Party. The removal came at the unanimous recommendation of the Grievance Committee. Contrary to what has been reported, there have been numerous circumstances when the committee has recommended removal and the Chairman has chosen not to remove a member.

“Additionally, the grievances in question do not “kick-out” members of the Republican Party. The parties involved with the grievances are members of the Republican Party of Florida’s leadership structure. Like any organization, we have an obligation to our members to ensure that our leadership abides by the rules of the organization. Our formal grievance process is the mechanism for this review of the conduct of Republican leaders. A removed member is still a Republican and eligible to participate in Republican activities, but prohibited from holding a leadership position for a set amount of time.

“The RPOF Grievance Committee heard two grievances today. The private meeting was closed to the media for the benefit of those involved, as well as members of the grievance committee, who are all private citizens serving in a volunteer capacity. Like any organization, we have a right to conduct this internal party business in private. This is a political party, not a public entity. As private citizens with full time jobs and lives outside of politics, the members of the grievance committee request the courtesy to conduct this private political business without having our images spread all over television and the newspapers without our permission. Over the past several weeks, the State Party has been more than willing to speak to media outlets about this process, while keeping the specific details of the grievances private for the sake of those involved; however, today’s meeting was private, and it would not have been appropriate to discuss the proceedings.

“I think it is worth reiterating that these grievances originate at the county level. The State Party is involved only in order to facilitate the formal mechanism for maintaining organization within the ranks of our county leadership.

“In closing, this process and the publicity it has received at the hands of those involved, certainly detracts from the true business of the RPOF, which is getting Republicans elected.”

Jason Steele

In an ever-widening effort, the GOP party purge that began with the removal of Orange County Republican Leader Deon Long, the leading African-American Republican leader in Florida has now been extended to over a dozen other conservative GOP leaders from Pensacola to Miami.  It has just been learned that former State Representative, the Honorable Jason Steele, Chairman of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee has also been targeted for removal by a Greer appointed “grievance” committee that Greer boasted last week was “handpicked” to vote out his opponents.

Chairman Steele just released the following statement:

Brevard REC Chairman: Party Leaders Targeted by RPOF Bosses, Who is Next?

From the Desk of Jason Steele, Chairman, Brevard Republican Executive Committee

Brevard Republican Party

2525 Aurora Rd. Suite 105

Melbourne, Florida 32935

(321) 254-0073

URGENT!!!

Republicans Are being Targeted: You Could Be Next!

ACTION NEEDED NOW

It’s been more than a month of debate since Brevard County Republican Chair, Jason Steele, led his local party in voicing decent over the early endorsements of primary candidates by state party bosses, and statewide Republicans remain engaged in a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.

Following Steele’s announcement that his local party would not support primary endorsements by the state political machine, and the subsequent resignation of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee Secretary, Travis Clinger, who was asked to resign amidst allegations that he acted against his organizations vote to rebuke state bosses, RPOF has begun a purge of independent minded Republican leaders throughout the state.

Deon Long, one of the state’s most influential African American leaders, was recently removed and banned for life from participating in Republican Party activities, after he spoke out criticizing party big wigs for their attacks on Republican Liberty Caucus leader Will Pitts.

“This is the kind of witch hunt that will only serve to purge loyal conservative Republicans, and make room for cronies who will tow the line behind part fat cats and their pet candidates,” said Brevard Chairman Jason Steele. “In a time when we are working so hard at the local level to expand the outreach of the conservative message, we need leaders like Deon, and Will Pitts, and a hundred others. This is not the time to stifle debate by silencing the real leaders of our party.”

Steele himself has been notified that he is the target of a grievance alleging he violated the RPOF loyalty oath by his actions at the local level. “I have been and remain a loyal Republican, but I have not been, and will not be a mindless follower of the state ‘party line,’” said Steele. “We are engaged in nothing less than a battle for the soul of our party, and our nation, and I will not sit by and watch as voices are shunned for speaking out!”

Steele called RPOF actions a “purge” and said he and other leaders around the state would fight to see that every Republican voice counted, and that the party returned to the corps values that he said his organization was built upon.

“We live in a nation facing tough economic times, threats to our way of life are at home and abroad, and the world marches forward looking to us for leadership, and it troubles me that the party of Lincoln and Reagan is being decimated by a hand full of good ole’ boys looking to preserve their own power,” said Steele. “We have been the party of ideas, of true inclusion, and now we must remind every Republican of that, and we must call on each other’s strength and commitment to restore and rejuvenate our ‘Grand Old Party’”

If you feel as strongly as I do, Please contact us and help us take our party back. (321) 258-8993, or e-mail rfbjasonsteele@juno.com. Your help is vital if we are going to restore individual accountability to our party and our nation!

Sincerely,

Jason Steele
Chairman

Brevard Republican Executive Committee

http://brevardrepublicans.org/2008/12/15/hello-world/