Open Thread: What Are You Thinking?
{This thread is "Closed". Use the new thread posted on March 2.}
Looks like there is not much interest in the aftermath of Super Tuesday. So, we will start a new thread to let you open up the discussions.
Fire away, it’s your thread!
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posted by Blog Master @ 7:52 PM
69 Comments:
What is Ocala doing to replace Nugent?
Dan Owen was quoted as saying they had a recruiter working on getting someone. What I hear from city hall is that Mayor Ewers will be hired to take over as the City Manager.
That's crazy! Why would he want to give up a high paying, secure job at Class 1 to work for five bosses in the worst run local government in Florida? Let them hire an unemployed hack, about all they'll get to come here.
I see on the Supervisor of Elections website that former state representative candidate Steve Shaw is running for the school board.
As recently reported in the Star-Banner, and as confirmed on the Supervisor of Elections website, incumbent Supervisor of Elections Dee Brown is running for re-election after switching her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.
I will now say publicly what I said to her privately when I noticed months back that her party affiliation had changed in the voter records. I think she is more vulnerable running as a Republican in 2008 than as a Democrat in 2008. I base this belief on what could happen in a primary election, not a general election. Running for re-election as a Democrat, I think she would have had no primary opponent and a strong likelihood of winning the general election. I’m much less sure she will prevail in a Republican primary if faced with a strong challenger.
I like Dee, but her refusal to explain in the Star-Banner her change in party affiliation by claiming “It’s personal” is a cop-out.
Who will Shaw be running against? I thought he was a pretty good candidate when he ran for the legislature.
Also, somehow I missed that Sheriff Ed Dean has competiton. Saw that in the newspaper yesterday. But if confiscating some of Dean's websites is all his opponent has to offer, he should be pretty safe.
Sheriff wananabe Truesdell goes ballistic :
Never one not to run his mouth, Marion County Republican Sheriff candidate redefined the law enforcement word ballistic in a brief interview with The Star Banner.
While trying to explain his pirating of Sheriff Ed Dean's election web sites in 800 hundred words or less, candidate Paul Truesdell told the Star Banner that Sheriff Dean was harrasing his family.
Did candidate Truesdell offer to provide evidence to substantiate this accusation ? Of course not, some might ask if he knows what the word evidence means.
In his refusal to discuss much else with the Star Banner, Truesdell allowed how he thought the paper would not report his comments objectively, instead spin the story in favor of Sheriff Dean.
Oops! By his unchararisticly short statement, Truesdell accomplished just that, the Star Banner did not have to spin anything.
I have to go now, martians are landing in my clearing.
Clayton Ellsworth
IS AMERICA READY?
Check out Hillary Clinton’s latest rap music video:
www.atomfilms.com/film/rodham_rap.jsp
Steve Shaw is a pretty sharp guy. They could use someone with a Law Degree on that School Board. I did not know he was running. He needs to get out more. Does anyone know what his platform is?
Truesdell is making those who don't care for Ed Dean want to write checks to support Ed Dean! He is a real Whack Job!
A long time ago I suggested on this blog that use of the internet, which has no checks and balances, would foster Swift Boating.
Well it has, and worse yet,it takes no names to do it. Just throw the ---- at the wall and see how much sticks.
As a political junkee who has had many successes with candidates in the political arena and had a lot of fun doing it, I can't find adequate words to describe the nameless slanderous blogging efforts of The Paul Truesdell for Sheriff campaign.
By not requiring names on blogging posts, as their parent Company The New York Times does, The Star Banner is facilitating the most agregiously illegally flawed campaign I have ever seen.
Mysterious lock boxes out of state with all kinds of purported damning investigative material [ no doubt to be opened by Geraldo Rivera]. This claim ,and many others, if you believe it, is not only innuendo, but slander.
The legal advisors for candidate Truesdell must think "The 12 "Untouchables" are invisible, more likely non existant,or they would not let this illegal charade go on.
What a travesty of justice,which Paul Truesdell has sworn to up hold.
Clayton Ellsworth
CE---You know that Truesdell is a lawyer?
I know that Paul Truesdell's wife is a lawyer. So what ?? Illegal is illegal ! If the spurious blogs and the cowardly nameless "Untouchables" can be named, then it becomes state election law that appears to be broken.
The fact that Mr. Truesdells wife is a lawyer, in no way intimidates me if that is the purpose of the purpose of your anonymous post.
Clayton Ellsworth
Clayton ...and others:
Sadly, in this day and age of electioneering almost anything goes. What the voters have to do is determine, with usually much too much emotion, what they are willing to tolerate as determined by their own moral compass. Then when they step behind the voter booth curtain they alone need to separate out the sludge from the compost. Unfortunately it seems that we have become too numb to the process and are all too willing to accept so much sludge.
Chapter 104 section 104.271 Florida Election Law.
Any candidate who, in a primary orother election, willfully charges an opposing candidate in such election with any provision of this code, which charge is known by the candidate to making such chargeto be false or malicious, is guilty of a felony of the third degree,-----in addition, after conviction shall be disqualified to hold office.
2. with actual malice or CAUSES TO BE MADE any statement about an opposing candidate which is false or malicious is guilty of a violation of this code.
Clayton Ellsworth
Paul Truesdell is also a lawyer. You get a two-fer in that family. They know what they are doing.
The "Paul Truesdell for Sheriff" website at http://www.truesdellforsheriff.com/ is labeled "A political advertisement paid for and approved by Paul Truesdell(R) for Sheriff." Quoting from that website:
"Paul also enrolled and graduated from a non-ABA law school, found the studies fascinating, but never considered or plans to actually practice law."
Also, Paul Truesdell is not listed in the Florida Bar Directory that lists active, inactive, and retired members of the Florida Bar at the Florida Bar website at http://www.floridabar.org/.
1:01pm;
That may be true in this case however, be carefull, isn't that the claim of Billary?
It would be interesting to know if Paul Truesdell has ever sat for the bar exam in Florida or elsewhere and, if so, what were his results.
Could it be that Mr. Truesdell is practising law without a license ?
In offering estate planning to seniors, it is a very thin line between offering advise without offering legal advise which his wife is qualified to do but he isn't qualified to do [to offer legal advise.]
A search of state licensing, complaints, and discipinary action Mr. Truesdell is clean as a whistle.I will save him time in looking for me, both myself and agency are unmarked as well.
I did 22 credit hours in estate planning last fall to keep my life/health / variable annuity license current.There was text and questions concerning this very grey area of estate planning.
Clayton Ellsworth
Mr. Truesdell's website looks like it might have been designed by the National Enquirer.
As a layperson, I have spent a good deal of time looking at defamation law. My understanding is the courts have given very wide berth to possibly defamatory political speech, especially in elections. A justification for this I have seen is the great importance of having robust political speech in the election process and the belief that candidates for office generally have access to a public platform from which they can counter the effects of possibly defamatory statements about them, a platform not typically available to the ordinary citizen.
I haven’t studied the statute cited above governing statements by candidates. It would be interesting to know its enforcement history and how it has fared in the courts if ever tested there.
I know from experience that the fact that the State of Florida enacts a restriction on political speech does not necessarily mean the restriction will withstand scrutiny for constitutionality in the federal courts. While chairing a registered political committee during the 1998 general election, I went to great lengths to comply with what was known as the “unfair surprise” statute that required us to notify affected candidates and the supervisor of elections about our advertising. A couple of years later, a federal district court declared the statute unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds and stopped the State of Florida from enforcing it. It took the state legislature a couple of years after that, though, to actually remove the statute from the books, so there was a period during which the uninitiated might have seen it in the state statutes and thought it was the law when it really wasn’t.
Yep, Truesdell probably can say most anything about Dean. Some of his supporters who are on the various blogs and other places might be a different story. I haven't seen too much from Truesdell himself, other than the claim, likely bogus, that Dean is harrassing him.
Why does Dee Brown have to explain anything to the local newspaper about why she switched to Republican? She will need to explain it to voters during the campaign. In the meantime, the Star Blunder can wait, they have no special privileges or right to know over the voters. I can think of many reasons she switched. But that's her decision to release details on when she wants, not when the newspaper wants.
Shaw has a Doctorate in Planning, plus one teacher on the school board to spend our money is enough. Since Bobby James is higher on the food chain in the school system, he is the guy to represent the teachers. Judy ran last time on "We need a teacher on the school" Well there is a principal there now, no need for Judy. Plus Shaw is lawyer, plus has a Doctorate in Urban Planning, could be a huge help with the board. Plus Zaneti without Kelly is like a lost puppy. At the last meeting I didn't see one quote from her in the paper. Isn't she the chairperson, if so it looks like she lost control of the situation. Like Appelquist, who used taxpayer money to further her education while on the board, to get a better paying teacher job when she was done with the board, and she will have a huge retirement at the taxpayers expense, Judy is following in her footsteps, enough is enough. and lets not forget that Rushlow, who did nothing, left the banking business and now is a teacher for what, you guessed it the taxpayer retirement. we lose again. go shaw, who will not become a teacher when he is done, he is a lawyer.
First, since tens of thousands of voters read the Star-Banner (as much as that fact may chagrin some people who post on this blog), the Star-Banner is a conduit for explaining things to voters. Second, I read Dee Brown’s refusal to explain her party switch because “It’s personal” to mean she does not see it as something she need explain to voters in the Star-Banner or anywhere else. I disagree.
Could be the republicans have agreed with Dee Brown that she won’t get any republican challenge in a primary and if she does she will get the party support. Doubt the democrats have anyone waiting in the wings to run who could beat her. End result, she runs unopposed.
Dee Brown and the Rs---- NO DEALS! Things could get interesting. The political grapevine has heated up on the possibility of a revival in Randy Harris’ returning to politics via running for the Election Supervisor position. Wouldn’t that be a hoot of a (closed) Republican primary???
P.S.: Ever heard of the word SETUP?
You can be sure that the possibility of Harris running against her in a Republican primary was raised with Dee Brown quite some time back. If I were in charge of handing Harris an opportunity to resurrect his political career, which I obviously am not, I would be very happy about what Dee Brown has done.
She would be hard to beat in a general election running as a Republican, but she might not make it through a Republican primary running against Harris or other possibilities. The Democrats would be wise to have a female candidate with serious administrative credentials online (not one of these “well, I’ll run since no one else will do it” types who can’t find a parking space).
Of course, if Harris were to lose to Dee Brown in a Republican primary, it would move him much closer to permanent political oblivion. Voters might perceive his attempt to shoe horn his overweening ego into the relatively mundane supervisor of elections job so soon after leaving the government as motivated primarily by a desire to resume financial suckling of the government teat. It would also present an interesting opportunity to revisit his fascinating involvement with the voter data in 2004 while chairing the Republican Executive Committee of Marion County.
I'll vote deal has been made. She stays in office and Harris stays selling new homes.
Ms. Brown is too nice of a lady to tell us what moved her to change her Party. She may not want to say the local Democratic Party sucks and is so absorbed with Florida delegates and the county commission races that she has been and is getting ignored by them when she runs. Who can blame her for going with someone who shows interest in her as a politician and more important as an individual. Just personal on her part and she’s a very gracious lady to boot.
creekybauuum, as ur called, get a life and get off the I hate randy harris bandwagon. u make it sound like he did something illegal in 2004, a lie, and lots of folk make use of voter data including you. ur obcession with folk you dont like is a hoot.
Today on Meet The Press, Washinton Post Columnist David Broder said, "the same people who are raising hell about McCain are the same people who raised hell about Reagan ". Broder labeled these people as "aginers" against everything.
The neocons want to own the white house like they are with Bush-Cheney.
This just isn't going to happen. The voters are tired of war,reduced income,the bad economy and I suspect being lied to.
McCain with a 82% conservative rating,coupled with his ability to draw Democrats and Independants is the best chance the Republicans have of getting to the White House.
The neocons have had their day, they owned the White House and blew it.
Clayton Ellsworth
I will vote for Dee Brown no matter what party she belongs to.
For those who do not know, the statutes governing who can obtain the voter data from a local supervisor of elections office have undergone change since I first obtained data from the Marion County Supervisor of Elections office in 1998. At one time, purchase of this data was limited to certain entities. In more recent years, most of this data has been treated by Florida statute as most other public records are treated and has been available for purchase by anyone.
I have purchased this data from the government as chairman of a registered political committee at times and as a member of the public at other times, always in compliance with the statutes in effect at the time of purchase. I have also come in contact with this data while working under the auspices of candidate campaigns that obtained the data from the Marion County Supervisor of Elections in compliance with state statutes at the time.
As for the controversy reported in 2004 concerning voter data obtained from the Marion County Supervisor of Elections, I’m sure if former county commissioner Harris seeks to become the constitutional officer in charge of maintaining information on voters and controlling access to it, that we will have plenty of time to discuss his involvement with it as Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee of Marion County in 2004 as well as the activities of a Harris supporter who was a member of that organization at the time. This is a subject I was communicating with government officials and others about in 2004 and know quite a lot about.
In the meantime, my policy is to not get information on adult matters from children engaged in anonymous name-calling on the internet.
I finally figured out how to get on the Star Banner blog place that Clayton Ellsworth mentioned to look at the comments about Dean and Truesdell. I didn’t stay there very long, quite full of accusations, sour grapes and teenage-like trash talking.
If Paul Truesdell is a man of integrity and not personally involved in some of that blog's comments, he should send a letter to all his supporters and tell them to stop what they are doing or they are going to destroy any chance he has to get elected.
A good comment about the Truesdell and Dean campaign comes from Anonymous @ 12:15 PM yesterday. I’m not accepting the compost or the sludge either.
Can we assume that Steve Shaw is running against Judy Zanetti?
We don’t need to assume. According to the website for the Marion County Supervisor of Elections, Steve Shaw and Judi Zanetti are the only announced candidates for the District 1 seat on the Marion County School Board, which, according to the website for Marion County Public Schools, is the seat currently held by Zanetti.
Possible Campaign Slogans for the Truesdell campaign, as discussed around town:
“There’s No Truth In Truesdell”
“For Less Truth In Law Enforcement, Elect Truesdell”
Lost Our Way suggests that Truesdell disassociate himself from the gutter sniping anonymous people blogging on several web sites with postings in the hundreds.
It will be difficult for candidate Truesdell to strike distance from "The Untouchables" who are a nest of delusional vipers whose tactics he condones by his silence.
"The Untouchables " has not and will not file as a 725 PAC which they are legally bound to do if they raise or spend money to promote a candidate. Doing so would reguire names and signitures
which, which of course, they are not going to do.
Instead these self appointed vigilantes of [un]truth will continue to function above the law because they think they are untouchable.
Maybe a snipe hunt is in order or a contest to see where these earth shattering secrets can be found.
I personally like the sounds of a snipe hunt.
Clayton Ellsworth
1:42 PM
Those are TRULY good ones!!!
Here We Go Again!!
A subgroup of the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission today unanimously approved a major tax proposal that would cap local and state government spending and revenue collection. It still must pass another committee then the full TBRC.
The measure is modeled after Colorado's voter-approved Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which said annual tax revenue increases cannot exceed the rate of inflation and population growth combined. The proposal limits state and local spending to the rate of inflation adjusted by population and school enrollment. Property tax revenue is also limited at inflation plus growth. The base year would be 2005-06, the height of property tax collections.
Link to the detailed Amendment:
www.floridatbrc.org/pdf/CP0045.pdf
Clayton--What's up with Hillary's new campaign mmanger? She sure has a dubious past.
Concerning Magee William's replacing Ms. Solice Doyle on the Clinton Campaign.
Read the Huffington Post where reference is made to Ms. Huffington's story of November 17th, 1997 "Fallen Angels in Clinton's Rogues Gallery".
Magee Williams is portrayed as not someone to be a "face" in any campaign, especially in a money raising compacity , which the campaign felt Ms. Doyle was weak in.
Looks like window dressing to shore up a campaign that thought they would win by February 5th.The Clinton super delegates were beginning to get restless and needed reassurance that Hillary could win.
I think it was a mistake to replace Solis Doyle, a hispanic before the Texas election in March, which is a must win for Hillary.
I sense a bit of desperation in the Clinton Camp. As we all know, desperate people often do desperate things.
Clayton Ellsworth
The Bush administration, trying to deal with a worsening housing slump, announced a new initiative Tuesday aimed at helping homeowners about to lose their homes. For qualified homeowners, it will put the foreclosure process on hold for 30 days.
Dubbed "Project Lifeline," the new program will be available to people who have taken out all types of mortgages, not just the high-cost subprime loans that have been the focus on previous relief efforts.
Mr. Ellsworth will love this one!
Ocala Realtor :
The Bush "Operation Lifeline" for housing is a good idea in some respects and a bad idea in many respects.
Only eight major banks are involved in this "pilot " program with hopes that more lenders will participate.
As you know this isn't like the old days when you could go to the local bank for help, usually denied, instead lots of borrowers have no idea who has their mortage which may have changed hands more than once.So it's good for people who know that their mortage is in the hands of the big 8 lenders. Bad for the rest.
I have pointed out before that if proof of actual mortage ownership, a copy of the actual mortage, is not provided in foreclosure proceedings, then the foreclosure should be thrown out as it is being done in Cleveland, Ohio and Jacksonville, Florida. This is a remedy that should be used in Marion County as well.
Operation lifeline is also good for people who had good credit but over bought. These folks can't blame the Realtor, contractor or lender for pulling the wool over their eyes. In my opinion these people should never have bought in the first place [what were they thinking? ] They are getting a reprieve which may only be temparary.
Make no mistake about it, Operation Lifeline is not an altruistic idea but one that helps the banks hedge on their bad loan previsions which helps the bottom line which these banks desperately need right now.So are they kidding themselves ? I think so.
Buying some time is one thing, doing something with it is another.
Paulson is acknowledging that the credit markets are a lot worse than thought. What is he going to do about the huge defaults in credit cards and installment purchase debt ?
Operation Lifeline is more lip service than substance.
Clayton Ellsworth
Comparing the Parties!
You know you're a Republican if you can't stand your gay uncle, but
you invite him to your son's wedding because he's rich.
You know you're a Democrat if you can't stand your rich uncle, but you invite him to your daughter's graduation because he's gay.
You know you're a Republican if you support George Bush's plan to put a man on Mars.
You know you're a Democrat if you want that man to be George Bush.
You know you're a Republican if you think Colin Powell might make a
good President, if he weren't black.
You know you're a Democrat if you think Colin Powell might make a good President, if he weren't conservative.
You know you're a Republican if you think every Democrat is a closet Communist.
You know you're a Democrat if you think every Republican is closeted.
You know you're a Republican if you wouldn't mind if the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seceded from the Union.
You know you're a Democrat if you wish the Republic of Texas had never become a state.
You know you're a Republican if you start off on third base and think you've hit a triple.
You know you're a Democrat if you hit a single but believe you deserve a triple because the other team got one.
You know you're a Republican if you believe the U.S. Constitution
clearly supports strip mining.
You know you're a Democrat if you believe the U.S. Constitution
clearly supports strippers.
You know you're a Republican if you can't fathom that Abraham Lincoln was actually a Republican.
You know you're a Democrat if you can't fathom that Abraham Lincoln
was actually a Republican.
Florida Christian Coalition moving its headquarters to Ocala, the hometown of its new Executive Director, Dennis Baxley.
Voice of Reason better get ready for President Obama---it's in the wind!!!!
Portability under Amendment 1 is getting a legal challenge. A case has been filed challenging the legality of the provision.
Experts cautioned the Legislature and Governor Charlie Crist last year that the plan was susceptible, and a successful case could have dire consequences for an already shaky state economy.
Could those predictions be coming true?
Amendment One, do we all know how to say the words we've been screwed?
Read an article that said the states budget situation is worsening because of a continuation of falling tax revenues. January's tax collections will be at least $138million below previous estimates. That puts the cumulative shortfall for November, December and January at about $230 million.
I guess Marion County may have a similar situation.
A reliable source tells us county government is already doing some contingency planning for the 08-09 budget. The county is projecting tax revenues will be 10% less than the 07-08 budget if millage is kept at last year’s 2.73 mills. All county departments have been asked to prepare an operating budget 10% less than 07-08.
10%--no problem.
Voice of Reason says . . . .
The only wind Osama is in is when someone is passing wind.
I can't stand Hitlery but she will probably win the state's delegates and will definitely win the super delegates.
It is funny with Osama and the Clintons, all of the affirmative action programs that the Democrats have been using to keep the plantation are coming back to bite them in the rear.
All exit polls are indicating that the Democratic electorate are very worried about Hitlery's electability and are gambling on Osama.
Remember how the Dems sprinted to a Kerry nomination last go around? They are worried about a coronation like last time.
Also, Ralph Nadar the Democrat party pooper . . . what is he going to do?
McCane easily beats either one of the Democrats easily.
VoR
Voice of Reason says . . .
You can get your Osama and other communist's bobble-heads at the new Oprah store. Pick up a Maya Angelou mullet wrapper while you are there too.
VoR
Blogmaster you missed the fact that the County has also put in a hiring freeze.
There's a Ray Strickland for County Commissioner ad in one of the local high society magazines. It says Strickland is a "servant leader". Would someone tell me what the hell that means!
Springs Ordinance: a case of irrational exuberance in action!
If you want more information about why the county’s Spring Ordinance was bad policy and needs to have a major tune up, go to the Marion Sun Times web site and see why:
www.marionsuntimes.com
Servant Leader = Randy Harris.
Clayton will love this: The way increasing numbers of people are dealing with their homes being foreclosed---ARSON!
thank god he is a former leader=randy harris
Mitt Romney has endorsed John McCain!
Romney is encouraging his 280 delegates to back McCain, though they’re not bound to do so.
Put a fork in Huckabee!
Voice--Yes, it's early, but.....
Obama 45% Clinton 44%
Obama 48% McCain 44%
in latest RCP poll.
Polls don't say it all. For me, in times requiring spending restraint, I look at pork barrel spending last year:
Clinton $340 million
Obama $91 million
McCain $0
A servant leader is someone who listens to the people. Charlie Crist is a good example, not Randy Harris.
This didn't make the cut as the new State song, but check it out anyway:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDgHSVYiq4M
Who is Grant Peeples?
From the "Famous Last Words " files:
Mitt Romney in his withdrawal speech said "I am convinced that unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st century- still a great nation, but no longer the leader of the world "
No longer bound by campaign sound bites and pandering rhetoric, Romney captured the real meaning of the Presidential election with only 29 words.
Romney offered no suggestions so allow me to offer just two areas where the United States has already qualified for second nation status.
Simply put, the United States can not continue to compete in the global economy with our ageing infrastructure which dates back to "IKE'. Our highways, ports, railroads, bridges ,etc. are stone age.
Secondly our education system has been failing for many years.Old cultures are producing better educated students who are motivated to lead. Columnist David Brooks calls for "a new human capital revolution "
Our nation has been minding everybody elses business spending the nation into oblivian for too long.It is time to mind the business at home or Mitt Romneys observation will become reality.We are well on the way already.
Clayton Ellsworth
Clayton,
I would agree with you on the education part of your comment. We are no longer "world class" in our education system. And we haven't been for several years.
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