Florida Democrats' Insane Clown Rightwing Posse

FLA Dems’ Insane Clown Rightwing Posse

Written by Mark Weaver on 10 November 2009 — Leave a Comment

Over the past week plus, several incidents have illustrated the depravity of the Florida Democratic Party and the need for genuine principled, issues and values progressives, not the Party hacks, to get it together and take control of the party from these clowns who in some combination 1) are vicious rightwing shadow Republicans using the Democratic Party for cover, 2) are espousing stupid if not venal public policies opposed to the interests of most of their constituents, 3) advocating policies that the majority of the public rejects, 4) cynically maneuvering to advance their own political careers by following the “advice” of amoral, unprincipled political operatives like Steve Schale (who helped bring us Obama and the growing Afghanistan debacle) trying to score cheap election wins by pandering to mis-labeled conservative, moderate and independent voters because these candidates and operatives are too rudderless to assertively advocate a vision that could appeal to such voters.

The latest configuration of this insane clown posse consists of Kendrick Meek, Ted Deutch, State Rep. Kevin Rader, Palm Beach commissioner Burt Aaronson, Debbie Schultz, Alcee Hastings, Suzanne Kosmas and Allen Boyd (the usual suspect). If we include the mob cheering them in the street we would have to include the entire Florida congressional delegation, with a provisional pass for Kathy Castor and Alan Grayson.

Each of these incidents was egregious in its own way, but let’s quickly dispatch with Kosmas and Boyd, who couldn’t even vote for the watered down, health industry-protection racket reform bill that is nevertheless a marginal improvement in the current dysfunction and neglect. (Yes, I’m finally endorsing it, despite the hemorrhaging nightmare that it is.) Boyd is not news, but one would have hoped that the freshwoman Kosmas would have been part of a change in the Democratic Party. On issue after issue she’s been voting like a rightwinger. We all have to examine how a woman like this was allowed to come through the ranks and win a Democratic nomination for high office. It was great to see that 60 party activists picketed her last week. Right on, guys. Those 60 should have been recruiting and backing a good progressive to run in New Smyrna two years ago and actively vetting and blocking Kosmas. By being so spineless and politically inept, Kosmas deserves to lose next year. Let’s hope the 60 can field a strong primary challenge to her!

More disturbing is the emergence of the vile Ted Deutch as successor to Robert Wexler. Deutch has been the leading purveyor in the state legislature of the Iran lies, sponsoring the AIPAC inspired Iran sanctions resolutions with a long list of whereases which are riddled with exaggerations, distortions, mischaracterizations, falsehoods, omissions and downright lies demonizing Iran. Deutch is one of the leading figures pushing bombing and war with Iran, among other vicious rightwing Middle East policies and it is a symptom of the sickness within the Democratic Party that he is allowed to succeed Wexler WITH NO RESISTANCE, ACCOUNTABILITY OR EVEN AWARENESS of where he is taking us, which endangers the people of Israel, not to mention the lives of countless Iranians, Palestinians and Lebanese. All we read is the clueless amoral party hacks celebrating what great fundraising he is doing (through the AIPAC extremist network) and his impressive old-line establishment endorsements.

Deutch really revealed his true colors last week when he, and fellow travelers State Rep. Kevin Rader and County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, who called the selection of Kucinich “an absolute horror” and said he would refuse to share the podium with him (the sentiment is probably mutual), boycotted the selection of Dennis Kucinich as keynoter at the Palm Beach Democratic Party’s annual fundraiser, forcing Kucinich off the bill. Deutch, lying as he does with the Iran resolutions, said Kucinich is “someone whose position on Israel stands in total opposition to the conscience of this community.” The only truth to such a statement would be if the conscience of the community really does endorse the war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza as documented the Goldstone investigation, about which more shortly.

Legitimate policy differences with Kucinich aside, what is so enraging about Deutch, Rader and Aaronson is their tea bagging thuggery and intimidation in shutting down discussion of foreign policy alternatives. Kucinich would not even have addressed Middle Eastern issues in his talk, given its keynote nature, and would have focused on health reform. The lack of civility alone by these three is grounds for their censure and expulsion from the Democratic Party. They can run as Republicans. I urge every Floridian to call Palm Beach chairman Mark Alan Siegel (561.433.1112) and support him in his booking and defense of Kucinich and his level headed take on Kucinich and AIPAC and request a vote of censure of Deutch, Rader and Aaronson. Maybe that’ll take some of the steam out of Deutch’s coming special election and anointment. Meanwhile, Wexler, who never met a war he couldn’t back while in Congress, has given Deutch a glowing endorsement.

Next up we have Kendrick Meek, Debbie Schultz and Alcee Hastings signing a letter with 53 Democrats nationwide (and Bill Nelson separately) trying to take the steam out of the bipartisan push to end the travel ban to Cuba, which is refreshingly, finally on the verge of passing. There are several problems with this. First, the single most important thing we can do to bring democratic change to Cuba is to open up travel to Americans. Can you imagine the effect it will have? Americans telling their stories to Cubans in Cuba. Talk about fomenting a velvet revolution. But no, Meek, Nelson, Schultz and Hastings are too, too, what is the word for it? They’re not stupid, or are they? I guess they have some insane rationale for pandering to the fading hardline Cuban exile community. But according to the latest credible poll, A MAJORITY OF CUBAN AMERICANS NOW SUPPORT AN END TO THE TRAVEL BAN. It doesn’t even make sense, for a Democrat, but this is the corruption and depravity of the party I keep talking about. Furthermore, what they are espousing is just wrong. It’s oppressive and anti-freedom. It’s arrogant, audacious, venal, and on and on an on. Think about it. Meek, Nelson, Schultz and Hastings are telling YOU that you cannot go to Cuba for their own twisted ideological and vote-calculating reasons. They are denying you your freedom. On top of all this, it is just idiotic politics. Does Meek and his crass operator Schale really think that Meek can win votes campaigning through all of Florida (outside a couple of square miles of west Little Havana and the state’s millionaire enclaves, which will vote Republican anyway) telling people that he wants to take away their freedom and that they can’t visit the beautiful beaches, hills, mountains and Spanish-colonial cities of Cuba? The final outrage, I swear my head is going to fucking explode right now, is this: while we have this crazy extremist Republican party that blocks all sort of progress, the one moment where we actually have a bipartisan coalition come together around a progressive reform, 53 Democratic Party assholes step in to kill it. Do you see what I mean about the pervasive, nonsensical corrupt rot of the Democratic Party? They have become the Soviet Communist Party of 1985.

Finally, we have the entire Florida delegation voting to reject and deny the Goldstone report documenting Israel’s numerous war crimes in Gaza resulting in the deaths of 1,400 Gazans while Hamas’ crude rockets killed 7 Israelis around Sderot. Every single fucking Florida Dem (except Kathy Castor and Alan Grayson) cosponsored the resolution, which Goldstone himself rebutted point by point, twelve of them, proving as if in a court of law, each of them to be falsehoods. Castor and Grayson deserve at least a shred of credit for not allowing themselves to be herded by AIPAC. The disingenous positions these people take are “see no evil, hear no evil.”

Do you see what I mean about this insane clown posse?