Homophobic Slurs Hurled at Charlie Crist

It is bad when conservative blogger (and no fan of Charlie Crist) Javier Manjarres takes Charlie Crist's side over the Fort Lauderdale Tea Party. Crist did a book signing in Broward County. Manjarres reports that the Fort Lauderdale Tea Party greeted Crist with homophobic slurs.

The group of about twenty, some being associated with the Fort Lauderdale Tea Party, which still camps out on a busy street intersection every Saturday, looking more like homeless Occupy Wall Street protesters than anything else, decided that it was ‘OK’ to yell out, “Charlie, you look like an AIDS victim.”

Manjarres makes a point that political activists on the Left and the Right should heed.

We all disagree with Charlie Crist’s politics. Because Americans have a First Amendment right to do so, some of us use a pen and a keyboard to raise awareness to Crist historic policy flip-flops, while others will prefer to hold up signs on a street corner and protest their disappointment and disagreement with Charlie.

But to yell out offensive remarks like this has no place in politics, let alone society.

Amen.

Stay Classy Peter Schorsch

Javier Manjarres and I don't often agree on politics. I do think Manjarres is one of the best conservative bloggers around. Manjarres as been writing a lot about how Peter Schorsch makes money. Manjarres wrote that Schorsch has been posting highly positive posts about Southern Strategy Group after the lobbying firm advertised on SaintPetersblog. Southern Strategy Group is being audited after their accounting came into question. You wouldn't know that from reading Peter Schorsch's blog.

In 2012, white-shoe lobbying firm Southern Strategy Group rang in an impressive $2.54 million in lobbying fees during the second quarter. Fast-forward a year and add nearly $1 million to that figure for a total of $3.41 million in quarterly compensation. The increase over last year represents more than what most other lobby firms generate in full.

Of course, Schorsch fails to mention that those numbers may have been blown up by Southern Strategy Group. Hence the reason for the audit. Schorsch even posted the hard hitting news story on Southern Strategy's Christmas card. I kid you not.

Here is this year’s Christmas card from powerhouse lobbying firm Southern Strategies Group.

Each year, SSG commissions and delivers the most talked-about Christmas card in Tallahassee, typically with a political theme making hay out of one of the year’s top stories. This year is no different as the card pokes fun at the scandal surrounding President Obama and the aggressive surveillance programs of the National Security Agency. There’s some good photoshop work of President Obama dressed in a Santa outfit and a reveal line of, “He sees you when you are sleeping/He knows when you are awake/In 2014, be good for goodness sake.”

Powerhouse lobbying firm? Seriously? How can anyone take Schorsch seriously?

Apparently, Manjarres blogging has gotten to Schorsch. Schorsch fired off this racist tweet.

By the way, @THESHARKTANK1, the redesign of your website looks like shit. An illiterate lawn boy could have done better. Oh wait...

— Peter Schorsch (@SaintPetersblog) January 6, 2014

Schorsch will defend himself by saying that Manjarres once ran a lawn care service. Make no mistake. Schorsch is attacking Marjarres' Hispanic heritage. If someone leveled that kind of attack on Schorsch he would threaten a libel lawsuit. For someone who makes his living as a political hit man Schorsch can't seem to take a shot.

SaintPetersGate Redux

Peter Schorsch sent me an email claiming that his former attorney Paul Phillips made no statement to the Florida Bar Association. So I am to believe that Pinson lied to the Florida Bar about Phillips making a sworn statement to the Florida Bar. That doesn't pass the laugh test. Conservative blogger Javier Manjarres found this gem in the Florida Bar complaint.

“I did provide the information in that email to my client [Peter Schorsch], and any news stories which occurred based on that information, complaints filed with the State of Florida, were done by my client and Channel 10 News Personnel.”- Paul Phillips, Florida Bar Complaint, TFB No.: 2013-10,093 (13E)

I saw this same statement by Phillips in a document leaked to me. When I asked Schorsch and Phillips about the leaked document they threatened me with a libel suit. It is no secret that Schorsch dislikes Conservative activist Michael Pinson. It is no secret that Schorsch will go after people who don't support Charlie Crist. According to Pinson in the complaint, he dropped his support for Crist and supported Marco Rubio's Senate campaign. It wouldn't surprise me if that is how the feud actually started.

My interest in the Florida Bar complaint was the media angle. Noah Pransky is friends with Schorsch, Phillips and Chris Kapper. Pransky used three men who were friends and disliked Pinson. Adam Smith of accused Schorsch of being a serial liar to the media. The fact that Pransky would use Schorsch as a source for the Pinson story should be called into question.

There is also the allegations by Tampa politicians that Schorsch threatened to keep writibg negative posts on SaintPetersBlog if they didn't pay a for an ad on the blog. Pinson wad one of the people presented with a contract. The contract was negotiated on Schorsch's behave by Phillips. The contract presented to Pinson is part of a Pinellas Sheriff's Office investigation into Schorsch.

Peter Schorsch is a disgrace to political blogging and represents everything that is bad about politics. Schorsch needs to be disappear from blogging and politics forever. If Schorsch is still working as a shadow agent for the Charlie Crist campaign then Crist needs to come clean. If not then Crist's judgment is called into question.

Worshipping False Idols

Conservative blogger Javier Manjarres has a fascinating post on the tension that has grown between Sen. Marco Rubio and the tea party base that supported him in the 2010 election.

This continued throughout the first half of 2011, as Rubio completely discounted the notion that he could possibly have a problem with those early supporters who truly believed in his candidacy and in him as person. According to some of these supporters, Rubio refused to return phone calls, texts, emails, and delegated the responsibility of communicating with these supporters to his staffers.

Unfortunately, Rubio change of posture towards his early supporters turned out to be a consistent one and not a temporary lapse of loyalty on his part. Rubio himself has personally been approached by certain key supporters who have expressed their concerns about what’s happened with him as well as whom he has surrounded himself with.

Rubio was also advised to reach out to some of the staffers and supporters who devoted themselves to his campaign and had felt betrayed by his “self-serving,” and dismissive nature. But in keeping with his non-confrontational demeanor and ‘Hear no Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil’ approach to dealing with people, Rubio did not reach out to those individuals after vowing to do so. Senator Rubio lost a certain degree of respect with a few for failing to ”do the right thing,” for not acting when he needed to.

Manjarres was an early supporter of Rubio's Senate campaign. I wonder how much of his feelings are expressed in this post. I imagine that Manjarres will catch some grief were writing this post. In Manjarres' defense, he notes that Rubio doesn't have time to touch base with every supporter. Rubio is a senator and has young children. It isn't fair for some supporters to think that Rubio can drop everything just to touch base with them.

I never had the sense that Rubio was comfortable with the tea partiers. Rubio dismissed the Senate Tea Party Caucus as a "little club." Rubio needed the tea party to force the establishment Charlie Crist out of the GOP primary. The tea party movement is fading. Rubio doesn't need them anymore. That is the way politics works.

Peter Schorsch is harsh on Manjarres.

I have avoided idol worship of elected officials. It enables me to be more objective. My interest is policy. If President Obama or another Democrat supports horribles policies than I am going to say so. Cheerleading makes peopl;e less informed. I doubt conservatives would worship Andrew Brietbart if they actually examined how sleazy he was.

Mike McCalister's Fun With Video Cameras

Republican U.S. Senate candidate was chased and filmed simultaneously by Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo, conservative activist Sarah Rumpf and The Shark Tank's Javier Manjarres. McCalister went into a panic when Caputo asked McCalister about his past statements that during his time he testified before Congress. Turns out that is false. McCalister's political handlers go into a panic. The handler say that McCalister has to find a restroom. If that is the case than why are McCalister and his team heading for the exit. Did the handler realize he could have the impression that McCalister was going to pee outside.

Sarah Rumpf has details about the video she filmed. The Caputo video is Miami Herald material without embedding access. It can be viewed here. The Shark Tank video is below

Daphne Campbell Says 'I'm A Celebrity' After Asked About Medicaid Fraud

Florida House Rep. Daphne Campbell is under investigation for Medicaid fraud. Her husband, Hubert Campbell has been indicted for federal mortgage fraud. He pleaded guilty to using a false Social Security number to obtain a mortgage. He received three years probation.

The Campbell's son, Gregory, has been indicted.

The probe comes weeks after the arrest of the couple’s 28-year-old son, Gregory Campbell, in a separate Medicaid fraud case. He is accused of falsely billing the state for nearly $300,000 and has pleaded not guilty.

Below is a bizarre video of Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo asking Campbell a series of tough questions. Campbell and her entourage run away from Caputo's camera. Campbell is laughing throughout the video and proclaims, "I am a celebrity." This incident and Campbell's public pen-throwing incident with Rep. Scott Randolph makes me think Campbell has the mentality of a child.

What wasn't caught on camera was Campbell running to Republican Rep Carlos Lopez-Cantera for help. Lopez-Cantera scolded Campbell as if she was a child.

As the camera went on, Lopez-Cantera pointed out to Campbell that she needed to stand on her own and face the press: "You're a state representative."

Campbell is a Democrat. Campbell actually thought Lopez-Cantera was going to throw a life line to her. The Republicans are going to let Campbell sink in the weight of her Medicaid scandal. Campbell's anti-abortion votes buys Campbell nothing with the Republican House caucus. Campbell has worked hard to alienate herself from the Democratic caucus and base. Campbell is done as a public servant.

Javier Manjarres of The Shark Tank took the video of Caputo videoing and asking Campbell questions. Campbell is laughing when asked why she was charging rent to homes that were unoccupied.

You can watch the Caputo cam video here.

Javier Manjarres v. Richard DeNapoli

The Shark Tank blogger Javier Manjarres filed a grievance against the Broward Republican Executive Committee and its chairman Richard DeNapoli. Manjarres asked Republican Party of Florida chair David Bitner to allow him to film Broward Republican Executive Committee meetings. Marjarres was ejected from a meeting for attempting to film. The Republican Party of Broward County is a private nonprofit organization. They are not subject to Florida's Sunshine laws as the state government. Manjarres has been critical of DeNapoli on his blog.

I experienced the Democratic version (to a lesser extent) when I pointed out the obvious fact that Kendrick Meek was a horrible Senate candidate. Efforts by the Meek campaign to pressure me into silence had the opposite effect. I predict that Manjarres will come at the Republican Party of Broward County hard after he lost his grievance. Especially when Marjarres' career history was brought up in an attack against him. To add insult to injury, a complaint filed by the Broward REC against Marjarres will be dropped if he agrees to stop blogging about the Broward REC.

Technically, the Broward REC had the right to not allow media to film parts of the meeting. Manjarres is an alternate REC member and is subject to the county party's rules. DeNapoli had the right to bar Manjarres from filming. It may turn out to be a bad move for DeNapoli to piss off a blogger with ties to Marco Rubio and the tea party movement. For progressives this fight is going to be awesome.

RPOF Grievance

Haridopolos Running For Senate

Javier Manjarres of The Shark Tank reports that Mike Haridopolos told him that he is running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.

When I asked him directly if he is running for the U.S. Senate, Haridopolos said, ”Yes, I am in.”

The announcement will not come as a surprise to people that follow Florida politics. Haridopolos will make an official announcement. Haridopolos likely allowed Manjarres to break the story to tell campaign contributors he is open for business. If Haridopolos wins the primary he will have to deal with incumbent Bill Nelson's war chest and President Obama on the top of the ballot. Haridopolos has a tougher road to the Senate than Marco Rubio.

Javier Manjarres Claims Harassment by Union Members

Javier Manjarres claims two union members blocked him from getting video of Charlie Crist being interviewed. I have no beef with Manjarres, but I want to confirm that these are actually union members. I remember serial union victim Phil Parlock staging several fake attacks on himself. An infamous attack at a 2004 John Kerry rally was done on Parlock and his daughter by a man identified to be his son.

Manjarres is a well known conservative blogger. He tweeted this post to me and others, incuding Erick Erickson of RedState.com. Erickson hasn't run with Manjarres' post... yet. It remains to be seen if Erickson will.

For what it's worth: Manjarres runs one of the more interesting conservative blogs in Florida. I have linked to posts at The Shark Tank because there was useful information. Manjarres is also a conservative activist. I am going to take his claim of harassment by union members with a skepticism. If the claim is true then is true I am more than happy to defend Manjarres' first amendment right to conduct journalism. If it is bogus then I will report it as such.

Update: Manjarres can never be accused of being a Crist supporter. Her is a video from March of this year titled "Rubio Thanks Javier Manjarres and Patrick Castronovo for their work!"



Update: Manjarres sent me this tweet.

Nope. Mitch (Perry) at Creative Loafing was asking the question when it went down..clearly you can see what they are doing.

Mark Foley Prepares Comeback

Mark Foley told Javier Manjarres, of Conservative Republican Alliance, he plans on having an active role in politics.

"I doubt I will re-enter the political arena as an office-seeker," Foley said. "I will use my experience and my voice to help others, to rally for economic sanity, to bring about real reforms on a local, state and even national level."

I know the first name that pops into my head as an economics expert is Mark Foley. Who is actually going to take Foley seriously? Foley probably did the interview to promote his radio show "Inside the Mind of Mark Foley."

I don't have a paid subscription to Conservative Republican Alliance. Someone send me a transcript of the entire interview. I want to know how many softball questions Manjarres threw to Foley.

Conservatives Love Crist When It Suits Them

I accused conservative of abandoning ideology to support Charlie Crist. Winning trumps principles. The red meat conservatives are throwing their lot with Crist. They want Crist to run for a second term as Governor.

Three groups, the Conservative Republican Alliance, the Florida Conservative Reform Caucus, and the Ronald Reagan Young Republican Club of Miami Beach, today launched www.KeepCharlieCrist.com where they are asking supporters to sign an on-line petition supporting Crist’s re-election.

“For weeks, we’ve heard speculation that Governor Crist may run for the US Senate,” FCRC co-founder Martin Stockdale said in a statement. “In today’s economy we need Charlie Crist’s strong leadership right here at home.”

Wall Street Journal blogger Susan Davis notes the endorsement maybe a joke. Javier Manjarres signed the petition and is a Crist basher. Actually it makes sense for Manjarres to want Crist to do a second term. Manjarres is a fan of Senate candidate Marco Rubio A Crist Senate run would kill Rubio's chances. Crist can easily win a second term as Governor and Rubio is a more polished public speaker than Kendrick Meek and Dan Gelber. The Jeb conservatives can't stand Crist. But they find the idea of Gov. Alex Sink more distasteful.

My take is it is going to take a lot more than an online petition to keep Crist out of the Senate race. Crist barely shows up to work is is disengaged with the legislature. If he didn't want out he would have announced his desire to run for a second term.

Marco Rubio Interview

Javier Manjarres interviews Marco Rubio about his senatorial bid. The interview covers conservative hot button issues of abortion, guns, national security and the stimulus bill. My impression of the interview is Rubio is ready for prime-time.

Manjarres took shots at President Barack Obama and Gov. Charlie Crist. Manjarres went into a long-winded spiel about Obama being a socialist. What differentiates Rubio from a Sarah Palin is he refused to personally attack Obama and Crist. Rubio said he would stand with Obama on issues they agreed upon but not the stimulus package. Rubio has the self-disclipine not to go off in wacky attacks. John McCain never learned that message.

Rubio reiterates Jeb Bush's message that Republicans must change the tone of their anti-illegal immigrant message. Rubio is incorrect that the GOP loves immigrants. Republicans have lost Hispanic votes in the last two election cycles. Republicans have built their empire on the Southern strategy. Rubio does deliver the

Rubio sounds more like David Brooks than Michele Bachmann. I disagree with Rubio's conservative ideology. It is interesting to hear a Republican coherently define why he is a conservative. Too many Republicans repeat trite talking points. Rubio comes off as an intellectual compared to his fellow Republicans. That says more about the current GOP talent pool than it is a statement on Rubio. He is a savvy politician. The GOP hasn't had a good policy idea since welfare reform and Bill Clinton made that his own.

If I was a GOP operative, Rubio would be the kind of candidate I would be recruiting for all levels of the party. John Boehner and Eric Cantor only make Democrats look better. I see Rubio and pray Democrats will recruit Pam Iorio. Kendrick Meek and Dan Gelber will have problems against Rubio.

What really bothered me about the interview is Rubio's insistence that trickle down economics works.

Rubio: The economic role of government should be very, very limited, in paticular. I don't want to live in a country where government gets to pick the winners and the losers in our economy. When government picks the winners and the losers; the winners are always these big business companies that can influence the process. The small entrepreneur, the ones whose creates jobs and opportunity, the ones whose always lead America through tough times into the good times are hurt in an environment where government picks winners and losers.

But Florida Republicans do pick winners and losers. Rubio attempted to cut funding into Medicaid. Rubio attempted to implement what would have been of the highest sale tax increases in the country. Rubio talks about big bussiness wielding influence on legislators. As he was about to become Speaker, Rubio landed a Ray Sansom-style deal. Rubio was hired by Broad & Cassel to a $300,000-a-year job.

Rubio is beatable if Democrats attack his record. Personal attacks will not work. Rubio is to likable.