A Basic Blog. Warning: Republican Owned and Operated. - Victoria Advocate

Catching up on my reading, I found this article: http://www.victoriaadvocate...

It brushes up on who was elected from our area as a National Delegate. I pushed this idea to “people” at the convention. I thought someone from Victoria should be put in the running for National Delegate. My idea was ignored and shrugged off as no big deal.

For reasons stated in an earlier blog, I couldn’t be there the last day of the convention for those nominations, so I can’t add what happened then. Congratulations to Roy though, he is a true patriot who believes in our Party and Platform.

Speaking of our Texas Republican Party platform, the Rules Committee tried to pass a rule that ALL TEXAS REPUBLICANS running for office and endorsed by the Party must sign and acknowledge their agreement with the Texas Republican Platform - to receive funding.

The rule was shot down. Evidently, the majority your current elected officials (Party Leadership, SREC, office holders, etc.) and the people they appointed decided that this would infringe upon their Constitutional rights.

If you are speechless right about now, don't feel bad. The majority of your Senatorial District (18) was too. I am also shocked because our Republican Party Chairman, Tina Benkiser, told the 10,000 people who were at the convention that, "the Texas Republican Party platform is the best written document in the country, next to the Bible."

Like I said - this is a sad time for the Republican Party.

A decent amount of John McCain's key votes are consistent with that of Democrats. It sickens me that the media was able to spin his web of nonsense long enough to garner him the Republican nomination. It is also noted by Congressional Quarterly that in 2001, McCain's support for his partyreached an all time low of 67%.

Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watc..., http://www.sonofcain.com

In fact, most of our Republican leaders are voting inconsistent with our party platform and values, and most Republicans sit idly and watch it happen.

We have two Democratic Nominees for President, in my opinion.

70% of our great United States of America does NOT like the way the country is being taken care of (or not being taken care of). Why do Republicans think that McCain will win against Obama in November?

WAKE UP!

If McCain and the established members of the Republican Party do not wake up soon and reach out to the MILLIONS of Republicans they are currently ignoring, we will LOSE in November.

You know it, I know it, and the Democrats are laughing about it.

As some of you may know, I was a delegate to the largest political convention in the world: The Texas Republican Party State Convention.

While it was an emotional experience, it was also a learning experience. I was constantly taking mental notes, anxiously waiting the time I would have to sit down and write it all out. I wanted to make sure that I got every vote, every detail right.

Luckily, the Hilton Americas hotel charges you 50 billion dollars an hour for internet access, and I had to wait to get home to post my diatribe. I am not used to proofing what I have written. I usually blog in a mad fit to get my opinions out there, because I feel that what comes from my brain first, is always my most raw and honest thoughts.

Saturday morning, the last day of the convention, I woke to my 14 month old having a coughing fit, as he had been all night. The medicine I brought with me was not alleviating his symptoms at all, and the mysterious goo oozing from his eyes meant that we needed to get home and to the doctor. No matter how many kids I have, I feel like I will never be able to shake the “Paranoid Mom” title.

After we got home, and all was said and done, it was 11 p.m. and we were in the ER with not only my baby, but my 4 year old as well. The mystery goo was from an ear infection and they both had a nasty cold/flu.

Back to the reason I brought you to this place…

The convention and the happenings within will be shared in due time. I feel it necessary to mention that we had quite a few elected officials take the time out of their schedules to be at the convention. Geanie Morrison, T. Michael O’Connor, Paul Polasek, David Hagan and Mary Anne Wyatt were among the delegates from Victoria County. To be fair, I did get word that Steve Tyler did not attend due to a family emergency.

I want to write a blog about the convention soon, but honestly, I am wrestling with the contents of said blog entry. Some of the votes taken were by secret ballot, but reported by County, so I could pretty much tell you who voted what. Some of the votes were taken by voice and by merely standing up; assuring that no expense or time was spared by the Republican Party. After all, Mitt Romney was the guest speaker at an overpriced, prepaid dinner.

That being said, I, along with all of the other 27 of us that showed up, know who cast what vote for which cause. While I want to be fair in my reporting of this event, I have to remind myself that I am not a reporter. I don’t have to divulge everything... not yet anyway.

I will just say to all of my elected officials: I will be watching you more closely now. I have seen the heart of Texas Politics and I am beyond saddened by the inner workings of my Party. If you were at the convention, you heard my thoughts on the matters we were faced with to vote on.

I will be holding each of you (my elected officials) accountable for your actions, and simply put: If you do not do your jobs and follow the rules – I will make sure that I find someone who WILL do those simple tasks – and replace you.

Finally, the bread and butter of this blog entry: Nueces County.

It seems that the County Chairman of Nueces County thinks he lives in Never Never Land, and so do half of his “followers.”

To make a sordid story short, the Nueces County Chairman, Michael Bertuzzi broke the law by allowing Precinct Chairman to add delegates to their minutes after they had been voted on at the Precinct Convention. It is allowed to add names of people who do not attend their Precinct Convention, but after that slate is voted upon, you cannot add any more names.

Several delegates realized that after their Precinct Conventions, numerous rules were being broken. The Republican Party of Texas rules say that Precinct Minutes are public record and that any meetings held by the Temporary Committees before the convention are open. Mr. Bertuzzi not only would not allow the delegates to see the original minutes, but he also wouldn’t allow them to attend open meetings of the Temporary Committees.

The county convention came and the delegates tried to get the chairman to recognize them as they heard names of people being called out that were not voted on at their precinct conventions. They were ignored. Here is the audio of the power trip sure to go down in Texas Republican History: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Since it was clear that the people running the convention would not follow basic rules (RPT Rules, Robert’s Rules), the delegates left the convention, and held a “rump” convention outside.

A lawsuit was then filed on behalf of the disenfranchised by Vanessa Cahill and eventually won by the delegates in Nueces County. Not only was Mr. Bertuzzi in the wrong, but sworn testimony proved that the Texas Republican Party Chair, Tina Benkiser not only knew of numerous violations, but condoned them.

Here is a video of Benkiser’s take on the lawsuit: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

After watching that video, I wonder if she knows that most of the party knows that she has not only seen the lawsuit’s contents, and was fully aware of them, but she spoke with Beretuzzi directly about them.

Once the delegates were granted access to the original precinct minutes, they realized why there was such a fight over seeing them. Out of 230 delegates who were to attend the County Convention, 151 of those were not voted on by the people who attended their Precinct Conventions. Of those 151 people, some 50 of those people did not even vote in the Republican Primary.

Some of the people who were added after the fact were: Mr. Bertuzzi, the Nueces County Chairman; Robert “Bob” Jones, SD20’s SREC Committeeman; Joe McComb, former State Representative (District 33); and (drumroll) Lloyd Neal, the Nueces County Judge (former Corpus Christi Mayor). Also among the rule breakers were numerous people running for Constable, State Representative, County Commission, Tax Assessor, and the actual chairmen and appointees of all of the Temporary Committees.

That would explain why the meetings were not open and Benkiser was downplaying the lawsuit.

The delegates filed a challenge asking the Republican Party to refuse to seat the Nueces Delegation that broke the rules and the law. I personally talked to an uncountable number of people before the vote on the Nueces scandal at the convention. I even emailed numerous people the audio, court orders, and names of the people who were involved.

Once at the convention, we were informed that the Temporary (appointed) Credentials Committee dismissed the Nueces challenge because they allegedly did not file the paperwork correctly. Attempts to get the argument heard on the main floor in the general session were useless. Imagine having to shout amid (really bad) background music and over 6000 people chattering, while the chairman of the convention is making an effort to not see or hear you.

In the end, a lot of people stood to vote on something either they knew about and didn’t care, or they just didn’t take the time to read about (in which case you shouldn’t be voting at all). The Nueces delegation got to vote on their own challenge (all 230 of them), which is yet another rule violation that was ignored.

We all stood for out vote when it was time and Benkiser looked around for 3 seconds as if she was actually trying to count all 6000 of us and then said, “The Ayes have it.” Let me tell you, I don’t know how anyone else does it, but we Texas Republicans have it down to a science.

Fast forward to today.

I receive an email that sheds even more light on the rule breakers. After quadruple checking and going to the voter registration office, it was found that not only did about 50 people who attended the county convention not even vote in the primary, but 7 (SEVEN) of them actually voted in the DEMOCRAT primary and 6 (SIX) of them were not even registered to vote!

Even more egregious is that 2 of the people who voted in the Democrat Primary were delegates and alternates at the REPUBLICAN STATE COVENTION. Even more horrifying: Of the alternates at our State Convention was not even registered to vote at all.

So now we are left with this mess.

I am a Republican and I think that the Texas Republican Platform is a near perfect document. I stand for peace, liberty, freedom, less taxes, and (can I get an “Amen”) smaller government!

I love my country (I fulfilled an 8 year contract with the Army Reserves) and I support my troops, even though I wish we could get them home where they belong.

I am 100% Christian and a staunch supporter and voice for the unborn babies who cannot yet fight for themselves.

I will now use this space to reach out to all of my fellow Republicans: After seeing and hearing the facts, are you going to let the elected Republican Officials in Nueces County commit these heinous rule violations and give your party a bad name?

They must be held accountable. They are not representing our Grand ‘Ol Party and we should be ashamed to count them among those of us who care about winning in November.

Please talk to your SREC Committeeman and Committeewoman, along with the Republican Party leadership in Austin and let them know how you feel about this gross desecration of our rules.

6.19.08/1:12 a.m.

(taken from the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/s...)

Sued Texas GOP ordered to follow convention rules
Republican activists' Houston case warned state leaders will try to shut out grass-roots opposition at meeting next week

By ALAN BERNSTEIN
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

A Harris County judge on Wednesday ordered the Texas Republican Party to comply with state election law at its state convention in Houston next week after Republican activists alleged that the party illegally uses procedures to minimize grass-root dissent.

Visiting Judge Tom Sullivan issued the temporary restraining order on Wednesday, a few hours after it was requested in a lawsuit filed by activists across the state.

Represented by lawyer Gary Polland, a former Harris County Republican Party chairman, the group alleges that party leaders violated procedural laws at past conventions and plan to do so again. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday.

Texas law says a political party's state convention must choose a permanent chairman before doing most official business. Polland and Wharton County GOP Chairwoman Debra Medina said the party instead elects a permanent chairman late in the convention, shutting off dissent beforehand about the selection of convention delegates and new state party leaders, the adoption of a platform and other actions.

"If they want to exclude the grass roots and control the process it's not right," Polland said.

Medina worked in the primary re-election campaign of her congressman, Ron Paul. The activists she heads call themselves "Goldwater Conservatives, Reagan Republicans, Robertson Crowd, Ron Paul Republicans, and, well, real Conservatives" on their Web site, www.fairconvention.org.

Texas Republican Party spokesman Hans Klingler said the party follows the rules and is willing to address complaints about how the convention is conducted.

"We are a rule-of-law party," he said.

The state convention at the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center will select delegates to the Republican National Convention and hear speeches by top GOP elected officials. Some Republicans in Galveston, Nueces and Parker counties want the convention to block the seating of delegates from those areas on grounds that they were selected in violation of party rules.

Without changing the way the convention is run, Polland said, the party risks alienating some of its grassroots supporters, "and 10 or 15 percent disaffected Republican voters means (Democrat) Barack Obama wins Texas."

Polland and Medina are convention delegates.

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The Texas GOP Grassroots has made landmark moves in the past days. I have called and emailed the media outlets in Victoria, and even though this directly affects us, nothing was printed or broadcasted.

This is embarrassing and disappointing. Republicans take up a large part of Victoria and the surrounding area and I thought this a newsworthy piece.

"BE IT RESOLVED, That the Republican Party is the party of the open door. Ours is the party of liberty, the party of equality of opportunity for all and favoritism for none."

- The Rules Of The Republican Party

The Texas Republican Party is in a state of disarray. We, the party’s foundation, need to take a stand for what is right. We must force the leadership to follow the rules established each biennial by you: the Convention Delegates.

Many of us have not attended a state Republican convention recently or even at all. What will be the agenda? What parts do we, the delegates, play in the overall scheme of the party’s operation? How will this year’s convention be different?

These questions and many others will be answered at the first Victoria County Republican State Convention Training. This free event will be held at the American Legion Hall at 1402 E. Santa Rosa St. on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 7pm. ALL State Convention Delegates are invited to attend this function.

We have invited the SREC candidates so that we might have the opportunity to get to know them before the Convention and we also extend the invitation to all Victoria County Delegates and Alternates to attend this function.

Please read the letter below, written by a grassroots activist from Austin, which clearly illustrates the state of our party and what must be done to save it.

Texas is the Reddest State in the United States of America. The percentage of voters who not only vote Republican, but self-identify as Republican is the highest in Texas. We take pride in the fact that Family Values, Economic Freedom, and Religious Freedom reign supreme in our State.

The Republican Party of Texas Platform is perhaps one of the finest declarations of intent and values ever created. The men and women who contributed to this document poured their hearts and beliefs into this directive to Republican Officials. Individuals who identify themselves as the Grassroots Republicans composed the majority of the contributors to the Platform.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the organization that represents the Grassroots, the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) has seen their hands tied by the influence of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Chair. The RPT Chair walks into the SREC with a list of "suggestions" and expects them to become a part of the SREC's directives. The Business Tax and the TTC have flourished under a Republican-controlled state government, under the direction of the subordinate SREC and the highly influential Republican Party of Texas.

This disregard for the Platform, the Constitution, and the Grassroots can no longer continue. The Grassroots built the strength of this Grand Ol' Party of Texas and should regain its influence. We know what the average voter values. We don't all concentrate on the same priorities: some want an end to pork barrel spending; some desire an end to various federal programs; some demand an end to illegal immigration; some wish to eliminate abortion; some despise the notion of foreign-owned toll roads obtained through eminent domain; some despise the socialist directives of the minimum wage, welfare, socialized healthcare, and all other government intrusions that lead to higher taxes and more government control. Whatever our priorities, Texas Republicans are the most Conservative voters in the country, but our values are rarely reflected by the actions of our elected officials because the Grassroots has little say in the Establishment-controlled RPT.

We're tired of complaining to deaf ears and making excuses to independents. We're tired of losing elections and we are tired of arguing at our local Republican Clubs for the values and beliefs that are already articulated in the RPT Platform. We've told them what we want, but, somehow, our elected officials haven't heard us.

Join the real Conservatives at the State Convention by voting for a Permanent Convention Chair who will ensure a Fair Convention, and, more importantly, by voting for an RPT Chair who will guarantee the kind of meaningful change that will ensure that the Grassroots Republicans have the influence that they rightly deserve.

Make this State Convention meaningful and not just about the social networking. We owe the 10th largest economy in the world our full attention. You owe it to your neighbors to do everything that you can to ensure that the integrity that the Republicans purport to value returns to the Republican Party.

For information about encouraging our Texas Republican Party leaders to follow the rules and in turn make the 2008 Texas Republican Convention fair, please visit .http://www.fairconvention.o...

We, as citizens, voters, and Texans - want and deserve a fair convention.

To learn more about this event, please caall Dale Zuck at 572-0024 or Toni Marek at 485-0111.

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..." - US Declaration of Independence