Writer incensed over letter soliciting donations

In a recent letter to the editor regarding Lspanrry Reismspann’s column about the local Republican Executive Committee, the writer asked why I was so incensed by a fundraising letter sent out by Jackie Rosario.

One of the recipients of the letter was an elderly gentleman who lives in Connecticut with business interests in Florida, which I manage. He is also the client of a local CPA who is also on the board of a prominent locally owned bank. We use a PO box for communications with this mutual client. 

This address is not in any voter database. The only place Ms. Rosario could have found this address was on my wife’s campaign report, but that’s not what angered me.

The letter made an affirmative claim that this gentleman had supported Rosario in the past and asked for another donation. That is nothing but deceitful. I was introduced to this gentleman by the aforementioned CPA,who asked me to help him as his bookkeeper quit suddenly. 

Working with the general manager of the business, we quickly determined the bookkeeper had embezzled well over $100,000. I testified at her trial and she went to prison. So, this gentleman is vulnerable to being scammed.

In addition, Rosario sent the letter to several business associates and even our son’s girlfriend. Yes, I’m incensed when someone deceitfully solicits donations from clients, associates, and close family friends. 

I, and others interviewed in the column, want a thriving REC.  Rather than asking their critics questions, perhaps they should ask why membership is dwindling, they are in poor financial health, and why so many local candidates they endorsed have been so soundly defeated.

Some observations about the midterm elections

Turnout for the Nov. 8 midterm election was below 50 percent in traditionally “blue” counties such as Broward, Miami-Dade, Alachua and Leon. “Red” counties averaged more than 60 percent and “no party affiliation” turnout was below 25% and trended Republican. 

Florida increased its Republican advantage in the House of Representatives from 20 to 8 over the previous 16 to 11.

The Florida Senate went to 28 to 12 from 26 to 14, creating a GOP super majority of 70%.

The Florida House Republican advantage went from 85 to 35 from 80 to 40, also creating a GOP super majority.

Column about Nazi Germany a pleasant surprise

I have to say, I love being surprised, especially in a good way.  Bruce Anderson’s column “New generspantion of messengers will pspanss on lessons from the Holocspanust” was a very pleasant surprise. 

When I saw that the article was about Nazi Germany, I was poised to endure the crazy comparison to politicians on the right as has been done numerous times in the press. Rather than telling his students how inherently bad and racist America is and how if you are white you must be a white supremacist, he takes his students to Germany and gives them a hearty dose of reality.  

His lessons are not about “feelings” they are about the reality of what happened in Germany not so long ago. The reality of what happens when we let leaders have too much power and control of the media. The reality of what happens when we demonize the other side.  

His students will indeed come away from his trips having learned lessons that no textbook could possibly teach them.

Voters who confuse principles with partisanship

In every democracy there’s a contingent of voters who confuse principles with partisanship. Instead of being thoughtful, neutral participants in our most sacred democratic process, they vote with their emotions, not their intellect.  

They’ve always represented a threat to government (which we continue to experience with closed-minded former President Donald Trump supporters who’ve joined his personality cult, willing to sacrifice our democracy to his self-centered ambitions).

Tim Ryan, who lost his Ohio senatorial bid to Trump-backed J.D. Vance, put in stark relief the character deficit between the former president and himself when he said in his concession speech: “We have in this country “too much hate, too much anger… (and) we need more compassion, more love, more grace.”  He went on to say something that should be inscribed in stone at the entrance to our Capitol building: “I have the privilege to concede the race to J.D. Vance because the way this country operates (is) you lose an election, you concede (because) you respect the will of the people.”

By sustaining the Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Trump continues to disrespect the tens of millions of Americans who cast their votes for Joe Biden and the integrity of America’s most sacred democratic principle: the right to vote for the candidate of your choice. 

But Trump doesn’t care about our individual right to vote if such a vote is cast for someone other than himself. Trump’s narcissism is so much a part of his character he is willing to sacrifice the sanctity of the very foundation of our constitutional democracy to satisfy his obsessive, egomaniacal objectives.

On the evening of Nov. 8, Tim Ryan overcame the dark shadow of Donald Trump with a beacon of hope. 

How do we solve the Ukraine problem?

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not return everything he has taken from Ukraine unless he loses the war. Before he totally loses, he may well be eliminated by the hardliners in Russia and they may be a replacement who is worse than Putin.

So how do we give Putin an out?

My thoughts are to return Crimea and the rest of the land he took to Ukraine with certain stipulations.

1) Russia will repair the damage to Crimea. 2) No troops, military equipment, war ships etc. will be present at any time by either country in Crimea. 3) All people taken from Crimea shall be returned to Crimea. 4) Crimea will be an open district with equal access for peaceful purposes only to both countries. 

A small UN contingency force will be present to ensure the above.

The same can be done with the rest of the territory taken, including the disbanding of all militias.

Congratulations to Gov. DeSantis

Floridians can be proud of the landslide victory giving Gov. Ron DeSantis another well-deserved four years in office. During COVID, he protected those at greatest risk and opened our schools and the state economy while much of the country remained shut down. He also spoke out against vaccine mandates supported by Washington and other states.

He demonstrated this extraordinary leadership despite the near-unanimous criticism of newspapers and broadcasters nationwide. That’s what leaders do — make the hard decisions when that’s what it takes to “do the right thing.”  

And real leaders don’t have to keep telling everyone how good they are. People can see it for themselves. Our country could use a leader like this in Washington to run the federal government.

Where was the sand for sandbags?

When news hit that Nicole was on its way, I had to get ready for my first hurricane.

I had my Indian River County alert system already and added the FEMA app. I read sources to get ready. One of the things mentioned was to get sandbags if you’re near a source of water that may overflow.

So, I bought some sandbags that expand when you add water. I thought I should fill the sandbags first, so I called the IRC Emergency Management Department and asked where I could get sand for my bags.

A nice voice answered and told me the county didn’t have a sand source for residents. She suggested Lowes or Home Depot. I then tried IRC Public Works to see if anyone there knew of a source where I could collect sand.

I suggested the street along Ocean Drive near the boardwalk. I was told the county didn’t have a sand source for residents and that I couldn’t use the sand in the street because that needed to be put back on the beach.

I thought a little later that I should have said I would have returned the sand to the beach after the storm came through. My brother suggested I should have just taken the sand, “What are they going to do throw you in jail? I can just see you coming before a judge and the clerk announcing you stole sand off a county street. The judge would throw the case out.”

Shouldn’t Indian River County have a better system in place?