Saturday, February 16, 2008

FSU leads UF (go figure)


I got a huge kick out of reading the article where FSU accepted online voting and UF did not. It just goes to show you how different the playing fields are in collegiate politics - even in our State of Florida. Even FSU, with a strong Greek tradition and it's own nefarious version of FBK, was able to give the student body what it wanted. What you have at UF is a carefully-organized system of Minority Rule -- no, no, not rule by Minorities (e.g. Hispanic, African Americans, Asian Americans), but rather, rule by 11-14% of UF population over a super, super, super-majority whose voice is cancelled out by the surreptitious dictates of secret societies, Greek bosses, and corrupt turncoats that prostitute themselves, in the hopes of being accepted, get used left, right & sideways and then get left at the curb.

I'm not on the ground, but on the Ryan Day matter...I think he's an ok person. From the few times I've actually spoken to him, I think he legitimately thought Moseley represented some change, similarly to O&B's presidential candidate Tommy Jardon. However, Tommy and Ryan and Kim and Ben and all of them, it can be argued, have all been turncoats at one time or other. Tommy's past credentials and his almost selfless work in the GDI line of duty easily cancelled out his 'dropping the ball' last year. Day, however, remains on the shitlist of many a GDI, call it the fallout of internal politics, the effect of social cliques, or perhaps just a sign of the times.

What's good about this election cycle is that the Independents have a strong executive ticket. I can't opine on the senate slate and would much rather have preferred the route I suggested (strong senate slate and less emphasis on the Exec, a suggestion backed by GDI Great Ken Kerns). Still, it seems almost unconscionable to ask a student political party not to run an executive slate. The Greeks will mow down the GDI's, but this year's effort will serve to set the stage for bigger battles to come. This year's executive, I feel, will give the GDI's the momentum that the Fall 2005 Impact provided.

I also believe that having Frank Bracco in the veep slot is critical. His work on Chomp The Vote, has rendered an all-but-defunct agency into a powerhouse that the [student] Chief Executive milks on a routine basis. His Vice Presidential candidacy will also give Bracco an invaluable level of exposure. All in all, I believe that in a very short period of time, Frank Bracco will become the quintessential independent candidate for Student Body President. He will also become recipient of the highest numbers of bribes and threats not to run, if he continues on this path. I predict that young Bracco may even be offered a Tap in exchange for a promise-not-to-run in '09 -- yeah, he's that big of a threat.

i've been wrong many, many times before, but going on three years of continuous blogging on UF SG, I am of the firm opinion that Frank Bracco, the Frank Bracco many of you dismiss as a non-factor, has been duly noted as the antithesis of such my key players in the Greek community. A guy like Pedro Allende or even J. Clayton Brett would have had this kid in their sights long before yours truly would be breaking the story. If Bracco runs in '09 -- beware!

The accord between the Greeks & the corrupt leadership of BSU will hold for at least another year. There may be hope in that Paul Drayton will want to run for the presidency; in this Frank Bracco would certainly be a name Mr. Drayton would consider for veep, being as the Greeks will laugh he tried to pull a Robert Mack to Dennis Ngin's blunder back in '05.

I'm not sure when E.J. graduates, but he too would have made for an impressive Independent candidate, imo. Who knows...keep me posted!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

EJ considered running but got shut down real quick. He has another year left.

Too bad Frank is doing the three year track and graduates in Spring '09. It would have been entertaining to watch that comedy show!

Anonymous said...

I think BSU will be angry (at least the rank and file) when they realize that the SGP director, a Theta Chi, wasted $150k.

You see, when SGP was getting the money together to pay for Kanye West's retainer to preform at UF, they realized they blew 150k on misapproproations, late fees, illegal spending, and illegal vendors. So because they wasted all that money, Kanye didn't come to UF.

(That would have made UF one of four stops in the US on his world tour.)

Theta Chi is Kevin Reilly's house.

Anonymous said...

the idea of frank bracco on the board of trustees is something i think everyone can get behind

Anonymous said...

frank bracco is that much of a threat to himself

Anonymous said...

(1) Ryan Day is a sleaze who revels in his sleaziness.
(2) Frank Bracco will never get into FBK.
(3) Saying that Bracco is the indies' J. Clayton Brett is laughable.

Anonymous said...

time to get the...

MACHEN OUT!

GRRRRRR RARRR GROWL RRRRRRRRRRRR

francisco said...

Why do everything think I am some brilliant political thinker :lol:. First it was the anon. comments from last week now it is Christian.

My thoughts on politics:

Sitting on the Board of Trustees would be pretty cool but that's not for me, that's why Tommy will be doing it :-). Being President would remove you from interacting with the students way too much. Boyles and Moseley virtually disappeared from around campus when they became President. They are too busy in the Ivory Tower of the 3rd Floor to interact with the average student outside of the special appearances they make as "guest judge" for this event, to shake hands at that event, and whatnot...and rightfully so, I think I would want my President fighting for my rights in City Hall and in the Board Room rather than spending their time tabling 3 hours a day in Turlington. Now for me, I really like interacting with my peers but I also enjoy policy too (something I don't get to do too much of in SG currently).

I think the perfect mix is something we will be doing on the city advisory committee I sit on. The committee oversees the distribution of over $400,000 of federal funding to non-profit and housing agencies in the city. We are holding a public forum, meeting with different non-profits, and doing site visits to check out what the current situation is in the city. Then in the following months (March, April) we will be deciding what our goals are, setting up the budget breakdown, and so forth. You get to meet with the community, hear their needs, and then tailor the policy to the needs expressed by the community. The same thing applies to a scholarship program I started with some friends: a couple of us used to work for the school board, sit on joint committees, and be really involved in County School Board politics as students and we saw a need that was expressed by several individuals and we tailored our program to fit those needs.

Now I think you can take the same notions listed above and apply it to your "middle men" of SG and you would have an extremely well functioning institution (once tailored and streamlined a little bit). These policy makers that interact with students are supposed to be your agency heads, your Cabinet Secretaries, and your Senators. We all know what the current situation with Senators is so I will leave that be. Some of our agency heads interact quite well with what they perceive as their constituency but more visibility and interaction with all students would be better. Cabinet Secretaries have basically become pretty useless and are deadweight at this point in time. McBee as Parking & Transportations did a lot but he is an outlier. Your average is our first Transfer Students Secretary, the kid just didn't show up. The Transfer Students Secretary’s biggest task is being as Transfer Student Preview but the kid was not at a single one. I ended up being Transfer Student Secretary, CTV Director, and overall SG Rep to transfer students throughout the summer. Tyler, Danielle, a couple others showed up to a session or two but I was really the only one throughout the summer out there the whole time.

So that is a glimpse of my thoughts on politics. I don't think that makes me a political genius; I just think it is plain common sense...but maybe I am in the minority with that opinion.

Anonymous said...

PTI Turns down Orange and Blue Party's request.

Whatever will they do now without online voting anywhere near a ballot?

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhh SG Blogging...TheRadikal is back!

Anonymous said...

Frank, NO ONE thinks you're a brilliant political thinker.

No one.

francisco said...

Anon. 6:29PM: Thanks for agreeing with me :-).

Anonymous said...

Paul running in '09 that's a scary thought. I guess 09' looks like an open race at this point.