Monday, June 02, 2008

The Independent Conscience

Before sidetracking into yet another wordy tangent of Indie-Perspective(s), what are the 'givens' here? Independents are a distinct class, a legitimate demographic of student voters, there is an Independent Vote and that vote bears a bloc of constituents that account for more than what's not FBK, Greek, and/or others "connected to the latter or the former by some tie other than membership or subservience...

For years, if not decades, the Machine (through its agents in power) sought to build an iron clad appearance of absolute rule. Campaigning against all odds and eating consecutive losses might have been enough to throw off the Indie-Brass, but to keep the rank-in-file GDI thinking small, the System had to have active "press" & "PR" heads to design, gloss, and mass-market an 'open' on the surface regime, candy-coated-sweet, but vast & intricate, ready to take on any Indie Party and/or pounce on even the most minute defiance.

You'd have to be a fool to think that the Machine is run by one. Even the Keys know they can't run SG alone. In the early days, FBK had to push ODK out of the way -- there wasn't enough pie even then; next FBK only had to worry about pinning Greek houses against each other, but with the advent of Civil Rights and seeing itself forced to accept African Americans and women, the organization had to evolve its strategies; but today, maintaining power is a far more delicate and complex artform.

Elitism at the Florida campus has become far more subtle - or secret, depending on your slant. Still, every so often you have a blunder, take the UF College of Medicine Scandal for instance or go back in history to Jamal Sowell's Endorsement of Mel Martinez, Joe Goldberg keeping UF in FSA, AIPAC ties, Tutor Zone, Premier Productions, SG as buffer between student outrage and UPD headquarters....

You'd have to be a fool if you thought one FBK or even all the fraternities together could keep this little bunch in charge of, arguably, the largest incubator of prospective Floridian politicians-to-be!

For years, if not decades, the Machine wanted the rank-in-file Independent to feel ostracized, a nomad on his own college campus. Green, recycling, more club funding (Frats have houses, students have the Union), libraries open later, extended bus routes (name me an ATO or ZTA that rides RTS except for the Later Gator?), study centers, stripping Gator Growl, FBK, and the Greek Council of disproportionate representation in SG, Radical Rush, the CMC, Hare Krishnas, and protests, guitars on Turlington, non-conformity...

If this blog does anything, hopefully it will dispel the Machine's media power play of painting over all GDI's with brush strokes of defeat and making Independents feels like a scattered bunch of left-outs.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indies are a scattered bunch of leftouts - that's just a fact.

Christian Duque said...

No, no...that little PR blunder that's been sold as the 'Mainstream Truth' for decades is slowly but surely being dispelled even at the rank-in-file and alum levels.

Anonymous said...

If that was true, Anonymous, then the FBK Machine wouldn't keep winning only 5,000 votes out of a student body of over 50,000.

I'm not saying the Indies as presently constituted in SG politics represent the majority. But the non-FBK/non-Greek demographic most certainly is. Tapping into that larger group would do wonders to the GDIs, if they could ever figure out how.

Besides, the premise of your statement would suggest that GDIs could be brought into the System, if only FBK/Greeks cared to bribe them. And that just ain't true, not for most, anyway.

Anonymous said...

Duque you're a nutjob.

Anonymous said...

The only indie worth a shit is Eric Wolf. And, occasionally, Frank Bracco.

Anonymous said...

anonymous is quite the comedian...unless "worth a shit" means "ready for conversion"

francisco said...

Yeah, I'm somewhat worth a shit according to some anon poster. I just wish I could tell if anon was a newbie or an old geezer :lol:...hmm...I wonder if I can be considered an old geezer now :ponders this point:.

francisco said...

On that note; would anon. 4:26PM mind informing us what they have done recently for the student body? Last time I looked around there were only a handful of us that attend Faculty Senate, city commission meetings, Board of Trustee meetings, previews/transfer previews, that plan events, and that work on large projects such as voter registration.

If anon. 4:26PM is a Senator (from the arrogance of that comment, I will assume so) I also doubt anon. is worth their shit unless it is someone that serves the student body outside chambers like Senator Michel and Grasshopper.

Anonymous said...

Frank:

Just because you serve the student body by 'attending' certain meetings doesn't mean that others can't serve the student body by doing things that are different from what you do.

I also find it funny you need to run to a blog and list all the things you do as if it's some sort of validation.

francisco said...

Anon. 1:46PM: Very true, very true, there are many ways to work to make UF a better place but somehow I doubt anon. 4:26PM is one of those individuals seeing how he seems to think there are only two "free thinkers" that are "worth a shit".

I run a blog? Hmmm...that's not a bad idea. Maybe I will start a blog dealing with my two newest issues: the troubles of ordering voter reg. forms from the Division of Elections or how I came to the realization of how bad of a film maker I am (don't worry, you will see if you come to Senate this week) :lol:.