Monday, March 09, 2009

A New Term: "The Officer Corps"

TR Terms - A Review

Officials - the hardline-moderate wing of the O&B Party pre-2009. This faction, was loosely led by outgoing Party President Sam Miorelli and retained control of the party, during a brief mutiny led by the 'the Progs' culminating with the 12/11 Scandal.


'Progs' - disenfranchised minority wing of the O&B Party pre-2009, led by Benjamin Dictor. The faction sought a primary, but withdrew during the 12/11 Scandal.


'Prags' - smaller ideological tendency, found in both factions. Leading figures in this movement included Mark McShera and Joe Bennett (who is no longer involved with SG).


"The Officer Corps" - label for mid-level party leadership in O&B, Progress during 2009 Negotiations Period - (beginning with rumored talks between Eric Conrad & Joe Trimboli.

"The OC's", as postulated by this blog, will likely man the last holdout pockets of resistance to an O&B/Progress reconciliation, should such a move be either premature or backward in substance.


12/11 - Progs believe cling to this date as marking a deceptive Executive Order by O&B Party President Donte Hargrove, whereas Officials believe that Progs had ample notice of the meeting time(s) and that this is a mere smoke screen.

"I don’t see the December 11th meeting as a cause for the now-Progress Party members leaving Orange & Blue but rather a manifestation of the actual root causes. I chose to not attend the meeting because I was uncomfortable with the idea that we would hold a critical discussion without a significant portion of the party being present. As it was, quorum was called with only 13 members present. There simply wasn’t enough time for many senators to adjust their schedule, especially given the proximity of the date to finals.

I don’t want anyone to be crying over spilt milk, though. In the words of Lady Macbeth, 'What’s done is done.'"


Sen. Dave Schneider (Progress)
3/09/2009

GMG Emails - Officials called the Progs bluff on this one. Progs failed to deliver the goods, though, 'the Officials' believe this turned the PR tide against them.


Toto - a rumored multiple personality of Justin Wooten. Many anon posts claimed Wooten engaged this double in lively conversations on bus-stops all throughout campus. These tales amounted to nothing but off-color humor. Toto also supposedly beat up Wooten at a Turlington restroom.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Christian Duque likes to feel important by making up new terms.

Joseph Trimboli said...

I have to say I have been wondering for quite some time now what "Toto" was all about and nobody I asked could explain it to me.

Your explanation is.... interesting.

Christian Duque said...

Yes, he does.

Anonymous said...

This idea that the meeting on 12/11 is a total joke. The people that were elected to MALs and Party Officers were all approved by unanimous consent (except for Cain when the vote was 13-1).

Considering that an MAL only needed 2/3, the Progs couldn't have done anything to change the outcome. People like Dave and Dictor said they either couldn't attend the meeting or felt uncomfortable to attend, had no problem with following the meeting on Wiggio, while they could have attended the meeting and expressed their opinions.

The truth of the matter is that 12/11 was not a scandal. Dictor kept threatening to leave the party a few times before this meeting occured, and then changed his tune on why he was leaving the party in January; when he claimed that someone stole the GMG emails and that people would step forward with information (which never occurred.)

Through the past few months, both sides are to blame for what occurred. There should have been better communication within the party before December. However, that does not change what happened. The truth of the matter is that Ben Dictor could have won a party primary. At the very beginning, people like Alden, Stacey, Alan, and Jacob were leaning Dictor.

However, it was the actions of Ben Dictor in the weeks to follow that sealed up the primary for Mark. The empty claims from Dictor that he had an IP address from an anonymous comment on the radikal, that one of Dictor's friends overheard a conversation between "members of the cabal" on campus which bashed Dictor, that all of a sudden Dictor couldn't go to an elite law school because of the economy (however, I hear that he will be attending Cornell), and then to seal it off, his claim that the GMG were stolen and that people would step forward.

It was these actions that sealed up the Primary. It wasn't a meeting on 12/11 that determined the fate of Ben Dictor, but the actions that he took leading up to that day.

And to Justin Wooten (who Duque has fallen in love with due to his lust for information and attention), what the hell are you talking about? You don't even go to school here. Some of the claims that you have been making regarding O&B are ridiculous and false. You claim that Alden admitted to Dictor that KH stole the GMG emails, yet Dictor never came forward with that. You make these claims that certain people trash your idol when you have no proof. Instead of believing everything your told, you need to realize that you're being lied to. It was "the left" that began calling you an FBI agent, and it was Dictor who claimed that you were crazy in December at a party meeting.

In the coming months, you'll realize that your party has no power in Senate. Gator/Unite does not feel threatened by Progress, and doesn't need to work with them. Instead, what you will notice is that O&B and Progress need each other and that the "partisan bickering" on both sides needs to end.

Justin Wooten said...

Anonymous Coward 12:17 PM,

I was at the 12/11 meeting and saw what happened for myself. Lots of Dictor supporters (like Tina Steiger and Fitz) could not legitimately make the meeting, which is why it was supposed to be cancelled. Donte stabbed us in the back and un-cancelled it at the last minute. The MAL seats were packed with people who would vote against Dictor in a primary, as well as previously non-voting members getting voting positions who would vote against Dictor. So there wasn't any further point in entertaining the idea of a primary for us. It also solidified in my mind that there is no point in working with O&B under the leadership of the cabal.

And I've already explained why I didn't register for classes this semester (though I did the last two previous semesters and will register for summer classes). Saying I'm not a student at UF is dishonest.

And yes, Dictor called Alden over the phone after Cavataro called Dictor asking him about the GMG emails. Dictor called Alden to try and get him to admit the truth to Cavataro, who was left out of the loop on it. I sat in his apartment while the call was going on, and I could hear the conversation between the two. Alden admitted to Dictor his knowledge that KH stole the emails from MGB. So have other people in some of the meetings that went down between Progress and O&B during January. I'm guessing that you already know the truth yourself, so that makes you a bold-faced liar as well.

As far as the FBI agent thing, I never said Bracco pulled it out of thin air. That doesn't change that fact that he was telling people that bullshit, and then lied about who he said it to and who said it to him (half the people he named told me to my face they never said that to Bracco, not even in a joking fashion).

It amazes me you people willingly lie about everything, even when behind the cowardly mask of anonymity.

Anonymous said...

Just for the record, you can add me to the list of people who were going to vote for Dictor in the primary until he made it clear he's a compulsive liar and a giant asshat.

Justin Wooten said...

You already were against Dictor before you were made a MAL, Graham. You told me yourself over AIM.

And Dictor isn't a liar, though most of the O&B clearly are, as they continually lie about the source of the GMG emails.

Anonymous said...

Agent Wooten,

You seem to forget that BEN DICTOR and his supporters agreed to the party bylaws that were adopted a few days before the meeting on 12/11. The purpose of the MALs were to get members of the party more involved and allow them to be voting members of the party; it was not meant to be a cock fight between Mark and Ben on who had the most votes.

You and your idol want to preach meritocracy, so please tell me why Joe, Josh N, Cain, Donnie, Graham, and Tyler did not have the merit to be elected as MALs. All 6 of them had been involved with the party before the election, and deserved to be voting member. Even if Dictor and co. had been at the meeting, it wouldn’t have made a difference as it has been noted many times that they would have received 2/3 of the vote.

To claim that “the cabal” was packing the MALs is a joke. I can easily make the claim that Grasshopper switched to O&B in December just to vote for Dictor. 12/11 wasn’t some deadly plot against your messiah, but the realization that the people with MERIT would vote for Mark. So instead of Dictor sticking to the bylaws that he agreed on, he chose to be the self-centered person that he is and left the party because he didn’t get what he wanted.

Also, you choose to ignore the true reason on why Dictor lost the primary. Dictor at one point had the support of the majority of the senators, and yet managed to lose that with the way he conducted himself in December. As Graham Clark just said in a comment, he was going to support Dictor until he realized that Dictor was “a compulsive liar.” Alan Yanuck was undecided between Mark and Dictor until Dictor started to give ultimatums to people. Stacey and Jacob both thought that Dictor was the more charismatic candidate and yet choose Mark because of the way Dictor handled himself in December.

If Dictor acted rationally, he would have won a primary. This would have been accomplished had he came forward months earlier and said he wanted to run for SBP. Instead, he made comment such as this one Oct 29th saying that “I am in no way the posterity of any 'Indie' party movement at this University. I hold no personal or partisan vendettas. I have absolutely nothing to personally gain from these actions. I am not up for re-election; I graduate at the end of my term and will have left Gainesville and the University of Florida by this time next year.”

Not only did Dictor make that comment, but continued to tell people that he had no desire to run for SBP, gave ultimatums to people, and lied about having IP addresses and hearing conversations that never took place.

Justin, this is the true reason why a few senators and people like Graham Clark changed their opinions on Ben Dictor. If you want to blame anyone for Ben losing a primary in which he walked out on, blame Ben.

Also, you keep making these claims that KH stole the emails from MGB, and yet offer up no proof. Why hasn’t Alden step forward? Who are these other people that have spoken out again KH? You want to call people liars, yet continue to write such bullshit when there has been no proof. If Alden or other really did step forward, Dictor would have gone straight to the Alligator with the information. Since the Alligator did not report on the situation, I cannot believe the accusations that you make.

Anonymous said...

Wooten, what would have been the proper course of action on the emails? What would the Prog cabal have done?

Anonymous said...

I didn't say anything about when I was made a MAL. I'm talking about back before Dictor lied about his involvement in the Facebook group, and before he got his deceptive article into the Alligator. Back then MALs didn't exist, but given the opportunity I would've voted for him.

Oh, and you can file the whole GMG issue under the "giant asshat" category. Regardless of what actually happened, the idea that it's immoral to break the law in order to expose government corruption is completely asinine, and I doubt Dictor even believes it himself.

francisco said...

Um, Justin, dude, I haven't lied about anything and I never stated I did not say it. In fact I came out and blatantly admitted that I repeated it (and, to the best of my knowledge, who I repeated it to). First you say I started this rumor, now you say there is the possibility that I didn't. Oh joy, there is reasonable doubt that (for once) I am not the mastermind behind something. You, Seigel, and Reilly would make great friends: you all seem to think I am responsible for EVERYTHING. A lawsuit is filed by Sam, must be Frank's doing (Reilly); filming my summer basketball commercial = up to no good (Reilly); a lawsuit is filed by Matt, must be Frank's doing (Seigel); I am an FBI agent, must be Frank's doing (you) :lol:.

I love it, I absolutely love it :lol:. I think the only person who is lying here is you, you state I started it then you backpedal. I could point you in the direction of Gator Party Senators who heard the joke about you being an FBI agent back in the Fall campaign (long before I ever even knew there was someone named Wooten).

Sir, get off your high horse and admit your mistake (or, in fact, don't, just drop this silly argument instead). I repeated a rumor that I heard from people in SDS and in Progress thinking it was a joke. The fact that you are offended by that is pretty shitty, but so is life. You repeat rumors about who supposedly "stole e-mails”, but you don't see me calling you a liar. As I told Ben back when he first brought the GMG e-mails to my attention, "show me any shred of evidence or any person that can back you other than your 4th hand knowledge of what you heard through a solid wood door while you were on your cell phone and I will help you take care of this and even file the police report." If you break the law (real state and federal law), you should be held accountable, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

francisco said...

Oh, and in Re to Graham's comments. I can back him on his statement. I remember being on Facebook chat with him and discussing filming various meetings and him applying for IMAGE. Although I cannot read someone's mind, he seemed pretty confident in Dictor's ability to lead and win.

Anonymous said...

I'm amazed how silly commenters love to wage their little fights at the entrance of Google's massive databases. Get ready to answer about your little drama queen attacks at your next interview.

francisco said...

Oh, and on my 3rd random post of the evening before I go out and wander the streets of Athens: you cannot get the IP addresses of anon. posters on Blogger (perhaps Christian can confirm this). I remember being told by Dictor that he had the IPs of people posting on the Radikal (as was mentioned in an earlier post), so I decided to do my research. I signed up for a Blogger account and I wasn't able to find a way to get the IP addresses of an anon. poster. I then went through the Terms and Privacy policies as they existed at the time and I only way I could figure out how to get the IPs would be a subpoena. Blogger being owned by Google further drives home the point: Google is serious about privacy and doesn't release IP addresses of its users to random people. I am not saying this is the absolute situation, but based on my research and what I found there isn't a way to get the IPs. Does that make Dictor a liar? Perhaps he was just misformed? Or perhaps he was simply mistaken but like the sound of saying he had IP address in a briefcase somewhere?

On the Google matter releasing IP addresses (and therefore Blogger doing so), here is the general statement that I found from a press release concerning the release of an IP address of an anon. Blogger that was in court in Isreal:

"Google's approach to providing users' personal data is clear – we only provide information to third parties (such as law enforcement agencies) when they have been through the proper legal process. This ensures that we are able both to protect the privacy of our users and act responsibly where people may have used Google's products to break the law."

Perhaps that really does make him a liar? I am willing to say he was just misinformed by his friends and decided not to check his facts. Or...it could be that my reserach is completely off...but it doesn't seem like it...

Justin Wooten said...

Anonymous Coward 5:28 PM,

I don't really care what you think the purpose of the MALs was at the time or whether or not the MALs had “merit.” Lots of people did hard work for the campaign, yet not a single person that wasn't anti-Dictor was nominated for a MAL seat. And in fact, the way you shot down Tannenbaum more than illustrates it wasn't about getting people involved with the party at all. The reality is the 12/11 meeting stuffed McShera supporters into voting positions.

There was no way Dictor “conducted” himself in December. He was responding to a vicious smear campaign by anonymous cowards like yourself. And don't give me any fucking bullshit about Alan Yanuck supporting Dictor until December. I went to the IHOP after the Tuesday night regarding the minority protections and the handscanner bill with a bunch of O&B people, and Yanuck made incredibly anti-Dictor and anti-Schneider statements to me (not to mention statements in the parking lot across from the Reitz Union about there not being any “good Jews” in Lebanon).

We got Dictor to change his mind on staying at UF, so I don't particularly care that you want to keep bringing up the non-issue of him graduating and leaving.

And I offered the proof I know about. Again, anonymous O&B cowards demonstrate they are liars to the core. What kind of stupid question is “Why hasn't Alden stepped forward?” Maybe because he is trying to protect a friend from potential legal ramifications? Maybe because he was told not to say anything? Because he doesn't want to be ostracized by your party for telling the truth? Maybe because he is a lying, immoral, self-serving coward like the rest of O&B? Regardless, I personally heard him admit to, so I know it's true.

And Frank, you are a liar who has now 'conveniently' forget who told you what. And I never said you started the rumor at all. Only a Leftist (or someone who pretends to be) would say something like that about another Leftist, which you most certainly are not.

Regarding the IP thing, I never heard him say anything about IP addresses. Maybe he said it to fuck with some people. It is usually kinda obvious who is posting what anyway.

TJ said...

Although I wasn't elected to an MAL seat until January after all of this had already taken place. If asked in October or November who I would prefer as a SBP candidate I would have chosen Ben over Mark. Over the course of the meetings in December and the conversations on the Wiggio... I could no longer support Ben.

Ben is a more charismatic speaker than Mark is, coming into SG in the Fall, it was Ben that stood out to me in Senate. However as someone else mentioned above me, when Ben started to hold the party hostage and have this attitude of "either you run me or I leave and form a third party," he lost my support.

Any time you talk about forming a third party just to run for an office, you show that your own individual success is more important to the success of the party as a whole.

Anonymous said...

http://speaking.kenkerns.com/?p=841

Seriously, Wooten and the others who keep this internal feud alive (despite having no personal or academic reason for being involved post-election) are doing a great disservice to the rest of the indie community who will still be around in the Fall.

That elections will be hard enough to hold all 12 seats (only Hume might survive an indie split - and only just might).

If any of you truly believe in what you're working for, you need to come together now. Neither side has the Student Body President, so neither side should feel the need to insist on competing with the other for votes this fall when not even the Exec officers are being chosen.

Fall is about electing Senators, and the only way to do that is for Progress and O&B to unite against Unite. I hope those staying after this semester are working to do just that.

Christian Duque said...

Ken,

Keeping this internal feud as you put it, I believe, is necessary for achieveing a lasting peace. TR blogs about SG year-round, not twice a year for elections.

Also, you have been corrected before - even on your own blog by Josh Simmons. I would hope you'd inform yourself better in the future.

Implying Wooten has no "academic or personal" interests in this debate is both insulting and way off base.

Wooten IS a student and the kid worked CHRISTIAN-DUQUE-LIKE-HOURS, from before the sun came up till the wee hours of the morning campainging his ASS OFF.

People on here constantly accuse me of being "in love with Wooten" b/c he gives me info - utter nonsense. Look back over the last six months and you'll see dozens of other contributors I have and truly appreciate.

Justin Wooten shares many of my political beliefs, he's a workhorse, he's exactly the age I was when I worked for Access/Voice, and he's so militant about his party and those he bled with on the campaign trail that he's gradually earning himself the great honor (and great burden) of defending the Progress Party in the post-election, arguably, indefinite future - just as yours truly continues to be inspired by Access, five years later to keep this blog running.

I've never gone to your blog to tell you how to run shop. I've never plugged my blog on yours. I enjoy your comments, but if you don't like it...

Christian Duque said...

TBoyd,

I agree with you that Dictor's desire to run alienated hopes of unity - if that's what you're saying, I don't want to put words in your mouth.

Taken just on that fact alone, I'd say O&B had the moral highground, but wasn't the 'United-O&B Party' filibustering in chambers for greater protections on minority input?

I mean, isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? "You won't let us speak Greeks, because we're fewer and far between," then turning to the Progs: "we don't care if you're here or not because we can have quorum without you and elect all our officers, nomminate our presidential candidate, not give you a real convention, and so on."

Did you find anything suspect in Donte Hargrove's executive order(s) of 12/11/2009?

Joseph Trimboli said...

You've used this analogy before Christian and it's still just as incorrect now as it was in the past.

A correct comparison to what Dictor and the Progs did to how O&B conducts itself in Senate would be if O&B week after week decided that since we weren't going to get our way that we just flat out wouldn't show up. After we hadn't shown up, we would then have to claim that because we weren't in the room the process was no legitimate, it was bastardized by our not being there.

But we don't do that. We show up every week and fight like hell. The Progs agreed to the bylaws and when they realized that they in fact were not going to have the necessary votes and support to wrest control of the party they did the next best thing and that's to cry foul about the process and boycott it.

The argument that gets made again and again in various forms is that since Ben Dictor wasn't at the meeting the meeting was a farce. Not only is this insulting to the majority of the people who showed up but it is disgustingly arrogant.

Anonymous said...

Duque you took my comment both far too personally and far too much as a comment about Wooten himself and only himself.

Both sides are keeping the flame of this feud alive, and I don't see how they are resolving anything by commenting on your blog. They view the 12/11 and GMG scandals differently and don't want to let that go, in part because the presidential race is still fresh in their memory.

I don't doubt Wooten's sincerety of committment to the cause and his beloved leader - that's evident in his posts as much as yours.

But insisting on egging the O&B crowd in these comments when it really does nothing to put the episode behind them is the wrong approach.

You and I should have no dogs in this internal fight - since the fight isn't even about the current state of the movement but about it's state 3 months ago.

As for Wooten and Simmons and Dictor - two of the three will be graduating before the next election (and I don't know Wooten's status). I don't see why they should be continuing an argument rather than positioning themselves in merger talks so that Progress takes its rightful place within the movement (after garnering 2/3 of the non-Unite vote). And O&B should be doing its best to smooth the way to an easy merger to protect the Fall seats that they hold.

Maybe they are doing that, and the only thing getting reported on this blog is the more sensational infighting. That certainly sounds like what's happening based on my own sources.

But "Ken is Speaking" is not predominantly an SG blog and I am not going to be shamed by that. I left UF seven years ago, and I only offer my advice both public and private when I think it's worth it - not in reaction to everyday pieces of gossip and news.

Maybe that makes some of my smaller points or offhanded remarks less accurate, but don't excuse that for taking away from the point of message.

The point is, continuing this feud without any sort of exit strategy for building a meaningful Fall effort is foolhardy. And any alum whose blogging specifically to keep this SG feud going needs to shift his focus.

For example, I'd love to see a front-page commentary on the outcome of R&A this week where the hardcore leftist indies endorsed a System candidate on the "hope" she'll be kind to them.

Hell, I wouldn't even mind seeing you provide your insight in our national politics, given the coming shift in focus toward a debate on universal health insurance.

But if you don't want to do that, that's fine with me.

Christian Duque said...

Ken,

Once again you are trying to set the tone for TheRadikal.com, it's not your place, not your blog.

This is an SG blog first and all else second, I am not trying to publish the next "Ken Is Speaking." Unlike your blog, I actually speak the least. How many interviews does your blog have? How many times to you quote or cite current SG leaders?

I am not looking to start a blogwar here, but you're comments are way out of line. On the one hand you claim political indifference, but on the other hand you piss all over Progress and have the nerve to give direction to Dictor, Simmons, and that party's leadership?

You, who thinks we should stay out?

You've attacked me several times in that last post - hence why your posting privileges have been suspended for 7 days - you need to cool off.

It's not my fault you endorsed O&B and I endorsed Progress. You lost, deal with it. But don't come here and try to dictate either the tone of this blog or the direction the Progress Party should take.

You're a seasonal SG blogger - self admitted. I do this year-round. You write books, sell buttons, and offer "advice." Stick to that, I'll stick to being TheRadikal.

I get more hits.
I get more comments.
I get more drama.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it ironic that Duque would shut someone out for commenting on his blog non-anonymously when he trumpeted the Taser scandal which involved the same basic denial of free speech?

Anonymous said...

Sigh, when will you idiots learn that neither Progress nor O&B won ... Unite did.

francisco said...

Yet again, all Justin can do is resort to personal attacks with no proof what-so-ever. Still waiting on the proof on the GMG e-mails other than some 4th hand knowledge through a solid wood door while on the phone (my e-mail is readily available via the UF phonebook and Facebook). And I haven't forgotten anything, I told you exactly who I have heard call you an FBI agent (jokingly or not): Peter, Chuck (he really seems to enjoy it actually), Joe Richards (he may have just said it in passing and forgot, but he still said it), Ben Dictor (several times and several people can back me up), and Josh Simmons. I am sure you can ask some Gator Party people and some others who they heard it from back in the Fall BEFORE I was even made aware of who you were. As far as who I told...I told you exactly who I told to the, to the best of my memory: Gary! It you find being calling an FBI agent offensive, then perhaps you should ask your organizational and party members not to call you that, joke or not. I find it rather insulting that you would even be offended being called something as patriotic as an FBI agent, but that is neither here nor there.

As far as when Alan lost support for Ben, I can tell you exactly when that happened: when Ben Dictor told him to "f%&k off", "kiss my ass", or something else along those lines. It was during the reading day meeting (if that is 12/11 than so be it, I am not going to look at a calendar). Alan went up to Ben right after the meeting to tell him something (I think it was why he {Alan} voted for Donte like Dictor asked and why he was going to vote for Dictor). Joe Bennett, Grasshopper, and I (perhaps Mithcell as well) were all sitting there and you could see Joe Bennett's jaw drop when Dictor cussed at Alan for no reason what-so-ever.

Anonymous said...

Christian, please amend the 4:22 post to include a picture of you maxing out a clean and jerk. That is the only appropriate way to end that post.

Not Alan Yanuck said...

I stopped supporting Ben Dictor after he threatened to hold the party hostage, however I kept my opinion on it somewhat quiet and only told a few people so as not to taint the minds of the electorate.

Many people believed me before then when I passionately spoke on the behalf of a Dictor candidacy.

Over the course of time, however, Dictor became increasing less electable.

I was afraid he would react on the campaign trail simaraly to the way he reacted to people anonymously slurring him on a blog that few read (I myself didn't read at the time, ask anyone who knew me).

Furthermore, in an effort to be conciliatory, I walked over to dictor after the 12/11 meeting and talked to him.

Everyone, Prog or Prags of Officials or whatever, was stunned by the way Ben reacted.

Someone who cannot tolerate others disagreeing with him cannot be president. While I had decided beforehand, that simply gave me more ammo to oppose his presidency.

Not that him insulting me offended me any--i didn't and still don't care--but him doing so proved to me he could not be our candidate.

He did, however, prove to be a considerably more composed candidate that I thought, however, one who treats people who disagree with him and try to reconcile so poorly would not make a good president, regardless of candidacy.

I've articulated this to many, and none have given me a satisfactory response other than those who agree with me... so lets see what happens here.

francisco said...

Anon. 8:14 PM: I think everyone realizes Unite won, it was expected. In fact, I (along with others) called this election to a tee and got some money out of it as well. Unite ran the best campaign, had the most volunteers (many of them positive), had tons of money, had several student groups behind them, turned around their image in the general public, and had many Greek houses believing they were different than Gator. I would have to say Unite ran the best campaign during my time here, even with a weak platform overall.

Joshua Simmons said...

Ken,

The Progress Party's support of Megan Vu (and, as I've heard, Dave's actually being the one to nominate her, though I'd left by that point) is not out of some misguided hope that she'll be kind to us. We offered her our support with no expectation of recompense or as any sort of a quid pro quo arrangement. We're not the Orange & Blue party, which demanded committee seats in return for supporting JJ and keeping quiet in chambers (which, incidentally, they've done precisely the opposite of).

We decided to support Megan because she truly is a good girl and a great Senator. She's been at the forefront of fighting for the Vietnamese and Korean language programs, harbored serious reservations about the minority rights bills (I know, I was sitting with her for the whole meeting trying to convince her to vote with us and very nearly succeeded), and will give every candidate a fair hearing in R&A.

Our strategy going into the R&A MAL elections was not to throw up random caucus members as candidates without considering their fitness for the job - we really only had one, Matt Vernon, who had been around Senate for enough time to properly serve on R&A. When we found out who Unite would be running, it became eminently obvious who he should run against, to highlight the difference between qualifications and none.

As a personal friend, I would've supported Megan regardless, but when the caucus, without my prompting, picked up that ball and ran with it, I was quite pleased to see that our caucus really does believe in the post-partisan (as much as I hate that word) message we tried to portray in the election, and I'm looking forward to great things from them in Senate.

Anonymous said...

Does Toto go to UF?

Anonymous said...

"Harbored serious reservations about the minority rights bills"

Well, gee whiz, thanks.

She considered for a moment that what she was doing was wrong AND THEN DID IT ANYWAY.

"I harbored serious reservations about the Iraq War"

(by the way, something you didn't harbor, simmons, when you were a fucking Fascist Republican six months ago)

"I harbored serious reservations about stealing the car, Your Honor"

What garbage.

Anonymous said...

Except for the fact that you know...those minority rights bills were bull shit considering those rights had only existed for a sum of 2 weeks because Ossip snuck them into rules and procedures. that rat piece of shit.

Anonymous said...

i snuck them in? who the fuck are you, piece of shit?

all changes were vetted before none other than KELLIE DALE and MGB, who signed off on them. The so-called "protections" are more conservative than the US Congress is. 1/5 for nominations? Try one member! 1/5 for roll call votes? Try the US Constitution, dickwad.

Just because JJ went to ONE MEETING of the R&P committee and cannot read doesn't mean that I snuck anything in. That is dishonest in all aspects.

Anonymous said...

jon ossip needs to shut up during senate. he is so annoying.

Justin Wooten said...

Hey, I'm back from my trip to DC. I had a great time, especially since lots of Progress people were there with me. I even went and saw Stacie Gray and Donnie Fields while I was there, for some idle chitchat in an overpriced coffee shop.

Regarding the FBI thing, I think everyone is aware Frank that you blatantly lie about things, like your purpose for running the Keg Party. I'm still struck by the contrast between you in the slating room, pretending like the Keg Party is some legitimate party, and Russ Ward who admitted to us as immediately what we already knew: that the Keg Party was an attempt to force a run-off with the hope of a lot of drunken frat guys voting for Keg (which was not only a stupid idea, but also a dishonest one). So you'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you in the slightest when you claim Joe Richard said I was an FBI agent, while he adamantly denies ever saying anything remotely like that to you. Chuck probably would say that, for reasons I won't go into on this blog. All the other people you named either denied it as well, or said they answered you in an obviously sarcastic way when you asked them. (“Yeah Frank, Wooten is totally an FBI agent.”)

As far as when Yanuck did or did not decide against Dictor, again, Yanuck made it obvious to me (and probably everyone else) months prior his personal dislike of both Dictor and Schneider. Dictor also did not “hold the party hostage.” He threatened to leave the party if the smear campaign didn't stop. This campaign started immediately after the Alligator article announcing Dictor's decision to run. The fact is Miorelli told Dictor McShera was getting the nomination because McShera had $3,000 or so for the campaign, so McShera was already pre-selected by the cabal. There are saved text message exchanges showing exactly that.

As far as the GMG emails, I think any reader of this blog should look very carefully at all the statements that have been made thus far by O&B people. Not only do they not deny it, but when Trimboli and Frank talk about proof, they mean that in a legalistic sense of the term, as in, what would or what not hold up in a court of law. This is not only an backhanded legal threat directed towards me to stop telling people the truth (Miorelli has already threatened to sue people over this), it also serves as a method to obfuscate the issue. Obviously Frank doesn't give a damn the nature of what actually constitutes a rationally held belief, otherwise he wouldn't have repeated the FBI bullshit to people. If someone were to hear an O&B person openly admit to knowing about the source of the GMG emails (which happened to me), that would be “proof” enough to believe the story is true, in the sense of what sort of evidence is needed to believe in the truth of something. This is often quite different from proof in a legal sense, where standards of evidence are purposefully set higher than what would be adequate in another field, such as history.

As far as unity goes, and whether or not I am doing a disservice to the “Indy Movement,” I think you probably have a distorted understanding of the split, Ken. It's quite understandable given how far you are removed from SG, and the fact that you probably haven't met any of us to really understand what is going on. Let me assure, that if you're relying on your information from O&B people, they are probably lying to you.

Let me also assure you, Ken, that I am by far not the only person in our party who feels the way I do. There are so many screwed up things O&B did, leading up to the split and during the election itself, that expecting everyone to simply kiss and makeup is ridiculous. I frankly don't think you would tolerate their crap either if you had to experience it for yourself on the ground. And we won seats with O&B in the running this time, and I believe we're more than capable of doing it again in the Fall, if it comes to that.

francisco said...

To my good buddy Justin:

1. On FBI Agent issue: too bad, because there are plenty of people that can back me on that Simmons, Peter, and (I imagine) Joe all called you an FBI agent. You can see it from plenty of the comments on this blog alone. There are also plenty of people that can vouch that they were told by Dictor back in the Fall and in early Spring that you were an FBI agent. Yet again, you can ask some Gator Party Senators that can recall hearing that you were an FBI Agent back in the Fall (yet again, well before I even knew you existed). As far as what is rational, I think it is plenty rational to repeat a joke. Heck, I repeat jokes all the time because of what they are: funny! There is a whole genre of entertainment founded on repeating jokes, it is called comedy! Yet again, the fact that you find it offensive is what is irrational. How is repeating a joke that is legitimately funny and that was started by YOUR friends irrational? Your friends didn't acknowledge the joke, as you attempt indicate, they actually TOLD me it outright. Your friends think it is funny to call you an FBI agent, I thought it was pretty funny when I heard it so I told Gary, and the fact that you don't find it funny is pretty darn amusing to me and [I imagine] every other reader.

2. As far as Keg: I don't deny the reasons for starting Keg. I think that can be seen from the very beginning during slating: I sat around drinking root beers, being an ass, and joking around with Seigel. Why did I start Keg? The reasoning is pretty simple: 1) satire/a joke, 2) to ruffle some feathers with the UF Administration, 3) as a senior prank (since anything else I could think of doing would be illegal), 4) on the chance that it could legitimately earn some votes in the Greek community, and 5) on the off chance that it could get some apathetic voters to show up to the polls. So yeah, I have repeated any combination of those reasons to individuals whenever they asked me why I started Keg. I may have told you at some point or another only one or two of those reasons or I may have jokingly said we were going to kick everyone's butt and grind your bones into the dust, but I think it could be easily discerned that I was merely having some fun. Heck, even in the Alligator interview I said we weren't going to win and we were aiming for 3% of the vote but hoping for 7% (which we fell FAR short of).

3.As far as proof about GMG e-mails, what proof? What are we rationally denying? I don't know what the legalistic definition is of proof because I AM NOT A LAWYER, but even common sense says there is nothing other than the word of one individual and some rumors. No matter how many times you repeat something, it doesn't make it true until you actually generate some type of proof. The ONLY person that has said anything is Ben Dictor and that is his 4th hand knowledge that he heard behind a solid wood door while he was on the phone. It would be like me saying Ben Dictor broke into the SG office and stole some documents, but no one is willing to back me up and the only proof I have is I heard two girls talking inside the PSU office with the door closed while I was walkin by and on the phone, so I only made out about 1/4th of the conversation.

I spent a solid week and half wandering around talking to people, speaking on the phone with high ups in FBK (since I am apparently the person behind EVERYTHING at UF so they call me; they had legal concerns too and I fully supported filing a police report if there was any proof), grilling individuals that Dictor named (like Alden), threating Sam that I would toss him under the bus if any of this was true, and having Dictor lead me on this wild goose chase around campus to find some individual(s) that could back his story...and I found nothing. Why did I waste MY TIME, because I legitimately believed Ben could have been telling the truth, however as I wandered around it became clear something wasn't right. Soon he began contradicting himself and the things he started telling me didn't even make sense. The more and more I dug into the situation, the more and more Ben Dictor started sounding like the he was completely and utterly mistaken and soon some of the things he would tell me were completely inaccurate and were perhaps even lies (for example, the IP Address issue with Blogger, what he lying or misinformed? You be the judge).


I really find these conversations - if you can call them that - enjoyable. If you have any more false accusations you want to toss around, go ahead :-). I have 6 or 7 more weeks until I am done with undergrad, so I would enjoy amusing myself with these falsehoods you like to spread.

Anonymous said...

Justin Wooten: Why don't you do something independent of Dictor and revolutionary.... stop lying. Keg, like Keg before it, was always a sockpuppet meant to draw the votes of Greeks who were pissed about being pushed to the polls to vote for someone after they had already spent daddy's money to buy their friends.

It takes someone who knew about SG with an IQ above barely above mentally retarded to realize what it was so please quit acting like you are a genius. Frank couldn't admit it to you during the campaign because it would mean the Alligator would follow up on what you told them but he freely admitted it after.

Jesus Christ man, grow a pair and get off Ben Dictor's dick... I here he has a harem for that.