Trimboli's General Statement

"We are about winning, because if we don’t win we can’t do what we’ve set out to do.

Everybody has lost sight of this fundamental truth. Egos and personalities have been the sole driving force of the Independent Movement since the end of 2008. (1) Viewing what we do through these two lenses is both self-serving and accomplishes nothing. We cannot claim to speak for those students outside the current system who lack a voice in our Student Government while at the same time centering everything on individual people and personalities rather than on policy and action.

So where do we go from here?

First, all markers need to be abolished; that is to say the abandonment of both party’s names, color schemes, and slogans (2). The single biggest obstacle to the unification of any sorts of groups is overcoming each individual group's cultural markers. In the case of nations those are things such as languages, symbols, religions, education systems, and history (including historical figures). In our case these markers are primarily party names, party colors, and party slogans. The ideologies of the two parties are congruent (3), it can hardly be said where one ends and the other begins. This unification needs to be a merger of equals in the truest of senses and the only way this will be accomplished is to start tabula rasa. The only thing from the past that need be remembered, held onto, cherished and never forgotten is the hard learned lesson that divided we are doomed to failure.

Instead, we need a new set of markers to rally around.We need a brand new party name (4), a new party slogan, a clear and concise party mission statement, a set of core party values, a new color scheme and a battle plan of action created and planned in detail for the Spring 2010 campaign and beyond. All of these things should be created by those dedicated individuals in the new unified party, created for the new unified party and agreed upon by the membership of the newly unified party.

There is thousands of years of historical example about the absolute power of cultural markers. People have traveled the world searching for cups, died for colors on cloth hanging from pole. We are being intentionally ignorant and naive if we feel we're going to break the thousands year old power cultural markers have on men's souls. (5)

These conditions of merger should be irrevocable for a minimum of 2 years. (6) That is to say the former names, specific primary color schemes, and slogans of the former two parties are off limits from January 1, 2010 until December 31, 2011. After that time their strategic value can be assessed.

Victory is not out of reach if we choose to work together as brothers rather than perish apart as fools."

RaDiKaL' Review
First off, let me just say this FOR THE RECORD - Joe Trimboli is SG Royalty and has earned his Indie Wings, Brass Bars, and Major's Clusters over the course of internal party scrapes, bureaucratic wrangling, and media blitzes that have stretched as far as the student leader' imagination will reach. This is like 80's hair metal folks, it's not just the sound coming out of the amps, but it's about the LOOK the musicians got goin on and the attitude with which they play their instruments! The fact Trimboli wrote this - with me at least - carries a fuckin wheelbarrow's worth of cred to begin with. Is your ego chubby now Joe? I'm glad I could stroke it for ya...

Now let's dissect this lovely document.


(1) This sounds like Official' rhetoric for Ben Dictor, but he includes the term 'movement,' instead. This could be the start of a sensible new approach to conceeding some of the brunt - that I imagine will be appreciated by the Prog-hardliners like Wooten, Grasshopper, the Geico double, and others.

(2) This will meet with friction from alumni like Ben Dictor and Sam Miorelli - who both built a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (yes even some tears) into these names and neither will be pleased see their legacies chucked in a 2yr wastebasket. Both Miorelli and Dictor while officially-speaking are detached, remain very much in the loop (by alumni SG standards [e.g. James Argento, Access Spring, Summer 2004]).

(3) This, in my opinion, is going to be a hard sale. Progress has a very dynamic, structured world view (thanks to Dictor, Schneider, and Wooten) w/ considerable overlap into SDS, strong links the Civic Media Center through Joe Richard, and even with smaller sector at least somewhat aware of more fiscally conservative policy with the influence of Josh Simmons early on. O&B is no where near the political maturity of O&B, however, O&B bests Progress in chambers and in representing those left-out students that are at the very core of Independent politics... Bring me your tired, your hungry, your poor...

(4) Trimboli is going out on a limb here... a new name is very fair and should be considered by the opposing side. I think there are some ideas out there... unite the indies and gdi's, put up Renfroe for president, stack up the senate slates, make nice w/ the Fist, moon FBK, have a run off, and win. Who knows... you might even count Paul Drayton as a supporter. Is Ms. Renfroe in FBK? I hope so, be kinda lame if they screw her over like Sam Green.

(5) Ok, seriously... who gave Joe the shroom juice? What the hell is he talking about here? lol


(6) Let's work w/ one semester at a time. That's like going on a first w/ a girl and planning with her what some of the things you'll do when she's your girlfriend. I realize you're hoping to reunite the indies so that you can electorally have a circle jerk around the losing FBK-backed candidate next Spring out in front of the Orange & Brew in front of thousands of spectators, but these things take time. I am confident that if the indies truly unite, whoever is the Greek candidate will leave the Brew without the presidency and with a triple pearl necklace of mardi gras elegance.

(7) Also, let's try to clean up the language in here. I'm trying to keep a respectable blog here.

---