Bonus: The Dark Side Of The Homophobic Republican Party
Did you know that I do a radio show with Nicole Sandler every Thursday? We’ve been doing it for over decade. Last week she began by attempting to sing the praises of Nikki Fried, the chair of the state Democratic Party. Nikki Fried, in fact, wants everyone to sing her praises. She wants people to believe that she was somehow involved with the landmark that the state party just passed— a Democratic candidate running in every single state legislative district. She even staged a press conference with the worthless head of the DNC pretending she and the Florida party were part of the effort. They weren’t. I interrupted Nicole as soon as I realized she was about to give fried the credit. I was kind; I said Fried, unlike the head of the even more worthless Ohio Democratic Party, at least didn’t try to sabotage the efforts.
Turns out I was wrong about that. The Florida Democratic Party did try to sabotage the efforts. The efforts, by the way, of a Democratic public service organization called 90For90and founded by Virginia civil rights icon Fergie Reid. But, not understanding the value of running candidates in every single district, the Florida Dems foolishly discouraged candidates running in red districts. And the corrupt boss of Miami Democratic Party, Christian Ulvert, even discouraged a Democratic— any Democrat— from running against Republican freshman Vicki Lopez in a Biden +12 district.
Florida’s HD-113 is a nice blue district in southern Miami Dade that includes Key Biscayne, Dodge Island, Shenandoah, part of Little Havana and the part of Coconut Grove where the young Marco Rubio was arrested for trying to sell his ass to older men. But that’s neither here nor there. This district’s registration looks like this:
Democratic- 57.9%
Republican- 40.7%
No party preference- 1.5%
Nikki Fried should be congratulated, but by the GOP for continuing the policies that have led to the purposeful self-defenestration of the Florida Democratic Party.
90For90, which filled every red seat in the state with no candidate with candidates, also recruited progressive community leader Jackie Gross-Kellogg, the president of the Key Biscayne Democratic Club to run against Lopez in HD-113. A lifelong resident of Miami, she jumped into the race about a week ago— and despite it being a blue district, there were no primary opponents. She’ll face the Republican in November. Please consider contributing to her campaign here. She was elected a DNC delegate this year. When I spoke with her, she was at the Biscayne Nature Center, which she manages. Her platform focuses on half a dozen issues foremost in the minds of the residents of her district:
1. Education: Advocacy for public schools, accountability for charter schools, and equitable access to school vouchers for all families. Strong opposition to book banning and support for Families Against Book Banning.
2. Healthcare: Pro-Amendment 4/Reproductive Freedom, affordable healthcare access through the ACA, and expanding Medicare for ALL. Addressing the homeless epidemic, particularly among teens aged out of foster care, veterans, and the elderly.
3. Environment: Combating climate change with comprehensive policies and infrastructure, funding coral reef restoration, promoting renewable energy, supporting composting, and reducing carbon emissions. Protecting marginalized communities from environmental hazards and advocating for the protection of Biscayne Bay. Proponent of Electric School buses.
4. Gun Control: Implementing common-sense gun laws, including universal background checks, banning assault weapons, and measures to prevent gun violence.
5. Economy: Supporting small businesses and enhancing Florida’s global competitiveness as a hub for business, capital, talent, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
6. Recreational Safety:
Implement the voucher swimming lesson program (SB 544) for kids as well as insure every school age child can swim and participate in the abundant water activities Miami has to offer, but are often excluded to public school field trips because of lack of resources.
Boating in Biscayne Bay has become increasingly dangerous. Enforcement of Boater Education, awareness of environmental regulations, crack down on boating under the influences.
Jet Ski, limitations of use in protected nesting areas, recreational swimming areas and high traffic areas.
Cycling. Promote Rickenbacker Causeway as a park instead of a speedway. Find solutions for cyclists and motorists to share the road more safely.
But this is Florida we’re talking, so the news doesn’t stop with jet skis and swimming lessons. The state’s fabulous Governor Never Back Down waited ’til Friday night when no one was around to sign the shameful SB 7014, weakening the state's ethics laws. It will will require all future ethics complaints to be based on “personal knowledge” and seeks to prohibit any local government ethics office from ever again initiating investigations against swampy law-breakers.
Speaking of which… Joel Searby, a 43-year old model of Republicanism and a former GOP consultant who recently led a recent initiative to convert the three public schools in the city of Newberry into charter schools, has been arrested for soliciting a 15-year-old boy for sex. He’s more of a RINO than a MAGA type. He’s currently residing— without bail— in the Alachua County Jail on charges of lewd or lascivious conduct, use of a computer to solicit a minor and enticing a minor to travel. A board member for Education First, when he was arrested in his hoke he was concerned that his wife would fine out.
His about me page doesn’t mention anything about how much he loves blowing underage boys: “I am a disciple of Jesus, a husband, a father and a friend before anything else in life. My wife Jen is the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. She is strong, faithful, and brutally honest. She is comfortable in her own skin. I love that about her. My kids, Evan and Lydia, are also amazing. They are silly and beautiful and curious about life. They challenge me to think and they give me hope and a purpose for fighting for the future. Together we live in Archer, Florida. I grew up in Normal, Illinois and attended University High School. Jen and I met and graduated from Lincoln Christin University… Our church home, Greenhouse Church, has been very influential in our lives helping us to heal from past hurts, find purpose and build a community of friends and fellow Christ-followers, who are trying together to really live out what we believe. I follow Jesus because I have found him to be real, faithful and loving. I find the worldview of the bible, the explanation of reality and how we interact with it, to be the most comprehensive and in line with reality as I’ve experienced it. I call myself a ‘disciple’ because I model my life after the teacher— Jesus— endeavoring to shape my life around his leadership and example. That is based in two primary calls: to love God and to love people.
Professionally, I’ve been working in politics for 11 years. I mostly worked with trade associations and large political action committees all around the country. Through them I worked on races from US Senate and House to Governors, State Legislative, Local and numerous referenda over the years. My role was usually as a strategic advisor helping my clients understand a given political situation and make informed decisions about how to act on those to further their interests. That included running multi-million dollar campaigns that incorporated TV, radio, digital, direct mail, phones, polling, ground work and much more. I’ve personally participated in every tactic that is used in modern American politics and I have opinions about what works and what doesn’t if you ever want to know.
Being stuck in the closet— like so many gay Republicans— is a horrible fate. Just look how former gay prostitute Marco Rubio turned out. I feel sorry for the guy— Joel, not Marco. I’d say a prayer for him, but currently my prayers are reserved for the victims of Republicans and their allies.