It’s Time!

GOPBy now most of my regular readers know that I was voted out of my position as an Election District Chair, for the Sussex County GOP Executive Committee of Delaware.

I was voted out according to the “CHARGES”, due to my blogging here, and what many saw as a constant attack upon the GOP, of which I was, and am a member.  To be honest I was, and will be, hard on my party of choice. If I am going to be a member of something, then I want it to be the best it can be. I don’t want it to be the same as that which I oppose.

This is not a new position for me. Back in the early 2000’s I was in much the same position. While I was not a member of the Executive Committee, I was a voting Republican, and a blogger, and constant caller to talk radio. I was as critical of the GOP then as I am now. When I see what I feel are flaws, and mistakes on the part of the party leadership I will point them out. As I did in the past.

The funny thing is, the very same faction of the party that was instrumental in voting me out of the committee, were the same faction of the party that praised my outspokenness in the past. It would seem as though, while they can dish it out, they can’t take it.

I would also like to point out that the people I was critical of in the past, the people who were labeled RINOs and moderates, were the very people who challenged me to become more involved, to show up and work for the party. This after I had been critical of their decisions and the people they supported, they still invited me in.

On the other hand, the people back then who were fighting to get into the party, the people who demanded to be heard, and who also criticized the so-called establishment, for not reflecting their more conservative views, these are the people, who since achieving a modicum of power within the party have done nothing but drive people out of the party. And now they have voted me out, and threaten to do the same to anyone who challenges their positions.

This is no way to grow a party. They are treating it more like a private club that you can be blackballed  for not playing along.

It’s time that Republicans, and I am not talking about the Neo-Establishment Republicans who are hell-bent on destroying the GOP, I am talking about real Republicans. Not the libertarian fringe dwellers who have latched onto the infrastructure of the GOP because they can’t muster any support for their anarchist views without it. I am not talking about the fanatical religious right that would impose their religious beliefs upon everyone. I am not talking about the TEA Patriots who believe they, and they alone are the interpreters of patriotism.

No, I am talking about real Republicans who get up and go to work to pay their taxes, and raise their families. Republicans who want only to be left alone, but who still believe in America and the dream it holds. I am talking about Republicans who want to work to move the county, state, and nation forward, not backwards to some arbitrarily  chosen  time, that these fringe dwellers have chosen as the good old days.

It is time for these real Republicans to join together to win elections. It is time to ignore the Neo Establishment GOP, they have shown that they wish only to reduce the number of people within their ever shrinking circle, so let them hold their meetings, let them fill up page, after page with rules on how to become a member of their small club.

Did you know that to become a member of the Sussex County GOP Executive Committee you have to show up at a monthly meeting and be nominated by your RD, and then you have to wait a month and come back to the next monthly meeting and be voted on by the entire committee. So it is a two month process. But they voted me out in a single night. There is something inherently wrong when it is much more difficult to become a member, than it is to vote one out.

The only criteria for becoming a member should be to show up, volunteer, and get to work. Did you know they have even floated the idea of charging a membership fee? That’s right, you would have to pay to be a volunteer.

So I think it is time for real Republicans to come together. To form their own groups outside of the party machine. Find people who feel like you do, and work for candidates that you support. Don’t give a dime to the party, give it directly to candidates.

It’s time to build a new machine, one that is able to grow, that is able to move forward. A machine that will welcome new members, not one that seeks to remove members.

Let the fringe be the fringe, and when we have built a machine big enough that it can’t be ignored, then we will return and remove the Neo-Establishment lunatics. And we will start with their candidates. It is time to remove, and oppose the fringe element that has been blocking the Delaware GOP from growing, the element that keeps sane people from joining.

Yes I know that people will say that the GOP can’t win as long as it is at war with itself. This is true, but if the radical right fringe faction is allowed to be the only face of the Delaware GOP, then all hope of growing the party is lost. It’s time to grow the party, not isolate it.

 

 

18 Comments on "It’s Time!"

  1. And this is why I ascribe to no particular party. Way too easy to get caught up in the dogma. Keep blogging, though. It’s the individuals, not a party, that makes our democracy work!

  2. whine and snivel says:

    It was your constant whining and sniveling that got you kicked out. I’ve never seen someone whine and snivel so much.

  3. Frank Knotts says:

    Whine and Snivel, I find it “Unbelievable” that a party thinks that it can grow itself by voting people out, and by making the joining process so complicated, as if there are so many people clambering to join they can afford to be discriminating. If you look at the website of the Sussex GOP you will see that they have barely half of the ED seats filled, and most of the names on the roster never show up to meetings and are place holders at best. Most have never done a single thing to help a single candidate, win a single election.
    You call it whine and snivel, okay, that’s your limited opinion. I call it, calling it as I see it, if the Sussex GOP wants to remain with heir collective heads in the sand that is their choice. However, I and others are calling people to action to actually get good people elected to oppose the one party rule of the Democrats here in Delaware.
    All while the Sussex GOP continues to shrink, both in numbers and in influence and relevance.

  4. Mike Protack says:

    Good luck Frank, I tried this effort years ago and was savaged by the GOP. Good ideas meant nothing. Good resume meant nothing. The pseudo leaders then and now decide who gets to be a Republican.

    The De GOP used to be on the Endangered Species List, not it is DOA.

  5. Honi Soit says:

    “If you look at the website of the Sussex GOP you will see that they have barely half of the ED seats filled.”

    Well, I did a wee bit of fact-checking on this–insofar as the data on the GOP website is factual. For example, you Frank are still listed as an ED! So take the following with some skepticism.

    Sussex County has 146 ED slots all told, and 59 are vacant–not including Frank. That means that a tad over 40% of the ED slots are vacant. But here’s the interesting bit:

    Some RD chairs do a much better job of filling their slots than do others. Rob Arlett has only 2 vacancies out of his 16 slots. He fares the best.

    The worst by far is Jim Dundas, and he skews the overall results. He has 15 vacancies out of 22 slots. And of the 7 that are filled, 3 go to family members.

    Seems to me that if anyone should go, it should be Jim Dundas. Not Frank.

  6. ombudsman says:

    Checking the numbers counting Frank’s vacancy there are 60 ED positions vacant out of 146. Besides the 36th district, the 40th and 41st ED seats are 50% vacant.

    Soooooooooo NDA doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, wow that’s the same thing he claims is wrong with the corrupt 2 party system he is so opposed to. He’s always claiming the corrupt 2 party system doesn’t answer to we the people. Not unbelievable is NDA is no different than those he opposes.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Are you still complaining about this? Come on Frank, you’re better than this. Move on, screw the SCGOP.

  8. Frank Knotts says:

    Not complaining, explaining. I have been on the outside, I have been on the inside, and once again I am on the outside of the party machine, and I have to say, I have seen more get done to elect good people, done by people on the outside. I feel I am in a more productive company now then when I was on the inside.

  9. waterpirate says:

    Calling the SCGOP a machine is a faaaar stretch of words. The only way the ” official ” party has any hope of rebuilding is to scrap that manifesto they have and start again from zero. The Chair needs to hold RD’s responsible for their innaction in growing or filling the chairs needed to be a complete body. Just as a minister grows his flock, if he does not he should be cast out, along with the manifesto.

  10. FLYLADY says:

    “Well, I did a wee bit of fact-checking on this–insofar as the data on the GOP website is factual. For example, you Frank are still listed as an ED!”

    Just curious…where on the website did you see Frank still listed as an EDC? I just checked it and did not see his name, and to my knowledge, the last time this info was updated was the day after the Executive Committee meeting. If there is an error on the website, we’d like to correct it. Thanks!

  11. Laffter says:

    Wonder what Ayoote has to say about this

    http://mobile.wboc.com/wboctv/db_341596/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=0wcZ5rq3

    Is the pastor or Bodenweiser lying?…….

    The Sussex GOP NEEDS THE PLUG PULLED

  12. Laffter says:

    Comment in moderation. But for the record

    Bodenweiser’s pastor says Bodenweiser confessed…..

  13. Don Nots says:

    Flylady, that’s yall’s problem, you’re too worried about the dumb shit. Rules, titles, and websites that no one is reading. By the way, Frank’s name is still on there but I’m not telling you where.

    I particularly like the Chairman’s Messages page. It’s fitting. Toot toot!

  14. FLYLADY says:

    Don Nots – In case you hadn’t noticed, I was only responding to Honi’s comment.. That hardly means that I’m worried about the dumb shit. Obviously she was looking at the site or it never would have come up. And since she did call attention to an error, of course I’m going to want to get it corrected. If not, “y’all” would be saying we don’t care or pay attention. I couldn’t care less about rules or titles, and anyone that knows me knows that. You’re going to complain no matter what, which is why you see limited comments from me on here. If Frank’s name is still on there, so be it…he can live on electronically on some hidden tab. As for the Chairman’s Message, he can speak for himself.

  15. Old Sussex County Native says:

    Lots of Republicans like to quote Bible verses, and the one I think of every time I read all this kind of stuff is this one: “A house divided against itself cannot stand…” I am not a Republican, just and outside observer, but as such, I see nothing but division, and extremism ruining what was one called the Grand Old Party. Why would I want to vote for that????

  16. Don Nots says:

    Yall don’t care or pay attention. That’s another problem with you people. The SCGOP party is DONE. Bodie? Sam? Urkle? Vance? The wheels have fallen off the Urkle bus and yall are so irrelevant you don’t even know when the wheels fell off, let alone put them back on. What an embarrassment. Toot toot!

  17. Honi Soit says:

    Dear FlyLady: You wanted the path where Frank’s name appears? Go to:

    1. http://www.sussexgop.org/
    2. Click on the button at the top menu labeled “RD Districts.”
    3. That takes you to the following page, where you will find Frank’s name:

    http://www.sussexgop.org/Representative-Districts/

    However, I see the problem. Frank’s name is gone when you click on “District 35” from the sub-list of “RD Districts.”

    http://www.sussexgop.org/District-35/

    In other words, his name appears on the master list, but not on the sub-list. I used the data from the master list to show vacancy percentages and comparisons across districts.

  18. FLYLADY says:

    Thanks, Honi – appreciate it!

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