How do you spell Blech

"RENO SPEAKS, BUT WE CAN'T"

By: Jeannine Ross

06/02/01

How do you spell Blech? I’m not sure how it is spelled, but it is the feeling I get after being at a meeting where Janet Reno addressed the Council of Presidents of the Democratic clubs of Broward. The council advertised the meeting as open to the public and even said that we would have an opportunity to speak with Ms. Reno, but it didn’t happen. I always thought the Republican Party was the Party of the elitists, but apparently the Democrats are as well.

There were around 150 people there to watch Janet Reno speak, and unofficially state her intention to run for Governor of Florida. When she first arrived she immediately went to a greeting line of Council members, who got to personally speak with her and take her picture. It’s hard to believe it, but some “bad” people in the crowd joined the line and tried to greet Ms. Reno and take her picture too. They were sternly warned by Democratic Party chair of Florida, Mitch Ceasar, that if they were “not one of the Presidents to come out of the line now.” It sounded like he was talking to a kindergarten class. Ceasar said we would have our opportunity after the speech, but all we got after the speech was one minute and no line where we could speak to Ms. Reno or get a picture.

After Janet’s lackluster speech, that touched on the usual issues, but not the most important one – the stolen election, she demurely asked the President of the council if she could leave it open for feedback from the people. Why did she have to ask at all? Wasn’t she the guest of honor? She immediately called on a woman in the audience and council President chimed in with “we have 42 members of the council here and I would like them to have the opportunity to ask first.” The woman she called on said, “Janet Reno called on me first and this is America,” to which she received thunderous applause! Afterwards the Council President made sure all the rest of the questions were from the Council itself and Reno complied, even though she kept reiterating how she wanted feedback and questions from “the people.” She appeared to be controlled by the Council and not very strong.

One Council member got up and stated that we “lost the election.” Everyone started shouting “No we didn’t.” He finally shut up. After the Council finished asking questions, all of a sudden the President says Janet Reno has to leave at 10:30 and it was now 10:28, so there was no more opportunity for questions. At that moment Bob Kunst yells “Janet, you were the Attorney General during this election coup. What have you done about it? Nothing in your speech mentions this election being stolen!” Reno compeletely ignored Bob, refused to look at him and even tried to call on someone else to shut him up. The crowd was stunned and all eyes were on Bob. The President of the Council says to Bob “The council is a public meeting, but it has its own agenda.” Bob yells, “You’ve cut out the public again, you can’t win with this kind of agenda!” Watch Video with 56K modem or 256K DSL

As the meeting is dispersing and Janet was making her way out with a crowd and the media surrounding her, the President of the Council sarcastically says to Bob “If you’d like to make a comment. . .” I heard a lady in the audience say about the President, “he did it again, he shuts everybody up.”

As Janet makes her way towards the door, Bob confronts her again and says he likes her personally and supported her in 16 demonstrations in the Elian saga, but this issue must come out and he’s running against her for Governor. All she did was smile demurely. Scott got her next and said “how can we have confidence in the process when in the election we see crimes committed and nothing is done about it?” No answer from Reno. Bruce yells to her “Janet what about the stolen election?” Again, no answer.

You’d think after all this the media would come over to Bob and talk to him but, alas no. What a surprise! The media was only concerned with canned speeches about Reno from Mitch Ceasar and the rest of the sorry lot. I felt a strong urge to leave the Democratic Party after this meeting, but I might stick it out for one thing only; many of the people there were on our side. Just because 2 Democratic leaders there think “we lost the election,” (The leader of the Davie/Cooper City Democratic party, Diedre Schwartz told Bob the same thing outside) the people disagree! In fact, these are the first Democrats I have heard say such a thing.

What I have to remind myself is that We are the Democratic Party and the grassroots is with us! The old leadership is truly out of touch with the People! Now more than ever we need a Bob Kunst and The Oral Majority to lead us out of the cave of darkness just like Plato’s philosophers. The people are blinded and we must give them sight!