Column: Hey, Buddy, Watch Who You Call An 'Elector'

Did you ever hear of the famous speech given by a Florida politician where he used a lot of big words to fool the ignorant voters?

Part of the speech supposedly went:

Are you aware that (my opponent) is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York.

Actually, the "speech" was a hoax and a parody. But it became a legend.

I thought of this as I read this letter being sent to Florida voters who signed the petition for the Hometown Democracy amendment.....

The letter in question tries to scare petition signers into changing their minds. It bears the letterhead and signature of John Thrasher, a former speaker of the state House.

As my colleague Steve Bousquet noted Saturday, Thrasher's letter fails to mention one teeny, tiny detail:

These days, he's a lobbyist with Southern Strategy Group, which represents pro-growth businesses such as Disney, Associated Industries of Florida (the outfit running this signature revocation drive) and the St. Joe Co.

                                  * * *

Finally, his letter reaches a point of classic, "thespian" absurdity:

If you read their proposed constitutional amendment ... you will also notice that it turns all power over use of Florida's land to certain "electors."

Guess who the "electors" will be. The "special interests" and their slick lawyers will rig the system to put our future in the hands of their cronies. Their "electors" will decide our fate and the fate of Florida.

Uh...

"Electors" means "the voters." [Entire column here]

Comments

[Tom Porter]

I have read the Howard Troxler column for many years and I have always felt better informed for having done so. I don’t always agree completely with his conclusions, but I always feel he has been honest in his assessments.
I hope the article of September 18, 2007 on the Hometown Democracy amendment and its defamation by John Thrasher is widely read and discussed, since it exposes the type of scoundrel that does the most damage to the fair and just functioning of our representative democracy: the lobbyist for the greedy. There must be a special place in hell where these wretched jackals go to try to bribe and cajole one another into bribing and cajoling one another, only to be cheated of their ill-gotten gains by their principals and clients. It must be called K Street.
I was asked to sign the petition to put the Hometown Democracy amendment on the ballot in the next general election outside a big box store. After ascertaining that all it required of me was that I do my part to uphold the right of the people to self-government by supporting the presentation of the Hometown Democracy amendment petition to the voters, I signed. Not asked for was my support of the amendment per se, but the bare minimum service to the ideal, i.e. democratic government.
I remembered that it would require a sixty percent majority to actually pass the amendment, enough of a majority to ensure that it was the will of most of the people, and, even though I had voted against the amendment which now requires the supermajority, I now see the wisdom of this amendment. (My original reason for opposing that change to our constitution was that it was proposed by the legislature and, therefore, was bound to have a deleterious affect on the general populace. I have changed this position because I feel that any amendment passed by such a supermajority is bound to be enforced, unlike the class-size amendment which has been under-enforced where it is most needed, the preschool amendment which has been enforced in such a way as to be virtually worthless to the children it was intended to help and the Bullet Train amendment which was simply ignored by the then-Governor Bush, the Legislature and the State Supreme Court, the only agency that could have and should have required enforcement.)
I have not yet received my letter from Thrasher.

[nelson]

Troxler writes:
"Let's scare people instead. Let's tell 'em taxes will go up, their kids will hate them, and more hurricanes will hit.

"Oh, and let's also tell 'em that an evil, mysterious group known as the "electors" will be running Florida. Surely they won't stand for that."

Which, Howard, is exactly what the pro-HD folks do to get signatures, only they use different bogeymen, different lies. They say evil developers are to blame (the same ones that built their homes when they invaded, but they were OK to move here). They say the state will be paved and there will be gridlock and no water and concrete canyons. Yet you don't seem to mind this hyperbole because it serves your purpose. Do you want to make a fair analysis of this issue, or do you just want to get the readers' blood up? We know, it's the latter.

Not to mention that you and the HD folks conveniently forget that cities and counties do not have the final say on comp plan changes, nor are their decisions simple one-off votes. There are at least two and often many more public hearings and those changes have to run a gantlet up to DCA and back down again and must meet approval at every step. Even after those approvals, citizens can still challenge such changes and can even appeal to the point of an administrative hearing. So it's not as simple as you'd like to make it.

Florida has a long history of bad planning. The GMA was a valiant if underpowered effort to correct that, and even it has been hobbled since. But to say that the process is completely corrupt and only a plebiscite will fix it is just plain wrong. For you not to point out the subtleties is even more wrong because, wonder of hyphosis and ignorance, people believe what you write, rather than figure it out themselves. You have an even greater burden to tell the truth, since your career is founded on the conceit that you right wrongs and afflict the well off. Unless you don't really care and just want the blind adulation of your raving minions. And you clearly do.

Troxler writes:
"As I keep saying, there is an interesting debate to be had on Hometown Democracy.

"But I think that Associated Industries and other opponents don't want one."

You don't want one either, Howard. You don't want a solution, you want a drum to pound.

Finally: So your premise (don't pretend to be neutral) is that corrupt officials are to blame and instead the people must vote. If voters are so smart, why did they elect the bad officials in the first place?

[David Mathews]

Hello Everyone,

Today was a lovely day. I visited Ft. DeSoto and happened to see a bald eagle perched on a pine tree, dozens of rays by the fishing pier, three dolphins feasting on the little fish, and a manatee grazing.

In other words: Today was a lovely day. So lovely that I have published a photo essay:

http://www.geocities.com/dmathew1/sept18.html

"Ft. DeSoto Park September 18, 2007"

Today is a historic day for many reasons, not all of them good.

The US Dollar Index is falling like a brick:

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=d12

Oil is above $82 a barrel and headed higher:

http://www.321energy.com/

The stock market loved Ben Bernanke's decision but America's ultimate collapse is virtually guaranteed by the excesses of the past and today's desperate act.

Americans must begin thinking about how this nation will look when gasoline is $6 a gallon, food is really expensive, and jobs are scarce.

We're living in the era of consequences. We're living in the era of America's decline, leading to America's ultimate collapse.

Americans are going to need some new priorities very soon. Until these sorrows come, I encourage everyone to spend their time outside, appreciating the beauty of Nature, and contemplating the awesome complexity of the Universe.

Believe me, this is a more healthy hobby either shopping at the mall or watching television.

[Don Mott]

Boy nelson he sure got you're blood up. You and I must have read different articles because I can't discern from his writing whether Howard is for, against, or neutral on the subject of HD but it sure reads as neutral! I for the time being am neutral as well but it is obvious that the article was meant to show how low land developers will stoop to scare and misinform the public when it comes to protecting their greedy wallets, all the while hiding their faces and names from public view. Paving the state, no water, and concrete canyons are all very good possibilities if developers keep getting rubber stamped for every project they propose. And that is a very good possibility because the politicians have their hands in the developers back pocket so to speak. They (developers) share their political donations with politicos from city commissions all the way up to Tallahassee. If their agenda was a good one for the people do you not think they would want their name on it? It is a well known fact greed is their agenda and the land and people be damned. But that is another story. Your attack on Howard's article was way off base.

[Howard Troxler]

Thanks everybody for the comments!

nelson, you didn't leave an e-mail address, so I hope you see this response -- I liked your comments and used 'em to make a separate, new post on the blog this morning, along with my reply.

[Schauer]

Didn't the scare speech also accuse the opponent of being a blatant HOMO-sapien?