On With Greg Penglis on WEBY 1330

Julie Goffstein and I discuss her case, family court corruption, and more with Greg Penglis on 1330 WEBY in Northwest Florida. 

For more on Julie Goffstein's story, go here. 

Also, Tanya Hathaway's story is mentioned, find more here. 

Medical Exam Points to Minnesota Jail Corruption

A recent medical exam revealed that Sandra Grazzini-Rucki has several broken bones and torn ligaments, and much of the damage was either ignored or caused by the Minnesota jail system the last time she was incarcerated.

As I previously noted, Grazzini-Rucki is currently being housed in Pinellas County Jail in Florida awaiting extradition back to Minnesota to finish a convoluted sentence imposed inexplicably by Dakota County Minnesota Judge Karen Asphaug.

She recently had a medical check to prepare her for transport for her extradition and that medical check determined that she had: multiple broken toes on one foot, and one on the other, a broken nose, iron deficiency, lower back problems, and a torn rotator cuff.

Much of this damage was caused on her last transport from Florida to Minnesota and the broken nose was caused when a fellow inmate attacked her while in prison in Minnesota.

The reason the transport was so brutal was because Dakota County lied to the US Marshals and made her appear to be a violent and assaultive felon when she was being charged with a low level felony.

In September 2015, she was indicted under seal for parental deprivation.

Because it was under seal she- nor anyone outside a small circle- was supposed to know about the indictment.

Despite that, Brandon Stahl of the Minneapolis Star Tribune was leaked her sealed indictment so that he could splash it on the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Stahl has also received another sealed warrant, this one for the home of the Dahlen’s on the day the two Rucki girls were found.

He’s never explained why someone in law enforcement was willing to commit multiple crimes themselves to give him information illegally, but there’s no doubt he is pro-police in this case, never questioning anything they’ve done throughout.

While she was indicted for parental deprivation, Dakota County reached out to the US Marshals and told them she was a fugitive, an assaultive felon who was charged with gun running, kidnapping and child trafficking.

As a result, in October 2015, she was visited after midnight by members of the US Marshals Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) at a timeshare she was staying following a flight as a flight attendant.

Because of the seriousness of the charges, she was housed in maximum security where her cell mate was accused murderer Elizabeth Rios in Florida while awaiting extradition.

After staying there several weeks, she was transported backto Minnesota, where the prison transport was told she was extremely dangerous so she had her hands and feet shackled, handcuffed, and put into a cage away from everyone where she was made to sit while her feet and hands were shackled together.

Her bus made almost ten stops and on one stop she was chained to the wall in a cell for several days.

She was beaten and sexual assaulted on the transport and when she arrived back in Minnesota claimed a glitch was responsible for them claiming she was charged with child trafficking, kidnapping and gun running and reduced the charges to parental deprivation.

Grazzini-Rucki spent time in Ramsey and Dakota County Jail.

Asphaug gave her $500,000, claiming she was a flight risk, even though her warrant was clearly marked sealed.

In prison she received no care for any of her injuries and the prison even sent in a fellow prisoner to rough her up.

One of the nights she was being housed, Grazzini-Rucki said she received a new cell mate. Shortly after dinner, she said she became groggy and passed out.

The next thing she remembered she woke up in a pool of blood in her cell.

While the hospital staff stopped the bleeding, her nose was never reset and when she arrived back in her cell the cell mate was gone.

Jail officials never conducted an investigation into what happened and told her she must have fallen out of her bunk.

Sarah Fitzgerald, public affairs officer for the Minnesota Department of Corrections, said she was not housed in the prison system for her entire stay. 

That means Grazzini-Rucki was housed in the county jail system the entire time she was incarcerated; the jail system is far more restrictive and given that her crime was a low level felony there was no apparent reason for her to stay in the jail system. 

Grazzini-Rucki faces another transport from Florida to Minnesota shortly.

Grazzini-Rucki was convicted in the fall 2016 of deprivation of parental rights for hiding two of her daughters from her abusive ex-husband- her ex-husband David Rucki has been involved in a bar fight, a road rage incident, incidents of stalking, once stuck a gun to his son Nico’s head, and chased after his daughter Samantha on her thirteenth birthday.

(A full dossier of David Rucki’s violence can be found here)

The conviction came only after Asphaug denied almost all evidence of David Rucki's violence and abuse. 

Check out this podcast where both these incidents and others are discussed.

Grazzini-Rucki Case Spins Out of Control

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The case against Sandra Grazzini-Rucki has turned to chaos and most of the blame can be laid at the feet of Dakota County Judge Karen Asphaug.

Grazzini-Rucki was convicted in the fall 2016 of deprivation of parental rights for hiding two of her daughters from her abusive ex-husband- her ex-husband David Rucki has been involved in a bar fight, a road rage incident, incidents of stalking, once stuck a gun to his son Nico’s head, and chased after his daughter Samantha on her thirteenth birthday.

(A full dossier of David Rucki’s violence can be found here)
The conviction came only after Asphaug denied almost all evidence of David Rucki's violence and abuse. 

The maximum sentence for the crime Grazzini-Rucki was convicted of was one year and one day and probation was assumed for anyone with no prior criminal record.

Though probation was assumed since Grazzini-Rucki had no prior criminal record, not only did Asphaug sentence Grazzini-Rucki to the maximum but made her serve it fifteen days at a time over a period of six years.

Grazzini-Rucki was picked up for this crime in October 2015 and served approximately five months in prison awaiting trial largely because Asphaug set her bail then at $500,000, referring to her as a flight risk. 

She also served a month immediately after being sentenced and another three weeks for a probation violation.

As such, by the end of 2016, she had less than two months to serve.

Grazzini-Rucki asked the “execute the sentence”; by execute, this means to finish the remaining all at once.

The prosecutor and even the probation officer both recommended this course of action but Asphaug denied it and forced Grazzini-Rucki to wait until November 19, 2017 to serve the next portion of her sentence.'

                                                          (Judge Karen Asphaug)

But shortly before Grazzini-Rucki was to serve her sentence, the Minnesota Appeals Court overturned the sentence as too harsh and sent the matter back to Asphaug for her to resentence Grazzini-Rucki and have her complete the sentence.

On December 8, 2017, Asphaug announced on the docket that she was scheduling a hearing. Then, on December 14, 2018, Asphaug, with no explanation, canceled the hearing.

Asphaug did nothing more until February 7, 2018, when she announced a new “review hearing” for March 26, 2018.

It’s not clear why the second hearing was a “review hearing” since what needed to occur was for a resentencing.

But by this point, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki had been rendered homeless and living in Florida.

She was homeless because in her divorce her ex-husband was awarded everything, along with sole custody of the children, and child support and alimony.

Since she was now a convicted felon, she could never find a job which would be able to manage paying for all this.

She was living in Florida because Asphaug, knowing that Grazzini-Rucki was homeless, let her leave prison without providing a home address or phone number.

She’s also not been required to check with either the court or her probation officer as Grazzini-Rucki maintained no contact with either with no sanction since she left the state in late 2016.

Grazzini-Rucki’s circumstances are so dire she borrows and shares phones.

With Grazzini-Rucki on the street, it’s not clear how she was served.

None of her attorneys of record were contacted.

Grazzini-Rucki failed to appear for her March 26 court date and a nationwide body only (the most extreme) warrant was immediately issued.

Now, with less than a month and a half to serve, Dakota County is insisting on extraditing Grazzini-Rucki, a process would could take up to a week and a half on its own.

Because missing a court date immediately put Grazzini-Rucki into a fugitive category she is being housed in maximum security in a county jail, not a prison, which she said, “are used to break people.”

Had she been allowed to execute the sentence, Grazzini-Rucki would have completed everything in January 2017.

Sandra Grazzini-Rucki is currently being housed in Pinellas (Fl) County Jail and has been since she voluntarily turned herself in on March 27.

Crist Stumbles on Healthcare

Over the last couple months, the Florida Senate race has been a battle of messages between Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio. Both have been very effective and thus the race has been tight with each having their share of polls showing them leading.

Rubio has continued to ride his message of American exceptionalism, small government and free markets. Meanwhile, Charlie Crist has ridden a message of the independent politician not beholden to either party.

Both would have been perfectly happy staying on this message until November. Recently, however, Governor Crist has stumbled in trying to explain his position on Obamacare.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) is walking back comments he made in an interview earlier today about the recently enacted healthcare law.

Crist is mounting an independent bid for Senate against Republican Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek.

Crist told a local TV station Friday that he would have voted in favor of President Obama's healthcare proposal were he in the Senate. That was a reversal of his previous position against the healthcare law.

"I would have voted for it," Crist said in the interview. "But I think it can be done better, I really do."

Crist has said just about everything on Obamacare recently. He's said he would have voted for it and against it. He's said he'd repeal it and he'd just improve it. He's been taken totally off message. Meanwhile, Rubio carries the Republican Party line of repeal and replace and so he stays on message and attacks Crist as a flip flopper.

This race will be very tight and it will come down to exactly these sorts of errors. Rubio has won this round. If he's flawless going forward, victory is in hand.

Miller Wins in Alaska

Joe Miller appears to be squeezing out a narrow victory in Alaska.

Republicans are fired up and ready to go, and that's producing some surprising election results, including the possible defeat of Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska, who would be the third sitting U.S. Senator ousted by their own party this year.

The Alaska story, though, could shape up to be the most interesting. Miller leads Murkowski, a second-generation senator, by three percent. But the results are still trickling in - more than 15 percent of the ballots have not been counted, including the many absentee ballots from Alaskans who work, serve or attend school elsewhere. If Murkowski goes down it will be the biggest pelt yet for Sarah Palin's hunting party. She backed Miller (as did the Tea Party Express with a late $500,000 ad buy) and can claim lots of credit for his success. If Miller prevails, he should have a clear shot at the Senate against Democratic nominee, Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams. Miller is a conservative, West Point graduate, Yale-educated lawyer and former judge. While Alaskans overall may have some reservations about Palin after she abruptly left the governorship, this should be a very Republican year in a very Republican state.

98% of the precincts have come in and Miller continues to lead. The Tea Parties, of which Miller is a favorite, have flexed their muscles in the primaries.

That said their future goes through three states: Nevada, Florida and Colorado. The Tea Parties have shown incredible muscle in primaries. Furthermore, it's a movement that is here to stay. It has spawned the likes of Nikki Haley, Scott Brown and Rand Paul.

The key for this movement will be whether or not their candidates can win elections in a cross section of states that represent the country as a whole. That's where Florida, Colorado and and Nevada come in. No one is a bigger Tea Party favorite than Marco Rubio. There's no more purple state than Florida. So, a victory by Rubio in Florida legitimizes the Tea Parties.

It means that Tea Parties don't have to settle for any Republican candidate. Meanwhile, a loss means the tea parties took a solid Republican seat and gave it to another party.

There are similar dynamics in Nevada and Colorado. In both states, a tea party candidate came out of nowhere to defeat the establishment candidate. In both states, the seat was likely Republican. Will the tea party candidate hold on? If so, a real political force is born. If not, it could be the sort of force that does more harm than good electorally.

Rubio Rakes in the Cash

Marco Rubio took in an impressive amount of cash in the last quarter.

Marco Rubio’s Senate campaign continues to rake in the contributions, raising more than $4.5 million during the recently completed second quarter, according to a statement released Monday.

The campaign of Mr. Rubio, a Republican, also announced that it has taken in more than $11 million in total and indicated that its second quarter haul outpaced his rival, Charlie Crist’s best fund-raising quarter. The Rubio campaign did not say, however, how much money it has on hand.

Polling in Florida has suggested that the Senate race could be close, but Mr. Rubio’s campaign certainly seems to have the momentum when it comes to gathering donations.

This is turning into the most interesting, most unpredictable, and most widely watched race in the country. So far, the polling is all over but more often than not Governor Crist still leads. He's benefitted from being in the spotlight as governor since the oil spill. Still, at some point, Crist will tell the world which side he will caucus with and it will be at that point that the race will be clearer.

The conventional wisdom is that Crist's lead is "soft". In that, many of Crist's voters can be swayed to go elsewhere. He's getting significant numbers of both Reps and Dems. Once he tells the world which side he caucus' with, the CW is that those on the other side will leave. So, this race remains unpredictable until that moment. It is, however, clear that Rubio has not been hurt by the scandals that hit him and the Florida RNC.

The Long Strange Trip of Mario Benitez

Jerry Lemaine is facing an immigration nightmare. A bust for possession of marijuana and a subsequent conviction that wound with the penalty of probation may cost Lemaine the ability to stay in America. Lemaine is a legal resident alien that came here from Haiti as a youth. Yet, this pot bust may lead to his deportation.

When a police officer in this Long Island suburb found a marijuana cigarette in Jerry Lemaine’s pocket one night in January 2007, a Legal Aid lawyer counseled him to plead guilty. Under state statutes, the penalty was only a $100 fine, and though Mr. Lemaine had been caught with a small amount of marijuana years earlier as a teenager, that case had been dismissed.

But Mr. Lemaine, a legal permanent resident, soon discovered that his quick guilty plea had dire consequences. Immigration authorities flew him in shackles to Texas, where he spent three years behind bars, including 10 months in solitary confinement, as he fought deportation to Haiti, the country he had left at age 3.

Under federal rulings that prevailed in Texas, Mr. Lemaine had lost the legal opportunity that rulings in New York would have allowed: to have an immigration judge weigh his offenses, including earlier misdemeanors resolved without jail time, against other aspects of his life, like his nursing studies at Hunter Business School; his care for his little sister, a United States citizen with a brain disorder; and the help he gave his divorced mother, who had worked double shifts to move the family out of a dangerous Brooklyn neighborhood.

It's a fate that Rigo Padilla also almost faced when a DUI conviction also nearly lead to his deportation. Like Lemaine, Padilla was a legal resident alien in the States and he'd come here as a youth. Following his arrest, he too was summoned in front of an immigration judge and faced deportation.

Padilla was arrested for drinking and driving in January. He admitted to police that he had "a few beers" while watching a football game with friends. He planned to only drive eight blocks from a friend's house to his own. He w

as stopped before he made it home after rolling through a stop sign.

Nobody was hurt in the incident and Padilla was given supervision, which under Illinois law wouldn't even result in a conviction, according to his immigration attorney Beatriz Sandoval.

But Padilla was reported to immigr
ation officials and now the young man faces deportation to Mexico, a country he hasn't visited since he left more than 15 years ago.

Padilla was given a reprieve not only by DHS but by the Supreme Court. His case could turn into a landmark for others in his position. The Supreme Court ruled that because Padilla's attorney didn't forewarn the immigration consequences of his pleading that he was denied "competent representation." In writing the majority decision, Justice John Paul Stevens likened deportation to banishment.

Mario Benitez, currently serving time in Brevard County Florida, is now also getting a taste of our immigration system. On May 7th, 2007, Benitez, following an evening of binge drinking, broke into his neighbor's home and stole his change change jar totaling just over $100. He was arrested the next day and subsequently confessed. For the next year, Benitez attempted to work out a plea agreement with prosecutors. He had no other criminal record. He eventually paid back the money to his neighbor.

He also hoped the circumstances that lead to his crime would weigh in his favor. He had moved to Florida from Chicago about a year prior. In the months leading up to his crime, his business tanked, he broke off his engagement with his girlfriend, and this lead to a serious drinking problem. The prosecution wouldn't agree to any plea and his fate was left in the hands of the judge.

Even walking into his sentencing on the 31st of January 2009, Benitez was still hoping to avoid jail. The judge was having none of it. He said that Benitez showed no remorse. He said that Benitez' action had violated the safety that everyone should feel in their homes, and the victims would never feel safe again in their home. The judge gave Benitez a sentence of 22 months. The sentence was eventually reduced to sixteen months and he's scheduled to be released on June 18, 2010.

Within months, Benitez received notice from the Department of Homeland Security of a motion to have him deported. Benitez arrived in America with his parents from Mexico in 1972 when he was four years old. His family came here initially just to visit but then his parents overstayed their Visa. His entire family would eventually straighten out their legal status. The rest of his family even eventually became U.S. citizens however Mario was going to school at the time and he's been a legal resident alien. That said, aside from a few vacations in Mexico, Mario Benitez has lived in America full time since he was four years old.

Now, because of his conviction, the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to deport him to Mexico. Benitez no longer has any family there. He has no friends or contacts and so he'd be deported to a foreign country with no resources.

In his last correspondence to me (for full disclosure I consider Benitez a friend), he called the Padilla decision akin to hitting the lottery. Like Padilla, Benitez claims that he wasn't made aware of the fact that a plea of guilty would lead to his deportation. Now, Benitez is hoping that the recent Supreme Court decision will pave the way to his own case being given another look.

Lemaine was arrested in New York and incarcerated for more than two years in an ICE detention center in a room with dozens of others facing deportation. He lost fifty pounds during his incarceration. Benitez is in the hands of Brevard County and reports to be in good health. Yet, he's forced to mount a defense pro se against his deportation order. He tells me that he needs some legislator somewhere to speak out on his behalf. That's no easy task. He's now a convicted criminal. The law states that a non citizen guilty of a felony will be deported. So, the clock ticks on his uncertain future.

Florida in Play

Governor Charlie Crist has apparently decided that he will announce that he is dropping out of the Florida Senate Republican primary and run as an independent.

Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist has decided he will run as an independent in the race to fill the Florida U.S. Senate seat, Crist allies tell Fox News. The official announcement is scheduled for Thursday at 5pm ET in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Senate campaign has been rough and tumble for Crist, he was once the front-runner -- but in recent months began trailing his GOP opponent, Tea Party favorite and former Florida State Speaker Marco Rubio. Rubio has been able to turn a 30-point deficit in the polls into a 30 point lead over Crist.

Crist has said that under no circumstance would he drop out of the race, saying he will do what is best for the voters of Florida. The governor says Republicans in Washington want him to stay in the Republican party but voters in Florida have told him they want him to run as an independent.

Both Crist and Rubio would have won the general election handily but in a three way race it's now wide open. The Democratic nominee is Kendrick Meek.

US Attorney Investigating Florida GOP

This investigation includes Rubio's use of the GOP credit card.

A spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Florida, Katie Betta, said she could not confirm the investigation nor make any comments. Coming in a high-stakes election year, the investigation could expose the inner-workings of a party that has dominated state government and raked in millions of dollars from lobbyists and special interests.

Meanwhile, in a separate inquiry, the IRS is also looking at the tax records of at least three former party credit card holders — former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, ex-state party chairman Jim Greer and ex-party executive director Delmar Johnson — to determine whether they misused their party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a source familiar with the preliminary inquiry.

Political parties, which are tax exempt, are allowed to spend money only on political activities, such as fundraising, running campaigns and registering voters. While it's commonplace for party officials and politicians to wine and dine donors, the Florida party allowed credit card holders to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges with little oversight.

So far this story has received little attention and we'll see if the story grows as a result of the latest revelation.

Health Care Battle Moves to Florida

While we continue to debate the health care bill, we are about to face the first tangible effect of the bill. That will come on April 13th. That's when Florida's special election will be held in the 19th district. Republican Ed Lynch will face off against Democrat Ted Deutsch. They're running to replace Robert Wexler, who resigned late last year.

This is a relatively liberal district and normally it wouldn't receive much attention. The Democrat should win in a cakewalk. These aren't normal times. With the results in Massachusetts anything is possible. This race will the first tangible test of health care's popularity, or lack thereof. If Lynch wins, it will be yet another sign that 2010 will be very bloody for Democrats. If Deutsch wins, it will be a sign that Democrats are getting their mojo after passing health care.

Make no mistake, this special election will be about the health care bill. Just ask Lynch.

The deed has been done. In one of the most shameful episodes in American History, the Obama Administration has signed into law a not-so-gradual government takeover of the health insurance system- a takeover that simultaneously subverts our Constitution and governs against the will of the American people. The near total disconnect between the political rhetoric employed by the Obama Administration to promote and pass this legislation with how it will actually affect your most private health care decisions is an offense against freedom loving Americans who want no part of government run health care.

Prior to last weekend’s disgraceful scene within the House Democratic Caucus, I had stated that our forthcoming Special Election on April 13th could potentially have implications for the Obamacare vote if the Democrats failed to come up with the necessary votes before our special election. In light the law’s signing by President Obama, our special election now becomes the first referendum on this egregious power play. The Obama administration and the Democratic Congress may have had the power to accomplish what they did with our healthcare system, but they assuredly did not have either the constitutional right or the public’s consent to pass such a law. The good news is that we don’t have to wait until November to make the Democrats feel the blowback for such a naked sellout of our country.

Deutsch, meanwhile, is taking aim at the Tea Parties.

As the April 13 special election approaches to replace former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler in Palm Beach-Broward congressional District 19, Democrat Ted Deutch’s campaign has sent a mailer to voters in the heavily Democratic district warning that “Republicans & The Tea Party Want To Capture YOUR Congressional Seat!”

The four-page glossy brochure features unflattering pictures of former Vice President Dick Cheney, 2008 Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin and a tea bag with a large red X through them. Inside, the mailer features a statement from Wexler lamenting the Dems’ “heartbreaking” loss to Brown in Massachusetts and says “We cannot let the Republicans take our district as well.”

The South Florida Tea Party has said it plans to make a national statement in the special election. But the group recently decided not to endorse any candidate in the race between Deutch, Republican Ed Lynch and no-party candidate Jim McCormick.

So, the battle lines have been drawn. While the Massachusetts race was now the center of media attention, this race continues to fly under the radar. Yet, this is the first race post the passage of health care reform. It will be the first tangible result.

Rubio in Credit Card Flap

Marco Rubio, billing himself as a fiscal conservative, is involved in a flap that puts that into question.

Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio is defending himself following reports that he charged thousands of dollars to his Florida Republican Party credit card for personal expenses ranging from car repairs to a visit to a fancy barbershop.

The St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald reported Thursday that Rubio, who is facing off in the GOP primary against Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, charged more than $100,000 to his state party American Express card between November 2006 and November 2008 -- he was House speaker for most of that period.

The report said the charges covered not only official travel but grocery bills, wine store purchases and other seemingly personal items, and that while Rubio claimed he paid the party back for personal expenses, the Florida GOP picked up the tab for some of them. The report said, for instance, that the party paid $1,000 for repairs to his family car -- Rubio said it was damaged at a political function.

Rubio has acknowledged making the charges. He claims that 89% of the charges were related to his work as party chairman. (that means that 11% are not?) The charges amount to about $110000 over a period just more than 2 years. Rubio charged that the charges were leaked to Crist's campaign in an act of desperation.

TARP to Foreclosures?

President Obama will propose using $1.5 billion in TARP funds to help: Michigan, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, and California, the five hardest hit states by foreclosures.

While he’s in the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation Friday, President Obama plans to announce a proposal to take $1.5 billion in funds originally designed to assist ailing banks and instead use it to help the hardest hit states stem the housing crisis, according to senior administration officials.


The proposal to redistribute money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program will benefit the five states with the steepest declines in home prices: Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona and Michigan.

$1.5 billion would be a drop in the bucket. Also, it's unclear what this money would do that his failed $75 billion loan modification plan would do. Most importantly, TARP was not supposed to be used for this purpose.

Tea Parties Turn on Republicans

That's the word from this Politico piece.

We will be a headache for anyone who believes the Constitution of the United States … isn’t to be protected,” said Dick Armey, chairman of the anti-tax and limited government advocacy group FreedomWorks, which helped plan and promote the tea parties, town hall protests and the September ‘Taxpayer March’ in Washington. “If you can’t take it seriously, we will look for places of other employment for you.”

“We’re not a partisan organization, and I think many Republicans are disappointed we are not,” added Armey, a former GOP congressman.

In Florida, where the national party has signaled its preference for centrist Gov. Charlie Crist in the GOP Senate primary, tea party activists are lining up behind former state House Speaker Marco Rubio in reaction to Crist’s public backing for President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.

This isn't surprising. The general theme of the Tea Parties is a very pure theme. Tea party goers are both conservative and even libertarian. They have no use for moderates from either party. They certainly have no use for liberals. So, when the Republican establishment, in this case the NRSC, chooses a moderate over a conservative, the tea parties will protest. Crist, as the story points out, supported the stimulus, the bailouts, and appeared with President Obama. He's a moderate. His challenger, Marco Rubio, is a much more pure conservative.

To me, this is short sighted. Rubio is a long shot in the general election whereas Crist is a favorite. A Democrat, we can guarantee, will be more liberal than both of them. Still, the tea parties have the most influence on Republicans in both fundraising and in the primaries. The tea parties have decided to flex their muscles in several local and state races. They are raising a stink in races in Colorado, Connecticut, and in California according to the article.

What's really fascinating is how quickly local regional and local splinter tea party groups have formed from the tea parties. All of this is occurring not from a central national office but from pressure from local and state tea party affiliated groups in each of the areas. It is the South Florida based Tea Party Patriots that is making the most noise against Crist. Similar state groups are raising stinks against Carly Fiorina and other pols deemed to moderate.

If anyone still doubted the political power of the tea parties, you need to doubt them no more. It's entirely unclear just what will be the final outcome of all this newfound power. If they use this power to purge each and every moderate from the Republican party then the tea parties will find that ultimately they'll wind up only helping put more liberals into Congress. I've long said that this movement is "organic" and so it will evolve in ways that ultimately no one can predict. At this point, the movement is transforming from a national movement to a local one.

The Political Civil War Rages on in Both Parties

Here's a thought. Let's look at this question strictly from political calculus. Do you think Republicans would rather that Speaker Pelosi be removed or keep her job, weakened and with little or no credibility left. I personally would pick the latter, at least as far as political advantage goes. That is at the heart of the political civil war going on the Democratic party. About three weeks ago, I wrote about the political civil war going on in both parties.

At the heart of the political civil in the Democratic party is the issue of what to do about potential prosecution of former Bush officials over so called torture techniques like waterboarding. From the beginning, the party didn't know what to do. It's most partisan faction wanted show trials through the "truth commission". The most moderate factions wanted to simply move on, while the president still hasn't figured out what he wanted.

Now that political civil war has turned into a political civil war between the powerful Speaker and the Democratic head of the CIA, Leon Panetta. Once Pelosi accused the CIA of lying, it was on. Once again, the president doesn't know what to do and isn't getting involved. Almost no one in the country believes Pelosi and so the continued presence of this debate only goes to weaken the Speaker. It weakens the president with every passing day because he refuses to take a stand.

Now, here's just how serious this particular political civil war is. Speaker Pelosi would be at the center of crafting and rainmaking any and all of President Obama's main initiatives. In other words, the Democrats are about to have a disgraced liar at the center of both health care and climate legislation.

So, let's go back to my original question. There is literally an endless and plethora methods of attacking the Democrats by tying them to Pelosi come November 2010. As long as the Speaker maintains her position of power, she will be the gift that keeps on giving for the Republicans. Furthermore, her battle with the Democratic lead CIA is just getting started. Fox News first reported on a leak in which Pelosi stopped a covert mission in 2004. This leak of course contradicts her contention that she couldn't do anything to stop the waterboarding. You can expect there to be plenty of leaks in the weeks, months, and even years to come. Every time, it will be mentioned that the CIA is lead by DEMOCRAT Leon Panetta. At this point, either the Speaker resigns in disgrace or the entire legislative agenda is threatened and at least tainted by her presence.

Now, before the Republicans go and celebrate, we must also remember they have plenty of their own problems. It appears that the conservatives smell blood in the water and they are willing to seek and destroy any moderate in their path. Take the case of the popular Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He recently announced that he would run for the Senate. Given his popularity, this should have been welcomed news. After all, his entrance meant that the seat would be kept easily and the Republicans could focus their resources on other places.

Not so. Over at Red State, the folks there have made it their mission to see that Crist gets defeated in the primary. In fact, its proprietor, Erick Erickson, has started a movement to stop funding to the National Republican Senatorial Committee because they have backed Crist. Talk about eating your own. Crist would win, and win easily...in the general election that is. That isn't good enough for the conservative base. Not only are they opposing him, but they are even encouraging a monetary boycott of the NRSC because they support Crist. I suppose the Republicans' road back to power runs right through a financial boycott of its Senatorial Committee.

This is basically the attitude that most conservatives have taken since Specter has left. They want to purge the entire party of anyone that is NOT a down the line conservative. Of course, it's one thing to have an ideological debate. The conservatives have taken it one step further. They now want to punish, financially, any Republican organ that supports anyone that isn't a down the line conservative. This includes the wildly popular Florida Governor running for Senate.

William Buckley once said that he would support the most conservative candidate that could win. It appears the conservatives would rather run and lose with all conservatives then try and win with the most conservative candidate THAT CAN WIN.

The 2nd Amendment Vs. Property Rights

I have written quite a bit about the erosion of 2nd amendment rights. In Florida, there appears to be the exact opposite dynamic. In Florida, law makers appear to be so pro 2nd amendment that its freedom now infringes on propery rights.

In 1987, Florida wisely affirmed personal freedom by letting law-abiding
citizens get permits to carry concealed weapons. But this year, the legislature
decided it was not enough to let licensees pack in public places. They also
should be allowed to take their guns into private venues -- even if the property
owner objects.

The "take your guns to work" law says anyone with a conceal-carry permit
has a legal right to keep his gun locked in his car in the company parking lot.
Until recently, companies had the authority to make the rules on their own
premises. But when it comes to guns, that freedom is defunct.

The National Rifle Association says any corporation that forbids firearms in its parking areas is violating the 2nd Amendment. That may sound like a promising argument, since the Supreme Court recently struck down a Washington, D.C., handgun ban as an infringement on the constitutional guarantee. It's not.

Now, as the article correctly points out, the second amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms from incursions by the government. It doesn't protect an individual from incursions from other individuals. The right to bear arms doesn't mean an individual has the right to step onto someone else's property with a gun if the owner doesn't want them to.

Of course, the article points out a much more practical problem with this law.

Conceal-carry licensees complain that if they can't keep their guns in their cars, they will have no protection on their way to and from work. That's true. But what about employees who walk, bike or take the bus? Since the law doesn't give them the right to take their guns into the workplace, they have to leave them at home. Should the state force companies to let workers carry pistols into the factory, office or day-care center?

This is not a place where the government should substitute its judgment for that of the property owners. One lawyer told The Bradenton Herald, "I have clients that have to carry out terminations. Sometimes that termination is volatile. A lot of places have a policy where they walk the terminated employee to his car. What if you walk the guy to his car that has a gun? I wouldn't want to be that supervisor."

So, what we have is a law that even forces employers to allow employees to carry a firearm on their premises as long as they have a conceal carry permit. Often times, employers have to fire employees. I will let the audience do the math on the nightmare that can eventually lead with the wrong employee.