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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJim Greer: Racism and Dead Bodies Ahead
Hidden among the shadows in a cavernous banquet hall, Florida's most notorious backroom politician sips his third cup of complimentary coffee and begins to cry.
Jim Greer, the 50-year-old embattled former state Republican chairman, is confessing. Sitting cross-legged on a cushioned chair at the Delray Beach Marriott, he's bearded and thinner than he was when he ruled the GOP from 2006 to 2010. After fidgeting and wringing a napkin, he sighs and says he has caused his family so much pain. Then his blue eyes glaze over. If only he'd been smarter. If only he'd been wiser, less arrogant, less greedy.
Jim Greer: "There is an element of racism in the Republican Party."
Then, perhaps, he and his wife wouldn't have panicked last year when they'd learned she was pregnant with a baby girl. Should we bring another child into this nightmare? they thought.
"I believe I've made decisions that aren't ethical, yes," he recently told New Times in his most in-depth interview in years. "But making unethical decisions doesn't mean you're not an ethical person. Still, there were terrible mistakes." Those mistakes cost him. In June 2010, six months after he abruptly resigned as chairman, prosecutors hit Greer with six felony charges: organized scheme to defraud, money laundering, and four counts of grand theft. Trial is set for February 11 in Orlando Circuit Court.
Now, on the eve of quite possibly the most anticipated political corruption case in state history, Greer still has some fight. He might not have been a good chairman at the time of his resignation, he says, but everything he did was legal.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31/news/jim-greer-racism-and-dead-bodies-ahead/
DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)from article:
"Party spending, though, was reckless, he acknowledges. He charged $500,000 to his Republican Party American Express card at spas and restaurants. But Greer says he wasn't alone in his profligacy. And when his trial finally begins after three years of waiting, he swears the Republicans who abandoned him will pay.
"It's going to be a Shakespearean play where everyone dies in the end," he predicts. "It won't be good for anybody. People need to know what goes on behind the curtain in the Republican Party, and before the Republicans tried to destroy me, they should have thought about what the consequences were going to be."
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"There's little doubt, though, the already troubled party, which dominates the Legislature but has lost the past two presidential elections, will take a PR drubbing. "This trial will continue to show that nothing has come from Republicans and there's no reason for them to keep power," Greer says. "The people need to know what the Republican Party is. It's dysfunctional."
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I really look forward to this trial.
sadbear
(4,340 posts)DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)Kitchen remodel, car lease, etc.?
Or was that someone other than Rubio?
sadbear
(4,340 posts)I really hope they are.
DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)From what I recall, Boy Wonder was throwing a ton of charges on his Party CC. Being such a high-profile candidate, there must have been some oversight and wink-wink at the State level. Hell, it looks like they were all doing the same thing.
malaise
(269,219 posts)DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)This should be interesting.
lpbk2713
(42,769 posts)Rubio was Jeb's protegee. Greer had better not take any trips
on any small private aircraft. This is really going to snowball.
malaise
(269,219 posts)UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)sadbear
(4,340 posts)hatrack
(59,594 posts)Gosh, all out of tears of sympathy for the embattled Mr. Greer.
Too bad, so sad.
At least he didn't get shot dead because his car's GPS system steered him to the wrong driveway, so things could be much worse.
Solly Mack
(90,792 posts)... the GOP's favorite way to appeal to republican voters, as well as an integral part of everything the GOP is, then I guess one could say "There is an element of racism in the Republican Party."
Snort.
Baitball Blogger
(46,769 posts)Give us the names. Give them up. We're tired of waiting.
Bucky
(54,087 posts)Apparently his self esteem is still intact.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Just because he is obviously clusmy and stuff. On the other hand he does sound very depressed.
I'm not saying anything, my mind just wanders in weird directions sometimes.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)It's NOT, it's a criminal organization taken over from within by it's own thugs.