Gardner: Spectacle at school board meeting showed decline of our political discourse
Letter to the editor
On July 31, at the Alachua County School Board meeting, the stage was set by the purple people eaters to deny comment from those who opposed their agenda at “their meeting.” They lined up 28 members to support a Chair who made vile and inappropriate comments from her personal Facebook account, where she wished death to all “MAGA” supporters while cheering the death of Hulk Hogan, who had recently passed away.
The theater spectacle followed the new Democratic party-line marching orders to disrupt any sane political dialogue and replace it with anger, hatred, and “good trouble,” up to the election process in the upcoming mid-term elections and beyond. Obviously, they haven’t learned very much since losing the last Presidential election and the Congress to the Republican Party.
I am a 71-year-old lifetime Democratic swing voter, in what used to be a swing state but now is BY FAR a Republican stronghold state. This is the fault of the Democratic party and their ineffectual talking heads (politicians and activists), who have lost touch with the realities of their actions. They are dying by their own hand.
My District 3 elected representative led the charge and then passed the microphone to a very hateful, bigoted, and out-of-control “activist.” She and Commissioner Willits whipped the mob into a frenzy of yelling and finger-pointing at a speaker who said he wasn’t a Republican, but to them, he represented the Republican majority in the state and country. The mob’s hateful rhetoric led to an “intermission” to have sanity restored so the 28 purple people eaters could continue their assault on the Republican Party.
Did I mention that this was at a SCHOOL BOARD MEETING? As an aside, they also were there to support the call to forgive the Chair’s vile remarks as free speech while yelling repeatedly, “GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT,” at a citizen who was exercising his right to free speech, which ultimately led to an order to remove him from the meeting. He was later told by the board’s attorney that he did not have to leave if he wanted to stay in a room with an out-of-control lynch mob. He declined the invitation.
What has happened to our political discourse? To listen and entertain the idea that one man out of 342 million Americans (2024) is in control of our destiny is ridiculous. Like it or not, he is the President (2nd term), and it was the Democratic Party that secured his return to the White House.
To Commissioner Willits,
I found your opening liturgy at the ACSB highly unprofessional and insulting. Your comments were designed to stir up the meeting (see clicking fingers in the air by all in purple attire). You said, “In the Catholic faith of my youth, purple is the color of penance and preparation and the liturgical season of Lent, as Jesus wore a robe of purple as he approached his judgment.”
Jesus did not wear a robe of purple. That statement leads the participants at the ACSB to think that Jesus was making some kind of political statement against the Romans. The fact is, ”the Roman soldiers had stripped Jesus of his garments and replaced them with a robe of purple and a crown of thorns. The purple robe placed on Jesus by the Roman soldiers was significant as it symbolizes mockery and the assertion of their authority. The color purple was historically associated with royalty and power and the robe was used to belittle Jesus.” (Apologetics Press)
It appears to me that it is more likely than not that your intention at the ACSB meeting was to highlight yours and the Democratic electorate’s authority over Gainesville’s citizens. I believe that is supported by your yelling the names of Democratic elected officials as authority figures deserving of respect, although you appear to only ask that for Democrats. Republicans are also “duly elected.” Respect is earned, not bestowed by government officials like yourself.
James Gardner, District 3, Gainesville
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Well said. Thank you.
Nice letter.
Glad someone from Willets’ hood noticed. Maybe they’ll see him for the hypocrite he is and make him take a walk. I can’t help but think he’s more of an Easter Lily parishioner and his days of attending the Catholic Church are far gone.
Thank you for a well written summary of that clown show. The incident has been shared nation wide. What an embarrassment to this community. Shame on these elected representatives.
Well said. Summed it all up.
As someone at the meeting, this isn’t an accurate representation of what happened at the meeting. The first gentleman who spoke against Dr. Rockwell was polite and respectful. He waited his turn, spoke, and sat back down. The other man was disrespectful the entire meeting. He kept calling out asking when it was his turn to speak. He was aggressive and should have returned to his seat near the podium, the same way he came after his aggressive comments (which Rockwell listened too without interrupting), how ever he choose to walk towards the board members in a hostile and aggressive manner, and walked around everyone. The person shouting felt the board was being threatened and was in physical danger (legit fear due to this person’s criminal history).
Signed purple in the front row
Not what the video tape shows, son…sorry. Now sit down.
What type of characteristics did the non-Caucasian woman who kept shouting and telling another to not touch her display? Good thing she didn’t have a rope.
Just wanting to make sure I didn’t miss something.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Well said James. Sadly the school board members responsible will not have learned a lesson until they too wear rags of purple.
Hate never accomplished anything.
This again?
I watched much of the video of the public comments and yes, if anyone was thrown out of the meeting it should have included several of those who were yelling, as well as “Jeremy”, who’s comment was purposefully incendiary, disrespectful, and personal and who continued loudly arguing while standing in the middle of the public section as the chair asked that he be removed. Since the attorney told the chair she shouldn’t do that, she recanted that order and obviously was lost after that as to what to do with the others misbehaving. It should be noted that a speaker only a few turns prior to Jeremy expressed the same position as he did as to action – Rockwell should step down – without the personal incendiary attacks and was received without protest, comment, or incident. If content, not behavior, was the match that lit the crowd, his would have done it, but didn’t.
As to the writer’s hatred for Democrats and declartion of why the last few elections in Florida were not close – while Gillum lost to DeSantis by 33k votes out of 8 million cast, not exactly a blow out – he fails to note demographics as conservative retirees are changing our electorate, and the lack of monetary support for Crist from the national party.
James does make the ridiculous claim that these elections turned on public distaste for the supposed bad manners of Democrats when you have to be blind and stupid to not recognize the lack of decency of the current president, and especially in contrast to those of the 2 Democrats who preceded him. If you recall, both of them publicly and with respect and decorum welcomed him into the White House after the election, including during the normal transition period which is intended to peaceably and effectively turn over governmenbt functions for the benefit of our government, not for some partisan principle. Both respectfully attended his inauguration and mostly remained quiet afterwards as is the standard manners of ex-presidents, nor did either while in office constantly and falsely accuse him of personal failngs and blame any and all problems on him. Jame’s chosen leader – and that of pretty much any Republican still claiming to be one, as they bow down, worship, and kiss his keister as he requires – on the other hand not only did not welcome his sucessor into the White House, but purposefully stymied his transition teams access to current records and operations and that is a sin not so much against his successor, but against the American people who it is intended to benefit and safeguard, He didn’t have the gonads to attend his successor’s inauguration, instead scurrying out of town before it bagan, an unprecedented gross violation of celebrating our history of peaceful transitions. Do I need to mention his attempts to overthrow our election and later pardoning of his henchmen and willing fools who viciously attacked Capitol police? Lastly, he constantly and personnally berates his now predecessor and blames him for any bad news, and inappropriately at public gatherings with other dignataries standing next to him, not wanting to be part of his infantile obsessions and pig-like behavior. Now he pretends there is some case to be made against his 1st predecessor for findings of the CIA under him which were endorsed by the GOP controlled Senate Intel Committee Report on the 2016 election a few years later. Read it. I have.
In short James, you are a very poor judge of character or are very ignorant of national politics. You have every reason to be unhappy with the recent ACSB meeting, but if not just a partisan tool, you shoul be similarly upset with “Jeremy” who effectively yelled “fire” , along with those who went out of control in opposition. It was not a planned or even unplanned partisan ambush, but the result of a chair who’s shakey authority was challenged and who then went largely silent until temporarily closing the meeting. Yes, a failing. No, not a targeted one.
The hypocrisy of the right, blaming the left for the loss of decorum is rich. As bad as Cammack blaming the left for the fear her medical providers had in providing her potentially-lifesaving abortion for her ectopic pregnancy.
Both of you miss the point. It’s not just “the right” that is sick and tired of the Progressive’s mob mentality…many regular democrats and most independents have had enough too. The left wing radicals are completely out-of-touch with reality and only represent a tiny fraction of citizens. They are loud and proud and that’s about all.
Unlike the current Republican party Slice, the “left wing radicals” do not run our party.
Jazzman – Am non-partisan in politics and see that the middle, whether conservative or liberal leaning, stay silent. Why? Because we get beat up by the extremes of both sides. One group espouses free speech and then denigrates others for exercising their rights. The Democratic machine here in Gainesville is just as bad as the Republican machine in Tally or DC. They weaponize everything to maintain their ‘phony baloney’ jobs and status quo.
Disc, maybe so, but that meeting was not an example of that but of bad meeting management by the chair and attorney that got out of hand.
As noted by others and as is evident from the video, the guy who agreed with “Jeremy”, but did so with the decorum one should exhibit at a public meeting, was met without rancor, protest, or getting “beat up” by anyone.