Bill Kneer Thinks You're Stupid

I could do this all day.


So an Alert Reader linked me to Bill Kneer's Facebook Page.  Bill seems a little put out at having one of his Woodfill Cheerleader posts eviscerated.  So he responded.  Not here, mind you.  Not on my blog.  Not on my Facebook Page.  He didn't even tag me on it, nor did he use my name.  He DID manage to tag Richard Dillon on the post, which is interesting.  He also tagged himself.  No comment.


Because the Patriot Statesmen bunch have a habit of not allowing comments, and of revising posts thinking they will not be caught at it, I reproduce the Facebook Post from Kneer in its entirety:

And the text, because the picture is difficult to read without clicking on it:

it seems that there are a few in Harris County Texas that are afraid of conservatives. One blogger even wrote a piece recently stating that this article that I wrote shows that I want some people to just shut up.

The truth is those who disagree with me should never shut up they should continue to show the world what they stand for or should I say what they will not stand for.

The truth is the Harris County Republican Party is extremely conservative on social and fiscal issues with the tremendous track record of success. And there are a few that because of the success are working to destroy us from within. That's the truth, that is in no way telling people to shut up that is just me stating my opinion which happens to be correct.

There seems to be something fishy about somebody when they refuse to stand up for and push for truth and honesty.

So, since the word for today is eviscerate, let's get out the scalpel fillet knife.

Paragraph One:  

it seems that there are a few in Harris County Texas that are afraid of conservatives. One blogger even wrote a piece recently stating that this article that I wrote shows that I want some people to just shut up.

So first, Bill tosses out a weasel word like "seems."  It "seems" a few in Harris County are afraid of conservatives.  No proof offered, no names, just "Oooooh, someone is scared of conservatives."  One assumes Kneer is talking about himself as the scary conservative, because he says an unnamed blogger said he wants people to shut up.

Interesting thing is, I remember a blogger doing that.  And I also remember that at the bottom of the LAST post of Bill Kneer's that was exposed, these words appear:

I call on all those who continually find fault and complain to man up, shut up, and help us defeat Democrats in November!

I see the words "shut up" in there.  Don't you?  And lest Kneer and/or Dillon try their editing magic again, I've got all of that post screen-captured and saved.  Don't even bother hiding it, Bill:

Paragraph Two: 

The truth is those who disagree with me should never shut up they should continue to show the world what they stand for or should I say what they will not stand for.

Punctuation is important, but I give Kneer a pass on that.  Here Kneer says people who disagree should show everyone what they stand for.  OK, no argument from me.  But that's not what he said before.  And check out the artful wording.  As Kneer is bald-faced lying about telling people to shut up, he's using the phrase "The truth is..."  Irony, thy name is Bill Kneer.

Paragraph Three: 

The truth is the Harris County Republican Party is extremely conservative on social and fiscal issues with the tremendous track record of success. And there are a few that because of the success are working to destroy us from within. That's the truth, that is in no way telling people to shut up that is just me stating my opinion which happens to be correct.

  

"The truth is..." again.  Bill Kneer has "truth" rather than facts.  Yes, Harris County is extremely socially conservative, and somewhat fiscally conservative.  Houston also has a fiscally irresponsible mayor who lets Occupy camp out for free in the city parks, and who wants to regulate organizations that want to feed the homeless, like churches for instance.  Bill White WON Harris County in 2010, the year Woodfill claims is his greatest victory.  That's important because now the Democrats control the early vote and the ballot board.  This means when provisional ballots are cast, the Democrats will have the deciding vote whether to admit a ballot or not.  

Let me repeat that:

DEMOCRATS ARE IN CONTROL OF HARRIS COUNTY ELECTIONS ON JARED WOODFILL'S WATCH.

2010 Election Results Here

To continue, Kneer claims the successes (which he DOESN'T enumerate) make people want to destroy the party from within.  No evidence, just a heated accusation.  Because Kneer doesn't bother with FACTS.  He's after the TRUTH.  He goes on to remind you that it's the truth, and that it doesn't mean "shut up."  Then here, here's the gem: "that is just me stating my opinion which happens to be correct."  Oh, the arrogance!  Kneer not only tells you to shut up if you disagree with him, but he's established a Ministry of Truth, right here in Harris County!  

Paragraph Four:

There seems to be something fishy about somebody when they refuse to stand up for and push for truth and honesty.

This. Is. Priceless.  Anyone who reads this blog knows I call it Something Fishie.  Kneer thinks he's backhanding me.  He won't SAY who out there is "refusing to stand up for and push for" truth and honesty.  But he can IMPLY that it's me, and that I'm out there somehow blocking all his truth from coming out.  I must be a very powerful Fish.  If I'm so powerful, how is Jared Woodfill even still chair?

So there you have it.  Kneer is all about the "Truth" and yet he won't name names, he won't make clear accusations, he won't offer real proof of any single thing he says.  And he attacks people who dare to criticize his "Truth," but in a way that he can weasel out of should he be challenged.  Go back through his blogs, his Facebook. Take a look for yourself.  you don't need me to show you  - look up Bill Kneer and see, IN HIS OWN WORDS, how this pattern emerges time and again.

Folks, this, THIS is the Third String team that Jared Woodfill entrusts so much of the party duties to.  THIS is the level of competence we're dealing with.  THIS is the team Jared allows so much power and access to.  

THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE RUNNING THE HARRIS COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY.

Make a change.  Remove the incompetence.   Vote Paul Simpson.


UPDATE:  Bill is very sad.  And is obviously more Jesus than me.

HCRP 4/2 Meeting Recap

Last night's Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee meeting was... interesting.  As I wrote on HTPS this week, there were rumors of several resolutions being offered, and those were the talk of the meeting.  There's no way to know what motivated people, but attendance was the highest I can recall, both among precinct chairs, candidates, and visitors.


One highlight of unity before getting into the conflict: the Local Government Committee's report contained a resolution opposing the Houston Feeding Ordinance, which passed the committee unanimously, and which was adopted by the executive committee with their report.  So HCRP's MEMBERSHIP is on record as opposing the attempt to control efforts to feed the homeless in Houston.  The Local Government committee deserves props for making this issue part of their report, and the membership should be pleased to know that the resolution will be brought before Houston City Council today.  A lot of the time resolutions passed in these meetings don't appear to matter much, but this one does; it carries official weight of the party in opposing a bad ordinance.  That's all to the good.  Kudos, people; well done.


And what of the other resolutions?  


AUDIT


Randy Kubosh offered the resolution to ask for a monthly financial accounting, which was ruled out of order, since it would involve a bylaws change.  Changes to the bylaws require some notice ahead of the meeting, and thus this resolution truly was out of order.  Bylaws changes are proposed through the Rules Committee, which operates with a natural (and understandable) reluctance to propose a lot of changes to the bylaws.  That said, a member who wanted to increase reporting, or make changes to the accountability requirements would have to navigate Rules committee meetings, hope that the committee approved the changes, wait for the Rules committee to notify the membership of a proposed change with proper notice, and then wait for the meeting at which there was enough of a quorum in order to vote on a change to the bylaws.  


It's a little maddening, sure.  A lot depends on the members of the Rules committee, and whether they judge the change to be acceptable.  But making bylaws difficult to amend is purposeful - it ensures deliberation before changing rules or procedures that are already in place

• so members have proper notice of structural changes to their organization
• so that everyone knows ahead of time what is being proposed
• so membership has time to digest the effect of the proposed change

Still, proposing some financial accountability on the floor of the Executive Committee meeting is one way to begin building support, but the members calling for this kind of accountability next need to begin drafting changes to bylaws and circulating them among the membership.  If the Rules committee sees a very large and passionate portion of the membership supporting this move, they will have a difficult time ignoring it.  Petitions from the precinct chairs, anyone?


FUNDING CONVENTION


In response to the news that the party would be charging candidates to speak at the upcoming April 21st convention, Ed Hubbard and other activists in the county challenged "the way we've always done things" and called for the leadership to request donations from those in attendance instead.  Ed went so far as to start a pledge drive to prove that the grassroots would indeed step up to the challenge and pay for the event.  A resolution to that effect was offered last night as well.  Most opponents felt that charging candidates from between $500 and $5,000 to speak was certainly a practice that should be stopped.


The short story is that, though there was no way to mandate that the party charge individuals an admission fee, the final amended resolution threw the issue back to the Advisory Committee (made up of the county's Senate District chairs) and scrapped the candidate fees.  Though Chairman Woodfill complained about it to the Chronicle, Hubbard's thinking here is sound:

• since the candidate-funding model began, there has been an influx of new precinct chairs
• those new chairs and activists are still learning how the party operates 
• many have been brought to the party through tea party and grassroots efforts
• many have ties to low-budget, grassroots candidates who would be at a disadvantage using the candidate-funding model

All that is important, because the arguments last night from those who wanted to keep the model were along these lines:

• we've done it for a long time now, what's new?
• this is a political stunt
• candidates ASKED for this back in the '90s
• candidates benefit most, why not have them pay?
• tea parties charge candidates, why not the party?

You already know what I think of "We've always done it" thinking.  And as for a political stunt?  Is there any time that this resolution could be offered when leadership or its cronies would NOT say that?  Any hint of criticism of the leadership seems to bring out the same sad cast of characters, blustering and arguing that "the critics never do anything to help" and similar arguments.  As one who has seen over the past several years how very MANY of these critics of the party leadership have given their time and effort to work with and for the party, I'm disgusted with those old lines.  


If candidates indeed asked for this model back in the '90s, it would seem even then that forces in the party were hoping to keep low-budget (read: not backed by big money) candidates from reaching that audience.  No need to have an opportunity to critically assess EACH candidate, just the ones who can afford it.  Sure candidates, benefit, but so do the attendees, and shutting some out for not having a fat checkbook effectively favors candidates in an election, and should stop.


And the tea party charge?  Tea parties have charged for tables and booths, just as any other exhibitors would do.  What they have not been known to do is charge candidates to become part of a speaker roster.  If anything, tea party has given candidates more exposure, for less money, than any political party so ill-funded has been able to do.


This resolution was debated furiously; at one time opponents of the resolution attempted to table it into irrelevance, which the body refused to do.  It finally passed, and we will know soon what model will take its place.


POLLAND REBUKE


Before the resolution to rebuke Gary Polland for his support of Mayor Parker in his Texas Conservative Review could be offered, a hasty motion to adjourn (well after normal meeting adjournment times, to be fair) was made, seconded, and passed.  It's no wonder EC members were weary after the prior measures, and were ready to go home.  It seems that resolution will have to be brought up in a future meeting; however timing was important on this item.  Polland's endorsements will be going out during this primary season, and the EC lost an opportunity to let him, and primary voters who receive his newsletter, know that he has lost credibility in Harris County.  


We'll see what happens at convention, in the primary, and at the next EC meeting.  Change is slow, people, but sometimes it does come.

Rant Alert - HCRP

Yes, I know it's shocking, but I occasionally feel the need to go on a rampage about political events.  The life of a grassroots political activist is full of frustrations, obviously.  The bad part is when we identify problems and offer solutions, and are totally ignored.  Even worse is when everything we do to try to support good candidates is countered by an establishment mindset, afraid of change and afraid of losing power.


Let's start here: THIS appeared on Big Jolly Politics this week.  In it, Ed Hubbard talks about the way the Harris County Republican Party has continued its slide into ineffectiveness.  The latest?  It seems the local party, unable to finance the required District conventions, will extort ask candidates to pay from $500 to $5,000 to address the attendees at the convention.  


Think low-budget, grassroots candidates can afford that?  Not easily. So, keep those candidates without huge money interests behind them from being able to talk to voters at the convention.  Pay for the convention with money from candidates.  Kill two birds with one stone.


Here's Ed in his own words: 


I am going to be very blunt in what I am about to say—very few activists or primary voters have any real say in who wins most, if not all, of our local GOP primary races any more.  In large part, you have no say because there is no functioning party organization in Harris County to provide a level playing field for our primaries.  In fact, over the last 10-15 years, our local party apparatus has been gutted.  And it has been gutted on purpose.


What Ed touches on in his piece is the way the party has largely become completely ineffectual:

• Charging candidates to pay for the convention, keeping the office open, paying staff
• Failing to recruit precinct chairs
• Allowing an endorsement racket to operate in county politics, effectively allowing three men to decide who will win primary races

If you're not sure you follow all that, just ask yourself this - what is a political party supposed to do?  What is its function?


My guess is that your answer (regarding HCRP) would be something like "get good people elected" or "elect conservatives" or "show some leadership on the issues" or "fight for conservative causes."  


But Ed's point is that the HCRP has set all that aside, and instead focused on empowering and enriching a small number of people connected with the current chair and the prior one.  Ed starts making that case in his post where he documents how much income one former chair has made in appointments by judges he helped elect.  


Stunning, really, how all this goes on.  And frustrating how few people know what is happening.    


I have to say, too, that Ed Hubbard and I first met right after the 2008 election, when he showed me just how horribly Republicans did in Harris County.  That was before there was a tea party, before there was a strong grassroots activist network, before I knew what was happening.  And truthfully, I still don't know after four years all the players, what they do, how they're related.  But I've seen the results.


In response to the party's lackluster involvement, in 2009 and 2010, Houston Tea Party Society ran precinct chair and convention training all over the county, and in many parts of the state as well.  When the precinct chair filing deadline ended, HCRP had a large number of new filers, new people running for precinct chair.  Sadly, at the same time, a huge number of existing precinct chairs did not refile, so the number of precincts with chairs has remained right around 50%.  Imagine what would have happened had HTPS NOT recruited over 100 new activists!


The point there is HTPS and other tea party groups and liberty activists should not have to be fulfilling party functions.  We shouldn't have to teach people how to get involved - HCRP should.  We shouldn't have to teach people how the convention process works - HCRP should.  We shouldn't have to recruit people to join the party system and work for conservative candidates - HCRP should.   We shouldn't have to teach people how to use social media to engage people politically - HCRP should.  So is it any wonder that my motto has been "Doing the Jobs Republicans Won't Do"?  


Which brings up this: the people most afraid of tea party success are not necessarily on the left.  And now you know why.  When tea party people see something wrong in the GOP and say something about it, the GOP hates that.  Republican establishment thought that the tea party would be the burst of energy, the Ground Team for the GOP.  Then, when the tea parties started offering venues to challengers, or criticizing the leadership, the GOP realized that tea parties may not have been the easy allies they were looking for.


Good.


In the weeks ahead, I'll be linking here all kinds of research that will prove that the HCRP isn't fulfilling its proper functions, and connect the dots for people.  It won't be light reading.  Read it anyway.  Either you learn what's going on, or you forfeit the right to complain about how "the Republican leadership sucks."