Orlando Sentinel - Critics (Bev&BBV) disrupt surprise tribute to chief

[dzika]

From: Orlando Sentinel

They really make BBV look heartless in this article.
LePore is treated as the "hero" for being strong and withstanding the attack.

I hate to say it but this may require some "spin"...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-loclepore01120104dec01,1,5526756.story?coll=orl-news-headlines


Critics disrupt surprise tribute to elections chief
Three people crash a gathering where the embattled Palm Beach supervisor is honored.

By Beth Kassab | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 1, 2004

-snip-
Even as colleagues tearfully eulogized her controversial tenure as Palm Beach County's elections supervisor, Theresa LePore had to fend off verbal attacks by critics who crashed the surprise tribute.

-snip-
One woman, identified as Bev Harris of Black Box Voting by several supervisors, announced she was "serving" LePore with papers regarding a dispute with her office over public records.

As the crowd realized the drama was real, and not part of a farewell skit as some first thought, the supervisors wildly booed and screamed as a woman with a video camera panned the room.

-snip-
When more than a dozen supervisors had publicly offered her their praise, LePore thanked the crowd and remarked that she has had round-the-clock bodyguards for the past six months, but did not have them with her in Orlando.

"I don't know if I'll ever get back into true elections again because I've really had my share," LePore said. "But who knows? Maybe things will change."

Cowles then announced that in order for LePore to reach a full 30 years of service with the state government, and get full retirement benefits, she would go to work at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's office for six months as an election-fraud investigator.
-end snip-


Beth Kassab can be reached
at [e-mail]
or 407-420-5448.

[bluestateguy]

1. She was just fired by the voters and these people seem oblivious to that

It's not like she's a gracefully retiring politician or cabinet secretary. SHE WAS FIRED! And they hold a party for her?!

[sce56]

2. Sure they Idolize Tricky Dick Too! n/t

[aquart]

6. Good taste is not their hallmark.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Why were they giving LePore a going away party in Orlando?

The people in her own county voted her out, so I guess she was looking for a friendlier crowd? I assume the place was filled with Republicans?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. ROFMAO!!!

Cowles then announced that in order for LePore to reach a full 30 years of service with the state government, and get full retirement benefits, she would go to work at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's office for six months as an election-fraud investigator.
-end snip-

[aquart]

5. Are they hiring her to investigate herself?

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. That's what it sounds like

They don't call FL the Banana Republic for nothing.

[OKNancy]

8. Foolish PUBLICITY Stunt

that benefits no one. The person who will be ridiculed for this won't be LaPore.

[symbolman]

10. Guess who's going to be waving this around in front

of any Judge she wants?

You guessed it, LePore.. once again we see how perception becomes REALITY.

LePore MAY even be able to get a restraining order on BBV now, and that includes everyone associated with them. You know what that means? It means that if they even so much as call her on the phone (not knowing about the restraining order) they can be ARRESTED and Charged.

And that's in the SOUTH, folks.. I've been jailed there before for my "tone of voice" on an illegally recorded phone call to my own son FROM CALIFORNIA.. the Judge even said that she didn't have the evidence to convict me while she sentenced me to a Year in THEIR County Jail.. That jail has been compared to a South African prison by congressmen who investigated it. But it never changed, I know firsthand.

This will get ugly, mark my words. BTW, LePore's legal challenges are 53 - 0 , and that means she has NEVER lost a court battle.

Don't forget to donate to the DU so we can follow this.

I REALLY hope it doesn't happen to Bev or BBV folks - but I've been dealing with Southern Judges for YEARS and hired up to 5 lawyers at the same time, both local and from Beverly Hills.. you would be surprised what their Judges can do, they weren't installed by right wingers for Nothing.. I fought a case all the way up to the Alabama Supreme Court who refused to hear it. Had to sell our house to pay legal bills over it.

they DROOL over stuff like this. And they definately do NOT play fair, they don't HAVE TO..

[anamandujano]

32. "NEVER lost a court battle"

no kidding, in freaking bananarepublican florida--after she helped deliver 2000, as a dem and now 2004 as a repuke.

[dzika]

9. kick n/t

[Vidar]

11. Good for Bev. Why are we concerned about heartless? Bush

has been heartless right along and is perceived by many as "strong". Tar and feathers, at the very least, would be appropriate for LePore, Glenda Hood & Jeb. Civility doesn't work with thugs.

[mattclearing]

12. This is kinda ridiculous.

Bev really needs to get on the Jesse Jackson side of this. There are people in the MSM that have been and will be willing to help her, but behavior like this will get her blacklisted. A stunt like this can only invite ridicule and discredit us all.

It reminds me of Michael Moore leaving the photo of that little girl on Heston's doorstep. The only difference being that Moore was invited, and had a track record for successful filmmaking.

Didn't she say they hired PR people? What the hell?

[BeFree]

13. Not ridiculous at all

It's great theater! Go Bev!

Lepore, and it seems, the rest of the supervisors, have not served us well. If they had, the news coming out of Florida wouldn't be all bad.

I'll tell ya something, tasteblind, if you have ever been actively engaged against the VRW machine, I doubt you'd ridicule anyone who has. But yet, here you are passing judgement on a real activist, Bev Harris. Therefore, one must conclude that you are not an activist, or have ever raised your hand against the machine, eh?

[Lisabtrucking]

14. I wish I was there with bev. We need to do more of this

if we are ever going to get our voices heard we need to do more of this. People are not stupid if they read why bev was there they will then understand what is going on. It's the media we need to correct. The media is goverment controled and we need to correct it.

[BeFree]

17. It IS the Media we need to correct

And Bev is showing us one way to work it. I look forward to seeing more articles in the media about Bev's actions. Like they say, "Print anything you want about me, just make sure you spell the name right."

[mattclearing]

24. I have, and it pays to be persuasive.

That's why I find it hard to believe this. Bev has been featured on CNN, MSNBC and CNBC. I think sneaking around in kitchens and hijacking podiums is kinda below her.

And I'm not passing judgment. I'm expressing disappointment in what I see as a bad call. The media freezeout is almost broken.

She needs to keep her reputation intact, because in a day or two, all the networks could be trying to get her on.

[Patsy Stone]

15. I believe she was recounting her own race in August

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/9/1/90639.shtml

still looking for that link.
She also f'd up a lot of absentee ballots this year. You can't buy dedication like this!

[Shalom]

16. Screw LaWhore

Therese "LaHo" doesn't deserve any sympathy: she's been paid off a lot for her "tricks" already by the Repigs...maybe Bushitler can hire her as a replacement for Candy "The Ho" Rice

[Ducks In A Row]

18. what's the address for palm beach county's AG

because they need to be ask STRONGLY why a criminal is going to work for them.

She needs to be arrested and thrown into jail for the crap she's pulled on the voters.

[m.standridge]

19. major media

We may have to give up some of our intimidation by, and even respect for, some of the mainstream media at this time.
Bush controls--owns, yet--much of the broadcast and print media at this time.
Bad press. The press is following this story--following with a heavy emphasis on the word follow.
The classic investigative journalist is largely on the internet right now, and the jealous regular media is trying to put them down.
Grandstanding? Perhaps. Certainly GOP judges would have been down on Harris's case, no matter what she did.

Which brings up one other thing: not many, certainly few Democrats or Independents, are any longer buying the major media's attempt to portray people concerned about election results as "sore losers." Judges are no longer being viewed as motivated by legal consierations, but by POLITICAL considerations in these decisions.
Witness Nevada: in 1984, World Alamanac has an 80,000-vote difference in Reagan's tallies: one of 188,000, the other of 108,000. Which is it? The larger is pulled largely from ABC news-based tallies, not from anything in state records. (See 1987 World Almanac, pages 275 and 291 for the two contrasting figures; these figures appear continuously, side by side, as it were,in World Almanacs from 1985 through 1991. Perhaps Judge Breen in NV needs to be apprised that it's not unusual for GOP Presidential candidates to pick up a quick 80,000 votes, which don't even register as valid or cast ballots in all tallies. (Reagan's total alleged alone, at "188,770", is almost as large as the total number of votes that were even cast for all candidates in NV in '84.)
This ain't a ball game, folks. This is about keeping a democracy. The two-party system. A credible three branches of the federal government. A limited Chief Executive without excessive police powers and surveillance powers. And, above all, it's about counting votes.
Ridicule that if you like.

But don't then turn around and talk about "setting up democracies" in Ukraine and Iraq.
And a news media that is sarcastic about that, doesn't deserve its usual level of respect.

[Alizaryn]

20. My understanding of it was that...

they believed that they were going to a "Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections meeting" where LaPore was scheduled to make a speech on records retention. They didn't realize it was a farewell meeting and it was not publicized as such.

[ccarter84]

22. that would be less in poor taste/stupid

[TexasLawyer]

26. Right---

Because the article called it a "surprise tribute" to Ms. LePore. I would guess that any official county publication announcing the event would, for the sake of the "surprise," conceal what the event was actually about.

[newyawker99]

33. Hi m.standridge!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[electropop]

21. You go, Bev!

I think it sounds like a perfect way to accomplish 2 things:

(1) Bypass the bodyguards and serve papers

(2) Get some desperately needed and deserved publicity

The article sounded rather factual, and in fact "the supervisors wildly booed and screamed" makes them sound a little bit crazy.

[TexasLawyer]

23. Not That Bad

I read the article, and it seemed as if the reporter was making a mountain out of a molehill. Reporters are often very good at that. (Brief Digression: except where it concerns vote fraud stories. If it concerns vote fraud then mountains, if acknowledged AT ALL, are turned into molehills!!!)

If you look through some of the colorful verbs like "burst" and "stomp" that the reporter used, not much happened. Three people came into the surprise tribute for Ms. LePore, served Ms. LePore with legal papers, then left immediately thereafter. It sounds as if BBV didn't even identify herself or say anything, since it was only the supervisors in attendance who recognized her as BBV. The "wild booing and screaming" was from the audience members themselves. BBV and crew left without even being told to leave and did not need to be escorted out by security. Immediately after BBV and crew left, the LePore tribute continued on as if nothing had happened. Where's the story here?

But here is how the event gets described in the article:



Suddenly, two women and a man -- one with a handheld video camera -- burst in through an exit door in the back of the room and stomped onto the podium.

One woman, identified as Bev Harris of Black Box Voting by several supervisors, announced she was "serving" LePore with papers regarding a dispute with her office over public records. As the crowd realized the drama was real, and not part of a farewell skit as some first thought, the supervisors wildly booed and screamed as a woman with a video camera panned the room.

Orange County Supervisor Bill Cowles, president of the state group, pounded the gavel and ordered hotel security to remove the three, but they quickly left through the same exit door without being stopped.

[Lisabtrucking]

25. I just sent this to the sentinel

I can't believe you made such a big deal about Bev Harris delivering legal papers to Lapore. When you don't even report the fraud of this election. What about showing bev the information she requested in the voting tapes? Why does she have to dig in the garbage to get them? What are the republicans trying to hide? Please! What are you government controlled? Gees could of fooled me.

[OKthatsIT]

27. Full Story

Critics disrupt surprise tribute to elections chief
Three people crash a gathering where the embattled Palm Beach supervisor is honored.

By Beth Kassab | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 1, 2004


Even as colleagues tearfully eulogized her controversial tenure as Palm Beach County's elections supervisor, Theresa LePore had to fend off verbal attacks by critics who crashed the surprise tribute.

Speaker after speaker -- many choked with emotion -- heaped praise on LePore at a meeting of county supervisors at an Orlando hotel Tuesday. LePore was the only elections supervisor to be voted out of office in November's elections.

Suddenly, two women and a man -- one with a handheld video camera -- burst in through an exit door in the back of the room and stomped onto the podium.

One woman, identified as Bev Harris of Black Box Voting by several supervisors, announced she was "serving" LePore with papers regarding a dispute with her office over public records.

As the crowd realized the drama was real, and not part of a farewell skit as some first thought, the supervisors wildly booed and screamed as a woman with a video camera panned the room.

Orange County Supervisor Bill Cowles, president of the state group, pounded the gavel and ordered hotel security to remove the three, but they quickly left through the same exit door without being stopped.

Cowles tried to recover from the incident, quickly pointing out that LePore's record is 53-0 for lawsuits filed against her office since 2000, when she became synonymous with the notorious butterfly ballot that some Democrats say helped defeat Al Gore.

New Broward County Supervisor Brenda Snipes walked up to the microphone and continued the outpouring of praise and thanks to LePore.

"I really want to salute you," Snipes said. "You go out with your head held high. We in South Florida will miss you."

When more than a dozen supervisors had publicly offered her their praise, LePore thanked the crowd and remarked that she has had round-the-clock bodyguards for the past six months, but did not have them with her in Orlando.

"I don't know if I'll ever get back into true elections again because I've really had my share," LePore said. "But who knows? Maybe things will change."

Cowles then announced that in order for LePore to reach a full 30 years of service with the state government, and get full retirement benefits, she would go to work at the Palm Beach County State Attorney's office for six months as an election-fraud investigator.

The crowd of supervisors gave her a standing ovation.

Beth Kassab can be reached
at [e-mail]
or 407-420-5448.

[Imajika]

28. Dumb, nasty stunt...

How does this help anyone?

Many people are going to feel sorry for Theresa LePore now where they probably never did before. What is the need to come in and ruin this woman's celebration of service for the last nearly 30 years.

This was just a mean, rotten, disgusting thing to do. Utterly pathetic.

Imajika

[TexasLawyer]

31. It Was A Mountain Out of a Molehill

Re-read the report, and then read the posts above. Nothing happened. And, since it was a "surprise" tribute, there likely would have been no official publications announcing what this occasion was actually about.

Also-- I'm just taking a wild guess that Ms. LePore knows how to make herself scarce when she knows that legal papers are about to be handed to her. Bev may have been going the only route that would actually get her face-to-face with her quarry.

And to Ms. LaPore:

Girl, you got SERVED!

[gauguin57]

29. Before this campaign started, I might have agreed Bev shouldn't have

burst in on the "tribute" party for the Butterfly Ballot Bitch. I'd have argued it didn't help our cause.

But you know what? I'm TIRED of sitting down and being quiet and polite. That gets us absolutely NOWHERE. We're quiet and polite, and the BFEE and Karl F***ing Rove and the Repuglicans (and psuedo republicans) in general just run roughshod over us.

The Pugs can be as damnably evil as they want, but let a Democrat/Progressive raise his/her voice and they're the DEVIL all of a sudden.

Bev, you go girl. You make a scene. A massive fracas is the only way we're gonna get anyone to pay attention to voter fraud and to a U.S. election system that is INFERIOR TO THAT OF THE F***ING UKRAINE!

LaPore INVESTIGATING VOTER FRAUD. Don't make me laugh.

[trumad]

30. Ha Ha

You go Bev.... Fuck Lapuke and her breed. Oh and fuck the typical assholes who hop on Bev threads for their own self promotion!