Friday, April 21, 2006

Rants from Russ and others


Clean sweep, walking along.

See the comments....
Posted by at

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Russ Diamond may have posted this message to the PA Clean Sweep board:

I find it amusing that you post on this board posing as someone who has
been a longstanding concerned member, when you only joined the group on
April 4.

For those who would like to know the truth, please read the post
entitled "Clearing the Air" at www.russdiamond.org.

Stewardship of PACleanSweep was offered to the former Board members on
March 6 in a confidential email. But instead of stepping up to the
plate to take on the responsibilities I was personally handling to make
for a smooth transition before I announced my run publicly (I wanted to
do it on April 4), some chose only to ask suspicious questions,
continuing a pattern of negativity and inaction which had been going on
for months, albeit behind the scenes.

Ten days passed, and none of those former Board members voluteered to
do a single thing. Zip. Nada. Nothing. I liken it to having a ten-man
crew assigned to dig a ditch. Which would you rather have: Teammates
willing to pick up a shovel and dig, or teammates who want to stand at
the top of the hole, telling you how to hold the shovel while you dig?

As an all-volunteer organization, I couldn't force anyone to do
anything, but what I did do was let them know how frustrating it was
that they were not volunteering for anything, but only questioning my
motives and being supicious. That, of course, offended them somehow, so
instead of stepping up at that time, they chose to take the
confidential information regarding my run and report it to the AP and
my local paper. Classy and professional!

Later, they contacted a third party and asked them to "mediate." They
went public with that information as well without that third party's
permission. More professionalism and class at work here.

All the while, these people insisted that I wanted to do both things at
once (run PACleanSweep AND for guv), while the above-referenced post on
my website clearly shows it was never my intention.

And while they continued to demand that I turn over "control" of
PACleanSweep to them, the fact is it was never in my power to do so.
(That's why we had a Board to begin with, to make those kind of
decisions.) And although they now have apparently extended their
efforts by filing a lawsuit (although I have received nothing about
it), I am no longer "in charge" nor am I even a member of the Board of
Directors, so what they are demanding from me now is the equivalent of
trying to get blood from a stone.

PACleanSweep ran just fine for nearly nine months on very little money.
Now - all of a sudden - once the organization raises a bit of cash,
some people want to fight over it or demand "control" of it.

As to those former members who chose to make this a public spectacle,
they should be asked some pointed questions: what areas of
PACleanSweep - if any - were they "in charge" of before, and how
effective were they? What were their voting records on some of
PACleanSweep's more important decisions? The answers to those questions
are extremely interesting.

"devonwaynelaw" and "brent4reform" (who only joined on April 8): you
are both tools of either the incumbents, Bob Nye or the uncleansweep
Board, as I now refer to them. Also, I find it very amusing that while
the uncleansweepers call their message board "uncensored," someone has
apparently deleted posts over there. (Check the post #s)

So bash me all you like. It doesn't bother me - I've got a pretty thick
hide. But it does interfere with the PACleanSweep mission, you hacks.

I sleep very peacefully at night with the knowledge that all the time
and energy I spent with PACleanSweep was focused on what's best for the
candidates. I was both happy and proud to be its primary spokesman and
a full-time volunteer. But I'm no longer officially connected to the
organization, so save your breath.

Now then, HOW ABOUT THAT PAY RAISE??? LET'S VOTE THOSE BUGGERS OUT -
EVERY LAST ONE!

April 21, 2006 8:57 PM
Mark Rauterkus said...

Another Clean Sweeper wrote:

Big D,

Well said. This movement has never been about Russ Diamond although he started the movement and this site. Since its inception, the goal has been to get rid of the incumbents. That was the goal. That is the goal. That will be the goal as long as necessary. Mr. Rendell is also an incumbent. Please don't forget, Mr. Rendell could have single-handedly quashed the pay raise last July. He wimped out and didn't. Ergo, he must also go. So, we need another governor.

That leaves Mr. Swann, Mr. Diamond, and anyone else wanting to throw their hat into the ring. Mr. Swann has not commited himself to any course of action yet. Maybe he will make himself more identifiable in the future. At this point, we know where Mr. Rendell stands (hopefully for not more than 8 more months and a couple weeks). If you go past the rhetoric and dig into the "guts" of what he has done, it ain't good (despite what the mesmerized mayor of Harrisburg says - clearly too much Harry Potter for him). I am familiar with some of the "guts" of this administration. They are not pretty, and they are certainly not anything that I would want on my record.

We know essentially where Mr. Diamond stands despite those who want to question and second guess his motives. (What exactly are the motives of Mr. Rendell and Mr. Swann? Does anyone believe for a moment that they are interested in returning this Commonwealth back to the people?) It's anybody's guess where Mr. Swann stands. That makes a decision rather easy at this point. If Mr. Swann speaks up and says something coherent and worthy of consideration, then there may actually be a choice.

Mr. Diamond gets my vote at this point - not because he is "Russ" but rather because I have much more than an inkling on where he stands when it comes to wresting the government back into the hands of the people. If I am wrong, there are elections again in 4 years.

April 21, 2006 8:58 PM
Anonymous said...

Another posted:

Thank God Russ! I am glad you finally spoke up about some of this stuff. You spared us all a major rant from me as i could not stay quiet much longer about this.

If these people would have put in a fraction of the effort into the movement during the past 5 months that they do now in trying to tear us apart one can only imagine how much stronger we would be, and how much more sleep you could have had. (lol)

As always I will try to somehow put some positive stuff in here for our candidates and supporters.
Plays on words:

Opportunist:

Lynn Swann is asked to enter a race due to his celebrity from accomplishments in pro football and broadcasting. He is touted as
an "outsider" and concerned citizen who will clean up the corruption
in Harrisburg. (as he is flanked by Jubelier & company. *lol*) Russ enters the race after accomplishing more in less than a year to clean things up than anyone has EVER done in this state. And for his work he is labeled an opportunist as if it's a bad thing???

The lesson here is that some of our candidates will also be labeled opportunists by incumbents citing the fact that they are using voter outrage to enter politics. Guess what folks? They are right! And it is a good thing!!! These idiots created an opportunity with the pay raise for citizens to get mad enough to get involved and take back our government!

Experience:

Incumbents are touting their experience as if it is a positive thing. All you have to do is remind the voters about the culture of
corruption that has been created by this "experience". When you are
told that you don't have the experience to know how "the game" is
played in Harrisburg, agree with them! This whole movement is about stopping this crap and moving toward creating a government that puts the PUBLIC back in public service. In other words GAME OVER!

April 21, 2006 9:00 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)