RPOF Chair Jim Greer maintains length, not girth, counts.

Not satisfied with losing a bunch of elections last November as well as a whole bunch of formerly loyal members from every level, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) appears to be trying to finish the job through what looks from the outside like a purge of, gasp! — Libertarians. At least that’s what one of Trish’s correspondents alleged was happening last Friday.

That day the RPOF’s Grievance Committee met in Orlando to do something — it’s not clear exactly what, even after they explained it in another one of their famous press releases where every paragraph is quote-marked — that was so heinous that Chairman Jim Greer stayed far away from the meeting, geographically distancing himself from something that morally he couldn’t actually wipe off.

It’s worthwhile to note here that Greer was handpicked by Gov. Charlie “One Term Wonder” Crist to lead the state Republican Party. Both men are coming under fire for what seems to be a party that is rapidly becoming as irrelevant as Sarah Palin.

Let’s let the RPOF tell us what the Grievance Committee does, according to its chairman, Tony DiMatteo (superfluous quote marks retained):

“The Grievance Committee is comprised (sic) of members of the RPOF State Executive Committee. Our involvement with the RPOF is in a volunteer capacity. Grievances are a formal complaint from one member of the Republican Party of Florida’s county leadership structure to another member of the county leadership structure. All grievances originate at the county level and are filed with the State Party and then referred to the Grievance Committee.

“All parties involved are informed that a grievance as been filed, and given ample time to prepare for the Grievance Committee Hearing. At the hearing, the petitioner and the respondent are given an opportunity to present their arguments. In the weeks following the meetings, the committee members compile a recommendation for final resolution on each grievance and then present the recommendation to Chairman Greer.

“Several recent news stories have mentioned a “purge” of certain members of county Republican Executive Committees. There is no ‘purge.’ To date, Chairman Greer has only removed one person from the leadership structure of the State Party. The removal came at the unanimous recommendation of the Grievance Committee. Contrary to what has been reported, there have been numerous circumstances when the committee has recommended removal and the Chairman has chosen not to remove a member.”

And what does it mean when the Grievance Committee recommends you be kicked out? Oh, maybe that was a poor choice of words:

“Additionally, the grievances in question do not “kick-out” members of the Republican Party. The parties involved with the grievances are members of the Republican Party of Florida’s leadership structure. Like any organization, we have an obligation to our members to ensure that our leadership abides by the rules of the organization. Our formal grievance process is the mechanism for this review of the conduct of Republican leaders. A removed member is still a Republican and eligible to participate in Republican activities, but prohibited from holding a leadership position for a set amount of time.”

That all seems pretty cut and dried, but then DiMatteo goes off the rails a bit regarding the sanctity of the privacy of the Star Chamber, er, I mean Grievance Committee:

“The RPOF Grievance Committee heard two grievances today. The private meeting was closed to the media for the benefit of those involved, as well as members of the grievance committee, who are all private citizens serving in a volunteer capacity. Like any organization, we have a right to conduct this internal party business in private. This is a political party, not a public entity. As private citizens with full time jobs and lives outside of politics, the members of the grievance committee request the courtesy to conduct this private political business without having our images spread all over television and the newspapers without our permission. Over the past several weeks, the State Party has been more than willing to speak to media outlets about this process, while keeping the specific details of the grievances private for the sake of those involved; however, today’s meeting was private, and it would not have been appropriate to discuss the proceedings.” (emphasis added)

Man, he seems kind of touchy about the whole privacy thing. To hear Greer tell it, though, he’s being made the victim of the process for giving local leaders more say in the state organization. This is from Friday’s Palm Beach Post:

This weekend, Greer is staying far from Orlando, where a party committee will hear grievances filed by county leaders who want some dissidents kicked out of the party. Even some party faithful accuse Greer of orchestrating the purge.

Greer says he’s to blame for giving locals more power and an opportunity to speak out on the issues.

“What ends up happening as you open this can of worms up, as you create all these avenues for discussion, you also create the avenues for people to cause trouble,” he said. But he contends he has nothing to do with the grievances filed by the local executive committees.

“I don’t think that the party has anywhere near the problems that some are promoting in the state,” Greer said. “In fact, I think this party in Florida is very strong, and I see it each and every day.”

Other Republican leaders are less glib than Greer when it comes to predicting the future of the RPOF:

“It would be hard to imagine us being any more impotent than we appear to be right at this point,” said former state GOP Chairman Tom Slade, who led the party from 1993 to 1999. That was the time when Republicans seized control of the legislature and sent Jeb Bush to the governor’s office.

Ouch! Now that’s hitting below the belt! Heck, we know Republicans aren’t impotent. They can “hike the Appalachian Trail” and “cross the line” and “seek spiritual counsel” with the best of ‘em.

Well, it’s clear the RPOF is in trouble. Charlie Crist is bailing on the governorship and he’s accumulating money from special interests like a dog collects fleas and he’s not risking taking a position on an issue until he can tell which side the profit’s on. He kowtowed to developers and real estate interests last week when he signed Senate Bill 360 that eviscerated Florida’s Growth Management Act and paves the way for developers to pave the rest of the Everglades while saddling local municipalities with the costs of running roads and water lines and sewage lines to the new Swampy Acres development.

Several studies have found that the Republican Party nationally is hemorrhaging members from every segment except those who attend church regularly. And now you’ve got this mess as some party members are seen as “libertarians,” not Republicans, and must be demoted from leadership positions.

I think DiMatteo summed it up best:

“In closing, this process and the publicity it has received at the hands of those involved, certainly detracts from the true business of the RPOF, which is getting Republicans elected.”

Well, duh! So just stop already.