New Ad: Geller Voted To Require Women To Reveal Sex Life
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The Scarlet Letter law has already defeated one Broward Democrat.
Four years ago, the law was used devastatingly against state Sen. Skip Campbell of Coral Springs, who was running for Florida Attorney General.
The law required a mother who put her baby up for adoption to take out ads in the newspaper stating the names of her sexual partners.
Campbell voted for the much-criticized bill. So did Steve Geller.
Will lightning strike twice?
Geller’s opponent in the South Broward county commission race Sue Gunzburger began running TV ads today attacking Geller for voting in favor of the Scarlet Letter bill.
The bill passed 30-8, so Geller was not alone.
But why wasn’t Geller one of those voting against it?
Then-state Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, was a no vote. So was state Sen. Debbie Sanderson, a Fort Lauderdale conservative Republican.
I find it hard to understand how Geller could vote for such an anti-women bill. Either he agrees with it or he didn’t read the important bill before voting.
The 2001 bill was repealed the next year after tremendous criticism of the Senate.
The Gunzburger ad is here. You decide.
*****
Once again, Browardbeat.com is open at any time to Geller to preview his ads. I don’t expect him to take me on the offer.
The last time we corresponded by e-mail, he wrote:
“Please go fuck yourself!”
The e-mail went downhill from there. I guess he doesn’t like me.
August 6th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Wow. I take a few weeks vacation and I come back to the same garbage being vomited up by the GONESburger campaign as when I left. Most of this political posturing can be taken with a grain of salt, but this issue hits right in the heart of many families, mine included.
After all the good he’s done on family and women’s issues during his career, it is outrageous to the point of being unconscionable to suggest that Steve Geller would intentionally hurt ANYONE, let alone a pregnant mother who is already in a desperate situation.
I hope whoever devised this distortion burns in hell for all eternity, THAT’S how big of a lie it is. The heavens should open up and pour infinite shame and disgrace on the entire GONESburger campaign for being sick enough to come up with this one.
You want to lie about Geller’s job or income or business associates or almost anything else? Go for it. You’re still a liar, but politics is a blood sport on a good day.
But you want to lie about a good-hearted, compassionate man who has spent DECADES defending women, children, the elderly, the infirm, and all the other people that society tries to ignore? You want to try to portray him as some monster when he’s not??? Then go f**k yourself because you are evil beyond measure. That kind of an attack goes beyond political differences and tries to eviscerate what makes us HUMAN and that’s no longer simply “politics”.
Steve Geller’s record speaks for itself.
Do you really think that strong progressive women like Eleanor Sobel, Elaine Bloom, Mara Giulianti, or Joy Cooper would endorse Geller if he was misogynistic? What about Patty Asseff and Linda Sherwood? Hell, Asseff is a REPUBLICAN endorsing one of the most liberal democrats that Broward has produced in the last 20 years! Do you think she’d support him if he was “anti-woman”?!?
By the way, most of those women used to support GONESburger until she turned into useless dead wood on the Broward Commission. Would they abandon Sue in favor of someone who was bad on women’s issues???
Beyond the pure filth of the insinuation, there is a huge matter of sheer hypocrisy by the GONESburger campaign.
When Skip Campbell pushed that law in the final hours of the 2001 session, everyone trusted him that it was a good bill and did only what he said it did. When they realized it was a mess, they repealed it. No one got hurt and the error was immediately corrected.
When the Broward Commission VOTED UNANIMOUSLY to legally challenge the impending Ethics Law, Sue changed her mind TWO DAYS LATER, claiming her initial vote was based on bad information from the county attorney.
In principle, how is Sue voting against ethics reform based on bad advice any different from Geller voting on a bill based on bad advice? If Sue is going to launch that stinkbomb, she’s better start by taking a good long look in the mirror.
Besides, if Sue actually CARED about ethics reform instead of simply grandstanding about it, why did it take her 18 years to see the light?!? Why is it suddenly important NOW when she has her first viable opponent? It’s because she truly doesn’t give a damn and is trying to politically showboat since she has nothing else to run on.
How can she complain about Geller running a “dirty campaign” when she’s generated more manure than one of those stupid pig farms we put in the state constitution???
She (or Ronnie Boy) has already revealed herself to be utterly void of any integrity, honesty, or credibility. With this latest stunt, she shows she lacks morality and humanity as well.
Sue, you have no soul and I can’t wait until you’re no longer on the commission. Shame on you.
August 6th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
To Tommy: how can say “everyone” voted with Skip Campbell for the Scarlet Letter law? That’s just not true. As Buddy wrote, Debbie Wasserman Shultz, Debbie Sabderson and Crist voted against it. But Geller voted for it. And it wasn’t “immediately” repealed. It was on the books and not repealed for two years.
But more importantly BUDDY: you said Geller emailed you to “please go f*** yourself” and that it went downhill from there. How does one possibly go downhill from there? You gave us the teaser. Print the whol email and expose what the real Geller is like!
August 6th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
@AAp says:
Ditto!
August 6th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Besides, if Sue actually CARED about ethics reform instead of simply grandstanding about it, why did it take her 18 years to see the light?!?
Tommy you just want to ignore the facts and lie. The website and the Sentinel have printed that Sue Gunzburger has been vocally fighting for ethics reform for at least a decade. It is her colleagues that blocked her until now that enough politicians got arrested to embarrass them into listening to what Sue’s been demanding for years. Sue is a hero in the cause for ethics reform.
Geller, by contrast, was one of the few votes in the entire Legislature AGAINST ethics reform (gift ban, etc) in Tallahassee.
The facts, Tommy: Ain’t they a bitch!
August 6th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
to Aap:
The “everyone” was referring to those that voted for the bill on Skip Campbell’s urging. Buddy’s article above points out that it was a 30-8 vote (which I wouldn’t have remembered).
I happen to know Skip Campbell and he’s a good man, but he made two mistakes: (1) he wrote a lousy bill and (2) he persuaded his colleagues to support it based on their trust for him. Ask him. He’ll tell you the same thing because Skip is like Geller: his pro-woman, pro-family credentials are above reproach. Skip screwed up and knows he made a lot of people look bad in the process. That’s why you have to examine the facts instead of the superficial.
August 6th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Why did these women vote for someone like Geller who tells a veteran reporter to “Go f___ himself? If I may guess:
Eleanor Sobel: Sue endorsed her opponent when she ran for Senate, thus it is a revenge endorsement.
Elaine Bloom: She was around so long ago and lost so badly when she ran for Congress I can’t speculate. Perhaps because she is connected to Miami-Dade more than Broward and she owes Joe Geller?
Mayor Mara: Again, Sue endorsed her opponent when she ran for re-election, thus it is a revenge endorsement.
Joy Cooper: She is pro over-and-irresponsible development making it a perfect fit. Plus, her step-son-in-law is now a lobbyist thanks to Geller giving him a job. It’s a birds of a feather endorsement.
Patty Asseff: Also endorsed Sue, so as far as I’m concerned her endorsement doesn’t mean anything for either. She’s just hedging her bet.
Linda Sherwood: Sue did not support her, Steve did. Again, it’s a payback endorsement.
August 6th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Buddy, I don’t want to be pedantic, but the Crist who voted for the bill in the State Senate was Victor Crist, not Charlie (who was AG at the time). Interestingly, both are from the Tampa Bay area, and are not related
Kevin.
FROM BUDDY: You are right. My mistake.
August 7th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Why is a “veteran reporter” that’s supposed to be unbiased so biased?
FROM BUDDY: Browardbeat.com is my “political news and views, as it says on the home page.
I am a veteran reporter. I am also a veteran columnist and have written opinion columns for more than four decades.
August 7th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Strikes me that “Striker Liker” is a Gunzburger campaign staffer, maybe even Gunzburger herself. Above she trashes anyone who doesn’t support her. Sue sees conspiracies everywhere, the Sheriff, her fellow Commissioners and surely the Kennedy assignation, and aliens at Area 51.
Sue, a lot of people support Geller. In spite of the trash you talk about him, he was a good State Rep. and Senator. He worked hard and actually got some important things done for us.
All you’ve done is get rich on county contracts and make sure your kids have good government jobs. Good for you- bad for us.
August 7th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
what if you had a one-night stand and didn’t know the guy’s name? give me a break. dumb law.
August 9th, 2010 at 8:27 am
You post the fact that Gunzburger was endorsed by the Herald. Yet, no mention that Geller was endorsed by the Sentinel for the reason above.
You are clearly in Gunzburger’s corner and have no journalistic integrity left.
From Buddy:
The endorsement of Geller was so backhanded and lukewarm that I find it hard to believe his supporters would like me to reproduce it. The paper “reluctantly” endorsed Geller as the slightly better of two poor choices.
The reason I posted The Herald endorsements and not the Sentinel is because the low distribution of the Miami paper guarantees few of my readers would know about it.
But you’ve convinced me! I’ll post something on the Geller endorsement soon.
August 12th, 2010 at 10:48 am
WHY NO REPORTING?!?
I’m hesitant to address this, but it has to be brought up. There’s an old cliche about arguing with a newspaper that says “Never pick a fight with someone who buys their ink by the drum.” I guess the updated version of that would be not to pick a fight with someone that controls their own blog, but here goes:
TO BUDDY:
Now that’s it’s two days later and you have yet to publish a single word or reference to the events of the last Broward Commission meeting, you have revealed a true bias toward protecting Sue Gunzburger. No offense, but sometimes you have full stories on some pretty insignificant issues. Not only was this significant, it blew the top off the Richter Scale.
Now, the entire Broward Commission and a state legislator all combine to validate what a fraud and hypocrit Sue Gunzburger is and you make no mention of it whatsoever?!? Even if you want to add your view or opinion to the story, it should have been reported.
In addition, there was the matter of her changing her vote on the ethics issue from a “no” to a “yes, which is subject to Commission approval. Publicly, she gave one explanation so as to gain the approval of her colleagues for changing her vote, then (after the fact) privately admitted she did it to be on the prevailing side so she can bring the matter up for reconsideration.
That proves that the woman is dishonest and deceitful even with the rest of the Commission.
Sorry Buddy, but that should have been reported on your blog.
FROM BUDDY:
I was out-of-town on vacation. I have commented on the events at the county commission today.
August 12th, 2010 at 11:13 am
You know our local politics is a disgrace when voters have only Gunzberger and Geller to choose from. These two are the worst pair of candidates I have ever seen. Either way we lose. Two living examples of corrupt politicians.
August 14th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Calling Steve Geller a disgusting pig is an insult to these kind animals. He voted for this bill. He doesn’t deserve to be in office. No excuses.
Tommy The Fry Cook on Aug. 6 at 6:20 said Geller voted in favor of the bill at Skip Campbell’s “urging.” No excuse. He didn’t even read the bill. No excuse.
He is a pig who isn’t concerned about women enough to read the bill.