The Clash of the Macomb County Republican Party Titans
The Macomb County Convention of November 17, 2022, was considered by some to be one of the best conventions they have attended in many years, even though it didn’t start on time, there were confusing calls to convention, and some people who voted for Eric Castiglia to be the Permanent Chair of the Convention walked out of the Convention hall as soon as Eric’s opponent Mark Forton was declared the winner (and now I have heard rumors that some of them are leaving the Party for good … I pray that doesn’t happen because that would feed right into the devious plans of the globalists, me thinks).
The meeting was supposed to be called to order at 7 pm. However, it seems that in an effort to show a conciliatory respect for all persons elected to be Macomb County Precinct Delegates, Chair Mark Forton delayed the start of the meeting until 7:24 pm. In fact, at that time, Chair Forton announced that “there were still more people coming in; they will be credentialed; they are legitimate delegates to the convention; they will be able to vote even if they miss a couple things.”
He received both appreciation and chastisement for his decision, which is not unusual for people in leadership positions. We the People seem to appreciate people who work hard and make it to the top; until they “make it to the top,” then the ofttimes relentless chastisement begins. Ah, fair weather friends; we all have em; sometimes we all are them.
Standard of Excellence Recommendation Number 1 – Start all meetings on time. Maybe that way, we could train ourselves to be punctual … and don’t let us humans getcha down.
At the start of the convention there were impressively long lines of rather somber looking Precinct Delegates waiting to get their credentials, and there was a second long line of guests who had come to see what they might have hoped was something akin to The Clash of the Titans. Release the Kraken!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800320/plotsummary
Other than some spirited politiking for and against both Mark Forton and Eric Castiglia, the crowd was orderly, intelligent, engaging, and for the most part friendly to everyone on both sides of the clash; at least, that is the way it seemed from a 30,000 foot vantage point.
In advance of this Convention, from that same 30,000 foot vantage point that we are working from, Jody White produced and I narrated a 16 minute video reviewing many of the details of the court case that was brought about by the original clash of the Macomb County Republican Party Titans at a Convention on April 11, 2022. Watch our video here:
https://rumble.com/v1jjlq2-hey-migop-what-about-due-process.html
Well, let’s be clear, rumor has it that the original clash started long before that convention because Mark Forton was determined to exercise his right to speak freely from the leadership position that he was elected to as Chairman of the Macomb County Republican Party (a county party that some say sets the standard for excellence in conservative activism).
The word is that Mr. Forton took a step too far, which ticked off the Who’s Who of State and Local Republican Party leadership, and so an effective personal character assassination campaign ensued. Others say he is just a bad leader.
That is often what personal character assassination campaigns are designed to make you think. Sometimes it’s true. You have to decide for yourself, but make sure your decision is based upon facts, not fiction or lore, or solely upon the opinion of those whose ox got gored.
Standard of Excellence Recommendation Number 2 – If you decide to take your gloves off, be prepared to be bloodied by the best of em because they can, and will take you down “Six Ways from Sunday” as the old urban saying goes.
But if your goal is to simply be informed about Michigan county party politics, we would encourage you to watch this Michigan Guardians video on Rumble.com,
https://rumble.com/v1jjlq2-hey-migop-what-about-due-process.html
then take the following Ten-Question Quiz and submit your responses to
michiganguardiansoftheconstitution@gmail.com
so that we can give you a small token of our appreciation, if you can show that you understand the important points presented in this video.
Ten-Question Quiz
1) Does the Michigan State Republican Party have a rules-based process whereby they can remove a duly-elected County Chair and the entire Executive Committee?
2) Which documents did Judge Matthew Sabaugh cite in his August 5th decision that determined that Mark Forton was the rightful Macomb County Republican Party Chair?
3) Michigan Republican State Committee By-Laws Article 4 Paragraph G set out requirements for the removal of a County Chair. Can you list the percentage of votes and the percentage of petition signatures required for this removal?
4) Why did MiGOP State Chairman Mr. Ron Weiser believe that he was not bound by Judge Sabaugh’s decision?
5) The Macomb County Republican Party By-Laws stipulate that a Notice must be provided in advance of a vote to fill an open position on the Executive Committee in Article 4 (D) (4). What are the number of days Notice required?
6) The Macomb County Republican Party By-Laws provide a Waiver of said Notice. How many County Party Committee Members must vote to Waive said Notice?
7) Do the Macomb County Republican Party By-Laws provide a Waiver of “waiting for the next regularly scheduled meeting” to fill a vacancy in the Executive Committee?
8) The Macomb County Convention Rules of April 11, 2022, included completely rewritten provisions for removing their County Chair and Executive Committee, and these Convention Rules called for an immediate vote for a new Chair and Executive Committee. What was the percentage vote required for these two “new rules?” Was it appropriate to include these new rules in the April 11, 2022, Convention Agenda?
9) The Macomb County Convention Rewritten Rules of April 11, 2022, had another provision that changed the vote-requirement percentage after the removal of the existing Executive Committee and Officers vote and after the installation of a new Executive Committee and Officers vote. What was the percentage changed to after these removal/replacement votes?
10) Is this what principle really looks like? Discuss what principle looks like to you.
Thank you for taking the test – your token of appreciation will be in the mail shortly … and we do acknowledge that there are more than ten questions in this quiz.
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Now, back to the Macomb County Republican Party Convention of November 17, 2022:
Once the convention “started” (late), there was one notable interruption from the floor. It was a point of order that really wasn’t a "Point of Order,” where one of the newest Precinct Delegates spoke his mind at a time in the meeting where “speaking your mind from the floor” was not on the Agenda.
Standard of Excellence Recommendation Number 3 – Try to bone up on Robert’s Rules before you attempt to insert your opinion into Convention proceedings, but we sincerely appreciate any and all attempts to civilly exercise your right to free political speech.
A vote was soon thereafter taken to elect the Permanent Chair of the Convention. You would have to understand County Party Convention Rules and Regulations to understand why the “current chair” of the County Party turns over the gavel to a newly elected “permanent” chair – only of the “temporary” convention; it really doesn’t seem to make sense on the face of it but, quite frankly, this was the crux of the entire Convention. Who was going to be elected as the Permanent Chair of the (Temporary) County Convention so that they could basically elect Executive Committee Member to vote at the next Executive Committee Meeting scheduled for November 28, 2022. Was it going to be Eric Castiglia? Was it going to be Mark Forton? Were there going to be fisticuffs? Would these two men shake hands and call a truce? It was anybody’s guess.
The process was handled brilliantly, by individual voice vote. But then some say, it was handled horribly, by individual voice vote.
It took over 41 minutes for the Secretary to call out each and every name of each and every Precinct Delegate, who then stood up and individually declared their choice of leader. There were some theatrics, but we need to remember that “all the world’s a stage” (that's from Act 2, Scene 7 of William Shakespeare’s play entitled As You Like It).
https://www.britannica.com/topic/As-You-Like-It
Apparently some of the people said that “some of the people” would have voted differently, if they had been afforded the opportunity to cast a secret ballot. I guess the answer to that supposition will always remain a secret. This might require further reflection, to be sure.
Then came the results. As it turned out, neither man should be ashamed of the solid support that was visibly and audibly evident for both of them. Kudos gentlemen.
In the end, Mark Forton received approximately 215 votes to Eric Castiglia’s 147 (I say approximate because there were a few stragglers who were allowed to vote and there were under 10 people who abstained or did not vote – which certainly must have been the safest – albeit the most timid -- choice).
Immediately after the vote total results were announced, it seemed that many, if not all of the 147 Eric Castiglia supporters left the room, maybe never to return. This reaction was in some ways understandable, but it was also somewhat surprising. Now, for those of us who love “process” over “politics” and over “people” (although we do love politics and people), we think that there is a bit of a problem with Precinct Delegates picking up their other toys and storming out of the sandbox when they lose the coveted bucket and shovel. Sorry for the snarky analogy, kids. See VIDEO
The overarching adult question that must be answered is, “Did the Precinct Delegates who left the hall after Mark Forton was named Permanent Chair of the (Temporary) Convention make an honorable statement of dissatisfaction, or did they do a disservice to the men and women who voted them into this position of neighborhood-party leadership, or as one of the departing members said to me – Was their vote not to going to make a difference anyway since Forton’s faction won the majority vote?
A couple of other questions might be, “Is the role of the Precinct Delegate to “support the leadership” or “support the neighbors who voted you in as a Precinct Delegate” and “Is the slate of Executive Committees members representative of the Neighborhood or representative of the County Chair?”
These questions and more need to be examined as we continue to educate ourselves on the mechanics of Constitutionally-Based Self Government in this Beautiful Republic we call America.
Standard of Excellence Recommendation Number 4 – Stay in the battle with us; we really are winning ... and we really do need all hands on deck.
We will see you at the November 28, 2022 Macomb County Executive Committee meeting.