Grassroots out maneuvered; Hasan Harnett replaced by Robin Hayes; will a Phoenix rise? | Eastern North Carolina Now

Grassroots out maneuvered; Hasan Harnett replaced by Robin Hayes; will a Phoenix rise?

        by Hal James and Raynor James

    In spite of persistent, sustained efforts by grassroots Constitutional conservatives, a kangaroo court style proceeding removed Hasan Harnett as Chairman of the NC Republican Party on Saturday, April 30.

    The meeting of the NC GOP Executive Committee held in Raleigh began with registration at 9 a.m. and did not end until 6:15 p.m. Three hundred and three Executive Committee members initially participated. The total body has 695 members and includes all Republican members of the NC House and Senate. Approximately 23 members of the General Assembly participated Saturday.

    Everything that could be disputed was. The legality of holding the meeting, who was to chair the meeting, choosing the rules of the meeting, the date chosen for the meeting (since it was widely known from a calendar published in January that Chairman Harnett would be out of the country on April 30 and would be unable to defend himself), and whether Robert's Rules of Order could trump the NC GOP Plan of Organization were all challenged. These challenges happened not once per issue, but many times. The objections did not stop. They continued throughout the long day, and they were made by many different grassroots conservatives, including a few members of the NC General Assembly. Sadly, they were all overruled by the chair, and this includes a motion of "no confidence" in the person chairing the proceeding.

    The meeting was chaired by Billy Miller. Mr. Miller is very skilled at conducting a meeting that is designed to have the trappings of fairness while being grossly biased and unfair. It is really sad to see a very intelligent, skillful person use his abilities with evil intent. We were treated to several such performances on Saturday.

    Mr. Miller was ably abetted by Richard Hayes, a Professional Registered Parliamentarian and member of the American College of Parliamentary Lawyers, who was imported at significant expense from Denton Texas for the day.

    To get a feel for how biased the work of this duo is, let us consider two conflicting decisions regarding the use of Robert's Rules vs. the NC GOP Plan of Organization. In Saturday's meeting, it was ruled that although the NC Plan provides that removal from office shall be "by a 2/3's vote of the respective Committee," Mr. Miller said that when one considers Robert's Rules of Order and legal precedents, one will see that the phrase has been held to mean "by a 2/3's vote of members present and voting." Mr. Miller's smooth talk managed to make that sound reasonable, and this is in spite of the fact that one of the grassroots conservative members of the Executive Committee had just sited an example where the NC GOP Central Committee had forced a county that was trying to removed its county GOP Chairman to have a 2/3's vote of its entire Executive Committee in order to achieve their goal, and she had provided him with the written documentation to prove it.

    Now, are you ready for the kicker? That decision was what allowed the vote made on Saturday to remove Hasan Harnett from office. There were 79 "no" votes and 200 "yes" votes on the question of Chairman Harnett's removal. Two hundred votes are not 2/3's of the entire NC GOP Executive Committee. In order to remove him, a document written "by civilians for civilians" was viewed through a distorted legal lens, and the meaning of that document was changed on the spot. Presto, change-o!

    We witnessed a disgusting miscarriage of justice.

    At this point, attention was turned to the election of a new NC GOP Chairman. Grassroots members fought against choosing a Chairman saying that the State GOP Convention is convening in 6 days, and since we serve in lieu of the larger body between Conventions, we should leave it for the 2016 Convention to decide.

    That didn't fly.

    Steve Rader raised a Point of Order by saying that proper notification of all members of the Executive Committee was not possible since it was unknown at the time Saturday's meeting was called whether or not the Chairman's position would be vacated.

    That didn't fly.

    Senator Joyce Krawiec (NC Senate District 31) nominated former NC GOP Chairman, Robin Hayes. Mr. Hayes just happened to be present in the assembly although we had not seen him an Executive Committee meeting before.

    Parenthetically, since reports of Art Pope's being the establishment's usurper Chairman of Choice have been widely circulated, a new rumor has surfaced. That is the daylight scared Mr. Pope away, and Robin Hayes is the new usurper of choice, so the presence of Mr. Hayes had been noticed and widely commented on among attendees.

    Steve Rader nominated Keith Kidwell of Beaufort County.

    Bill Jett nominated Jack Brosch.

    Each candidate was given time to speak.

    Keith Kidwell, a large man with visual and vocal presence who is the Treasurer of the Congressional District 3 Executive Committee and who was introduced by Mr. Rader as a successful "uniter" in Beaufort County made a strong, short speech. Audience response made it clear that what he said was appreciated by grassroots people.

    Jack Brosch acquitted himself well, too.

    Mr. Hayes is an elderly, white man who moves slowly and stiffly, but his voice is surprisingly strong and energetic. He made a prepared speech that was allowed to go a bit longer that the announced time frame. Establishment types responded well to Mr. Hayes' speech. Grassroots people were polite. Honesty compels us to mention the fact that Raynor had her arms crossed in front of her waist, a frown on her face, and one foot twitching like an irritated cat's tail during much of the speech. We were on the front row and clearly visible to Mr. Hayes.

    At the conclusion of his speech, Mr. Hayes came down from the stage and headed straight for us. He offered to shake Hal's hand. Hal stood and shook it. Mr. Hayes next offered to shake Raynor's hand, and after a brief hesitation, she did, but her face did not lose its frown. Whatever else he is, the man is a consummate politician, and he's not the least bit shy about approaching the opposition.

    Jack Brosch received 5 votes, Keith Kidwell got 62 votes, and Robin Hayes was given 176 votes. He is our new NC GOP Chairman. With 176 votes. By way of interesting contrast, thousands of delegates are expected to convene in Greensboro on Friday May 6. One wonders whether their purpose is to be window dressing for the elite, establishment ruling class, or to make decisions for the Party.

    During much of Saturday's meeting, the doors were locked and much ado was made about "personnel matters," "executive session," and secrecy. Executive Committee members were lectured about non-disclosure of Party affairs. It was made to sound like the future of the Party is dependent on our silence. Between the lack of fairness and this drum roll, it felt like we were living in an inverted universe. Up was down. Bad was good. Where was Alice? Where was the Cheshire cat?

    What had the NC GOP just accomplished? We had wounded ourselves, that's what. Is it mortal? We don't know. We hope not. While we've just witnessed the worst of the Republican Party, we still don't know of a better tool for saving our country.

    Immediately after the removal vote, Raynor was so angry and destressed, she announced she was going to march herself down to the Board of Elections and change her Party registration on Monday morning. Hal and other grassroots friends immediately talked her out of it with a mixture of logic and kindness.

    Several other grassroots members of the Executive Committee made similar announcements. Some at the time. Some on social media since then. Time will tell whether they follow through or think better of it.

    We've shared the bad news, and there was a ton of bad news to share. We did not win this battle. However, as big and bad as it was, it was only a battle. It isn't the war unless we quit.

    The good news is that, in the process of gearing up to fight this battle and in executing the fight, a significant number of grassroots Constitutional conservative patriots have met and identified each other. We are in the process of forming a network across our state. That can become powerful. There is already some strength in our baby-step beginning.

    Imagine this; about twenty to thirty people arrived in Raleigh before 8 a.m. in order to organize to hold up pro-Hasan signs, give out pro-Hasan flyers and stickers, and distribute his defense team's rebuttal and alternative rules for conducting the meeting to arriving members. Many of them have driven 3 to 5 hours to get here!

    Prior to that, these people have emailed each other, talked to each other on the phone, and the ones who live near each other have met. They've shared strategies and ideas for how to "win one for the Gipper." [Translation: "Engineer the triumph of truth, justice, and Chairman Hasan Harnett."]

    On arrival, they introduce themselves to people they've never met, and when people recognize each other's names, they shake hands heartily, pat each other on the shoulder, and even sometimes hug each other. Big smiles break out repeatedly. All sorts of contact information is shared.

    Many of those same people will gather again soon at the 2016 Convention.

    What if they can maintain contact and cooperation? What if they can bring in other like-minded folks? Is it possible that a new awakening and a renewed determination to return our country to the representative Constitutional republic it was designed to be can rise from the ashes of our defeat? If so, we'll have Hasan Harnett to thank. After all, it is he who has brought us together.