CHAIRMAN SMACK SMACKS DOWN ORRIN JOHNSON
Last week a brouhaha broke out over Interim Nevada GOP Chairman James Smack’s decision to relieve Finance Chairman John Chachas – the former Nevada U.S. Senate candidate who STILL doesn’t live in Nevada – of his position.
“In the best interest of the Nevada Republican Party, I feel it is time to evaluate the performance of the committees and make some changes,” Smack wrote in an email to Chachas. “Therefore, I'll be reviewing candidates to chair Standing Committees, and I'm relieving you of your duties as committee chairman for the Finance Committee at this time. Thank you very much for your service to the Nevada Republican Party.”
In an email response, Mr. Chachas claims he’s had a hard time doing his job because there’s a perception out there that “people are wasting their money donating to a dysfunctional state party.” He ended with this not-so-veiled threat:
“If you conclude my help to the NVGOP is warranted further, kindly let me know. If not, kindly inform me of your decision as my plan would be to donate $100,000 to form a 501(c)4 organization and pursue funding for GOP initiatives through an independent vehicle.”
Of course, as I noted a few days ago, if Mr. Chachas wanted to invest $100,000 to fund “GOP initiatives,” why didn’t he already contribute that amount of money to, you know, the Nevada GOP where he was the Finance Chairman? He is aware of the “golden rule” in politics, right? But I digress.
For the record, Chairman Smack relieved other chairs of Standing Committees as well, not just Chachas of the Finance Committee. And in the email to Chachas, Chairman Smack made it clear that he was going to review, evaluate and consider all candidates to chair those committees in the future, INCLUDING Chachas if he wished to continue.
Now, this isn’t something radical, extreme or unusual. It happens every day in the business world when a new manager or CEO comes in. That person asks for EVERYONE’S resignation…and then decides who he or she wants to keep. So this action by Chairman Smack was perfectly reasonable.
But as usual, GOP blogger-boob Orrin Johnson threw one of his patented e-hissy fits over it:
“This is just the latest of many acts of incompetence on Smack’s part in the short time he’s been part of the leadership of our party. If Nevada Republicans are to have any chance of accomplishing our primary mission – getting Republicans elected up and down the ballot in Nevada – Smack must go. If he has any honor, shame, or loyalty to the cause of electing Republicans, he will maintain the status quo and resign the second a new, permanent chair is elected. If not, he should be run out of town on a rail wearing a nice winter coat of tar and feathers.”
Wow, such prose. One usually has to pick up a dime-store novel to read such pedantic, bush-league non-eloquence.
Here’s the thing: I don’t believe Mr. Johnson – who certainly always has something to say about how things ought to be done – has ever been elected to any party leadership position. Hmm, I wonder why that is? Actually, I don’t wonder. It’s because the guy trash-talks the talk but in reality doesn’t know $%#! from apple butter.
In any event, I checked with Chairman Smack to get his side of the story regarding the Chachas situation. Here’s his response:
“Mr. Chachas has been in his position for eight months, and has not formed a committee. His committee is responsible for raising funds for the party, along with the chairman, and a commitment was made by (former Chairman) Amy Tarkanian that Mr. Chachas was forming his committee and challenging all of the members to raise $25,000 apiece at the October NRP meeting. Only when pressed by the Treasurer about his plans for the committee in December did Mr. Chachas commit $25,000 of his own money, but still with no plan for how the committee was going to work, or when it would even be formed. The first I ever heard about the $100,000 was in the response Mr. Chachas decided to make public. So far to date, the only money that has been brought in by Mr. Chachas and his committee in eight months has been the $25,000 that Mr. Chachas personally donated to the NRP.
“I relieved a total of three committee chairs. One I reappointed after reviewing her plans and ideas, and the board has already confirmed. The second indicated to me he was too busy to continue with his duties, so we are still searching for a replacement. The third was Mr. Chachas, and if he had not made a public blowup out of it, it would have been as quiet as the other two have been. I'm still not sure that I won't reappoint Mr. Chachas, but want him to share his plans and the direction he is planning on taking the committee going into this critical election year so I can hold him accountable. I believe that a responsible state chairman, whether interim or not, should be expected to do just that.
“Although I really don't want to give Orrin Johnson any publicity regarding his blog, I would like to correct a couple of inaccuracies. CAP, the consultants that Orrin referred to as being forced on the board by the three newly elected officers, was hired by the board as consultants for the caucus prior to my election at the direction of Amy Tarkanian and Executive Director Dave Gallagher. As a matter of fact, Treasurer Michael Bertrand attempted to bring a motion to terminate the Nevada Republican Party contract with CAP in December, and it was withdrawn after a plea from both Tarkanian and Gallagher.
“I spoke out against the special evening precinct meeting, and even brought a motion to the executive board to demand Clark County not proceed, which was defeated with all three of the officers in question in his blog voting in favor of eliminating it. That entire paragraph in Orrin's rant is horribly inaccurate, and I'm not sure why he is talking out of his lower posterior end on matters about which he has absolutely no clear understanding.”
Well, I can answer that last question: It’s because that’s what Orrin does because, again, he doesn’t know $%#! from apple butter.
But as Chairman Smack suggests, Orrin Johnson’s peanut gallery hissy fit is irrelevant. The question is whether or not it’s true that in eight months as chairman of the Finance Committee, the committee chairman failed to create such a committee and failed to raise any money for the party other than his last-minute $25,000 donation in December. If that is true, Chairman Smack was absolutely correct in taking the action he took.
Action talks; BS walks.
And let me make a suggestion here; because unlike Orrin Johnson, I actually have some experience in this area.
What the Nevada Republican Party needs right now is not a part-time Finance Chairman who, you know, lives on Wall Street in New York, not Main Street in Nevada. What it needs is an old-fashioned salesman – insurance, real estate, used cars, etc. – with a strong background in DIRECT MARKETING, as a full-time Finance DIRECTOR. All the money the party will ever need is right here in Nevada…if you just know where to look, what to do and how to do it.
Which leaves Orrin Johnson out.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS ON THE HALSETH SCANDAL
“Great reporting (on the Elizabeth Halseth resignation). I pretty much feel the same way about ALL politicians. Virtually ALL are ‘dirty.’ Good job pouncing on the truth.” – SSC reader TigerLily Gonzalez
“Elizabeth Halseth is trying to victimize her husband. How many times have men gotten the shaft like this? As far as I’m concerned, for the most part, the offending spouse breaking things up should give up the kids. Good reporting Chuck. Thanks for not letting her get away with this.” – SSC reader Don N.
“Mr. Muth you certainly have a way with words!! Now I understand what was really going on. It never made sense, and although I knew about her phony education, I certainly never realized what a devious piece of work ex-Sen. Halseth was. I hope her husband finds the justice he deserves and gets the kids. Her attorney seems as devious as she is. Thank-you for steppin' up to do this series of articles.” – SSC reader Nance A.
“Your article about (Elizabeth Halseth) was right on. I sincerely believe and hope our courts are not stupid and dismiss the trumped up charges against her husband and that he gets sole custody of the children which he certainly is entitled to based on her actions. She had a bright political future which she ruined by her actions.” – SSC reader Len B.
“Thank God for Chuck Muth standing up for the truth and having the courage to do so with so many selfish liars protecting a total hypocrite like ex-Senator Halseth. Men like Chuck Muth speaking the truth deserve and have earned the respect of Republicans and Democrats alike!” – SSC reader Michael R.
“I’m just trying to figure out why Muth has such a bug up his hooha about (Elizabeth) Halseth… (I)t has to be something personal. What it is, who can say. Maybe he just hates women. Maybe she wouldn’t donate money to that ‘Mt. Reagan’ scam of his. Maybe he made a pass, and she rebuffed him – you have to be suspicious of any guy who is that creepily obsessed with any woman’s personal life. But no matter what it is, remember this – Chuck Muth is the kind of guy who gets his rocks off of publicly abusing a young woman - and her children - going through what is clearly an incredibly difficult divorce. That alone makes him a piece of trash of a human being - and I’m being generous with both terms.” – Reno blogger-boob Orrin Johnson
EDITOR’S NOTE: First, Mr. Johnson is a horse’s ass. And obviously he either hasn’t read my full Elizabeth Halseth Story – which his buddy Jon Ralston yesterday called “relentless, gossipy crap” - or he only reads what he wants to read.
My problem with Halseth - and why I’ve written so extensively about it - isn’t just that she’s another example of a world-class “family values” hypocrite – like John Ensign. And it has nothing to do with the fact that she cheated on her husband. Or that she hurt the conservative cause, embarrassed her Republican colleagues, and put the possibility of the GOP gaining the majority in the state Senate this year in jeopardy.
No.
It’s that she not only cheated on her dedicated stay-at-home “Mr. Mom” husband, but then schemed with her lover and mother to have him arrested on a trumped up “sex” charge just so she could use that arrest to take his children away from him and move them out-of-state; meaning he’d be lucky to see them once a year. And as the father of children roughly the same age as the Halseth children, that p*sses me off royally.
Daniel Halseth is a good father who doesn’t deserve the triple-shafting his soon-to-be ex-wife is trying to give him. And no way, no how am I going to sit quietly by and let such an outrageous injustice pass.
Bottom line: Daniel is the victim here; Elizabeth is the perpetrator. If she wants to run off to Alaska to be with Tiger, fine. Go. But drop the bogus charges against Daniel and leave the children here with him where they belong.
And if Orrin Johnson still can’t “figure out” why this matter has me so hot under the collar, he either isn’t a father…or is an even bigger horse’s ass than I thought. And that’s saying something.
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