Topic: APSU Professor Dr. Joe Schiller

The flip side of the 9/13 Kurita/Barnes Executive Committee hearing

September 17, 2008 |

Atty. Tim Barnes

David J. Luciano, author of this article,  is an APSU political science student who testified at the Kurita/Barnes September 13 Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee Hearing and was present for the entire process. Luciano is the former president of the APSU Democrats. This is his version of the hearing events as they occurred and is a response to the article published today (9.17.08) on Clarkville Online by author Debbie Boen.

As someone who witnessed the entirety of the Democratic Party’s Executive Committee’s hearing of Tim Barnes’s challenge of the 22nd district senatorial election, I must respond to Debbie Boen’s misrepresentations of the facts of this event.

Although she states that Joe Schiller “told the officials in the room that ‘they had been instructed to vote based on the evidence and facts, not on retribution and revenge,’” and was then asked to leave the room, this was not in fact what happened.  The rules of the meeting stipulated that while spectators and the media were welcome to attend the event, only committee members were allowed to speak.  Schiller did not make this statement; a committee member made a similar statement and Schiller then yelled loudly, “here, here!”.   When executive committee members reminded him that he was not allowed to speak as a non-committee member, he continued to get increasingly louder, yelling, “But I’m a voter!”  Again, he was asked to stop, and refusing, was escorted from the room. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Events, News, Opinion, Politics | 4 Comments

“Democrat against Democrat…” as Primary vote is overturned; Executive Committees to decide outcome in Senate race

By Debbie Boen | September 16, 2008 |

“Brother against Brother. Democrat against Democrat. The Republicans don’t need to defeat the Democrats – they’re doing that all by themselves.” ~~ Beth Robinson

Some long-time Democrats become “Incurably Uncertain” about remaining in their own party after Kurita’s election win was discredited on September 13. The eight hour session which seemed to most observers to be a sure win for Kurita ended with a 33-11 vote to null and void Kurita’s Senate election win.

When this decision was announced, APSU Associate Professor of Biology, Dr. Joe Schiller, told the officials in the room that “they had been instructed to vote based on the evidence and facts, not on retribution and revenge”. He was asked to leave the room. Feeling disenfranchised, he told me that the whole event was a miscarriage of justice and he is seriously reconsidering his party affiliation. “If it is a Republican conspiracy when Republicans vote for Democrats, that’s a conspiracy I’d like to have.”

“There was no proof. It was a Scopes monkey trial. It was embarrassing”, said Beth Robinson, a Clarksville computer systems analyst and member of The Climate Project. “This reminds me of the Supreme Court ignoring the voting public and handing Bush the White House despite the fact that Gore received more votes.” Beth said she’d like Senator Kurita to explore a write-in campaign and possibly run as an Independent.

Standing room only as the Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee hears evidence in the Kurita/Barnes primary election case

R. Neal wrote his view on the case in the Tenn Views web site. He includes a link to Kurita’s attorney’s response to the Barnes challenge, which you can read here or at http://www.tennviews.com/files/kuritachallengeresponse.pdf Neal writes that Barnes filed a challenge, citing a litany of alleged irregularities. Kurita filed a response refuting them point by point. Read the rest of Neal’s article at http://www.tennviews.com/node/3882. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Events, News, Opinion, Politics | 4 Comments

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