1). Mark Cross represented CFL and it's members in a very poor light when he endorsed Greer for Republican Party of Florida Chairman. You can my complete story about this at http://
2) John Tate knows little about this situation. He is doing the same thing bureaucrats do when they try and micromanage our country from Washington, D.C. Let Florida members vote on Florida issues. Hold an election NOW to decide if Mr. Cross is fit to continue his interim status as Florida Coordinator.Allow me to email out to membership my side of the story.
3). I have been afforded no opportunity to face my accuser President John Tate. I was never notified that I was removed as Orange County Coordinator. I was never told what rule of our organization's constitution I broke to bring on this action. The mere fact that I questioned the actions of leadership should not be enough to warrant such action.
4). The Florida CFL continues to suffer tremendous harm from Mark Cross's actions. The County and Congressional District Coordinators of Florida CFL took a vote. Sixty-six percent of them voted to impeach Mr. Cross. The remaining thirty-three percent voted to just reprimand him. I've received hundreds of emails and phone calls telling me that if Mark Cross is not removed people will either resign membership or never join.
This all reminds me very much of the strong disagreements of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Books have been written of their heated exchanges and charges against each other. In the end they reunited. Hopefully the same can happen again.
Now I will respond point by point to Mr. Tate's accusations. Please copy and paste this whole message to every group that you can.
Thank You,
Nick Egoroff
Patriot
January 21, 2009
Dear Campaign for Liberty Member,
The current state of our nation demands that we stand up and unite behind the timeless message of Liberty that made our country great. Along the way, we will be forced to make some tough decisions.
Recently, one of our members was confronted with such a decision. Mark Cross, former Ron Paul 2008 Florida State Coordinator and current Interim Campaign for Liberty Florida Coordinator, entered the race for Chairman of the Florida Republican Party, obtaining Dr. Paul's endorsement along the way. Of Mark, Dr. Paul said, "I know that he has the integrity, leadership, and resources that would ensure a successful term as Chairman."
Mark had put in a lot of hard work, but as election day approached, he realized that he didn't have the votes needed to win. Before the election, he had a chance to speak to Jim Greer, the current chairman who enjoyed an insurmountable lead, and Mr. Greer informed Mark that he would work to make sure that Ron Paul supporters were welcome in the Florida GOP in the future and allowed to fully participate. With this knowledge in hand, Mark made the decision to withdraw from the race and to support Greer's bid for the chairmanship in a bridge-building effort.
[What Tate doesn't mention is that Chairman Greer has repeatedly undertaken vicious attacks on RP supporters around the state. He changed the State Party bylaws to try and exclude RP membership in the County Republican organizations. Greer is known around the state as being a no-holds barred Party infighter that deals ruthlessly with opponents. RP supporters knew this as well which was why they stunned and repulsed at this decision by Cross.]
Mark's decision was controversial, but a tremendous possibility exists that it could open up new doors into the Florida GOP that have previously been closed to us. Greer publicly stated, on record, that Ron Paul supporters would be welcome, and Mark will do everything he can to hold him to that. No matter what happens, I am confident Mark acted with the best of intentions.
[Mark's intentions are also highly suspect here. There was a third candidate in the race Eric Miller (more about him in my blog noted above). It is Mr. Miller's contention that Mark Cross "double-crossed" him by cutting a deal with Greer. In return for Cross supporting Greer, Greer would see to it that a serious violation of ethics by Cross would be dropped.
Dissent is a God-given right cherished by every freedom-loving American. But, Campaign for Liberty also has the right to cooperate only with leaders who we know for certain we can fully trust. It is with this in mind that we made the difficult decision to remove Nick Egoroff as Interim Florida Orange County Campaign for Liberty Coordinator.
[Trust is important. But most of us know that to go on just emotional feelings is not prudent. The facts in this case are important. And they must be given a fair hearing in the court of public opinion. National CFL leadership insisted that this be hushed up. I was not going to be blackmailed into remaining quiet.]
Nick has many talents, but has also been a deeply divisive force, having previously tried to undermine and challenge Mark's authority several times dating back to the presidential campaign. After Mark's run for Florida GOP Chairman, Nick could have expressed concerns directly to Campaign for Liberty staff. Instead, he launched an attack against Mark in an attempt to unseat him. The attack was rude, personal, full of distortions and half-truths, and completely over the top.
[Yes I have many talents. I like to write and inspire about the Liberty Movement. That might be why I started and maintain a RP Meetup with over 400 members. That's also why I spearheaded an effort to take over our County Republican Party. Over 120 RP supporters went through the cumbersome process of sign up, attending meetings, and then nearly voting out the current neo-con leadership. The final vote was 122 to 121. We would have won, but the current chairman disqualified 18 of our members prior to the election--this is being fought in court right now. I've also been instrumental in pulling together all the most active RP organizers in Florida. We now have ongoing email and phone contact; something Mark Cross never did in his months and months of so-called leadership]
The National Campaign for Liberty staff tried hard to work with Nick and address his concerns, but to no avail. Instead, he took our email correspondences and phone calls with him and distorted them, twisted them, and in some cases simply made things up. All the while echoing our sentiments of mutual respect and promising to cease his attacks, Nick continued sending more disparaging messages. At the end of the day, we found that we could not trust him.
[Another misstatement of fact. When they say they tried to work with me, they should have said 'They told me over and over again that Mark Cross was going to stay and that was final. The fact that I kept people around the state informed of this on going process was viewed by President John Tate and others as untrustworthy. Sorry, I think we should have a free and wide-ranging discussion if CFL. If they don't like to be criticized for their actions, maybe they should consider another line of work.]
Finally, Nick offered his version of a "compromise." He would stop his attacks if we named him Assistant Florida State Coordinator and gave him full access to our lists. Unfortunately, this unveiled his true purpose behind the distraction and division - a personal power grab.
[What a whopper this one is! Yes I offered to try and help bandage up a terrible wound to Florida CFL. The damage was escalating around the state. Recently a member of a County Republican Party organization was deluged with accusations that RP people were not to be trusted... that they were traitors (and worse) because Mark Cross broke an agreement to support the second place finisher in a runoff election with Greer. The supporters of Eric Miller (again, see my blog, noted above), felt betrayed. This blunder by Cross is going to continue to have repercussions.
I was merely trying to head off a hemorrhaging situation by offering National HQ a face-saving option. Mark and I could agree on an honest differing of opinion. I would in turn try and heal the rift that is now tearing deeper in the Florida CFL. Again, being thousands of miles away from the situation National HQ circled the ranks to protect one of their own.]
The outside pressures we face are incredible, and we must avoid internal division whenever possible. Instead of working against each other, we must unite to fight the real enemy - the big government, interventionist, anti-Constitution philosophy that permeates our society. Our staff has tried its best to communicate with Nick and to work through this situation, but our efforts have ultimately been rejected and met with personal attacks. We have to move on and get back to the work at hand.
[I still extend the hand of friendship to National CFL on trying to address this situation. Call for an election of Florida CFL members. What ever is the wishes of membership, I will humbly accept. I think that is the proper course of action for President John Tate as well. What is not good is the autocratic leadership that has so far been displayed by them. I call on everyone who loves LIBERTY and wants a true liberty oriented organization to email John Tate at john.tate@campaignforliberty.
Tell him to call an election now. Let Florida membership decide who runs their organization.
Tell him to stop playing favorites and protecting their own hand-picked candidates and tell them to reinstate me and the other Florida CFL Coordinator that were removed without cause.
Tell him to start openning up the lines of communication so that we can ALL work together.]
I am confident that our Florida supporters can put these events behind them, pull together, and emerge even stronger as we all work toward the goal of reclaiming our Republic.
[And I am confident that Florida CFL supporters' wishes will be respected.]
In Liberty,
John Tate
President, Campaign for Liberty
Nick Egoroff
Orlando Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty Organizer
Check Out My New Blog http://
www.ronpaul.meetup.com/184 (Orlando Ron Paul Group)
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue! Barry Goldwater in his 1964 Presidential Acceptance Speech