Why I Will Not Be Attending the American Freedom Alliance Dinner This Year

Over the past three weeks, I have been receiving emails, calls, and Facebook messages about the upcoming American Freedom Alliance (AFA) Dinner on May 21st.

Here is the flyer for the event,

I applaud the ideas and the reasons for AFA.

I think it is both necessary and proper, beneficial and essential, to re-educate Americans about liberty and the Common Law, Classical Liberal traditions of this country. I also believe that every able adult must teach their children, and other people's children, about the fundamental Judeo-Christian values and Western thought.

All of these previous principles are under attack in our country.

Avi Davis, the Founder of the American Freedom Alliance, was a larger-than-life kind of man. I met him briefly at the 2015 AFA awards dinner.

He passed away in March 2016, and the 2016 Dinner was held in honor of Beloved Avi.

Avi Davis, Fredeom Fighter (1958-2015)

At the same time, I was becoming more physically involved in fighting for Judeo-Christian values, in fighting for Western Culture. In my discussions with other activist leaders, I realized that many of these types of high-celebrity associations and meetings are more of an echo chamber than an army. Of course, there is nothing wrong with raising money to host seminars and discussions to make people aware of the unprecedented attacks against our way of life and our individual liberties.

But at the 2016 AFA dinner, I found the meeting somewhat boring. Then again, I imagine many people would find a gathering a little uninteresting if they were not receiving an award. Many of the speakers that year talked about who the Western World is facing decline and probably won't bounce back. Perhaps Avi's sudden passing contributed to the malaise in the room that night.

I ended up leaving a little earlier, especially when one of the attending members at the meeting, Gary Aminoff, pressured me to allow a liberal-leaning Republican to speak at the Beach Cities Republicans. It bothered me a little at first, but at the time I was not aware of the corruption eating away the Republican Party of Los Angeles County.

I was a little disheartened by everything, but also frustrated by the fact that I saw a lot of wealthy and well-connceted people at this event. What are they doing to advance the cause of fighting nihilism, socialism, secularism, and Islan?

Now comes the 2017 AFA event.

A very good friend of mine wanted me to be his VIP guest. I was looking forward to it.

But then I noticed the person whom they were honoring as a fighter for freedom of conscience:

Sorry, but David is no freedom fighter.

This man has bowed down to the Big Gay Hate Machine.

He is pro-gay marriage and pro-choice.

That is not liberty. This basis cannot be the strong foundation for a free society. I used to write for Truth Revolt, David Horowitz news center. It was a dud. They stopped paying their top-rated writers, including Ben Shapiro and Kurt Schlicter.

The new editor was very coy about the standards which Truth Revolt would abide by. I wrote articles going after what the destructive LGBT agenda was doing to our Western Culture, especially the attacks on biological evidence as well as natural rights.

They refused to print my articles. The editor even told me that Horowitz did not believe those fights were worth fighting. Unbelievable. I have little respect for this social liberal. He does not deserve the award. 

There is no liberty without life, and there is no liberty with inculcating principles in line with moral truth and theological revelation. Otherwise, liberty quickly devolves into license and then slavery to self. Liberty is all about the reduction and removal of arbitrary restraint, so much more than "do whatever you want." After all, choices lead to a limitation on choices, but those limitations should come as a result of free choice, not imposed will.

Then I noticed who sits on the board of the American Freedom Alliance:

Karen Siegemund is on the RPLAC Central Committee. I told her about what members of the 66th AD Central Committee were doing to the Beach Cities Republicans.

Nothing. It looks as if she went along with the same corrupted program. I was so disappointed.

And notice who is Chairman of the Board?

Our good friend Gary SCAM-inoff!

"Your charter is revoked because your fight for liberty and truth
makes us look bad!" (Are you coming to the AFA Dinner?)

Do I want to work with and fund a program which has such traitors and unjust persons?

Other people who have attended previous AFA dinners? This Aminoff guy, who has been threatening other conservative leaders, is the Chairman of the Board? I am already sick to my stomach.

Who else has been attending these AFA Dinners?

Mark Vafiades, another member of the corrupt RINO-PLAC executive committee who had the Beach Cities Republicans Charter revoked:

"Clubs that fight for liberty
will have their charters revoked!"
(Coming to the AFA Dinner?)

Reminder: The RPLAC Central Committee revoker the charter for the pro-Western, pro-Judeo-Christian values GOP club the Beach Cities Republicans earlier this year (January 13, 2017). Now they want to present to the world this unified front that they care about fighting for freedom and fundamental values?

I don't think so!

This is all wrong! This conflict is about so much more than personalities. The problem for me is the rank hypocrisy! They want to celebrate Western values, but the board members actively UNDERMINE the very thing they claim to celebrate!

Who needs this?!

And the corrosive connections between RINO-PLAC leaders and AFA only get tighter:

And:

They seem to be very close to easch other. Along the same street, within one block of each other.

More collusion, perhaps?

So, with that, ladies and gentleman, I will not be attending the 2017 AFA dinner. The fight for liberty, for Western culture, for Judeo-Christian values depends on earnest, principled leaders.

Here are the following reasons, in succinct order:

1. They are a social club more than an activist group dedicated to getting things done.
2. This year, the AFA is honoring the pro-LGBT David Horowitz, who in turn has actually been afraid to stand up to the destructive LGBT  Agenda, which despises Liberty, God, Biblical principles, and the Truth.
3. The current leadership and key attendees to these dinners are the same corrupt RPLAC members who revoked the charter for the freedom fighting Beach Cities Republicans.

Currently, Avi Davis' blessed legacy does not have such leadership and deserves better. Let's stand for truth and fight for what is right.

And let us not be afraid to call out the hatred, the falsehood, and the lies of those who are more interested in filling up their socia calendar rather than doing something good for God, for Country and for Constitution.

Growing Support for the Beach Cities Republicans Against Establishment RINO-PLAC

Now that the RINOS from the Los Angeles "Republican" Party Central Committee have declared war on Congressional candidate Omar Navarro, more people around the state of California are learning about the corrupt, dirty practices of Mark Vafiades, Gary Aminoff, Maureen Johnson, and the rest of the corrosive, undeserving central committee--along with the sugar daddy puppet masters Andy Gharakani and Charles Munger.

Tracy Hopkins, BCR Secretary-Treasurer

While RINO-PLAC remains silent, the Beach Cities Republicans are vocal and unrelenting.

While RINO-PLAC does nothing for candidates running in blue areas of Los Angeles County, the Beach Cities Republicans fight hard every step of the way with every resource available

More people are learning about what is happening, and they want RINO-PLAC to restore our charter--not that we want tit back!

@GOPChairwoman @Reince45
Let Omar run. Give him back his club charter w @ArthurCSchaper

What gives?! https://t.co/NdrHBN1YGe

— (((Mary Mauldin))) (@marymauldin) May 1, 2017

On behalf of the Beach Cities Republicans board and members of the club, I want to thank all the supporters who have been fighitng for us and getting the word out about the failed practices of the Ls Angeles County GOP Central Committee.

It's time to drain the swamp!

It's time to purge the RINOs from Los Angeles County Republican Party leadership.

Let's work together and Make California Great Again!

RPLAC and Vafiades Blocked Me TOO! FUNNY!

The RINO Leadership of the Republican Party Central Committee are really butt-hurt now.

Sources in other parts of the state have told me that they have a pretty dim view of California's Republican Central Committees in general.

Most of the members just sit around and do nothing.

They meet, they eat, they burp, and they slurp.

Then they watch the Republican Party brand sink into abject irrelevancy.

This is not a winning formula for growth.

But instead of taking their medicine, they just decided to block.

Check out what RPLAC has done:

Mark Vafiades doesn't want to hear from me, either.

For a chairman who was supposed to grow the Republican Party in Los Angeles.

The one Republican state assemblyman entirely in Los Angeles County--lost his re-election.

I never once saw Mark Vafiades do anything for David Hadley.

Nothing.

And this is how he treats me:

Maybe of Republican leadership in Los Angeles County invested more time in registering Republicans and not attacking conservative groups, they would be winning elections.

No, they would rather block people who accomplish stuff.

Of course!

Thanks for Revoking Beach Cities Republicans' Charter, RINO-PLAC!

The musings have become murmurings.

And the murmurings have become rumors.

And now today, the criticism from the enraged citizenry have come forward and called out the corruption and bad leadership of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, aka RPLAC, now known as RINO-PLAC.

This is what
GOP activism
looks like!

What is the point of a county central committee when they kick volunteers in the face? Why have a political party in the first place when a couple of wealthy insiders live by their own set of rules, then arbitrarily apply them to everyone else.

I am certain that Beach Cities Republicans Founders Harry Eicher and James Crean would have never seen this day. How shocked they would be to learn that RPLAC leadeship has become corrupted, with no real intention for meeting or even existing ... besides giving a couple of pre-eminent elitist a sense of relevance, plus a place to go on weekends to look like big shots.

What a sad disaster the county has become.

I reached out to former RPLAC leaders and activists. There was a time when a Republican Congressman, state senator, and state assemblyman represented the South Bay in Los Angeles County!

What happened?!

Now, the leaders are content to live off donation welfare and do nothing more than just get together once a month and contemplate their irrelevance.

Here is the current leadership:

Mark Vafiades

Gary Aminoff

Janice Webb

Gary SCAM-inoff has been involved with the Republican Party of Los Angeles County for ... decades.

What does he have to show for his lack of effort?

Would someone please tell me?

Vafiades pushes me out in a rush hearing based on corruption and flimsy charges.

Then there's Janice (caught in a) Webb (of deceit), who called me work trying to pressure me to cancel a meeting, and very likely released the private contacts of all the members of our club to help another candidate remove me as President of the Beach Cities Republicans.

And she was also behind the same corrupt attempt to get rid of me, when she was supposed to ... register voters, raise money, recruit and retain candidates and volunteers.

And speaking of volunteers ...

I just want to say "Thank you" to the RINO-PLAC leaders. This whole charter business has turned out to be a smokescreen for well-dressed irrelevance.

The Mountain View Republican Club faced abuse and bullying because they were activists. They took their show somewhere else and have continued to succeed.

The Beach Cities Republicans has gained more numbers, fame, and influence after losing the "revered" charter.

Anyone striving to get an RPLAC charter is setting themselves up for a liability.

RINO-PLAC: all dressed up and going nowhere fast!

Thank you for taking it away - we are true Republicans, and we want know part of RINO-PLAC!

RINO-PLAC GOP of Los Angeles County Double Standards

You have to see it to believe it.

Christopher Castillo, former Republican Congressional candidate and wannabe La Raza activist, endorsed a score of Democrats, especially in races where a Republican was running:

Then it just gets just plain stupid:

Where was the denunciation against these traitors?

Castillo is an advocate for the Republican Hispanic Assembly in the state of California.

Then nothing was done about them!

NOTHING!

Chris ... endorse whomever you want!
Arthur, though, we're taking his charter!

I do whatever Charles Munger
Tells me to ....

Gary SCAM-in-off

By the way ...

Aminoff pressured me earlier last year to allow Castillo to speak at the Beach Cities Republicans, even though Castillo was a liberal GOP and was by then colluding with the corrupt John Paul Tabakian.

What is the matter with these people? Don't they want to Make California Great Again?

The county "leadership" supports allowing liberal "progressive" Republicans to support Democrats, including a representative for the National Hispanic Republican Assembly ... but pulled the charter for the Beach Cities Republicans for allowing a Libertarian candidate to speak at the club.

Double Standard!

Let's face the truth. They didn't like our clubs activism. They did not like that we were producing results and stirring up controversy. The truth is it's time for conservatives to double down and stand their ground on principle, rather than caving to the culture.

Anyone who is too cowardly to fight, needs to step down and go away.

RPLAC's Hasty, Unjustified Termination of BCR's Charter

This is a sad day for those who expected better from their Republican leadership.

Instead of respecting and encourage active members in the Republican Party, the decided to turn their guns on us to either silence us or run us out.

This is sad--and outrageous.

Another club President had shared with me the similar rejections which had taken place against the them from leaders in RPLAC.

What a shame.

The Assembly Central Committee Chairwoman tried to get rid of a duly-elected leader.

She called my work to stop a proposed meeting.

She then denied one of the Committee members the opportunity to attend his first Central Committee meeting.

This kind of behavior has been destructive and unjust.

This is to their shame.

In the letter eblasted below - you will notice that it is more emotion, with no reference to facts or truth.

They claim that charges leveled against leadership were false.

They are not.

Dear Beach Cities Republican Members,

After careful review and discussions, The Republican Party of Los Angeles County (RPLAC) Executive Committee voted today unanimously to pull the charter of the Beach Cities Republican (BCR) Club. Our decision on this matter was not taken lightly, but after months of attempts to resolve the situation.

As a chartered organization, the Beach Cities Republicans has a responsibility to abide by the RPLAC bylaws and work within the RPLAC structure. All chartered organizations are required to be in compliance with RPLAC bylaws.

For the record, previous Presidents had "violated" RPLAC by-laws, and there were no consequences for them..

RPLAC attempted to work with the BCR leadership to resolve this situation. Specifically, BCR President Arthur Schaper, was given a list of steps the club could take to come back into compliance with RPLAC. That offer was declined by Mr. Schaper. Instead, the leadership of the BCR has continued to attack RPLAC and its members.

This is also a lie.

I had already complied with one complaint--about having a non-Republican speak at the club.

Then the issued this outrageous demand that I step down or the club charter would be pulled.

As a result, the RPLAC Executive Committee voted to pull the charter from the Beach Cities Republicans effective immediately.

RPLAC has found that the Beach Cities Republicans violation of the following RPLAC and CRP Bylaws:

Below is a list of the violations:

1. Bylaw Violations:
2. BCR sent out multiple emails (from the official BCR email account) falsely attacking RPLAC and individual RPLAC members. These false claims were also made on social media by members of the BCR Board. (RPLAC - Appendix II, Section 1 (2) - Cause for censure shall be defined as engaging in physical or verbal conduct that tends to bring the Republican Party of Los Angeles County into disrepute, CRP - Article III, Section 3.01(E): (a) Brings discredit to the Republican Party.)
3. BCR began advertising on facebook, a blog post attacking the 66^thAssembly District AD Chairwoman, Janice Webb as well as RPLAC. (RPLAC - Appendix II, Section 1 (2) - Cause for censure shall be defined as engaging in physical or verbal conduct that tends to bring the Republican Party of Los Angeles County into disrepute, CRP - Article III, Section 3.01(E): (a) Brings discredit to the Republican Party.)
4. BCR President falsely attacked RPLAC and individual RPLAC members (RPLAC - Appendix II, Section 1 (2) - Cause for censure shall be defined as engaging in physical or verbal conduct that tends to bring the Republican Party of Los Angeles County into disrepute, CRP - Article III, Section 3.01(E): (a) Brings discredit to the Republican Party.)

Again, RPLAC does not take this action lightly, under past leadership, the relationship between RPLAC and BCR was a healthy one. Recently, BCR leadership and Mr. Schaper have demonstrated a pattern of behavior that can no longer be tolerated.

This action is not designed to disband the BCR or replace BCR leadership. This action will free BCR from any formal oversight or affiliation with the Republican Party. Based on the clubs recent actions, this result may be in the best interest of BCR, to become an independent organization.

As Republican activists, we encourage you to stay engaged in the political process. There are various chartered clubs throughout the South Bay area and Los Angeles County. If you would like more information on Republican chartered clubs, or if you have any questions, please give us a call at (818) 558-7600 or info@lagop.org.

This is most unfortunate.

One would think that Republican leadership would seek to bring members together and work to advance the cause.

There has been too much deceit.

What a shame.

This has been a fraud from Day One.

Is it any wonder why the Republican Party of Los Angeles is in such dire straits?

No one should be surprised to see Los Angeles County taken on a formidable share of blue during the last election:

BCR's Open Letter to RPLAC Leaders: What is Your Problem?

To the Republican Party of Los Angeles County By-Laws Committee:

On behalf of the Beach Cities Republicans, we find any allegations against BCR spurious and unfounded.

As I had discussed with Executive Director Jason Maruca and former Chairman Mark Vafiades, your upset about one libertarian candidate speaking at our club is selective enforcement.  Previous BCR President David Hadley had permitted independent candidates to speak, as did Evan Chase.

And no action was taken against them.

Furthermore, the state by-laws and the county by-laws do NOT prohibit me from informing members--and the public--about unethical actions of the county party.

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is inviolable, and supersedes county partisan organizations.

You have neglected to bear in mind that AD-66 Chairwoman Janice Webb attempted to pressure me to cancel a meeting, then called my work to pressure my boss to pressure me. Those actions are illegal, a violation of California Labor Codes.

Also, the RPLAC By-Laws committee violated the county by-laws with their attempt to pressure me to resign without a hearing or a presentation of evidence against me or the club. The hasty process from the By-Laws committee to rule BCR in violation -- which had occurred on November 7th (?)--was in fact acting out of compliance with RPLAC by-laws.

The By-Laws Committee Chairman Gary Aminoff refused to provide written information or documentation of complaints against me and the BCR board or the club.

AD-66 Central Committee Chairwoman Webb also failed to inform a member of the AD-66, BCR Vice-President Omar Navarro, about the change in location of the November 21 AD Central Committee meeting. I have filed at least two complaints about this matter, and the By-Laws committee refused to do anything about. There are further allegations that Omar Navarro was not permitted to enter the December 10, 2016 reorganization meeting.

We the Board of BCR find that RPLAC has actually been in violation of its own by-laws against its own members. Such behavior from county leadership has in fact put the party in a negative light, and has discouraged individual citizens from participating more actively.

We find it further very offensive that you have sent an email--poorly worded with spelling errors and a lack of signature and date--to only one member of the BCR Board when three other members should have been informed of this By-Laws Committee meeting.

The actions of RPLAC Leadership are discriminatory and abhorrent.

Furthermore, for the By-Laws Committee to refuse to hold a hearing and permit members of the BCR board -- in a designated location -- is suspect and also a violation of RPLAC By-Laws. Other members of the Beach Cities Republicans have every right to hear and respond to allegations against them, however unfounded and just those allegations may be

We will be filing further complaints to the state leadership of the CA GOP as well.

We demand a location where a member of the BCR Board can attend and directly face the accusers and accusations against them.

Please respond by Monday, January 10, 5:00pm

Sincerely,

The Beach Cities Republicans Board

Has RPLAC Already Chosen a New Executive Board? (Addenda)

The following email was released to the Republican Party Central Committees this week.

It's very disturbing to see a succession rather than an election.

This does not make any sense.

Los Angeles County Republicans got wiped out in Election 2016.

David Hadley lost re-election.

This is the worst outcome. He was--IS--a great legislator.

He should have won.

The candidates with an R after their name who did win--won because of their connections to more conservative sections of the state--Orange County, San Bernardino County, etc.

Do we really need the same failed phalanx of leadership, or should we regard the successors as a break away from the means and mission of the past?

I need more information, but I can say that at least two of the considered slate give me great pause.

Here is the email from outgoing RPLAC Chairman Mark Vafiades, with my comments to follow:

Dear ----,

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your Chairman for the past four years! We have accomplished so much together, turning RPLAC into a strong political operation and one of the most active and professionally run county parties in California.

2014 was a great year, and there are an unprecedented number of Republicans are elected to local office.

The sad thing, however, is that I have heard from many of these elected officials that the County and State Parties are not helping them!

This is wrong.

When I ran for Beach Cities Republicans President, one of the most critical elements for  me was getting support  to local candidates, so that they would not be going along into battle.

No elected official in the county should ever feel alone or without support.

We had an unprecedented number of targeted races in Los Angeles County during my two terms, and we helped elect Republicans to legislative and local office, raised nearly $500,000 for our Party and millions for our candidates.

OK. Indeed, we had targeted races all over the county--we did not win one seat. In fact, we lost a seat here in the South Bay!

In order for us to continue making RPLAC stronger, we need the right team in place. This past June, we were lucky to elect a new membership, made up of active and engaged Republicans from across Los Angeles County. I am very excited about the future of RPLAC.

Now I have to start raising some objections. How many Republicans got wiped out locally this time around? We still do not have the final data on SD-29, in which Ling Ling Chang is barely holding on by 187 votes!

While I could not be more proud of everything we accomplished, it is with great sadness, that I announce I am not seeking another term as Chairman, but will remain very involved in our Party.

I am supporting Richard Sherman as Chairman. Richard has been a dear friend, and a loyal and hardworking member of our Party for many years. He is the best person to lead RPLAC, and I will work closely with him as his 1st Vice-Chairman.

Notice that he is supporting Richard Sherman, but he is not fully or formally installed ... yet.

This thing called "an election" has to take place.

Free elections are a necessity, not just in cities and states, but within political parties.

Richard is a member of the Executive Committee of RPLAC and has served in leadership positions of his local AD Central Committee for close to ten years. In addition, he is a delegate to the California Republican Party and recently served on the Platform Committee. Richard has been an active political grassroots volunteer for many years and has worked on a number of races. He has served as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition and is currently on the National Board, is a licensed psychologist, having served for five years as one of Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointees on the California Board of Psychology. Richard will bring his political experience, organizational skills and steady hand to RPLAC leadership.

My bigger question -- what vision does he have for expanding conservatism in Los Angeles County?

How are we going to compete in one of the bluest counties of the country, where Republicans barely made a blip in the radar, and one of the most successful assemblymen--David Hadley--was wiped out with a word?

His loss was an epic disaster, and we need to take a long, hard look at this problem!

We will also keep our great Team in place, including our Executive Director, Jason Maruca, and our Finance & Political Director, Andy Gharakhani.

Right now, I am not a big fan of Jason Maruca or Andy Gharakhani. I am not sure who these people are. Does Gharakani even sit on a Central Committee?

I was very displeased with the lack of professionalism toward the Beach Cities Republicans, too. Shouldn't directors of any stripe know how to lead and support the troops under their charge?

In addition to supporting Richard Sherman, I am also proud to announce my endorsement for the RPLAC Leadership Team. I am convinced this group has everything it takes to help our candidates win on Election Day and keep the momentum we have going at RPLAC.

Chairman Vafiades has every right to endorse whomever he wants.

I believe that the next phase of leadership should respect our need to fight back, hold onto our vales and expand our numbers!

RPLAC LEADERSHIP TEAM

Chairman: Richard Sherman

1st Vice-Chairman: Mark Vafiades

2nd Vice-Chairman: Howard Hakes

Treasurer: Gary Aminoff

Assistant Treasurer: Jacqueline Loza

Secretary: Janice Webb 

Assistant Secretary: Andre Hollings

The RPLAC Elections take place on Saturday, December 10th at our Organizational Meeting in Pasadena. I ask each of you to make sure to attend and vote for the Republican Leadership Team.

 I will be attending very soon.

I am most displeased with Janice Webb as a choice on the Executive Board.

Make me RPLAC Secretary
Or I will call your boss!

I am also unsure what to think of Gary Aminoff at this time. His initial decision to seek suspension then possible revocation of Beach Cities Republicans' charter was very disturbing, then disappointing.

[Aminoff wrote to me the following in response to this statement above:

"I never made a decision to seek suspension or revocation of Beach Cities Republican's charter. I don't even have the authority to make that decision. I chaired a meeting of the Bylaws Committee to determine if there was a violation of the Bylaws. That was my sole role."

There's just one problem-- Jason Maruca had informed me in the email that the By-Laws Committee recommended suspension. What is going on?]

True leadership does not just arbitrarily push people out without respecting by-laws and the integrity of the process, the principles, and the people who work for conservative values and actions in Los Angeles County and throughout the state of California!

Webb's behavior towards me and others seriously questions her ability to govern effectively.

Click this link for more information.

We need leadership in the county that is willing to confront bad policy and bad leaders on our city councils and school boards.

I believe that we should embrace our conservative values, educate people on their merits--both young and old need to be educated--and then reach out into communities where we have never gone before.

I am very suspect of at-large blank slates, and I want to learn more.

True Leadership: RPLAC Chairman Vafiades Stood By Trump, Criticized GOP Establishment Detractors

LA County GOP chair rips Romney over Trump speech

The Daily News wrote the following after former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney ripped Donald Trump and his ascendant bid for President in March 2016:

The chairman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party watched Mitt Romney’s verbal assault on Donald Trump Thursday morning and said the former Massachusetts governor was “slapping Republicans in the face” with his attack on the current GOP delegate leader, who is seeking the presidency.

Indeed. The lack of leadership from the national conference should disturb a lot of people across the country.

“His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader,” Romney declared during his speech at the University of Utah.

But, Mark Vafiades said Romney’s attack on Trump disappointed him deeply.

“Instead of advocating for who he feels is the best nominee, he is attacking another candidate,” Vafiades said. “Trump looks poised to win the nomination and anything Romney said can be used against him by the Democrats in the general election. That is not good.”

Exactly!

Romney, who lost the 2012 presidential election to President Barack Obama by garnering only 47 percent of the popular vote, spoke for about 20 minutes - ripping Trump for his tax plan, his trade stance, his demeanor and listed off several failed business ventures started by the real estate mogul.

Mark Vafiades, RPLAC Chairman

He called him “a phony” and “a fraud” and said Trump is “playing the members of the American public for suckers.”

WHAT?!

“His imagination must not be married to real power,” Romney insisted.

He added that he would support the other Republican presidential candidates.

“Given the current delegate selection process, this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, for John Kasich in Ohio and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state,” Romney said.

But Vafiades said the speech could backfire by emboldening Trump supporters in key upcoming primary states to dig their heels in and support the billionaire with renewed fervor. Vafiades said Romney’s comments were “insulting” to the majority of Republicans who have been backing Trump.

Indeed, the speech did backfire. Lo and Behold, Donald Trump is our President today!

Later in the day, Trump spoke in Maine and addressed Romney’s critique by noting the former GOP presidential nominee was “begging” for his endorsement on his way to losing to Obama.

“He let us down,” Trump said, adding “Mitt is indeed a choke artist.”

Vafiades said Romney’s speech showed some in the Republican establishment were out of touch with the pulse of the party. The chairman said tearing apart other candidates only hurts the party and the individual making the attacks. He noted GOP challenger Marco Rubio was looking strong going into Super Tuesday, but then went on an all-out offensive against Trump and ended up only winning one state out of 13.

This issue of leadership as out of touch with the  party --this is is YUGE problem in Los Angeles County.

At least Vafiades has been listening.

“No one wins an election by making the campaign just against someone else,” Vafiades said. “It almost seemed like Rubio was on a suicide mission.”

Vafiades also cautioned Romney and the GOP establishment saying they shouldn’t hope for a brokered Republican National Convention in Cleveland because that will destroy the party.

There was no brokered convention. There is no broken Republican Party. On the other hand, the Democratic Party is completely in a shambles.

“Donald Trump being nominated is not the end of the party,” Vafiades said. “I think it’s a myth that there will be a brokered convention. There would be a revolt if the establishment took away the will of the voters. If you nullify what the majority of the party wants, that would be the decimation of the Republican Party.”

Yes! Power belongs in the hands of We the People in our desire to form a more perfect union built on an enumeration of powers.

He also said the speech will hurt Romney’s legacy.

“I respected Romney, but I think this hurts his credibility,” Vafiades said.

Final Reflection

Mark Vafiades stood by Trump.

He stuck to his guns about the Donald even in May, at an award function of the American Freedom Alliance.

I was a little skeptical, and locally elected officials offered their dismay about Trump, and were even angry with the Chairman for his stance.

But Trump pulled it off--and won!

True leadership--stand by your values, help your party, support your nominee.

Thank you, Chairman Vafiades!