It appears that Capellini's Cronies are undoing themselves at a remarkable rate.
First it was disgraced former Deerfield Beach Mayor Al Capellini's Republican brethren. At a recent meeting they fawned over Capellini, who was removed from office by Charlie Crist after the State Attorney's Office charged with a felony corruption count in December. Rico Petrocelli called him his paisan -- which is very funny considering that Rico has been found to have diverted money from of the Plantation Athletic League (PAL). Two peas in a pod there.
Broward GOP chairman Chip LaMarca made a similar ass out of himself, saying that Capellini is guilty only of an "ethics violation." Even under Chip's flawed and slimy logic, he's saying that ethics don't matter, which is an interesting declaration coming from a party chief. F. Scott Fitzgerald used to write about "moral bankruptcy" -- it's safe to say that Capellini, Petrocelli, and LaMarca are ethically bankrupt.
But the GOP meeting was nothing compared to the mayoral forum held last night by Deerfield's joke of a community newspaper, the Observer. Publisher David Eller, another GOPer known for shady deals involving Jeb Bush, loves him some Capellini. It was Eller's attorney, the absolute hack William Bucknam, who moderated -- or, rather, radicalized -- the thing. Bucknam has been cheerleading for the corrupt Capellini ever since the arrest, trying to find technicalities to make the case go away. IIt ended with a much-justified walkout by candidates Jean Robb and Peggy Noland and mostly elderly folks in the audience yelling at Bucknam that he was a disgrace.
The only reporter on the scene was NT's own Thomas Francis and you can read his detailed account of the debacle here. Bucknam pilloried every candidate but Capellini, who he coddled. The idiot didn't even bring up the corruption charge, but the ex-mayor weighed in on the topic himself.
"We have to stop the corruption in the city, and they're pointing at me," Capellini said. "What corruption? Who's pinched? Who's been caught? Who has taken any money?"
The answer is you, Al. You've been pinched. You've been caught. And you've taken money. The funny thing is that the single felony charge is only the tip of the iceberg. Just read this this and this. People aren't even talking about Capellini's work for former drug kingpin Sam Frontera.
How absurd. Before these two meetings, I thought voters might actually buy this B.S. But now I'm pretty sure Eller, Bucknam, Chris Tauber, LaMarca, Petrocelli and all the other Capellini Cronies have lost any credibility they may have ever had. And all we had to do was listen.