IN WHICH THE DCCWC INFLICTS REVENGE UPON THOSE WHO WOULD DARE TO CRITICIZE ONE OF THEIR OWN

We came into possession, today, of a letter from Lanny Hickman, chair of the Democratic Central Committee of Worcester County. Seems Lanny and the rest of the crew in Berlin are annoyed with their webmaster, Dave Suznavick, because of his "efforts to personally attack one of our members through the internet." There was no mention of who that member might be, or what form that attack might have taken. In a tersely-worded letter, Lanny fired Dave as the webmaster, saying "the Committee is of the opinion that such actions undermine the efforts of the Committee to build a cohesive, active and vital Democratic Party in Worcester County."
When we talked to Dave this afternoon, he did not appear to be heartbroken. " I haven't done any work for them since the primaries," he said. "It took me nearly 60 goddamn days to get paid for building the website. And they still haven't paid me for August and September."
Dave later forwarded us the email response he sent to Lanny the other committee members.
"Lanny:
I just got your letter relieving me of duty on the DCCWC website.
Perhaps you've noticed that I've not put any new information up on the website since the primary elections. That's because you haven't paid me for August or September, not that I care at this point.
But I'm appalled at your reasons for firing me, because it shows that the local democrats are, in reality, no better than the worst Repiglicans.... You fire me for exercising my First Amendment rights? You fire me because I dared to comment on and criticize the racist propaganda that Eddie Lee disseminated during his political campaign? Am I understanding you correctly? Please, let me ask you why you or any other central committee members didn't comment on or criticize Lee's choice of words? If you didn't comment because you agree with Lee, then you too are a bigot and are unfit for leadership of a political entity. By the same token, if you didn't speak up because doing so might have focused attention on the state of the local party, then you are still not fir to be a leader in the community. You should be ashamed of yourselves. God knows I'm now ashamed to have ever been associated with a political group that claims to uphold the American ideals, yet punishes someone exercising his constitutional rights and engaging in fair political comment and criticism."
Dave also told us about the last committee meeting he attended, during which Eddie Lee created such a furor that then-Chairman Kathy Phillips threw up her hands, saying she couldn't deal with the fighting and turned the meeting over to another member before leaving the building. Dave tells us he called Phillips on her cell phone and suggested she return to the meeting and assume control, and that Phillips was crying, saying she couldn't stand any more of Lee's disruptions. Dave also said Phillips told him that Lee had physically assaulted vice-chairman Tom Widerman at the previous meeting.
But the Democratic festivities were not over, by a long shot, according to Dave. He says that after Phillips returned to the meeting, Eddie Lee returned to hellraising. He objected to Dave being at the meeting and was overruled with a reminder that the meeting was open to the public. He then objected to Dave and his wife passing notes between one another, saying he was offended, and wanted the chair to order them to stop communicating. The chair declined. At the end of the meeting, Dave says he asked to time for public comment, where he reminded the committee of both his First Amendment right of free speech and his marital right to communicate with his with whenever he saw fit. And (drum roll) in the seconds before Hell Broke Loose, Dave says he told the committee that "if Mr. Lee doesn't like it, he can kiss my butt." (Cymbal crash) Well, witnesses say Lee jumped to his feet and charged Dave as if to fight, but was blocked by others. The disturbance was only quelled by committee member Dale Smack, a deputy sheriff, who escorted Lee from the property.
So it seems the Democratic Central Committee has a jump on their goals. It seems active. But the whole "vibrant and cohesive" thing needs some work.