If you think Republican presidential politics has gotten crazy, then you haven’t visited Dunwoody in a while.
The esteemed Trumps and Carsons of the world have nothing on the merry band of politicos connected with the DeKalb County GOP.
The local bunch again put on a solid show of cray cray Monday night in DeKalb night court, leaving a bemused magistrate judge muttering about the wide range of strong-minded personalities he had encountered during prolonged testimony concerning a parliamentary tussle that turned into a battery charge.
Henly Shelton, a Dunwoody businessman, Vietnam hero, opinionated Republican and failed candidate, can now add potential misdemeanant to his resume after a reluctant Magistrate Richard Foxworth signed off on battery charges against him. Shelton is accused of trying to force an aging blogger and fellow party member named Tony Delmichi to sit down. Delmichi, who seems to have mastered the knack of getting under other people’s skin, was trying to take a photo of State Sen. Fran Millar when the hoo-ha broke out.
The alleged crime occurred July 30 in a GOP meeting, the kind of prolonged torture in which the politically active sit on metal folding chairs in windowless rooms and discuss at length things like proxy voting and Roberts Rules of Order.
Judge Foxworth, who hoped an apology and a handshake might suffice (it didn’t), described it pretty aptly: “dysfunctional meetings attended by dysfunctional Republicans who can’t get along.”
The episode shows how the Republican Party, having tried to widen its tent, has created an odd stew of characters trying to out-right each other. Any more, the Tea Party is looking kind of lefty. The DeKalb Repubs have an anti-refugee wing, a Save Dunwoody wing (that thinks the regular local conservatives aren’t conservative enough,) the normal Republicans and some other fringe types.
The whole thing started when the perpetually grumpy Senator Millar got up to speak. Millar was getting ornery as his primary opponent, a guy in a bowling shirt named Paul Maner, got up to speak to the GOP group and proceeded to stick it to the incumbent.
Incumbents are now viewed as suspect by the ever-more boisterous electorate because they are seen as having somehow sold their souls by actually talking with and sometimes cutting deals with people with whom they disagree. It used to be call legislating. It is now called “Treason!”
Maner said he was the “real conservative” and was set “to end the reign of the Democrat in that seat.”
Millar, the object of the Dem taunt, stewed as he sat, toying with an anonymous flyer that had been blanketing the area calling him “the go-to guy for Syrian refugees.”
I can see why the Good Senator was a little miffed. He, no doubt, feels as if he’s surrounded by ingrates. Millar said he has helped foot the bill for the DeKalb GOP for many years and last time around, Richard Anderson, then the GOP Chair of Senate District 40 (Millar’s seat!), up and ran against him. Unsuccessfully, that is. Millar said he scaled back on his largess. The org has had to go for cheap rent and recently opened up in the semi-vacant North DeKalb Mall.
Millar got up to address Maner’s attacks when Delmichi, who runs a political website, got up and started shooting pictures. “Put your camera down,” Millar growled, then repeatedly added “Sit!” as if talking to a recalcitrant beagle. (Yes, there’s a tape of this, because there’s always a tape these days.)
Delmichi started back at Millar, shouting, “You’re out of line!” Shelton then got up, telling Delmichi to put his derriere back in his chair. The beefier Shelton put his hand on Delmichi’s side to move him back to his chair and then grabbed his arm to usher him out when Delmichi wouldn’t sit.
Millar then continued with his comments, saying he has a problem with anonymous flyers, adding that the resettlement program is federally funded, not state-funded.
Dunwoody police investigated back in August. In fact, the chief went to Delmichi’s house to talk to Delmichi for an hour, Delmichi said. The department chose not to bring charges. So, Delmichi went to magistrate court to file charges. The probable cause hearing lasted for five hours over two hearings, each time dragging on to almost 11 p.m with cleaning crews hovering. Sometimes, the judge looked like a man missing his favorite TV show as testimony droned on.
Shelton testified that Delmichi was a pain in the rear, often jumping up to speak at meetings when it was not his turn. And he’s always trying to stir up trouble, Shelton said.
“He was trying to sue the city and it was thrown out of Dunwoody,” Shelton said. “He came here (to DeKalb court) and made a complete fool out of himself.”
Delmichi’s attorney objected, saying Shelton’s statement had no relevance.
“There’s been too much irrelevance the last two sessions,” Judge Foxworth said. “I’ve let it get out of hand.”
The judge had Delmichi and Shelton’s lawyers try to work out a settlement as he handled the run-of-the-mill mayhem that comes before night court: beer theft cases, family feuds, text threats and school sucker punches. But no agreement was to be made in the GOP case. In politics these days, these’s little room for compromise or apology.
Toward the end of the night, it seemed certain that Foxworth was going to find probable cause against Shelton and asked the two, one more time, to try to settle it. Shelton said he would apologize orally — and publicly. Delmichi wanted him to sign a statement that Shelton worried would become fodder for his accuser’s political blog.
The judge ruled: the former Marine was to turn himself in for a case that will probably be quickly dropped by prosecutors.
And the DeKalb GOP is scheduled to have a breakfast meeting this Saturday. I’d suggest that Panera Bread bolt down the seats.
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