Nancy Argenziano
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
“I ate two slices of bad pizza, went to bed and grew a conscience!”
— Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire.
Jerry Maguire is a movie about a sports agent who, late one night in a sudden moment of lucidity, drafts a manifesto about how things should be in the sports agent business: fewer clients, better service, more integrity.
It’s brilliant stuff. So Jerry makes copies and sends it out to his boss and all the other agents at the firm. And promptly gets fired.
Former Republican lawmaker Nancy Argenziano, who represented Citrus Country in the state House and Senate, must have had “two slices of bad pieces, went to bed and grew a conscience.” Because, in print Sunday, she had her Jerry Maguire moment.
In an incisive, honest piece in her hometown Citrus County Chronicle, Argenziano — as strong and iconic a Republican legislator as I’ve ever met in Tallahassee — laid bare the shenannigans of the past several sessions in what can only be described as a plea to her party to reconsider how it’s doing business.
It’s a remarkable document that I’ll simply let speak for itself. But here’s a taste.
I believe that the millions of dollars from the mega corporations that the Republican Party hijackers get in their sweet-sounding slush funds, like the “Committee to Create a Beautiful World” are given with the purpose of pushing the corporate hegemony, which is advancing rapidly throughout the country. While I am not anti-corporation, I certainly do not want my country run by the mega corporations. I see the same legislation in many states. My son and many of your sons and daughters are not serving this country in our military to hand our democracy over to mega corporations. Veterans should be outraged.
It is nothing less than a declaration of political independence. Be sure to check it out.