John McCain Website Scrubs King’s Name - Or Not! - Updated
Update: Since I wrote the original post (below), commenters have pointed out that Google shows results for pages with other names that are also not found. For example, search Google for pages on the McCain site with “Bob Riley” that do not have the name “Troy King,” and the first three results (at this moment anyway) are for pages that are now not found. The next three link to newspaper articles on the McCain site, not press releases. Search for “Dax Swatek” (without “Troy King”) and the two results link to pages not found. The two results for Scott Beason (without “Troy King”) also link to pages that are now not found.
The point to be made in this update is that while the pages on the McCain site with King’s name are no longer available where Google says they are (or were), neither are at least some other pages on McCain’s site, for example some that had the names of Bob Riley, Dax Swatek, or Scott Beason. Without more information, I would be hard pressed to substantiate the original point that King in particular had been removed from the site. As likely or more, a makeover on the site moved or removed the pages, and Google has not yet caught up.
Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign is distancing itself from Alabama’s AG Troy King, the campaign’s state chair, by taking down web pages from its site that mention him. You can see the pages listed in this Google search, but when you click on the pages you get a “page not found” error.
For now, you can still see the pages from Google’s cache if you click on the “Cached” link below each result on the Google search results page.
Don’t miss the update at the top of this post.
Related Articles:
Protocol 12, #12. All our newspapers will be of all possible complexions — aristocratic, republican, revolutionary, even anarchical - for so long, of course, as the constitution exists …. Like the Indian idol “Vishnu” they will have a hundred hands, and every one of them will have a finger on any one of the public opinions as required. When a pulse quickens these hands will lead opinion in the direction of our aims, for an excited patient loses all power of judgment and easily yields to suggestion. Those fools who will think they are repeating the opinion of a newspaper of their own camp will be repeating our opinion or any opinion that seems desirable for us. In the vain belief that they are following the organ of their party they will, in fact, follow the flag which we hang out for them.
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/przion4.htm#protocol%20No.%2012
Comment by Anon. E. Mouse — July 12, 2008 @ 8:10 am
It’s the beginning of the end for Troy King. I predict it will be a long, slow political death . . . Larry Craig style. The GOP’s silence on this issue . . . and the lack of allies coming out to deny the actual allegation . . . mean that if its not the worst case scenario, its certainly not a good situation. Luther Strange, Bradley Byrne, get ready . . . the political landscape in Alabama has shifted once again.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 8:44 am
Agree with #2…Even if this is purely a false rumor, King is done in Alabama politics — fair or not. No way he can win in a Republican primary again. Also agree with those on the other thread pointing out that his consultants have been negligent in their handling of this situation. From his reports, you can see that he keeps a consulting firm on retainer, but they are apparently worthless.
Comment by Ray — July 12, 2008 @ 9:03 am
I really doubt that the consultants are incompetent. The odds are that they know there is evidence to refute every denial that they could come up with and they correctly suggested he was better just trying to ride it out. It might have worked pre-internet where the results could have been a stained reputation if you don’t and damned if you do deny. It has turned out that more like damned if you don’t and convicted if you do. You don’t think the citizens of Alabama were denied the reasonable delivery of honest services if he hired his “toy boy” to accompany him on out of town trips? And, denial of such under oath would be perjury obstruction of justice? It looks to me like his consultants are making the best of a very bad situation.
Comment by Pecan Jim — July 12, 2008 @ 9:59 am
Agreed. This is not a problem with the consultants. This is Troy King’s problem.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 10:46 am
My google search found three references to Troy King on the McCain website.
You folks have made such hay out of this rumor. However, as of this point, nothing has been substantiated.
You really need to think about the man’s three children who will be forced to live with this rumor.
Comment by John Killian — July 12, 2008 @ 11:31 am
john, you’re not off base for sure on the kid angle. one thing that is interesting is that when you glance over most of the liberal blogs who promote this rumor, you tend to find some names completely unrelated to this “story” (use the term loosely), names like siegelman, rove, canary, simpson - obvious the real agenda being advanced, another opportunity to gain exposure for conspiracy theorists that are rampant among dems.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 11:47 am
The corollary to #2’s comment is that Troy King had very few, if any, political allies left even before this week began.
Comment by dem — July 12, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
This is the biggest crock so far. If you do the same seach on Bradley Byrne, Dax Swatek, David Azbell, Scott Beason, etc. in the same way there is no record of them either on the website anymore either.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
For that matter search for Buzz Jacobs (McCain’s Southern field director too) and he is gone. They are obviously updating their website not purging it.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
search for Bob Riley the same way he is gone too…must be gay
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
3 out of 4 of the 1st searches this way for Tom Ridge are gone too.
This appears to be simple housecleaning of a website instead what has been reported here
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
[…] H/T Danny SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “McCain cleanses website of King reference”, url: “http://www.dailydixie.com/2008/07/12/mccain-cleanses-website-of-king-reference/” });:: short url […]
Pingback by McCain cleanses website of King reference | Daily Dixie — July 12, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
Danny…I expected better from you then to run with baseless slander like this
Comment by Rob — July 12, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
In hearing these rumors, several facts have been alleged. We should be able to find out whether these facts are true. If they are, the case starts looking shaky for TK. If not, blatant rumors will be exposed. If anyone knows the answers to the following, they should say so.
Specifically, and in no particular order, they are as follows: Did he or did he not fire his security detail? Did he or did he not spend this week on a TVA-sponsored out-of-town trip with his “assistant”? What is the “assistant’s” job title and salary and is that non-lawyer position normally filled within the AG’s office (or was it created)? If the position existed prior, did it then also involve constant travel with the AG?
Such questions are fair, mostly due to the fact that taxpayer money is being spent on salaries, benefits and travel.
If anyone could help divide the rumor from fact, please contribute accordingly.
Comment by Anon. — July 12, 2008 @ 1:59 pm
At this point, guys, this thing is bigger than the Alabama blogosphere. Neither Danny nor I started this rumor. Danny didn’t post about it until it was huge. I posted about it when it was still small, so maybe I can be called a rumor spreader a little bit.
Comment by Rob — July 12, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
At this point, guys, this thing is bigger than the Alabama blogosphere. Neither Danny nor I started this rumor. Danny didn’t post about it until it was huge. I posted about it when it was still small, so maybe I can be called a rumor spreader a little bit.
Comment by Dan — July 12, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
If you search anyone this way, you will find 90% of these press releases are gone.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
Just an FYI on the McCain web site, they have actually been overhauling the site for over a month now. My understanding from them is that they will roll out the updated version in August.
Comment by cam ward — July 12, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
John Killian, the point was not that Google searches turned up three pages on McCain’s site that mentioned King, but that when you click on the links, the pages are no longer actually there on the McCain website. Since then, as the update mentions, I have found this to be true for other names as well, so it looks to be much ado about nothing and have tried to set the record straight with the update above.
Rob, I don’t think this post meets the criteria for baseless or for slander. If you are talking about the rumors in general about King, I think if you look you’ll find that I have been fairly restrained in talking about them.
All readers, please do not miss the update in this original post above, as I feel it is important to set the record straight.
Comment by Danny — July 12, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
I stand corrected from my post above. The King PR consultants have now awoken from their slumber.
Comment by Ray — July 12, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
Just an FYI on the McCain web site. About a month ago they announced during a conference call that they were “revamping” their web site. It seems like it has taken a very long time but from what I understand they plan on rolling out the new site format in August.
Comment by Cam Ward — July 12, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
McCain has been distancing himself from King for quite a while. Remember that King threw a fit when he wasn’t allowed to introduce McCain in February and then angered a number of party faithful when he tried to muscle his way into leading the Alabama Republican delegation. He was voted down by other delegates and threw another fit at Mike Hubbard and Spencer Bachus. McCain doesn’t need a Troy Queen headache.
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
>>From his reports, you can see that he keeps a consulting firm on retainer, but they are apparently worthless.
Maybe worthless for politics, but maybe his “consultant” does a mean backrub, if you know what I mean…
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
Re: 16 and 17. Rob and Dan think a lot alike. Maybe they are gay, too…
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
Does anyone have proof that the other names were contained on the website beforehand? I mean, we know from the screen shot that the press release about Troy King was once actually on the McCain site….as late as yesterday if you believe some bloggers. Are there screen shots of news releases or stories with the names of others listed in this post?
Comment by Loretta Nall — July 12, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
Loretta, here is a cut and paste of the press release containing names on the web site. My name is not on there right now either because as I mentioned in my previous post they are updating the official web site. Below is the press release as it appeared on the site:
John McCain-Organization, Alabama
revised March 25, 2008
JOHN McCAIN 2008, INC. (March 1, 2007)
JOHN McCAIN 2008 - THE EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE (filed with the FEC to establish on Nov. 16, 2006)
STRAIGHT TALK AMERICA (2006 cycle)
ALABAMA LEADERSHIP TEAM (announced Jan. 29, 2008)
Southeastern United States Congressional Chair
Congressman Spencer Bachus, Birmingham
State Chair
Attorney General Troy King, Montgomery
Honorary Chair
Former Alabama GOP Chairman Winton Blount, Montgomery
Legislators for McCain Co-Chairs
State Senator Ben Brooks, Mobile
State Representative Cam Ward, Alabaster
Legislators for McCain
State Representative Warren Beck, Geneva
State Representative Randy Davis, Daphne
State Representative Owen Drake, Leeds
State Representative Joe Faust, Fairhope
State Senator Steve French, Birmingham
State Representative Todd Greeson, Ider
State Representative Mike Hill, Columbiana
State Representative Jim McClendon, Springville
State Representative Allen Treadaway, Morris
State Representative Jack Williams, Birmingham
Veteran Chair
Don Fisher, Montgomery
Veteran Co-Chairs
Roland Day, Birmingham
Gen. Charles Ingram, Troy
Capt. Hal Pierce, Daphne
Mayoral Chair
Mayor Pat Thomas, Dothan
Mayoral Co-Chairs
Mayor Sheldon Day, Thomasville
Mayor Tim Kant, Fairhope
Lawyers for McCain Co-Chairs
Judge Terry Butts, Luverne
Matt Lembke, Birmingham
Comment by Cam Ward — July 12, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
Loretta, the links above in the first paragraph of the update at the top of the post take you to Google searches of McCain’s website for names like Bob Riley, Dax Swatek, or Scott Beason, depending on which one you click. You can see (today anyway) that Google shows links to pages on the McCain site with those names, but the pages are not there. They used to be, but no longer.
Comment by Danny — July 12, 2008 @ 8:47 pm
Two quick points - (1) I understand that there will be a Birmingham News article on Sunday detailing the salary of the staffer in question. If that is actually true, all bets are off. I say again, Troy King’s career is on the line — he, and his staff, should have been ahead of this story before it got to this point. What were they waiting on? Another press release concerning the board of pardons and paroles?
(2) In another thread yesterday, I made the point that the party bosses needed to act. There may have been some that misunderstood my point — Troy King was one of the top “vote-getters” two years ago, he has helped to raise money for the party, he has helped to get Republicans elected. In an election year when even holding the 2nd congressional seat will be difficult, the party does not need this distraction. Allowing the state’s Attorney General to endure such a slow, agonizing political death (justified or not) will hurt Alabama Republicans in November and in 2010.
Just my two cents — I think this picture will become more clear by Sunday evening.
Comment by politicalnut — July 12, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
Political nut: just wish you would share with us lay folk what exactly you would do different for troy, as the “top vote getter” in this election year? What statement do you have that would be prudent to put out from the party? The alabama republican party’s behind troy? Yeah, that wouldn’t get misconstrued…
Comment by Anonymous — July 12, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
Politicalnut–as of 5 am this morning there is nothing on the al.com website for the Birmingham News. Am heading out to get a hard copy of the paper now.
Comment by Susan Fillippeli — July 13, 2008 @ 6:02 am
Cam and Danny….thanks for the responses. Do either of you know the last time these were actually on the McCain site? The reason I am asking is because the press release containing Troy King’s name was there as little as two days ago on July 11 according to this site.
My next question is whether or not other people from other states names are missing from the McCain website? Or is this specific to Alabama? I saw a couple news stories on the site relative to Alabama. This one contains the name of Gov. Bob Riley
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/NewsReleases/43B8F9A5-5DD1-463D-8542-4C8A66987169.htm
This one also mentions Riley and Sen. Hank Sanders
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/NewsReleases/70DDDCB7-6077-4C6E-8624-1C8E38B3323A.htm
Perhaps they scrubbed most of the pages for Alabama because they contained the name of Troy King?
Comment by Loretta Nall — July 13, 2008 @ 6:50 am
King’s trial lawyer friends are working over time to preserve their strangle hold on litigation against drug companies. King was supposed to meet with one company on Friday, but sent his deputy. The trial lawyer are concerned that if King leaves, they will lose out.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 7:03 am
Good question Loretta . . . I was wondering the same thing.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 7:04 am
This is getting ridiculous. Every day the rumor mongers promise that this story is about to break in the mainstream media. Not one legitimate media source has printed this. The websites that are promoting this vicious smear are the same websites that are celebrating the death of Tony Snow. These same people/websites are saying hateful and vicious things about the man’s wife and children. I do not believe that King’s children, who range in ages 5-10, have done anything to offend these people. People who would stoop to such vile depths for political purposes are worthy of nothing but contempt. It is time to consider the sources of this information. As far as I am concerned, they are all vicious and hateful lies and it is time for some of these hateful partisan sources to start apologizing.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 7:48 am
My website isn’t celebrating the death of Tony Snow. That would be cruel. I do agree with you that the comments about his wife and kids are totally uncalled for…..but that is part of being married to someone who is highly visible in public life. Doesn’t make it right….but it is a reality of politics. I also admit I’ve laughed at a few of them…I’m human and some of them were funny…but I haven’t allowed others to post them on my site nor have I posted any remarks about his wife and kids on my site.
As for the deafening silence from the mainstream media….you could look at that from a hundred angles and come away with a hundred different theories. I find it telling that the forums at Tuscaloosa News and al.com have allowed the conversation to rage unchecked there for days. If there is no truth to it then it seems like the moderators would yank the threads. Both sites are heavily moderated.
Comment by Loretta Nall — July 13, 2008 @ 8:03 am
That is a good question Loretta about the other state officials on the web sites. Without getting into the debate one way or another on all the posts above I can tell you that during the primary the McCain campaign was trying to rack up as many political endorsements as possible. They actually had a spot on their site that showed every state and you could click on it and that would pull down all the officials from that state who endorsed McCain. That place is gone now for all states. I guess that as they prepare for the general election they don’t really need that link anymore so that is being removed or something. Again that is just from what I have been told by the McCain people about a month ago. Hope this helps answer your question.
Comment by Cam Ward — July 13, 2008 @ 8:18 am
Loretta, I guess I have not done a good job of explaining. The search in the update above that relates to Scott Beason (and that is repeated right here) asks Google to show pages on McCain’s site with Scott Beason’s name that specifically does not have Troy King’s name. The results (right now) show a couple of pages on McCain’s site that, if you click them, are no longer available. If you click Google’s cached version, you can see what they were, and you can see that Troy King’s name was not on the pages.
Meaning that other pages on McCain’s site that did not have Troy King’s name are also not available.
Comment by Danny — July 13, 2008 @ 9:31 am
tore the bham news apart this morning political nut, even went through the classifieds and all the coupons from bed, bath and beyond - took a glance through belk’s summer sale and guess what…i’m beginning to think that security around some of our mental detention facilities is being compromised and the wrong folks are accessing computers
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 10:51 am
To the tune of the Village People’s “YMCA” - the Official Troy King 2010 Campaign Song!
“It’s so damn funny that Troy King is gay!
It’s so damn funny that Troy King is gay!
He’s got everything for young men to enjoy
You can REALLY get to “back Troy!”
And remember - you can’t spell GAY without AG!
Is it possible that what everyone though was a “flak jacket” was actually his S&M outfit under his office clothes?
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 11:12 am
There used to be a Code of Conduct that meant something.
I agree with John Killian! There should be some apologies! Some of you don’t even think about the dangerous effects that slanderous rumors can have on people and their families!
There have been suicides from the pressure of slanderous rumors!!
You guys are better than that!
Comment by Don Diego de la Vega — July 13, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
This is all damage control, Troy King’s career is over whether this is true or not. However, if it was not true he should have spoken out about it a long time ago. Troy’s silence can be interpreted in a sort of silence is consent way when it comes to this issue. If he seriously has nothing to hide he should have had a press conference.
Comment by Jay Loves Taxes — July 13, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
[…] UPDATE from Doc’s Political Parlor: Since I wrote the original post (below), commenters have pointed out that Google shows results for pages with other names that are also not found. For example, search Google for pages on the McCain site with “Bob Riley” that do not have the name “Troy King,” and the first three results (at this moment anyway) are for pages that are now not found. The next three link to newspaper articles on the McCain site, not press releases. Search for “Dax Swatek” (without “Troy King”) and the two results link to pages not found. The two results for Scott Beason (without “Troy King”) also link to pages that are now not found. […]
Pingback by McCain Scrubs Website Mentions of Troy King - Or Not | fishbowlAMERICA — July 13, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
This lack of information is killing me . . . I’d love to know more about this story . . . no matter what the result is.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
Reply to 42, Jay loves taxes
People have been saying Troy King’s career is over since before it began. Being attacked by liberals and gays with baseless slander is par for the course for conservative politicians. His voters are used to it, and it will not hurt him one iota. He is being attacked because the polls unanimously show him far in the lead for the 2010 Gov’s race. If he runs - he wins.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 9:38 pm
This issue that surfaces with Loretta Nall’s comments and the statements by other bloggers who have spread this rumor without developing source material for it is how responsible is the blogging community when it comes to presenting real news. They publish a rumor on the Internet, and pray that the mainstream media follows it to justify, legitimize their blog post. And then the pattern repeats itself, with the blogging community then feeding on the MSM story about their story, and the cycle continues. The claims about Rove’s involvement in Siegelman’s prosecution is a classic example of this, how the blogs promote propaganda, some MSM bit, and then the cycle began until it was no longer about fact, but simply what Siegelman and others wanted everyone to perceive. And for the most part, Siegelman won that PR campaign by making myth appear real.
The same cycle is beginning in the King issue, and the real problem for King is he didn’t learn from the Siegelman game. It’s not a question of if, but when, the MSM will find an entry into this story, even if it’s to point out how flimsy and irresponsible the publishing of the rumor was and its impact on state politics. But everyone take notice — the rules of responsible, credible journalism are no longer in play. Partisans learned how to get their propaganda out through other outlets (i.e. blogs) and that’s all that matters, that all of us are sitting on this site talking about what they want you to talk about. They’re betting MSM will have to wade into this story eventually, just as they stumbled all over the Siegelman myths. Truth is, you’re being played, and they didn’t even buy you dinner first!
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
# 46 . . . give me a break. Sorry your dream of electing Troy King governor is shattered. Troy King was always a joke. The internet plays an important role in getting the truth out. When it goes too far, it eventually corrects itself. The shame of the Siegelman case was that it took so long for the media to take the obvious partisan nature of the case seriously. The Bush Justice Department has been driven by politics since Day 1 . . . and that’s not just the Siegelman case (although his case is certainly an egregious example of it). To say Karl Rove was never a part of that is naive and foolish. Believe what you want . . . who knows what will come of this story . . . but don’t blame the blogs. And stop crying over the Siegelman story. The man got a raw deal. A sliver of the truth has finally come out, but it won’t ever make up for the partisan persecution he received. Thank god people are finally at least trying to hold Leura Canary and the Justice Department accountable.
Comment by Anonymous — July 13, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
What is needed is for some bloggers to be successfully sued for false light invasion of privacy and defamation of character. The modern yellow journalists are the bloggers, such as the deviant gay and feminist sites and other unabashedly anti-American and pro-Marxist sites. It’s bad enough that the marxists own or control newhouse news, new york times and gannett newspapers in Alabama.
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 2:36 am
Thanks Cam & Danny….that is what I was after re: the press release.
Comment by Loretta Nall — July 14, 2008 @ 6:36 am
#47 — This is a good opportunity to discuss what facts are known that led to statements about the Siegelman case (and by extension, to statements in the King matter). This is not to say that a real fact won’t surface later in each that proves the more sensational statements that have been made. But we have to deal with what we know today, and what justifies certain claims made and publicized. That said, take your partisan hat off for a minute and explain what facts are known that show political, I think you said, persecution of Siegelman?
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 7:21 am
Come on. You’d have to be blind not to see the political persecution of Siegelman. I don’t have time to go through all the facts . . . but the case was flimsy at best from the beginning. Did he have a perfect administration? No. Were there some bad apples around him (like Nick Bailey)? Yes. Did the man take personal bribes or put one money in his pocket? NEVER. If you just go back and look at the original indictment, and the manner in which it was written. It was written to damage Siegelman politically. The whole thing implied that he had been stealing millions and putting millions of dollars in in own pocket for personal enrichment. The whole case was based around the accusation that he ran state government as a criminal enterprise. As I said, the Siegelman administration was not perfect . . . but Don Siegelman was not taking bribes. The case was a stretch and they got two crooks (Nick Bailey and Lanny Young) to twist the truth enough where they could get a convention. As for Karl Rove specifically, we will never know the whole truth if the Bush White House and Justice Department refuse to release all of the documents on the case and answer basic questions on the case. For instance, why won’t they release the documents surrounding Canary’s recusal? They claim they have nothing to hide. Well, maybe it’s because Karl Rove is involved. They can scream that there is no proof against Rove and they continue to keep all of the documents secret and refuse to answer questions under oath. They’ve obviously got something to hide. The entire Justice Department was politicized over the last 7 years . . . this is just one example. Why is Karl Rove’s involvement in this case so likely? Because of his involvement in Alabama in the past and his relationship with the Canary’s. If he’s not involved: answer the questions and release the documents. Don’t just scream that the accusations are baseless, because they are not. This is not just about Karl Rove though. This is much bigger than Karl Rove. This is about the corrupting of our Justice Department and individuals being persecuted for political reasons. Whether Karl Rove is eventually implicated or not, what happened to Don Siegelman is a tragedy and thank god people are finally starting to recognize the magnitude of this injustice. And it’s not just liberal bloggers recognizing this. It is respected people across this country who care about our system of Justice, Republican and Democrat. If we want to talk about not dealing in fact . . . it comes back to the original case . . . which did not deal in fact (only outrageous and extremely confusing accusations). And if you want to say Siegelman was convicted by a jury . . . well that was only after the prosecution got Nick Bailey and Lanny Young to stretch there testimony exactly how the prosecution wanted it. And even then, it did not make any sense (Nick couldn’t even get the dates or his story straight). Don’t lecture me, or anyone for that matter, about the “facts” that are known in the Siegelman case.
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 8:02 am
Here is an interesting video on Troy King (a bit different than some of the others that have been posted): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_bkXRw43mQ
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 8:15 am
52 that’s just great stuff, i mean what 13 year old wouldn’t get a kick out of giggling over the word “blow” - ha. that’s just funny right? maybe if you’re an 8th grader
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 8:36 am
Just to add to the reason for Rove’s involvement noted by Anonymous #51. $3.6 billion! Remember that first and foremost the Republican party is the party of Big Oil. Siegelman initiated the suit against ExxonMobil for cheating the people of Alabama out of our oil royalties. The evidence was clear that they did it and they did it because they thought the people of Alabama were too dumb stupid, and backwards to be able to catch them. Well, Governor Siegelman was not, but Governor Riley and and the Republican justices on the state supreme court have erased any evidence of intelligence remaining in the state. Now ExxonMobil’s exploitation of us backward yahoos is successful. It is ironic that Rove’s take over of the Alabama Supreme court started with circulating a vicious and calculated whisper campaign through the Alabama Law School network against Justice Mark Kennedy suggesting that Kennedy was a homosexual pedophile. Where were the Republicans who are defending Troy King here when that happened? I’ll bet they were gleefully passing that rumor on.
Comment by Pecan Jim — July 14, 2008 @ 8:41 am
# 53 . . . perhaps we do have a very different sense of humor. I thought the video was hilarious. Not because it used the word “blow”, but because it made fun of Troy King. And if there is anyone I don’t like, it’s Troy King. Gay or not, the guy has always been a fraud and I would love to see him go down.
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 8:52 am
Anonymous 51 - explain The Don’s motorcycle. I have some liberal friends who acknowledge that Siegelman was guilty but still think he was ‘persecuted’ - IMO they’re “useful idiots”.
I think that this is an example of the use of Leftie “disinformation”: tear down your opponent regardless of truth, create doubt in your opponent’s supporters, and negatively affect the morale of your opponent.
It works.
Comment by Reactionary — July 14, 2008 @ 9:04 am
# 51–there are NO FACTS that Siegelman’s prosecution was political. Unsubstantiated rumors were reported by the exact same blogs and are now quoted as fact by left-wing bloggers. There were at least 5 people who testified in Don’s trial that there was quid pro quo for the contribution made to the lottery campaign (and not reported, by the way, until a newspaper found EVIDENCE of the donation). The same is happening with this story. The very same irresponsible blogger posted a host of uncorroborated allegations that are now being quoted as fact all over the bloggosphere. Danny, Dan and Brian, at least, seem to be working to separate fact from faction and thus far there isn’t any fact.
Comment by Susan Fillippeli — July 14, 2008 @ 9:27 am
#51 - I’m struck that you didn’t answer the question, What are the facts that substantiate the claim of political persecution? Proof, as I said earlier, that they today don’t exist. Again, take note of this tactic: It’s not the facts that matter. It’s perception, and you build perception by piling on all the rhetoric that 51 added in response. And add a little more off-point rhetoric like that contained in 54, and you get a good view of the tactic. This wouldn’t even hold up as circumstantial evidence, and clearly no one can offer facts to prove the claims.
Let’s see how the King issue plays out, and whether facts emerge there or if people continue discussing this with the issue taken for granted, yet never proven, that King had an affair with a man. (Of course, what also might be interesting is if the King issue is proven to be true, Siegelman’s allies will use that to suggest their claims about his case, although still unproven, also are true.)
Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2008 @ 2:48 pm
The rumors are true. TK staffers (who sadly remain anonymous) have verified that there have been TK gay rumors in the AG office for years. One male staffer was linked to TK romantically, and was separated from TK (i.e., moved to a different floor and a different job and told to not be in TK’s presence anymore), because people kept linking them romantically. This is not just scurrilous rumors by hatemongering liberals. It’s a messy uncovering of the truth.
Comment by TK is Gay — July 14, 2008 @ 5:52 pm
Bob Riley has made a big political mistake sticking his nose into the Jefferson County sewer system default. If he leads the County into Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, he will be known as “Bankrupt Bob.” And if he salvages the sewer system with taxpayers’ money, he’ll be known as “Bailout Bob.”
Comment by Big Al — August 30, 2008 @ 10:00 am
Isn’t it REALLY interesting how all of this stink was stirred up about a RUMOR (possibly started by Dems afraid of running against a law and order type of conservative like AG Troy King) at least six months ago, and here it is almost January of 2009 and I’ve YET to see anyone on here finally admit that this post, the poster and anyone else who tried to spread this pablum are nothing more than liars, plain and simple, and have given up ANY claim to journalistic discipline they may have been taught in J-school?
Comment by BrotherPhil — December 28, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
BrotherPhil, if you are calling me a liar, I’d like for you to be more specific about what you believe I have said that is a lie. I try hard to be careful about what I post here (for example, see the update in the post), so I would appreciate you being more specific in your accusation.
Thank you.
Comment by Danny — December 28, 2008 @ 11:16 pm