Posted by Below is follow-up to the post, “Planned Troy King Press Conference Now Off,” that I would have included there if I had been able to follow up in time with a source for clarification and for explicit permission to use some comments.
A source close to King, in adamantly denying the allegations about King in rumors that are circulating, called the rumors “atrocious” and “as bad a smear attempt as Windom faced in 1998.” (Steve Windom was a Republican candidate for Lt. Gov. in 1998 when he was confronted with accusations that he assaulted and raped a prostitute. The accusations where shown to be false, and Windom won the election.)
Why would King not address the rumors publicly?
“Listen, people accuse Troy King of being so political, but the first and only consideration he has had in all this has been for his wife and kids. He could have been ahead of it and addressed it on Tuesday [of last week]. He could have been pro-active and had a press conference on Wednesday. But he kept saying no, he didn’t want his child to go to school and be confronted with these lies, including having other children call daddy names.”
The source believes the story is on the wane and does not believe it will have another news cycle. “It peaked when the story hit on DailyKos. I knew it might get wider, but it wouldn’t get bigger after that.”
We may know soon enough if that represents wishful thinking.
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ummmm….school is out for the summer.
Here’s what makes me keep thinking on this one: the behavior is out of character for Troy. It IS the normally smart thing to not address rumors, but Troy King has been the sort to call press conferences at the drop of a hat in the past. And any person on this board- if they are being honest – would have expected Troy King to scream bloody murder into every microphone in this state if someone accused him of being gay. Instead, he has not been on camera all week – which must be some sort of record for him right there.
And Loretta does have a point above. I am sure Troy is concerned about his family but he is in politics. It is not like people weren’t already making a lot of jokes about him.
I’m not convinced this is over. If it dies down over the next 48 hours, maybe. But there is a LOT of smoke out there still . . . .
Loretta, I have to give you credit. You spotted something in that statement that many of us would not have noticed: the fact that school is out.
Here’s what your observation tends to support: 1) that this statement (what was told to Danny) is a spin doctor’s carefully worked out explanation, probably honed over the last several days in several meetings. It isn’t directly from Troy, who would have known his kids were not curently in school – so it was created by someone else. It should have been checked more carefully before it was handed to Danny. 2) If people are actually working in the AG’s office to create a legend to explain this thing away me may have no idea just how deep this goes.
>>Listen, people accuse Troy King of being so political, but the first and only consideration he has had in all this has been for his wife and kids.
Until I read that, I was convinced all this was false. Troy King would run over his own mother for political gain. Why make up such an over-the-top-lie at this juncture?
[...] Doc’s Political Parlor: A press conference in which Attorney General Troy King would deny all rumors raised this past week was planned for this afternoon in anticipation of a Sunday Birmingham News story which did not materialize, two sources close to the AG tell the Political Parlor. King was planning a “full confrontational” response to the anticipated Sunday story, but now the sources do not believe the rumored Birmingham News story will run. [...]
Good grief. Family is a very valid concern for Troy. His kids will be back in school in less than a month, not to mention birthday parties, Sunday School, and other public events before then. There’s nothing over-the-top about that reasoning. This situation is the classic communications dilemma: you can hold a press conference about a nasty rumor that appears limited to blogs and political insiders, which then braodcasts the smear to an even bigger audience, OR you can brace your family to batten down the hatches and wait for the storm to move on to the next target. The easy part is denying he plans to resign — the tough part is the follow up questions about why it was even contemplated. The word pre-emptive is useless when you’re dealing with these kind of allegations. Unless there are very specific allegations with dates and times, it is tough to disprove rumor mill smears. There are examples of both strategies out there, but I think he’s taken the right approach until something appears in the mainstream media.
There is a real problem why he can’t do like other politicians and say I made a mistake and I’m working through it and everything will be fine. His problem is that he is the Attorney General and sodomy is against the law in Alabama. Think about it, if it is true, he could be prosecuted for it. Granted no one else gets prosecuted for it, but no one else is the chief law enforcement officer.
#6 I agree that not addressing rumors is usually the way to go for a political figure. What is unusual here is that had never been the way Troy King has done things in the past. He would have been in front of cameras faster than a fading movie star on the red carpet.
His behavior during this matter is not consistent with his past record. That makes people wonder. In any event, the next few days will settle this one way or the other.
Kids have the memory and attention span of a gnat and most of them wouldn’t remember it in the hustle and bustle of returning to school. Plus, I’m almost convinced the kids of politicians attend “How to defend my elected parent against nasty rumors at school” Summer Camp so I ain’t buying this very weak argument about his wife and kids. They ought to be pretty darn thick skinned at this point in Herr King’s stellar career. If they aren’t then there isn’t much hope that they will ever be and he should get out of politics now before he scars them permanently…..if he hasn’t already.
I say he isn’t calling the press conference to deny it because there is someone out there ready to come forward and call him down. Plus, I don’t think he could keep a straight face while declaring, “I am not gay.”
In any event that statement the insider gave to Danny smacked of carefully prepared, over-a-week-in-the-making political spin. Doesn’t make Troy guilty of anything, but it doesn’t sound like an open, honest, off-the-cuff explanation either.
Oh, and this defense amounts to nothing more than “What about the children?”
WEAK!!!
#8, can you site an example of a rumor that TK took in front of the cameras? And Loretta, if you think kids will forget allegations like this in three weeks time then you are even more clueless than I previously thought.
Loretta, I would’ve thought your campaign for governor was public embarrassment enough for you, but your role in perpetuating this smear campaign is a new low for you. The disgusting comments you’ve made have probably even offended the 8 Alabamians that actually voted for you. Congratulations.
Pachyderm…Apparently I’m not nearly as cluless as you’d like to think I am. But keep on thinking it. That’s how I often come out on top….I let and hope people will underestimatt me and write me off as a loony dope smoker….many do and some live to regret it.
With one ‘ummm’ and six small words I’ve cast real doubt on the sincerity of the hysterically funny “What about the children” straw man thrown out by Camp King. Apparently all the pot smoking I have done isn’t nearly as damaging to my mind as whatever King and his folks have been gobbling by the truck load.
Maybe they should hire me as their PR gal. At least I’d be more creative.
“Public embarassment”…get hold of yourself. I had more fun than I have ever had in my life running for governor and got my message of drug policy reform heard statewide, nationwide and around the globe. Not to mention name recognition (obviously you, anonymous poster, know who I am) and the beginnings of great relationships with many Alabama legislators. For free I might add. Y’all had to pay millions for media coverage of your campaigns. I didn’t run to win…hell I’ve never come across any weed that would make me that pptimistic….obviously you’re somking something different if you think I thought I was going to win. WHat flavor is it?
It is perfectly cool if you want to hate me because I am right….it’s much better than being hated for being wrong.
#13, my hats off to you. That’s the best post I’ve read in a while. And thank you, Loretta, for your contributions to our state by elevating public awareness about “weed” reform. Shorty Price got a lot of name recognition, too, but at the end of the day he was just a punch line. Knock yourself out.
>> His behavior during this matter is not consistent with his past record.
I’ll admit that post #8 put it a little better than I did, but that’s along the lines of my point.
Troy, Bi the way, will take care of this in house. We should leave it alone and concentrate on deeper subjects.
There is a big difference in what alcohol (which shorty price was fond of) and weed (which I am fond of) does to ones mind and ambitions. Others already recognize that Shorty Price never had my ambition. You really oughta get with the program.
Nice try though pachy…turn the attention to the fact that I am OPEN about the fact that I like weed and lost an election that I never intended to win and maybe….just maybe you can deflect attention away from your own sinking ship. I know you’re angry and offended that I (an admitted dope smoker with big knockers and a smart mouth) screwed up the believability of Camp King’s childish attempt to gloss this thing over and move on. You’ll get over it :)
Hey Danny,
Is the little cartoon figure at the top meant to look like he is in the process of bending over?
Just wondering……
This is pretty smooth.
First the story is “A press conference in which Attorney General Troy King would deny all rumors raised this past week was planned for this afternoon.” That gets the word out that King would deny the rumors, without having to, you know, actually deny them.
Then act two is “he could have had a press conference last week but waited to protect his family.” Honestly, he wouldn’t have needed more than a written statement of denial last week. There would have been no YouTube videos, no crude comments, no Wonkette snark.
As for the story being on the wane, this just hit my email and I suspect it might get even more folks digging into Troy’s background. Should have issued a flat denial last week and shut this down while he had a chance.
Glad he didn’t – a statement last week would’ve denied the rest of us the opportunity to watch the freak show of left-wing bloggers falling all over themselves, trying to substantiate a lie. The richest part of this is the begging by lefty bloggers for King to issue a statement, and their frustration at his failure to do so – which is clearly the right move unless and until a story appears in a legitimate press outlet.
In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to settle for the ramblings of fallout shelter residents railing about government espionage against its citizens and fart jokes from washout candidates that were the subject of endless jokes themselves. Good work, guys.
That just hit my email too Mooncat.
Mooncat: troy issues a statement last week and guess what, immediate headlines (not what he wants), doesn’t issue statement and no headlines – hmm, I’d say good move.
#22…You qualify for “AMATURE NIGHT” at Club Republican Straw Man
“A-M-A-T-U-R-E”, Loretta? Really?
#s 22 and 13 get my votes. I am still waiting for Loretta Nall to deny the rumors I am hearing about her getting caught doing unspeakable things to her son with a zuchini. She hasn’t denied it yet, so I can only assume it must be true.
Happy to have provided you with some entertainment. As to the “lie”……. well, we’ll see about that, won’t we? And if it turns out to be true, then who is the freakshow?
I don’t often wish misfortune upon others, but in TK’s case, I’ll make an exception. He’s an embarrassment.
#27 – Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal.
#26…where did I claim to be a great speller…and really if that is all y ou got you should stop now….before you further embarass yourself.
#27…My son fully admits to eating that zucchini in a squash casserole…will Troy King do the same? I doubt it.
In fact we’re calling a press conference on the zucchini in the squash casserole tomorrow. Join us!
Good observation, Loretta, in comment 1. Funny.
Commenter #2 and #8, we reached opposite conclusions. I’ve been thinking that King had made a mistake not responding, and whether it’s a mistake now or not, I realized that he does not have a history of responding to blogs. He didn’t respond to the bulletproof vest bit that was here, nor did he respond as I recall to the whole bit about the Christmas CD he made that we went on about. I would be glad for you to provide counter-examples.
#4, that was LOL funny, unless of course you are his mother.
Comment #3 and #10, fwiw, no one “gave” or “handed” a statement to me. That came out of a very long rambling conversation. It’s funny to me that somebody conversationally re-tells what’s going on from that one person’s perspective, mentions “kids in school” in July, and somebody thinks that “smacked of carefully prepared, over-a-week-in-the-making political spin.” LOL. BTW, the conversation was so long and rambling, that I felt I had to go back and ask permission to use some of the comments.
#12, good question, which is what I was getting to earlier in this comment.
Loretta, in 20, it’s supposed to be someone passing along a rumor, but it may be goofy and inappropriate. If so, I can remove it.
Mooncat in 21, I was kinda excited when I first heard about the Monday press conference (fwiw, first heard from a Democrat), thinking that would be interesting. Only to dig around and find out that they were not going through with it. Still not sure that he’s playing it right (as you also suggest). Time will tell the tale on that one. And you may be right that they are being overly optimistic about it being on the wane. Although compared to the middle of last week, would be hard to be anything but.
Please don’t remove the toon at the top….far from being goofy and inappropriate…It’s almost like prophetic…dude….. :)! May turn out to be quite fitting in the end…like you know what Im sayin’ man??? Are we on the same plane??? (Done in tone of Cheech and Chong)
I have been finding it very entertaining the words that come into play when discussing rumored closet homosexuality. It’s hard to say anything without word play.
Anyone else having this problem?
Far be it from me to question your journalistic credibility, however, since you cannot name the “source close to King”, it is difficult to judge his credibility. The way this entry reads, it almost appears as if you are implying that this individual speaks for King. It is interesting to me that the liberal democrats and homosexual websites have been spreading this story for over a week now in a desperate attempt to elicit a response from King in the hopes that they could get this vicious smear into the legitimate press. The fact that he has chosen not to respond to a vicious political smear from questionable sources, while questioned by many on this and other blogs, seems to be his right. IMHO, it seems unfair for you to try to attribute a comment plucked from a rambling discourse from a “source close to King” and allow the inference that he is representing King who has deliberately, rightly or wrongly, chosen not to respond to this smear campaign. King has spokespersons whom he pays to speak on his behalf when he is unavailable. It is hard for me to believe that your sources are qualified to speak on his behalf when he has chosen not to do so.
Moon Cat–despite what more irresponsible “journalists” will tell you, unsubstantiated rumors never warrant reaction. You and the other bloggers of the left are looking less and less credible the more this goes on. I’ve got news for you, it isn’t Troy King that is looking like an idiot right now. It is all the left wing bloggers who are repeating these rumors as fact in the absence of any EVIDENCE whatsoever.
Whoa….Republicans taking a swipe at Danny???? Beyond desparate…..This is off the charts………they tried it on my blog too Danny.
I don’t want to spread any rumors, but I was told by a reliable source that the woman’s son in this clip was actually Troy King.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HurEm5gb5NE
This is a low blow, I know, but I couldn’t resist.
Taking issue with someone is off the charts? An honest difference of opinion is “taking a swipe”? Wow. Pretty thin skinned for a libertarian. I would think someone who regularly engages in zuchini love with family members would be a little more rough and tumble.
HB in #37 – Yeah, it was low, but the fact that you linked to a clip of one of the funniest movies of all time makes up for it. LOL!
Seriously, the thing that bugs me the most about this is the deafening silence coming from the King camp. If I was accused of what he is being accused of, and I was innocent, I’d leave no stone unturned to clear my name. I guess that’s why I wouldn’t make a good politician, though.
Anonymous in 34,
I understand your point. The post would be far stronger if I could have named the source, and I considered not posting the post at all. In an exchange with a friend about that, he thought it might be useful and interesting to readers despite that limitation.
If a source is named, then the issue of credibility is largely born by the named source, not the publisher. If the source is not named, then the issue of credibility is born by the publisher who cannot name the source. In the instance of this post, the issue of credibility is born by the blog.
If you are a long time reader, then you can judge the blog’s reputation for credibility based on years of posts, the many stories that we got out before anyone else that were shown to be true, by the care to note that a post was edited or updated because some new info came into to play and it was important to get it right. The track record here is good, and I stand by it.
If you are a new reader and have no track record with the Political Parlor, then you might look at the blog’s About page where I have shamelessly gathered some unsolicited comments that others have made about the blog. That will give you a sense of what some others think about the blog.
But in the end, you have to decide the weight and credibility you want to give to anything you read. It’s healthy to be skeptical, and I appreciate your comment.
As a practical matter, I don’t think it’s unbelievable to think that King does not respond publicly but talks to a circle of folks, some of whom might be willing to converse with me when I asked about the planned press conference I heard about. I know it’s possible. :)
Best,
Danny
Troy King wishes that he had as much masculine chest and arm hair as my son holding the zucchini.
A few commenters noted on that zucchini post that Troy might be interested in it. I tell you….that would be about the only thing in Troy’s illustrious career as AG that would impress me…that was a very impressive zucchini…but my whole family ate it…and we ain’t shamed to say it in public.
I told y’all…we’ll call a press conference tomorrow where my son will fully admit to eating parts of that zucchini in a squash casserole….and if it make you happy the rest of my family will admit to eating the rest. It was a total family ‘affair’. Will Troy admit to eating his zucchini? Inside or outside the confines of a casserole dish…doesn’t matter to me really..
Just curious — does anyone know the people that reported to King in Fob’s administration or Riley’s? I don’t believe any of this stuff — if it were true, these rumors would have swirled years ago, not weeks ago. In my opinion, by the end of the week, this story will only be kept alive by a couple of left leaning bloggers. Too many people would have had the opportunity to leak anything improper with TK over the years for this to be true.
Quite frankly, we’ll never know what occurred unless his wife speaks out….or files for divorce..I am of the opinion that the reason this matter is taking so long to develop is rather simple: he’s doing everything to keep the wife quiet; promises, and more promises; on his hands and knees begging her not to reveal the affair; if he’s able to “pay her off”–you’ll see Troy Boy and Fatty standing together at the podium together scorning the “radical left”…it’s just a matter of time–you know: “just take your time honey (after the initial shock) and we’ll discuss our future tommorrow.” Politician’s see this all the time, one scandal after the other; just another fire to put out. I can hear it now: “oh, honey, you’ll just ruin my life– and you’re life in the process”…..”Let’s just stay together for the kids” …good grief.
Elsabiades,
What a wonderful christian you must be to attack a woman’s appearance because she happens to be married to someone whose politics you disagree with. Do you know Paige King? Is there some reason you direct your invective towards her? My guess is that you are such a beautiful person, both inside and out, that it qualifies you to make vicious horrible attacks on the physical appearance of women who are not public figures and who you know nothing about. Because people like you are pushing this rumor, no fair minded person believes it.
#42 Good point. This is an organized, orchestrated smear campaign which appears to be well funded and directed by consultants. It began after 3 succesive polls showed King to be well in the lead for the 2010 Governor’s race.
Loretta,
The question is, what did you do with the zuchini before you fed it to your family. The rumors are far and wide and it isn’t pretty. You haven’t denied it, only tried to spin what happened to the zuchini after you engaged in your unspeakable acts. I am shocked and I think your silence on the whole sordid affair speaks volumes.
“It peaked when the story hit on DailyKos…”
SPIT. The Daily Kos is a disgusting website – I will never forget that Kos said “screw them” about Americans killed in Iraq.
It seems that this has been a Leftie disinformation campaign. I would hope that you all would be ashamed of yourselves, but that would involve you having a sense of shame…
#42 Rumors did swirl years ago. I heard the first rumor of this nature three years ago. Someone very close to Troy claimed he knew it to be true more than a year ago, though at the time he was on the outs with the General over an unrelated matter. A post on Daily Dixie from six months ago refers to “certain speculation.” I assure you, by the time it got to Daily Dixie, it had certainly made the rounds many times inside the State House.
What made this latest version of the rumor jump to the big time are the extra details: a specific time, place, and person. Still doesn’t prove it’s true, of course.
Windom? Peed in a jug during an ongoing legislative session. Next?
The thing about this whole affair is, the remarkable speed with which the story spread. 25 years ago, it would have taken weeks of whispered innuendo over Jack Daniels at the Elite for it to get around Montgomery – let alone across the state. Welcome to the Net Age.
Now, about who might be pushing this story. It’s pretty easy to accuse “liberals,” “Democrats,” Mooncats, Lorettas, or whomever. But think about it a minute. Go back to Cicero’s principle for indentifying a murderer – cui bono? In this case, would Democrats really want to cashier the one Republican whom The Birmingham News won’t be supporting – editorially or in page one coverage? I didn’t think so, either. I’d look more intensely at those persons who might be more anxious about facing a statewide officeholder with some name recognition in a Republican primary. Take your pick among the contenders, there.