08 Sunday Jan 2012
Posted in Politics, Republican Party
I’d like to see Newt Gingrich take on foreign leaders such as Putin, others.
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich participated in the New Hampshire ABC/Yahoo! debate. He discusses the economy, jobs, Middle East, the sacrament of marriage, an American energy plan, and providing for our Veterans.
Learn more at http://www.newt.org
Originally broadcast by ABC on January 7, 2011
09 Friday Dec 2011
Posted in Politics
(Murray Jordan’s Letter to the Editor: Not yet carried by the newspaper — why?)
Florence County Council just spent $551,443 of taxpayer money for this 1/3 acre … valued at $45,600 on Florence County Assessor’s books.
Florence County Council just bought the land and building at 254 Baroody Street for the purpose of building a new courtroom addition to the current Florence City County Complex on North Irby Street. This new court room annex is necessary to solve the safety problems created by having hundreds of people 11 stories in the air in the current building. The property is the building just east of the Florence Police Department’s fenced yard on Baroody Street and was once a soda bottling plant.
The building is described as being in significantly deteriorated condition and was not carried on the county assessor’s books; therefore the purchase price is based on the value of the land. This property was carried on the Florence County Assessors books valued at $45,600.00.
The Florence County Council paid the outrageous price of $551,443.00 (check # 480580 dated 11/28/11 US funds) for this one third of an acre property.
I am not criticizing that they bought the property to build the new court room annex; I am criticizing the irresponsible paying 12 times more for the property than it is assessed for. Is there something wrong here?
What about the rest of the land purchases “negotiated” by council? The square footage of the land is 15,200 making the land valued at $36.27914 per square foot. This parcel may be the most expensive land in the state of South Carolina. Who would have thought that?
The upside to this is that apparently Downtown Florence is worth much more than we generally thought that it was worth. All we have to do now to increase the downtown property value assessments is to use this sale as the comparable for the purpose of establishing new appraised values for Downtown Florence. There will be no need to revitalize Downtown Florence, just up the property values based on this sale and we will have a geyser of property tax money rolling in.
An unintended secondary effect is that what is referred to by some as the “undesirable element” will be forced out of Downtown Florence because they will not be able to pay these new higher property taxes.
There is no merit pay for county employees anymore and county employees have not received a cost of living raise in four years and budgets have been cut and cut, but Florence County Council can always find money to throw up a wild hog’s ### (rear end). The name of the seller of the property is not the issue, but the obscene purchase price “negotiated” by Council is the issue.
As for those of you who are all talk and do nothing, your perpetual silence confirms your approval of Florence County Council’s actions. You should just sign a blank check and send to Florence County Council and let them fill in what they want to spend. You will find out what they took from you after they cash the check.
I believe that the new annex should be named for General William Wallace Harllee, the Founder of Florence. There is nothing significant named for him and I believe that this is an egregious omission. Also, he died in 1897 and it is not likely any opportunist accusers will come forward seeking fame and fortune.
Remember, government is the only entity that can legally steal from you and they can do it without a gun! They do it with your approval because you voted the culprits into office! The vote by Council to pay $551,443.00 was unanimous.
If you detect anger in my words, you are very perceptive. I am P.O. ed (Properly Outraged).
Murray Jordan
Florence
05 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Politics, Republican Party
Despite his past, I’m beginning to consider former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich more seriously. Here’s what Keith Fournier had to say about him recently. (The entire article can be found on Newt’s website; see link below.)
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Quoted from Catholic Online, by Keith Fournier
Candidate Newt Gingrich: Competent, Consistent, Calm, Convincing and Catholic
I have followed the political career of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich for a long time. There are few Americans unaware of his role as the architect and “idea man” behind the historic “Contract with America”.
His leadership helped to bring the Republicans to victory in the House of Representatives in 1994. As the Speaker of the House he provided leadership which led to a balanced budget amendment and a period of fiscal stability. He was named an “exceptional leader” by Time Magazine in 1995 for this contribution.
Speaker Gingrich is also an accomplished scholar. He is a history Professor with an earned Doctorate. He is a very intelligent man with a grasp of public policy issues like few others in public service. Over the years I have followed his career, I have been impressed with his willingness to propose fresh solutions for ever challenging public needs.
For example, his proposals in the early 2,000’s for person, family and free market based health care reforms, are just now being given the due consideration they deserve. His genuine concern for those who are in need of medical care is one of the areas where he has not received the recognition he deserves.
The man is brilliant. Anyone who has listened to him in the 2012 Presidential debates – if they are being honest – agrees he is well informed on every issue of public policy. The man is articulate- and he is prolific. He has written twenty three books – including thirteen New York Times bestsellers. He is comfortable with creative ideas and unafraid of big picture thinking.
Coupled with all of these abilities, Newt Gingrich has a hopeful vision for the future. This defies the stereotypes too often associated with “conservative” politicians. I recall years ago when the amazing rise in communications technology had just begun, I searched for a “futurist” among the ranks of the then “conservative” leaders. I found just such a “conservative” futurist in Newt Gingrich.
However, I must admit that it was his faith journey in later life which made my respect for him become something more, admiration. I have learned in my own life that the past is either a tutor or a millstone. For Newt Gingrich, a man comfortable in his own skin, the past has become a tutor.
This Professor has learned that we are always students. His response to questions concerning his own past reveal the wisdom borne of experience, infused with real faith. It is not how many times we fall down, but whether we get up and learn how to walk…
It comes as no surprise that Newt Gingrich’s poll numbers are beginning to climb. His performance in the Presidential debates demonstrates that he is competent, consistent, calm and convincing. He is clearly Pro-Life, defends the primacy of marriage and the family and society founded upon it and is a passionate defender of authentic freedom. He is also a man with ideas and the ability to articulate them.
The pundit class is finally beginning to take the candidacy of this intelligent and gifted man seriously. He shows calm in the chaotic displays called debates and stands out. In an age filled with crisis, suffering under ill informed and ineffective leaders, such calm and competence are refreshing. Visit the Gingrich campaign’s web site and see where he stands on the vital issues.
There’s more to this article, well worth reading. Newt’s website includes much more, of course, especially his stands on the issues.
http://www.newt.org/callistas-canvas/candidate-newt-gingrich-calm-compassionate-convincing-catholic
08 Saturday Oct 2011
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized
Today I went to see the movie “The Ides of March” starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. If you like political dramas, I think you’ll like this one. Here are a few paragraphs about it from the L.A. Times:
The Ides of March is directed by George Clooney who headlines along with a powerhouse cast that includes Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei and Jeffrey Wright.
Sharing the writing credit with Clooney and frequent collaborator Grant Heslov is Beau Willimon, a former political operative who turned his experience working for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Howard Dean, Bill Bradley and others into “Farragut North,” a play named after a Washington, D.C. Metro stop that is this film’s source material.
The setting is the March Ohio Democratic primary, with 161 convention delegates at stake, and the man is Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling). He is not just the spokesman for the surging Gov. Mike Morris (George Clooney); he is a true believer, someone who has “drunk the Kool-Aid” and is convinced that the candidate is a principled man who could make a difference in people’s lives.
And no wonder. The governor is an off-stage character in the play, but as portrayed by Clooney, Morris is the kind of fighting liberal a lot of Democrats wish Barack Obama would be. Potential Republican viewers, however, need not worry: This is too bleak a world for anyone to come off as completely heroic.
Meyers’ boss, exceptionally played by Hoffman, is campaign manager Paul Zara, a rumpled veteran of half a dozen presidential campaigns. Going toe-to-toe with him in an equally strong performance is Giamatti as Tom Duffy, the manager for Morris’ main rival.
If anything, Duffy is even more cutthroat than his opposite number, telling Meyers, whose skills he admires, that Democrats should emulate the Republicans: “They’re tougher, more disciplined than we are. It’s about time we learned from them.”
Not lacking in guile or toughness are the other key players. Tomei is Ida Horowicz, a hard-driving New York Times reporter who is as ruthless and cynical as any of the people she covers. And Wright is appropriately enigmatic as another presidential candidate trying to make the best possible deal for himself.
And then there is Molly Stearns, an intern on the campaign who is young enough to think she’s sophisticated when really she is not. Played with energy and panache by Wood, Stearns doesn’t hesitate to set her cap for the press spokesman and the flirtation between these two is nicely credible.
The reviewer didn’t particularly like the movie, but having spent time volunteering with many campaigns in the past from city council to presidential nomination, I enjoyed it. It could have been longer though, and it certainly leaves room for a sequel. See what you think.
03 Monday Oct 2011
Posted in Politics
From The Florence News Journal of September 28, 2011:
Citizens group protest possible hiring of Rusty Smith, call attention to discretionary funds
Brenda Harrison
Editor
The Florence County Citizens In Action held a press conference in the front of the Florence City Complex on Monday, Sept. 19, protesting the possible hiring of Florence County Council Chairman Rusty Smith as county administrator and calling attention to financial decisions made by council which they say are detrimental to the public.
“We are asking that the future administrator be chosen from the most qualified of the (over 60) applicants and are asking that the current county chairman Rusty Smith who is seeking the position not be chosen,” commented Licia Stone, secretary and spokeswoman for the group.
“If Mr. Smith is chosen, we feel that financial decisions that are detrimental to Florence County will continue.”
The decisions they refet to involve keeping and spending monies from individual discretionary funds which all together totalled over $3.2 million in April of this year.
“We were told there was not enough money to balance the county budget this year and for this reason, drastic cuts had to be made in Florence County,” Stone noted.
The cuts included possible layoffs in the sheriff’s office, a three percent cut to all departments, closing the manned garbage drop off centers on Tuesday and Thursdays, and not giving county employees a raise.
County employes have not received a cost-of-living raise in three years, nor a merit raise in eight years, Stone said. However, she continued, county council members received a 25 per cent two-part raise in January 2007/2008. The chairman’s two-part raise was 40 percent, she added.
“These were concealed pay raises that the Citizens In Action disclosed to the public on Aug. 24, 2007,” Stone said.
According to a June 1 newspaper article, Stone continued, a deficit of roughly $900,000 in accommodation taxes and waste management price increases, resulted in a lack of funds for employee raises, possible employee layoffs and cuts to public services.
With over three million dollars in the discretionary funds available at the time the budget was discussed, council members could have tapped these funds to balance the budget, she said.
“This money could have balanced the budget, eliminated the loss of deputies, eliminated cost cuts of all departments, given employees pay raises, and kept the manned garbage drop off centers open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
What are these discretionary funds?, she asked.
“The councilmen don’t like the term ‘discretionary funds’, but that is exactly what they are. Over a million dollars is allocated to them each year and they spend it at their discretion. These funds are allocated from the general fund and are not budgeted, audited, and no interest is earned. Unspent funds are rolled over year after year and often the largest sums are spent at election time.”
Annually, each councilman receives about $50,000 for his paving fund, $35,000 for his infrastructure fund, $19,800 for his in-kind fund and a little more than $42,000 for his utility fund. For all nine councilmen this amounts to about $1,323,000, Stone noted.
“This annual allocation is $423,000 more than the $900,000 in lost state accommodation tax collections,” she said.
In order to gain a broader view of how the councilmen spend their discretionary funds, The Citizens In Action, under the Freedom Of Information Act, requested and received copies of one councilman’s discretionary expenditures for 2008, 2009, 2010 and the first four months of 2011.
“Because it is expensive and time consuming to get the details of these expenditure records, we have begun with one councilman,” Stone explained.
As an example, Stone listed some of the expenditures for Councilman Mitchell Kirby. These included $14,200 to purchase seven used vehicles – four for the Town of Timmonsville and three for the Timmonsville Rescue Squad; over $25,000 for replacing lift station pumps; repairs to a baseball facility; reimbursement to the Town of Timmonsville for payments to Rural Development; $33,000 to apply MBC stone to the roads inside Byrd Cemetery; repairs to the former Timmonsville high football stadium; computer and printer for the Town of Timmonsville; and $18,000 to the Town of Timmonsville for sewer system assistance.
“We have only shown how one councilman chose to spend a portion of his discretionary funds, but we hope that it proves that every penny spent of the discretionary funds, whether wisely or unwisely, is a joint system of jurisdiction between nine councilmen. It is a joint effort because each decision, whether wise or unwise is unanimous. In this way, each councilman has individual and complete control over a large portion of public money,” Stone continued.
“It is important to remember that the allocations always receive unanimous approval. There is little if any discussion and often, the item voted upon is added to the agenda on the day of the council meeting,” Stone continued.
“In a totally undemocratic procedure, in which the vote is guaranteed to be unanimous, each councilman alone can make the decision as to how millions are spent. How the large sums are spent also impacts each councilman’s reelection efforts,” she noted. “This flawed procedure has been in effect for years under the leadership of council chairman Rusty Smith, who has now applied for the position of county administrator,” she concluded.
The Florence County Citizens in Action is a local government watchdog group.
http://www.florencenewsjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&subsectionID=2&articleID=6366
14 Thursday Jul 2011
Posted in Politics, Republican Party
I haven’t yet decided who I can wholeheartedly support for the GOP presidential nomination. Stands and past records on conservative, pro-life issues – not to exclude “winnability” – are high priorities for me.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is dragging his feet but if he gets into the race he may be my eventual pick. Here’s a little basic info about him from Wikipedia:
James Richard “Rick” Perry (born March 4, 1950) is the 47th and current Governor of Texas, having held the office since December 2000. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998, he assumed office as governor in December 2000 when Governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010, an unprecedented feat in Texas political history. With a tenure in office to date of over 10 years, Perry is the longest continuously serving current U.S. governor.
In June 2011, Perry appeared on the Fox News Channel and told host Neil Cavuto that he was “certainly giving it the appropriate thought process.” Referring to his previous statements about not being interested in running, Cavuto asked what had changed. Perry responded, “Six weeks ago, this was not on my radar….” But since then, his wife and supporters have asked him “to give this a second thought” as “our country is in trouble.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Perry
For more information:
Rick Perry on the Issues: http://www.ontheissues.org/rick_perry.htm
Rick Perry Invites US Governors to ‘Prayer and Fasting’ Rally: http://www.christianpost.com/news/rick-perry-invites-us-governors-to-prayer-and-fasting-rally-50897/
Rick Perry’s Gardasil Problem: This situation began in 2007, “But if he runs for president, the fight over his decision will be waged anew in places like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. With apologies to Tip O’Neill, when you run for president, all (local) politics are national.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/06/04/rick_perrys_gardasil_problem_110089.html
08 Sunday May 2011
Posted in Politics, Republican Party, Uncategorized
Censure two elected councilmen for having opinions of their own and guts enough to express them?
Expect or require them to forsake individual person-hood, life experiences and mental abilities in the name of GOP party loyalty?
That has to be the epitome of arrogance.
I resigned as county Republican Party secretary and precinct executive committeeman in 2010 because of my lifelong knowledge and loyalty to my friend Ed Clements, running for 12th Judicial Circuit Solicitor. Though eligible to re-join party activities in 2011 under rules in force at the time, I didn’t do so for other reasons.
Sitting out for a while has given me a broader perspective on local and state politics. Public condemnation of two Florence City Councilmen for having the audacity to think and speak for themselves should not be a party practice or policy, either party.
My own feelings on the issue of the smoking ban are mixed. I believe “The best government is that which governs least.”*
I think local business owners and institutions have done a pretty good job of providing space for smokers and non-smokers alike.
And I think that if you’re going to advocate against smoking in privately-owned public places, why not go “whole hog” and also advocate against smoking in privately-owned private places? Advocate for making tobacco use illegal nationwide? But of course that’s not practical, and I know it’s not.
Until it is practical (and doable) I’m not in favor of enacting this anti-smoking ban just because other counties are doing so. My mother used to say, “If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?”
And I’m certainly not in favor of our local GOP trying to make lemmings out of every party member, including elected officials.
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* HENRY DAVID THOREAU, Civil Disobedience, first paragraph, Walden and Civil Disobedience, ed. Owen Thomas, p. 224 (1966). This essay was first published in 1849. The motto Thoreau referred to was almost certainly that of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, a literary-political monthly: “The best government is that which governs least.”
22 Saturday Jan 2011
Posted in Politics, Republican Party
Tags
Dr. Neal Thigpen, Florence County Republican Party, GOP, Mal Weatherly, South Carolina Republican Party
Dr. Neal Thigpen, “Father of the Florence GOP” and retired Chairman of the FMU Political Science Department, was recently targeted by the Executive Committee of the Florence County Republican Party, expelled and “banned” from any and all GOP activities in the future in a vindictive motion by another member of the Committee.
This behavior simply cannot go unchallenged. Here’s the background:
Back in the summer of 2010, I resigned from my office as Precinct Executive Committeeman and secretary of the Florence County Republican Party, because I supported my longtime friend Ed Clements for reelection as Solicitor. (See earlier post from August 2010.)
Done in accordance with South Carolina Republican Party Rules, my resignation applied only to my 2009-2011 term of office.
As a former First Vice Chair of the SC Republican Party (two terms), party activist and volunteer for many campaigns since the 1980’s (see About Bette Cox in http://www.bettecox.com), I fully expected to return to my usual precinct and county party participation in 2011 and had thus reassured other party officials.
Well, as you know, Ed Clements won reelection by a large margin. That’s when the bile really began to flow.
In December the Florence County GOP Executive Committee voted on the following improper motion made by Stephanie Rawlinson, campaign manager for Ed’s opponent Rosemary Parham in the Solicitor’s race:
“That the Florence County Republican Party remove the following individuals as Officers, Executive Committee Members and precinct officers from the Florence County Republican Party: Mr. Mal Weatherly and Dr. Neal Thigpen. These officers of the Executive Committee openly and publicly endorsed a local Democrat who was running against a vetted Republican candidate in the elections which were held on November 2, 2010. My motion is made pursuant to SC Republican Party Rule 4-d-2.
“Further, that we remove these individuals from their current party offices and we ban these individuals from ever being allowed to serve as Florence County Republican Officers, Precinct Officers, Executive Committee Members and County convention delegates.
“Also, that the Florence County Republican Party ban these individuals from ever being endorsed Republican candidates.
“These individuals should be notified by the party secretary via certified letter that they have been removed as organizational officers and be asked to turn over all party information, computer files, databases or materials they may have in their possession within ten days of the passing of this motion or legal action will be pursued by this organization’s executive committee.”
The motion passed with no individuals voting against. Shame on you!
An earlier motion with similar wording that would apply to anyone was tabled until the January 13, 2011 meeting, and was passed at that time.
Both motions were improper, out of order, and should never have been given a hearing by the committee. Why? Because South Carolina Election Law and State Republican Party Rules take precedence over any local party rules and bylaws.
Title 7 of the South Carolina Code of Laws defines requirements for participating in party activities:
CHAPTER 9. PARTY ORGANIZATION
SECTION 7-9-20. Qualifications for party membership and voting in primary election.
The qualifications for membership in a certified party and for voting at a party primary election include the following: the applicant for membership, or voter, must be at least eighteen years of age or become so before the succeeding general election, and must be a registered elector and a citizen of the United States and of this State. A person may not vote in a primary unless he is a registered elector. The state convention of any political party, organization, or association in this State may add by party rules to the qualifications for membership in the party, organization, or association and for voting at the primary elections if the qualifications do not conflict with the provisions of this section or with the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States.
South Carolina Republican Party Rule 4(c)(3) gives the following requirements for participating in party precinct organization:
Membership eligibility is determined by the member having a current, valid voter registration certificate in that precinct, and either (1) the person having voted in the election designated for the purposes of delegate allocation set forth in Rule 4(c)(5) or (2) the person being elected to membership at a precinct meeting.
As they attempt to greatly expand the scope of the South Carolina Code of Laws and the SC Republican Rules, according to Robert’s Rules of Order sections 10 and 39 the motions were improper, out of order, and thus null and void.
Having said that…
Specifically targeting Dr. Neal Thigpen is disgraceful to say the least, not to mention short-sighted.
Dr. Thigpen has contributed many years of dedicated, faithful service to the local and state Republican parties. Discarding his experience and wisdom would be highly detrimental to both.
And discounting his experience and wisdom in this way has been – and is – detrimental to the well-being of Dr. Thigpen.
Mal Weatherly, one of Ed’s cousins, is a fellow musician and band member – it would have been abnormal for him NOT to support Ed in this election. Mal has served the Republican Party for many years, getting involved as a volunteer during President Reagan’s reelection campaign. He has served as a Delegate to the State Convention numerous times. He has always gladly done whatever he was called upon to do to aid the party and its candidates, with this one exception made for his family member.
Stepping back from the executive committee for the remainder of our 2009-2011 terms is one thing. Those terms expire shortly.
But being banned from ever serving the party in any capacity? Being banned from running for any public office as an endorsed Republican candidate?
Regardless of the fact that these improper motions are not enforceable, damage has been done by their very introduction.
For newcomers to Florence, Dr. Thigpen recently retired after a long and distinguished career at Francis Marion University. Francis Marion established the “Neal D. Thigpen Chair in Public Affairs” in Dr. Thigpen’s honor in 2002, making this announcement:
FLORENCE—The Francis Marion University Foundation plans to honor long-time faculty member Neal D. Thigpen by creating an endowed chair in his name. The announcement of the fund-raising campaign was made at a campus reception Thursday evening, July 18.
The Neal D. Thigpen Chair in Public Affairs will be awarded to a senior faculty member in the Department of Political Science and Geography. When fully funded, this $100,000 endowment remains secure in perpetuity and only the earnings derived from the invested funds will be used for the recipient to pursue research and scholarly activities and to transmit the fruits of these efforts to FMU students.
“This chair will serve as a means for the university to recognize the long and distinguished career of Neal Thigpen,” said FMU President Fred Carter. “As a department chairman for 24 years, he built one of the stronger and more collegial political science programs in South Carolina. I am personally proud to be a part of that department’s faculty.”
Thigpen came to FMU in 1971 and has distinguished himself as an educator, political analyst and community leader. He served as chairman of FMU’s political science program from 1971 to 1996 and still serves as a professor of political science.
He holds a doctorate in public administration and American government from the University of Maryland. He earned a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree from the same institution.
Author of numerous articles on American politics, Thigpen frequently speaks before business and political organizations. He is active in state and local politics and has served as a delegate to the S.C. Republican Convention numerous times and the National Republican Convention five times. He is married to Patsy S. Stone, and they reside in Florence.
If you are also appalled by this situation, please make your voice heard to the Florence County GOP and its newly elected chairman, Bill Pickle. You may reach him at bpickle@sc.rr.com.
05 Friday Nov 2010
“It’s not personal. It’s business,” goes the quote from The Godfather. This week it should probably be, “It’s not personal. It’s politics.” But integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and dependability are personal traits that we desire in elected officials.
Aren’t they?
When we elect someone who will lie, misrepresent the truth, fabricate and circulate malicious rumors while campaigning, what do we have? An official who will lie, misrepresent the truth, fabricate and circulate malicious rumors while in office.
That’s their character.
I don’t know many of our newly elected officials personally. Researching past performance as much as possible, I did the best I could to determine the right choice for each office before voting. Now we wait and see.
It would have been nice to have more of a breather, but it looks like campaigning only took a day or so off. The election of 2012 is already the focus of many news sites. That means we have mere months to see whether we have chosen the right men and women for the jobs.
While we watch, we also need to pray for them to be able to stand up to the many stresses of their new work. Pick someone and keep their name on your refrigerator or in your Bible, and remember them along with your personal prayer requests on a regular basis.
Tip O’Neill once said “All politics is local.” To me, all politics should be personal.
21 Thursday Oct 2010
Posted in Politics
By Dear Editor:
Published: October 21, 2010
(The Morning News, Florence, SC)
I am the brother of Teresa Hanna. My sister Teresa was murdered by her husband, Davy Hanna, and his brother, Darry Hanna, in Johnsonville. Her murder was investigated by Investigator Phil Hanna of the Florence County Sheriff’s Office and Capt. Kin McKenzie of the State Law Enforcement Division. Teresa’s murder was prosecuted in state court by the solicitor, Ed Clements III. Later there was a federal court trial. I want to set the record straight about the trials.
I sat through the trial in state court. I watched Ed Clements fight aggressively and tirelessly to convict the Hanna brothers. I watched the jury and I knew Ed had the case won. It shocked me when the judge refused to allow the jury to decide the case. After the trial I spoke with several jurors who informed me they would have convicted the Hannas.
Ed recognized the injustice suffered by Teresa, my family and me. He told me our only shot at justice was in federal court because of double jeopardy. Ed arranged for me to speak with Assistant U.S. Attorney Johnny Gasser. Only Darry Hanna was tried in federal court because Teresa’s husband committed suicide before he could be tried.
I sat through the trial in federal court and saw Mr. Gasser convict Darry Hanna because the judge allowed the jury to decide the case. Mr. Gasser was the prosecutor and Rose Mary Parham assisted him. Had the jury in state court been allowed to decide the case my family and I would not have had to suffer through two trials. I appreciate all that Ms. Parham did to help Mr. Gasser convict Darry Hanna.
Mrs. Parham wants Ed’s job as solicitor and blames him for losing the state court trial and takes credit for winning the federal court trial. Neither is true and it is not right for her to make these claims. Mrs. Parham was a good federal prosecutor but has exaggerated her role in my sister’s case. She claims my sister’s case was mishandled in state court; it was not. I was there and I know. Ed Clements did not lose the case and Mrs. Parham did not win the case.
There would have been no conviction in federal court without Ed Clements. There would have been no justice for my family without Ed Clements. This is the reason my wife and I are voting to re-elect Ed Clements as solicitor.
Charles Powell
Coward
http://www2.scnow.com/news/2010/oct/21/letter-editor-slain-womans-family-supports-clement-ar-983725/
