PumpkinGate: The Cover-ups
by Bill Simon
Prelude
There are people involved in the Georgia Republican Party in this state who think that Nydia Tisdale (her first name rhymes with “Lydiaâ€, but begins with the letter “Nâ€) “deserved” the treatment she got on August 23rd, based on the story that is easiest to believe as told by some “witnesses” of the events of August 23rd.
That, and some are so callous about her treatment by GOP-connected people as to make disparaging comments about her choice of dress for that day of August 23rd…as though that bore some relevance to her getting violently assaulted by a male who refused to identify himself as to why he had her gripped in his arms.
That assault by a cop resulted in scratches to her chest and wrists, and bruises on her arms and pelvis. For over two weeks after the attack, she was unable to eat normally and she could not drink anything but water. For over two weeks after the arrest, she was unable to sleep soundly.
She is still getting over the physical assault, and trying to recover from the mental anguish of being arrested, thrown in jail, and accused of outlandish crap by self-proclaimed “Christians” who appear to enjoy lying at the drop of a hat. (I am not touching pumpkin pie or anything made from pumpkins for fear the pumpkin was grown by the Burts and their dirty, evil hands.)
Those of you who think she should “move on,” well, go talk to women who have been assaulted or raped, and ask them to “move on.” You people who claim to be believers in the “Constitution” but think Tisdale should just “move on” have NO IDEA what the Constitution is all about.
She has yet to be officially charged because, it seems, the Sheriff (Billy Carlisle) is just waiting for more witnesses to stop by his office for a chat. But, she faces charges that she does not deserve to face…in fact, no one deserves to face them for she was doing nothing deserving of these charges, as you will discover in this series of Vines.
Nydia Tisdale was not any kind of “political animal” before this event, and she isn’t now. Her mind does not work like people who have spent years working on campaigns and such, and following politics. She processes information by video-recording speeches, and she shares those videos with others. That’s what she does, and, thanks to effing idiots with the Georgia GOP and the Deal Campaign, she is afraid to engage in what she used to enjoy doing for fear of meeting another psychopath cop who will assault her again at the behest of some sh*thead GOPer.
If you are onboard the train that presumes she “asked for it” or she “deserved it,” then you are a P.O.S. who deserves every misfortune you encounter in life for an eternity.
The Coverups-Part 1
There are a minimum of two (2) cover-ups that are taking place with regards to the events that happened at the Georgia GOP Rally at Burt’s Pumpkin Farm in Dawson County on August 23rd, 2014.
The first cover-up is the cover-up by the Georgia Republican Party in concert with personnel associated with the Deal for Governor campaign.
Sometime in the week after the August 23rd GOP rally, I was engaged in a couple of conversations (one on Facebook and one via text) with someone at the State GOP who emphatically told me “We had nothing to do with the rally at Burt’s Pumpkin Farm. It wasn’t our show.”
Same story from Deal spokesperson Jen Talaber shortly after the event, as recalled in the first AJC article about the event: “Jen Talaber, a spokeswoman for the Nathan Deal campaign, kept the ejection at arms’ length. “As this incident was in no way related to Deal for Governor, I am referring you to the owner of the private property at which the event took place.”
It was TOTALLY related to Deal for Governor and the State GOP because both entities were involved in the planning of the event, as well as having significant presence on the premises for the event.
Neil Bitting is the paid Grassroots Coordinator of the Deal Campaign, and coordinated the planning of this event with input by Clint Bearden (Deal’s Dawson County Campaign Chair), a guy who claims in print that Nydia Tisdale was a Democrat tracker when, in fact, she votes Republican much more often than David Perdue ever did.
So, anything Clint Bearden claims with regards to this event can be pretty much relied upon to be a lie. The fact that Bearden is a named witness, along with Pepper Petitt, on the incident report written by Captain Tony Wooten, just means that his “witness testimony” isn’t going to be worth too much to anyone (well, anyone except for the Georgia State Bar, which is always interested any time a lawyer perjures themselves on the witness stand).
Brad Hughes, Republican Party of Georgia paid Political Director, was also privy to the conversations between Bitting and Bearden in the days leading-up to the August 23rd event, as well as helping in the planning by contacting other statewide campaigns to attend.
Bitting attended the event on the 23rd, as seen here in this photo taken on the Burt’s Pumpkin Farm property prior to the official start of the rally:
Brad Hughes also attended the event on the 23rd, as can be seen here prior to the rally kick-off:
AND…besides Hughes, there were at least two other people who were on the Ga GOP payroll in addition to Hughes, who were at this event (for an event claimed by my source to be “Oh no, Bill! The GA GOP had absolutely nothing to do with this event…”).
Here is a photo of one person who was on the Ga GOP payroll who attended this event:
Elizabeth Bettis, Field Staffer of GaGOP:
Less-distorted photo here: http://www.politicalvine.com/2014/dawsoncounty/EBettis-Whittemore.jpg
The Burts’ Role in the Coverup
Johnny Burt is on record in this story as falsely claiming things like “She promptly sat down on the front row on the end where she would be right in their face and was making everybody uncomfortable.”
Really? Let’s see if that’s true…because here’s a photo taken from the back of the rally of where Nydia Tisdale was seated and calmly video-recording speakers…here’s Richard Woods, Republican Candidate for State School Superintendent...and you can see the back of Nydia’s head and the video-cam in her hands:
Golly, that photo does not look like Tisdale was sitting “on the end”…it looks like she was smack-dab in the middle of the row, right where the speaker was standing in front of her.
Here’s another one of Tisdale recording Woods, and behind Woods, you can see Ralph Hudgens departing from his speaking time:
Does Richard Woods look “uncomfortable?” Well, no worries, Mr. Johnny Burt…Mr. Woods will also be taking the witness stand to be asked “Did Nydia Tisdale make you uncomfortable, Mr. Woods, as you spoke at Burt’s Pumpkin Farm event?”
And, if that answer is “No,” know what that answer (and other answers Woods will be asked on the witness stand about) will make you look like, Mr. Burt? Can you guess?
After Richard Woods spoke, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler was up to speak. Here’s a photo of him, along with the video-position of where Nydia Tisdale was seated in relation to Butler:
Contrary to claims by some GOPers after the August 23rd event, Tisdale was NOT standing-up with a tripod, video-taping the speeches and blocking people’s view. She was calmly sitting down, carefully holding the video-camera, concentrating on making sure the camera was pointed at the speaker for a clear capture of the person speaking (her right hand was strapped onto the camera; her left hand held a tiny, miniature 5″ tripod attached to the camera.).
Here’s another photo with Mark Butler speaking:
And, if you recall in the video that Tisdale uploaded of the event, it was during Mark Butler’s speech that Tisdale got mauled by Tony Wooten, and dragged-out without ever telling Tisdale she was being arrested.
There are several other lies told by Johnny Burt to the newspapers, including the outrageous claim that Tisdale slapped Wooten in the face and kicked him in the shin. If you look at these pictures above, you will see that both of Tisdale’s hands were involved in holding and keeping her video-camera up, and when Wooten is seen coming from her left (in the Tisdale video), he grabs one of her arms immediately, and the other arm has the camera strapped to it, as you can see the ground in the video as Tisdale is marched and pushed by Deputy Wooten.
So, how, exactly, could Tisdale have hit Wooten at all? If she had, the only way she would have been hitting him is with the hand that was firmly holding her camera, and Wooten would have a bloody face after being hit with a camera. So, Lie #2 from Johnny Burt easily ripped apart by the truth (as he will be ripped apart on the witness stand by defense cross-examination of every bullcrap lie he wants to claim).
Side notes to Clint Bearden and Pepper Pettit: Y’all two think Brad Hughes, Elizabeth Bettis, Megan Whittemore, Richard Woods, Mark Butler, and Neil Bitting are going to be able to corroborate your claims on the witness stand about what really happened on Burt’s Pumpkin Farm?
Now, Brad Hughes is someone who may be stupid enough, and willing enough, to lie for his Party and employer, but it is doubtful that Bettis, Whittemore, Woods, and Butler are going to be willing to go to jail for perjury and other State RICO acts to deny Tisdale’s civil rights.
Because these are ALL material witnesses, along with people like Governor Deal himself, who made the comment in that first AJC.com article about him feeling “uncomfortable” about the actions taken against Nydia Tisdale, ordered by either Deal Campaign people (e.g., Bitting and Bearden), or State GOP people, or by a combination of operatives associated with both entities.
Plenty more photos and facts coming-up in Part 2…
