Beware of the Scorpion That Cannot Change Its Natural Instinct

Are you familiar with the fable known as The Frog and The Scorpion? Here is a short version of the story:

“A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”

The frog is satisfied, and they set out. But in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”

Replies the scorpion: “It’s my nature…” “

Now, NOT to include every lobbyist/government relations person out in the world to be a scorpion (because, yes, I have a few friends who are honorable lobbyists), but in the case of the one running to be the next Georgia GOP Chair, the only way to describe John Watson is to refer to him as the Scorpion in our saga…and all of his naive, gullible followers and supporters are the Frogs who are too blind or too ignorant to understand what kind of creepy-crawler they have agreed to support.

AND…here is why in point-by-point reasoning:

1) The real job of people like John Watson involves being, essentially, the lead marketing and sales rep for any number of businesses who provide services and products to government entities. So, John Watson does not merely “lobby” the State Legislature while they are in session; what his primary job as a government relations person is develop friendly, business relationships with city council members, county commissioners, mayors, municipal purchasing managers, city managers, county managers, etc. That is, both decision-makers, as well as people who influence decision-makers for purchasing services and products from Watson’s clients.

2) A LOT of the major county and city municipalities in the Atlanta-metro area are run by Democrats. REAL Democrats. And, a lot of the legislators who are Democrats have a LOT of influence on the various elected people and employees who work in the municipalities. So much so that people like Watson rely on developing relationships with the Democrat legislators, not to be a nice guy to the ‘minority party’, but to get them to a point where they can influence these other Democrats in municipalities who hold the key to allowing Watson’s clients to become a qualified bidder for any kind of suitable RFP (Request For Proposal) the municipality needs to issue.

3) John Watson is married with kids. His paramount job is to provide for his family with their needs via earning a living. Which means, when it comes to politics, Watson will always seek to maintain relationships over playing hardball in politics.

4) Watson’s business partner is Lewis Massey. Lewis Massey is a Democrat. He’s a nice enough guy, but he’s a Democrat. Not to say that all Democrats are bad, but doing business with one while you are playing yourself off as a tough GOP party chair is a tough sell to rely on. Massey is to Watson like Carville is to Matalin (though, Massey and Watson’s relationship has lasted far longer).

5) See, Massey WANTS Watson to win because he knows it’ll be terrific FREE ADVERTISING for the new company of Massey Watson and Hembree, LLC. Every time John Watson’s name will be mentioned in the newspaper, it will say “Ga GOP Chair John Watson…blah, blah, blah…Watson is also a partner in the lobbying firm of Massey Watson Hembree, LLC.”

6) A few years back, Watson and his business partners were embroiled in the DeKalb County corruption probe as per this story here: http://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt–politics/vendors-dekalb-government-probe-earned-millions/ptETu66oENsrKGVViU7mHM/

7) Though they were cleared of any wrongdoing in that DeKalb case, it won’t look good for the GAGOP to see that bullsh*t again when something similar blows-up in the City of Atlanta, or some other Dem-controlled municipality, where Massey Watson Hembree will be named, again, and if Watson is serving as GA GOP chair, that will muddy the GA GOP brand quite a bit, all on its own.

8) But, more to the point, next year, when it comes to having to play hardball with the Democrats in this state, Watson will wuss-out because he MUST maintain relationships with ALL the Democrats in office because, as mentioned before, his livelihood relies 100% on maintaining those relationships on good terms with all Democrats.

9) AND…just to demonstrate exactly what we’re talking about here, here is a list of Democratic entities that John Watson and his former firm of Massey Bowers Watson Hembree contributed money to WHILE the 2016 Presidential race was ongoing between Trump and Clinton:

http://politicalvine.com/casinos/MasseyBowers-Fall-DemCont.jpg

10) The first three $250 contributions were to keep three very good Democrat influencers in Watson’s pocket so as to help his business clients: Valencia Seay, Horacena Tate, Stacey Evans.

11) The last contribution shown of $250 was to hedge a bet with the Democratic Party of Georgia in case Trump lost. That was the purpose of that contribution.

12) John Watson may vote Republican…but, as the practicing lobbyist that he is, in the world of the government relations business that he is in, he must maintain good relations with people on both sides of the aisle. And maintain those relationships is of paramount importance to him.

So, when it comes time next year to, say, beat-up the Democratic nominee for Governor, whether it be Stacy Abrams or Stacey Evans, on behalf of, say, our Republican nominee Hunter Hill, how hard of a hit is Watson going to be willing to allow the Ga GOP to hit Abrams or Evans with?

Answer: The Scorpion will sting the froggy Republicans over pissing-off his fellow Scorpions in the Dem Party, and he will nullify the GA GOP’s efforts in ways like making sure the direct mail program from the GA GOP resembles a Powder-Puff football game rather than full-impact football.

After all, this Scorpion still has to make a living, regardless of who is elected to a Constitutional office. And, if the Dems regain power, the Scorpion’s business pal, Lewis Massey, will be able to introduce Watson to even MORE people in Democrat positions of power to help build Watson’s bank account.

Hope all you Frogs who support this Scorpion wake-up. Because at least with Alex Johnson, Michael McNeely, or Mike Welsh, NONE of their livelihoods rely on maintaining good relationships with the opposition party. None of them are scorpions.

If any of you frogs continue to support John Watson after reading this Vine and seeing the contributions he made to the Democratic Party of Georgia last Fall to maintain ‘good relations’ with the DPOG, you are morons. Freaking…MORONS.

PRELUDE

Did you know that when someone in Georgia refers to the process of “registering to vote,” what you are really doing is applying to the State of Georgia for them to grant you a Voter ID Card? I conclude that by examining the explicit wording of this law, OCGA 21-2-417.1. Voter identification card. Because the majority of what this law instructs is what information is included on the State defined “GEORGIA VOTER IDENTIFICATION CARD.”

The application to register to vote/apply for a voter ID card can be found online here: https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/images/reg_form.pdf

AND, the very first requirement in the law to register to vote is to provide your “Full Legal Name.”

The problem with not registering under your actual legal name is covered under OCGA 21-2-561. False registration…where it specifies the following (which have been bolded in parts because you should understand exactly the pitfalls with falsely registering a name as an elector):

“Any person who:

(1) Registers as an elector knowing that such elector does not possess the qualifications required by law;

(2) Registers as an elector under any other name than the elector’s own name; or

(3) Knowingly gives false information when registering as an elector

shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years or to pay a fine not to exceed $100,000.00, or both.”

So, let’s turn our attention to the

SENATE DISTRICT 32-SPECIAL ELECTION

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On February 27, 2017, a Political Vine (alternatively referred to as “Vine” or “PV”) article was issued regarding the vigorous legislative promotion of casino gambling legislation by Senator Brandon Beach and others. PV compared the “campaign contributions” by out-of-state casino interests to be equivalent to the noun “bribes,” in which that definition was based on a common dictionary meaning rather than any kind of statutory definition of that term.

In response to the 2/27/2017 issuance of the Political Vine, Senator Brandon Beach had his attorney send me a cease and desist letter, and included a copy of the PV edition in question (See this PDF of that letter).

In this letter, Beach’s lawyer, Robert D. Cheeley of the Cheeley Law Group, LLC, asserts that “political contributions are legal in Georgia, and politicians are entitled to accept contributions, so by definition they are not bribes.”

For the record, Georgia’s statutory definition of what constitutes a campaign contribution is found in OCG 21-5-3(7) and while this excerpt I use here is an abridged version of the entire statute, I invite anyone to read the entire definition for themselves: “Contribution” means a gift, subscription, membership, loan, forgiveness of debt, advance or deposit of money or anything of value conveyed or transferred for the purpose of influencing [emphasis added] the nomination for election or election of any person for office…”

But, of course, no politician would ever take generous campaign contributions in direct exchange for political favors, would they?

After all, there is some kind of legal line, however thin it may be at times, between bribery and campaign contributions from interests seeking special interest legislation. Consider the case of Former Alabama Democrat Governor Don Siegelman and the several years in federal prison he has had to contemplate on that distinction: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-high-court-when-is-a-campaign-contribution-a-bribe/2012/08/12/68cdd94e-e2f9-11e1-a25e-15067bb31849_story.html (if that link does not pull-up the Washington Post article, this is a PDF version)

Similarly, New Jersey Democrat Senator Robert Menendez has that opportunity to contemplate the contributions/bribery nexus regarding earmarked contributions to a Democrat “Super PAC” by a medical provider who secured the assistance of Senator Menendez in lobbying then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to rule in his favor in an ongoing dispute over $8 million in Medicare overbillings. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/09/dr-salomon-melgen-menendez-supporter-released-on-18-million-bond/. Menendez has a 68-page indictment against him.

There is concern in the Peach State as citizens contemplate the morally corrupting influence of Las Vegas-based casino operators seeking a beachhead in Georgia. While truth is a defense to any defamation suit, perhaps only the U.S. Department of Justice would have the resources and clout to prove in court a quid pro quo regarding campaign contributions in exchange for legislation favorable to the person or entity who contributed the money.

If forced to litigate over the Vine article in question, the Defendant’s legal team would assert Georgia’s “anti-SLAPP” statute, O.C.G.A. § 9-11-11.1. This particular statute declares, “The General Assembly of Georgia finds and declares that it is in the public interest to encourage participation by the citizens of Georgia in matters of public significance and public interest through the exercise of their constitutional rights of petition and freedom of speech. The General Assembly of Georgia further finds and declares that the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of petition and freedom of speech should not be chilled through abuse of the judicial process.”

So, to be clear, if I am sued by Senator Beach, or any other legislators involved in promoting casino legislation after their receipt of campaign contributions from casino interests, the court will be asked to award full attorney fees and expenses of litigation, as provided in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-11.1.

There are a couple of specific elements in Mr. Cheeley’s letter that need to be cleared-up before I address his demands:

(A) Regarding Cheeley’s assertion in his first paragraph that “Specifically, that website is www.securecampaigner.com(sic) doing business as Political Vine dot com, www.politicalvine.com.” that is a completely inaccurate statement/assertion/assumption on Cheeley’s part.

The Website of “www.secure.campaigner.com” is a domain solely under the control of my email management vendor (known as Campaigner.com), for which I pay a monthly fee to be able to manage the email list, as well as compose and email-out the publication whenever I write one.

That email vendor offers services to the entire world on its platform and is, I believe, based in Canada. I have zero ownership of that entity, nor do they have any ownership of my PV website.

So, “Campaigner dot com” is not doing any kind of business as “Political Vine dot com.”

With regards to the website called www.politicalvine.com, yes, that is under my sole control for its content.

(B) Cheeley then appears to make some kind of point that because I did not place an asterisk in the Subject Heading of the 2/27/2017 Vine email that I “notably” omitted the asterisk next to the word “Bribes” in the Subject Line titled “Rumors have it…Casino Bribes-UPDATE!…02-27-2017” as if to mean I intended something nefarious.

I deliberately omitted the use of the asterisk in the “Subject Line” of the email (no, it is not the “caption” as he referred to it in his letter) because IF asterisks and other similar symbols are present in an email’s subject line, the email servers taking-in those emails sometimes interpret those emails as potentially being spam emails, and they get rejected, and therefore not delivered to the intended recipients. Thus the reason why the asterisk was omitted on the word “Bribes” in that one instance, which, when compared to the “twenty times” in which the word appeared in print in that 2/27/2017 PV as “bribes*” this one instance is not significantly meaningful.

For the record, I believe I will/would prevail in court in defense of any lawsuit brought by Beach or anyone else. However, I know that lawsuits such as this type will take an extremely lengthy amount of time to have resolved, and I do not wish to have my mind or my life occupied by it for the next 3-5 years.

Therefore, with regard to the four specific “demands” placed on me by Beach’s lawyer:

Demand #1: Regarding Cheeley’s demand of removing “from any and all of your websites all defamatory and disparaging remarks regarding Senator Beach and ‘bribes’ made by you or any visitors to your site.”

The only thing that was ever placed on the PV website was the 11-Page PDF document that was assembled using campaign contribution disclosure data publicly accessible via the Georgia Government Transparency and Finance Commission’s Website (known as Ethics.Ga.Gov). That 11-page PDF document I compiled has been removed from the PoliticalVine.com website. No remarks of any kind were ever posted to the PV site.

Also, the original email that was composed and sent out via my account on Campaigner.com has been deleted off my account, and the online version (i.e., “server-based” version) can no longer be accessed.

Demand #2: I will cease and desist publication of that specific, and allegedly defamatory, remark about Senator Beach relating to his sponsorship of casino legislation after receipt of campaign contributions from casino interests.

Demand #3: I hereby retract any alleged implication of violation of the Georgia criminal statute on bribery by Senator Beach and the casino interests who have generously contributed to his campaign. However, the reference to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “bribe” is what it is. A “bribe,” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: “1) money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust. 2) something that serves to induce or influence.”

Note that the 2nd definition provided by Merriam Webster for the word “bribe” is that it can be “something that serves to induce or influence [emphasis added].” Compare that definition to the statutory definition of what a campaign contribution is (provided near the beginning of this PV edition).

Demand #4: I will tender five dollars ($5) to the Cheeley Law Group, LLC, in full accord and satisfaction of the strenuously disputed demand for payment of attorney fees for Senator Brandon Beach.

Aut pax aut bellum.

Rumors have it that the precious little snowflakes who inhabit the campus of Emory University are no longer feeling the idyllic beatitude they signed-up to experience…nay, apparently, a cloud of pallor has wafted over the campus and invaded their safe spaces.

Here, forthwith, is a copy of the emailed letter sent out on November 21 from the desk of Claire E. Sterk, Emory University President:

“November 21, 2016
Dear Emory Students, Staff and Faculty,

Claire E. Sterk
President

PV Sez: Upon reading this sentence from the first paragraph “In addition, a letter requesting the need for a sanctuary campus and ways to protect all members of the Emory community is being reviewed by the university leadership.” the PV’s keyboard got soaked with hot coffee being spewed out in a violent convulsion of laughter and merriment.

What-Da-Fuq is a “sanctuary campus?” PV’s mind reels with the instantaneous thoughts of wondering what thoughts and worries are racing through the mind of President Sterk to inspire her to be writing this letter?

And, PV’s trying to imagine what kind of new campus rules and polices this bunch of whiny-baby “administrators” will be dreaming-up to protect the snowflakes from any potential speech intimidation, and thereby likely squash free speech and free exchange of ideas if they are the ones they disagree with? (E. G., President Trump and anything remotely conservative).

Maybe Sterk & Co. will seek a bill from the Georgia Legislature that allows them to secede from Georgia, but still keep getting funding help by the Georgia Board of Regents?

We will stay tuned…with our street chalk in hand…

Rumors have it that Governor Nathan Deal is planning on replacing Attorney General Sam Olens with current Georgia Economic Development Department Commissioner Chris Carr whenever Sam Olens quits as AG to take-on the job as the new Kennesaw State University President. Stories in the news have been floating for about a month in various newsy-oriented publications, the most recent one being today’s Atlanta Business Chronicle (See story link here).

PV Sez: Oh, really? Hey, nothing personal against Chris Carr…he is a fine, fine Southern gentleman…he happened to attend the same high school as the PV’s Chief Bottle Washer…and then after Carr graduated 12th grade, well, his life took an unfortunate turn. He stumbled into a really bad gang of folks that have been terrorizing the Georgia landscape for over 200 years…their hideout is located in the sleepy town of Athens, Georgia…where, like The Eagles song Hotel California, you can checkout, but you can never, ever leave…and that insanity remains with you for the rest of your life as you wake-up every day with the urge to shout “Go D**gs!” and then search for the closest bush or fire hydrant to sniff and pee on.

ANYWAY…all that aside….there’s a teeny-tiny problem with Chris Carr becoming the next Attorney General of Georgia. Simply put, he is not qualified in the legal, lawyer sense. Two glaring problems:

1) According to the Georgia Constitution, Article V, Section III, Paragraph II (b): “No person shall be Attorney General unless such person shall have been an active-status member of the State Bar of Georgia for seven years.”

According to the current State Bar Status of Mr. Christopher Michael Carr (See PDF copy dated 9/27/2016 here) Mr. Carr’s status is “Inactive Member in Good Standing.”

On the Ga Bar Website, that status is stated to mean the following: “Member who is in good standing, paid inactive dues, but by member’s election is currently not eligible to practice law in Georgia.”

And…here’s the deal: Mr. Carr was admitted to the bar 11/1/1999. PV is not sure where he worked for the first few years after that admittance date, but, beginning in about mid-2003, Chris Carr started working for Johnny Isakson in his first run for US Senate in the 2004 election as the campaign manager.

After Isakson got elected, Carr went to work for Isakson in some capacity…he was not immediately made Chief of Staff of Isakson during the first few years…Heath Garrett was CoS of Senator Isakson’s office first, but Carr was working, perhaps, in the Georgia office for Isakson. Sometime passed, and several years later, when Garrett left the Isakson CoS position, Chris Carr filled that slot for Isakson’s CoS.

After serving with Isakson straight thru for a number of years, Carr was appointed to the Georgia Economic Development Commission. In none of these positions did Chris Carr EVER serve as a “practicing lawyer.”

2) Maybe Chris Carr spent the four years after being admitted to the bar in November 1999 doing some kind of lawyer-type work. But, even if he did, he stopped practicing law by mid-2003 when Johnny started his run for US Senate, and Carr has never worked in the practice of law since then.

So, the Ga Constitution is pretty clear: Must be active member for seven years.

Maybe the State Bar will let Chris Carr cheat…by him just showing-up at the State Bar Pay Window and forking over money to declare himself a “practicing lawyer” and “Ta-Da! Instant Attorney General! Just add cash and watch it grow!” (kinda like a Chia Pet…maybe we will call Chris Carr the ‘Chia Pet Attorney General‘ if he gets the appointment.)

BUT…he has no trial court experience to speak of…and, he has no true, operating knowledge of the law. Sure, as Isakson’s CoS, he may have edited legislation that “made law”…but he has no idea how to actually ‘practice law.’ Big difference, Folks…BIG. Difference.

Now…if Governor Deal wants to cheat the citizens of Georgia…by wrangling with the State Bar to let them easily change Carr’s bar status, guess no one can stop him from doing that.

But…this we know…by Chris Carr not knowing one thing about the true practice of law…he will be relying on Department of Law lawyers for his ‘guidance’…and some of those guys/gals regularly engage in violations of the Georgia RICO Act, as well as engaging in other notorious acts of legal malpractice.

So, if Mr. Carr would like to risk his future as being the Top Legal Chia Pet (even though he would be unqualified to advise someone on even how to fight a traffic ticket at this juncture), be our guest in getting sucked into a cesspool of malpracticing, crooked-to-their-core Georgia government lawyers. Hey, nothing like a federal indictment landing at your front door to wake you up in the morning, eh, Mr. (future) Chia Attorney General?

Sam Olens tries to silence opposition by having him disbarred

“Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens conceded in pleadings filed in federal court that there was never any basis for his request to have a duly licensed attorney barred from practicing in Georgia or pursuing claims against the Attorney General.

“In July of 2016, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens filed a pleading with US District Court Judge Eleanor Ross requesting an order to have the attorney pursuing state and federal RICO claims against the Attorney General and other state officials barred from practice in the state and federal courts of Georgia.

“Olens based the request for this extreme measure on alleged “abuse of the legal process.” This serious charge was based on the attorney supposedly filing the federal RICO action in defiance of two previous state court orders dismissing actions brought on the same set of facts.

“However, in the July pleading the Attorney General neglected to mention that both of the state court dismissal orders Olens relied on had been reversed and vacated–and therefore had no legal effect whatsoever, and certainly did not bar the action from being moved from state to federal court, much less call for the lawyer to be barred from practice.”

Read the full story over at http://gwmac.com/sam-olens-tries-silence-opposition-disbarred/

Prelude

If you are a fan of Chinese food, you might be familiar with the little table game played upon reading the fortune contained in a fortune cookie. The ‘game’ is that whatever the fortune says, you add a statement at the end of it that says either “…in your own mind.” or “…in bed.”

In a parallel fashion to the myriad of crap going on in the City of Sandy Springs (“SS”), whatever problem you observe occurring in SS (e.g., if you’re stuck in traffic in SS, if you’re wondering why you are being saddled with what will likely end-up being $300 million in taxpayer debt once the bonds are all paid-off 30 years from now, or if SS government appears to be run like the Obama Administration), here is a way to mentally deal with it: State the problem, and then finish your sentence with “…Because of Mayor Rusty Paul.”

So, to practice here, let’s ask the question of “Why did SS recently have to go thru a voting process run as though it was the year 1960 in Blount County, Alabama?”

Answer: Because of the direct actions of Mayor Rusty Paul.

Another practice question: “Why did the voting process for District 3 Special Election process resemble a 55 year-old election procedure?”

Because….due to the screw-up of Rusty Paul trying to gain more power to stuff the pockets of himself and his clients with more money, he personally caused three major issues with the voting process:

1) On May 24th, voters had to visit TWO different physical locations in order to cast votes–because there was a regular statewide primary scheduled for May 24th, and a Special Election for District 3 of the Sandy Springs City Council…and due to Rusty Paul’s personal cluster*f*ck of governing, the City was unable to have the Special Election integrated within the normal Fulton County Board of Elections process. Not everyone got the message that they had to visit two different places, separated by more than 1 mile, so not everyone voted who would have normally voted in the Special Election.

2) For both the Special Election, and the Special Election Run-off, rather than have electronic accounting of who voted, the City of Sandy Springs had to employ paper tracking sheets for the list of voters. This consisted of a triplicate Voting List form being filled-out by election personnel…some of whom it is clear never learned how to print names, or forgot that skill along the way in life. This is an example of the forms used (names have been deliberately blurred-out by me, but the PDF documents exist with the City Clerk’s office): Run-Off Example.

BIG question for #2 above is how are these voters going to have their appearance at the voting booth be tracked by the Secretary of State’s office since they were written-down and not ‘checked-off’ whereby their ID would be scanned into a system (as it is done when elections are held by counties)? Thank Rusty Paul for that.

3) Rather than electronic voting machines being used, paper, fill-in-the-bubble ballots were used, and then stuffed into a ballot box. In the case of the May 24th election date, it was observed by several people that the ballot box disappeared behind a closed door with multiple City of Sandy Springs personnel with the box. After about an hour or so, the box was carried out from the room it was in, and then the paper ballots were hand-fed into a tabulation machine. What happened to the box of ballots while it was out of sight of people concerned with the honesty of an election?

Also…in the run-off, while the ballot box was at Hammond Park for early voting…what happened to it a) at night with the poll was closed?, and 2) over the weekend and the Monday before the June 21 Election Day?

NOW…as a side note to you folks in the Fulton County Republican Party who have bitched and whined about the appearance of a lack of competence in how the Fulton County Board of Elections run elections…well, after the Rusty-Paul-cluster-f*ck of this Special Election, you folks now have NO ROOM to complain since Rusty is Mr. Republican, and there is a massive shadow of incompetency and dishonesty hanging over this Special Election in Sandy Springs under his watch.

Wendell Willard: Barbarian Henchman

The City of Sandy Springs has a 19-page section of their City Code devoted to Ethics whereby every term is defined well, and what constitutes “conflicts of interests” and all that related stuff. Here is a link to the most current PDF version from the MuniCode website: http://www.politicalvine.com/sandysprings/CodeofEthics-SandySprings6-11-2016.pdf

What I found to be one of the most notable sections is that at any time any member of the city council, or any employee, or whoever might have a question concerning what is “ethical” or what isn’t, that ALL inquires get routed to the City Attorney for his/her review of the city ethics code…and if the city attorney says something is ‘ethical’, then it’s okay to engage in the activity, corrupt though it may be to anyone outside of SS.

Now, as most people know, the City’s Attorney is Wendell Willard, and he has been in that position since the city’s inception.

What a lot of people in Sandy Springs are not likely aware of is that the approximate total cost of $100,000 for the Special Election to replace former city council member Graham McDonald is all due to…Wendell Willard not having a clue as to how to read and interpret the city’s code on behalf of the City.

You see, Mayor Rusty Paul had a plan in mind when he encouraged McDonald to run against House District 52 Rep. Joe Wilkinson. He was going to use McDonald to defeat Wilkinson in the May 24th AND with initial advice from his henchman, Wendell Willard, after McDonald resigned from the city council, Mayor Paul thought he was going to be able to appoint McDonald’s replacement on the Council. (That planned appointment was Chris Burnett, the ultimate winner of the June 21st run-off.)

Silly rabbit, that Rusty Paul is, to rely on Wendell’s reading of the city code. It’s right smack dab in Sec. 2.03. – Vacancy; filling of vacancies; suspensions:

“….A vacancy in the office of mayor or city councilmember shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by a special election if such vacancy occurs 12 months or more prior to the expiration of the term of that office. If such vacancy occurs within 12 months of the expiration of the term of that office, the city council or those members remaining shall appoint a successor for the remainder of the term. This provision shall also apply to a temporary vacancy created by the suspension from office of the mayor or any city councilmember.”

Now, qualifying for that State House seat was back in early March of 2016…and sometime in the interim between McDonald qualifying for HD 52 and…this March 29th meeting of the City Council, someone else decided to read the City Code…and start counting months and determined “Heyyyy! Where I come from, 20 months is more than 12 months! We gotta have a Special Election to fill this seat!”

And that, Ladies & Gentlemen, is how Sandy Springs came to be spending $100,000+ on a Special Election…because City Attorney Wendell Willard cannot read and do simple math. So, how would Wendell Willard be possibly qualified to read and interpret the city’s Code of Ethics? Answer: Wendell Willard isn’t qualified. At. All. (Neither, apparently, is the assistant City Attorney, Cecil McClendon.)

If Willard was qualified…then he would easily be able to recognize why Mayor Rusty Paul has a MASSIVE conflict of interest between who he works for as a registered lobbyist, and his ‘presumed’ (cough!-cough!) role representing the best (cough!)…interests (cough!-cough!) of the voters and taxpayers of the City of Sandy Springs, rather than his clients. So, let’s introduce…

(Continued in Part 2…)

Rusty Paul – Barbarian Numero Uno

As I now have to frequent Sandy Springs way more often than usual, I find myself having to be detoured all around the $220+ million money pit that is to become City Center. At the center of this pit is erected a crane. At one time, at the top of the crane, was the name of the crane’s owner/leasee: Holder Construction.

And, hearkening back to my earlier days of being involved in the construction industry in Georgia, combined with what I know about Rusty Paul and his professional representation of the wants and needs of companies like Holder Construction, I must ask a very simple question: DID the City of Sandy Springs actually get the lowest, honestly-bid RFP from Holder (and, whoever else is involved) for this project?

Because, you see, Ladies & Gentlemen, voters, and taxpayers of the City of Sandy Springs, Rusty Paul is the state registered lobbyist of the state association called Associated Builders & Contractors of Georgia (ABC-GA).

Here is Rusty’s lobbyist registration information: http://www.politicalvine.com/sandysprings/RustyPaul-Lobbyist-Info.pdf

The purpose of the entity called Associated Builders & Contractors is to help generate business opportunities for all its members. Nothing illegal or unethical about that.

Except when those “business opportunities” happen to be initiated and guided by…your very own state lobbyist…who is the Mayor of a city like Sandy Springs…well, then it has the potential appearance of resembling…a little something called racketeering. Potential things like…bid-rigging…RFP-rigging…all that comes to mind to wonder how ‘honest’ the government of SS really is when the Mayor of the City is a state lobbyist for the people whose livelihood relies on decisions facing that city?

Now, I know what you’re thinking…is there any official connection between an entity like Holder Construction and Mayor Rusty Paul? Guess it all depends on what you mean by “official” and “connection.” Because…Holder Construction has made multiple, publicly disclosed contributions to the Associated Builders & Contractors entity (here is a link to a PDF of their contributions).

But, for full disclosure, Holder is not the only business involved in the Association that contributed money to its PAC: Here is a live link to many contributors to the PAC.

AGAIN…let me be clear: The ABC-GA entity is legally allowed to participate in the electoral process. Nothing unethical about their PAC having members of its association contribute to it.

The questionable part comes-in with Mayor Rusty Paul pretending he’s just a “Good ‘ole Boy Mayor” shepherding the City of Sandy Springs through its growth phase, when, in fact, he has a direct interest in generating all the business he can generate for the members of the development, banking, and construction industries in his part of the world.

One wonders what Rusty gets paid per month for his work as “lobbyist” for ABC-GA, and how much he gets paid via his various other business entities from companies who are members of ABC-GA, and are beneficiaries of business contracts with the City of Sandy Springs? Seriously, what ELSE would explain Rusty’s welcoming attitude to allow every square inch of Sandy Springs to be developed, rezoned, and redeveloped (and to hell with the traffic people get stuck in)?

Well….by no stretch is Rusty Paul the only Barbarian engaged in Sandy Springs politics and government….there’s another one of recent note. And hereee’s….

(Continued in Part 3)

(Read Part 1)

Chris Burnett – The Barbarian Banker

Chris Burnett was the top vote-getter in the $100,000 Wendell Willard Special Election held on May 24th, gathering 40% of a field of five contestants to fill the position vacated by Graham McDonald. The 2nd top vote-getter was Joe Houseman. Two of the other candidates quickly endorsed Houseman for the runoff.

Burnett is a community banker who works as the president of the Bank of Sandy Springs. Houseman is a pilot with Delta Air Lines.

So, on Burnett’s Facebook page and Website, he touts all of his “volunteer” work with Sandy Springs over the years. Folks, can we be honest here? The reason why people like Chris Burnett “volunteer” their time is to build their business….their banking business….their community banking business.

It is not for the “good” of their heart to help others. If it had been, he would not have spent 100% of his campaign time touting his “volunteer efforts.” So, any organization to which he’s a member of (e.g., chamber of commerce), that membership is likely paid for out of the bank’s marketing budget, and not his own, personal wallet.

On June 21st, Burnett won the run-off against Joe Houseman. Now, to understand why the latest addition to the city council is a Barbarian Banker, you need to understand who, exactly, Chris Burnett really is…and, who he really works for.

The Bank of Sandy Springs is part of a 3-bank holding company based in Marietta, Georgia.

Taking a line directly from the mother-website of https://www.firstlandmarkonline.com/: “First Landmark Bank is ‘A Family of Community Banks,’ including the Midtown Bank and Bank of Sandy Springs divisions, united to serve the Marietta/Cobb, Midtown Atlanta and Sandy Springs communities and throughout metro Atlanta.”

The holding company that is the umbrella entity above all 3 entities is called Landmarc Bancshares, Inc, based out of Marietta in Cobb County. Here is a link to its Board of Directors.

Note that the Chairman of the Board of LBI is John H. Moore. Moore’s legal specialty is that of real estate and rezoning law.

Now, you folks in Sandy Springs likely are not familiar with this guy. Not yet, anyway. But, chances are, either he or one of his underlings associated with the law firm of Moore Ingram Steele & Johnson, will soon be appearing before the Sandy Springs Planning & Zoning, and City Council, to argue for this or that rezoning.

With a guaranteed vote of one of the members of the SS city council in Chris Burnett for ANY project, Moore has an easy sell to any developer (Yes, John Moore, you are welcome for the free marketing mention of your skills).

And, its for damn certain a knucklehead like Wendell Willard would find no ‘conflict of interest’ for Burnett to sit on the council any time a Moore Ingram et al. rezoning is in front of it, would he?

Additionally, with people like Gabe Sterling and Rusty Paul, there are two additional ‘gimmes’ for any client of MISJ to cram a rezoning down the helpless throats of Sandy Springs’ taxpayers.

Conclusion

In a very odd coincidence, the mentality of Rusty Paul pretty much matches that of Cobb County’s Tim Lee. So, when you read newspaper articles about the two of them ‘negotiating’ on matters like the Braves’ game-day traffic and such…you need to keep this in mind: Neither of them are really looking out for the entities they supposedly represent. They will negotiate for, first, their own personal benefit, and then the public in Sandy Springs or Cobb County will have to be content with whatever scraps are left over.

Well, that’s a wrap of this edition of Sandy Springs: Where The Barbarians Are Already Inside The Gates, but stay tuned for future episodes.

1) Does the Georgia-registered, Independent Committee called the ‘Georgia Chamber Political Affairs Council, Inc‘, whose chairman is Phillip Wilheit, file anything with the IRS that lists its detailed expenditures?

2) Why does an already established political consulting firm (i.e., The Stoneridge Group, LLC…”SRG”) start a new company in 2014 called Quick Response Communications, LLC in order to do business with the likes of Americans for Prosperity in 2014, and for the aforementioned Georgia Chamber entity mentioned in Question #1? (Why not just do business with these entities under the regular SRG umbrella?)

NOTE: For proof that Quick Response Communications LLC is a connected company to SRG, look at the name of the Organizer on the Articles of Organization on the QRC entity to be Janie Stair. Now, go to this Linked-In page of who Janie Stair is.

Oh, and that address of the QRC entity at 3535 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 520-152, Atlanta, Georgia 30326? Oh, c’mon! It’s just the UPS Store….a drop location for someone to pick-up some checks containing laundered money from somewhere.

3) Why did SRG personnel quickly take-down the online donation page to the 527-group called the Ralston Conservative Leadership Fund, as detailed in the AJC article late last week?

4) Was that RCLF donation page a source of contributions/laundered money to go someplace where…different sets of accounting books are kept, one for the IRS, and one for internal cash kitties where money goes that is not reported on any IRS submission that it was ever paid to an entity like…Quick Response Communications, LLC and/or any other LLC entity yet to be discovered?

5) The RCLF Corporation still owes this year’s Corporate Registration…are they going to renew it or let it lapse, while there is still active business going on with the fund? (Hey, the RCLF has a lawyer answering questions asked by the AJC….he will have to get paid in some way, and it will not be via a defunct corporation)

6) In 2014, a guy by the name of Coach Sam Snider challenged David Ralston in the primary for his HD-7 seat. Snider bought a website domain for that race called CoachSamSnider.com. After Snider lost that election, he let the domain renewal lapse.

The Stoneridge Group’s CEO & Founder, Jason “Jay” Williams, bought that domain right after Snider again qualified for office this year, and SRG has set-up a false website that….disparages Snider. Whether one would classify SRG as a bunch of clever lads, or douche-bags, what Jay is absolutely stupid about is putting his firm’s digital fingerprints on the hit-job….going so far as to use it, apparently, as a marketing toy.

“Stupid” because…in a recent phone conversation Jay had with someone in HD-7, when asked if he would take down the fake Snider campaign website, Jay Williams told this individual that “Hey, it’s my job, it’s what I’m being paid to do.”

Paid by whom, Jay? Because…according to this Excel file of expenditures from David Ralston’s disclosures, SRG does not appear on it as receiving money for Ralston’s 2016 race.

So…who is paying SRG for this fake Website?

7) Last week, a full-page ad was placed in an HD-7 newspaper (not sure which county organ it was) that slams Sam Snider. Weird thing about that ad is that…if you look down at the bottom of the ad, it says “PAID FOR BY CHUCK EFSTRATION FOR HOUSE.” Chuck Efstration’s district is HD-104, way down in Gwinnett County.

Chuck did not create the artwork for this ad, nor did he perform the research to create the artwork for this ad (Chuck runs a law practice in his spare time of screwing over the citizens of Georgia via his elected State House seat)…who did create this ad, and how were they compensated for that research and graphic artwork?

8) At the end of the reporting period dated March 31, 2016, Rep. Efstration reported having about $8,200 in cash on hand. Efstration has NO opponent, either in the Primary or the General.

In order to finance this ad, Efstration appears to have needed to loan his campaign $3000.00. Why would Rep. Efstration have to loan his campaign any money since he had $8200 on-hand at the end of March 31, and no opposition of any kind?

9) Or…was this $3000 he “loaned” to his campaign a laundering operation to hide someone else’s payment for the ad in HD-7?

10) In reviewing state law on the disposal of campaign contributions (OCGA-21-5-33), nowhere does it say that excess campaign contributions can be used to buy ads for candidates in OTHER RACES. Did Rep. Chuck Efstration break state law on the proper use of campaign contributions?

MORE questions to ponder in the future….

Let’s travel back in time just a few weeks…to this published edition of the Vine newsletter that informed you about two members of the Georgia State Patrol who were directed/requested to “visit” a civilian on March 11 on behalf of State Representative Terry England (Douchebag-HD 116)

Since that time, there have been questions asked as to the jurisdiction allowed by the GEorgia STate PatrOl (aka “GESTAPO”). At the time of the incident back in March, the two GESTAPO agents reportedly told the civilian that “We investigate campaign financing and handle Capitol security—part of that job is protecting elected officials…”

Now, according to research on OCGA law, that explanation for the probable cause visit appears to be, potentially, contrary to the actual state law, and quite possibly, contrary to several Federal Statutes.

Regarding the claim by the GESTAPO agents that “[We] handle Capitol security…”, the OCGA law on what the Capitol Police are responsible for appears to be laid-out in OCGA-35-2-122. Of particular note is Paragraph a), which states as follows:

“a) The division shall have jurisdiction and the primary duty to enforce all laws in Capitol Square and the property and buildings owned by the Georgia Building Authority within a five-mile radius of Capitol Square.”

You know what “Capitol Square” means? It is the square of land upon which the Gold Dome building sits where our esteemed legislature legislates. A five-mile radius of that location in the City of Atlanta does not extend to Gwinnett County or Barrow County. That distance might get you, if you travel north from MLK Jr Drive, as far north as North Druid Hills Road & I-85, in DeKalb County. (Sorry, GESTAPO LEOs, you missed the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police by at least 5 miles when you visited the home of someone living in Gwinnett County under the auspice of working for the Capitol Police division.)

Then, there is the stipulated jurisdiction of the GESTAPO itself, as per these two sections, OCGA § 35-2-32 and OCGA § 35-2-33. In reading those two sections, it truly appears that the primary jurisdiction of the GESTAPO is patrolling highways and public roads, and crimes that are happening, or may be about to happen, with regards to traffic laws and such types of laws as they occur while traveling on public roads.

However, through a couple of email conversations with the Open Records Act personnel at the GESTAPO HQ this past week, we learned that there was another potential OCGA law that the two GESTAPO agents could have been operating under.

In OCGA 35-2-73. Employment of security guards, it lays out law regarding how certain specific government officials are to be protected, and it leaves open the possibility that the Governor could direct LEOs (“Law Enforcement Officers”) to protect other individuals. In the first paragraph of OCGA 35-2-73, the last sentence in bold states: “…and such other state property and individuals as may be directed by the Governor.”

Wow…maybe the GESTAPO agents were saved by an order by the Governor directing them to “keep watch over and protect” State Rep Terry England, huh? ‘Cause that would justify their involvement, right?

Unfortunately…for the GESTAPO agents acting on behalf of State Rep. Terry England, paid for out of public taxpayer funds, to harass, bully, and intimidate a civilian practicing his Constitutional rights to express his free speech rights…that avenue of authorization was shut-off when the question dealing specifically with whether that authorization existed from the Governor was answered on Friday, April 8 through an Open Records Request with the Department of Public Safety:

“We have conducted a search of the Georgia Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) written communications and found no responsive records. There are also no voicemail messages that match your inquiry.”

The two officers visiting the civilian back on March 11 claimed to have gotten direct orders from The Colonel of the Georgia State Patrol. Unnerving, isn’t it, that the concept of a “Colonel” fits quite nicely with the concept of the GESTAPO? It’s kinda like we’re all living in prisoner barracks, subject to random visits by LEOs engaged in political harassment at the behest of elected officials. (Mmm…if only there was a higher legal-entity that might have something to say about the use of taxpayer funds for political purposes…is it the A-B-C?….No, that doesn’t sound right…the F-U-K?…No, that’s something else entirely…OH! Maybe, it’s the F-B-I?)

With regards to the GESTAPO agents’ claim that they have jurisdiction over “campaign disclosures,” that’s a crock of crappola because it is only the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission (f/k/a “State Ethics Commission”, now known as “GGTCFC”) that has jurisdiction over any part of OCGA 21-5-1 et seq.

Ohhh…here’s a news tip to any reporters who are on the Vine list: According to OCGA, the members of the GGTCFC shall only serve for one term, and the maximum length of time a term is defined in the law is 4 years (i.e., specifically, that appointee is only an appointee named from the Senate Committee on Appointments). The other member terms are stated in the law and on this Web page at the top to be either 2 or 3 years, respectively, and then they cannot be reappointed (again, it’s in the law that commission appointees shall serve for only one term).

So, news reporters, do the math on the appointment of Hillary Stringfellow, appointed by David Ralston in 2010…and do the math on Heath Garrett, appointed by Governor Deal in the Fall of 2011. How does this “ethics” commission continue to operate legally?

Now, back to the discussion of the GESTAPO. It was discovered this week via Open Records Request that there is no record at GESTAPO HQ that this incident of these two agents visiting the civilian on March 11…ever…happened.

Gasp! Golly, Wally, what to do? If there’s no record…if there was nothing ever filed….if we don’t even know the names of the two purported GESTAPO officers who are alleged to have made this visit, what EVER can we poor, humble seekers of truth and justice do?

Well, luckily for us (and you folks watching at home), we humble seekers of truth and justice have in our hot little hands a 2-page letter written and signed by a couple of lawyers who, while they may think they are God’s Gift to the World, in actuality, they may have just opened themselves up to a world of legal hurt via some teeny-tiny Rules of the State Bar of Georgia (and, potentially, criminal hurt for themselves and their Client, Terry England).

Ladies & Gentlemen, when all else fails…

Leave it to the Lawyers (to eff it up)

Before reading this letter, PV was under the impression that Ben Vinson was a mere lobbyist, toiling away at trying to get legislators to give his clients mo’ money and freebies in the law. But, now, we’re like “Wow, Ben, you’re a real lawyer…”

So, here’s a link to THE LETTER, and let’s proceed with the examination and discussion of its contents.

1) First and foremost, if you turn to Page 2 of this letter, in the last paragraph, Randy Evans/Ben Vinson makes a direct reference to the visit by the Georgia State Patrol, not once, but twice. So, there’s no mistake…Mr. Newton did not lie about the incident with the GESTAPO….these two lawyers are kind enough to state, in writing, that the incident occurred. (Kudos, Mr. Evans/Mr. Vinson) Then, let’s look at the lovely claims by these two Dentons’ lawyers.

2) Back to Page 1, 2nd real paragraph, beginning with “It has recently come to our attention that you…” whereupon they appear to operate under the theory that if you are a lawyer, and you claim that something is “false” three times in a legal letter, that it must mean what they are saying is true (insert Bronx cheer here).

Then, the Lawyers conclude that paragraph with a reference to the State’s legislative website (the one that has all the legislation that State Rep. Terry England has voted in favor of over the years, including every budget that finances the importation of Muslim and Syrian refugees), as if to say “There, Ladies and Gentlemen, THERE’S ALL THE PROOF IN THE WORLD needed to prove my client is not what these flyers claim he is!”

Wow….all PV can say is ‘Looking forward to seeing your Client on the witness stand answering questions to a jury of 12 taxpayers already pissed-off at what their State Legislature does in their names…and that gasoline tax…and the TSPLOST that will be ongoing by the time this case reaches a jury…and the lobbyists’ spending on him…and all those supposed committee days he got reimbursed per diems for…’

3) Then, the letter gets to the meatier stuff. First is the Lawyers’ claim that Terry England did “fully perform on a personal farm loan financed by the State of Georgia.” Meaning, according to the Lawyers, he paid off the loan. But, did he? Because…

a) According to the political research/news Website, AtlantaUnfiltered.com, in an in-depth story published on February 25, 2013 (PDF copy here if that link does not work)…“…The property was rezoned in February 2013 to allow a church to operate there under a lease-purchase arrangement that will cover payments on the debt.”

Compare the meaning of the statement from AtlantaUnfiltered.com with this statement from top of Page 2 of the Lawyers’ Letter: “Representative England saw to it that payments continued to be made on time.”

How could one reconcile those two statements? Easily. England got the church to pay the debt…and by doing so, England “saw to it that payments continued to be made on time.”

But, that does not mean that England, himself, paid back the loan. And, that was the point of this flyer…that England didn’t, himself, pay the loan back out of his own money.

Now, if the Lawyers feel their statement of “Representative England saw to it that payments continued to be made on time.” is valid as to England being personally responsible for paying back the loan, then they owe AtlantaUnfiltered.com a legal demand letter to alter that story because that story is the basis for the claim in the flyer that England did not pay his own debts off.

Now, there is one absolutely certain way this matter can all be wrapped-up neatly: You Lawyers go obtain an actual, notarized affidavit from the church’s pastor that the church did not takeover the debt from England, and England paid the loan back out of his own pocket. You know, if, in fact, Terry England was truthful to the Lawyers…or, if the Lawyers are being truthful in this letter…that would wrap-up this whole matter of how the loan was paid back. Until that time, it looks more like legal foreplay of not addressing the actual issue of how the loan was paid back.

b) On Page 2 of the Letter, first full paragraph, the Lawyers make reference to “…Such statements cross the line of what is permissible under Georgia law and constitute a wrongful incitement of individuals to commit trespass on Representative England’s property. Should that happen, you will be personally responsible for any and all damage that may result.”

It’s always fascinating to PV when lawyers don’t bother to actually look-up the OCGA citation that supports their threats. Because…if you notice in the letter, all Randy Evans refers to is “…permissible under Georgia law.”

However, in OCGA, there are only 6 occurrences of the use of the word “incite”: One has to do with inciting others to overthrow the government (sorry, not applicable here, though it does seem more so that England’s illegal use of the two GESTAPO officers to intimidate Mr. Newton more resembles the overthrow of Georgia’s Constitutional form of government than anything else), three instances of the word incite have to do with sections of OCGA dealing with Fair Labor Practices (Nope, those don’t apply here either), one instance appearing to have to do with contributing to the delinquency of a minor via pornography (is Terry England underage?), and one instance having to do with encouraging someone else to take immediate ‘breach of the peace’ action via their verbal utterance of ‘fighting words’ to that other person.

Words printed on a flyer, whether inviting/encouraging someone to go visit their state legislator at his/her home, or telling someone in writing to stick it up their attorney’s rear-end, are not words that fit Georgia’s legal definition of the term utterance (which means, exclusively, “a spoken word, statement, or vocal sound”).

So, to the Lawyers’ written threat regarding Mr. Newton being responsible in any way for some constituent of State Rep. Terry England to engage in damaging Mr. England’s property, due to his printing of England’s home address on a flyer (an address, by the way, easily obtained via the State Disclosure Website via people looking-up Terry England’s Publicly Available Financial Disclosure) not being “permissible under Georgia Law”…PV encourages you two lawyers to carefully read this citation from the State Bar’s Website: RULE 4.1 TRUTHFULNESS IN STATEMENTS TO OTHERS.

Federal Laws of Interest

There are a minimum of four federal statutes that point to the illegality of the egregious nature of a combination of State Rep Terry England’s involvement in getting two Georgia State Patrol officers dispatched, unlawfully, to pay a visit, without ANY probable cause associated with their official duties with the Georgia Department of Public Safety, along with anyone at the DPS who is now sitting on information regarding this matter, along with the potential involvement of the head of the Georgia State Patrol in authorizing the visit to Mr. Newton’s home…and, potentially, whatever knowledge these two attorneys are in possession of now regarding the visit by the two GSP officers, they may find themselves subject to answering a federal judge’s questions under 18 USC 3 & 4…because it is their client, State Rep. Terry England, who is the one appearing to be directly involved in the conspiracy to deprive Mr. Newton of his Constitutional rights.

Here is a good introduction to some federal laws that trump Georgia’s lack of laws that control illegal and unethical public employees from engaging in what they have been engaging in with this entire matter:

18 U.S. Code § 241 – Conspiracy against rights: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/241

18 U.S. Code § 242 – Deprivation of rights under color of law: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242

18 U.S. Code § 3 – Accessory after the fact: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3

18 U.S. Code § 4 – Misprision of felony: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/4

42 U.S. Code § 1983 – Civil action for deprivation of rights: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1983

42 U.S. Code § 1985 – Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights – https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1985

Cheers!

Introduction

Imagine the following conversation occurring in the female inmate section of the Cobb County Jail…in present time period:

Inmate 1: “So, what are you gals in for?”
Inmate 2: “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Inmate 3: “I got caught with less than an ounce of weed.”
Inmate 4: “I got arrested for using a credit card that wasn’t mine.”
Inmate 5: “I got caught with an open beer in my car.”
Inmate 6: “I changed lanes improperly.”
Inmate 7: “I got caught shoplifting.”
Inmate 8: “I sent an email to Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee to ask if he wanted to have lunch.”

A GASP! is uttered by all the women within earshot of hearing what Inmate 8 said. “Oh, no, Girl! That’s the worse crime there is on the planet! Those men on the Cobb County Commission are nothing but girly-men…they are afraid of their own shadow!….And those men who are in the Cobb Chamber?…Lordy-lordy! All the stories I hear…yeah, they run around on their wives all the time they say they’re going to some meetin’… Girl, no wonder you got arrested. They are all nothin’ but slimy snakes…and they hate to have to deal with anyone who dares to challenge their authority!”

The Saga of Susan McCoy Continues

I doubt the Marietta Daily Journal will even cover the latest news on Susan McCoy. It could have been covered in this past Saturday’s edition….they had time to put the story together. They chose not to because…if they had, they would have exposed the fact that, at minimum, Tim Lee and Michael Paris are prissy little whining bitches masquerading as adult males. (Since Tim is running for reelection, well, the MDJ can’t upset that apple cart, can they?)

Back in late October of 2015, I issued a Political Vine regarding some things going on with Cobb County resident Susan McCoy. That story can be found here.

At the time of the writing and publication of that issue, I had no idea Susan McCoy was on the verge of being arrested and accused of sending harassing communications to several people in Cobb County. That is what happened though. She was arrested for what appears to be described in the booking reports to be “Harassing communications; venue; separate offenses; impact on free speech.”

Because she had sometimes CCed my email address in her communications to some folks in Cobb, I was aware that she was sending some people some emails. Whether those emails Susan McCoy sent constituted “harassment” in the absolute legal definition of that word, I have no idea, and that will be up to a jury to decide.

What is not fully understood is why Susan McCoy sent those emails. I believe she sent them because she was rather traumatized, mentally, by the fire SOMEONE set on her property, shortly after she made a presentation in front of the Cobb County Commission back in September of 2014 about her opposition to the Braves’ stadium.

That fire, to date, has brought no one forward as a suspect. Someone else besides Susan McCoy set that fire; that has been proven by the video cameras the McCoys installed on their home that captured the fire being started, along with at least one vehicle’s wheels and headlights.

I wonder, if the front yard of Vic Reynolds was set on fire, or Heath Garrett’s front yard set on fire…or Tim Lee’s front yard set on fire…or Chuck Clay’s yard set on fire…or, Sam Olens’ yard set on fire, would there have been a more thorough and active investigation if it were one of their homes that had an act of terror applied against them? One wonders, indeed.

So, Susan McCoy sent some emails to some folks. Any of those folks ever hear of this thing on computer keyboards called a DELETE key? Fascinating invention. Really. You don’t even have to open the email…you just hit that DEL-Key, and whoosh! Email is deleted, and you can get on with the rest of your day, not sweating what was in that email. I have found myself having to use that DEL-key at least 200 times per day to delete email I don’t care to read. (Maybe Timmy Lee and others just…really aren’t up on the new technology stuff too much, could that be?)

After she made bail last Fall and got out in November 2015, Michael Paris, one of the people she is accused of sending harassing emails to, swore-out either a restraining order or a temporary protective order (I don’t know the details of which document it is as of the moment of writing this story) against Susan McCoy to forbid her from being within a certain distance of his home.

Keep in mind that McCoy had never physically accosted or accused Michael Paris in person. All she did was send emails to him…emails that could have been handled with that DEL-key.

So, a TPO forbidding her from being a certain distance away from him is a pretty challenging trick, actually…since Susan McCoy lives with her husband and two young boys in a house on the same street as Michael Paris…7 doors down (or so I’ve been told) from where Paris lives.

The gist of what Michael Paris claimed in the TPO/RO is that…again, I have not seen the exact wording, but apparently it is close to this: “I just don’t feel comfortable driving past that house every day as I go to work and know she could be in there looking at me as I drive by.”

So, after Susan made bail, and spent 3 weeks in a local facility trying to get counseling of some quality, she was forbidden from dealing with her emotional crisis by being around people who loved her via Michael Paris being afwaid of Susan McCoy looking at him as he drove by? Yeah. Real girly-man, at minimum.

When she wanted to visit her children, they had to leave the house and walk outside, up the street to where Susan could legally drive her car and not break the something-foot boundary authorized by Michael Paris’s TPO/RO, and pick her boys up to go somewhere else. And, when she brought them back home, she, again, had to stop at whatever number of feet she had to stay away from poor Michael Paris’s house, let her kids out, and the kids had to walk by themselves home. One of her children turns 13 this week.

SO…after 2-3 months of living that kind of life with not being able to tuck your kids in at night, hugging your husband before you go to sleep, petting your dog…living your life that way…imagine what that might do to you if you’re a mother in a normal state of existence…and then compound it with having to deal with the PTSD that Susan McCoy (I have been told) has been diagnosed with…how intact would your mental faculties be in?

Susan McCoy is experiencing serious mental distress as a result of that fire set to her yard in 2014. Now, does that mental distress justify her sending a bunch of emails to people? No, but it may go a long way to explain them. A really long way. She may not consciously be aware of the repeating obsessive behavior she is engaging in, and therefore, not intentionally engaging in it. (In order to be intentionally doing something, you have to be consciously aware of what you are doing. Tiny little legal fact, but true.)

So…a few weeks ago…in her state of mind of not understanding right and wrong…not really being conscious of what she did wrong originally…and Susan being still obsessed with who was responsible for setting the fire to her yard (and who was walking around free and clear today, having friends cover-up for his/her crime)…well, she sent an email to Tim Lee, asking him to meet her for lunch.

Tim did not write her back, apparently. Don’t know if that email was sent to Tim’s county email address, or his personal email address (and, yeah, it actually might matter, in a legal sense.). Nothing happened after that email until…this past Thursday, March 17th, when Susan was called into Cobb County Magistrate Court.

She went-in, accompanied by her lawyer, and she was looking forward to talking to the judge and showing her that she had a plane ticket to Arizona that had her leaving the next day to visit an intensive mental facility that could have, perhaps, helped heal herself, and get her mind back to functioning without distress.

Chief Magistrate Judge Yvette Holmes didn’t really care about that plane ticket. Instead, she brought-up the email that Susan McCoy sent to Tim Lee a few weeks ago (and, since I was not there, I do not know the entire series of events, nor do I know who else may have been there besides Tim Lee), and sending that email constituted “aggravated stalking”, and Susan McCoy was arrested again on March 17th, with no bail allowed, and now she sits in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, still not consciously, mentally able to digest her state in life.

All because…Ladies & Gentlemen…we have, in this county, a race between Tim Lee, Michael Paris, and Sam Olens, on who can be the biggest SOB in this county. My money is on Michael Paris, but Timmy Lee is only a mule hair’s breadth behind Paris in that race.

So, Susan McCoy sits in jail, on Cobb County taxpayer dimes, when she could be out in Arizona, getting treatment for her mental condition so she could understand what she has done wrong…and instead, the Cobb County Mafia would rather light-up cigars, rub elbows with the Braves’ folks, and think that they are the coolest thing since sliced bread.