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Friday, May 4, 2012

The Lisa Wilson-Rowland Scandal

Part of what we do at The King's View is to honestly size-up certain political situations, and assess the state of various races in Connecticut from a neutral Republican point of view.  The operative word - honestly - is what irks some readers who are unable to see beyond their own personal allegiances (or alliances)  - which includes some who've already been purchased through candidate gifts and favors, or others who've already placed their bets (via campaign donations) on a winning horse, and thus have a vested interest in the outcome. 

The Faces of Fear
Wilson-Foley could cost the CTGOP a Congressional
Seat if she's allowed to continue her scandalous practices

I've long held the belief that there is nothing wrong with backing the candidate of your choosing - so long as your decision is made without strings attached, or without cause for personal gain.  The King has plenty of friends who support candidates who aren't my cup of tea - but I also know that those decisions are based on a specific hot-button issue or perspective that's rooted in reason (in their own crazy minds, of course).  For those like that, we raise our glass, cheer with a smirk of ridicule, drink, and go our separate ways on Election Day.

Then there are those who we detest.  The real political opportunists among us who care more about their personal stake in the game then in the public interest.  Sadly, there are several candidates and political operatives within our own ranks who are multi-millionaires and see politics as a way of advancing their names and position in society (yes, yes - I know  they exist on both sides of the aisle).  Common sense tells you that a person with a net worth of $600 million dollars (or husband worth that) doesn't need a measly $125K a year Senate job to keep themselves afloat.  Nope. Many of these folks have been griped by boredom, or are inspired by advancing themselves to make up for that empty space in their lives - failed marriage, loneliness, personal drive for power and privilege, or to out-do their spouse -on who's success they've always relied upon.  These are the selfish ones among us who we can see coming  from a mile away with their merry band of bottom-feeding opportunists.

Obviously, we can't deny people a livelihood. Some people, like ex-Chairman Chris Healy for example, aren't capable of doing much else.  Their real jobs are merely a cover for their political aspirations.  And quite frankly, many full-time operatives don't need their real jobs because they're independently wealthy based on ties to old money.  Rehashing poor strategists like Healy has led to a string of losses that even Democrats can't take credit for. It's not a shock that King Tut is right, smack dab in the middle of latest campaign controversy.

The last few weeks have been pretty miserable for the overall CTGOP brand in the 5th Congressional District.  It wasn't a surprise to me that Chairman Jerry Labriola made calls last week to try and quell the shelling between waring camps.  It's also no surprise, that the media jackals latched on to every press release, and every word - at times - retweeting and blogging each missile as it exploded over each campaign.  It was not a pretty sight.

And like the rest of you, I've been watching all this with a smirk of amusement, but also with some disgust - opting to reserve comment until the dust settled.

First, I'd like to discuss my take on Former Governor John G. Rowland. His past and present situation, and how it impacts our Party.  Be warned - traditional supporters of this blog may not agree with this unique take on our former Governor; my perspective is a personal one; probably not in keeping with the majority opinion.

Over the course of time, I helped out on several of John Rowland's campaigns - some we lost and some we won.  I admired candidate Rowland for his straight-forward positions and adherence to Republican principles, which I find clearly absent from many of today's shallow, wishy-washy candidates.  And I admired Congressman Rowland for his commitment to his constituents and steadfast support of Republican opposition leaders.  This was back in a time when Connecticut Republicans could brag that they actually held three Congressional seats.  John Rowland's demeanor and perceived strength of character won him public support and successful promotion to the Governor's Office.  Few would argue that most Connecticut residents did pretty well under Governor Rowland - certainly better than under either Governor Rell or current Governor Dannel Malloy.  And the partnerships between himself and opposition leaders were cordial, and yielded progress on behalf of Connecticut on many fronts, and kept the public unions at bay - a stark contrast from today's Gubernatorial advocation from Dannel88.

But then something went wrong. Terribly wrong. Or had it always gone wrong and we just didn't see it?  To this day, I'm still not sure.  

The man - our man - who might have gone on to become Vice President , or even President was caught up in a slimy scandal that destroyed his reputation, ruined his legacy, and placed him behind bars.  For those of us who really liked John Rowland - we felt gutted.  We spent most days after his resignation in a state of denial; defending him, and cursing the liberal media, particularly The Hartford Courant for their relentless, politically-inspired conspiracy to remove a Republican office holder who they knew they couldn't beat fair and square (of course, Bill Curry was no daisy), and deny our Republican Champion an even brighter future.

But the truth is that although the Hartford-based media created the frenzy, the crimes Governor Rowland committed were wrong.  Like so many other politicians before him, the taste of power became his poison and led to his utter downfall.  And if you want to know the truth, that moment kicked off a downward spiral for the entire CTGOP that we've still not recovered from.

But time passed, and it was like Governor Rowland never existed.  He was part of a bad dream, pretty much forgotten.  Since Rowland's exit, the CTGOPs failures have been of our own making - mediocre candidates - including some on the fringe of Old Yankee Thinking, a string of clueless chairmen (current one excluded, of course), and the same old second place strategy which made Democrat held federal offices seem impenetrable to Republicans.

"$30K is the going price to buy
John Rowland; we can double
it! and triple our fortune!"
Then Rowland landed a job on WTIC 1080 as a talk-show host.  It was a clever gig - teaming up with Pastor Will Marotti under the name State and Church.  At first, I was concerned about how the public would take to our newly reformed Governor preaching ethical Government, and his new found faith in the Lord from a 10,000 watt transmitter (Can I get an Amen?).  My first impression was that Pastor Will's job was to serve as life size, on-air, Jiminy Cricket to former Governor Pinocchio.  I thought that perhaps Pastor Will had a special contract with the Blue Fairy to drive the wayward Rowland to and from the studio each day to make certain that he didn't accidentally bump into Honest John or Gideon on the way home, or worse - field a suggestive call from one of them on the air.

For a while the show seemed interesting, but has since trailed off into a tedious, 3-hour long union-bashing filibuster.  Praise God for Traffic and Weather. It's now to the point where the show is impossible to listen to - unless it's hosted solely by Pastor Will who is at least willing to discuss a diverse scope of topics.

But it seems that neither the conscience of Good Pastor Will, or Our Ever-living God could keep Governor Rowland out of trouble.  Just by way of timing, Pastor Will has suddenly become too busy to share the mic with the Ex-Gov.  Can you blame him?

As everyone is aware, we learned from Press reports that Governor Rowland recently found his way back into the world of Connecticut politics.  On the surface, seeing a successful political executive advising candidates from time to time is not unexpected.  But the problem for Lisa Wilson-Foley is that her connection to John Rowland damaged her campaign because of Rowland's criminal past (and possible criminal future); which further soiled her public image.

Lisa Wilson-Foley already has a negative image problem on the street.  The stories about how she acquired her wealth abound in political circles - they also fill my inbox to the point where I feel a need to take a shower after reading them.  It's true, the details are way to filthy for even this blog - and best left for The National Enquirer to exploit.  Sex, lies and scandal are just a way of life for the millionaire elite among us.  And gold-digging isn't a crime in itself, but hubby-hopping is not exactly on par with any respectable candidate that I know.  But maybe I'm just old fashioned, right?  In a day where might makes right - if you can steal some one's family fortune - more power to you.  Or perhaps not.  I don't know.  This is as far as I will go with this story.  Now everyone in the other camps stop accusing me of running cover for Lisa Wilson-Foley.

As we know from how the political game is played - the loopholes in the way something is done allows people to tell half-truths which in their own minds become full truths.  It's sort of like Lisa Wilson-Foley saying that John Rowland never worked on her campaign as a paid employee - well sure... not officially.... but by the miracle of coincidence it was learned that he was paid $30,000 by Apple Rehab which it just so happens that Lisa Wilson-Foley runs.  I'm going to go out on limb and guess that John Rowland wasn't emptying bedpans, or advising nurses on to train old ladies to use walkers. 

See, that's how the game is played.  Nothing to see here claims Chris Healy, time to move forward and send out emails with links to warm and fuzzy videos of Lisa Wilson-Foley as a loving mom and wife and Blah, Blah, Blah.  Lisa wants to create jobs -  Blah, Blah, Blah. Lisa wants to clean up Washington? Blah, Blah, Blah. Are you **itting meIt's too late.  It's just too f'n late for that revisionist history. How about - cleaning up your own life, never mind Washington.

And you have to give credit to Mark Greenberg for having the courage to stand up and call Rowland out for suggesting that Greenberg pay Rowland through an animal shelter for political consulting.  Greenberg could smell a scandal brewing and had the decency to decide that he was going to run a respectable campaign - without help from the establishment and without controversy. 

"You won't believe who got
caught behind Door No. 2"
The biggest credit goes to Mike Clark who exposed Lisa Wilson-Foley's scandalous payments (via her husband) to John Rowland.  As everyone knows, the G-Man has a long history with John Rowland - after all, he was responsible for overseeing the criminal investigation of Rowland and sending him to prison for 10 months.  You would really have to wonder what went through the minds of Lisa Wilson-Foley, Chris Healy, and others to make such a blunderous mistake by engaging in a money laundering type scheme - and do it while in the midst of competing for a Congressional Seat against the very FBI Agent who put Rowland away?  Are they just THAT stupid??

And not that Mike Clark would ever cross the line, but don't you think that his old FBI friends are watching all of this with great interest?  If a well-grounded Mike Clark is expressing outrage then perhaps there is more to this than simply what is political?

Considering direct connection between Rowland's payoff and Apple Rehab, perhaps authorities might be keen to take a closer look at Apple Rehab's books to find out where else the money trail might lead to.  Let's not forget that Apple Rehab likely has government contracts which obligate them to strict adherence to certain federal laws.  This again begs the question as to why Apple Rehab would hire/pay a convicted felon in the first place.

If any of you think that after all that's transpired that federal authorities are done investigating the questionable practices of Lisa Wilson-Foley's campaign, then those associated with Scandal, Inc. shouldn't bother watching what you put in print or text, or say over phone.  

Keep talking; you've given everyone a reason to listen.

Want more? Did you hear the latest?  Yesterday, Candidate Ken Krayeske filed and Federal Elections Commission complaint against Lisa Wilson-Foley's campaign for "acceptance of valuable air-time as a contribution that benefited the campaign and for failing to report this contribution of air-time by CBS Radio Inc. and its agent John Rowland since it appears to have benefited her campaign." (from the article linked). 

The fact that Lisa Wilson-Foley continues to rack up endorsements from Town Committees and certain members of the establishment - even after her lack of judgment has been exposed in the press - goes to show EVERYONE just how deep-rooted the corruption is within the CTGOP.  If Chairman Labriola thought the shady tactics of the Linda McMahon camp were going to be his only problem, he was wrong.  But he has to stay awake at night wondering, what am I going to do with all of these self-sabotaging imbeciles? 

Don't you think Democrats are licking their chops at the prospect of watching Lisa Wilson-Foley collapse under the weight of her own scandalous campaign?

You know with all the criticism that can be laid at Justin Bernier for trying to hijack the process, or at Andrew Roraback for his moderate positions, you'd have to hope that somehow, somewhere - the other candidates in the 5th District do everything in their power to combine forces at the State Convention to make certain that Lisa Wilson-Foley crashes and burns before she can embarrass the Party by receiving nomination by paid-delegates.   If not, you guys might as well just save time and endorse Donovan for Congress - because a nomination for Lisa Wilson-Foley all but guarantees that result.

Well, Lisa can always look on the bright side. She can always go back to donating to Democrats.

Stay tuned, there's much more to come...

I AM

THE KING


This original blog entry can be found at http://www.thekingsview.blogspot.com
Disclaimer: This entry and others will be modified/updated at a future date. All entries are for the sole purpose of entertainment. This article does not imply endorsement of the candidate mentioned above, nor has this article been solicited for publication by any political candidate, campaign, or PAC.

5 comments:

  1. Majesty -

    You have it correct. Lisa Wilson-Foley is the worst possible choice for the Fifth. Her husband eggs her on like the dweeb he is. You can't find a more disgusting couple.

    Ask Lisa what happens on Tuesday nights and you'll find that she's hardly the role model for young women that she claims to be.

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  2. LWF forced Healy take down his blog because he could keep his big mouth shut. Healy is the GOPs biggest cancer. Good luck getting rid of him - he thinks he's the center of the universe. He still has Catherine Marx eating out of his hand like a dog, and running around like his personal she-servant.

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  3. Mike Clark is the only candidate in the 5th district I have complete trust in.I'm afraid the Rowland scandal has made it impossible for Republicans to winin November because the Democrats will dog them on this. The Chairman of our party should have taken a loud stand against this. It appears like the death penalty he thinks he can hide. That's not leadership. God I'm sotired of seeing us lose. We are doomed again I fear.
    Carol

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  4. This is exactly why CT Gop must insist upon full disclosure by delegates. Not passing the resolutions exposed the party to both Wilson Foley and McMahons corrupt practices. Now there s no fire wall between to protect Ct Gop from these viral strains.

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  5. It was too bad to hear about Roraback's vote for legalizing marijuana. He had such a promising career, and now he's killed himself; he's just another CTGOP idiot who can't tell right from wrong.

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