Are they finally turning on each other?

Ok, I can't let this go any longer. The whole "Heathergate," Heather Bresch, Manchin, WVU EMBA scandal would be something that the ol' Binger would normally be commenting on daily. But I just can't devote as much time to this as I would like. But, for a quick primer, for those who've been living under a rock for the past month here's a quick "get up to speed" lesson. Just go over to the Fifth Column, and read the posts and comments there over the last month or so.

That will give you all the details, and links to those details, to get a good idea of what's going on.

But, as this whole thing is sort of quieting down, in that the "panel" has been picked and are going to start their investigation soon, there are going to be little dribs and drabs, slipping out. Like in today's Daily Athenaeum, where the cracks in the already shaky WVU official position, start to get a little bigger.

Sears, the Business school dean (who did a hilarious "ants in my pants" impression on Bray Cary's Decision Makers show a couple weeks ago), says he resolved this degree discrepancy, based on information given to him by Professor Paul Speaker, and EMBA Program Director, Gerald Blakely.

Now, it appears, that Sears had his mind already made up, when he asked Blakely for the information. In the DA article, Blakely said he provided a summary of the evidence, but it wasn't all developed in his office, to Dean Sears regarding the information on Bresch's coursework. "It was prepared to support his (Sears') conclusion that she had met all the requirements,” Blakely said.

Even more interesting, Speaker said he never spoke to Sears about this. Again, after Sears referred to "consulting with and relying on" evidence from Speaker, AND Blakely.

Blakely quickly denies any part of making the call Bresch earned her MBA, on behalf of himself AND his department. He appears to lay the "call" at Sears, and seems to assert Sears did it, with evidence that was questionable.

Blakely also says, "My belief is that the University panelist is the proper place to find out what’s gone on." To find out “whether Dean Sears is right or wrong or what’s gone on.”

Could they finally be turning on each other? Who's going to start blaming who? Who's going to blow the whistle, to save their own skin?

This is how things unravel. This is how the original "gate" snowballed, and became a part of our lexicon.

We can only hope the same result happens here.

We deserve it.

WVU deserves it.

And most importantly, legitimate WVU graduates deserve it.

Maybe Hoppy needs to re-evaluate his observation skills.

47 to 5. Take that, Garrison fanboys. The faculty Senate at WVU sent you and your posterchild for all things bad about West Virginia politics, a nice big fat steaming cup of "HELL NO." They voted 47 to 5 to support Nellis for the President's position. That's a resounding defeat. They weren't even close to supporting Garrison. Good for them. Faculty were getting the blow off on the whole selection process anyway, and were smart enough to see what was really going on here. Maybe the fact they got railroaded when Davey Boy became president, caused them to take a little more action this time. They at least get kudos for getting themselves more organized this time.

The reality of this whole situation is probably still already decided, however. The Selection Committee will still pick Garrison, and that will be the choice the Faculty have to live with. It was interesting to see in the Gazette's article on this, that the Student Government reps on the Selection Committee are for Garrison. Well, of COURSE they are. They know that if they support the done deal choice for Garrison, Garrison will be more apt to help those little climbers in a few years when they need a good suckass job in government, or with one of Garrison's business contacts. And the Gazette didn't disappoint in that it spent more time talking about how the student reps were dazzled and wowed by Garrison, as opposed to the actual reasons why the faculty senate voted the way it did. Garrison spoke glowingly of how he thought he had the students' support, but surprisingly lost his voice when asked about the faculty senate vote. The Gazette's preference for Garrison has been well documented by Hippie Killer over at the Fifth Column.

The faculty can make Garrison's life a little more difficult with this vote if the outrage over Garrison is sustained. Or more likely, the outrage over his selection will eventually flame out and he'll coast along, making 300 grand with a house, car, expense account, etc., for a job he's not remotely qualified for, but more than connected enough for. I'd call that par for the course for West Virginia. That's what happened with Davey Boy. Joe Simoni and some other faculty tried to fight the Hardesty selection in the courts at the time, but were rebuffed every time and eventually the hubub died down, and Dave has led the University to........ uh.......... um........now. If there were massive improvements to WVU's academic standing in the last 12 years, I'm pretty sure I've missed it.

Then again, maybe this will be an instance where the politicos and ruling government class will take note of what the people want, and re-examine their search process. That would be the best outcome. But I'm not betting on it.

But the real story here is, how this situation is almost in verbatim conjunction with this blog's stated purpose, going back to my very first post over two years ago where I stated:

In the realm of talk radio, Hoppy Kercheval's Metro News Talkline is probably the most important talk radio show on West Virginia politics, but again, he's a bit too cozy with some of the political elite on occasion.

Hoppy, for almost a solid week now, has done nothing but pimp for Garrison, while in the next breath immediately professing he doesn't have any inside information, and tries to come off as "impartial."

The most egregious act of pimpage, however, came yesterday in Hoppy's column. He fawned over how "well" Garrison did at his Q&A session with the faculty. Oh yes, he managed to handle "every" question with the perfect answer. Let's review Hoppy's column.

Garrison was at his fortress best yesterday afternoon as he stood before over 300 WVU faculty, staff and students and took questions and comments for 90 minutes.

Finally, The Fortress was on his turf, answering the criticisms and questions about his qualifications for the WVU Presidency.

According to Hoppy, who was at the Q&A session, Garrison was at his "best," answering the questions (Hoppy nicknamed Garrison "The Fortress" during his days in the Wise administration).

On his modest academic accomplishments: “I have a different background.”

Well, no kidding. What a BRILLIANT answer. And this is what Hoppy classifies as handling himself well? Saying “Uh, you are right, I don’t have the same education background as almost every other higher education president in the country but I should get this job anyway because of who my friends are,” is a good answer? How is that addressing the issue? Admitting he’s not got the background that faculty is looking for (and is the accepted background in all but a few similar positions in the whole country) you are looking for, is somehow a “good” answer? Hoppy, come on. Don’t patronize us.

On his age, 38: “I have the energy level, the passion, the fire in the belly” to do the job.

Well, there you go. Slam dunk. He says he’s got the energy to do this job. That’s a clincher.

On his connections to the search committee and the Board of Governors: “There is no conflict of interest.”

Who knew that Garrison would use the Jedi Mind trick on the audience? Stunningly brilliant. More telling, however, is that it apparently worked on Hoppy. He should have followed this up with “These aren’t the droids you are looking for.” Obviously, if he says there's no conflict of interest, there isn't one. Who knew it was that simple?

On his priorities: Number one, more pay for faculty and staff.

No shit? He wants more money for faculty and staff pay? He probably wants world peace too. And puppies for everyone. Just how is he going to acquire more money for faculty and staff? Last I checked, he was running Wise’s administration when 10% budget cuts were the yearly norm for Higher Education. With friends like him, I doubt Higher Ed in West Virginia can handle too many more enemies. And I don’t recall any Fanny Seiler columns when he was Tax Commissioner telling everyone how he managed to jack up the salaries of Tax Department employees. Based on this record of acquiring funds for salaries while he was in charge, if I were an employee of WVU, I’d hold off on spending my raise just yet. I know, call me crazy.

On the ever-expanding University: “Growth for growth’s sake is a mistake”

Really? Did he get that off the back of a fortune cookie? Nice soundbite. I’m sure he practiced it over and over in front of the mirror before he took the podium. He probably even believes it. Well, at least we know he won't allow growth for "growth's sake." Whew. That's a relief. I'm sure that was a big concern the faculty had.

Yes, Garrison held his own, not with soaring vision or excessive higher education speak, but with a cool, collected demeanor that showed he has confidence he can do the job, even if some academics think otherwise.

So, “cool, collected demeanor” trumps substantive answers? Cliches and soundbites trump specifics? Jeez, Hoppy, you sure are easy to please. How about, “I just want to give 110%.” Or “We have to play them one game at a time.” Or “We are going to work hard, and do our best.” I guess that would be “holding his own” too?

Garrison was helped by the fact that during the limited time frame some of the faculty questions were self-absorbed monologues that lacked punctuation and purpose. By the time a couple of the questioners finished their painful posturing it was a relief to listen to Garrison, even if he had nothing substantial to say on the subject.

So, some of the faculty questions were self absorbed monologues, and that is bad, but Garrison answers with nothing substantive, and 100% clichéd and political “rah-rah” answers, and that’s good? This is example A of why this State’s media is pathetic. Hoppy lets EVERY SINGLE FREAKING politico on his show give those “self absorbed monologues” as the answers to HIS questions, and then he NEVER challenges them. Hoppy will ask a straightforward question, and the politico gives the equivalent of a “self absorbed monologue,” as their answer, and then Hoppy takes it and moves on. He NEVER pins them down, and they KNOW they can get away with softball answers on his show. Why? Because Hoppy’s livelihood DEPENDS on his access to them. If they don’t go on Hoppy’s show, because Hoppy calls them on their bullshit, then Hoppy has no show. Hoppy knows this, so he never calls them on their bullshit. And he’s going to need access to Garrison if he’s the next President (and Hoppy knows he’ll be the next President, regardless of what he says on his show), so he gobbles up his bullshit too, and prints glowing, fawning, puff pieces on him on Metronews’ website.

A few faculty members said afterward that Garrison won them over, or at least they were not as worried about him as they were before they heard from him. When it was over, most of his critics' cannon shots had whizzed by The Fortress or, if they made contact, barely caused a splinter.

"They whizzed right by, or only caused splinters?" A 47-5 vote in the WVU Faculty Senate would indicate otherwise. Some of them, apparently, landed squarely in his wheelhouse and exploded. Nice job, Hoppy, you completely misread (or misrepresented) the faculty response to the Q&A session. But hey, don't let that get in your way of your constant pimping for Garrison. We know you need access to him for your livelihood. It's just a shame you can't put that aside, once in a while, and give us the straight story, and call "Bullshit" on occasion.

“Uhhhhhhhhh, Mr. Garrison, I have just one more question.”

Ok, by now, everyone knows that Mike Garrison will be the next President at WVU. Everyone knows it. Garrison has been angling for this job ever since he first shoved his head up Alan Hammock and Bowtie Bob DiClerico’s collective ass. He’s been student body president (yay, WVU student government elections have a such a pathetic voter turn out, you can win if you can manage to get half of your dorm floor buddies to vote for you – and you can easily accomplish that with a couple cases of free beer), he’s been this scholar or that. He’s been to Oxford (though according to comments at The Fifth Column, he dropped out – to me, that makes him a quitter). He’s been a smarmy law student who was on Moot Court, and now evidently, according to HK over at the Fifth Column, he’s playing somewhat fast and loose with his resume about whether he graduated with “honors” or not. You can agree or disagree, but stretching the truth, wouldn’t be something I’d put past Mikey.

So, he now gets out of law school, and goes to work for one of the smarmy defense firms, but quickly latches on as Tax Commissioner under Bob Wise. What the hell? Tax Commissioner? What the hell did he know about taxes? He got that job purely because he knew Wise. But he was surely qualified to be Tax Commissioner. Oh yes, he was so qualified he held that job for all of about 10 seconds, before being bumped up to Chief of Staff. Oh yes, he’s just quite the little political climber. But, let’s not stop there, noooooooo. Wise then appoints him to the Higher Education Policy Commission. I’m kind of surprised WVU mentions that. I would be afraid it might set off a fatal case of déjà vu, considering the bullshit maneuver that got Hardesty got the job in the first place. For those who don’t remember, Hardesty was on the Board of Trustees – the precursor to the Policy Commission – and they picked the new president. Of course, Hardesty stepped down as a BoT member, when he applied, but obviously, he had quite a few buddies on that Board. He made it to the top three choices (he and two other no-names, who both had infinitely more experience in higher education than Dave). But the BoT decided to simply sit on the selection, until the other two candidates eventually withdrew their names (after they took other employment) and then said, “Well, I guess we have to go with Dave, he’s the only candidate left. What a coincidence too, because he’s the one we would have picked anyway”

So, we have Garrison as the lock now. That’s really no surprise. Hell, I figured this out about 10 seconds after Hardesty announced his resignation back in August. But, that’s backroom politics as usual in West Virginia, we shouldn’t be surprised.

The other two candidates on the short list, are what one would call “traditional” or “old school” type candidates. Candidates who have spent long chunks of their careers, dealing with the ins and outs of higher ed life. They’ve been in the trenches, and done the dirty work, and knows what actually goes on in a university. One is currently the Provost (ie, the 2nd in command) at Kansas State, and previously served as an academic Dean at WVU. He’s spent 25 or so years in higher ed. The other is also a lifelong higher education guy. He’s been a Dean, a teaching fellow, and is currently a university president. He’s spent 30+ years in higher education administration. These two guys are imminently more qualified to run WVU. They know infinitely more about a university, and it’s primary goal of academics, than Garrison ever will hope to know in 10 lifetimes.

But the REAL insult in this whole mess is more subtle, and totally exposes the “selection” for the total sham this thing is, if you just think about it for a second. Everyone knows Garrison is going to get the job. People like Hoppy Kercheval say stuff like “Oh, well, I don’t know who’s going to get it,” and he’s lying right through his teeth. Then people like Hoppy will hedge their bets by following it up with, “Well, you know the job of a university president isn’t the same as it used to be. It’s more about fundraising and schmoozing, and dealing with the legislature, and blah blah blah.” Maybe so. Maybe that IS the new breed of university presidents. No more working your way up through the ranks of faculty, to a dean’s job, to a provost, and then to a president. No, now all you have to do is be the right politician’s buddy, and viola, instant president material.

So, let’s assume that’s true, the job description now doesn’t lend itself to the “old school” type presidential candidates. And that “new” type of job description is what makes Garrison sooooooo attractive as a candidate, that the selection committee will most certainly use that as their justification for picking Garrison. So, now we come to what I’ll call the “Columbo moment.” For those who are too young to remember, Columbo was this TV detective who would investigate murders or crimes or whatever, and talk to all these people, and then he would go to the main “suspect” and talk to him as if Columbo was convinced the guy DIDN’T commit the crime. And as he got ready to leave, Columbo would then stop and say, “I have just one question……” and this question would invariably be the one question the suspect couldn’t provide an adequate answer to, and prove beyond a doubt that Columbo knew the guy did it and could prove it in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

So, we come to the Garrison “Columbo moment.” Ahem. In my best Peter Falk voice, with my rumpled trenchcoat on and a half-burnt cigar in my hand.

“I’m sure you’ll make a fine president, Mr. Garrison, and the search committee has obviously done its job well. They see in you all the qualities that are now needed as a university president. You are the epitome of the “new” breed of university president, much more suited than the “old school” type presidents to respond to the demands of running a university in today’s world. I’m sure this was an open, and honest search, and you are clearly the best qualified candidate. I wish you luck.

“Oh, I have just one question before I go. If the search committee knows the new trend in university presidents are the same type of candidates as you are, and this is the most important quality for a university president in today's world, why are the other two finalists, old school presidents, and not the same type of “new breed” university president as yourself?”

See, if they truly were wanting someone with the same background as yourself, you’d think they’d have more than one candidate in the entire candidate pool. And then they’d have more than one of those types of candidates in their final three. That is, if they truly had an honest search.”

This whole episode is a perfect example of why West Virginia is a joke.

The Legislature wants to give themselves a pay raise.

...........And that's all I gotta say.





Since I did get some publicity in this week's Sunday Gazette Mail in their little "Outlook - Personal Technology" extra section in an article about blogging, I figured the least I could do would be give the few hardy souls who managed to find this blog a new entry. Even though the article got the address wrong, if you are reading this, you managed to find it in spite of that, so give yourself a pat on the back.

In last year's hysterically funny HBO Special, "Red White and Screwed," Lewis Black is riffing on the politicians. This is about 2 or so months after Cheney shoots his friend while quail hunting. At one point during his act, Black simply says, "Dick Cheney," and the crowd erupts in laughter, knowing immediately the absurdity of the Dick Cheney quail hunting episode. Black shrugs his shoulders, and says, "And that's all I gotta say." The crowd laughs even harder [check out the clip on Youtube, here].

Black illustrates the pure absurdity of simply mentioning Cheney's name, and the audience is immediately in on the joke. The joke doesn't even have to be said. The mere mention of Cheney's name is both the lead up and the punchline of the joke, all in one.

That is the identical situation with the WV Legislature even considering giving themselves a pay raise. You don't even have to explain the reasons why it is beyond ridiculous. You just have to simply say, "The WV Legislature is thinking about giving themselves a raise," and hilarity ensues. Every person who isn't related to some clown in the legislature, knows immediately the outrageousness of even considering the thought of a legislative pay raise.

But, just like Black, I can't leave well enough alone. He then goes on to do a bit about the actual hunting trip, and it just gets more hilarious. So, I guess I'll have to indulge the Delegate John Doyle's of this world, and reply to their idiocy of giving themselves a raise. Doyle (and many others in the Dome, including Papa Joe Cheerleader himself) will pollute the airwaves with several arguments in favor of the raise. For instance, you'll hear "You have to pay legislators better, because you need to get and keep qualified people in the legislature." So, since the pay sucks now, does that mean the current crop of legislators, aren't qualified or good candidates? I mean, with pay this low (if you buy their nonsense), obviously we aren't going to attract good, qualified candidates. So, what does that say about the quality of the jokers already in there? I'd say it means their quality is already suspect, if you believe their argument for giving themselves a raise. And if their reply to that is, "Well, no, the quality of the legislators now is pretty good." Then the obvious reply to that would be, "Well then, pay must not be much of an issue, if these good qualified candidates signed on for their terms with the pay as low as it is. I see no reason to raise it."

And, let's assume the pay IS too low. I don't see a huge exodus of these "good and qualified" legislators from the Legislature, on their own volition. No, the only time they leave, is a) they get a better gig (i.e., J.D. Beane, and countless others), b) they get beat in an election (which rarely happens), or c) they "voluntarily" step down (so they can run in some other election, i.e., Chris Wakim). Hell, even people like Bob Kiss don't "voluntarily" step down, even though that's how it's portrayed in the media (and nobody in the media has the guts to call him on it to his face - but not here at the Sweatbox). He was essentially forced out, because of the potential flap about his residency issues. Nobody leaves the legislature because of low pay, and for anyone to imply they do, is an insult to yours, mine, and every West Virginian's intelligence.

So, without some evidence of a huge exodus of these great and wonderfully qualified legislators, I can't see how pay would be a problem. It's obviously not bad enough for them to be leaving in droves of their own volition, so again, we are back to "Well, it must not be too bad." Hell, they act like having some turnover in the legislature would be a BAD thing. Hell, we should be thinking of ways to INCREASE the turnover, if their past performance in running this state, is any indication of what's to come. Hell, take away their pay entirely. Maybe more of them would leave.

They'll also trot out the "Well, this IS a full time job, blah blah blah," and "We do so much work during the session, and then we have interims and we are always taking constituent calls 24/7." Uh, last time I checked, nobody held a gun to their heads, and FORCED them to run for office. If they expected this "job" (and I use that term, with the utmost sarcasm I can muster) to be some sort of "60 days, go home, see ya' next year" type thing, then they are morons for not adequately determining the job's demands before they took it. Plus, they TOOK that job, KNOWING what it paid. If they didn't, well, then they are they are bigger morons than even I give them credit for, and they deserve nothing less than a nice little public tarring and feathering for their ignorance.

And lastly, if their pay (like everyone else's on the planet) is somehow tied to performance of their job duties, one only has to look at the current economic state of West Virginia under their leadership and immediately conclude that we might actually be better off just buying some monkeys and letting them run around the Capitol and throw their poo at each other. Hell, it couldn't be any worse than it is now. And it would be infinitely more entertaining.

I mean, there is just NO way to adequately defend their position. That's why the entire joke, start to finish, is simply "The Legislature wants to give themselves a pay raise."

Oh, I just couldn't stay away any longer.

Hmmmm. Where to start. There's so much I could write about over the last 3 months, so I'll just throw out some short comments on a couple different things.

Let's go with some shots at our old pal Chicago Furlip (Mike Agnello) on 58 Live. Oh, how I loved to hear him squak and squeal like a little baby who got his toy taken away after the mid term elections. I guess they don't teach you how to be a good loser in Chicago. They must teach you how to be just a loser. Oh, yes, Don Blankenship and company were going to come in and clean house. Oh yes. Newsflash. Don's boys, along with Republicans in general got, to quote our very own President, "a thumpin'!!" And Furlip was just all up in arms about this complaint and that. For instance, he complained that Carrie Webster took some unfair shots at her republican opponent. Well boo hoo, freaking, hoo, Furlip. You want to play in the pigpen, don't complain about getting dirty. Yeah, I know, this is so three weeks ago, but I felt I had to comment.

Second, another thing Furlip and company have really done lately, is they are turning 58 live, what used to be a political talk show, into some version of the community bulletin board. Sure, their political views were infuriating, but still, there was an crumb of intelligence involved in that we could at least count on Furlip and company to actually take the right wing talking points memo off the email and read it on air. They now spend more time talking about this canned food drive, or this spaghetti dinner, or this christmas concert, than anything substantive. And it's almost always connected to some church, or some minister is on there shilling for his latest shindig. I have no problem with religion. If you want to practice it, by all means, pray your little heart out, and sing all the songs you want. But please spare me the minute details on a daily basis. I don't bore you with the details of my conversations with the Almighty, why don't you try the same. This has gotten so bad, I'm listening to those two Marshall idiots (along with moronic Delegate Danny Wells) on 1240AM sports in the evening, because at least they talk about the day's relevant sports issues, as opposed to simply shilling the next covered dish dinner and 580AM remote broadcast for 2 hours.

Also, in keeping with this, has anyone heard Furlip's little holiday greeting on the radio of, "Merry Christmas, and Blessed New Year?" See, this jackass can't even do it normal, like everyone else. I've never heard anyone ever say that. It's always, "Merry Christmas, and a HAPPY New Year." But no, Furlip has to revert to his past as a tent show evangelist and throw "bless" in there, which, one can only assume is short for "God Bless." No, Furlip can crow on and on about the "war on christmas" but he has no problem changing his little "holiday" saying to be even MORE religious. If I want to be preached to, I'll watch that guy scream at me on Monday nights from 8 to 8:30 on that local access tv channel.

And lastly, oh, how the whines came fast and furious the other day when Papa Joe suggested tying the table games to seniors' in home health care costs. That way, if you are a legislator against table games they can paint you as against senior citizens. Ohhhhhhh, how Furlip whined and bitched and moaned about "Oh, that's just crap. That's not fair. If you want to argue the merits of table games, just say they'll bring in good paying jobs, we need the money, it'll spur other businesses like hotels and restaurants, etc., and then we can debate that." What a bunch of crap. Agnello doesn't want any debate on table games, beyond, "Gambling's bad, we shouldn't have table games." His plea for a "debate" on the issue is even more disingenuous than Manchin's tying table games to seniors' home health care costs. I hope table games passes and every time I play blackjack at Tri-State, I'll think how much that will piss off Furlip. Hell, I'd play almost for that satisfaction alone.

Oh, who's next. Let's go with Slick Vic Sprouse. First, he can't even man up on his not seeking the minorty leader post. On his own blog, he claims the biggest reason for him not seeking it this term, is because he's not sure if he wants it or not. Are you kidding me? I guess we shouldn't really expect any sort of honesty from Sprouse. He wants it the post. But he knows he's a liability to the party because of his personal life's shenanigans. So much a liability that his party's senators can't vote for him in good conscience. But according to Sprouse himself, that's not the main reason he's stepping down. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. I guess that type of bullshit is about par for the course, for Slick Vic. Honesty and humility, are about last on his list of concerns. He also goes on about "and I don't think I have the votes, either" as another reason for his quitting. Well, he's at least right about that. He doesn't have the votes. None of Republicans in the Senate can vote for him without taking a beating from their own constitutents who think Sprouse is a scumbag.

And then, he has another post on his blog about how Wanda Carney and Betty Jarvis (two recently convicted criminals) aren't really guilty of anything. Well, the public record begs to differ with Sprouse. But Sprouse is the type of guy who also doesn't see anything wrong with not recusing himself from the Senate vote on his fiancee, Ms. Lanning, being appointed to the State Board of Phyiscal Therapy, either, so, I guess you have to again (unpleasant as it may be) consider the source. Ethics is definitely not Vic's strong suit.

Hmmmmmm, we've cracked on several republicans, let's smack the Democrats around. I think I heard Clinton say right after the election, the democrats have a chance, not a mandate, after the midterm elections. He's dead on about that. Another example of how astute a politician he is. I just hope they use the next couple years to pass some meaningful legislation, and not just turn this into a democratic witch hunt for what's left of the current administration. Then again, they are politicians, so I guess expecting them to act like adults is a pretty tall order. Maybe if they screw up too, a viable third party will emerge. But I doubt it. Oh, and please, for God's sake, don't run Hillary for president in '08. You've got some potentially winning candidates if you'd just pay attention. If you are going to run Hillary, just run that loser Kerry instead, and you can at least save money on reprinting campaign signs and just use the ones left over from his last presidential disaster.

What's worse than being greedy? Being ungrateful AND greedy.

This story has been kicking around for about a week, and not getting too much coverage, beyond a few little news items in the papers.

The Charleston Area Alliance, some sort of non-profit (today's codeword for "scam funded partially by you and me through "grants" of our tax dollars") pro-business facilitator group, hired this Patricia Bradley Pitrolo chick. Not only did they hire her, they created a position specifically for her, and then hired her in at $44,000 in May of 2005. Evidently, the Alliance has money to burn, if they can just create 40+ grand positions on a whim. Of course, this is only a couple months after her husband, Jim Pitrolo, waltzes in with Papa Joe Cheerleader to be his legislative director. Evidently, wifey needed something to do here in Charleston. So, The Alliance, a group that gets a ton of government money to promote "economic development" (I can't begin to tell you how much I hate that collossally overused, cliched, and completely devoid of any real meaning term, so I think I'll just call it ED from now on since ED also means something else - think "Check with your doctor if something lasts more than four hours") creates a position specfically for her. $44,000 isn't a bad salary, especially for someone who's not got the greatest track record when it comes to being honest. From the July 29, 2006, Gazette:

In 1990, Pitrolo, a former delegate from Hancock County, was charged with failing to report on her taxes that she accepted money from a lobbyist representing Tri-State Greyhound Park.
Before accepting a $376 payment, which helped cover expenses for a vacation, Pitrolo had supported a law that would have allowed Tri-State and other racing tracks to get a bigger share of the money wagered by bettors. She was convicted of a misdemeanor, paid a $1,000 fine and served two years’ probation.

The Gazette also said that The Alliance's Executive Director, Bill Goode was unaware of her conviction when he hired her. So, this whizbang Alliance wheels and deals for ED, hoping businesses will spend millions here, and it wines and dines and kisses their asses. Millions, maybe tens or hundreds of millions are possibly at stake. But its Executive Director, hires someone off the street into a position that was created specifically for that person, but he doesn't even know enough about that individual, to know they have a misdemeanor conviction for what appeared to be close to a bribe taking incident on their record? That sounds like the same ridiculous obvliviousness that got Putnam General in its current hot water. Unless it's a lie.

But anyway, $45,000 isn't enough for the former disgraced legislator convicted of shady dealings. No, she needed more. So, within a year, she is making $58,000. In just over a year, she had her salary increased by approximately 33%.

You'd think, that after a place CREATED a position just for you, AND increased your salary by 1/3 after a year's work, the least you could be is content. I know, I know, $58,000 yearly salary isn't enough money to make you secure for life. But the average West Virginian would probably be supremely content with that kind of dough.

But not Patty. Nooooooo, she had to actually quit in a little huff over the fact some of the administrators made more than she did. One evidently was hired in recently at about $90,000, and she felt she was gettin' dissed, yo. Awwwwwwwwww. Poor baby. 58 grand is dissing you.

She abruptly turned in a letter detailing WHY she is quitting. Of course, The Allliance then immediately (and showing its true colors - yellow) hides behind "Oh, we don't have to disclose that letter, it's a personnel matter." Never mind this group evidently gets money from you and me. It gets 150 grand a year from the County, and the City and the State probably kick in some too to help promote ED too (they also get $$ from businesses who are "members" who pay yearly dues - the point here is that they DO get 150g's a year from the county, and like I said, probably some state and city money too).

Cry me a freaking river.

It's not enough her hubby is probably pulling down close to 100 grand. It's not enough that because her hubby is Papa Joe's buddy she got the job created for her in the first place. It's not enough in a year, her salary jumps by 1/3.

No, none of that is enough to make Patty happy. She has to complain she's not getting enough of the free taxpayer money. It's like she found a 20 dollar bill in her winter coat the first time she puts it on one winter, and then she bitches because it isn't a 50.

But what's even more disgusting, is the support she is getting from Worker Tax Danny Jones. Oh, he can't stop raving about how great she is, blah blah blah. He even had a personal meeting with her to see if he could find any way to keep her from quitting. Of course, this is also the same guy who has done nothing but pass his little cash grab and pay his buddies big bucks at city hall, all while claiming the city has no money. And Dave Hardy, the County Commission's rep on The Alliance's board was also quite muted in his criticism of her, same with Kent Carper.

Let her quit. That's 60 grand a year The Alliance can use to hire someone else. If this chick is so freaking good at what she does, and is so freaking invaluable to kissing ass or whatever the hell it is she does, why is she still in the boonies of WV? She should be running some national fundraising campaign or something. WV should be small potatoes for her.

Unless, like I said, her only qualification is who she's married to, and nobody outside WV gives a crap who she is.

Ungrateful and greedy. Just the type of people we need running the show here in WV. With this type of leadership, we deserve to suffer.

I'm still cynical, but.........

This guy has been on the radio, newspaper, etc. lately pushing this book. Dr. Allen Loughry evidently is a clerk for Justice Elliot "Spike" Maynard. Of course, Maynard is big buddies with Don Blankenship. He didn't finance his campaign, like he did with Justice Brent Benjamin, but evidently, Blakenship and Maynard have at least had dinner at the Chop House together. That alone is normally enough to raise the red flag of cynicism, at least in my book.

But, "Don't Buy Another Vote, I Won't Pay for Another Landslide" appears to be fairly evenhanded (at least at first glance) in its accounts of the scumbags, thieves, clowns, and incompetents of the political arena that have feasted practically unfettered on the citizens of West Virginia. I haven't read the whole thing, in fact I've just started sifting through it, but it does appear to be somewhat non-partisan. It also seems to have at least a small bit of outrage (we love outrage here at the Sweatbox) at the political crap and shenanigans we are constantly exposed to. If you get it (and I do give it the preliminary "thumbs up," subject to change after I read more of it - you can pick it up at Taylor Books) I suggest quickly turning to the later chapters, dealing with the most recent cast of political crooks and clowns (including many that are still in office or at least still on the scene).

For example, the Bob Wise stuff is kind of neat. Ol' Bob even gets a bit salty with his language in an interview with Loughry on page 363 when talking about his own little scandal.

Just prior to Wise's 2005 departure from the Governor's office, I interviewed him at length about West Virginia's politics. I asked him specifically whether he felt that events in a politician's life which create negative attention to State politics and amounts to violations of the public trust, create further apathy among voters. I have to admit that I was glad this was my last interview question for Governor Wise, because his tone changed dramatically. He said, "Quite frankly, I think that's bullshit." He said, "Nobody has come up to me in a year and a half and said anything other than sympathy. But what they're mostly concerned about is am I getting the job done." He then said, "If that's the situation, then talk to Bill Clinton, talk to Rudy Giuliani, talk to a whole bunch of people. I had the press on me a lot more than I had the voters. That's not to any way soft-pedal what I did, it was wrong on a personal basis, but in terms of voter apathy, I think that's crap."

Loughry then thinks to himself the next logical question is, "Are you really that naive?" He doesn't ask it, but he doesn't really need to at that point. Wise's answer is sufficient to show his complete disconnect to average Joe West Virginian. Especially in light of the previous couple of pages where Loughry writes about Wise's reaction to the Clinton scandal, or how the same situation (two married individuals having a fling, one an employee of the other, and using company $$ to facilitate their trysts) would be looked at with extreme disapproval (or worse) in the private sector.

If this is any indication of what the rest of the book contains, I'm sure his chapters on Moore, Wally Baron, et al. (and there's Vic Sprouse stuff in there too), are also equally compelling, and unfortunately, probably quite comical in a tragic sort of way.

I'm still naturally cynical, but maybe, just maybe, this Loughry guy is one of the few who "gets" it.