"He's didn't kill anyone. He just helped get rid of the body. Geez. Cut him some slack, will ya??"

Well, the hubbub over Wanda Carney getting charged with two felonies over the Mingo County Watergate affair is still buzzing. I remarked in yesterday's column that it would be interesting to see how the various talk radio hosts reacted to it.

I had an email exchange with Jerry Waters, of 950AM WVTS, and he unequivocally denounced what Ms. Carney has done, as stupid, and unbelievably irresponsible. And he thinks that this may be what effectively kills West Virginia Wants to Know, at least in its current form. That's what you get with Waters; he calls a spade a spade. According to Waters, he has stated so on the air. Because I can't listen to all the shows all the time, I'll have to take his word, and have no real reason to doubt him.

Hoppy had Chicago Furlip, Mike Agnello, on his show Thursday, and basically allowed Furlip to say whatever he wanted about the case for about 5 minutes, and then Hoppy moved on to something else (he spent a good amount of time bashing slot parlors yesterday, I think Hoppy was getting paid by the anti-gamblers yesterday). Hoppy didn't really comment, other than to classify it as strange.

And that brings us to Chicago Furlip on 58Live Thursday afternoon. Furlip displayed what can only be described as a disgusting, nauseating, vomit-inducing proclamation of love for Carney. Furlip probably was hopping up and down on a couch and doing his best Tom Cruise imitation. Furlip had Carney's lawyer, Jason Huber on the show, proclaiming that these charges were all simply retaliation and vindictive because of Carney's work being a government watchdog. Huber kept proclaiming that Carney was innocent, and is anxiously awaiting her chance to prove her innocence in court. According to Huber and Furlip, everyone in Mingo County is corrupt, and has it out for Carney because she's a threat to them. First, I'm not going to argue that Mingo County is free from political corruption. However, that doesn't mean Carney wasn't effectively the getaway driver. Which is basically the only relevant fact with regard to Carney. Just because she did something good last year, doesn't mean she can get a free pass to commit crimes now. And for Huber to argue this is a total joke. He should know better.

Furlip ate it up. Every second of it. He quickly pointed out all the good that Carney has done over the years, and blah blah blah. The dumbass just doesn't get it. He just doesn't get that he sounds like a complete jackass on the radio. He must think his listeners are idiots (he may by right, to a large degree). The best exchange came around 5:30 pm. A caller called in and said, that Carney was effectively helping the drug dealers and those who killed a federal drug informant. Carney is working for Mike Clifford, who is representing Walter Harmon, charged in helping dispose of the body of Carla Collins. Harmon is the nephew of one of other ladies involved in the alleged break in, Betty Jarvis. The charge carries the death penalty or life in prison as potential punishments if he's convicted. Furlip countered with the fact that he the guy in question didn't really kill anyone, he was simply charged with helping dispose of the body. Are you kidding me? Furlip thinks there's a difference between killing someone and helping dispose of the body? I'm pretty sure those were both answers to the Jeopardy questions last week in the category "Things only a true scumbag would do." Evidently, Furlip thinks it makes a big difference. Did you get get charged with killing a girl? Yes, well, you're a scumbag. Oh, you simply helped dispose of her body? Let's get you an application for sainthood.

Furlip's dogged defense of Wanda Carney, is sickening, and I'm calling on 580WCHS radio to seriously consider firing his worthless ass. He is simply too disgusting for human consumption. He says he's convinced she's innocent. Well, I'm issuing a challenge to ol' Furlip. Put your money where your cheesy mustache-covered mouth is. If Carney doesn't walk on all charges, he should resign.

My guess is Furlip doesn't have the stones to go there.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

There was a comic book that was out in the 80's, called "The Watchmen." It was about the concept of who do you trust in a society where ordinary humans are protected by superheroes. Superheroes save the world, protect ordinary humans from aliens, and arch villains bent on destruction and world domination, blah blah blah, you've heard all that before. But, in placing such trust and responsibility in the hands of a few superheroes, you have another problem. Who protects the people FROM those supposedly protecting the people?

That is certainly the question concerning the fact that Wanda Carney (government watchdog, and founder of West Virginia Wants to Know), has been charged with 2 felonies, and 2 misdemeanors, in her "investigation" of a crime allegedly committed by one of former Kanawha County Prosecutor Mike Clifford's clients. She and Betty Jarvis (former Kanawha County Schoolboard member, and who happens to be related to Clifford's client), and a third lady were all charged in connection with this "investigation." Jarvis, Carney, and the third lady were all involved in an incident where allegedly some of them broke into another individual's apartment, without that individual's permission, and removed certain items. This individual is also a defendant in the same investigation which caught up Clifford's client (who is related to Jarvis). According to Carney's previous statements in the media, she stayed in the car. Essentially, her defense (publicly) to this situation so far has been the equivalent of "But I was just the getaway driver."

[Incidentally, I've heard from several sources, that this may not be Ms. Carney's first brush with the law, but, I'd classify that information as clearly rumor. But still, I've heard it from two completely different and unrelated sources, and the information from each source was identical. I won't be more specific, until I get some more specific facts. But the information from my sources to this point, has been so consistent, and from such diverse sources, that it is at least remarkably coincidental, if not outright true.]

If Carney holds everyone else's feet to the fire, from the Nitro City Council, to Jerry Mezzatesta, to Mike Ross, to Darrell McGraw, to several other governmental units/agencies, what does the fact she is caught up, and charged, in this Mingo County version of Watergate, say about who's making sure she plays by the rules too?

Another interesting thing will be how local talk radio treats Ms. Carney now. She, along with her West Virginia Wants to Know founder, Tifney Terry, are local talk radio show darlings. Everyone from Chicago Furlip, Jerry Waters on WVTS950 AM, all the way up to Hoppy on the Statewide Talkline, are frequent outlets for Ms. Carney. The hosts rarely, if ever, criticize Ms. Carney. She stirs controversy, and that makes for good talk radio. My guess is, she'll have a bevy of defenders on the airwaves in the form of the various hosts.

A second century Roman poet, Juvenal, coined the phrase in the title of this post. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Loosely translated, it means, "Who shall guard the guardians?" In the comic book I mentioned above, they used the phrase "Who watches the Watchmen?" It's essentially a phrase that was conceived 2000 years ago, but the premise is still as valid and relevant today, as it was then, in reference to society. And dead-on relevant, concerning Ms. Carney's current legal situation.