Category: Florida

Florida Source: Sex Accusation Against Lieutenant Governor ‘Total Bullsh*t’

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Just talked to a Florida source who assures me that there is no truth to the accusations made against Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll. The claim, made by a disgruntled ex-employee, that Carroll had a lesbian affair with her assistant Beatriz Ramos is “total bullsh*t,” my source says.

Known to friends as “Bibi,” Ramos is widely respected by Florida Republicans as a hard-working campaign operative. “Bibi is a fine Christian lady,” my source says. “She worked her tail off for Republicans all over the state in 2010. . . . She’s just a total sweetheart.” Ramos is “in her late 30s or early 40s . . . not a 20-something Barbie doll.”

The accusations against Carroll, are “insane,” my source says, but because the non-existent “scandal” has been given nationwide publicity by the media, the charges have had the effect of making Ramos’s life “a living hell.” Among other things, the lieutenant governor’s assistant felt compelled to delete her personal Facebook page.

Carroll, who has been married nearly 30 years, denies the accusations made by a former state employee who was fired last year.

PREVIOUSLY: “Florida: The Crazy State”

 

Florida: The Crazy State

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The competition for Craziest State in the Union has always been fierce. It has been said that South Carolina is too small to be a republic, but too large to be a lunatic asylum. Yet in recent decades, California has been recognized as foremost in sheer madness, rivaled only by Louisiana. Now, however, California must yield the crown:

For the first time, Florida’s Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll is defending herself publicly about being accused of being involved in a sex scandal.
Lt. Governor Carroll made the comments Saturday in Orange Park, at the opening of a campaign office for Mitt Romney.
Carletha Cole claims she walked in on a sexual encounter between Carroll and Carroll’s travel aide, Beatriz Ramos. Cole worked as an administrative assistant to Carroll. Cole is a grandmother and a minister.
Carroll says, “The problem is that when you have these accusations that come out, it’s not just one person you’re attacking. It’s an entire family. My husband doesn’t want to hear that. He knows the type of woman I am. I mean, my kids know the type of woman I am. For twenty-nine years – I’m the one that’s married for twenty-nine years. The accuser is the one that’s been single for a long time. So usually black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that.”

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? As I understand this: Cole accuses Carroll of engaging in a lesbian affair with her female assistant, and Carroll’s defense is “usually black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that”? What is that supposed to mean?

What does the fact that Carroll is black — or what she looks like — have to do with whether or not she did what she was accused of doing?

Perhaps “Witness 9” has some relevant testimony, because apparently the word “relevant” is pretty damned elastic in Florida.

UPDATE: As longtime readers probably expected, I have spent a good 15 or 20 minutes trying to find a photo of Beatriz Ramos, guessing that she’s probably young and attractive. But my efforts to lock down the “Beatriz Ramos bikini photo” Google-bomb have so far produced no results, because it seems “Beatriz Ramos” is a far more common name than you might expect.

As to what Carroll meant by “black women that look like me,” I think the lieutenant-governor meant, “very attractive black women,” because she is, after all, a Republican, unlike such ugly (and therefore potentially lesbian) black women as Maxine Waters, Corrine Brown or other female members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Maybe that’s what she meant. I’m just guessing.

I’m also just guessing that Lt. Gov. Carroll’s accuser is one of those disgruntled incompetent types who are a nuisance in any workplace, and who like to threaten lawsuits when they finally screw up bad enough to get fired. OK, maybe that’s more than just a guess:

Cole, who was arrested last October on charges of illegally taping a conversation with the Republican lieutenant governor’s chief of staff, contends Ramos set her trash can on fire after they had an argument. . . .
Cole, who was fired from her job as a senior program analyst last September about a month before she was arrested, also contends Ramos, a special assistant to the lieutenant governor, was living at Carroll’s home. Cole claims that at one point she was ordered to find adjoining hotel rooms for Carroll and Ramos when they traveled.

Ah, yes: The lieutenant governor wants a hotel room that adjoins her travel aide’s hotel room, ergo, they’re having a lesbian affair. The disgruntled incompetent logic is impeccable!

Anybody else guessing that Cole got hired her “senior program analyst” job during a previous Democratic administration in Tallahassee? Anybody else guessing that Cole’s lawyer is a Democrat? Because I’m detecting a distinct aroma about this alleged “sex scandal.”

Smells kinda like . . . Chicago. IYKWIMAITYD.

Media’s Lack of Accountability Now Blamed on ‘Right-Wing Bloggers’?

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NBC officials are refusing to provide a full accounting — and name names of those responsible — for the misleading edit of the George Zimmerman 911 call. NBC’s editing created the false and inflammatory impression that Zimmerman had singled out Trayvon Martin on the basis of race. In fact, as the unedited audio of the call showed, Zimmerman was asked by the 911 operator about Martin’s race.

Dan Reihl at Big Journalism called attention to the deceptive edit a month ago. An NBC employee was then fired (but not named by the network) and now, according to the Miami Herald, a reporter/producer at NBC’s Miami affiliate, Jeff Burnside, has also been fired. John Sexton at Big Journalism culls this telling quote from the story:

“The network is very sensitive about the whole Al Sharpton/MSNBC issue, so when the right-wing bloggers started hammering, they needed to throw them fresh meat,” said the station source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the controversy. “It’s not at all clear how this happened. Obviously, there was miscommunication.”

Wait a g–damned minute here: Has NBC so completely abandoned any pretense to basic accuracy in its reporting that the only reason they take disciplinary action is to throw “fresh meat” to “right-wing bloggers”? And isn’t it at the same time true, as Ace of Spades says, that the media have become so reliant on left-wing blogs that major news organizations routinely re-hash misleading or even blatantly false stories pushed by the online Left, while only rarely and reluctantly acknowledging stories originated by the online Right?

Isn’t this what the Elizabeth Flock story showed us? Notorious moonbat John Avarosis makes an outrageously irresponsible accusation — that Mitt Romney is recycling KKK slogans — and the Washington Post can’t even be bothered to verify it?

Journalism has evidently become so politicized that there is apparently no longer even any need for NBC News to pretend that it is engaged in anything other than partisan propaganda — even when, in the pursuit of an overtly political agenda, they are providing manufactured falsehoods to serve as fodder for dangerous racial demagoguery.

So if NBC reports complete dishonest bulls–t, that’s just fine. However, if “right-wing bloggers” start hammering, they’ll be thrown some “fresh meat” — a couple of low-level employees thrown under the bus — while folks in the executive suites at 30 Rock are never held accountable, or compelled to confront the fact that they have presided over the destruction of their own organization’s journalistic credibility.

First Arrest in Alleged ‘Justice for Trayvon’ Mob Attack in Mobile, Alabama

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The case of Matthew Owens, a white man who suffered critical injuries after being beaten by a black mob — some of whom allegedly shouted “that’s justice for Trayvon” — has produced its first arrest: Terry Rawls, 44, who “has an extensive criminal history . . . including assault, burglary, theft and cocaine possession.”

Meanwhile, however, it appears that the victim in this incident was not exactly a model citizen himself:

Records from the Mobile County Metro Jail show that Owens had been arrested multiple times in the past, including multiple violent confrontations including charges of domestic violence, assault and sex abuse over the past 12 years.

Some witnesses say Owens brandished knives at the black kids playing basketball in the street — the incident that allegedly prompted the beating — and Owens may have shouted racial slurs.

Thus, as with the Trayvon Martin case itself, the beating of Owens does not appear appropriate for simple narratives of victimhood.

Quin Hillyer lives in Mobile and wrote in his American Spectator column that there is “almost no doubt that racial animus played the major role in the vicious beating.” Quin attended a press conference at Mobile police HQ today and was not convinced by the official assertion that there was “absolutely no reason to believe” the beating was racially motivated.

Maybe there is ultimately no way to know the motives. Maybe, rather than engaging in a snipe-hunt for “social justice,” people will have to be content with whatever outcome the law-enforcement system produces. Maybe everybody just needs to calm down, mind their own business, stay out of trouble and stop demagoguing every damned thing.

UPDATE: Well, what have we here? A “more nuanced portrait of Zimmerman has emerged,” according to Reuters, including this:

Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account.
“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I’m black, OK?” the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. “There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood,” she said. “That’s why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin.”

Read the whole thing. And calm the hell down, everybody.

Alabama Man Becomes Third Victim of ‘Justice for Trayvon’ Violence Trend UPDATE: Not a Hate Crime, Cops Say

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From the very start, I warned against trying this case in the media. Demagoguery and political grandstanding have predictably inflamed emotions, so that innocent people who never set foot in Sanford, Florida, are made to pay a dreadful price: First in Baltimore, then in Chicago, and now in Mobile, Alabama:

Police tell News 5 the suspects used chairs, pipes and paint cans to beat Owens.
Owens’ sister, Ashley Parker, saw the attack. “It was the scariest thing I have ever witnessed.” . . .
As the attackers walked away, leaving Owen bleeding on the ground, Parker says one of them said “Now thats justice for Trayvon.”

The victim is hospitalized in critical condition. Ace of Spades:

I repeat: No national coverage of this racial hate crime pattern in the media.
Apparently some victims are unworthy, and some hatred and violence is justified.
Is Obama going to say anything? Call at least one of the victims? Attempt to bring calm? Attempt a “Sister Souljah” moment (which could actually benefit him politically) and call out violent black racists?
Apparently not, and the media has decided that’s their preferred political strategy, too.

That the meaning of “civil rights” now evidently includes violent reprisals against innocent people — in a word, terrorism — is something else the national media can’t be bothered to notice.

UPDATE: Not a hate crime?

Asked if the incident was being investigated as a hate crime, [Mobile police spokeswoman Ashley] Rains replied: “No, it’s not. It’s being investigated as an assault.” Eugene A. Seidel, first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, declined to comment on the case when reached by FoxNews.com.
“Our policy is not to comment one way or another about cases,” Seidel said when asked if his office has inquired about the incident. “All I can say is no comment.”

NBC News should be named as an unindicted co-conspirator. Why let liberals have a monopoly on demagoguery? “No justice! No peace!”

UPDATE II: Robert Verbruggen at National Review takes notice of the non-hate crime. No fair wondering what advice John Derbyshire might have offered the victim.

 

 

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Clarifying Friday’s Trayvon Martin Post

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by Smitty

On Friday I posted, pertinent to the charging instrument in the case of George Zimmerman “If The Strategy Was Always Propaganda, Why Is A Charging Instrument That Sounds Like The Squawk Of A Sexually Aroused Gas Mask A Surprise?”
Once again, this time with emphasis:

Law is based upon reason, and a reasonable person sees through the farce at work, as the truly sad death of a little boy is molded, claylike, into something completely different. The judge is going to apply reason, and reject this, and the Left is going to cry foul. And there will be an appeal. And it will fail upward, rolling up to the SCOTUS, if possible.

Referring to a teenager as a ‘little boy’ is a bit off, I admit. A bit more editing would have substituted ‘young man’. But the point here is that there are two threads afoot:

  1. the sad demise of Trayvon Martin, whom George Martin killed, and
  2. the disgusting, propaganda-driven spectacle to which I was reacting in the post.

Blind to point #2, the concern trolls come out:

Zimmerman isn’t charged with “raaaaacism” and he isn’t charged with Crimes Against Obama. He’s charged with second degree murder because he shot and killed somebody. As it turns out, Bill Ayers isn’t the governor of Florida and Saul Alinsky isn’t the prosecutor—Florida’s Republican Governor, Rick Scott appointed Angela Corey to investigate the case.
From the available evidence, the conservative movement these days is little more than a tribe and the important issue in any public dispute is who is Us and who is Them. Smitty and his fellow rightwingers seem to have decided that George Zimmerman is one of Us.

The question thus moves to whether Clark Stooksbury is oblivious to the Orwellian assault on Western Civilization being undertaken by the Progressives. Or maybe the President’s personal involvement, “If I’d had a son. . .”, and the presence of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, to the detriment of justice for the case, is just beanbag. Also, I have yet to hear anybody attempt to claim that GZ is one of ‘us’. Though perhaps a trip through the belly of the Progressive Cthulhu will help clarify matters.

Thanks, Clark, for the prompt to clarify a post which, admittedly, could have been stronger the first go-round.

Update: via Fishersville Mike, here are myths surrounding the case.