Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Politics / Woods Hargett Sics TBI on Political Foe; TBI Finds No Justification for His Complaint
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Comments (19)
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Is it my imagination or are Republican candidates looking a little insipid these days?
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What utter nonsense! The only thing that could possibly be construed as threatening in Bernie's post is a reference to the 1946 "Battle of Athens," in which a group of armed citizens (Go, Second Amendment Man!) demanded that corrupt election officials count all the votes on election day. Why would our Secretary of State be afraid of a reminder of that incident? Unless...
That's the dumbest (and scariest) abuse of power I've read in some time. Does that mean everyone who shoots off his mouth on Pith can expect a visit from the TBI if Tre Hargett feels threatened?
That sounds like political intimidation to me. Ellis said something that Hargett didn't like and then the TBI shows up. If any normal tax paying citizen made such a claim based on that blog entry, the TBI would have done nothing because it is clearly not a threat in any way. So instead of looking for actual criminals, the TBI was running errands for Hargett and the rest of the GOP losers. Like most Republicans, Hargett is a coward that needs someone in a uniform to do their dirty work for them while they sit in their offices, keeping their hands clean, and trying to figure out more ways to keep our state in the dark ages. Someone should do something about this. It is an abuse of power. If I were Ellis, I would get a lawyer and protect myself with something Hargett seems to know nothing about, THE LAW.
Wow you better careful about what you say about this guy.............That isn't a real photo of the guy, is it?
That is pretty scary stuff that we have a Sec. of State decides its okay to call in the TBI over a harmless post, We all better watch out doors big brother is watching!
I wonder why he didn't just call the FBI agents he got to know so well in the TN Waltz scandal?
This guy should change to the Socialist Party.....he's pretty much always gotten his pay check working for Uncle Sam either that or a lobbiest for Pfiser?
Wow, there was nothing remotely threatening about Ellis' comment -- unless you find concern and reason intimidating. Then again, Hargett looks like the kind of guy who's easily scared.
Out of curiosity and for educational purposes for your readers, who would Bernie Ellis file an official complaint with against the admitted actions of the Secretary of State and/or the T.B.I.?
How in the world could the Secretary of State "sic the TBI" on anyone, much less a "political foe?" The Democrats who run the TBI had every opportunity to tell Republican Hargett no, this doesn't look serious to us. So they sent their agents out to see Mr. Ellis either (a) to investigate a potential threat they took seriously, or (b) to set up a Republican rising star for the kind of cheap shots listed above.
"Rising star?" This is the second blog I've seen where "Charles" has referred to Hargett as a "rising star," in direct contrast to all the other comments about what an ass Hargett is. I guess Tre is going by "Charles" now, since he appears to frequent the comments section with great interest.
b. Official misconduct under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-16-402
pertains to acts related to a public servant's office or employment committed
with an intent to obtain a benefit or to harm another. Acts constituting an
offense include the unauthorized exercise of official power, acts exceeding one's
official power, failure to perform a duty required by law, and receiving a benefit
not authorized by law. Offenses under this section constitute a Class E felony.
c. Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-16-403, "Official oppression,"
a public servant acting in an official capacity who intentionally arrests, detains,
frisks, etc., or intentionally prevents another from enjoying a right or privilege
commits a Class E felony.
If Hargett had notified the TBI about a potential threat and the "Democrats who run the TBI" told "Republican Hargett no, this doesn't look serious to us," and then some act of violence actually got carried out, I wonder who Charles would blame.
Given that the TBI visited Ellis to inquire about comments made in an email to Hargett's office, one would logically expect them to have seen, read and been in possession of a copy of said email, in which case Ellis's statement that he has sent no such email wouldn't have been acceptable to them. As they apparently had no such evidence in hand and therefore found his statement plausible, this would seem, at best, to have been a fishing expedition engaged in to see if Ellis would incriminate himself. Would TBI have proceeded on such a complaint from an ordinary citizen, or would they have declined to do so on the basis of no substantiation of the threat? The appearance of political intimidation is created, whether TBI is a willing or unwitting participant.
Boy, first the Republicans want to carry guns everywhere because they can't handle themselves in a bar, restaurant, or a park and now their elected leaders are calling the TBI on some burnt-out hippie on his farm because... well, we don't really know why and Hargett won't tell us.
Between this, the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping, you have to wonder how Republicans ever get the courage to leave the house every day. Bunch of p**sies aren't fit to govern, let alone own a firearm.
Who in the media is gonna personally ask weenie-boy Hargett about his use of intimidation tactics?
And I suppose, Tyler that Repubs need a firearm to go in a bar when they can't afford a Porshe. Makes 'em feel manly. Wonder if that helps 'em get chicks, or, uhm, whoever they're trying to pick up...
And yes, I support the 2nd Amendment, the one that says "A WELL REGULATED MILITIA, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
In response to XiangDo's comment above: "Given that the TBI visited Ellis to inquire about comments made in an email to Hargett's office, one would logically expect them to have seen, read and been in possession of a copy of said email, in which case Ellis's statement that he has sent no such email wouldn't have been acceptable to them."
There has now been much coverage about this failed attempt at intimidation of me by Tre Hargett, something that the TBI would have no part in once the facts were known. The fact is that I have never communicated with Tre Hargett's office or with him by email, letter or phone call. Never.
Hargett's mouth-piece admitted, when questioned later by Jeff Woods and Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News-Sentinel, that Hargett was frightened by a post I had made on one of Tom Humphrey's blogs in which I referenced the "Battle of Athens (TN)". It is a reference I have made often, including in oral testimony to the relevant Tennessee General Assembly committees reviewing efforts by Hargett to delay and weaken trustworthy elections in Tennessee. Google "Battle of Athens" for an amazing story of what one option available to us is if our votes are not counted as they were cast. (As for me, I'd prefer to just count the ballots.)
When I have made those comments to legislators on several occasions, either Hargett or his little hillbilly side-kick, State Elections Coordinator Mark Goins, were in the audience and neither of them felt threatened enough to say anything to anybody at the time. Until, that is, we prevailed (by a single vote in the Senate) in keeping the TN Voter Confidence Act intact and on-track for 2010. The TVCA will do away with nonverifiable voting equipment in favor of paper ballots that will be counted by optical scan machines and then audited by hand-counts of the ballots in randomly selected precincts. Then, and only then, did Hargett sic the TBI on me.
I would strongly recommend that readers interested in this story of a failed attempt at political intimidation Google "Bernie Ellis TBI". You will find lots of good stories already posted on this (at least three by that national treasure, Jeff Woods), with more to come. (Boy howdy, much, much more. So, Tre, you might want to hide and watch. And that's not a threat -- it's a promise.)
In response to Tyler Durden (and to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen), "I've worked with burnt-out hippies, I've known lots of burnt-out hippies, many burnt-out hippies are friends of mine. Tyler, I am no burnt-out hippie. (I just play one in the Nashville Scene.) But I would prefer to be a burnt-out hippie than an election fraud-enabling ... (fill in the blank yourself for what you think Tre Hargett is)."
If you want to know anything about my background, visit www.saveberniesfarm.com , click on "Bernie" and download my 12 page resume. After reading it, you can roll it up and smoke it (though I wouldn't recommend that.) Other than the single "burnt-out hippie" comment, I appreciate everything else that Tyler and others have said about this effort to silence me so Hargett can keep our elections unsafe and unverifiable. Shame on you, Hargett (if you know what shame looks like.)
