| Wednesday, December 10, 2008 |
| The rest of the story: Sheriff Scott used work email to threaten a teacher |
Speaking of Mike Scott, last month, the Lee County Sheriff may have also used his sheriff's department email to make veiled threats:
Sheriff Mike Scott was criticized near and far for mentioning Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein, during an Oct. 6 Republican rally at Germain Arena.
hree days later, while guest lecturing at Florida Gulf Coast University, outspoken Unitarian minister Wayne Robinson chastised Scott for inciting bigotry and hatred.
Among the 35 students in Donna Roberts' Environmental Humanities class was sophomore Lindsay Scott - the sheriff's daughter.
"I was absolutely stunned," said Robinson, who didn't learn until after the class ended that Lindsay Scott was present. "I would have never said that if I knew she was there. It's an unfair platform to speak about someone's father."
A visibly shaken Lindsay Scott, 20, left the room in tears.
Robinson and Roberts, adjunct instructors at FGCU, e-mailed letters of apology within 24 hours.
Sheriff Scott said he doesn't have a problem with Robinson, who simply was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.
But, Scott objects to an e-mail Roberts sent Robinson just seven minutes after apologizing to his daughter on Oct. 9:
• Donna Roberts to Lindsay Scott (8:09 p.m.): "I want to express how terrible I feel about what happened today in our class. You must have felt awful. I am so very sorry."
• Donna Roberts to Wayne Robinson (8:16 p.m.): "I was glad you said what you did. ... Guess we can't hide who we are ... nor should we." So how did Scott get the second note? Because Robinson accidentally included the text in the email thread to Scott's daughter. Oops! So what's a right wing, rather scary looking sheriff to do? Threaten the teacher, of course!
He reported the incident to FGCU administration, albeit after having to contact "15 different people in 15 different departments" to file a complaint, he said.
"Nobody is going to lie to me or my kids," Scott said.
... Robinson has taught part time at FGCU since 2006, also serving as a guest speaker in some courses. The topic in Roberts' class was the impact of religious views on the world, and Robinson was discussing feelings of men and women from the opening chapters of Genesis. He then moved to religious perceptions, and because Scott's controversial speech was still in the news, Robinson issued his opinion.
"I said that incites racism and bigotry," Robinson said. "It was a very obvious attempt to relate Barack Obama to Saddam Hussein, and also the 9/11 attacks. All of those involved were Muslim, so he was connecting Barack Obama to that."
Robinson and Scott have spoken and e-mailed each other, and all is good. Robinson said he voted for Scott in the general election.
But Roberts later sent a message to her supervisor saying it was "extremely awkward and unethical" that Scott contacted her, used his work e-mail account to do so and closed by saying "you and your superiors at FGCU have not heard the last from me." Roberts took that as a threat.
"To be honest, I have been feeling vulnerable since seeing his name appear in my FGCU inbox last Sunday," Roberts wrote Oct. 17 to Glenn Whitehouse, chairman of the department of communication and philosophy. "I had a friend escort me to class yesterday."
Scott signed all of his e-mails "Mike Scott," not "Sheriff Mike Scott." Can the feds add that to the Hatch Act thing?
Labels: Lee County, right wing nut-jobs, Sheriff Mike Scott |
posted by JReid @ 11:08 AM   |
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| Wednesday, October 15, 2008 |
| The Mike Scott reader |
 The Naples News-Press has endorsed Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott, despite his ethical lapse at a Sarah Palin rally in which he used Barack Obama's middle name to disparage the Democratic candidate (while Scott was in uniform.) Well, that's their prerogative, just as it's the feds' prerogative to investigate Scott for possible violation of the Hatch Act. But what Scott said long after the rally, in his own defense, might actually be worse than what he did on stage. Specifically, from an October 14 story in another Naples paper:
Scott, when told by a reporter that some people saw use of the name as an attempt to frighten people, responded, "Well, what is ‘Barack Obama?' That's not ‘Mike Scott' or ‘Jim Smith.'" Well, what does Sheriff Scott mean by that, exactly? "...what is ‘Barack Obama?' That's not ‘Mike Scott' or ‘Jim Smith.???" If I lived in Lee County and my name were, say, Samir Muhammad or Sebastien Ibeke (my father's name) or ... say ... Barack Obama, I might not be so quick to take the News Press' endorsement to the polls, and I might not be so confident of the police services Mike Scott would provide for me.
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Labels: 2008 election, dirty politics, Florida, Hatch Act, Lee County, presidential campaigns, right wing smear machine, Sarah Palin, Sheriff Mike Scott |
| posted by JReid @ 2:00 AM |
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| Wednesday, October 08, 2008 |
| Petition calls for reprimand of Sheriff Scott |
The petitioners say the following:
On Monday, October 6,2008 Lee County Sheriff, Mike Scott in full uniform, spoke at a political rally for the McCain-Palin presidential campaign. He spoke of Barack Obama, calling him "Barack Hussein Obama". This was a blatant attempt to conjure images of Islamic extremism and the rally attendees took it as such. They began to cheer after the word "Hussein" and before the Sheriff had made his point. It was the name, and its connotations, they were cheering.
Sheriff Scott has said that he will not apologize and if Obama doesn't like being called Hussein, "Perhaps he should have changed his name." I would like to point out that the Sheriff's middle name was not used when he was introduced. Sarah Palin's middle name was not used when the Sheriff introduced her just moments after he referenced the Senator by his full name. This is clearly an attempt to make a racially charged assertion about who Barack Obama is, based upon his name.
Associations like these, are not only inaccurate as Senator Obama is not a Muslim, but they are inappropriate because being a Muslim doesn't equate to being a terrorist. Suggesting otherwise is offensive to Muslims, and others living in the state of Florida. The Sheriff is a public official, whose salary is paid by the very citizens he offends with such a statement.
Central Florida is home to more than 25,000 practicing Muslims according to The Islamic Society of Central Florida and countless other religious and racial minority groups. It is unacceptable to have public officials who display their disdain for these groups so proudly.
We request that Sheriff Mike Scott be publicly reprimanded for his behavior and asked to issue a public apology.
So far they're at 75 signatures. The actual petition is here.
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Labels: 2008 election, dirty politics, Florida, Hatch Act, Lee County, presidential campaigns, right wing smear machine, Sarah Palin, Sheriff Mike Scott |
| posted by JReid @ 11:05 PM |
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| Sheriff Scott flops around in the frying pan |
Sheriff Mike Scott gave an interview to the Lehigh Acres News Star in Fort Myers and issued a statement on what will heretofore be known as "Namegate." First, a clip from the statement:
• Everyone seems to agree on the underlying issue…my mention of a Presidential candidate’s full, legal name of record. There were no accusations, innuendos, untruths, or malicious words before or after the candidate’s name; although many others have made inflammatory statements about the candidate’s character, etc. I did not change my tone or otherwise punctuate or repeat the name with any verbal or physical emphasis.
• “Why” did I use the Candidate’s full, legal name of record? Despite varying inferences, interpretations, opinions, and extrapolations; the answer is because I wanted to, much like I wanted to voice my support for the Barron Collier Marching Band.
• The issue of my status as an elected official participating in a political rally has been raised along with the suggestion that this somehow clouds my representation of all constituents. I have not heard similar concern over the many other elected officials that day and everyday engaging in the same activities across our state and country. For example – Governor Crist is the Governor of all Florida’s people and his support of the Republican ticket in no way implies diminished concern for anyone opposing his political choice. Likewise, my political choices against the backdrop of my proven record of service, in no way suggest diminished concern for any individual or group.
• The issue of my appearance at the rally in uniform has been raised. It is noteworthy that I recently completed my primary campaign and continue my general campaign in the same uniform. My practice has been to wear the uniform at all times and as is undisputed, I am on duty 24/7 and 365. It is also noteworthy that I joined my fellow Florida Sheriffs in Tampa very recently for a political rally…all were in full uniform. At no time during this week’s rally did I mention the agency I represent; however, I was introduced by my official title. Given the introduction and my widespread name and face recognition in this area, I am satisfied that my apparel is irrelevant and the same reactions would have resulted had I been wearing a suit and tie. Now, about that uniform you say you wear "at all times...." when you say "at all times," do you mean "ALL times, all times? Or just at "sometimes" all times...
 Mike Scott (second from the right) at an event last summer, sanz uniform...
In the statement, Scott also goes after the local NAACP for criticizing him, saying:
... The strong support these groups have always provided me is rooted in my tireless efforts to work equally hard for all of Lee County. I delivered the Dunbar Community Policing Office and shocked business owners along MLK Jr. Blvd. by regularly stopping in to say hello during my first term as Sheriff. If their support is so shallow as to wane over one (1) word that was legal, accurate, and void of supporting malice beyond dispute, then I will respectfully move on without their political support and without change to my loyalty to them or their constituents.
Well, I mean he did come by and visit...
Scott says he expects to be fully cleared on the Hatch Act charges, and that he won't be making any further public statements. Except for in this intervew, as recounted by columnist Sam Cook, in which Scott appears to leave his body, where the reason and logic purportedly reside...
"I answered a lot of e-mails and signed my middle name (Joseph) on all of them,'' says Scott, 45. "I don't see anything wrong with calling him Barack Hussein Obama. "That is his name.'' ...
... Scott, in an interview Tuesday with news-press.com and The News-Press, says he doesn't comprehend the commotion his name-calling put in motion. "I was told to speak three to four minutes and fire up the crowd,'' he says. "Help welcome her to Southwest Florida. "That's pretty much what I did. I've watched that tape over and over. I don't see any malice. What I said was truthful and accurate. I did not say anything unethical, immoral or illegal.'' That's a matter of opinion. If Scott didn't believe name-dropping "Hussein'' would create upheaval in Southwest Florida, he isn't the astute politician who captured 91 percent of the vote in Lee County's Republican primary victory last month. Again, Scott says he won't back down from his comment. "I'll never, ever, ever apologize,'' he says. "There is nothing in my mind to apologize for. I just can't do it. That's all. It's the principle of the thing.'' Politically speaking - even for a landslide winner - his remark was one dumb move.
Perhaps no one ever told the sheriff that throwing Barack Obama's middle name into a conversation is the most common tool that right wing talk radio hosts, bloggers and such use to deride the Senator as "foreign," an undercover Muslim, and even a friend of terrorists. (In fact, it was just done again less than two hours ago in Pennsylvania...) Maybe he's the one guy in America who despite being a Rudy Giuliani-loving Republican, who I'm assuming has at least heard of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the like, or even listened to them from time to time, still doesn't know that. Assuming he is that dumb, or that naive, maybe next time, our man with the badge should simply use the names Sarah Louise Palin or to refer to John Sydney McCain III in public conversation, just to balance things out.
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Labels: 2008 election, dirty politics, Florida, Hatch Act, Lee County, presidential campaigns, right wing smear machine, Sarah Palin, Sheriff Mike Scott |
| posted by JReid @ 3:07 PM |
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| Tuesday, October 07, 2008 |
| Feds probe Sheriff Scott for Hatch Act violations |
Lee County, Florida Sheriff Mike Scott isn't talking to the press. So says Lt. Robert Forrest, Commander of the county's Publ ic Information Office. Forrest, the day after Scott delivered a stem winding introduction for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at a campaign rally in Estero, located north of Bonita Springs on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Scott told a roaring crowd, Monday, that there are three types of people in the world: "the ones who make things happen, the ones who watch what happens and the ones who wonder what happened." Then he added, "let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened."
The response from Lee County constituents, and from the media, was immediate.
"We've taken probably 1,000 phone calls during this business day and we've had pretty much a 50-50 proposition," when it comes to callers' opinions of Scott's rhetoric Monday, Forrest said, "with some individuals very passionately stating their opinions, some of them in a calm, well articulated manner and others in a not so articulate, calm demeanor."
Forrest added that Scott has "wiped his hands" of the matter and didn't plan to give any interviews.
Before he stopped talking to the press, Scott was unapologetic, telling local reporters he "absolutely, unequivocally" didn't regret using Obama's middle name, and adding, "frankly, if this is such a hot-button issue, he, as a Harvard lawyer, could have changed it if he didn't like it." Obama's middle name is often used derisively by conservative talk radio and blogs, including by those attempting to imply that Obama, who is Christian, is in fact a Muslim.
"Obviously a lot of folks feel compelled to say something about this," Forrest said, but "he meant nothing by the use of the middle name, he was surprised by all the hoopla and he is moving on."
He might be the only one.
On Tuesday, the Office of Special Counsel in Washington D.C. confirmed to THE REID REPORT that it has opened an investigation into Scott's political activities Monday, which were conducted while he was in uniform. According to the federal Hatch Act, such activities might be prohibited by law. According to the Office of Special Counsel:
The Hatch Act applies to executive branch state and local employees who are principally employed in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency. Employees who work for educational or research institutions which are supported in whole or in part by a State or political subdivision of the State are not covered by the provisions of the Hatch Act.
It states that covered persons may not "use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination," and that while "an employee's conduct is also subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the employing agency… employees should be aware that the prohibitions of the Hatch Act are not affected by state or local laws."
"Today we've launched a formal investigation into the sheriffs activity during yesterday's political event," OSC Director of Congressional-Public Affairs Anthony Guglielmi told THE REID REPORT Tuesday. Guglielmi said that the first step would be to determine whether Scott was in fact covered by the Hatch Act, including if the Lee County Sheriff's office has received any federal grants. If violations are found, Scott would be notified and advised "how to rectify" the situation, and could face penalties including dismissal, or forfeiture of federal assistance equal to two years salary.
Guglielmi said his office became aware of the situation through "media coverage and calls from concerned citizens." He said the OSC is "taking a pro-active step" to investigate this and many other Hatch Act related claims "before the election."
On the local laws, at least, Scott appears to be in the clear. According to Forrest, Lee County policy states that "deputies and officers can't campaign in uniform, but a sheriff can because he is an elected official." Forrest added that Scott is always in uniform: "he is the chief law enforcement officer of Lee county regardless of where he is or what he is doing."
Scott's previous statements to the media said he was not speaking for the Sheriff's department on Monday.
Forrest called Scott, a Republican who is on the ballot for re-election in November, "a thorough professional and extremely popular sheriff in Lee County who is well respected and well liked," adding that "his track record speaks for itself." Scott was elected in 2004 after defeating a first-term incumbent, Rod Shoap. His official website states that former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is his "inspiration," and that he keeps a Votomatic Vote Recorder used in the 2000 Lee County election in his office. The site reads in part: "the voting booth is the sheriff's daily reminder to be responsive to voters who elected him to office. At the center of his conference table sits a sculpture with an arrow pointing outward, keeping him grounded and focused on the whole agency. Three framed words sit on his desk: Honesty. Trust. Integrity."
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Labels: 2008 election, dirty politics, Florida, Lee County, presidential campaigns, right wing smear machine, Sarah Palin, Sheriff Mike Scott |
| posted by JReid @ 8:44 PM |
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| Update: Lee County Sheriff under federal investigation |
It's the Hatch Act, stupid. I just confirmed with the Office of Special Counsel in D.C. that Sheriff Mike Scott is being investigated for possibly violating the Hatch Act during his partisan speech in uniform on behalf of Sarah Palin yesterday. My story should be posted to an online news outlet near you, very soon. The Public Information Officer at the Lee County Sheriff's Department says Scott has "wiped his hands" of the controversy and won't be talking to the media. This one's Developing...
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Labels: 2008 election, dirty politics, Florida, Lee County, presidential campaigns, right wing smear machine, Sarah Palin, Sheriff Mike Scott |
| posted by JReid @ 4:11 PM |
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