OBD
Junior Chimp
Posts: 5,580
Political Matrix E: -5.16, S: -6.26
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« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2021, 08:38:44 PM » |
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My Fellow Atlasians,
I come before you tonight as a prominent Laborite politician and as a man whose honesty and integrity has been questioned.
Now, the usual political thing to do when charges are made against you is to either ignore them or to deny them without giving details. I believe we have had enough of that in Atlasia, particularly with the recently defeated ticket in the February Election.
To me the office of the People's House of Atlasia is a great office, and I feel that the people have got to have confidence in the integrity of the men who run for that office and who might attain them.
I have a theory, too, that the best and only answer to a smear or an honest misunderstanding of the facts is to tell the truth. And that is why I am here tonight. I want to tell you my side of the case.
I am sure that you have read the charges, and you have heard it, that I, Oregon Blue Dog, promised to eat a sock in the event of Ishan voting for Pericles and Windjammer, and upon those events occurring I refused to do so.
Now, was that wrong? And let me say that it was wrong. I am saying it, incidentally, that it was wrong, just not illegal, because it isn't a question of whether it was legal or illegal, that isn't enough. The question is, was it morally wrong. I say that it was morally wrong -- if I promised to eat a sock but refused to. I say that it was morally wrong if I said it under oath.
And to answer those questions let me say this: if I actually ate a sock, I would be ill for days. Every hour I would spend in my bed convulsing from overdosing on cotton fiber would be an hour I would not be serving the taxpayers of Atlasia in the People's House.
It was not a secret statement. As a matter of fact, when I was on "Meet the Press" -- some of you may have seen it last Sunday -- folks on Lokcord came up to me, after the program, and he said, "OBD, what about this bet about socks we heard about?" And I said, "Well, there is no secret about it. Go out and see Sestak who has the Laborcord screenshots" and I gave him his address. And I said you will find that the purpose of the bet was merely political banter, and that I did not feel should actually require me to consume the cotton garments.
And third, let me point out, and I want to make this particularly clear, that no person who wants me to actually eat a sock, no person that has accused me of being dishonest, has ever attempted to eat a sock and run the risk of death from thereof.
I just don't believe in that, and I can say that never, while I have been in the People's House, or the Fremont Parliament, as far as the people calling upon me to eat a sock are concerned, have I made a concrete commitment to eat a sock, nor have I signed a binding contract to do so in writing.
And the records will show that, the records which are in the hands of the administrators of Laborcord.
Well, then, some of you will say, and rightly, "Well, why did you promise to eat a sock, Representative? Why did you have to say it"
Let me tell you in just a word how a Laborite operates on election weekend. First of all, the Laborite gets 15 hours of rest. He gets enough time to sleep, eat, and brush his teeth, and barely gets enough time to pray at night to Olawakandi.
And I should mention we are not paid for this time. No Laborite receives compensation for this time and dedication.
It is a busy and thankless business, tallying hundreds of votes on a bland spreadsheet, especially following the flooding of Atlasia with offsite recruits; business, for example, when a voter pastes in an entire ballot and wants you to scroll up and down to decipher which of his preferences are valid and which of his preferences are for "meme candidates" like Donna Shalala. So it is not outrageous that I would appreciate a little brevity. And I think I can best explain the need and justification for this humor with a few questions.
Do you think that when I or any other Atlasian makes a comment in Lokcord, that it should be printed,and mailed to the taxpayers?
Do you think, for example, that if a Laborite made a statement in Laborcord, that it should be taken as inviolably true with criminal penalty for falsehood?
Do you think when a Representative makes a small error in speech, particularly saying that an unlikely event would not come true, that he should have to risk his life by ingesting cotton clothing for it?
I know what your answer is: It is the same answer that audiences give me whenever I discuss this particular problem.
The answer is no. Atlasian politicians should not be held excessively accountable for their words, particularly those said in a manner of jest.
Well, then the question arises, you say, "Well, how do you make someone pay for these irresponsible statements and how can you do it legally?" And there are several ways, that it can be done, incidentally, and it is done legally in the Atlasian Senate and in the Congress.
The first way is to be a rich man. So I couldn't use that.
Another way to do that is to put your wife on the pay roll. Let me say, incidentally, that the Labor Party’s opponent, the opposite number for the Vice Presidency on the Democratic Alliance ticket, does have his wife on the pay roll and has had her on his pay roll for the past ten years. Now let me just say this: That is his business, and I am not critical of him for doing that. You will have to pass judgment on that particular point, but I have never done that for this reason:
I have found that there are so many deserving stenographers and secretaries in Nyman that needed the work that I just didn't feel it was right to put my wife on the pay roll. My wife sitting over there.
She is a wonderful stenographer. She used to teach stenography and she used to teach shorthand in high school. That was when I met her. And I can tell you folks that she has worked many hours on Saturdays and Sundays in my office, and she has done a fine job, and I am proud to say tonight that in the 3 months I have been in the People’s House of the Atlasia [redacted] has never been on the Government pay roll.
What are the other ways that these finances can be taken care of? Some who are lawyers, and I happen to be a lawyer, continue to practice law, but I haven't been able to do that.
I am so far away from Connecticut and I have been so busy with my senatorial work that I have not engaged in any legal practice, and, also, as far as law practice is concerned, it seemed to me that the relationship between an attorney and the client was so personal that you couldn't possibly represent a man as an attorney and then have an unbiased view when he presented his case to you in the event that he had one before Government.
And so I felt that the best way to handle these necessary political expenses of getting my message to the Atlasian people and the speeches I made -- the speeches I had printed for the most part concerned this one message of exposing this Administration’s opponents, the Mattiayism in it, the corruption in it -- the only way I could do that was to accept the aid which people in my home State of Connecticut, who contributed to my campaign and who continued to make these contributions after I was elected, were glad to make.
And let me say that I am proud of the fact that not one of them has ever asked me for a special favor. I am proud of the fact that not one of them has ever asked me to vote on a bill other than my own conscience would dictate. And I am proud of the fact that the taxpayers by subterfuge or otherwise have never paid one dime for expenses which I thought were political and should not be charged top the taxpayers.
Let me say, incidentally, that some of you may say, "Well, that is all right, Representative, that is your explanation, but have you got any proof?" And I would like to tell you this evening that just an hour ago we received an independent audit of the entirety of Laborcord I suggested to Governor R2D2, who is the chief of staff of the Windjammer campaign, that an independent audit and legal report be obtained, and I have that audit in my hand.
It is an audit made by Lincoln Fremont & Co. firm, and the legal opinion by tack50, Truman, & S019, lawyers in Atlasia, the biggest law firm, and incidentally, one of the best ones in Atlasia.
I am proud to report to you tonight that this audit and legal opinion is being forwarded to President-Elect Windjammer and I would like to read to you the opinion that was prepared by Tack50, Truman, & S019, based on all the pertinent laws, and statutes, together with the audit report prepared by the certified public accountants.
It is our conclusion that Representative OBD did not obtain any financial gain from his statement regarding Ishan and socks; that Representative OBD did not violate any federal or state law by reason of the statement of the statement; and that neither the statement on Laborcord nor the consequent doubling-down on Lokcord and the forum have any form of legal bind on Representative OBD.
(signed)
Tack50, Truman, & S019,
That is not OBD speaking, but it is an independent audit which was requested because I want the Atlasian people to know all the facts and I am not afraid of having independent people go in and check the facts, and that is exactly what they did.
But then I realized that there are still some who may say, and rightly so — and let me say that I recognize that some will continue to smear regardless of what the truth may be — but that there has been understandably, some honest misunderstanding on this matter, and there are some that will say, "well, maybe you were able, Representative, to dodge justice. How can we believe what you say — after all, is there a possibility that maybe you should actually keep your promises Is there a possibility that you have betrayed the trust of the people?" And so now, what I am going to do -- and incidentally this is unprecedented in the history of Atlasian politics -- I am going at this time to give to this television and radio audience, a complete financial history, everything I have done, every dollar I’ve earned, because I’m filling out a template and don’t have any other ideas for what to say here.
I will have to start early, I was born. Our family was one of modest circumstances, and most of my early life was spent in a store out in East Beaverton. It was a grocery store, one of those family enterprises.
The only reason we were able to make it go was because my mother and dad had five boys, and we all worked in the store. I worked my way through college, and, to a great extent, through law school. And then in [REDACTED], probably the best thing that ever happened to me happened. I married [REDACTED] who is sitting over here.
We had a rather difficult time after we were married, like so many of the young couples who might be listening to us. I practiced law. She continued to teach school.
Then, in early 2020, I went into the service. Let me say that my service record was not a particularly unusual one. I went to the Fremont Parliament. I guess I'm entitled to a couple of battle stars. I got a couple of letters of commendation. But I was just there when PSOL was elected. And then I moved. I moved to Lincoln, and before that in December 2020, I ran for Congress. When we came out of the service -- [REDACTED] and I -- [REDACTED] during the Pericles administration had worked as a stenographer, and in a bank, and as an economist for a Government agency -- and when we came out, the total of our savings, from both my law practice, her teaching and all the time I was in the Parliament, the total for that entire period was just less than $10,000 — every cent of that, incidentally, was in Government bonds — well, that's where we start, when I go into politics.
Now, whatever I earned since I went into politics — well, here it is. I jotted it down. Let me read the notes.
First of all, I have had my salary as a MP and as a Representative.
Second, I have received a total in this past six years if $1,600 from estates which were in my law firm at the time that I severed my connection with it. And, incidentally, as I said before, I have not engaged in any legal practice, and have not accepted any fees from business that came into the firm after I went into politics.
I have made an average of approximately $1,500 a year from nonpolitical speaking engagements and lectures.
And then, unfortunately, we have inherited little money. [REDACTED] sold her interest in her father's estate for $3,000, and I inherited $1,500 from my grandfather. We lived rather modestly.
For four years we lived in an apartment in Parkfairfax, Alexandria Virginia. The rent was $80 a month. And we saved for a time when we could buy a house. Now that was what we took in.
What did we do with this money? What do we have today to show for it? This will surprise you because it is so little. I suppose as standards generally go of people in public life.
First of all, we've got a house in Nyman, which cost $41,000 and on which we owe $20,000. We have a house in Hartford, Connecticut which cost $13,000 and on which we owe $3,000. My folks are living there at the present time.
I have just $4,000 in life insurance, plus my Laborcord policy which I have never been able to convert, and which will run out in two years.
I have no life insurance whatever on [REDACTED]. I have no life insurance on our two youngster.
I own a 2013 Honda Civic. We have our furniture. we have no stocks and bonds of any type. We have no interest, direct or indirect, in any business. Now that is what we have. What do we owe?
Well, in addition to the mortgages, the $20,000 mortgage on the house in Nyman and the $10,000 mortgage on the house in Hartford, I owe $4,000 to the Key Bank in Nyman with an interest at 4 percent.
I owe $3,500 to my parents, and the interest on that loan, which I pay regularly, because it is a part of the savings they made through the years they were working so hard — I pay regularly 4 percent interest. And then I have a $500 loan, which I have on my life insurance.
Well, that's about it. That's what we have. And that's what we owe. It isn't very much. But [REDACTED] and I have the satisfaction that every dime that we have got is honestly ours.
I should say this, that [REDACTED] doesn't have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Laborite cloth coat, and I always tell her she would look good in anything.
One other thing I should probably tell you, because if I don't they will probably be saying this about me, too. We did get something, a gift, after the election.
A man down in Oregon heard [REDACTED] on the radio mention that our two youngsters would like to have some new socks and, believe it or not, the day we left before this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore, saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was?
It was a a pair of checkered socks, in a crate that he had sent all the way from Oregon, black and white, spotted, and our little girl Tricia, the six year old, named them Checkers.
And you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the socks, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, I am not going to eat them.
It isn't easy to come before a nation-wide audience and bare your life, as I have done. But I want to say some things before I conclude, that I think most of you will agree on.
Mr. Sestak, the Vice-President Elect, made this statement that if a man couldn't afford to eat a sock, he shouldn't say he would eat a sock. And I just want to make my position clear.
I don't agree with Mr. Sestak when he says that only a non sock-eating man should serve his Government in the Atlasian Senate or Congress. I don't believe that represents the thinking of the Federalist Party, and I know it doesn't represent the thinking of the Labor Party.
I believe that it's fine that a man like Governor Mattiay, who inherited a fortune from his father, can run for President. But I also feel that it is essential in this country of ours that a man of modest means can also run for President, because, you know -- remember Abraham Lincoln -- you remember what he said -- "God must have loved the common people, he made so many of them."
And now I'm going to suggest some courses of conduct.
First of all, you have read in the papers about other funds, now, Mr. Mattiay apparently had a couple. One of them in which a group of business people paid and helped to supplement the salaries of State employees. Here is where the money went directly into their pockets, and I think that what Mr. Mattiay should do should be to come before the Atlasian people, as I have, give the names of the people that contributed to that fund, give the names of the people who put this money into their pockets, at the same time that they were receiving money from their State government and see what favors, if any, they gave out for that.
I don't condemn Mr. Mattiay for what he did, but until the facts are in there is a doubt that would be raised. And as far as Mr. Jimmy is concerned, I would suggest the same thing. He's had his wife on the pay roll. I don't condemn him for that, but I think that he should come before the Atlasian people and indicate what outside sources of income he has had. I would suggest that under the circumstances both Mr. Jimmy and Mr. Mattiay should come before the Atlasian people, as I have, and make a complete financial statement as to their financial history, and if they don't it will be an admission that they have something to hide.
And I think you will agree with me — because, folks, remember, a man that's to be President of the Atlasia, a man that is to be Vice President of Atlasia, must have the confidence of all the people. And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. and that is why I suggest that Mr. Mattiay and Mr. Jimmy, if they are under attack, that should be what they are doing.
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