Arkansas Blog

Let the light shine and rats and roaches run. Good job, Jennifer and AT.

I'm going to go way out on a limb and say that there is no way Huckabee personally paid for the trip. If there was a reimbursement it would most likely come from his federally registered Political Action Committee. It will be in his PAC's next quarterly report if the PAC reimbursed for it.

Huck- crooked

Beebe- crooked

Thinking,
If it wasn't - it is gonna be reported now!
What is it with this guy? Hell, if the Rev/Bro/Gov will give me 8.5 million dollars worth of contracts a year - I'll fly him anywhere he wants to go.
Is the Huckster so ignorant or arrogant that he'd didn't think some bright hard working reporter (there few left) wouldn't track this down?
Another example of the sense of entitlement that apprears to be a "perk" for the elected - and yes before you start - it happens on both sides, and shouldn't happen.

Good Lord! The Lord's Ranch owns a Cessna Citation SII jet? The Lord has been very very good to the Lord's Ranch, but look what he's done for Ronnie Floyd. That Lord loves winners!

Lord have mercy, if the Lord is going to be so generous to the Lord's Ranch and Huckabee why on earth would the Lord let one engine on the Lord's Ranch's Cessna Citation SII jet go dead? Lordy! Doesn't the Lord look after those who are doing the Lord's work?

And my Lord, if Huck, a man of the Lord, is flying to the lordly state of North Carolina to attend a Lord board meeting and do a little politicking on the side, and the Lord's Ranch guy is sucking up 8 million in state funds, wouldn't you think the Lord and the Lord's Ranch guy could afford to do better maintenance on that expensive Cessna Citation SII jet?

( 1985 CESSNA CITATION SII $2,450,000, pretty old, but Lord look at the current sale price!)

Oh Lord, what a close call that was! And now the Lord will have to deal with the Huckster's heart and lead him to be open about the relationship he has with the Lord's Ranch. And Praise the Lord, I'm sure a man of Lord, like our Governor already has his reimbursement check in the mail to the Lord's Ranch guy, because we all know that Huckabee would never take a gift from someone getting their income from state tax money that we all paid so generously that there is a 300 million dollar surplus.

I'm just pissed that I can't figure a way to work the name of the late Jack Lord in this thread......

I'll tell you folks something else about Ted Suhl -- the man has financial problems. Someone needs to start checking court records in Suhl's home county, and a few counties around there. Also -- check this out too, while you're at it. Huckabee-appointed Juvenile Court judges seem mysteriously to refer convicted juveniles to the Lord's Ranch, instead of juvenile detention. Nice little system, huh? Suhl gives Huck free plane rides. Huck appoints judges. Those judges send troubled kids to Ted Suhl for treatment. And who pays for that treatment? Medicaid! Taxpayers! You and me! And who said Republicans don't like government-sponsored health care?

AT -- court records are still public. Huckabee can't hide those from you! Start asking questions and you might be suprised at what you find!

Waa Wooo - is the worm turning for the Right/Rev/Broth/Gov? 12 years of Christian Republican leadership, with honesty and integrity always (?) - but when you take a coin and scratch the surface, a mighty stink rises.
What county is the Lord's ranch in?

Huckabee does not appoint juvenile judges. They are elected.

What county is the Lord's ranch in? Posted by: Anonymous

It's here in Randolph County. Everybody in the county has been suspicious of Suhl for years. He has bought up most of the vacant houses and buildings here in Pocahontas. He even bought the huge Brown Shoe Company plant here when the shoe company closed, laying off 800. Huge building. He has an art gallery in it, but I don't think anybody ever visits it.

As best I understand it, his Lord's Ranch takes juvenile delinquents from places like Chicago, where the youths are given the choice of regular "youth prison" or a visit to this religious camp in the wilderness of the Ozark foothills. In return for taking the boys, Suhl gets a nice sum of cash per boy.

They've never caused any real problems here, except when a couple of the boys ran away from the Ranch, stole a pickup and, as I recall, had a wreck in which someone died.

The whole thing kind of reminds me of the David Koresh bunch.

Let me see here, we (me/you) are funding to the tune of 8.5 million dollars a year a relgious based organization? Is here something wrong withthis picture?
And has anybody checked the tax rolls? It's obvious for proft - is the Lord's ranch tax exempt? More questions that answers!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Stay on this story. Local networks and their pitiful excuse for news reporting won't touch it. Station management is afraid of a lawsuit. Surely someone in media here has contacts at the network level. People, this crooked SOB needs to be grilled on this stuff. Anyone for an organized protest at the Governor's Mansion? We have plenty of issues to cover!

Let me see here, we (me/you) are funding to the tune of 8.5 million dollars a year a religious based organization? Is here something wrong withthis picture?

Bush has put a lot of money into faith-based solutions. It's the Right's way of supporting religion under the table.

And has anybody checked the tax rolls? It's obvious for proft - is the Lord's ranch tax exempt? More questions that answers!

Good luck getting any answers. I heard that the local newspaper (Pocahontas Star Herald) tried to do some investigative journalism up there, but the publisher was "warned off" the investigation.

"Bush has put a lot of money into faith-based solutions. It's the Right's way of supporting religion under the table."

And Patrick, it's a double whammy when you can please the Lord, skip paying taxes, suck up government money and then funnel it back to the phony religious politician who greases the Lord's wheels. Al Capone would be bowing and tipping his hat to the Republican Party, ain't no Mafia ever figured out such a sweet deal.

I'm telling people...those we elect are fleecing us like country bumpkins at a county fair. Show of hands...how many of you got gifts, a trip or a grocery sack full of cash today at work?

Al Capone would be bowing and tipping his hat to the Republican Party, ain't no Mafia ever figured out such a sweet deal. Posted by: Deathbyinches

Yes, you describe it well. Imagine getting to do this fleecing "legally" and with a state-supported police squad to back you up.

Image getting to hide behind executive privilege or, as the Governor calls it, "security issues".

Imagine getting to run a business tax-free by making it church-based.

Yes, a good racket indeed.

Where's the Citation based, on an airport in Randolph County? Is it on the personal property tax rolls there? Enquiring minds would like to know. Good Job AT!

I am thankful that our Governor wasn't injured in this mishap. I urge all of you who make light of this situation to realize the gravity of the circumstances at hand. I personally lie awake at night praising the Lord that no private corporate jet carrying our Governor has yet had the misfortune to clip his state police watch tower at Lake Greeson. The potential tragedy at Narrows Dam would outshadow anything our nation has yet seen.

To paraphrase Lincoln, no prayer, no prose, no donated suit could better consecrate the grounds of the diamond mines at Murfreesboro than the fall of our head of state in an influence jet or votebuy-copter. Please show some respect, y'all.

Where's the Citation based, on an airport in Randolph County?

The Times article says the Cessna Citation SII jet is owned by Southeastern Asset Management, a corporation registered in New Hampshire. So I don't know. We have a few corporate jets fly into Nick Wilson* Field here in Pocahontas. I assume they're all management teams flying in to inspect small industries here that are owned by the Yankees.

*And don't start looking for a Nick Wilson angle in this story. Call me naive, but I say Nick would never get along with the likes of Bud Suhl (they call him Bud here). Bud's a Republican.

Wouldn't this be great if network/cable picked up on this? Finally Alice Stewart would be ready for her "close up." Huckabee could forget about any chance of running in 08' and Jethrene could go back to the country.

Max-
If you're serious about looking into Suhl, check out a company called BVERKLIN.

Also, Southeastern was, until late January, the largest single sharholder of Deltic stock, with over a million shares held.

Well this is a juicy little thread. I hope there will be more investigating and reporting on these dealings.

And this from Patrick earlier:

"They've never caused any real problems here, except when a couple of the boys ran away from the Ranch, stole a pickup and, as I recall, had a wreck in which someone died."

Sounds like a real problem to me.

Max..You and the four extreme liberals you have left on your blog just can't get over it can you....? The Governor dropped you like a hot potato and all you want to do is make light of a life or death situation in a plane the Governor and First Lady were in. Shame on you..Your liberal numbers on here are being overtaken by good conservative bloggers. Is that causing you a problem? You are not gonna shut the blog down are you?

"Your liberal numbers on here are being overtaken by good conservative bloggers."

First I have to stop laughing at the term good conservative bloggers.....ha......oh...ha ha.....whew.

Now, good conservative blogger, can you tell me deep in your heart you want any politician of any party to set up a little circle jerk that allows great deals of tax money to be funneled around and around into the pockets of a secret little group.

Aren't you tired of the elected Pimp-Whore club where someone like Huckabee helps set up a deal where money flows to a backer who then funnels it back to him. Our tax dollars......money that could go for education, health care, highways?

Is this circle jerk scam just too complicated for you to figure out? Or are you blinded by some kind of Sunday School lesson of 40 years ago that keeps telling you good Christian folks would never cheat you? It's a great idea....I swallowed it myself for a lot of years. But the handwriting is on the wall 20 feet high. The people we elect are robbing us blind and laughing about it.

The main difference between the crooked Republicans and the crooked Democrats is that the Republicans not only found a great shield to hide behind when they put on Joseph's coat of many colors, they also found out by lapping up the Lord they could double and triple their take.

Give me a black man with cash hid in his freezer any day over people who wrap themselves in Jesus in order to set up scams that make them rich and unbeatable in the next election. It's fool me twice in one smooth move.

Wake the hell up! We can take this lowest point in American history and throw them all out, rewrite the rules to more closely follow the rules you have to follow at work and save this country in the nick of time.

There is no way to make Huckabee look good in this surprising new revelation. It's not Max's fault, it's the fault of Governor McGreedy's. Trying to put up a smokescreen by putting out fake indignation at our lack of concern for the Huckabee's safety on this trip won't work. Huckabee has a whole lot of explaining to do when he gets back from the Great Toyota Hunt.

And if the cluckster pulls off a coup and gets the Toyota plant- Thats all we will ever hear. How the cluckster got Toyota to put a plant in Arkansas. They will paint it up as the best thing since Arkansas got indoor plumbing. He will try and ride it right into the White House. That is if there is one left after W gets done with it!

Too little, Too late!
More low poll numbers for the great Bush!
http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm

"They've never caused any real problems here, except....

Sounds like a real problem to me. Posted by: hugh mann

Yes, but as I mentioned, that was the sole exception. The local high school produces more problems than the Lord's Ranch.

They are VERY secretive. Nobody can get a call into there, even to the staff. But a lot of staff and a lot of boys come and go from there and I guess if anything bad* was going on in there, the word would get out eventually.

*Of course, all manner of financial mischief could go on and that could remain well hidden. But I guess it's mostly their business, even if that business does do a lot of business with the tax payers and, perhaps, enjoys some tax exemptions in return.

Well, Max, it's obvious that the state GOP has created an organized campaign to contribute (heavily) to your humble blog. Congratulations on the success. I suspect they are scared of the influence it has gained in the relatively short time it has been active. I'm sure it's a long term thing, but I suspect most of it is driven by the perceived effect it had on the Democratic primary races. Expect plenty of CREEP-like activity over the next five months.

Looking back in our history books, we can see we'll be sure to encounter lies, lies, and lots of lies. There will be false accusations of drug or alcohol addictions, innumerable accusations of marital infidelity, lots of "a birdie told me" type gossip that is generated diretly out of the Republican Party, and plenty of "I'm a Democrat but I can't vote for this liberal ticket. . ." posts from people using names like "Not this time" and "Once Proud Dem."

These things are the virtual, online version of the old Nixonian "rat f#cking," where operatives would spread bastard child rumors (I SAY old, look what happened to McCain in 2000) and reschedule Democratic events so that the facility would be closed and locked when supporters arrived. This is the same "win at all cost" mentality that suppresses votes and otherwise disenfranchises citizens while campaigning against "activist" judges. This is your GOP, and I already dread reading it every day. You know it will be bad in October when we're missing the good old days of the Lt. Governor's race.

First I have to stop laughing at the term good conservative bloggers.....ha......oh...ha ha.....whew...

Ha! My thoughts exactly...that Kool-Aid must be some powerful stuff!

They are VERY secretive. Nobody can get a call into there, even to the staff. But a lot of staff and a lot of boys come and go from there and I guess if anything bad* was going on in there, the word would get out eventually...

Nothing good comes from this kind of secrecy...and it's certainly against the fundamentals of accountability and open government (yeah, that tax money puts them in our playing field). The dark will keep the cockroaches breeding and flourishing.

Once Bush leaves office, we're going to be astounded by the depth of interbreeding between religious organizations and our tax dollars...and the offspring are going to be even uglier than the Lord's Ranch.

Nothing good comes from this kind of secrecy...Posted by: zelda

I've never understood all the secrecy up there. What's the benefit of it? It makes people around here wonder what's going on. It breeds suspicion.

See the Times article: In 1994, [Lord's] Ranch officials refused to allow state monitors to inspect the home.

Now what's that all about? Very disturbing! If they're doing business with the state, there certainly needs to be a lot of public accountability. Mixing church and state always results in problems.

"They've never caused any real problems here, except....

Sounds like a real problem to me. Posted by: hugh mann

Yes, but as I mentioned, that was the sole exception. The local high school produces more problems than the Lord's Ranch.

I'm with you, brother Patrick. I guess I made it sound otherwise.

"Huckabee does not appoint juvenile judges. They are elected." . . . posted by Michael Lamoreaux

That's only half right. Huckabee does appoint judges to fill unexpired terms or newly created judicial positions. Those judges do frequently go on to be elected in their own right, because they can call themselves "judge" in their advertising (though not on the ballot). These Republican judges then feed delinquent juveniles to Ted Suhl's Lord's Ranch, both during the period Huckabee appointed them and then after they are elected in their own right.

So, yeah, Huckabee does appoint juvenile judges. If you want to know who's involved in all this in north Arkansas, look at the judges Huckabee has appointed since 1997 and then went on to be elected. There's a lot of other interesting stuff if you start peeling back the layers -- Ted Suhl has also been known to hire the family members of some of these Huckabee-appointed judges.

The whole thing is very, very questionable. Ted Suhl's an odd guy -- an un-appetizing fundamentalist sort who operates in a shady manner but is absolutely convinced of his own righteousness. In the bright light of day, it could be very embarrassing to certain Republicans in north Arkansas.

...the likes of Bud Suhl (they call him Bud here). Bud's a Republican. Posted by: Patrick, Pocahontas

CORRECTION: I asked around town today about this. Bud is the father, the only one I've known of, the Lord's Ranch founder. He's now in very poor health and has turned the family business over to his son Ted.

Not being one to attend Republican gatherings, I wasn't aware of Ted until I checked today.

DBI, I knew we could count on you for a gem here and you did not disappoint.

Now. That plane is just tacky, good Lord it's tacky.

I dont care how much it cost or how much a new one would run, it's tacky.

Where are the angels and stuff painted on the wings?? Where is the 800 number for folks to call in their love donations and pledges to the Huckster??? I could excuse this horrid ungodly omission IF the plane did that skywriting stuff to provide the common folks down here on the ground with a nice opportunity for giving.

that plane is ugly, tacky, and just unfit for the Huck. Please join me in sending your mortgage payment and your car payment(s) money for this month and next month to DBI so we can either buy a fitting vehicle for the rev-guv or spruce up this one a little bit.
And that boys' ranch doesnt need a private jet. Let 'em get by with a helicopter, USED, in case one of them heathens escapes and steals stuff again, so they can fly overhead and shine lights and stuff, but really they dont need a jet. The Lord wants the Lords Ranch to grow a new jet for the huckster, I feel it in my little bones.

TINA you're my kind of woman. And I'd be happy to do a little decorating on Huck's home away from home. Just give me a call.

"I've never understood all the secrecy up there. What's the benefit of it?"

Patrick, in my 50 years, secrecy usually means one of 2 things or both....they're either keeping it on the hush hush to hide sex or money. For all we know the Lord's Ranch is a place rich Republicans can be flown to for kiddy sex. Maybe that's why the plane is warmed up and waiting all the time.

Or maybe it's a giant slave labor operation. They could be the folks that flooded the country with WWJD bracelets and rings and T-shirts a few years back. They might be making cheap crap for Wal-Mart? Surely one of the ex-inmate would like to sing?

Now is the perfect time to shine the light of day on Suhl and all the HuckPACS....can anyone think of a better way to stop all this ugly wondering? Shine the light Governor, prove us all wrong about your character. Tell Alice to open the books while you're in Japan. You might just elect to make it your new home.

10:39 a.m. attempted to correct me about Huckabee not appointing juvenile judges.

The correction like my original answer was also half right.

Most Circuit judges do not hear juvenile cases. I practice in the 5th and 15th judicial districts. Combined they have seven circuit judges. only two of the seven hear juvenile cases. Neither of them know or care who Ted Suhl is. what they do care about is the often lack of an adequate place to put the kids that need help.

I also have personally went through the judicial appointment process myself with Governor Huckabee. I asked strongly that he apoint a friend of mine who was qualified and happened to be a Republican. Most people recommended a more senior individual who was not a republican. The Governor appointed the person he thought was most qualified, despite my request, Because he thought it was the right thing to do despite politics.

This is the kind of stuff that he never gets credit for.

Michael Lamoureux

Appointing a senior judge from a different party is commendable. But do you have any idea how much of the Lord's Ranch money this judge kicks back to the Governor these days?

Well, we appear to have attracted an august member of the General Assembly willing to sign his name. Impressive.

Hey Blog: How about a thread about the millions of dollars that State Senate Majority Leader Percy Malone has made through contract with the state that he has secured while working for then Gov. Clinton and while being in the ledge. I hear there was some discussion about it at a legislative committee meeting this week but no press coverage.

I have heard:
-Mr. Suhl has a criminal past.
-reformed and started out with a prison ministry.
-has some big govt contracts with california airports.
-has dealings with and financed some texas congressmen.
-gets $17,000 per month per child at the ranch.
-most clients are from chicago.

could he be an old minister friend of the revgov?

Patrick in Pocahontas is a complete idiot, so far he hasn't reported anything close to the truth.
Facts:
Mr Suhl does not have a criminal past
Never been in prison
no contracts with California
does know alot of people
no where near 17,000 / child
no clients from Chicago

The Hillbilly Mafia rides again!

ringtones free