Arkansas Blog

Yeah, good luck with that. I'm sure it will change some minds and votes.
If the issue is so important to them, why didn't they bring it up sooner?

I can hear most voters asking, Who's Nick Wilson? Many of the people who would remember him are no longer with us, and most of the new voters will have never heard of Nick. Just another fart in the wind for Asa.

What a desperate howdy doody looking nimrod he is.

Heckuva October surprise, Asa!hole.

Assa can't win on his "ideas" for the future.
Assa can't win in the present [mistake after campaign mistake]
Assa can't win on the past. If he wants to dredge up Nick Wilson, let's dredge up his Homeland Security past, his lobbying past, his Clinton-bashing past, his TimothyGate, etc. etc.
Assa is truly and "Incompetent for All Seasons."

Can't wait till this election is over and they send A$A packing back to washington dc ,so he can be george bush's handmaiden and ass kissing lobbyist ,GOP swine, may they rot in (Hell )for the harm they have caused our nation.

A$a is such a clown...and his campaign is being run by a bunch of hacks...

I'm sure the $taffer$ will come out after dark...right after they ruin your dinner with an obnoxious call...

Speaking of October surprises? What is the word about firing or retirement of Tony Minicozzi as Director of Bureau of Legislative Research?? Was it the dying gasps of lameduck-Speaker or was it linked to the Critcher faction vs. Argue-faction Senate fight?? Nick Wilson could've engineered it any better...

Yeah, Bad Asa. How dare you bring up that Beebe defended Nick Wilson. That is just not fair. Don't you know we are supposed to protect the good old boy system here in Arkansas. Leave that stuff in the back smoky (at least before the ban) rooms not in the light of day where the voters can know about it.

Why are the first 4 posters attacking the messenger?

An "October Surprise" is when an inuendo or twisted statement comes out at the last moment and there is no time to correct the FACT.

A FACT is a FACT no matter when it is brought up.

If a FACT is embarrassing, it is still a FACT.

Aren't we all uppity about the Repubs and their true past that is making it easy pickings to regain the government?

I was pissed that Nick Wilson was able to set his own departure date after he was CONVICTED of ripping off all taxpayers (you and me). He stole from money set aside to aid children when their parents were battling over them in child custody cases.

If Beebe was in a position of authority during that etthics scam then it is VERY FAIR to bring that up. If Beebe wasn't in a position to force censure during that embarrassment, then this press release is and "October Surprise" and Asa should be slapped back to his homophobe, racist cave.

But we libs should not resort to attacking the messenger if the message is on the up and up.

The President Pro Tem of the Senate when Wilson was first convicted of a felony (October 1999) was Jay Bradford. Bradford was the one who had authority to call the Senate into session to expel Wilson. Beebe didn't become President Pro Tem until January 2001.

So while Beebe maybe could have done more to pressure Wilson to resign immediately rather than give him until the end of the year, he wasn't Pro Tem at that time so wasn't in a position to call the Senate into session to expel Wilson.

Publication: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Date:1999 Nov 25

In search of a Wilson solution So far, it eludes the Senate

JOHN BRUMMETT

State Sen. Jim Argue of Little Rock telephones Sen. Jay Bradford of Pine Bluff, the president pro tem. The conversation goes pretty much like this:

Argue:"Jay, what happened?"

Bradford: "What do you mean?"

Argue: "Why did you cave in on Nick Wilson? You were so, I don't know, pugnacious. You had so much backbone."

Bradford: "Hey, buddy, don't talk to me about backbone. I was fighting Nick Wilson before you ever thought about being in the state Senate."

Argue: "That was my point."

So goes another failure to communicate.

Bradford has long been one of the Senate's most dogged opponents of Wilson's rascally ways. I vividly recall in 1989 Bradford literally commanding me to be visible in the gallery when the Senate would challenge Wilson's heavy-handed attempt to get a new state office building constructed by his friends for his friends.

Without a visible reminder of the threat of press criticism, some of the senators would wilt against Wilson's heavy pressure, Bradford said.

Two days before a federal jury found Wilson guilty of income tax evasion, Bradford, suspecting acquittal, filed an ethics complaint against Wilson over undisputed testimony revealing that the senator took hundreds of thousands of dollars in referral fees from a real estate developer who had sold two office buildings in Downtown Little Rock to the state retirement system.

Now Bradford winds up portrayed as St. Nick's partisan protector by Republican editorialists and run over by the shameless political grandstanding of the Republican governor, Mike Huckabee.

Even Argue, one of Bradford's friends and Democratic colleagues, falls for the partisan portrayal.

This follows Bradford's making the apparently unilateral decision to accept Wilson's resignation as offered at the end of the year. He deemed it a suitable resolution of the matter of Wilson's conviction on federal income tax charges. He decided not to proceed with plans to assemble the Senate on Dec. 6 to expel Wilson, finding such an exercise superfluous and overkill.

Yes, his was an apparently unilateral decision.

Conventional wisdom has it that Sen. Mike Beebe of Searcy, the usual leader of the Senate, puppeteered Bradford in this affair. But Bradford says he made the call on his own and notified Beebe and others of it. Beebe found it fair and has defended it publicly since.

But Bradford wants everyone to know that he has a mind of his own and is as capable as Beebe or anyone else of making a compassionate and politically lead-footed decision.

It's the unilateral part of the decision that has Argue upset, at least in part.

All Argue knows is that he and 27 others senators signed a petition calling for a hearing on Wilson's expulsion; that Wilson then announced his resignation effective Dec. 31; and that all of a sudden Bradford was announcing that the hearing was canceled.

Argue would have preferred an inclusive process on the question of whether to proceed with the hearing. He didn't think the Senate was run by one or two men anymore, now that Max Howell and Knox Nelson have gone to the quiet room in the sky and Nick Wilson stands convicted of three federal crimes and accused of 130 others.

Beyond that, Argue believes the state Constitution clearly states that a convicted felon isn't eligible to serve in the Senate. He believes that means he and his colleagues ought to assemble and expel Wilson if he won't quit immediately.

That is an interesting point. No one raised it when Jim Guy Tucker, upon his own conviction, instantly announced his resignation as governor effective at a subsequent date. That seemed a logical transitory step, if ruined in the end by Tucker's outrageous reneging.

And while the law provides that a senator convicted of a felony isn't eligible to serve, it doesn't command the Senate to meet and kick him out.

There are practical considerations: The Senate is not currently in session and is not likely to be called into session between now and the end of the year. Wilson has tendered his resignation. As of New Year's Eve, he will no longer be a senator, settling the issue.

If Nick pulls a Jim Guy and reneges at the last moment, Bradford has arranged for an immediate Senate assembly to expel him.

Bradford thinks that's good enough. He says he's prepared to fade the heat from those believing otherwise or committed to making hay. He says he's sorry that Beebe, who wants to be governor, has been brought under fire.

Beebe is none too thrilled about it either. But, you know, Beebe could have challenged Bradford's decision and perhaps talked him out of it. He didn't. He's a big boy.

Meanwhile, Sen. Stanley Russ of Conway continues to insist that Bradford should assemble the Senate as early as Sunday and kick Wilson out, the resignation be damned. He sent Bradford a letter to that effect Monday.

In the letter, he essentially conceded the point I'm attempting to make here. He wrote that Bradford was enduring "a lot of abuse you don't deserve" and could escape it all by calling the Senate together to kick Wilson out now.

Bradford told me Tuesday that he was not persuaded by this appeal to his own convenience.

Just for clarification, I thought Citizen1 was John Anderson of the Citizen's Journal (http://thecitizensjournalblog.blogspot.com/).

This may just be a coincidence of handle. However, if it is John Anderson of the Citizen's Journal. The closing "...But we libs should not resort to attacking the messenger if the message is on the up and up." is truly indicative of the CCRRR or Bushite ethics. Any lie is justified, if we promote the Republican cause.

If I am wrong, I apologize. If not you should be ashamed, but probably won't be.

Another last gasp effort by A$a GW Bush Hutchinson. Trying to play the fear card. A$a your just plain wrong! America rejects you and your party of repig cronies. 6 years in power and repigs blame everyone else other than taking blame for their piss poor leadership. The days of the conturds are almost OVER!

"Sen. Jay Bradford of Pine Bluff"

Now thats funny right there.

All the while (before his divorce) his primary residence I believe was Edgehill.

The PR firm thats manageing Assa's campaign is the same group who crucified Max Clealand's bid for reelection for US Senator from Georgia. They painted him as not being patriotic. This is the same hero who lost both legs & one arm in Vietnam. This attack is only one of many they will issue between now and election day.

Well lets call A$A on the fact that while he was in DC his buddy the Shrub started an illegal war and attacked a country that did us no harm. Why did he not speak up and oppose it? Nick Wilson did not cause the death of thousands of American servicemen and women. His buddy did.

A couple of things:

1. Nick Wilson, convicted in October 1999, shortly thereafter announced his plan to resign effective Dec 31, 1999. This left him 2.5 months as a disgraced lame duck in an off year with little opportunity to make legislative mischief outside of crashing the occasional Legislative Council meeting (whoopee!). The idea of Bradford rallying the troops, holding hearings, and formally booting Nick just on principle was ludicrous, and it would have cost mucho bucks to do it. Bradford made the call, which allowed Nick to fade away on Y2K. Stanley Russ screamed like a stuck pig. The public, weary of a scandal they only partially understood, yawned.

2. Stanley Russ had been Nick Wilson's cellblock bitch for most of Russ's unremarkable legislative career. Whenever Nick ran some kind of scam, big or small, Stanley would pop up, raise all kinds of hell, then bungle the follow-through. He was the Wile E. Coyote of the General Assembly, doomed to impotence and failure. So when he finally had the opportunity to humiliate Nick Wilson -- even with Nick's resignation and imprisonment a fait accompli-- Stanley went into an autoerotic frenzy . He wanted a show trial in the deadest part of the legislative biennium for no other reason than to regain all the respect Nick had denied him. But Jay Bradford said no. The adults prevailed.

3. Nick had no use for Beebe and his pals, who tended to not participate in the shenanigans Nick had his thumb in. The idea of these two being partners in crime-- or even covering for each other-- is laughable to anyone who knew either of them.

Asa, who obviously shares Stanley Russ's fetish for rough treatment, has no evidence other than hearsay to accuse Beebe of any connection to Nick. Try another one, Asa.

Yes, let us hope that Asa! hightails it back to DC after his defeat, never to be heard from again. But, remember after he did his party's bidding and shook his boney finger in Bill Clinton's face while brother Tim was boinking the hired help in the same apartment, his reward was sweet but rather short.

His reward was the top spot in the DEA. He and Ron Fields took on the nation's drug problems and ran the gamut from A to B. Then 9-11 happens and politicians do what they always do in a crisis, they create another sprawling bureaucratic boondoggle.

This whopper was called Homeland Security and they had to quickly fill the seats in order to hide all the zillions of quick money that Bush dumped on their heads.

Asa goes from the DEA to number 2 in Homeland Security and lunches as hard as he can. Because of his inability to pick a shirt and tie to match his jacket, Team Bush tires of him, checks their watches and determines he has been paid back enough for clobbering Clinton and they bid him a fond farewell.

Asa the lobbyist and corporate attorney and noted penny stock king may return to DC, but he won't so much as get a cocktail party invite from Bush-Cheney. They used him and they threw him away like so much soiled toilet paper.

Asa got the big flush and will not return to carry water for Team Bush. Too bad, so sad. Goodbye

I kew Nick Wilson, and even liked him for awhile, until I realized what a crook he was.
I don't think he and Beebe were cronies.
It does not matter to me one way or the other - I can't stomach ASA! for at least 100 reasons, so my vote goes to Beebe.
I hope it counts, given the problems with the voting machines.

DBI, I think you painted an accurate portrait of AH's career, in vividly sordid colors. Anyone who votes for him illustrates the meaning of the term "shit-blind".

During the most difficult times in our country's history, we were always able to count on our leaders to offer reassurance in times of need. The many statesmen throughout the world have been on the scenes to offer succor and comfort in times of war and disasters. Our esteemed President, Franklin D. Roosevelt offered solace when he uttered those famous words: "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself."

But today we have an additional enemy in times of wretch and ruin, FEAR. Fear perpetrated by our leaders. By George W. Bush, his administration and the GOP. They have nothing but FEAR to offer those of us who look for reassurance and hope. They offer nothing but FEAR in our grief for the loss of lives in this terrible war we are in. They deliberately generate FEAR, speak of FEAR, rattle the cages of FEAR in our time of uncertainty.

Why? For their own personal gains. And for this I find them despicable. They choose to spread FEAR in order to win elections and maintain their power and control over this country of ours. Shame on them.

If but for one moment in time, we could all reach deep down into our souls and respond to this cry of FEAR with a challenge of our own. We need to fight back and regain reason over FEAR. We need to show those who would use such tactics that FEAR has no place in a world of decency. We need to make: FEAR STRIKE OUT at the polls.

Everyone, every party, every concerned citizen needs to strike back and strike down these FEAR tactics. They are a malicious cancer.

SHAME ON THOSE WHO WOULD USE SUCH TACTICS!

It really started a lot sooner before 1999. While vic snyder was still in office, he, along with Russ, started the beginning of the end with Wilson by forcing him to move his power base outside the senate and down the hall to the house (this around 1995). The bottom line was I was there and you certainly didn't see Beebe anywhere and if he was behind the curtain, he was WAY behind the curtain and was like a lot of the others: waiting to see which way the tide went then they could pile on. Leadership? I'd give it to Vic on taking out Wilson; certainly, it wasn't Mike Beebe. I was there...

And, dogtownius, I wish I knew you. I'd like see you face to face when you badmouthed such a good man like Stanley Russ. You couldn't hold his pee bucket...

I respect your historical perspective, Inside, although it sounds like you have Stanley Russ's pee bucket handled yourself. Russ was a nice guy, but he was totally ineffective in challenging the Wilson gang throughout his career. Nick was no supervillain, but experience and a web of favors owed made him very powerful in a way Russ could not comprehend-- it just wasn't in him. Stanley never learned to play hardball, and Nick new his weaknesses intimately.

You make a good point about the banishment of Nick's unofficial personal staff from SILO to the House staff in 1995. The House provided fertile ground for Nick to sow his schemes, and it helped that he provided a do-nothing job for then-Speaker Bobby Hogue's, er, special friend. It took Vic Snyder-- who, unlike Stanley, was taken seriously by both Nick's and Beebe's gangs-- to begin Nick's political demise. The "Young Golfers" -- Beebe and Harriman being their leaders-- were content to allow Vic and Stanley to lead the charge and take the brunt of Nick's machine. Vic punched out and ran for Congress. Stanley continued to get slapped around by Nick until the day Nick resigned.

Dogtownius, you ignorant slut. While trying to rant and rave about your oneside opinion about Arkansas senate history, you're missing my point. Beebe didn't take the lead on getting Wilson out. He watched it happen and then jumped on the bandwagon when Saint Nick had to leave. That's the whole point Asa is trying to make - Beebe really didn't do anything and others did the work.

That differs from what I said . . . how? I didn't claim Beebe was a hero-- he let the other guys do his dirty work, as many successful politicians will. But the fact that you and I are only ones left beating both ends of the same dead horse is proof that this is a lame issue that Asa is pushing. Nick Wilson has very little relevance to our political consciousness today.

The last word is yours if you want it. I'm tired.