Great article in POLITICO today. I am glad to know that what I have been telling friends and family privately was again right on as to how the political world is changes due to instant news, 24/7 infotainment passed as news, and blogs. I explain at the end of this article as to why I feel all of this is important.

The Huffington Post dispatched a reporter to Texas this summer to investigate rumors about Rick Perry’s personal life, hoping for an irresistible story about hypocrisy.

Enter L. Lin Wood Jr.

Retained by Perry’s gubernatorial campaign committee, the acclaimed libel lawyer fired off a letter to the website in August, threatening to sue if the story ran – an aggressive response even for a candidate whose aides later admitted they entered “Def Con 9” mode when long-circulating rumors began to swirl anew as Perry prepared to run for president.

The Huffington Post’s founder Arianna Huffington said recently the website didn’t spike the story because of Wood’s letter, but because there was “simply no there there.”

Still, Wood’s behind-the-scenes work for Perry – and his more public efforts last month to shoot down allegations of sexual impropriety leveled at former Perry rival Herman Cain — suggest there’s an appetite among high-profile campaigns for a more aggressive response to damaging stories. And though some Washington scandal veterans argue Wood’s confrontational approach— which blends litigation-style PR with legal threats and actual lawsuits — is better suited for Hollywood and supermarket tabloid stories, others predict the demand for those services will only expand as scandals increasingly dominate political coverage that spreads rapidly online.

“I’m not out looking for business,” Wood told POLITICO. “But I think that any candidate for public office would be well advised to have the benefit of an experienced opinion on whether a particular article or a particular accusation might rise to the level of being actionable defamation, because I’m afraid that the environment is such that this type of reporting is not going to get better. I’m afraid that it’s only going to get worse.”

Wood is also representing failed Senate candidate Jeff Greene, who lost a Democratic primary in Florida last year, and is suing newspapers over stories that linked him to a real estate scheme. In a letter sent in the heat of the campaign to the St. Petersburg Times, Wood called their story “journalistic fiction” and suggested he would file a lawsuit for “many millions of dollars unless the Times immediately corrects its libel” by retracting the story.

Wood’s past clients show his work had been mostly outside politics until recently. I predict with Wood going out on his own now in a boutique law office we might see him more on the political stage and it would be smart to hire him before the other guy does is my motto.

Wood’s past clients include Democratic Rep. Gary Condit, in the reporting of the death of intern Chandra Levy. Wood became the star Libel Litigator in the country when he made his reputation by helping exonerate Richard Jewell. Wood went on to represent clients in a host of high-profile cases, including the parents of JonBenét Ramsey, the young woman who accused basketball star Kobe Bryant of sexual assault and of course multiple lawsuits in the Anna Nicole Smith saga.

Ray Sullivan, a Perry spokesman, told POLITICO that the governor’s team decided to hire Wood in August when “we got wind that” Huffington Post — which he described dismissively as “a liberal web-based media outlet” — “seemed intent on quickly writing lies about the governor, and we were concerned about the speed at which those lies could be published online.” Sullivan characterization of the situation matches one outlined in more detail in an ebook by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas, which explained that Perry’s aides were “distressed to learn that Jason Cherkis, a Huffington Post reporter, was in Austin prowling around on a story that had been gossiped about for years in the Texas capital: is Perry gay?”

The rumors included “a detailed story about a supposed assignation with a former [male] state official,” wrote Allen and Thomas.

Wood “authored one strongly worded letter to the media outlet, which never replied and never wrote the story,” Sullivan told POLITICO. Wood “did this one thing and that’s it. We never told him to stop and he’s not billing us now as far as I know. The purpose for which he has been retained is completed,” Sullivan said.

Arianna Huffington, president of The Huffington Post Media Group, told POLITICO that the decision not to run a story had nothing to do with the letter. “We looked at what we had; we realized that it was not a publishable story, and it was over,” she said. “The story was already killed before we got the letter from Lin Wood. I never even read the letter.” She added: “If we feel good about a story or stories, we run them, no matter what the legal threat. That’s not an issue. We have a great legal department and have no problem taking on legal challenges.”

Lin Wood’s work for Cain went differently. He began work more than a week after POLITICO first revealed that two women had received financial payouts after accusing Cain of sexual harassment. Additional accusations of harassment followed, as did an allegation from an Atlanta woman named Ginger White that she’d had a 13-year affair with Cain. L Lin Wood labeled all the allegations “lies,” urged women considering making additional allegations to “think twice” and wrote a letter to White’s lawyer asking for her phone records to “ascertain whether the decision to grant interviews was politically motivated and to determine whether she has received or [been] promised money for participating.” Wood also investigated the backgrounds of White and at least one supporter of another Cain accuser, and highlighted their financial problems, which he asserted the media had willfully ignored.

“What I find naive is the failure on the part of members of the media to be asking the tough questions of the accuser, someone who has obviously a troubled past, who has an incentive potentially financially to go out and to make these kinds of unfounded accusations,” Wood told Piers Morgan in an interview on CNN a few days after White went public about her alleged affair with Cain. “Why don’t you look at yourself, Piers, and the members of your media and recognize that you in fact and the media are participating in the deterioration of our political process?” In that interview if I remember correctly Wood never brought out the scandal consuming the U. K at the moment of illegal wire tapping which involves even Morgan’s previous employer.

Wood told POLITICO he has had “informal conversations or communications” with the lawyers for Sharon Bialek, who accused Cain of harassment, and White, “but there have been no formal demands made under applicable statutes at this point in time.”

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said he “really enjoyed working with Mr. Wood,” who he said talked with “several individuals in leadership positions” on the campaign. But Gordon stressed that the lawyer worked for Cain personally and not the campaign, which would have been required to disclose payments to him.

Don’t be surprised if more defamation specialists like Wood get involved in politics, Richard Painter predicted, adding “accusations – and how to deal with them both in offense and defense – is an important part of the political game. This will be more common. It is most unfortunate, but that’s the way it is.”

Political lawyers serve their clients well by trying to block damaging stories from running and by seeking to stop the spread of those that do, said Trevor Potter, who was the top lawyer for [John] McCain’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008. “In my experience, it is not unusual to hire lawyers and to have them intervene with news media to essentially litigate a story in the hopes that it can be knocked down and proven unsubstantiated before it is printed,” said Potter. “And obviously, from the campaign standpoint, you don’t want to have an accuser out there doing a press tour day after day. On the other hand, if you can’t prove it’s false, that’s a political problem, not a legal problem.”

Wood told POLITICO that it’s not about politics for him, explaining “my representation of political figures in my career is not based on a political ideology.”

Though he worked on Richard Nixon’s 1972 presidential campaign (recalling he was “extremely disappointed … to learn that in fact he was a crook”) and contributed to the presidential campaigns of Republicans John McCain and George W. Bush and Democrats John Edwards and Barack Obama, Wood said “I don’t claim to be a political person.”

The principles driving his work do not “vary based on whether it’s a presidential campaign or a senate campaign or a state campaign or even a non-political attack on someone’s reputation,” said Wood, who in his late teens spent about a year covering high school football and basketball for his hometown newspaper, The Macon News. “I just happen to take the view that the rules should be the same for public figures, political candidates, and even private individuals, and that is a rule that goes back and insists upon fundamental principles of journalism being adhered to by the media.”

Ah you have to wonder if Bush would have been a one term president if John Kerry had been smart enough to hire Lin Wood BEFORE the swift boat ads took hold?

This is offense PR at it’s best, and as explained in Lin Wood’s own words he is not about political ideology. In today’s instant stories online in some cases without a scintilla of evidence I have long said we would not have had great presidents in the past like Franklin D. Roosevelt or John F. Kennedy. Wood sees where there is a need and will continue to fill that need in my opinion for years to come in the political arena. You can’t blame Wood’s belief in Nixon, I often say I voted for the guy both times and he broke my heart. Nixon is probably the single one reason I am a moderate independent that normally splits my vote today.

Be sure and read the whole story at POLITICO and the well documented links in the article that will give you a lot of background on Perry, Cain and Wood. Wonder how the democrat Jeff Greene’s litigation is going?

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©Rose Turner
December 18, 2011
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Tags: 24/7 infotainment passed as news, 24/7 infotainment/news, a liberal web-based media outlet, a particular article or a particular accusation might rise to the level of being actionable defamation, a story can be proven unsubstantiated before it is printed, acclaimed libel lawyer, afraid that it’s only going to get worse, allegation from an Atlanta woman named Ginger White, and even private individuals, appetite among high-profile campaigns for a more aggressive response to damaging stories, Arianna Huffington, attorney L Lin Wood naive, Austin Texas, Barack Obama, billionare Jeff Greene, blogs, Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon, Celebrity Trials, Chandra Levy, CNN, CNN Piers Morgan, Democratic Rep. Gary Condit, Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Greene, Democratic US Senate Candidate Jeff Greene, ebook by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas, Enter L. Lin Wood Jr., Evan Thomas, former Perry rival Herman Cain, Franklin D Roosevelt, George W. Bush, Ginger White, GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry, gossiped about for years in the Texas capital, High Profile Trials, hire lawyers and to have them intervene with news media to essentially litigate a story, how heated Piers Morgan, Huffington Post, Huffington Post Media Group, Huffington Post’s founder, Infotainment, infotainment/news, insists upon fundamental principles of journalism being adhered to by the media, instant news, Is Rick Perry Gay, J.D. Gordon, Jason Cherkis, Jason Cherkis a Huffington Post reporter, Jeff Greene, John Edwards, John F. Kennedy, John Kerry, John McCain, Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant of sexual assault, L Lin Wood naive, L. Lin Wood, Lin Wood, Lin Wood carving out that a politician does not have to openly share what is a very private life, Mike Allen, multiple lawsuits in the Anna Nicole Smith saga, others predict the demand for those services will only expand as scandals increasingly dominate political coverage that spreads rapidly online, parents of JonBenet Ramsey, Perry’s gubernatorial campaign committee, Piers Morgan, political candidates, POLITICO, public or voters right to know, rag magazines type gossip, Ray Sullivan, Richard Jewell, Richard Nixon, Richard Painter, Rick Perry, Rose Speaks, Rose Speaks Face Book, Rose Speaks Twitter, Sharon Bialek, shoot down allegations of sexual impropriety, St. Petersburg Times, suited for Hollywood and supermarket tabloid stories, swift boat ads, the environment is such that this type of reporting is not going to get better, the rules should be the same for public figures, Trevor Potter, two women had received financial payouts after accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment, U. S. Supreme Court Justices a pass on conflict of interest, what is private and/or personal lives, Wood became the star Libel Litigator in the country, Wood’s confrontational approach— which blends litigation-style PR with legal threats and actual lawsuits, you don’t want to have an accuser out there doing a press tour day after day, “accusations – and how to deal with them both in offense and defense – is an important part of the political game, “I’m sorry you find me naive”, “journalistic fiction”

Where would any of us be today without the dream of Ted Kennedy, born rich, fought for all, including the poorest of the poor and every minority in our country. Exactly one year to the day of his death, he gave what he must have known was his last national speech. How very proud we all must be no matter what our beliefs or which side of the spectrum we vote.

A Letter to be delivered to President Barack Obama only after my death from Senator Edward M (Teddy) Kennedy.
May 12, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat – that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family’s health will never again depend on the amount of a family’s wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes, we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America’s behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.

With deep respect and abiding affection,
[Ted]

Tags: And the Dreams Live on!, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Life Long work of Ted Kennedy, President Barack Obama, President Kennedy, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Sendator Kennedy's last public speech, Ted Kennedy's Dream, Teddy Kennedy, Universal Health Care, Vikki Kennedy

I always vote a split ticket and refer to myself as a “Moderate Independent”; most of my best friends are Republicans. Sometimes I feel like MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough who is a Republican and most of his friends are Democrat.

I remember the fear of the first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy, and all of the fear leading up to the election of the “fact” the Pope would run our country and we had to prevent that at all costs. He won by a very narrow margin and my mom kept me up late to see the results, she told me I was witnessing history; and I was.

I voted for Nixon both times and as I tell my friends, the man broke my heart. I did not vote for Clinton either time, staying home from voting in both elections.

I feel like this election I am the most informed on the different visions for our country, and through that, I am also the most informed on what is happening in my state, then I have ever been before, and I have to say I felt empowered by that. The internet has changed forever how the average person gets information; it is both a curse, some say, and a giant blessing others say.

However, can a diminishing white majority that sees that in their lifetimes they will become the minority, be able to vote for a black candidate. It is a valid question, in my opinion. If you can’t vote for him because he is black then own those feelings, we still have that freedom here to say, “I just can’t, I fear him”. You don’t have to own those feelings with others, but own them in your very core being.

If you vote strictly on the issues of today, the different visions of each candidate then you have done good. If you took all of the “Barack Obama” propaganda, put out there by a very small radical group of the Republican Party, from his birth certificate is “false”; he is “Muslin”; he has “terrorists for friends”, then please go to www.snopes.com read and research. The same goes for Palin, read about the 17 years her husband was in a true hate the U. S. flag, Secessionist Party in Alaska, but don’t buy into that Sarah Palin herself belonged to that party because that is as false as the propaganda about Barack Obama.

It bothers me that Republicans are saying, “We can hold Pennsylvania if we can keep voter turnout low in Philadelphia”. Do what?? So many people before us have died to keep the largest democracy in the world free to VOTE.

Research and vote on issues, not on the color of the candidates’ skin or the fear mongering put out there by a very select few. This is most likely not only history we are observing and participating in, but also for the direction of our country with the most serious issues and future, we face.

By the way, both sides have been “Socialists” and “Nationalists”, very nasty words to most Americans. Remember, Medicare and Social Security is “Socialist” if you go by the core meaning of the word/term. We are also “Nationalists” if you go by the core meaning of that term/word because we just took over as taxpayers many banks.

I had a beautiful drive in the country to vote, I took all kinds of identifications to prove whom I am because of the tightening of ID verification needed to match up here in Texas. Your voter registration had to match your picture ID and the new database here in Texas and my does not. The reason it does not is because I am on Social Security, Medicare, and I became eligible before Ken and I got together. My picture ID reflects the last name of Turner, my voter registration had my first name and Turner as the last name but had my middle initial on it so there was a frantic search for marriage license, a bill, anything to prove I am who I am because I wanted to vote.

When we got near the small country church that the voting machines are in here, I saw two Obama/Biden signs, one McCain/Palin and one for a local election and my heart felt hopeful. However, the black woman in line in front of us had to show so much ID, had to fill out paperwork had to hold up the line for all of us because she wanted to prove who she was and VOTE. When I got to where you sign in and present your ID, I was immediately processed with no need for picture ID or identification with the database. Is that fair?

Remember what King said, “I have a dream that the day will come when my children are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. Hold that in your hearts, stand in line as long as you have to and Vote; you are part of history today.

In closing, someone sent me a saying yesterday that just seemed to fit:

“Out of clutter find Simplicity; from discord find Harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies Opportunity.”
~Albert Einstein~

Another thought, I am going to miss Tim Russert tonight on NBC and his simple white board, his animated predictions of which state would hold the election and win for one of the candidates. He would have loved this election and the history we are all part of today.

I have voted, have you?

©Rose Turner, An Editorial Opinion
November 4, 2008
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

This article is the sole property of Rose Speaks unless otherwise stated. This article as with other articles is based on the opinion of Rose Turner, or our guest authors if so indicated. Please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this article are the opinions and sole property of the site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Tags: 2008 Presidential Elcection, Barack Obama, Barack Obama first Black President, Joe Biden, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin first woman vice president, Tim Russert

N Turner –

Over the weekend, John McCain’s top adviser announced their plan to stop engaging in a debate over the economy and “turn the page” to more direct, personal attacks on Barack Obama.

In the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to change the subject from the central question of this election. Perhaps because the policies McCain supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend.

But it’s not just McCain’s role in the current crisis that they’re avoiding. The backward economic philosophy and culture of corruption that helped create the current crisis are looking more and more like the other major financial crisis of our time.

During the savings and loan crisis of the late ’80s and early ’90s, McCain’s political favors and aggressive support for deregulation put him at the center of the fall of Lincoln Savings and Loan, one of the largest in the country. More than 23,000 investors lost their savings. Overall, the savings and loan crisis required the federal government to bail out the savings of hundreds of thousands of families and ultimately cost American taxpayers $124 billion.

Sound familiar?

In that crisis, John McCain and his political patron, Charles Keating, played central roles that ultimately landed Keating in jail for fraud and McCain in front of the Senate Ethics Committee. The McCain campaign has tried to avoid talking about the scandal, but with so many parallels to the current crisis, McCain’s Keating history is relevant and voters deserve to know the facts — and see for themselves the pattern of poor judgment by John McCain.

So at noon Eastern on Monday, October 6th, we’re releasing a 13-minute documentary about the scandal called “Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis” — it will be available at KeatingEconomics.com, along with background information that every voter should know.

Watch a preview right now and share it with your friends.

The point of the film and the web site is that John McCain still hasn’t learned his lesson.

And this time, McCain’s bankrupt economic philosophy has put our economy at the brink of collapse and put millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes.

Watch the video to see why John McCain’s failed philosophy and poor judgment is a recipe for deepening the crisis:

http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo.

It’s no wonder John McCain would rather spend the last month of this election smearing Barack’s character instead of talking about the top priority issue for voters.

But if we work together, we can make sure the focus stays on the economy — and how to fix it.

Please forward this email to everyone you know.

Thanks,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

P.S. — The documentary will be live at noon Eastern on Monday, October 6th at
www.KeatingEconomics.com.

Rose Speaks.com is not endorsing either candidate, we just think the more you research and learn the better inform your vote will be which ever way you decide to vote in this year’s election. It is a MUST vote year.

Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain's Keating Five, Keating 5, Keating Five, Obama for America, Sarah Palin