Thursday, December 07, 2006
One Political Hack Out, Another Political Hack In
Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced today he was relieving state Lottery Director Esther Schneider from her duties. Her abrasive management style, ethical lapses and partisan politicking landed her in hot water earlier this year and has the agency defending a bona fide ADA EEOC complaint brought by the Lottery's former general counsel. In her place, the governor is appointing another partisan, political hack, unsuccessful state representative candidate Kathryn Densborn (R). This is truly a disappointing appointment by the governor. Densborn has absolutely no unique qualifications for this job other than the "R" behind her name and her political connections. The Lottery is a major source of state revenues, and the governor should be looking for the best and brightest in the growing gaming industry to run the agency if he is truly concerned with results. Anyone want to take bets on how long it is before Daniels appoints former Rep. Troy Woodruff (R) to a position in his administration? Woodruff lost not only his legislative seat, but also his job as a congressional aide to U.S. Rep. John Hostettler (R), who lost his seat to Brad Ellsworth (D).
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41 comments:
Nothing new here, though I do wish Kathryn Densborn the best of luck in her new position.
Political hacks at the lottery are the norm. What was Jack Crawford?
A PHILANDERING political hack.
I can't wait until WISH-TV posts the transcript from their interviews with both Schneider and Densborn. Priceless stuff.
Densborn says she's qualified to run the agency because she's Catholic. Schneider is heading to law school.
Ms. Densborn will quickly learn that just because you can play Bingo doesnt make you a good lottery administrator!
Jack Crawford was at the Lottery 16 years ago - that freeper pseudo-monarchist is really having to dredge to get in his mandatory digs at Democrats!
Jen, Shella did run those interviews at 6:00. It was "priceless" as they say.
Crawford has actually grown into a respected criminal defense attorney. You have to hand it to the guy for putting that baggage behind him and moving forward. If I'm not mistaken, he was the Lake Co. Prosecutor at the time of his appointment to the Lottery post by Bayh.
Jack Crawford was also a threat politically statewide to Evan Bayh. He was a popular Lake County prosecutor with a good track record and the first lottery director. His name was on every lottery ticket when it went on line.
Reason why Bill Moreau, chief of staff and others in the Bayh camp set him up and exposed his extramarital affairs with Mary Cartwright. Knocked him out of running for statewide office.
No difference between him and President Clinton. In fact they stopped Baron Hill from running for governor, and Dwayne Brown from running for congress in the 10th District or seeking another statewide office so that Bayh could do what he is doing, paved his way to a bid for the presidency that he is not going to win. Payback will be glorious!
In 1984 Jack Crawford was the "conservative" in a 3-way race for Congress (Democratic primary of course!) with one-term Congresswoman Katie Hall and Pete Visclosky. I recall hearing at the time Crawford had been in the Young Republicans in college but perhaps that was just malicious slander and character defamation ...
Political trivia question: what former LEO involved in 300 East was also a part of the Crawford Kerfuffle?
Lacy Johnson, of course.
As a mostly loyal Catholic, with albeit some quibbles with mother church, I was distressed to hear Kathy Densborn on Jim Shella throw down the bingo card.
My god, we elected JFK in 1960. Have we not gone beyond Catholics and bingo???
I believe so.
Let's see how the woman does on her own merits before we crucify her. Time will tell.
But this is not a worthy start. Bingo, gambling, the church -- ye gods!
Crucify her? Playing the Catholic card again?
Jack Crawford was at the Lottery 16 years ago - that freeper pseudo-monarchist is really having to dredge to get in his mandatory digs at Democrats!
Dredging (or is that Drudging?) no deeper than you kept digging and then sewer swimming on a certain event right about the same time ... and you never let that one go!
yup - but Jack Crawford isnt running for a high Federal office like Eric Dickerson was this year. You just gratuitously brought up Crawford and a 16 year-old scandal. Eric was running for office (until he lost resoundingly a month ago) and I simply brought out an old police report about wife beating he should have anticipated when he started his ego-driven "campaign". The disclosure of his arrests for battery was news in 2006 - the Crawford Kerfuffle was so over in 1990...
Nothing to brag about, low voter turnout 32-33 percent voted in Marion County and 29 percent in Center Township. Candidates need to campaign more and reach the voters with their platforms. The media needs to cover all of the offices equally to inform the public. More detailed media coverage of certain office after the election than before.
Voter's split their tickets where it counts in Indiana.
Republicans have the Governor and Lt. Governor's offices, the Senior United States Senator, three Congressional Representatives, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Indiana Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instructions, Control of the Indiana Senate; and the Marion County Prosecutor’s office. The November 7th Election was not a total loss. Like it or not the President of the United States until the end of 2008.
With all of the scandals breaking in Marion County presently under the Democrats, we will see if the voters are paying attention in 2007 for the mayor and city-county council races.
the Crawford Kerfuffle was so over in 1990...
The other item was over in 1991. You chose to dredge up one, I dredged up the other.
Jack Crawford was also a threat politically statewide to Evan Bayh.
What? You think Evan forced Jack Crawford to boink his secretary? Or forced Dwayne Brown to have a foot fetish involving strippers? No they contributed to their own downfalls.
Sir
You don't know if he had a foot fettish or any proof. Rumors are believable but not necessarily true. The rumors got everyone's attention to force him out of office. If you want the whole background post your email address. when that didn't happen Jeff Modisett indicted him for ghost employment to have him removed. the games some people play to gain powerful public offices. One of the reasons he lost the prosecutor's race in 1994.
Umm - as I recall he admitted to such to the media but there really is nothing illegal about that aspect of it. He gave strippers big tips to give them footrubs. Big deal. Not like he boinked them or anything.
The ghost employment was the "offense-du-jour" yes.
7:47, you relaly believe that drivel you're typing?
The Jack Crawford error, was the State Police's. They did the background check on Crawford which failed to turn upm his secretary/
mistress. Everyone in Lake County knew about it, but the ISP didn't.
Or, maybe they did....
Wilson whining about digging up old stories is priceless. He's the dumpster diver who dug up the Dickerson 1991 stuff. Pot, meet kettle.
And yes, I do respect Jack Crawford for hanging around and rebuilding his criminal defense career. Gutsy.
and yes, Densborn is a hack...unqualified, and, to hear several voters she met in this last campaign, downright mean.
Sounds just about right to replace Esther.
I recall seeing on TV an interview with a stripper/dancer who was so grateful that Duane Brown was willing to pay working girls like her good money to give much-needed foot massages - she just objected to his sanctimonious denials.
Guess who was Brown's campaign manager during his disastrous foray for higher office? I'll give ya a hint: it's somebody here who is always hollering about "ghost employment" - it was precisely political ghost-employment that brought Brown down. Ironic, eh? At the time, she claimed she was just an "intern" in that scandal-ridden office.
Another political trivia question: What then-college student and now-disgraced Daniels administration agency head blew the whistle on Dwayne Brown and testified against him in court?
Seriously, guys, can we stop talking about Eric Dickerson? I'm guessing most average folks already have forgotten his candidacy.
Seriously, guys, can we stop talking about Eric Dickerson?
Sounds like someone feels threatened? Of course to 'Rats like you, you'd just assume do away with elections - sort of like Red China and the former USSR. Too much of a chance people might vote intelligently for the Pachyderms.
I'm guessing most average folks already have forgotten his candidacy
If you call "average" the typical high school dropouts and nutters that blindly vote straight ticket for the 'Rats then yes they have forgotten.
Heather Bolejack, of course. This town is way too incestuous. All these folks are tied together at some point in time.
On the Duane Brown matter, I will say that many past and present statewide officeholders could have been convicted for similar offenses. The prosecution was an oddity--it seemed after the foot fetish story broke--people were going to find one way or another to get rid of him. Ann DeLaney thought she was a sure thing for the congressional seat with Brown's downfall. Carson, of course, torpedoed her best laid plans.
Hailstone: nobody talks much these days about Blankenbaker, Hoffmeister, Scott, McVey and Horning these days, do they now?
By the way, whatever did happen to Eric Dickerson? Has anybody heard from him since his $1500 Celebration out at the Adams-Mark near the airport November 7th?
Back to Duane Brown: he was selected by Evan Bayh to be the next Great Black Democratic Leader. I helped him campaign initially: he was really good with crowds and astoundingly got elected. Our first Black statewide official!!! Brown then assumed he was himself the greatest political genius and leader. He quickly aspired for higher office and was trying for Secretary of State (or similar office) against Evan's choice. He took on a notorious political gadfly as his campaign advisor. Bad move!
Very bad move! Brown actually made a grand entrance to the floor of the Indiana State Democratic Convention while Evan was giving his keynote speech. He upstaged the Governor. Bad move!
Very bad move! Brown lost the nomination at the Convention and then his troubles mounted. People waited for the next shoe to drop. And they did...
Jen is obsessed, isn't she?
She really is. I'm hearing the Dems are considering making a switch down the road to move in someone more seasoned and better respected prior to a likely run of the Mayor for Governor. She's becoming a liability. Talk is she was good for a few laughs but things are going to heat up and get quite serious. She lacks maturity and, frankly, has a checkered past. Given her baggage it is rather odd that she has made a living out of throwing stones. AI tried to warn her she was crossing the line but it seems she can't help herself.
I find Densborn's bingo-Catholic comments to be totally asinine, but, that said, I know a number of Dems who have good things to say about their interactions with her in the past (not campaign related, but business and community related). I don't think being a political candidate should automatically make a person suspect to serve in a government position.
Erin, honey, I can line up folks who've dealt with Ms. D, and none of them has a good thing to say.
The words often used: sanctimonious, pushy, unknowledgeable, pious...
Get the drift?
Perfect replacement for Esther.
Anonymous- I don't know who you are (obviously), but I stand by my statement. I grew up in Butler-Tarkington and know a number of community people who think highly of her (who are Democrats, which I am as well,for honesty's sake )as well as a number of Dems who have worked at the Statehouse who enjoyed working with her in the halls.
I am not defending E.S., who frankly I know little about and what I've heard ain't good. Nor do I think that Densborn ran a good campaign (Cruella DeVille yard signs are not a good way to introduce yourself to people.) All of which has nothing to do with how Densborn might do in her new position.
See, anon, dollface, you and your anonymous "folks" make a pretty unconvincing argument, back up your comments with something of actual substance and context and then I'll consider them.
Hey anonbabe engaged in character assassination,
Per the dictionary:
anonymous:lacking individuality, distinction, or recognizability
character:one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual
Get one or drop the other.
OK, Erin, here goes. Pay close attention:
First, anonymous for a reason. None of your business.
Second, Ms. Densborn was a top staffer at the DLGF when I was engaged in a case with that department. She was detatched in every one of (three or four) meetings over a several-month peeriod. On her phone, raising her eyebrows, basically being disrespectful. And completely and utterly clueless about the case in front of her.
But that didn't stop her from rendering a blistering opinion on the issue, when powerful persons on reporters were nearby. Full of half-truths and bad facts, but hey, why let facts get in your way?
I, too, know a half-dozen longtime neighbors or friends of hers. Their opinion, by a long shot, does not match yours.
In her campaign, I met up with her maybe four or five times. The last two or three times, she was directly asked about school funding and stem cell issues. Her responses were hateful and acidic.
She's entitled to her views on those and other issues. I saw her oponent, the incumbent, get confronted multiple times by persons who differed with him. Each and every time, his voice was calm, he answered politely, and respected the questioner's stance. On one occasion, he even offered to help the questioner with a particular state government problem.
Need more?
Now this acerbic personality is going to run the lottery. And to top it all off, for reasons known only to her, she feels compelled to tell us, at the drop of a hat, that she's Cathlic, as if that qualification alone makes a difference. Viva Catholicism. She needs to practice some of its beliefs, like tolerance and humility.
Anon,
You're explanations are interesting, not exactly compelling. Damn her for bringing up that she is Catholic- irrelevant!- but don't forget to bring up her opposition to stem cell research. Umm, ok. You know, I couldn't disagree politically more with Katherine Densborn, and, again, that has nothing to do with the lottery.
As for you knowing "friends" of hers who have such awful things to say? Really, friends? Perhaps that says something more about them, not her. I don't know any of her friends, in fact, all the people who have mentioned that they found her to be reasonable and easy to work with certainly did not support her against David O. They just acknowledged that people can disagree politically and still work together on other fronts. This is not a novel idea, anon.
Densborn may do well, she may not, at the lottery. But, I seriously doubt that stem cell research or her eyebrows will have much to do with it.
Finally, as to you being anonymous, let me explain the problem. Of course, you don't have to explain why you are anonymous to me (would sort of defeat the purpose right?). If you were to post things that could be weighed independant of your identity- i.e. policy argument, stats, something in an identifiable source, than have at it. The problem comes in when you post completely subjective statements about people's character with zero context as to who is making those statements or why. To be clear, I have a problem with that, you, of course, can keep on doing it.
Thanks, Erin. Good points all.
I should've been clearer: the people who know her, whom I mentioned, are a combo of her friends and mine, some both. That was confusing.
She brings up her religion to gain more public acceptance. I am sure of it because I've heard her do it time and time again. It's simply irrelevant to her potential performance on a public job. She's been told that, and continues to bring it up. What are we to conclude?
That she believes her Catholicism is one of the chief qualifications. What else would we concllude?
And I have a huge problem with that. The religion, whatever the faith, is just not relevant. That she continues to not "get" that is an error in judgment.
I don't suppose I'll like many of the potential Lottery directors MMM would appoint. I watched that agency grow from nothing to its recent discombobulation, and it has worked remarkably well under four governors, until Esther got there. There was bipartisan professional staff.
Now, it's in dissaray. That's a problem because its revenue is vitally important to the state.
And most of that disarray can be placed at the feet of Ms. Schneider's management style. She's hateful, disorganized and a bully. She possessed no real qualifications for the job.
My concern was, and is, that we're substituting one bad inexperienced manager for another. We won't know for awhile, of course.
Good luck, Erin. I admire your tenacity. Your father must be proud.
stem cell issues. Her responses were hateful and acidic
They were? And David Oralicker's responses were any better?
Hey anonymous,
Glad to see we have reached an accord. Appreciate your points and I agree, the concerns are certainly there. Hopefully, Densborn will not be ESII. The Catholic comments, I didn't see her say it, hopefully, it was a poor joke. Definitely not relevant to her qualifications though.
Not to belabor the point, but, you know, I imagine that the fact that you know who I am does affect the way that you evaluate my comments.
Final thing, I guess why I object to irrelevant ideological disputes (such as stem cell research) is because I try to imagine it the other way around. As in, if a Republican were not selected to head the Lottery b/c of his/her support for gay rights (or support for stem cell research, to stay with the Densborn issue). I would find that to be outrageous. I don't want the R's weeding out anyone who doesn't tow the national party line across the board, if it happens, there's no room for growth and change within the party and you lose alot of qualified people who can serve us, the constituents,for the wrong reasons(same goes for the D's). So, to be consistent, I can't object to someone being in a position b/c of their views on something that has no relevance to the job, even when I don't agree with that position. If Densborn is in a position where her views on stem cell research are relevant, I'm first in line in opposition (or maybe next to you!).
The problem witih the stem cell situation is, she just finished running for an office where that became an issue.
I don't think it has one whit of relevance to the Lottery.
Nor does her religion.
She can't be any worse the ES.
But can't we do better? I sure thought so. This governor, whom I do not support, has managed to appoint some interesting and well-qualified persons. His appointment history is checkered, but there have been successes.
This is one that needed a triple or home run. Instead, we got a walk. Or a balk.
I would disagree. the "Ditch Mitch" crowd hates everything about this state. No matter what happens the DM'ers would criticize and attempt to score points for their socialist agenda.
Someone above posted about appointing someone associated with the gaming industry, no that wouldn't work the DM'ers would claim that individual was "mobbed up" and claim he/she was a member of the Mafia (not to be confused with the Ghetto Mafia, a distinct and separate organization) regardless of whether it were the truth or not.
"She really is. I'm hearing the Dems are considering making a switch down the road to move in someone more seasoned and better respected prior to a likely run of the Mayor for Governor. She's becoming a liability. Talk is she was good for a few laughs but things are going to heat up and get quite serious. She lacks maturity and, frankly, has a checkered past. Given her baggage it is rather odd that she has made a living out of throwing stones. AI tried to warn her she was crossing the line but it seems she can't help herself."
You guys are funny.
And obviously nowhere near in the loop.
Have fun, though. I'm clearly getting under your skin.
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