tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post649291798951828577..comments2020-04-11T03:30:02.282-05:00Gary R. Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-78678366074064843082007-02-21T11:35:00.000-05:002007-02-21T11:35:00.000-05:00IE donated no money whatsoever to Woody Burton. <B>None!</B> Individuals associated with IE may have donated to a plethora of candidates for a variety of business-related reasons. Eli Lilly donates to Julia Carson and she's no friend of Big Pharma...Wilson46201https://www.blogger.com/profile/06987859307032067229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-70608731471360071482007-02-20T19:53:00.000-05:002007-02-20T19:53:00.000-05:00I want to know more about this supposed contribution to Woody Burton by IE????? What are the facts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-19792017459965341822007-02-20T17:24:00.000-05:002007-02-20T17:24:00.000-05:00I'd caution against using the word attack to describe what I saw - that's a pretty loaded word, and could exaggerate the incident. <BR/><BR/>St. John started arguing with the young man nearby me, in front of the cameras, and as soon as I heard the discussion was about the caucus, I stepped closer because I wanted to hear Mark's explanation. His response was angry and heated, and he realized both the cameras and I were nearby, so he grabbed the young man's elbow and pulled him out of the crowd and over near the windows so he could yell at him.<BR/><BR/>I did find the whole thing disturbing; it seemed coercive and out of bounds to me enough that I kept my eye on the two of them through the rest of their conversation because I was unsure of whether to walk over and step in.<BR/><BR/>I also don't know for sure if the young man was from IYG, because there were also college students there from IU and Ball State, some of whom are in IYG also. Either way he was in his late teens or early twenties and with the crowd of young men and women.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-82165576788084605672007-02-20T16:48:00.000-05:002007-02-20T16:48:00.000-05:00Anon 9:30 tells it like it is, that the planning of this rally was sophomoric and that the paid lobbyists for IE, St John and Joanette, should have known better when it came to getting GLBT community members in front of their representatives. That's what they're being paid by IE to do.<BR/><BR/>The rally was nice, but having constituents actually talking with their representative is much more effective than a rally that mainly brought out the haters on the comments section of the Star's coverage. Poor leadership and planning for this rally negated the possible positive impact it should have had with legislators.<BR/><BR/>True, too, St John's attack on the kid from IYG was unacceptable. This from the same guy who put thousands of HIV+ people on the street due to his mismanagement of Indiana Cares a few years ago and who uses IE donations for contributions to Woody Burton -- one of the most homophobic House members ever.<BR/><BR/>AI/Gary has more than once expressed his concerns about IE and why he doesn't contribute money to them. It's all about leadership.<BR/><BR/>Remember Pepper Partin and the great rally she organized? These same community "leaders" who head up IE harassed her throughout that process and refused to help her. Chris Douglas even threatened her (then on the day of the rally, which turned out to be hugely successful, Douglas had the audacity to jump up onto the speakers platform in an effort to be photographed with Pepper as though he'd been part of the successful rally's planning.) After that, the term "Indianapolis gay mafia" was coined.<BR/><BR/>We deserve betterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-79170396438525122102007-02-20T09:30:00.000-05:002007-02-20T09:30:00.000-05:00What Gary is trying hard to be diplomatic about is:<BR/><BR/>The rally planners did nothing to notify the legislators we were going to be in the statehouse yesterday, or so it would appear. Or:<BR/><BR/>Caucuses are held almost every Monday. Rarely are those caucuses a surprise. When planning such a rally, wht not seek out both caucuses' leaders and ask politely that no such caucus be scheduled? Or, schedule the rally another day?<BR/><BR/>Attendance was so-so anyway...moving it wouldn't have made much of a difference. <BR/><BR/>The planning for this rally, while erstwhile, was sophomoric. It was not the job of volunteer board members to do this legwork. It was the job of paid lobbyists and professionals. And I use those terms loosely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-71175793392834662692007-02-20T08:56:00.000-05:002007-02-20T08:56:00.000-05:00I have to agree with you Gary, it does seem very suspect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-27903563520753444202007-02-20T08:45:00.000-05:002007-02-20T08:45:00.000-05:00Lori, I can't speak to the timing of the caucus. I hope it wasn't particularly timed to coincide with the activities surrounding the rally. Part of the planning for these events is to make sure key lawmakers are aware of your plans to be in the State House and the desire to meet with lawmakers. I'm not sure what efforts were made in that respect, although the rally was well-publicized in advance. I wouldn't have read much into the caucus but for the fact not a single lawmaker addressed the rally. If a pro-gun rally were held in the State House, they would have been tripping overthemselves to get up on the platform.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-47528258870673182942007-02-20T08:24:00.000-05:002007-02-20T08:24:00.000-05:00The lawmakers should have taken the time to talk with the people that this amendment affects. Pathetic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-47312712357863150542007-02-20T06:25:00.000-05:002007-02-20T06:25:00.000-05:00I didn't get the name of the young man that he grabbed and dragged by the arm, but it's the young guy you see in the foreground in the very first frame of the video that I grabbed of the protest and posted on my site. Bil probably knows who he is...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-51714724665629673072007-02-20T06:12:00.000-05:002007-02-20T06:12:00.000-05:00Grabbing the IYG youth was way over the top. Mark St John has a very ugly temper that he needs to get in check. It is going to bite him in the ass hard one of these days and grabbing the student may be the straw that breaks that camels back. Very ugly end to what was an otherwise great rally.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-2832541639837000522007-02-19T18:28:00.000-05:002007-02-19T18:28:00.000-05:00How about just ignoring the idiots with closed minds? Maybe they will understand someday that not everyone is like them and see people for WHO they are, not WHAT they are!<BR/>The only ones that should be shot, are the little green invaders that visit us in space ships.<BR/>(yes, they are real) <BR/><BR/>Wilson, I notice you didn't reply to my comment on a previous post.<BR/>What happened, you mad at me?garyjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18141621101828080762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-84649233961593093062007-02-19T18:26:00.000-05:002007-02-19T18:26:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.garyjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18141621101828080762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-84628347520217476392007-02-19T17:48:00.000-05:002007-02-19T17:48:00.000-05:00You sure about that? I saw some whack 'suggestions' like islands and camps, but no shootingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-17823440169932051282007-02-19T17:37:00.000-05:002007-02-19T17:37:00.000-05:00While the comments in here are quiescent so far, the battle is joined in the "Talkback" feature of the Indpls Star article. Already some yahoo has suggested shooting gays to eliminate the problem.<BR/><BR/>Lovely!Wilson46201https://www.blogger.com/profile/06987859307032067229noreply@blogger.com