TheBartLies Forum
The
Robin Winston used Julia (Ghetto Mafia) and Andrè "Kid" Carson's (Phony Express) staff photographer to document Monroe Gray's meet-and-greet $100/person event. We'd have asked "Couldn't you at least put on a tie?" but maybe just getting a clean shirt is considered a major victory in the zipcode 46201?
Your Leave Of Absence request has expired. The people you
purport to represent would like to know when you plan to start representing them again.
Another leave of absence, lasting until the 15th, has been granted. Ms Carson never represented this writer in spirit and now does not do so in body. Time to hang it up. If a 3rd LOA is requested, it ought to be denied.
We estimate the room at 3/4 filled and that there were approximately 500 seats. Not bad, 375 folks came out and were mad as hell (pardon the expression, Bishop Benjamin). There was a lot of good information exchanged. As always, people were angry and showing it. Bart looked, understandably, quite uncomfortable. He only stayed for the first hour and his body language just screamed "I want out of here".
Eric Miller definitely provided a powerful closing, with a recap of his organization's efforts to repeal property taxes. You can find out more details at http://repealpropertytaxes.com.
Pictures from the meeting can be viewed here.
Bart had to scurry from the Property Tax Forum 2 this evening. He said he had an 'interfaith meeting' to go to which was scheduled many months ago. So he shows up on TV meeting with that 110 year old Colts fan at halftime (the video showed the score at 14-13, which was the halftime score). Halftime? The game started at 4:15 so halftime was, oh, around 6:30. Bart left 46th and Michigan Rd and half an hour later he's visiting with this dear old woman in the Mayor's Suite at the RCA Dome.
Bart, you got some 'splainin' to do.
Bart served up one of his patent-pending white lies to excuse himself from the forum. He couldn't give the straight scoop on even a simple matter like this. Bart Lies, big and small, it doesn't seem to matter.
We would have respected his leaving to meet with a special guest. Too bad Bart couldn't respect us by telling the truth. Careful Bart - lieing in church could get you struck down by lightning.
OK, it's been a few days, but after asking for anyone to come forward to refute the indications that Bart actually went to the Dome, a couple people have now done so, to say they witnessed Bart talking to Ms. Gertrude before gametime.
The details (below) came from an eyewitness, the other person offered a one-sentence rebuttal that gave no supporting details no indicated if it was firsthand knowledge.
First of all, keep up the good work and keep Bart's feet to the fire. Now unfortunately, I have to clear something up. My name is ***** ****** and I am a freelance sports cameraman with **** who works almost all of the Colt's home telecasts. I have followed the posts and responded to all of those who have posted over at IndyU and Abdul's blog about Bart skipping out on the tax forum this past Sunday to go to an Inter-faith meeting. Every one of these blogs has been posting that Bart instead went to the Colt's game to appear with the 110 year old Colt's fan, Gertrude. The video that was shown at halftime was indeed taped about 15 minutes before the game started when Gertrude was bought into his suite and was greeted by the mayor. I know because I was at the game and working it as the endzone cameraman for CBS. As I was not the actual cameraman shooting the greeting, that would have been the handheld guy who runs up and down the sideline, I could shoot straight into his suite from my position and see what was going on. CBS wanted to get the video just as a little side story to the game and used the tape coming out of halftime. I cannot confirm that Peterson did not possibly come back to the dome after the tax forum instead of the other meeting, but I do know that the video you are talking about was not live regardless of what score you saw on the screen or screens in the background. Ironically, every now and then during the game, I would swing my camera back up to look at Gertrude to see her reactions during the game and the only person around her was some younger lady who accompanied her to the game. I also noticed that I never saw the mayor after the initial greeting. The only time CBS ever showed her was in that tape piece. As much as I do not like what the mayor is doing, I can't let this go by as lie.
Bart's ramrodded tax increase begins when you go to work tomorrow. You will now be paying an extra several hundred dollars annual so Bart can continue to give your money away to hoteliers, sports franchises and assorted other corporate welfare hogs who belly up to the trough. Think of it this way, as illustrated by WTHR - you will be paying an additional $12.50 each week. So the price of a really decent lunch is being taken from you every week.
Tell Bart you don't appreciate it on November 6th.
She STILL has all those 'icicle' Christmas lights hanging from the rain gutters of 2534 N Park Ave. Well, heck, Christmas is getting close now. Might as well wait.
Bart's people have put together a video where where Bart, IMPD Chief Spears, Sheriff 'bling-bling' Anderson, Steve 'Smithers' Campbell, Al Polin ("Community Leader"), Roland Dorson (President of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce) all share their nuggets of wisdom in support of the Mayor's Crime Package. This 5 minute production, replete with shaking video and rapid fade-cuts is very 'edgy.' Each member of the ensemble cast has their allottment of swell things to say. While they are talking, we get to see inside their offices and eyeball their desks. This is interesting.
Let's begin with Chief Spears. What a boring desk. So clean you could eat off of it and he has the traditional gold-pen set. He has some sort of funky clear bowl, which perhaps is a receptacle for M&Ms should Monroe Gray come calling. Maybe he already did, because the dish is empty.
Frank Anderson is a step up. For anyone who might be unsure who the guy with all the 'bling' on his uniform might be, he has a large sculpture that says 'Sheriff Frank Anderson' in 2-inch high letters smack in the middle of his desk. There's a clock pointed TOWARDS anyone who might be standing in front of Frank's desk, maybe so they can watch their allotted face time tick down to zero. Curiously, the Sheriff has a toy (we hope) stuffed animal on one corner. It looks like a pussycat. It looks dead. Frank appears to have no telephone. But he has some unidentifed lady who stands off to the side with her arms crossed and watches him work.
Next we come to Steve Campbell, a neat desk with a few papers organized into piles. He has a 'trophy case' with some momentos and pictures. But WAIT, what's that on the bottom shelf? Why it's a stuff (we hope) Badger. Or is it a squirrel? The camera moves, and now we can see the other end of Steve's desk. Why, there are two boxes of Girls Scout Cookies there. They seem unopened. Do-Si-Do's and Thin Mints, we think. Well, Steve's just a young whippersnapper. Probably has a glass of milk and some cookies in the afternoons. Steve appears to have no telephone.
Next we go to Bart's office. Now THIS is a goldmine. The desk looks to be a disaster zone, haphazardly (it seems) strewn with papers and lots of 'stuff'. This is what caught our eye. On one end, there are 4 or 5 things that appear to be 'action figures' of some sort. Perhaps they are voo-doo dolls. It's hard to tell.
Moving over to the phone (unlike the other offices we see, the BartPhone is right there on the desk, where it could actually be answered. Now Bart has the super-sized executive model. No doubt a necessity for him, as he's got a LOT of deputy mayors to program into it's speed-dial memory.
But, lo! Sitting there next to the phone is... a Rubber Ducky. How cute. Aggressively fighting crime... when we aren't playing with Duckie - squeek, squeek.
Behind the phone seems to be a Chia something-or-other. Or maybe Bart just grows herbs to take home to Amy.
But let's move on. There's so much 'stuff' on this desk. Bart also seems to be the only one who has a computer at work. So he can check the blogs, no doubt.
But hold on, let's back up. Over to the right a bit more. There. What's that black figure with the pointy top? It looks like... It IS... It's a small statue. But of what? We blow up the picture a bit and discover it's either 'Alf' the TV alien or, no wait... It's an Egyptian figure. A cat with pointy ears. To be precise, it's Anubis.
'Anubis', eh? Yep, Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the ancient Egyptians. 'Nube' was, as the Wikipedia entry states...
... the guardian of the dead, who took souls to the Underworld and protected them on their journey. It was he who deemed the deceased worthy of becoming a star. Ancient Egyptian texts say that Anubis silently walked through the shadows of life and death and lurked in dark places. He was watchful by day as well as by night. He also weighed the heart of the dead against the feather symbol of Ma'at, the goddess of truth. One of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians took such care to preserve their dead with sweet-smelling herbs was that it was believed Anubis would check each person with his keen canine nose. Only if they smelled pure would he allow them to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.
So, we wonder, does Bart worship ancient gods, or does he simply relish the thought of taking souls to the Underworld? Is it some sort of metaphorical parallel to taxing the poor-and-getting-poorer souls of Marion County, transporting them from their homes to another place? Is the 'Underworld' just the Poorhouse?
Jackal-headed god of the dead! How ironic.
There's a whole page of these pictures here. It was just too much to include on this page.
Today's news reports mentioned Memphis, TN as the #1 king of violent crime for 2006. While googling for that, we came across the following, from the National Crime Prevention Council BLog...
June 06, 2007
This week, the FBI released its Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2006, which reflected an overall rise in violent crime in the United States last year. The report shows that violent crime increased 1.3 percent nationally, while property crime dropped 2.9 percent. Violent crime includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Unfortunately, this is the second year in a row that violent crime has increased after a rather dramatic decline that lasted from 1993 until a spike in 2005.The spike in violence that occurred in 2005 is primarily attributed to increased violent crime in small to mid-sized cities across the country, such as Indianapolis and Milwaukee. This latest FBI report indicates the continuation of that trend, with large cities like New York experiencing a decline in violent crime, but medium-sized cities experiencing large, disproportionate increases. Cities in the Midwest, in particular, seem to be battling the largest surge in violent crime.
We're famous (or should that say 'infamous'?) for our crime rate.
In the Honolulu Star-Bulletin published June 6, 2007, our very own Mayor Peterson is quoted:
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, a Democrat who presides over the National League of Cities, said local officials nationwide are asking Congress for more than $1 billion annually to restore stretched-thin police departments back to their full force. He attributed the rise, in part, to increased gang activity, violent youths and domestic crimes.
Indianapolis' murder rate rose by 30 percent, to 140 homicides in 2006 from 108 in 2005, the data show.
*Blink*. This is the same Bart Peterson who's telling US crime is down.
Searching some more, we find CBS reporting:
(CBS) For the second year in a row, the FBI's Uniform Crime Report — scheduled to be published Monday — shows violent crime on the rise: Overall, violent crimes were up 1.3 percent. Robbery is up 6 percent and homicide is up .3 per cent.But those numbers only tell part of the story, reports CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
“I think you have to look at real cities,” says Chuck Wexler, of the police executive research forum. “I think you have to look at places like Cincinnati and Indianapolis and Milwaukee, Boston, Oakland, Calif., — real cities — and you'll see there’s been real significant increases.”
Wexler heads a research group that tracks crime in medium and large cities.
Of course, last February Mayor Peterson told us - referring to 2006 - that "Homicides were up 25% here in Indianapolis. " in his 2007 State of the City Address. IMPD Chief Spears noted in his recent Indianapolis Star letter to the editor, "Through Aug. 23, homicides have decreased nearly 30 percent from 2006."
Now you know 'the REST of the story.'
Ad captandum vulgus - To appeal to the crowd -- often used of politicians who make false or insincere promises appealing to popular interest.
Sir Hailstone, over at Digital Farmer's blog, alerted us to a report today that
"Aides and colleagues regularly cast votes on Rep. Julia Carson’s (D-Ind.) behalf, raising questions about the congresswoman’s deteriorating health."
Since when are our legislators allowed to vote by remote control? We would never know (and Julia probably wouldn't, either) if her vote was switched by some 'helpful' soul. This is unsettling, to put it mildly.
The other curious item in that story was that there evidently is some problem with stairs and she couldn't get her wheelchair up to the House floor. This, from the governing body that created the Americans With Disabilities Act?
By the end of her term, she may be voting by blinking once for "Yes" and twice for "No".
The Beatle's had the song 'Julia' on their White Album.
Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you, Julia.
Imagine that, more than 30 years ago some Brits summed up Carson's campaign strategy in one sentence.
It cracks us up to see all the people jumping on Greg Ballard for being a visible candidate. Mind you, these are the same people who routinely made the exact-same noise about Greg Ballard NOT being a visible candidate. Greg asked a simple question, will Bart Peterson commit to serving 4 years if re-elected? Rather than reassure us that they know he will, they go on the defensive - saying such things as "This is the kind of thing a candidate in a close race -- you know, one with a bunch of name ID and an actual shot at winning -- asks."
And the Bart-happy pundits are all over the place, whining and wheedling about it. Their protests are, themselves, the kind of thing one sees in a close race. Why would they be compelled to take potshots at what they see as an insignificant subject and waste their time on someone they regard as a 'longshot', if (a) it really was insignificant and (b) it really was a longshot?
The answer has to be that they are worried because they don't really see this race as a longshot. We think they are right.
Two allies in the war against taxes and government corruption seem to be MIA. Neither 'Hoosiers For Honesty In Government PAC" (August 9th) nor "IndyCorrupt" (September 7th) have shown any activity in the past several weeks. We hope they haven't become Indy's 'Vincent Fosters'.
600 volunteer poll workers are needed urgently. Please join in and do your part to assure Beth White doesn't screw up again. Details are posted at Hoosiers For Fair Taxation.
Property Tax Forum 2 @ Light of the World Christian Church. Confirmed guests are Greg Ballard (candidate for mayor), Sherron Franklin (city county council), John Price (attorney-at-law), and Bart Peterson (mayor of Indianapolis)
Complete details at this link
Meridian Street Foundation Annual Meeting Meridian Street Methodist Church, 5500 North Meridian -- Meet Mayoral Candidates Greg Ballard and Bart Peterson plus City Council District 8 Candidates Kurt Webber and Monroe Gray. This one should be lively! RSVP's Requested.
See Hoosiers For Fair Taxation for more details.
In their own words:
"Indyflashover exists to protect firefighters of Central Indiana from those inside and outside of our Departments who would do us harm. indyflash1@yahoo.com
Indianapolis Violent Crime History for indianapolis. Full 2006 data has been published at Preliminary 2006 Annual Uniform Crime Report
Always present to grab the spotlight, outgoing Mayor Bart Peterson showed up to brag about the special taskforce, while mentioning his horror about children having been "literally torn limb from limb." What Bart didn't mention was police office and CCC Councilwoman Sherron Franklin has for years been pushing for better ordinances for curbing this 'sport.'
Nuvo reported the following on June 21, 2006:
The Indianapolis City-County Council continues to debate a proposed ordinance aimed at curbing dog violence in the city. Proposal No. 370, sponsored by Councilwoman Sherron Franklin, would place restrictions on ownership of “dangerous” dogs while also increasing the fines possible for owner negligence. Franklin originally introduced the proposal last year, but it was dropped for lack of support. Following several high profile dog attacks in recent weeks, the proposal is once again back on the table. Councilwoman Franklin said that she is hopeful that the proposal will now receive more support “in light of the recent attacks. We can’t continue to wait until someone is harmed before action is taken.”
Bart can wait - until it's election time. He's gone silent on his long advocacy of narrowly-supported 'breed ban' ordinances, which has been well-documented by IndyPitCrew.org. Nuvo quoted Bart in the June 21 article:
“I favor looking at breed specific legislation, though I know some people are opposed to that,” he said.
The dangerous dog ordinance passed in November of 2006. It wasn't until Sept 2007 that the 'task force' was formed. That election must be getting near, eh Bart?
We ran this story a few weeks back and it still brings us a chuckle.
Here's some interesting trivia BartLies has uncovered. "Mayor Goner" is an anagram of "Monroe Gray". Checking further, we find these: "No More Gray", "My Roar Gone""Bart Peterson" can be rearranged as 'Nab Protester", ""So pert banter", "PR snot beater"
Indiana Law Blog noted the ban on audio recording and photographing of public meetings is about to come to an end, or so it seems. The recent surge in interest in CCC meetings brought to light the dirty little secret of the City County Building, namely they send you packing if you are packing -- your camera. All in the name of post-9/11 security.
As numerous unsuspecting citizen's have found out, the CCB has been flagrantly violating Indiana's Open Door Law on public access. The state law says "all meetings of the governing bodies of public agencies must be open at all times for the purpose of permitting members of the public to observe and record them."
ILB noted last Monday's 'final straw':
The issue reached a head this week when some critics of Mayor Bart Peterson noted that a known Democratic Party supporter, Wilson Allen, was taking pictures at the council meeting Monday. Ernie Shearer, wearing a "Bart Lies" T-shirt, said it's not fair that Democrats can bring cameras past security while his camera has been barred repeatedly.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. What DO they have to hide? And why does one of Bart's comrades (to use Jackie Nytes' characterization) get special treatment? We can only guess how far and wide 'favors' run in the Peterson administration.
ILB went on to quote the precise legal decisions which the CCB has been violating for some time (their current document was create July 20, 2007. That's 4 days after the major rally that really lit the first of Property Tax reform (repeal).
Presumably, tweezers will continue to be on the list of prohibited items. Who knows how many crimes have been thwarted by this fine security policy?
Robert Turner, the city’s former public safety director who left after clashing with others in Mayor Bart Peterson's administration, has endorsed Peterson’s opponent in the November mayoral election.Republican Greg Ballard announced the endorsement today and said Turner has offered his “counsel and support.”
“I reserve the right to support the candidate of my choice and will freely and openly do so notwithstanding the childish personal attacks as has become the custom of the current city and police administrations!”
At the time of his resignation last year, Turner had this to say:
"When I questioned staff requests or directives which I felt were uninformed, misguided or in error, I was perceived and labeled as an obstructionist," he wrote to Peterson, adding,"When I tried to explain to you the legitimate reasons for my concerns or decisions, you either had no time or inclination to listen to me."
Greg Ballard's press release acknowledging Robert Turner's support:
For Immediate Release Contact: Kurt Fullbeck 635-8881Indianapolis-Greg Ballard, Republican Candidate for Mayor of Indianapolis, announced that Robert Turner, the former Public Safety Director for Bart Peterson, has endorsed Greg Ballard's candidacy and offered his counsel and support.
Mr. Turner issued the following statement in support of Greg Ballard: "Law Enforcement Officers and Public Servants; Support Greg Ballard with your contribution of time and money! We still live in America, although there are times when it appears that we are in a third world nation where we become targets for retaliation and punitive job actions when we exercise our constitutional rights, exercise our freedom of speech, dare to disagree with the current administration or support a candidate other than our current administration. Our nation was founded upon principles of democracy! Government by which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them through a system of representation involving free elections! I reserve the right to support the candidate of my choice and will freely and openly do so notwithstanding the childish personal attacks as has become the custom of the current city and police administrations! Many American Citizens have died to preserve our proud national history and our free society. Let us all insure that they did not die in vain. You are a free citizen in a free society. Never forget that!"
Which is still the way the Bart-o-Matic Machine continues to run to this day. The time for a change is long overdue.
We received this link in the mail today
Mr. Gray, we are sending you a Post-It note to place on your desk for future board meetings. It says, "Councilor Borst is Minority Leader." We hope that will help you remember who's sitting next to you in the future. Dr. Borst isn't Majority Leader or the Council. He isn't Vice President. He isn't President. (Psst - YOU are President).
A big red rubber-stamped Bart-O-Matic vote by The Machine!
When you place your votes this fall, remember to vote out the incumbents who are bleeding you dry with taxes.
The CCC voted to NOT pursue it because a committee recommended that they table it. Rather than truly get to the bottom of the matter, they sweep it under the table, because it's not worth messin' with. We think if there's a hint of wrong-doing, it damn well deserves a complete independent (that is, NOT run by the CCC or the Mayor) investigation of the charges. Since they clearly believe there was not anything wrong, why not eliminate all doubt rather than quashing the inquiries? Something stinks.
Can be summed as: Very strange
Bart's handlers have reworked his latest TV ad. The spinning room has stopped spinning. His spinning words have been retained.
Tax protesters secretly planned and held a rally in front of Bart's own house, pleading with him to come out and share our pain. Although he says he's banded together with us, that didn't seem to be the case today. There were about a dozen people that drove by during the rally, and the unscientific poll of thumbs up was: Tax Protesters 10: Bart Peterson: 2. Thumbs up and ear-to-ear grins were the overwhelming majority.
We thought he'd surely come out and get the morning paper. The group of protesters repeatedly called out to Bart for more than an hour. It was a bit chilly this morning, so Bart may not have wanted to catch a cold.
Bart wasn't interested in the event, but the media certainly was. Indystar, Channel 8 (WISH) and Channel 13 (WTHR) all were there. They waited for quite some time for Bart, too - to no avail.
Click here for larger pictures from Mr Peterson's Neighborhood
After writing this article, the thought occurred: Bart tells us we are safe and that crime is down. But ask yourself this - why does Bart have aound-the-clock police guards at his home? Do you? Do you think the mayors of Speedway, Beech Grove or Lawrence do?
The next time Bart tries to tell you that Indianapolis is a safe place to live, remember HE's the one with armed guards outside the front door day in and day out. And ask yourself, "Is he lying?"
And no, it's not coincidental that the photo above shows Bart with a little gray puppet. Think about it.