Gordon Howie, who abandoned the Republican party to run for US Senate as an Independent and received 3% of the vote, penned a missive today trying to convince the Attorney General to dismiss the felony charges against Annette Bosworth. And in doing so, Howie underlines a shocking belief that rules should not apply to him and his friends:
She allegedly was not “in the room” when the actual signatures were affixed to the petitions. On the dates in question, she was actually on a missions trip in the Philippines (perhaps also a crime in the minds of some).
If she WASN”T in the room… is that REALLY worthy of twelve felony charges, or is it legal (or political) over-reach?
and..
At Lincoln Day dinners across the state, Republicans routinely send their petitions around the room. They do not personally witness each signature, but sign the “oath” that they did. I would venture to say that even our Attorney General may be guilty of this practice. PLEASE, Marty, say it isn’t so… not even ONE?
and…
You can make up your own mind, but I think the Attorney General, the people of South Dakota and the “integrity of our elections” would be well served by dismissing the charges. At the very least, offering a generous plea bargain that does not include a felony.
It’s time to move on, and give Annette her life back!
“It’s time to move on, and give Annette her life back?” Gordon may sympathize with Annette because they shared the same former S&M porn photographer who acted as consultant for both, but it shows a lack of knowledge when it comes to elections, as well as some questionable ethics.
Gordon seems to be operating under a theme of “But, everyone does it,” trying to claim that “even our Attorney General may be guilty of this practice,” referring to randomly circulating petitions for office at GOP dinners.What happened to the rule of law, and why is Gordon arguing it should be suspended?
(Also, the problem with Howie’s claim? Candidates for Attorney General don’t circulate petitions. They’re nominated at their respective convention.)
In the past, Gordon has written about oaths and the importance of keeping them. The candidate swears an oath on the petition attesting to the fact that they were the person who circulating it. Why does this oath not matter to Gordon? We can only speculate.
But in the same breath as we point out he’s demanded adherence to oaths, Gordon’s request for leniency in Annette Bosworth’s case seems reminiscent of his same pleas when his friend Stephanie Strong lost a court case against Brian Gosch. Which again seems to ignore the rule of law:
The State leadership team and the Pennington County Republican leadership team should join together and make a clear, formal, written request to Speaker Gosh and his attorney to withdraw their motion against Stephanie Strong. That might make their cries for unity a bit more believable.
If State and County Republican leaders are serious about unity, they need to end the harrassment and disenfranchisement of conservatives. The dismissal of the action against Strong is where they need to start.
In case you’re wondering about the Strong case, Stephanie Strong lost her court case back in April, was ordered to pay over $30,000 in attorney fees, and as recently as this last week I’m told she has yet to pay anything to clear her debt.
I guess I’m troubled by Gordon (who keeps running for office) touting himself as a constitutional conservative. Because most of the conservatives I know follow the law, but here’s yet another example of Gordon arguing for it’s non-application.
What do you think? Should constitutional conservatives be arguing for laws to be followed, instead of being ignored?
Only if they agree with them .
There are arguments for leniency or suspended imposition of sentence (I’m not making them) but Howie’s rationale is “banana republic” logic and certainly not conservative.
“You can make up your own mind, but I think the Attorney General, the people of South Dakota and the “integrity of our elections” would be well served by dismissing the charges.”
Because nothing says integrity of our elections like violating their clearly delineated rules.
Why does Howie go there with his comment on the Philippines trip “(perhaps also a crime in the minds of some)”. He sounds like a jerk, and I am glad he got as few votes as he did.
I think this prosecution should go through the process, and then there may be a need for leniency, but to just throw out such an egregious case, especially when the doc never fessed up and tried every dodge in the book to make it sound like she didn’t break the law; you remember the comments-she only had “X” number of questionable signatures but she had “Y” number of people who did want her on the ballot (that makes it better, Annette), or the “it was the team” dodge. She showed that she cannot admit when she is wrong, and that was very troubling.
Gordon, give it a rest-you lost credibility with your ill-conceived run as an independent; don’t compound things by going down this road.
Former candidate Bosworth should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent which means short of serving jail time as the drama queen keeps using to keep playing the victim and avoiding any responsibility for her actions. Playing the victim has helped her generate the income scheme from all these facebook and campaign mailing list victims from out of state that have no idea what really happened.
Not only has she avoided any responsibility for her actions but kept making a mockery of our electoral and justice system. Ironic isn’t it? Preaching personal responsibility during her campaign yet is unable to do it herself? It’s always someone else’s fault!
Anyone surprised? Birds of a feather…
just when you think howie couldn’t lose any more credibility, he sinks a three pointer from waaaay downtown
I was thinking of a similar analogy, but pictured him taking an ill-advised shot and coming up with an air ball….total whiff.
if the goal is actively losing more credibility, he hit the target dead center, but i get your point, there was no gain made by him in this.
He’s right. An America that doesn’t allow people to peddle fake candidacies, mine huge mailing lists of gullible givers and prabble to the worst elements of society isn’t an American worth living in. At least to those sociopaths who’d rather steal than work.
I am just going to ignore anything from Gordon until he starts acting like a relevant constitutional conservative.
My hope is with this trial Annette’s defense can help expose those who encouraged her to run and the corruption in Pierre and within South Dakota’s Republican Party. The good old boys club is alive and well in SD!
lotsa girls in that club too. just sayin.
Mr. Howie is insaner than most. And he is a tax cheat.