The Speciale matter

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Published: Sunday, September 21st, 2014 @ 8:22 pm
By: Brant Clifton ( More Entries )

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    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton tells a hard tale in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    It made me sick to my stomach to read about and hear about the arrest of Michael Speciale, Jr. this morning. First off — the allegations against him are horrific. (We still believe in the old innocent-until-proven guilty thing here, so we will withhold judging him until after the justice system has had its say.)

    Second — I hate to see his dad, state Rep. Michael Speciale, dragged through the mud by the media and political opponents. We're fans of Speciale's work in the legislature. We can't begin to imagine the heartache these allegations are causing him and his family.

    The drive-bys need to do a bit of soul-searching. How fair is it to beat up on parents for the actions of their adult children? Speciale, Jr. is 38 years old. His father has not been legally responsible for his actions for 20 years. It's one thing if evidence surfaces that dad helped cover up crimes or — God forbid — participated in them. But dragging dad and son through the mud because (1) dad is famous, and (2) it's election time is outrageous.

    I remember a similar situation when I was part of the drive-by media. I had uncovered the details of a sex scandal that involved (1) a prominent businessman, and (2) the adult daughter of a powerful, prominent Democrat politician here in North Carolina. Some conservative associates of mine were leaning on me to drag her dad through the mud as hard as I could.

    In the midst of gathering info for the story, the woman's father apparently heard I was nosing around. He called me up, off the record, to talk.

    "Look, I am embarrassed and hurt by this like any father would be," the politician told me. "She's my daughter, and I love her to death, but she has messed up here. Her mother and I tried to raise her right. But she's now a grown woman, outside our sphere of influence, making her own choices. I ask you to employ a little decency here and not drag our family through the mud over my daughter's poor judgement here."

    I thought it over long and hard after getting off the phone with this politician. I personally did not support this guy or his agenda. But he had a point. I reported the story, but downplayed the woman's family tree. The main scandal was salacious and newsworthy enough without dragging her famous dad and mother into it.

    Unless evidence surfaces tying Rep. Speciale to some specific criminal activity, the decent thing to do is to leave him and his family alone during this traumatic time. It's not a Democrat thing or a Republican thing. It's a decent, human thing.

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Gene Scarborough said:

( September 16th, 2014 @ 10:38 am )

Stan makes it "perfectly clear" that using the system to destroy a reputation is "perfectly WRONG!!"

If such happens again, my Vermeer Chipper is available for you to borrow! It is good and sharp and with its 85 HP Cummins diesel (Manufactured at Whitakers) gets some attention when turning 10" logs into chips!!!

Rather than destroy them, the best route is to crank on a cool morning with diesel smoke choking those who sit on the intake chute for "a discussion about this critical matter." The feel of a diesel warming up sort of goes from butt to head like my daddy's old belt.

Stan Deatherage said:

( September 16th, 2014 @ 8:43 am )

Fourteen years ago, I ran for the NC House against a well connected Democrat, who used the publicly funded offices of the Department of Social Services to try to destroy me in that campaign.

Even though I was a Beaufort County Commissioner at that time, the local Beaufort County Department of Social Services were willing dupes for the Democrats, which actually put them in jeopardy of multiple federal election laws.

It was fourteen years ago, I was a real nice guy, too nice, who got his feelings hurt, but still fought against this incredibly illegal, and unethical conduct of a whole group of a small army of unethical, dedicated, but downright stupid Democrats.

Fourteen years later, I am much more knowledgeable, much more hardened in my understanding of the real, principled way of real patriots, and today, I would endeavor to take people out of their jobs, and put them in a more suitable line of work, and furthermore, whatever conspirators that could be proved in jail.

What I am explaining here is that northeastern North Carolina Democrats think they own government agencies, since it is their prime directive to live off those of us who work and create, so they are capable of about anything for that continuance, and, moreover, they believe they have the Democrat judges and lawyers to cover their tracks. I have causation to wonder just how much of Michael Speciale's problem is similar to mine.

This bad Democrat behavior will not be forever, and I digress.

In part, that is why BCN esists, and we get a bunch of traffic, more than all our Beaufort County competitors online.

BCN allows me the ability to no longer suffer Democrat fools gladly ... not anymore.

In conclusion,back in that Summer of 2000, that Democrat Beaufort County Board of Social Service's preliminary findings, in writing, notified me of their grave concerns concerning my fitness as a parent, and that the courts system would need to get involved to straighten this all out.

It was this point, I basically told them to "F%@K Off!" (at least in my sincere, incontrovertible intent of my succeeding words), which was I then proceeded to explain to them exactly how it was all going to go down, and I very much believe after few choice paragraphs they understood me quite well. To be cleat, it was at that point, I was acquiring verifiable evidence of their complicity in this Democrat's illegal use of a publicly funded agency to better that candidate's chances in an election against a serious, and far better qualified candidate - me.

Weeks later, I received their finally findings (in writing) that I basically the most exemplary Father in the history Beaufort County, and as such should be basically emulated beyond all measure. You would have thought that they considered me Father of the Year. That 180 degree reversal let me know exactly that whatever meager integrity the Beaufort County Department of Social Services did possess in their Child Protective Services, in the year 2000, immediately vaporized - poof and it was gone.

The bad publicity from this public encounter was too late for my campaign against perennial Democrat Zeno Edwards. They succeeded in the damage to my perceived character as a public person; however, I did promise that Department of Social Services, as a county commissioner: If they ever use their tax funded offices to ever again better the chances of any other politician of any political party, against anyone ever again, I would not rest until I took the lot of them down.

To my knowledge, the Beaufort County Department of Social Services is no longer an eager participant in the elections of Democrats, by working as 5th column to slander these Democrats opponents.

With BCN, among my other publishing assets, that offer still stands. And when I perish form this earth, I intend to set in place the apparatus to further the reality of truth, such as it is.

Lord knows, the Pulitzer Prize Winning Washington Daily News has never been capable of it.

So maybe that is why I speak plainly against liars, cheats, illegal activities, cover-ups and abject stupidity, and I speak the clarion truth, with an abandon.

I just do it far better now, and in a continual manner.

Gene Scarborough said:

( September 16th, 2014 @ 8:19 am )

I am totally AGREED that this is a private matter. No one of us, if it were our child, would want slander and gossip spread far and wide with the "I told you so" southern slur attached.

The favorite pastime of Baptists is "CONFESSING THE SINS OF OTHERS." As a retired minister of that persuasion serving churches in many small towns of the South, I can assure you no one is helped by gossip nor a rush to judgement.

My saintly Baptist Preacher father, Dr. C.E. Scarborough, Sr., was the FIRST Chaplain to the Fulton County Juvenile Court in Atlanta. He pioneered that with nothing beyond "helping kids and families in trouble with the Court in Atlanta" as a guide. He came up with the idea that a troubled family could be paired up with a healthy family from a nearby church to mentor and help. As a result, people crossed lines of society in metro Atlanta and many families were helped from their plight. Their children became better citizens from the lessons learned.

The back story is even more important. The Home Mission Board's President had a son of Juvenile age who got arrested. Suddenly, Juvenile Crime became a part of his life --- and with it a desire to come up with a way to minister and help. He called my dad to ask if he was interested. It would not have happened without a child's arrest!

Juvenile Crime is, by law, a confidential matter. Few people know the extent of the problem. They do not get a name in the paper so the family and child are embarrassed. Facts of the crime may appear, but nothing beyond "a juvenile age person did it" is in the media.

Jesus had a woman "caught in the act of adultery" brought to him for stoning. You remember what he told that crowd of "righteous men." HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, CAST THE FIRST STONE --- then he bent down and wrote in the sand.

If he were writing right now for our media, what would those words be????

Stan Deatherage said:

( September 15th, 2014 @ 7:45 pm )

I publish this contribution because I publish all Brant Clifton pieces that are germane to northeastern North Carolina, even thought it saddens me greatly to do so on this occasion.

Why?

I know Michael Speciale, Sr., and what I know of him is that Michael is a man of extreme honesty, and quite serious in his avocation as southern Beaufort County's NC House Representative. What I also know about Michael is that he is an intelligent man, a man of unmitigated constitutional integrity, and a man that stands on its principles.

Regardless of what trouble Michael, Jr. may have gotten himself in, I will stand by Michael, Sr., and continue to offer my endorsement, such as it is.

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