Brashier- in the Tank to Help the D.A.

Assistant District Attorney Joe Warren was arrested on charges of Tampering with a Witness, Terroristic Threats and Deadly Conduct related to an incident that allegedly took place a year earlier. It seems to some of us that rather than do her job as a journalist, internet newspaper editor Vanessa Brashier has been steadily trying to help Warren and his controversial boss, District Attorney Mike Little. Forget the justice system and forget the Constitutional protection that gives freedom to the press to search for truth – Vanessa Brashier and Mike Little seem to have some kind of pact. Last week Brashier’s efforts begin anew as she becomes part of the story instead of reporting it.

This quote is the newest in her attempt to prejudice the potential jury pool: “When no local judge would sign the arrest warrant against Warren, it was taken to and signed by a judge outside the county, Judge Don Burgess.” That information could have been communicated like this: “Even though some have said three local judges were willing to sit in judgment, for appearance and to uphold the highest standard, the senior most experienced standby judge, Judge Don Burgess, was brought in to insure a fair trial.

Though Brashier quotes crime scene reports that seem to be trying to paint a picture of what happened, a picture of the scene shows that Warren’s dog clearly dug under the fence and was the attacker. Either Brashier is incompetent and has not discovered the picture that settles the fact that Joe Warren’s dog trespassed and started the dog fight. (Before running back under the fence the dog attacked a little puppy before two dogs case after him.) The picture speaks 1000 words, so if Vanessa Brashier is not incompetent and has seen the picture, perhaps it speaks words that do not fit into what she and Mike Little want the public to know.

Despite the charges against him and many complaints of a lack of professionalism, Warren remains an employee of the Liberty County District Attorney’s office on this issue is the cherry on top for anyone wanting to show how she is in the tank for Little and Warren. Brashier’s report last week says Warren was in court handling his assigned cases and she never challenges the weak and ridiculous defense Little has for allowing someone to prosecute cases when under a legal cloud like Warren is.
She simply quotes the D.A.: “I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. He is going to remain employed here.”

Then she asks her readers to accept a very flawed comparison when she mimics Little and says, “Warren is not the first Liberty County official to be arrested, but not immediately removed from his position.”

She knows well the idea of someone prosecuting cases that is headed toward indictment can put a cloud over the entire justice system. But she gladly goes along with Little and never questions why Warren was not put on administrative leave. Instead she really reveals how much of a tool she has become for Little when rather than questioning Little’s poor decision making, she uses a sheriff department employee as an example of why it is okay for Little to let Warren continue to prosecute cases until he is indicted. Little helped convict this guy and Brashier not only crams his name in her story, she also gets another good chuckle with Little when she crams what the man was sentenced to in a story about the soon to come grand jury that will decide Warren’s fate.

The sad thing is that Brashier wanted that sheriff department’s employee to be put on leave back then and now she is using his situation to justify this case. This reporter needs to identify her writing when it is “political editorial” rather than imply it is a news story.

Who cares if she wants certain elected officials to hold certain offices? But plenty of us care if she is using a “newspaper” without identifying her bias. She may fit in well with KSHN”s Bill Buchanan or Allen Youngblood’s i-amawreck.com, but when she expresses things that are clearly meant to influence the outcome of a criminal investigation, she should come clean. Her paper should come clean. They should say we are in the business of helping send people to jail and helping to keep people out of jail and what constitutes their formula for taking the side they take.

Independent prosecutor Kelly Siegler will present the case to the Liberty County grand jury on Sept. 21.

COMMENT REVIVES OLD ALLEGATIONS

Comments by former disenfranchised or demoted law enforcement joined with political hacks meant to try and diminish the good work of our sheriff’s department might have backfired. This comment on a local blog, “When Greg Arthur was Sheriff those game rooms were shut down” has revived old allegations about how game rooms were handled in the Greg Arthur/Chip Fairchild administration.

The constant drum beat of criticism of the sheriff’s department is meant to single out Sheriff Henry Patterson and help whoever the Democrats want to run for that office in 2012. But more than all of the misleading comments posted on the Democrat blog, this one has brought up memories of why we should all celebrate that Arthur and Fairchild are no longer roaming the county in uniform with a county issued gun.

While Patterson’s team is making arrest and always fighting against crime, that comment reminds many of us of how game rooms shut down and relocated on what seemed like a rotating basis under the former sheriff and his infamous sidekick. Allegations that there was pay-offs and coordination between game room owners and the Arthur administration were all but gone and never proven, but efforts to hurt this community perceived by some to be coming from the same former officials has revived the possibility.

The administration before Sheriff Patterson’s were known to be serial adulterers with long sharp knives ready to cut political opponents up when needed (symbolism knives of course). Much of the rest of their activities is still under possible investigation, but using game rooms to highlight their moral and professional superiority is awful bold and it also is very calculating. Re-painting a new version of the Arthur administration’s alleged successes would only affect his loyalist supporters and those so young they don’t remember.

There is a sheriff’s race coming in 2012, but there does not have to be an assault on truth or local history. And there does not have to be an assault on the work of the men and women who risk their lives to protect us as we lay our heads down to go to sleep here in Liberty County.

This sheriff’s department is not sanctioning bribes from game room owners. This sheriff’s department is not turning its head while members are running around on their wives. This sheriffs department took a department with some bad characters in it and got rid of them. They took the overtime hours that had built up under Arthur and was causing huge budget problems and they fixed it. It has not been a fun place to work, but this sheriff’s department is a much much better department than when Henry Patterson took over.

Thanks for reminding us Chip!

MIKE and HILLARY Sitting in a Tree

Three years ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and local Liberty County District Attorney Mike Little had an interesting decision to make. They both made the same decision and they both should be held accountable for the consequences.

When Barack Obama became the heir apparent to lead the Democrat Party in a new and more left liberal leaning direction, Hillary chose to join his cabinet rather than wait until now to run against his wrong-headed philosophy. Mike Little had the same choice. Both chose to play supportive roles and build their own futures based on the direction Obama led the Democrat’s party.

Looking back we all can wonder what would have happened IF they had rejected rather than supported Obama. What would have happened if Hillary had remained a Senator from New York and thrown her hat in the ring to win the Democrat’s nomination for President? What would have happened if Mike Little had publicly denounced Obama and his big spending, big government and maybe even prepared to run as an independent or a Republican?

Instead, Hillary and Mike hoped that Obama’s promise that “the waters would recede and earth would heal” somehow would magically come true and that their fate would rise with the fate of their new political messiah. Instead, Hillary and Mike witnessing the waters of a bad economy receding, they are like many Americans and are climbing up a tree to try and escape the disastrous consequences of Keynesian economics and Obamacare.

The tree they have chosen as their lifeboat in a storm is obviously falling. Now the only question is do they have the unmitigated gall to turn on Obama and declare they never knew him. Will Hillary resign from his cabinet after years of loyalty? Will Mike Little try and convince Republicans he is one of us after all?

Surely not! Mike and Hillary sitting in a tree K-I-SS-ING.

YOUNGBLOOD CONTINUES HIS ATTACK ON REPUBLICANS

There they go again! Allen Youngblood , Chip Fairchild, and others who find themselves out in the cold with no power or influence in the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department so they have re-started an all out scorched earth campaign against Republican Sheriff Henry Patterson.

Other than the rejection this group has experienced since good ole boy and former sheriff Greg Arthur was sent packing in a very humiliating election loss, they have their usual reasons to spin and try to cast dispersions in a way that tries to influence the public to see things the same perverted way they do. Their efforts are ineffective and disorganized and anyone that knows how liberal Youngblood is or how much of a opportunistic profiteer Chip Fairchild is, sees right through their efforts.

Their inconsistent and bombastic attacks on Sheriff Patterson cover the gamut. One minute they are complaining he is not in front of the cameras and the microphones at crime scenes and the next minute they are trying to use his spokesman to make him look like he is a publicity hound. Which is it Allen? They don’t seem to be able to make up their mind which way they want to try and paint Henry Patterson.

The truth about Sheriff Patterson is that he is the epitome of the type of man Harry Truman talked about when he said that there was no limit to what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit. Just the opposite of Arthur, this sheriff’s spokesman rarely even mentions the Patterson. This sheriff has a spokesman to inform the public, not to run the kind of quasi-campaign Greg Arthur ran with Chip Fairchild on the radio and in the rest of the media 24/7 trying to make sure the public viewed Greg Arthur the way they wanted him to be viewed. Narcissistic behavior went way down in the sheriff’s department when Arthur was defeated and Fairchild left the department.

Sheriff Patterson’s sees no need in the kind of image shaping deceptive practices done by Arthur and Fairchild. Sheriff Patterson is known to be faithful to his wife and a hard working crime fighter that deals from the top of the deck. He is a conservative church going family man that has never been involved in playing the political games Arthur and Fairchild and Youngblood dabble in all of the time. He doesn’t approve of womanizing and he doesn’t need some pimp media types to cover his butt.

Allen Youngblood is doing a disservice to this community by ignoring the facts alleged about different public officials and instead going after the man that was clearly and overwhelmingly elected to clean up this county.

CORRECTING OTHERS’ MISTAKES

Several weeks ago Liberty Dispatch received a story from a contributor who had a good track record of writing articles that raised important questions about some of the actions of our local public officials. In good faith Liberty Dispatch posted the story and stood behind it until some of what the contributor alleged seemed to be in conflict with the facts. Even though the part of the story in question was not necessarily the major thrust of the story, it still had political and personal implications.

The thrust of the article revolved around the alleged criminal acts of Assistant District Attorney Joe Warren and his gun wielding threats against his neighbors after his boxer dug underneath a fence and died in a retaliatory counter attack after the dog attacked a puppy. We have no reason to believe Joe Warren’s actions are any less criminal than originally reported, but the contributor also implicated some kind of wrong doing or incompetence by Justice of the Peace Bobby Rader. A great deal of the information about Rader was wrong and the result of poor investigating.

Sources have told Liberty Dispatch that Judge Rader made the contributor aware of the mistakes in the article and that Rader was told it would be corrected. The correction at the time this article is being prepared to post has not come.

While awaiting a possible interview of Judge Rader by the contributor (and a retraction), Liberty Dispatch has posted three articles pointing out the commitment and the fine work Judge Rader has done for this community. After each article the contributor (and/or associates of the contributor) has become very indignant. Rather than prepare an apology and a correction, it appears the contributor has been spending more time and effort trying to dig up dirt on Judge Rader.

When every one of the contributor’s new allegations proved to be false, the contributor (and/or associates of the contributor) began threatening the people writing positive articles about Judge Rader. With multiple vile and curse-filled phone conversations threatening to expose one of our contributor’s child’s youthful indiscretions and making up all kinds of nasty lies about one of the wives of our contributors.

Liberty Dispatch has posted some serious allegations on this website. We have not posted things we have known to be untrue. In fact Liberty Dispatch knows there is enough evidence on some of the allegations we have posted to arrest, indict, and convict certain individuals. Like everyone else we wait impatiently and wonder what is wrong with our local system of justice that nothing has been done about some of these allegations. But in the case of the comments about Judge Rader, we have come to the conclusion that not only will there be no retraction by the contributor, but that they will continue to look for something to damage Judge Rader with. That is simply unconscionable to us.

Judge Rader they have not fulfilled their promise of a retraction to you, but we intend for this to be the next best thing. We waited and it never came. Though our posting of this article may be met with all kinds of more allegations, we will not ignore the injustice committed against you.

Liberty Dispatch is no stranger to hardball politics. We are not whining about it or claiming victim status. We are once again just presenting the facts as we know them to be. We stand behind the stories applauding Judge Rader and his work in this community and we repudiate the contributor’s efforts to put Judge Rader in a light that the facts simply do not support.

As for the threats to those connected with this website, our reporting on this story is not necessarily over if someone really wants to play hardball. Years of threats by a dominant Democratic party have hardened us to even the idea of relenting to avoid some kind of effort to spin and embarrass us. Even though dragging children and wives into a political argument about how public officials are doing their jobs is a new all time low, we still believe the public (when informed) will be fair and just in forming their opinions. We stand prepared to redirect any stones thrown in the wrong direction and any stories that do not ring true

To paraphrase a recent President, “bring it on”. In the world of politics we all live in glass houses.

Richard Pegues
Contributor

INTEGRITY and PURPOSE in POLITICS

Some may call it unreasonable or too hardball when the Tea Party refuses to give in and support candidates that are not doing what they believe is necessary, but many of us call it principled politics.

The carrot and the stick approach has been around long before the Tea Party or Liberty Dispatch sided with only those who were doing what they considered right. In fact that type of politics existed before there was even one political party in this country.

George Washington was President before political parties but he practiced the idea of being positive and supportive of those who were moving in the direction he believed to be best for the country and making it obvious he did not approve anyone who was fighting against what he was for.

The examples are many but the best comes right out of the shoot when Washington first takes office. Washington had promised as President he was going to tour every state in the Union. That tour was on horseback and by carriage and was not an easy thing, but he kept his promise. But he made sure to give precedence to every state that ratified the Constitution first. Washington had to zig and zag around Delaware to do it, but he waited until he had rode to every other state in the Union before he set foot in Delaware as President. Delaware had finally yielded to the Constitution and George Washington had finally come to their state.

Recently the Tea Party and Liberty Dispatch have been accused of favoring and promoting some people while they talk unfavorably towards others. Make no mistake about it that is true. But no matter what you hear about the motivations of that strategy the Tea party and Liberty Dispatch have employed that strategy from day one. We both call it integrity. We both believe it is counterproductive to be promoting people who have proven they are not conservatives. We have both openly explained that was our goal long before anyone even noticed our existence. Long before people that do not agree with us started saying what ever they could to derail our efforts.

Top Notch Republican Runs For Liberty County State Senate Rep.

Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) is announcing his bid for reelection for Texas Senate District 3. Following redistricting, the district includes all or part of 19 counties. Houston, Trinity, Liberty and Orange counties are new to the district.

“Serving the people of Senate District 3 is a tremendous honor,” said Nichols. “I ask for their support so we can continue the work of making government smaller, more efficient and more accountable.”

Nichols, first elected in 2006, has a strong conservative record focused on limited government and representing the district’s interests. He authored and passed legislation to reduce government spending, protect landowners, and encourage free-markets. He is widely respected as one of the state’s experts on transportation policy.

Nichols is recognized as one of Texas’ most effective and hardest-working legislators. His peers elected Nichols Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus and the Texas Association of Business named him a champion of free enterprise. He was also named a champion for children by the Equity Center for his work to improve the school finance system.

“The priorities of Senate District 3 are my priorities,” said Nichols. He says his legislative agenda is driven by the interests of the citizens he represents. “When people share their problems and concerns with us, we really do work to fix them.”

“I’ve done my best to serve the district, and I think my record speaks to the strong conservative values of the people I represent,” said Nichols. “It’s a privilege to ask for their vote.”

BACKGROUND:

On January 9, 2007, Robert Lee Nichols was sworn in to represent the citizens of Texas State Senate District 3, which is comprised of 16 counties ranging from southern Tyler to just north of Houston and stretching east to the Texas-Louisiana border.

In the Texas Senate, Nichols serves as vice chair of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and sits on the Transportation and Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Nominations Committees.

Senator Nichols’ proposal to put a two-year moratorium on private toll roads became a landmark issue of the 2007 legislative session and led to dramatic reforms that protect Texas drivers. He also authored or sponsored legislation to increase the rights of Texas homeowners, reduce Medicaid fraud, prevent child fatalities, and increase penalties for those tampering with evidence in a murder investigation.

Senator Nichols' Website

Toll Road peddlers beware!

McNair Stands True to Conservative Ideas

(09/01/2011- Liberty, Texas) At a recent Commissioner's Court meeting our Liberty County Judge Craig McNair showed why Liberty Dispatch supported him in the last primary and general election.

McNair comes from several generations of well respected Republicans who have selflessly and tirelessly contributed to our party. The McNairs have proven they are willing to incorporate the conservative platform into real world action. The Republican Party has a proven formula for fiscal responsibility and the McNairs aren't afraid to use that formula.

With each commissioner's meeting McNair continues to stand up to those who would seek to continue damaging Liberty County for their own selfish motives.

Liberty Dispatch hopes other Liberty County Republican office holders learn from the McNair formula and stand up to the harmful liberal and RINO interest that still poisons Liberty County.

With the coming election sign-up for the 2012 drawing near, people interested in signing up to run for public office need to take a lesson from McNair's action.  If you cant support the system with conservative values and fiscal responsibility- don't waste the voter's time.

Ray Akins, Contributor

FONTENOT FOLLOWING THE SPEND SPEND MODEL OF THE PRESIDENT

When the Liberty County Precinct Commissioners held their final budget workshop on Wednesday we all had a chance to hear why the county is facing an approximate $5 million deficit for next year’s budget and is expected to use money from its cash reserves to have a balanced budget.

Two words are the best example of why we have this problem. “Todd Fontenot.”

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Fontenot objected to having a secretary removed from his maintenance department saying she has been critical to the operation of the maintenance department. The Democratic Commissioner says this position is needed and he will fight to keep it. Fontenot failed to say the position is held by one of the most active Democratic operatives in the county and that she happens to be best known in his commissioner area. He also failed to rebut allegations that the employee in question is not known for doing much and has had a dubious work experience in the past at best.

Fontenot just doesn’t seem to get the budget problems that years of his leadership have caused and the resolve that newly elected Republicans have to cut up the symbolic credit card of years past. Fontenot is also pushing for $81,000 that he had previously requested to construct a new maintenance and storage facility in the Dayton area. Fontenot and his Democratic buddies passed a screwy inefficient re-redistricting plan ten years ago that was more concerned with getting Democrats elected than watching out for taxpayer money. Now he wants this new building because the problems he was warned about years ago have come home to roost.

Fontenot has indicated he will “vote against the budget” in protest of taking his hand picked vote getter off of the payroll and to show disapproval of not getting a second county barn for his precinct.

Liberty County Judge Craig McNair was dissuaded by all of Fontenot’s impractical self centered rantings. The County Judge said the maintenance and operation of the courthouse could be placed under his operation rather than have Fontenot continue this kind of management. McNair was critical of Fontenot’s past performance and his fiscal irresponsibility of the department. McNair pointed to the poor handling of the replacement of the county jail air conditioning unit as an example of Fontenot’s legacy.

“I had to step up to the plate to get the jail situation moving,” said McNair.

Fontenot tried to fire back by criticizing McNair’s proposal to sell the old Wal-Mart building instead of turning it into county offices. But the infamous money pit Fontenot refers to was obtained while he was on commissioner’s court and McNair was still a local businessman and taxpayer. Fontenot seems oblivious to the fact that McNair was swept into office along with other Republicans to begin to clean up the mess he himself made.

“What are we going to do with a $1.8 million building?” Fontenot asked.

“We don’t have money to spend,” said McNair. “We are not going to get another credit card when we have three that we can’t pay. I didn’t get us into this debt, but I am tasked with getting us out of it.”

McNair repeated that he felt that the county maintenance department had not been well handled over the past several years.

Harold Seay, county auditor, noted that last year’s budget used $8 million from the county’s cash reserve fund balance and that this year, the county will probably use $5 million to balance the budget. Seay added remarks that seemed aimed at Commissioners Fontenot and Hunt.

“The old county judge did make the budget but you can’t just blame him,” said Seay. “The previous budgets were voted unanimously by the whole court.”

“I appreciate everyone coming,” said McNair. “I promise that we are listening and taking notes. I want to emphasize the seriousness of the situation with the economic crunch.”

McNair noted that while the meeting was the last budget workshop, his doors were still open for discussion from the county departments and he would also be discussing these issues on the phone with department leaders.

The final budget is expected to be prepared and voted on by the commissioner’s court on Sept. 13. Still no mention has been made of the other active Democratic operative that has for years enjoyed being rewarded for his hard work helping elect Democrats by being the honcho of the local HUD department. With little to nothing to recommend him, Willie Carter continues to hang on to the spoils of past Democratic Party domination of Liberty County.

Stay tuned. It appears as if our new officials are more interested in getting the job done for the people who pay the bills than all of the party politics and payoffs.