Well, this stellar conspiracy theory has now achieved a new, amazing landmark: the St. Louis Tea Party is now claiming that your local dogcatcher is involved in the massive government conspiracy! Here's why: a few days before Christmas, Keith Gladney, the brother of Kenneth, was fired from his position at the Animal Control. The Tea Party alleges that this is a clear case of political retaliation. Their evidence? The fact that the Animal Control Department operates within the St. Louis County Department of Health, which is "reported to have a close working relationship with SEIU Local 1." According to Tea Party "logic," SEIU is the most evil criminal enterprise of all time, so anyone who can be linked to them in six degrees of separation or less should be automatically thrown in prison. And, of course, we're supposed to "take Jim Durbin's word" that the situation is very "suspicious." Jim Durbin, the guy known for questionable mental stability, who has refused to apologize after spreading blatant damaging falsehoods about the County Counselor, who personally attacks local reporters without any shred of evidence or ability to back up his claims, and who has claimed that the mission of the St. Louis Tea Party is to, "crush the monsters that steal our land and rob our people." Yeah, you should take his word for it.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the Tea Party is raising money for the Gladney brothers. Literally within a few days of the original altercation on August 6th, the tea party began raising money for Kenneth Gladney. In my opinion, Gladney's testimony is tainted by the fact that he has been receiving money from a group with a clear ideological axe to grind from Day One. Recall that Gladney's former "attorney," David Brown, the man largely responsible for turning this into a media spectacle, stated in the past that this incident was his "gravy train." Funny, by the way, the the tea party refuses to talk about David Brown lately.
I don't wish getting fired upon anyone, especially in today's economy, and I'm sorry that Keith Gladney lost his job right before Christmas. But the knee-jerk reflexive conspiracy theory reactions have gone well beyond the point of ridiculousness. I really hope some of the groups and individuals maliciously attacked by the St. Louis Tea Party start fighting back by publicly calling out just how absurd the Tea Party rhetoric is.
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Mr. Shriver, I haven't represented Kenneth Gladney since August 2009. I never stated that this incident was my "gravy train." I represented Kenneth at the onset, but turned the case over to another attorney within a week of the incident. So to report that I am his attorney is erroneous. Furthermore, I have never received any financial renumeration from this case. -- David Brown
ReplyDeleteI have no idea if that previous comment was actually from David Brown or not since it was posted anonymously, but if it was then I have a couple comments. First, if David didn't say it was a "gravy train," then he should be speaking to the Riverfront Times, not me, as they originally reported the statement of his former employee Errol King: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/09/why_i_quit_the_tea_parties_confessions_of_button_seller.php .
ReplyDeleteAs for the claim that it's "erroneous" that I reported that David Brown is Gladney's attorney because he quit "within a week," well here's a video over two weeks after the incident where David Brown *explicitly* identifies himself as Gladney's attorney: http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralObject=1217454949#/Kenneth+Gladney+speaks+out/47441924001 .
Finally, it's also worth mentioning that David Brown is on record claiming that he witnessed the event, despite the fact that you can see in the original video that he came over later.
Better luck next time.
And, for the record, I probably won't post any more comments from you in the future unless I can verify that it's actually from David Brown.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing, Adam:
ReplyDeleteKenneth Gladney never received money from the Tea Party Express. He spoke at their rallies, but they did not pay him. You can check the FEC reports. He made his money by selling flags at their events. But honestly, after I researched the Tea Party Express and their PAC, Our Country Deserves Better, I found their financial activities to be dubious at best. I believe that the Tea Party Express is a scam and that they have associated themselves with the tea party movement for purely financial gain through contributions. They funnel about 2/3 or 3/4 of their money back to Russo+Marsh, the Republican consulting firm that created the PAC through suspect billings.
David Brown