Submitted by Sean Braisted on Mon, 12/10/2007 - 14:04.
The Vice-Chair of the Sumner County Democrats, Leonard Assante, wrote an opinion piece for the Gallatin Newspaper this past week, in which he criticized the media for not paying attention to State Sen. Diane Black, and the ties to Aegis Corporation, through her husband David Black.
Assante cites previous charges that Sen. Black should have declared Rule 13 (the same rule invoked by Sen. Wilder in regards to his hiring of Mexicans) when a budget containing contracts for her husbands company were brought forward.
In addition, Assante goes one step further and brings up the fact that Aegis, and David Black in particular, were responsible for the testing of WWE wrestlers, including Chris Benoit who, in a fit of "roid rage" killed himself and his family.
Take a look for yourself, I personally think Assante is overstepping it by bringing up the Benoit story, but the connection is at the very least interesting, if ultimately irrelevant to anything.
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 12/10/2007 - 15:47.
Is it irrelevant? If this company is being accused of doing bogus tests for the WWE, did anyone investigate them? Has anyone checked to see what sort of job the company is doing for the State of Tennessee?
Aside from that angle, are we comfortable with the family members of senators and representatives holding millions of dollars in state contracts? Did she have anything to do with the awarding of these contracts?
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 12/10/2007 - 20:31.
Hi All:
I'm Len Assante, and first off, thanks for mentioning me here. The original post and comment raise a few of good points, which I'd like to address.
1) I've gone back and forth about mentioning the Aegis connection to WWE and the Benoit case. While it is irrelevant to Senator Black's job performance as a state senator, the fact that TN has contracts with this company is relevant.
2) Also relevant is that Sen. Black has, at least indirectly, gained income from the state's relationship with Aegis. Senator Black certainly has not broken any laws here, but it is information relevant to making a decision about whether to vote for her for re-election.
3) The subtle jab at the media for not further reporting this, to me, is just as big a point as any other part of the column. In many cases, our public officials are not under much scrutiny from local media, and this is of concern to me.
I am new to the columnist game, and if I stepped over any lines, I do apologize. But, Sen. Black's record as Senator and as then-Vice Chair of Senate General Welfare is public record and open to scrutiny.
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/12/2007 - 06:32.
Good Job, Len. The Tennessee Blogosphere tends to give Republican state legislators a pass on most things, since the TN Blogosphere is overwhelmingly Republican. Diane Black is a woman who proposed and sponosred a cigarette tax THREE TIMES in the past, but now votes against the same tax because Ron Ramsey told her to. She needs to go. Hopefully information like you provided will hasten her departure.
Is it irrelevant? If this company is being accused of doing bogus tests for the WWE, did anyone investigate them? Has anyone checked to see what sort of job the company is doing for the State of Tennessee?
Aside from that angle, are we comfortable with the family members of senators and representatives holding millions of dollars in state contracts? Did she have anything to do with the awarding of these contracts?
Hi All:
I'm Len Assante, and first off, thanks for mentioning me here. The original post and comment raise a few of good points, which I'd like to address.
1) I've gone back and forth about mentioning the Aegis connection to WWE and the Benoit case. While it is irrelevant to Senator Black's job performance as a state senator, the fact that TN has contracts with this company is relevant.
2) Also relevant is that Sen. Black has, at least indirectly, gained income from the state's relationship with Aegis. Senator Black certainly has not broken any laws here, but it is information relevant to making a decision about whether to vote for her for re-election.
3) The subtle jab at the media for not further reporting this, to me, is just as big a point as any other part of the column. In many cases, our public officials are not under much scrutiny from local media, and this is of concern to me.
I am new to the columnist game, and if I stepped over any lines, I do apologize. But, Sen. Black's record as Senator and as then-Vice Chair of Senate General Welfare is public record and open to scrutiny.
Good Job, Len. The Tennessee Blogosphere tends to give Republican state legislators a pass on most things, since the TN Blogosphere is overwhelmingly Republican. Diane Black is a woman who proposed and sponosred a cigarette tax THREE TIMES in the past, but now votes against the same tax because Ron Ramsey told her to. She needs to go. Hopefully information like you provided will hasten her departure.