That White Stuff on Top?
That's Chicken Sh*t too.....
A lot of asterisks being used in this issue but some times nothing does better than a little vulgarity to get the point across. The phrase of course was from the movie Pure Country, where an old rancher type uses the phrase to make his point on the behavior of the protagonist in the movie and it fits the behavior and character of our favorite punching bag Rep. Kevin McDugle.
McDugle managed to more than earn the distinction after the firing of his political opponent in the June Primary for HD 12. Nick Mahoney, a seven year Wagoner County deputy sheriff was fired late Monday morning by Sheriff Chris Elliott, a close friend and supporter of Kevin McDugle. Initially Elliott had wished Mahoney well on his race despite a close friendship with McDugle. Later Elliott and his wife Judy Elliott who is also the 911 coordinator for the County made statements saying that filing for office against McDugle would have "consequences".
Mahoney put out a press statement after the firing:
"When I shared my intentions to run for State House District 12 to Sheriff Elliott last January, he initially indicated that he wished me the best luck, but that he was supporting Kevin McDugle, my opponent in the State House District 12 race," said Mahoney. "I assured him that I would continue to perform my duties as expected and not let the campaign interfere with my job as a deputy sheriff and he in-kind wished me luck in my race."
Later it was said that Elliot's tone changed and dozens of emails, phone calls, and texts poured in saying that Ellion was slandering Mahoney openly as he actively campaigned against Mahoney. Elliot was accused of demanding that citizens remove their Mahoney yard signs from their private property and threatening to fire Mahoney if he didn't drop out of the race.
Elliott went further, much further, firing Mahoney for no good cause, demoting Mahoney from his public spokesperson job in the department and giving Mahoney the oldest police car in the fleet, even putting Mahoney on night shift in an effort to make it impossible for Mahoney to campaign after 5 pm and on weekends. Mahoney claims that he had no write ups for bad behavior and no disciplinary action in his seven years on the force and that the firing was pure political payback for running against Sheriff Elliott's close persona friend, Kevin McDugle.
Mahoney is determined to finish the race. Firing someone for running for office isn't legal, it is a restriction of a person's First and Fourteenth Amendments based upon their political beliefs. An employer can get away with firing someone for running against them personally, if the person works directly under an incumbent. In those cases the state has an interest in having an conflict free and smooth running public office. A private employer might get away with firing someone for running for office if it impeded their job performance but during the Randy Terrill railroad job we heard that doing so deprived the public of another choice for candidates and that it could be illegal to coerce a candidate even if they had yet to file for office.
Sheriff Elliott of course is claiming it is all lies and claimed Mahoney was fired for "conduct unbecoming" or words to that effect. All of which proves the character of Elliott, who would be suspect anyway for having such a close relationship with Kevin McDugle, a known adulterer who abandoned his wife and kids shortly after he was elected to office. McDugle has a poor voting record, quite liberal, the typical tax and spend Republican that has sold his soul to the tall building crowd.
