Posted on 01/11/2004 1:58:50 PM PST by Jim Robinson
And this just in from our You Gotta Be Kidding Me department:
Bush orders settlement to conservative GOP website by City of Fresno
by Troy Montague
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004 at 11:03 PM
Settlement funnels money to local conservative website on orders of president George Bush. Rightwing website "FreeRepublic" to recieve large settlement from City of Fresno.
This is urgent-read and call the attorney general's office as soon as you can. We must stop this criminal give-away to GOP activists at taxpayer expense.
The City of Fresno has announced it is paying a large settlement to the "FreeRepublic", a right wing conservative website/forum to settle a lawsuit filed by Freerepublic alledging defamation and damage of reputation. Some background on the case:
The case FreeRepublic vs. City of Fresno stems from a bulletin sent to Fresno Police by Fresno Human Relations Commissioner Debbie Reyes regarding an event planned on sept. 13th by the Fresno chapter of FreeRepublic Network. This event, billed by Freerepublic as a picnic/rally was a subject of concern to Reyes as she had been made aware of possible counter-protests to the picnic/rally by activists critical of FreeRepublic Network's harrassment of anti-war activists and general right-wing extremist nature. Ms. Reyes faxed a notice to police that there might be possible conflicts at the event and notified them that FreeRepublic was well known as an organized hate group disguising themselves as patriotic americans. This notice and resulting publicity resulted in the lawsuit naming City of Fresno, Debbie Reyes, and Mayor Alan Autry as defendants. They alledged Reyes fax resulted in defamation and filed suit seeking $1,000,000 compensation.
The very very strange thing in all this is George Bush met with Fresno Mayor Alan Autry on 10/15/2003 and there is good reason to believe this lawsuit by the FreeRepublic Network was the main topic of conversation between the two. The FreeRepublic online forum is a darling centerpiece of the GOP party, the largest and most highly trafficked GOP oriented website in existence. Progressive activists have long suspected FreeRepublic receives under the table covert funding directly or indirectly from the GOP party. So it is quite likely and plausible that when Autry met with Bush and discussed this with him Bush told him to pay off these good old-boy conservatives and get some funds into their hands so they can continue their fight against the left and all things progressive.
It is clear that before any settlement is paid to FreeRepublic an investigation into ties between Mayor Alan Autry and FreeRepublic should be undertaken. He has been supportive of their activitys to a suspicious degree and it is apparent he was very interested in arranging for the city to settle out of court on the lawsuit and quickly get some money into the hands of his fellow patriots at FreeRepublic.
Did Fresno Mayor Alan Autry work at the suggestion of George Bush to supply a large cash settlement to FreeRepublic at taxpayer's expense? Demand an investigation.
Contact: California State Attoney General (916)322-3360
News Release
Daniel G. Hobbs, City Manager
November 14, 2003 Contact: Matt Otstot, Public Affairs Officer: (559) 621-7777
Mayor Autry Commends President Bush for Homeland Security Funding
FRESNO, CA (November 14, 2003) Mayor Alan Autry applauded President George W. Bush and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for releasing over $7 million in grants to the City of Fresno. This grant will be used to fund and improve overall security and preparedness of the City’s Public Safety Departments.
“I commend President Bush not only for providing these much needed Homeland Security funds, but also understanding that as our first responders, local public safety agencies must receive these resources directly,” Mayor Autry said.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced the release of these funds yesterday. A total of $675 million will be funded directly to urban areas across the Country. The areas funded were chosen based on several factors including critical infrastructure, population density, and credible threat information.
Sept 12, 2002 - Letter from President George W. Bush
(September 11, 2002) Mayor Alan Autry today announced the creation of the Fresno Citizen Corps to bring additional volunteer resources to the City's public safety and emergency response agencies, as well as support other civic centered efforts throughout the community.
http://www.fresnocitizencorps.org/president.pdf
But on the way out to the facility, Alan Autry, was traveling with me, the great mayor of Fresno, California, and I appreciate him being here today and I thank him for his friendship. (Applause.) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031015-14.html
HECK NO! I got a nice new pair of sneakers and there's NO WAY I'm sharing them. Uh uh.
No I wasn't kidding, I'm totally clueless. The last I heard about this was when that idiot lady called us a hate group.
I'm still clueless, as I asked if there was a settlement and still don't know the answer. I don't see why it's assumed that I would. I also don't see why it should be assumed that I know what goes on behind closed doors here.
One thing I do know is that I used to say or ask whatever I wanted around here as long as it wasn't illegal or immoral. Now there's all sorts of things I'm not supposed to say or ask... or create or whatever.
Actually, it's really none of my damn business. I just didn't have any info and couldn't seem to make any sense of whoever wrote the first part of the post.
did you see who led the list over there? LOL
"She was lookin' kinda' dumb with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an 'L' on her forehead"
That will have to be presented to the ethics committee along with the payment investigation about you getting money from Mayor Autrey at the direction of President Bush.
Also, for those that will be awaiting the publication of tommorrows press release, I have included the following:
Some preliminary information about the coming press release.
A joint press release will be issued at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning, which will include the following language: "On September 12, 2003, the City of Fresno's Human Relations Commission issued a news release describing Free Republic LLC as a "hate Group" and accusing it of threatening violence towards minority groups. As a result of this, on September 22, Free Republic LLC filed a claim with the City of Fresno, which was a procedural first step in filing a lawsuit for defamation. Free Republic LLC and the City of Fresno announce that this dispute has been fully resolved. The City of Fresno officially retracts the press release and acknowledges that the City had no basis for referring to the Free Republic as a hate group or accusing them of making threats against minorities. The City of Fresno also wishes to announce that Debbie Reyes, the Chair of its Human Relations Commission has resigned from her position, effective January 2, 2004
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.