i read here somewhere that he also claimed to get Loydd Benson into the Reserve too.. but that's OK since benson was a RAT, RIGHT???
Posted on 09/08/2004 9:47:59 AM PDT by GOPcapitalist
You've probably already seen the hype. Tonight the former Democrat Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Ben Barnes, will be on 60 minutes where he is expected to levy widespread accusations against President Bush by claiming that he used his office to get Bush into the Texas National Guard. The charges are naturally baseless and contradicted by a number of facts including the fact that Ben Barnes was not even Lieutenant Governor when Bush joined the Guard, the leftist media is giving Barnes a COMPLETE PASS on this inconsistency and his own disgraceful record.
Since the press refuses to do its job it is our job to get the word about the real Ben Barnes out there!!!
Most people outside of Texas know very little about Ben Barnes. Those who remember him here though know that he shares the dubious distinction of being on that short list of Texas politicians who puts LBJ to shame when it comes to corruption. Ben Barnes has literally been one giant walking scandal for the last forty years in Texas politics and is probably the most disgraced living political name in our state.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEN BARNES, THE HUMAN COCKROACH OF TEXAS POLITICS:
I. The Sharpstown Stock Scandal:
This was the "Scandal of the Century" for Texas as it took down our Democrat Governor, the Democrat Speaker of the House, the Democrat Lieutenant Governor (Barnes), and a huge chunk of the Democrat legislature. It was also one of the landmark events in the transition of Texas from a Democrat to Republican state. There's lots of information out there on the web about the Sharpstown Scandal. Barnes was an unidicted co-conspirator at the very center of the thing and he paid the ultimate price - it caused the end of his political career in elected office the year before he was expected to waltz into the governor's office on the fast track to the US Senate and, perhaps, eventually the presidency or vice presidency. Here is the synopsis of the Sharpstown Scandal that I posted on another thread:
Barnes was the unindicted co-conspirator with Speaker Gus Mutscher and Governor Preston Smith who ramrodded a banking bill through the legislature as a favor to businessman Frank Sharp. In return Sharp provided a bunch of state officeholders who helped him out with several hundred thousand dollars worth of loans from Sharpstown State Bank, which he owned, that were used to buy stock through another of Sharps' company thus artificially pumping up the price of it, while the stock itself was in turn used as collateral for the loans!
The stock was then boosted to artificial highs then, with a huge killing for Sharp and its owners, it was unloaded onto the educational endowment of a private catholic school in Houston where it soon became worthless, leaving them with the bill. In short, they took the money and ran.
The money was made while Sharp's bill was between the legislature and the governor's desk and then, to cover his tracks, Governor Smith vetoed the thing. Mutscher and a bunch of state reps who helped him went to jail over the thing and he, Smith, Barnes, and dozens of state legislators who were unindicted co-conspirators got the boot in the 1972 elections. This all goes to show just how desperate Kerry is though. He's making his attacks on Bush now by turning to a human cockroach who is best remembered for bilking a bunch of school children out of their educational endowment fund.
There is lots of information on this scandal all over the web. Here are a few links to get you started:
1. Handbook of Texas Articles:
Sharpstown Scandal
The Dirty Thirty
2. Texas Monthly:
Article on the Members of the "Dirty Thirty" (google cache)
Important Note: The "Dirty Thirty" were a group of renegade state legislators - the tiny group of Republicans who held office in Texas at the time plus some disaffected Democrats - who publicized the Sharpstown Scandal by clogging up the legislature on parliamentary moves and eventually took down Mutscher, Smith, and Barnes. Many of these legislators are still alive and several were conservative republicans. Many of them DESPISED Ben Barnes and may even be willing to give a statement about how corrupt and disreputable he is.
3. Free Republic research and background links on Ben Barnes: Lots of great background stuff revealed on the posts of these threads
II. Barnes' Corruption in General
Since getting the boot by the voters Barnes has settled into a lucrative career as the sleaziest lobbyist in Texas. He's been involved in one or more major scandals every decade since he left office. He was at the center of the real estate bust that bankrupted John Connolly. He was the force behind the scandal-ridden contracts to run the Texas Lottery. He's behind a controversial and ethically suspect pipeline proposal. The list is endless
2. Texas Monthly cache on Barnes
III. Ben Barnes' ties to the Democrats and the Kerry Campaign
Every left wing paper in the country has run a front page story alleging a conspiracy web that ties the Swift Boat Vets to Karl Rove. Not one of them has taken notice of Ben Barnes, who is a top fundraiser for the Kerry campaign and DNC causes in general!
1. Barnes tops list of Kerry fundraisers - he's in the "$100,000 and up club"
2. Barnes helps Democrat candidates
IV. BEN BARNES' BIG LIE: The Bush National Guard Story
Here is the direct proof that Ben Barnes is lying about Bush's national guard record - the quote from the Barnes video being circulated by MoveOn and all the other leftist groups:
"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was Lieutenant Governor of Texas and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it"
The problem with this quote: Ben Barnes was NOT Lieutenant Governor of Texas in May of 1968 when Bush joined up! He didn't take office until 1969. In 1968 Barnes was a lame duck speaker in the Texas legislature, which was out of session since it was an even numbered year. He was working his other job that spring - a UN position over in EUROPE that LBJ appointed him to! (story)
This all needs to be our message about Ben Barnes as the left starts to replay tonight's interview ad nauseum. People in Texas know all about the human cockroach named Ben Barnes but the rest of the country does not! Write letters to your editor, pass this information on to friends and family, CALL YOUR LOCAL TALK RADIO SHOWS ABOUT IT.
As it stands right now nobody knows who the real Ben Barnes is and he'll sound credible with the complicit leftist media giving him a free pass tonight. It's our job to inform the public and make sure the truth gets out there.
I already emailed CBS (See-BS). Will watch tonight to see if they offer any of this anti-Barnes evidence.
We are the new press!
When Freepers call into the radio stations they can honestly say "Ben Barnes stole from school children" cause that's what the Sharpstown Scandal was all about.
The Democrat pols and Frank Sharp took the money and ran with it while using a a private high school in Houston as their patsy. They left the school's endowment full of a bunch of overpriced worthless stock and made off with the kids' money!
Thanks for this info. Bump for later.
i read here somewhere that he also claimed to get Loydd Benson into the Reserve too.. but that's OK since benson was a RAT, RIGHT???
Pass it on. Thanks.
In fact, that Barnes was an extremely partisan Democrat then (as he is now) makes his story all the more dubious. Why would a Democrat go out of his way to help the son of a Republican congressman?
let this pass....as GW did with Moore, giving this any thought only gets it more press...See JFKerry trying to work against the Swifts....losing prop!
Lies again! BUMP
Hey, speaking of old Lloyd ---I knew John Kennedy, John Kennedy was a friend of mine, and you're no John Kennedy--
Bentsen, I saw on another thread that it later turned out that Lloyd had never met John Kennedy.
Anybody else heard this or have confirmation?
If only we'd had Free Republic back then, it would have been documented instantly if true.
Hey, were you listening to Don Wade and Roma this morning?
"Ben Barnes is a Cockroach" ping! Spread the word!
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas or General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.
i always wished that Quayle would of answered "Yeah, you're right... I'n NOT JFK! I never slept with Marylin Monroe and I've always been faithful to my wife!!!"
A Texas Democrat who is actually scuzzier than Jim Wright, Martin Frost, Van Den Putte, etc., etc., even to the point of making LBJ look good by comparison?(!)
I'm speechless.
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/ltgov.html
There are exactly 2 names not linked to official online biographies on this page. One is the guy chosen to fill in as Lt Gov when Bush quit to take the White House. Any guesses as to who the other unlinked name is?
He hallucinates when he drinks, too. And he sees things!
Sent this to everyone in my email address book.
You can find some excerpts from the article by Googling it up, then clicking on the 'cached' text, then clicking on 'cached text only'. Unfortunately, this doesn't bring up the complete article, only excerpts and some of them quite tantalizing.
The article notes that Barnes reputedly wore his only suit when he started work for the legislature, earned $4,800 a year as a legislator and for most of his career, but became a millionaire with interests in radio and TV stations, construction firms, a shopping center, and large land tracts.
It mentions Barnes' nickname of "Bedroom Ben" for his supposed escapades.
According to the article, Barnes also apparently tried to put a tax on all groceries, which Farenthold called the "Barnes Bread Tax."
One excerpt mentions that Barnes has several handicaps, but the excerpt ends at that point. (Drat.)
The article mentions that Barnes was cleared of involvement in the Sharpstown scandal. It says that nothing was ever pinned solidly on Barnes, then goes on the say that a deposition by Frank Sharp (central figure in the Sharpstown scandal) had been interpreted to mean that Barnes had been paid handsomely for his help on legislation.
hehe!
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