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Tuesday, April 21, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005. (Or was it 2006?)
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Walker gets pro-life nod
Beth Walker, Republican candidate for the West Virginia Supreme Court, has won the endorsement of the West Virginians for Life Political PAC. "I am proud to have the support of West Virginians for Life," Walker said. "Judicial activism has no place in our court system. Our Supreme Court Justices must not substitute their personal views for the rule of law." In a letter to the Walker campaign, Melissa Adkins, Executive Director of WVL-PAC, stated "We are confident that Walker will be a fair and impartial judge and will not legislate from the bench."
Weeks hits 48 counties in pre-primary campaign blitz; support keeps building
It is often a frustrating experience to witness business groups award endorsements this time of year, especially when such endorsements are received by candidates who clearly are anything but pro-business.One of the most egregious examples are the endorsements made by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which apparently must get the governor's okay before announcing its list of preferred candidates. But other business groups are often just as willing to cater to the powerful or entrenched. Clearly, when it comes to many business endorsements, the people making the choices are simply trying to pick winners. They want to make sure there are no hard feelings when the election is over, so they jump through more hoops than there are at the Basketball Hall of Fame to justify choices that belong more on union labels than business endorsement lists.Whether Heather is so clever, likely is unknown forever
I haven't written much about the Heather Bresch diploma controversy, mainly because I don't know the answer to the whole thing, unlike everything else I write about.For all I know, Ms. Bresch might have earned her MBA degree from West Virginia University squarely and fairly. If so, she does not deserve to have her integrity questioned just because she happens to have a father who is a governor, and an employer who is a major benefactor to WVU. And at the end of the day, the long-awaited results of WVU's investigation will likely fail to resolve the question to anyone's satisfaction. In fact, my guess is that we can expect something along the lines of WVU announcing that, after an "exhaustive review," it cannot disprove Ms. Bresch received her degree to the, uh, degree necessary to say she shouldn't claim it. And so the cry of cover-up or favoritism will forever follow her, and the university.The problem is, Ms. Bresch seems little interested in doing much herself to persuade the public of the purity of her claims. If news reports are correct -- and they almost always are, right? -- she is invoking everything but the Gettysburg Address to protect her right to privacy in regard to her records, which is particularly amusing if those records don't exist. It's sort of like the Invisible Man telling you to quit staring at him.Even more amusing is the student who came to Ms. Bresch's defense, claiming that she, too, earned her MBA through off-campus efforts. It would have been more convincing if the alibi witness was not also a recent hire of Ms. Bresch's company, Mylan Industries, and if the off-campus activities she was describing were the same as those described by Ms. Bresch, which they were not.And so, after a very public display of claims and counter-claims, Ms. Bresch is demanding that the results of the investigation be kept private, and she continues to be unable or unwilling to produce any evidence on her own that she earned the degree in question -- not even a diploma, which is odd, since most recipients of MBA degrees tend to consider them an excellent centerpiece for decorating a house.Still, such modesty is not incriminating in and of itself. Unfortunately, Heather Bresch may not have the luxury of choosing to keep everything so hush-hush. Mylan Industries is a publicly traded firm, and as such is required from time to time to verify the claims it makes about the education and experience of its top executives. Such openness and accuracy is deemed necessary to maintain the faith of investors, clients and customers.We will soon have some answers, or at least some additional information, which will probably serve only to advance the story to the next level of questions raised by the so-called answers. There is not much else to be accomplished, unless some massive cover-up is detected, which is unlikely. This is a case built upon "she said, he said." Heather Bresch claims she earned her MBA through somewhat unorthodox methods. WVU says now (after first saying she was probably right) that it has no records of her unique path to certification. In the end, no one is likely to prove anything, but at least it gave everyone something to talk about for a while besides the Rich Rodriguez soap opera. Thank God.Did she or didn't she? WVU's final answer unlikely to satisfy anyone
Biz endorsements too often picking winners over policy positions
Republican gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks has been on a campaign tear from February through April, actively campaigning in 48 of West Virginia's 55 counties and scheduled to make his pitch in the remaining counties in the coming days -- before starting all over again.Weeks' campaign blitz has consisted of more than just "drive-bys." His appearances have ranged from Lincoln Day Dinners to candidate forums to business and civic group visits.Weeks has proven himself an excellent grassroots campaigner in the past, overcoming a huge fundraising advantage by his opponent, Bill Wooton, in the 2002 State Senate race.At almost every stop, Weeks has been approached by Democrats unhappy with Gov. Joe Manchin over what they consider broken promises, and funding and services cuts. He has been doing newspaper, radio and TV interviews in every region of the state.Gary Howell gets nod
from Defense League
State Senate candidate Gary Howell has won the endorsement of the West Virginia Citizens Defense League.Howell is the Republican candidate in the 14th State Senate District. The WVCDL is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization supporting an individual’s right to keep and bear arms for defense of self, family, home and state.