Former state Senator Judiciary Chairman Bill Wooton is likely to replace Ron Thompson in the House of Delegates, given the three names sent to Gov. Joe Manchin by a Democrat committee on Thursday.
According to today's Beckley Register-Herald, the committee sent Manchin three names from which Thompson's successor will be chosen.
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New for 2007-08
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Friday, August 3, 2007
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  The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included. Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.
All opinions are those of The Republican Gazette and its editor, Gary Abernathy, except letters or commentary signed by others, and do not reflect the views of anyone else, including clients of Abernathy Strategies.
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Having Fun
With Mojo
Elvis had nothing on me!
Hey kids! Mojo here! OK, so it's Elvis month! Big deal! Elvis had nothing on me! I know what it's like to be Elvis! I attract adoring crowds everywhere I go! I have charisma coming out my ears! I have bodyguards and gofers answering to my beck and call! I ride everywhere in a big black limousine. I live in a big white-columned mansion! I ride motorcycles and have my own airplane! And frankly, I'm a better actor! Shoot, my security detail code name is "Elvis" (but don't spread that around). And starting next month, everytime I leave an event early -- like I did when Hillary came to town -- an announcer is going to say, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mojo has left the building!" How cool is that?
Is Mollohan's house of cards about to come crashing down?
The decision by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday to strip away $1.5 million in funding for the Canaan Valley Institute might be the first sign that the network of earmark-funded entities created by Congressman Alan Mollohan might be starting to collapse.
The earmarks had made it through the Appropriations Committee, but on the House floor Thursday, Rep. David Obey, a Democrat from Wisconsin, recommended they be deleted because, "We had determined that because they were in controversy, for the good of the House, they should not be considered at this time,''  according to The Associated Press.
The Canaan Valley Institute has received $30 million in federal funds earmarked by Mollohan since 1995, accounting for the majority of its
Canaan Valley Institute stripped of $1.5 million as House refuses to keep earmark train on the tracks
Could Unger's job
be in jeopardy?
With the House of Representatives cracking down on earmarks directed by Congressman Alan Mollohan, will the funding for the Canaan Valley Institute be just the first domino to fall?
And if so, how long will it take before it jeopardizes the jobs of those who are riding the Mollohan gravy train --  including state Sen. John Unger?
Unger pulls down more than $80,000 a year for whatever it is he doesn't do for a company called EG&G, part of the consortium of agencies across the First Congressional District that exist primarily because of federal funds directed to them by Mollohan, as previously detailed here.
funding. 
When Mollohan was reelected last year, in spite of a well-publicized federal investigation on ethics issues, most observers believed the people of the First Congressional District had taken the attitude that even if the allegations against Mollohan were true, the benefits of the Mollohan gravy train outweighed the ethics questions.
But if Mollohan is losing support in the House, even among Democrats, and losing his ability to direct federal funds to his district, for what reason will voters want to keep him in office in 2008?
Unger claims he's being 'smeared' by opponents
Perhaps it reminds him of his own tactics against his opponent in 2006
State Sen. John Unger
has sent a fundraising email
claiming he is the victim of a
smear by his opponents. His
email list included, strangely,
apparently half the Repub-
licans in the Eastern Pan-
handle, based on the number
of copies forwarded to the Republican Gazette.
Unger's email quotes from a recent editorial in the Charleston Gazette defending Unger against an ethics complaint filed by the West Virginia Republican Party.
The email goes on to say, "This early smear campaign means the Bush-Capito Republicans see the writing on the wall.  Capito relies on votes from the Eastern Panhandle – a place where I am the top vote-getter on the ticket! (Is that his Mother Teresa-inspired humility showing?) She’s also failing us in Washington,voting against our veterans, seniors, working families and against bringing our troops home from Iraq. (Not to mention she steps on ants on the sidewalk.) Let’s show the Republicans that their 'Swift Boat' attacks won’t work.  Please join my campaign because issues and solutions -- not attacks -- are what matters to West Virginians."
He should have said "matter," not "matters," but hey, he doesn't claim to be an English major. He claims to be a homeland security expert.
If he's right -- if issues and solutions, and not attacks, are what matter to West Virginians -- he's in trouble. Last year, Unger sent a campaign mailer accusing his opponent, Jerry Mays, of planning to introduce legislation permitting civil unions for gays -- a flagrant lie and attack. 
But Saint John has always seemed to believe that standards applied to others do not apply to him.
The line in his email that brings a laugh-out-loud response is this one:
"Bush-Capito Republicans are already starting these dishonest attacks because they know that Shelley Moore Capito is weak and that I am the candidate to beat her."
JOHN UNGER
Col. Parker was at least as colorful as his client
Col. Tom Parker, left, meets with Elvis in Parker's office in 1956.
Parker, far left, meets with Elvis, right, and RCA exec George Parkhill just before the 1973 "Aloha From Hawaii" satellite concert.
Parker poses in 1993 with sheets of the Elvis stamp issued by the U.S. Post Office.
Famous manager claimed he was from West Virginia
In the years since Elvis Presley's death, the opinion of most fans regarding Elvis' longtime manager, Col. Tom Parker, has generally soured.
They blame Parker for bad career decisions, bad movies, and in some cases, even Elvis' death.
But Parker never held the iron grip on Elvis' career that even he often liked to suggest. According to many biographies, Elvis liked using Parker as a scapegoat when turning down projects he simply did not want to do.
(Today's trivia question: What city in West Virginia did Parker claim as his birthplace?)
Parker claimed
throughout his life, including on all official documents, that he was born in West Virginia. But after Elvis died, it was revealed by several sources that Parker was actually an illegal immigrant from Breda, Holland. He came to the U.S. as a young man, concocted the American name Thomas A. Parker, and joined the Army -- from which he was later discharged due to a mental breakdown of some sort. Parker later admitted his true origins in court documents claiming he could not be sued in the U.S. because he was not a U.S. citizen.
The fact that Elvis never toured overseas has often been blamed on Parker, the theory being that the Colonel (an honorary title bestowed by the governor of Louisiana) was afraid that his illegal immigrant status would be discovered during the passport process. But the fact is, when Elvis was touring in the 1970s, few European indoor venues -- Elvis disliked playing outdoor arenas because of the poor acoustics -- offered the amenities common in the big United States indoor sports arenas.
Parker is also blasted for putting Elvis in a series of bad films in the 1960s. But the fact is, the movies provided Elvis a huge source of income and allowed him to stay in the public eye while the Beatles and other British bands were taking over the music scene. When the British fad passed, and the time was right for a concert and music comeback in the late 1960s, Elvis was perfectly positioned, having remained in the public eye but without having to directly compete with the '60s fads and groups.
From 1969 until his death in 1977, Parker helped make Elvis the top touring act in the country, setting attendance records in venues ranging from Madision Square Garden to Chicago Stadium to The Forum in L.A.
Finally, Parker is vilified for taking 50 percent of Elvis' earnings. But both Elvis and Parker treated their relationship more as a partnership than that of star and manager. In fact, Elvis signed, willingly, a new contract with Parker in 1967 that explicitly used the term "partnership." Elvis knew how much Parker was taking, and gave him his blessing. Elvis wanted nothing to do with the money end of the business, often saying that as long as he always had a million dollars in his checking account, that's all that mattered.
The fact is, Colonel Parker developed innovative managerial techniques still employed today by modern managers. Jerry Weintraub, the ultra-successful showbiz entrepreneur, manager and movie producer, who got his big break promoting Elvis' 1970s concerts, said of Parker in a 2005 interview, "He taught me a lot. I consider him my mentor. He taught me that New York and Los Angeles were only two cities on each side of a vast country and that the audience was out there in the middle of this country. And he taught me about merchandising and he taught me about shows. I mean he was a brilliant guy...and he was a great teacher."
Parker, who was twenty-six years older than Elvis, lived twenty years beyond the death of his famous client, passing away in 1997. At his funeral, Priscilla Presley offered a eulogy, and wryly acknowledged Parker's penchant for making money on everything by saying, "Elvis and the Colonel made history together, and the world is richer, better, and far more interesting because of their collaboration. And now I need to locate my wallet, because I noticed there was no ticket booth on the way in here, but I'm sure the Colonel must have arranged for some sort of toll on the way out."  
Two winners of Thursday's Elvis-West Virginia question
Several readers correctly answered Thursday's Elvis-West Virginia trivia question: What month and year was Elvis' last appearance in West Virginia? Prizes were promised to the first two correct responses to come in.
His Honor himself, Brent Benjamin, submitted the first correct response (what the heck was he doing up into the wee hours of the morning)? The second correct answer came from Ellis "Bucky" Frame of Summersville.
Justice Benjamin, in his usual comprehensive fashion, submitted not only the correct answer, but some extra details as well.
Wrote Brent, "Elvis appeared in Charleston at the Civic Center on July 24, 1976. Technically, the last concert was the 8:30 p.m. show in which he wore a white prehistoric bird suit with an Inca gold leaf suit belt. He appeared for shows on 07/11/75 and 07/12/75 a year earlier (3 total shows)."
Outstanding. Since he already has a copy of "Elephant Wars," Brent suggested I send a copy instead to some other deserving soul. Great idea, and I've decided to put a blue cover on the book and send it to John Unger.
Today's Elvis-West Virginia trivia question: What city in West Virginia did Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, claim as his birthplace?
---Email to the Editor---
Unger's employment, salary has been kept quiet
A "friend of John Unger" thought I might like to have information on Unger's financial woes and those who would ask him to fully disclose that which he is required to fully disclose.  The Charleston Gazette, in its less than infinite wisdom, tells us that there is no category for "Federal Employee" (on the financial disclosure form.) I would hope so; it would be against the federal Hatch Act for Unger to hold a federal position.
One other piece that is lacking is, when did he start drawing this $88,000 salary?  I sure don't remember it during last year's election.  If he has been drawing this salary for some time, which may well be possible since he has bragged often enough about "advising the Department of Energy Homeland Security (which does not exist)" for at least the past two years. 
But, I don't recall any mention of this employment in any of his previous financial statements.  Years of neglect would seem to rise to the level of an ethics violation, but then I obviously know nothing of what constitues an ethics complaint in the state of West Virginia.
Also, if Unger does not really concern himself with "how much money he has or makes" (Mother Teresa  would be proud of that statement), why did he bother to include any reference to EG&G and the NETL, unless his intent was to keep the amount away from those who really believe he has taken a vow of poverty?
Jerry Mays
Martinsburg
Wooton likely pick for vacant seat
Along with Wooton, the committee offered Kevin Maynus, who barely lost out on winning a seat in the House last year, and Louis Gall, a retired educator.
It is unlikely Wooton would allow his name to be offered for consideration if the die were not already cast. Wooton was ousted in 2002 when Republican Russ Weeks won a historic upset.