Dave "Doctor" Gonzo's
Off the Radar
January 13, 2000 -- NEW YORK (AmpolNS) -- It's time again to look at a few stories that somehow slipped under the media radar.
Dateline: HARRISBURG, Pa. -- There's been a lot of speculation as to exactly why Texas Governor and GOP prez-wannabe George "Shrubya" Bush had his drivers license number changed a few years back. Some suspect that he's trying to conceal some sort of incident that's a bit more troublesome than speeding or running a red light.
Which brings us to the mysterious tale of one Rep. Thomas W. Druce, a Republican state legislator in Pennsylvania. Seems Druce returned a state-leased Jeep just days after a fatal hit-and-run accident in July involving (you guessed it) a Jeep that matches the description of his -- and months before Pennsylvania House records show the lease was up! His black '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee was returned to a dealership in Warminster, Pennsylvania on Aug. 3 (over 3 months before the lease was due to expire), just one week after a July 27 late-night hit-and-run accident that left Kenneth Cains of Harrisburg, described in one news report as "a near-indigent African American man," dead at the scene.
Police were poised to question Druce earlier this week in connection with the accident. A spokesperson for the dealership that leased the Jeep confirmed its early return, and while she also said there was "no damage" to the vehicle, she declined to answer questions as to whether the Jeep showed any evidence of repairs.
Druce, in the meantime, has retained the services of Matt Gover, a Harrisburg lawyer who served as Dauphin County assistant DA. and whose father is president of the company that owns the local newspaper.
Darn the luck. If only he'd been born a Bush...
Dateline: HOUSTON -- Here's a great way to make some cash: get elected to the House, then become a consultant to other candidates.
Just don't be too sloppy about it.
The Houston Press reported recently that former Texas GOP Congressman Steve Stockman received $250,000 in consulting fees for work on the Congressional campaign of Mark Brewer (R-TX), an attorney who is seeking the District 7 seat being vacated by Bill Archer (R).
Nice work if you can get it, huh?
Brewer's campaign reports reveal he made two separate $100,000 payments to a company called "General Media Consultants" of McLean, Virginia. On the very same day, Brewer also made a $50,000 "media consulting" payment to Stockman.
Stockman and his wife, in turn, scratched Brewer's back and made $1,000 contributions to his campaign. The address on their reports, however, turns out to be -- you guessed it -- identical to that used by General Media Consultants!
Oops! Now, let's not be too obvious!
According to a report in Politics1 online, "A spokesman for Republican National Committeewoman Cathy McConn -- one of Brewer's opponents in the upcoming GOP primary -- says the payments raise serious questions about where the money is actually going. The McConn campaign suspects some of the money is being spent on a series of anonymous push-poll phone calls into the district that mention unsubstantiated allegations about Brewer primary opponents McConn, Peter Wareing, Ron Kapche and John Culberson."
Oh, my...
The report continues: "During the 1996 campaign [Stockman had won in '94 but was defeated in '96], it was revealed that Stockman's campaign paid $126,000 in consulting fees to an unknown political consulting firm named Political Won Stop -- that purportedly operated out of Stockman's own home."
Hey Steve, can you say "history repeats itself?"
DATELINE: Fairfax County, Pa. -- Late last week, Fairfax Circuit Judge Arthur Vieregg set aside the $350,000 in damages that Karen Santorum, wife of Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, was awarded in a chiropractic malpractice suit last month, deeming the amount excessive and stating that he felt the jury had shown "undo passion [and] sympathy" in awarding the Mrs. Santorum $350,000 for her back injuries allegedly resulting from negligence by her chiropractor, Dr. David Dolberg.
Vieregg said that he believed the jury's award -- the result of a determination that chiropractic manipulation by Dolberg caused Mrs. Santorum to suffer a herniated disc that required surgery -- was excessively punitive and the result of Mrs. Santorum's attorney placing too much emphasis on what she characterized as Dolberg's inadequate record-keeping.
Mrs. Santorum was originally seeking $500,000 to compensate her for her injuries; total medical costs related to her back injury totaled approximately $18,800, and she was seeking compensation for pain, suffering, and anticipated future medical costs.
Vieregg gave Mrs. Santorum the choice of a reduced award of $175,000 or a new trial.
And it turns out that Vieregg wasn't the only one questioning the damages awarded in the case: critics of Senator Santorum questioned the $350,000 judgment in light of Santorum's own position on tort reform, notably his sponsorship of bills to cap noneconomic damages and attorney's fees and to require claimants to first seek resolution through a mediator before filing suit.
Aides to Santorum sniffed at the criticism, saying Rick and Karen "simply disagree."
Hey, Rick, you're a Republican! What kind of a GOP family man are you if you can't get the little lady to "walk the talk?"
'Nuff said.