Lieberman's challenger drops out of race

http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-07190137.apds.m0887.bc-ct-brf--sep07,0,5118492.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire

Associated Press

September 7 2005

STAMFORD, Conn. -- A Fairfield University professor said Wednesday that he is ending his campaign against U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman for the Democratic nomination, citing Lieberman's huge fund-raising advantage.

Democrat John Orman said he has only raised $1,000, while Lieberman had raised about $3.8 million as of July.

"In our privatized electoral system which is characterized by the lack of federally funded House and Senate races, lack of campaign spending limits, lack of mandatory free media time for challengers and the lack of term limits, I find that I can no longer compete economically for the U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut for 2006," Orman said.

Lieberman is seeking his fourth term.

"I will always welcome his ideas about how to improve our state and nation," Lieberman said through a spokesman.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press

Too bad!

But I'm still not voting for Lieber-bush in '06.

Lieberman?

Politically, he's a neanderthal. And the personality of a cold grilled cheese sandwich , to boot.

is very appealing in a "moderate" state like Connecticut where our Democrats are not too liberal & our Republicans not too conservative.

edited for bad spelling.

When I went to some of the DTC meetings of Northeast CT DTC's, there was very little support for Lieberman.

His support lies along the Gold Coast of CT, Repukes, and with Sheeple Dems who don't pay attention to how Lieberman scres ordinary people by helping Corporate America.

The Dems in Westport and Fairfield despise him. We would love to get rid of him, but he has the support of the State Central Democratic Committee. He brings in lots of money. There's no one willing to challenge him, because it would be at the risk of their future political career.

The only one who came forward was John Orman, who has no name recognition, and raised only $1000.

Don't forget -- Lieberman was originally elected to the Senate with the support of William F. Buckley and his cronies who wanted to get rid of Lowell Weicker.

don't like Lieberman either, but because they mange the state Dem Party and Lieberman is a Dem, they have to play like they support him.

would have little trouble raising money. Yet the Professor couldn't even raise enough to pay for a decent wedding reception, let alone a credible Senate campaign.

And maybe Orman isn't the type who likes to campaign.

Effective underdog campaigners have ambition and aggressivness in the spirit of small business entreprenuers, good public speaking abilities, a talent for showmanship, imagniation, ability to handle the unexpected well, and empathy with the people they meet. Not everyone has those talents.

I don't know Orman at all, so I can't completely judge his campaign style, but it seems obvious from his fundraising results that he did not have an entreprenuerial ambition. He may be a great professor, but not all great professors make good political campaigners.

we can do a hell of a lot better than Lieberman. Half the republicans in the state are more liberal than him.

I have never voted for a Repuke before but does anybody think we would be better off voting for a more liberal Repuke than that Bush Kissie face Lieberman?

think about. As much as I can't stand Lieberman I might have to vote for him just because I don't want the republicans to have another seat in the senate. I really don't want to have to make that choice though, I want another democrat, any another democrat.

He votes with the Repukes, anyway.

but, he still votes with the Dems the majority of the time...

I base my suspicions on several important bills where I know his vote. Out of the 4, he voted with Dems once. You have statistics for the whole year?

Ever hear of Lowell Weicker?

What about Nader vs Lieberman?

I want a DEM to keep the Senate seat but please, mo more Joe MO.

Why has Attorney General Richard Blumenthal let casino executives use sovereign immunity to get away with hurting Connecticut citizens? Mohegan Sun executives (mostly non-Indians) have destroyed employees' reputations with lies, abused the civil rights of employees and patrons, had them secretly investigated by tribal employees at their homes and businesses and much more.



November 28, 2005



Dear Governor Rell,



We would like to make a formal complaint against Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and request an investigation regarding his actions.



Mr. Blumenthal has a reputation for being highly aggressive; inserting himself into every case he possibly can. An article in 2000 stated that “Blumenthal attached himself to any popular local crusade he could find”. Both the Connecticut Supreme Court and the New York State Supreme Court have had to reprimand Mr. Blumenthal for overstepping his authority and in a 2005 article from Associated Press prominent attorney Hugh Keefe said “How many more people and corporations can Richard sue and have press conferences announcing that he’s suing them”.



There apparently is a group Richard Blumenthal will not challenge, even though the Chief States Attorney is investigating a separate criminal case against them. We assert that he is protecting The Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.



Since August 2004 we have asked Mr. Blumenthal to look into a very serious matter involving the Mohegan Tribe, the State Police and a phony private detective agency named “Pickett and Associates” registered with the State of Connecticut. The Mohegan Tribe has admitted ownership of the company and all of its investigations were against federal regulations, off of the reservation. We asked him to investigate why the Connecticut State Police refused to investigate our complaints regarding the company, complaints filed by a retired State Police Lieutenant offering extensive evidence as well as at least one other former Mohegan tribal employee who could corroborate the facts. We wrote to the attorney general several times and spoke on the phone with Henri Alexandre and Kevin Mullane. All of our efforts were ignored.



In October 2004, the Mohegan Tribe filed suit against us in state court based on false information. They fabricated an email and said we used it to try to commit extortion. They also took out a restraining order prohibiting us from speaking at all about the Tribe, including reporting known wrongdoing, the day before Mohegan executives announced the purchase of a $280 million dollar track in Pennsylvania. Our First Amendment rights were violated. Again we asked the attorney general for help, knowing that the tribe violated a state law prohibiting SLAPP suits in Connecticut courts and that they could do the same to anyone else. Mr. Blumenthal ignored us along with reporters who called him requesting his comments about our situation.



Finally, Mr. Blumenthal did comment to a reporter. The state Supreme Court agreed to hear our appeal deciding whether or not we could sue the Mohegan Tribe for suing us in state court and a series of articles appeared in newspapers. First Mr. Blumenthal said that he was considering joining the civil case for the protection of the citizens of Connecticut. When we asked him about it, he refused because he felt the secret private detective agency was a criminal matter. He didn't address the civil appeal which is a separate issue. Our letters of correspondence with Mr. Blumenthal are available upon request.



The retired State Supreme Court Justice assigned to our appeal publicly stated that he thought our case was very important and could have nationwide impact on sovereign immunity. He recommended that it be heard in state Supreme Court rather than
Appeals Court
and that Richard Blumenthal become involved. Richard Blumenthal even refused a retired State Supreme Court Justice’s suggestion that he join the case against the Mohegan Tribe.



A few weeks later, three stories about our case appeared in newspapers in the same week. Richard Blumenthal again changed his mind and said that he was undecided about joining our case. This is the last we have heard from him.



He has involved himself in thousands of civil cases, many of them also involving Indian sovereignty and the rights of Connecticut workers. He claims to be actively opposed to casino expansion and corruption but when the retired State Police Commander of the Casino Licensing and Operations Unit tried to approach him with extensive evidence of federal regulations violations and state law by the Mohegan Tribe during the past twelve years, Mr. Blumenthal did nothing. He has actively fought against the Mashantucket Pequots, Eastern Pequots, the Schaghticoke tribe and tribes in other states. Why hasn’t he ever spoken out against the Mohegan Tribe, even for operating an online gaming website while he was condemning Foxwoods for doing the same? Could Charles “Chuck” Bunnell know the answer?



Chuck Bunnell was an aide to Senator Chris Dodd. He is on the board of the Thomas J. Dodd research center at UCONN and a good friend of Senator Dodd. Bunnell is currently the Chief of Staff for External Affairs for the Mohegan Tribe and often the public spokesman regarding our case. Chris Dodd supported the Mohegan Tribe during their recognition process when the Mashantucket Pequots and Governor Roland fought against them and the tribe has contributed a considerable amount to the Connecticut Democratic Party. Bunnell has often been heard boasting about his influence with Senator Dodd and the senator’s influence with the National Indian Gaming Commission. It is widely known that the Mohegan Tribe only hired Mr. Bunnell as a favor to Senator Dodd. He certainly had no previous casino experience. Tom Acevedo, Bunnell’s current boss was previously employed by the National Indian Gaming Commission, coincidentally during the time the Mohegan Sun management contract received NIGC approval. According to Chuck Bunnell, Senator Dodd played an instrumental role in this process through the Clinton administration.



Richard Blumenthal has openly admitted to higher political aspirations. The support of a powerful senator like Mr. Dodd would be very important. Exposing the wrongdoings of the wealthy Mohegan Tribe, which has been closely linked with Sen. Dodd, could negatively impact Mr. Blumenthal’s career. Mohegan Sun, along with Foxwoods, would have suffered dramatic losses if competitors were allowed to build more Connecticut casinos. Blumenthal seemed to fight against recent tribal recognitions with the zeal of a militant. We know that he and his associates went to great lengths, both publicly and behind the scenes, to keep other casinos out of the state.



In addition, the Mohegan Tribe risks losing billions of dollars if deals in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington state are delayed or fall through because they cannot obtain slot machine licenses or management contract approval. Any applicant found to have violated or ignored federal regulations and criminal laws should have great difficulty being found suitable. Most of the paperwork related to these investments was filled out before we were sued, so the tribe did not have to disclose any pending litigation or legal accusations of impropriety. Economic disaster for the Mohegans could result if these are brought to the attention of the public by a nationally recognized state attorney general.



Katie Beecher will be protesting the lack of professional responsibility shown by Richard Blumenthal regarding our situation with the Mohegan Tribe. We believe he is also failing to protect the citizens of Connecticut from the damage recognized tribes are able to get away with because of the misuse and misinterpretation of federal and state sovereignty policies. These protests will take place during the next few weeks at or near the Mohegan Sun Casino, the Capitol building in Hartford and/or the office of the Attorney General. Information will be handed out to the public at that time. Most of the text of that information can be found on www.thetisconsulting.com on the front page link “What is Pickett and Associates?”.



Respectfully submitted,



Bradley and Katherine Beecher

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