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The Putnam Pit
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Goofus

[GIBSON'S YARD SIGN]Dufus

Lewis 'The Thief' Coomer thinks you are stupid enough to re-elect him. Are you?Sue us, Lewis
 

Kiss this


 
 

Sonny Boy questions District Attorney Bill Gibson's purpose in vowing to "donate" some campaign money to a private firm.

  •  Cookeville turns thumbs down on Putnam Pit parade request, then claims to set it right

 City hall first rejects, then offers to work with two females who sought Good Friday permit to mourn the crucifixion of the constitution by city and county officials. Shipley says employees just didn't know what they were talking about. 'It happens to us all, he said. Of course, it's a little different when the employees' action result in the denial of a fundamental right. We don't all make those mistakes.

City manager takes intelligent action

  • Latest state restaurant health reports 

More mouse poopies at Spankies'

  • Liars, liars, pants on fires

    • Joke No. 1 of the week: 

    DA candidate T. 'Michael the Bigot' O'Mara pledges . . .
    'No more political prosecutions'

    if he is elected district attorney.  Oh, T. Mike, you slay me! 
    Heck, that's a good one, Mike, considering you said in a deposition that you prosecuted a speeding ticket because the city council wanted you to. Then there was that gem of yours: "Your honor, we can't have Yankees coming down here speeding." You are the essence of what you whine about -- a thoroughly disingenuous, pompous, politically driven, greedy good old boy blowhard in a cheap suit, and you think there is no one too stupid to vote for you. 
     

    Joke No. 2 of the week 

    District Attorney William E. Gibson pledges in a newspaper ad to give campaign advertising money to help children -- er, we know you are not a rocket scientist, Billy Boy, but wasn't that newspaper ad an advertisement? You get it, don't you? Ad, advertisement, it's just a shortened version of the same word. ['Short' means 'not long.'  Like 'dumb' means 'not smart.'] Why didn't you use some of that sign money to help children? 

    Dog X photo

    See Bob run for D.A.
    Dear supporters of Bob: As a special treat, you can click here and listen to Bob's campaign theme  while the file downloads 

    STATE OF MINNESOTA AND BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF MINNESOTA, PLAINTIFFS,

    V.

    PHILIP MORRIS, INC., ET. AL.,
    DEFENDANTS.

No more political prosecutions -- except Don Wagnon's enemies and whoever I feel like goin' after, ladsWhich of the following defendants named in federal civil rights suits would you be most likely to vote for in a three-way contest for district attorney general in Tennessee's Thirteenth Judicial District?
 

  • William E. 'I got my high school diploma by the skin of my teeth' Gibson
  • T. Michael 'You want civil rights violations, I'm your candidate' O'Mara
  • Michael 'I didn't know you couldn't prosecute someone you also are suing in a civil case arising from the same facts on a contingency' Knowlton.

    •  

T. Mike 'Oil Can' O'Mara

Cast your vote by email


The federal 'cookie' lawsuit is headed for trial.
U. S. District court rejects Cookeville's motion for summary judgment and dismissal; orders hearing to set trial date.
City drags feet in settlement offer, which is withdrawn


The next time you vote - look closely at the ballot. Notice the positions that
     are uncontested. Do you think that's because the people in office are so
     beloved, and respected by the public that the collective will of the voters
     filters up to gratefully hand them another free ticket for another eight-year
     ride on the Gravy Train?

From The Independent

By c.d. "Sonny Boy" norman


 On the Coomer theft front

 Hey Lewis,
don't screw us
no more, no more.
It's been quite awhile now, Lewey; aren't you going to sue me for defamation
because I told police that . . .
     Putnam County Clerk of Courts
LEWIS COOMER
IS A THIEF
for taking prisoners' money without authority?
Come on, Loo Us, sue us. It's me, Geoff Davidian, come and get me. Let's get some discovery going before election day. Of course, if it's true, you won't sue me. That's the only reason you won't sue because then everyone will know how you stole money from people in jail.


This year, you will choose the people who will steal from you for the next eight years

Bring in outside election observers to assure only those with the most votes steal from you

We send observers everywhere else. Why not send Jimmy Carter or Fidel Castro to Cookeville, where last election there was outright fraud and tampering with voting machines? Why heck, it's just down the road from Al Gore's daddy's place.
 

Uncle Sam needs a little help in Cookeville.
Republican congressional hopeful Byron Looper,  who is challenging U.S Rep. Bart Gordon [D-Tenn.], said he is considering asking for election observers from other states or countries to guarantee a fair election this year. In 1996, Looper, property assessor in Putnam County, Tenn., alleges someone switched names on voting machines, voters were told they could not vote for the Republican candidate in the general election and voting machines were sealed without neutral observers. Imagine . . .  and right down the road from Al Gore's daddy! Gordon has not responded to The Pit's request for comment. 
Judgment Day
"Revenge is one of the grand principles in the divine administration of human affairs. There is everywhere the working of the everlasting law of requital: man always gets as he gives."

Don't let them get away with it again
       The coquetry of politicians becomes its most vulgar just before elections.
                  They act like they've been faithful to the voters.
  What they really want is forgiveness but they don't have the humility -- or the decency -- to ask for it. Unfortunately, they are forgiven nonetheless, not because they deserve forgiveness but no one opposes them for re-election.

                                                   Geoff Davidian, Putnam Pit editor

"My choice early in life was either to be a 
 piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. 
 And to tell the truth, there's hardly any  difference." 

                                                Harry S Truman (1884-1972)

     

     "A politician is a person who realizes you 
    can't fool all of the people all of the 
    time but is willing to give it a try." 

                                                 Robert Zwickey

stonewall!

More computer records withheld 

in waning months  of Cookeville council's  tenure
 

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --Dissatisfied with a mere five federal civil rights suits against Cookeville, the city gave a one-two punch to the constitution this month by refusing press access to computer files maintained in the conduct of business, and refusing to provide access to an investigative report of a department head forced to resign allegedly for viewing pornography on city computers. 

How many more people will take part in his cover up before the house of cards falls? 

After access was requested to the computer of Gail Fowler, City Manager Jim Shipley's assistant, she reused to provide it. However, long after closing hours, she was seen frantically working at her computer, possibly backing up her files in case they are subpoenaed . She would not want them to be destroyed after a request was made, no doubt. 

On Friday, Feb. 20, Cookeville attorney Samuel J. Harris made a public records request for files showing investigations into improper usage of the Internet. About four hours later he received what has become the standard Shipley-O'Mara reply. "No such files exist." 

In his attempt to not look less ignorant than District Attorney General William Gibson, O'Mara is leading the city into the wilderness and the bread crumbs just might lead them back to jail. Maybe that's why O'Mara's running for DA. 
 


The Arizona Daily Star'se-magazine, Dispatches, reports that government computers, including those in the offices of Pima County supervisors, had been visiting pornography sites.

 


In Florida:

More than 40 percent of the managers and professionals in the Hillsborough County School District used their computers to reach Internet sites unrelated to their tasks.  Tribune staff writer Doug Stanley reviewed the electronic files of 64 school system supervisors and found that some officials had gone online to plan vacations, buy stocks, learn more about hobbies and shop. A security guard was forced to resign after it was found he had accessed "adult" Internet sites. 
 


Meanwhile, in Cookeville. . . 
 

City Manager Jim Shipley and City Attorney T. Michael O'Mara, who has worn out his welcome at City Hall and hopes voters will let him destroy what's left of the District Attorney General's Office after eight years of William Gibson, are spending your money fighting to keep you in the dark. Why is Cookeville fighting so hard to withhold Internet files that other governments recognize as public? They're already covering up the forced ouster of an employee for allegedly visiting porn sites. Another department head sells baseball cards on the Internet during official business hours. They don't want you to know how shamefully run city hall is, and they'll spend your money to cover up. They protect each other so that those they protect will protect them.
Who's protecting you?

 Putnam County political primer 

Civil rights, civil wrongs


    Three candidates  for Thirteenth Judicial District attorney general are named in federal civil rights suits; the Putnam County circuit court clerk has one against him and city officials lead Cookeville into a handful of others. Hold on to your constitutional hats, and welcome to the Hub of the Upper Cumberland.

To know them is to disrespect them

    'Now, I must ask every one of you City of Cookeville public officials, even though you are all related to Big Boss, to stop surfing to porno sites during work hours until after the election.'

For thumbnail links 
to featured 
Putnam Pit articles,
visit 
Playbill


Corporate influence in the newsroom may be unspoken, but it's censorship nonetheless
Images of the zealous governmental censor imply that censorship is an intentional act. However, the restructuring of media in the United States is creating latent forms of censorship that are just as potentially damaging as overt censorship. 

Sociologist Peter Phillips writes from Sonoma State University and Project Censored
 
 


Click for page 2:

  • Confessions of a control freak
  • Sue us, Lewis. Prove you're not a thief
  • How many dead babies in DA Bill Gibson's back yard?

Click for page 3:

  • Cookeville cookie suit documents
  • Search The Pit way
  • The usual Pit stuff and features
  • The Cookeville-Serbia connection

Community support for
The Putnam Pit
comes in part from the
Harris Law Firm
Cookeville, TN
 

 

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