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Rumor-Mongering: Reed vs. Lincoln?

If it’s Friday and there’s a question mark in the headline, then it’s time for some thoroughly irresponsible and unvetted ARKANSAS PROJECT RUMOR MONGERING! (Cue John Brummett grumbling). This one can be found at Lance Turner’s blog:

Blanche Lincoln (top) and Stanley Reed
Blanche Lincoln (top) and Stanley Reed

Is Arkansas Farm Bureau chieftain Stanley Reed considering a run against Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln? That’s the rumor columnist David Sanders is hearing! We know it all via Twitter!

So, if you’re keeping track, you’ve just read an Arkansas Project rumor that I took from Lance Turner that he took from David Sanders, or at least someone claiming to be “David Sanders” on Twitter, who may have heard Reed’s name “mentioned” as a possible challenger to Lincoln. So at best, this rumor is coming to you fourth-hand, which means that you know what you should do with it: Go tell absolutely everyone you know as if it were the gospel truth.

In other news, I’ve been resisting starting a Twitter account. It’s not that I have anything against it, it’s just that I can’t imagine that taking on one more compulsive online behavior could possibly be good for my livelihood, social standing or mental health. But now that Sanders is on there, I guess I have no choice. Dammit.

Noted: Lincoln was recently named a “Friend of the Farm Bureau” for her support of the organization’s legislative goals in Congress.

Updated: Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times blog has heard it, too, and weighs in accordingly.

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13 thoughts on “Rumor-Mongering: Reed vs. Lincoln?

  • That’s good news and bad news. The bad news is we need a real Democrat in that position, so I’d like to see Blanche back home on the plantation.

    The good news is that the Farm Bureau’s support of animal torture and the “right to be cruel” is going to sink Reed. Anyone who would defend microwaving kittens or stomping puppies is not fit to be a human, let alone a legislator.

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  • joe, did Reed actually come out and publicly say he supports microwaving kittens and stomping puppies or are you inferring this from the fact that he opposed legislation making cruelty to animals a first degree felony.

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  • AKA Bryce

    Looking at the picture I am having a hard time telling which one is Blanche Lincoln and which one is Stanley Reed.

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  • AKA Bryce

    Excellent link Joe.

    Looks like Reed is a man who knows how to hedge his bets.

    Reply
  • Of course he never said he supported, say, starving horses to death.

    He simply defends those who does, because God gave him and us the earth and every living thing on it to use or kill as we damn well please, and anyone who suggests that it is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus to set dogs on fire is some kind of commie socialist Obama-supporting liberal. Maybe even gay.

    I think the Arkansas Times’ blog puts it succinctly and nicely:

    “His advocacy of protecting animal torturers in recent years doesn’t serve him well, either.”

    Also, many like to close their eyes to the relationship between animal torture as a child and serious crime as an adult.

    Reply
  • Thanks joe. I was just curious because if you had video of him advocated microwaving kittens, that would definitely warrant a blog post!

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  • Bill from Sheridan

    Stanley Reed would be an incredibly strong candidate in 2010. He would cut very deeply into Blanche’s base while at the same time not giving up any of his conservative base in NWA. Additionally, Reed would be very well funded in such a race.

    Joe, animal cruelty is already a crime in Arkansas. You can be sent to prison for over a year and fined $5,000 for committing it. Reed would not face any political heat for failing to join PETA in support of your felony bill.

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  • Here’s a view from a small town Arkansas sheriff – see his quotes below. I can assure that if you’ve ever been to Newton Country, it’s not exactly PETA territory. These are the kind of thugs Reed and his partisans want to go lightly on in the name of property rights. You show me a man that isn’t nauseated by this treatment of dogs, and I’ll show you a Palin supporter.

    Case Updates
    Two suspects are charged with severely beating dogs in the small town of Hasty, Arkansas in Newton County.

    The whole thing was caught on tape and those who have seen the tape say it’s one of the most disturbing things they’ve ever seen.

    A 41-year-old man and 15-year-old boy videotaped themselves shocking small dogs with a cattle prod, so badly some of those dogs started bleeding. Both are now behind bars in Harrison, Arkansas.

    41-year-old Larry Cummings is charged with two counts of animal cruelty and one count of residential burglary. His accomplice, that 15-year-old boy, is charged with the very same crimes.

    The Newton County sheriff’s department says it arrested the two last week after the tape surfaced in another unrelated trial. That tape shows four different scenes that shows the suspects abusing small dogs.

    In one scene, Cummings apparently enters the dog pen and uses a cattle prod to repeatedly shock a small white dog. Other scenes show dogs shocked with their mouths open. The juvenile is also seen repeatedly kicking and stomping other dogs.

    The Humane Society of the United States is using this case as an example of why Arkansas needs stricter animal cruelty laws. And that’s something Newton County, Arkansas Sheriff Keith Slape agrees with.

    “As a sheriff, yes I do. I feel they should. In the state of Arkansas, they’re considered misdemeanors. But the animal cruelty that we’ve seen in Madison County, Newton County and some other counties that have had this problem this year were disturbing enough to be a felony charge in my opinion.” says Slape.

    The abuse happened on a relative’s property of that 15-year-old suspect. The actual tape dates back to November 2007, when these alleged activities took place.

    Neighbors say they first reported the animal cruelty back in February. The sheriff’s department confirms that, but didn’t have the resources to investigate.

    So until late week, investigators hadn’t looked at the tape at all. That’s when they made the arrest.

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  • So, Joe, the sheriff didn’t even investigate or look at the tape that could have put these two behind bars for one year for every count. How would having a felony law help?

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  • AKA Bryce

    Arkansas needs a felony animal cruelty law. The problem is wording it correctly so it does not infringe any hunting/harvesting/humane end of life of an animal by a private citizen rights. It is a tough bill to write.

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  • Bill from Sheridan

    I tend to think that 2 years in jail and a $10,000 fine is pretty big punishment for animal cruelty. Throw that old bastard in jail and make that boy do 1,000 hours of community service.

    Why do we need more punishment than that?

    Reply
  • Br549

    Remember, you heard it here.

    He’s not running.

    But keep on searching for this “candidate” that will take out Lincoln because she is “vulnerable”.

    Reply

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