Pay the bill, pal! Don't blame the media or the county!

Tony Sutton, the volatile Minnesota Republican Party chairman, blows a gasket in a story today by Post-Bulletin reporter Kay Fate. The GOP hasn't paid a $2,424 bill to Mower County to cover costs associated with the gubernatorial recount.

County Auditor/Treasurer Doug Groh says he's been trying to get the bill paid since December. According to the story, "Since then, Groh said, he's been told the invoice was lost and, on three occasions, that the check was in the mail. Payment never arrived."

What does Terrible Tony have to say about that? Here are his quotes in Kay's story:

"This guy Groh, he's been calling here," Sutton said Thursday. "But listen, I don't have the Dayton family fortune to draw on to pay these bills, so he's going to get paid as soon as possible.

"I don't appreciate him blackmailing us and saying if we don't pay him right away, he's going to the press. I think it's unconscionable for a public official to threaten somebody and blackmail them. … I think that's unconscionable, and it's no way for a public official to behave.

"It's hard to raise money. It's a recession; it's the winter-time, and we're doing the best we can. They're going to get paid, that's going to happen."

This month?

"Absolutely," Sutton said, "but I don't appreciate a public official, who's working at taxpayer expense, threatening to blackmail us. He works for us.

"I know he's probably a big man down there in Mower County, but that is just unconscionable for him to blackmail us in such a brazen way."

Is this appropriate conduct for the man who leads the Republican Party of Minnesota? He can blame Dayton, blame Groh, blame us for assisting in "blackmail," blame the recession, but nowhere does he seem to apologize for being late.

Pay the bill, pal! It's March.

Today's story would have been half as long if Sutton hadn't gone off on a rant, and I wouldn't have bothered with this blog post. Instead, Tony's become the story.

Comments

[atilla]

The Springfield Ill mayor is still trying to collect $55,457 from the 0bama camp.

The Springfield State Journal-Register reports that "the city submitted a bill for $68,139. It's still owed $55,457."

[Frank Hawthorne]

One who tries to post Last,
will Never be Furst.

Here ends the lesson.

[Demplosion]

Enjoy the day*, The Other Bill.

*That's another "Furstism" for you.

[The Other Bill]

Thank you Demplosion for not answering a simple YES/NO question. Are you too embarrassed by your party's inability to live up to its own demands of others? Oh, you won't answer that either. You can sure dish it out (or at least you TRY to) but you can't take it.

[Demplosion]

"daily assaults on decency & civility."

You really should stop posting in front of the mirror like that.

[Demplosion]

So, "The Other Bill," since you are such a fan of Jay Furst's, I will answer your question as he would. Ready? Here it goes, "I really have no obligation to respond to every one of your unfriendly questions about my opinions."

To those of you seeking employment at the public library, ready your cart pushing skills. The ability to shush unruly preschool children is essential. Such high standards.

[Frank Hawthorne]

"Ruthless [take-no-prisoners & tell no truths] demonization" pretty well describes our explosive friend out at the college.

One wonders why Mr. Sutton hasn't offered him a (hit) job in the state GOP chop-shop...

Oh wait--I forgot. Othelmoe's got many mouths to feed & Tony says (are you ready for it) THE MN REPUBLICANS ARE BROKE!?!

It's actually as a living [albeit perverse] kind of tribute to academic freedom that he/ODS serves in that devil's advocacy capacity; but it sure doesn't make it any easier to stomach his daily assaults on decency & civility.

[JGreg]

Don't bother asking OdS or Atilla any yes or no questions. It has been tried many times and they have yet to answer a single one.

[MN01]

I think we have some GOP revisionist history going on by ODS. The Demmer issues were shopped around by a fellow primary candidate in 2008.

[The Other Bill]

So, "Demplosion", without bringing anyone else into the answer or changing the subject do you think it is OK for the Republican party of Minnesota to not pay their bills? A simple YES or NO answer please.

[Demplosion]

Mr. Howlthorne's pickled record speaks for itself. The P-B is a tool of the locol and national left. The Sutton [non] story is a glaring and shameful example of it. While the shenaningans, abuse and incompetence of their ideological comrades go unnoticed or ignored, they do their "best" to mold public opinion against their [rarely] real and [mostly]perceived enemies. Rochester and surrounding communities deserve better.

[Jay Furst]

Nice demonization, Othelmo.

[Demplosion]

The joke is on the Furst-Howlthorne tag team of rationalization and demonization. Rochester deserves better.

Randy Chapman really should be minding the store instead of going from community meeting to social event and then writing inane columns about them.

[Jay Furst]

Othelmo/Demplosion -- you just gave me the best laugh of the day -- you, who have done so much to ruthlessly demonize everyone and everything you disagree with, accusing others of demonization?
Too funny.

[Frank Hawthorne]

The PB is a "demonization tool."

KaBOOM! & Say WHAT?!?

Let's remind the real explosive personality here--who has (typically) "missed" the point of this commentary; i.e. Tony Sutton's UNpaid bills--that no amount of self-serving pontificating will change the well-documented facts of his own sour "cyber record."

[Demplosion]

fFrankHowlthorne's sour pickle induced dyspepsia strikes again. Like Jay Furst, he deliberately misses the point that the P-B in general and this blog in particular are all too often used as tools of demonization instead of vehicles of information.

[Frank Hawthorne]

Othelm..`er "Demplosion" has that odious, right-wingnut gift for creating & utilizing revisionist history ("hystery"?) to change the subject, while CONcurrently floating flagrant false equivalencies (in pursuit of his pointlessness).

While I salute Jay Furst for going to the trouble of actually researching a reasonable defense against same, I would quote/paraphrase a recent saying from one (perhaps the same) local cyber-conservative:

"Don't bother teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time & annoys the pig."

Which does bring us back to the GOP's "BIG TONY" Sutton.

Now that he's caused the state Republicans considerable embarrassment (over a remarkably--by their standards--small amount of cash), one wonders how much longer they're going to tolerate his "Ventura-esque" moments.

[Jay Furst]

That's quite a rogue's gallery you've assembled, Demplosion. Don't think those three would want to be in the same paragraph together, and what's the common denominator? There isn't one. Carr had lots of issues aside from taxes, including the fact that he lied about his online identity and embarrassed himself. Davis had a property tax delinquency issue going back over a period of years -- isn't that relevant to a run for public office? And the Demmer matter only came up as an incidental part of his business history; I believe we also had a letter to the editor. More to the point, though, in the archive search, I came across the story regarding Demmer's GOP competitor Quist raising questions about Demmer's campaign finance reporting.
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, Demplosion. Not sure why you bothered.

[Demplosion]

Jay Furst once singled out former City councilman Pat Carr for being behind on his taxes. The P-B's [self]righteous crusade against individuals behind on their taxes also found a favorite target in former Republican First District congressional candidate Brian Davis.

Randy Demmer, the last Republican to run against Walz also had to defend himself against P-B insinuations regarding a lawsuit against former employees of a business he owned. So, there is a pattern here. And it is a shameful one.

Woe unto you if you find yourself in Jay Furst's cross-hairs. You may find your name in either an unflattering story above the fold or you may become the fodder of a petulant blog entry. Power, however minimal or nominal, corrupts. Case in point.

[The Other Bill]

Here is what Tony Sutton himself says about spending money you don't have:

"Thanks to Pawlenty and Minnesota's legislative Republicans, we have a strong team of candidates who knows what it means to hold the line on spending and live within our means. "

But I guess that it's OK for political parties to not hold their line on spending and not live within their means.

[atilla]

"Not being able to recall things..."
-JGreg-

Reality sucks; that many huh!

[JGreg]

Not being able to recall things doesn't mean they didn't happen. Especially when some people are predisposed to ignore everything that doesn't feed into their bolted-shut mindset. I could show them one hundred instances that run counter to their claims and they would claim none of them exist, no matter how much evidence I present. Sadly, there are always going to be some folks who have fallen so far into their fantasy world that facts are utterly meaningless to them. They are so scared of real life they would rather peddle lies and fairy tales than face the truth. The only question is why I bother with them. Just a cock-eyed optimist, I guess.

[Demplosion]

"This is what happens when a BOY is put in to a MAN'S job."

Why bring up Barack Obama, Mrs. C? Please stay on topic.

I'm with Mark on this one. It's only a story because the DFL-friendly media make it so. There is so much more that is important or relevant but the lamestreams always go for the "gotcha" garbage. They are all versions of "Inside Edition" and "TMZ" now, P-B included.

Case in point, Charlie Sheen is in the "news" more often than Muamar Ghadafi. "If it matters to them ..."

[TheinBomb]

The Post Bulletin gets paid to carry PAGES of unpaid bills to counties in past-due tax payments. Whether it is back taxes or money owed for services, there is a process for getting paid. Pretty sure that threatening to go "to the press" is not a prescribed manner.

When a newspaper becomes completely partisan, it can no longer be counted on to be unbiased. Personally, I think Tony Sutton makes quite a few odd decisions. The "leadership" of the PB...???

[atilla]

"Atilla's claim that that the PB "never runs any stories critical of the democrats" shows once again he, too, only sees what he wants to see."
-JGreg-

Could you point out a few of those stories? I'm having trouble recalling them.....