Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. You can’t pray a lie – I found that out. ~Mark Twain
Perhaps I need to write a book about how NOT to use photoshop. Jerome Cochran is giving me way too much material of late. Last week it was this. Sunday, a totally new low in an ad that ran in the Elizabethton Star.
Elizabethton Star, October 10, 2010
(click here for a larger version of the ad)
Cochran asks Carter County voters if they can “really trust or believe anything from Kent Williams,” offering up yet again, a poorly photoshopped picture depicting Williams, head bowed in prayer, to be in thought about himself. The truth could not be any further from Cochran’s accusations, and Cochran should know better.
A little history
This picture (minus the terrible photo editing) has made the circuits before:
Mumpower *IS* Jesus Christ, SUPERSTAR!
That image of the Apostles praying with our Lord and Savior… er….. Jason Mumpower… was emailed to TNGOP executive committee members in December 2009 by SEC member Tim Rudd. He sent the above image as a PDF to discourage SEC members from making a motion to reinstate Speaker Williams as a member of the party. According to Rep. Stacey Campfield’s blog, Rudd’s email contained the following message:
“I thought you needed to see this photo prior to the SEC meeting. If any one asks you why Kent Williams was thrown out of the Republican Party and why he should stay out of our Party, this “prayer” photo says it all.”
Campfield shared some personal thoughts about the picture as well. I am including his thoughts here with my commentary because they mirror the same ignorance reflected by Cochran’s Sunday ad.
What can I say. This image brings back some hard memories. I did not realize there were any pictures of this moment in time.
Dear Stacey, your friend Jason personally paid a photographer to trail behind him throughout the day to document his “humble” ascension into power.
This was minutes before the speaker vote.
Wrong Stacey. This picture was taken during the first caucus prior to the noon session. Speaker Williams was not in the second caucus of that day (that’s the one that proceeded the Speaker vote). You can thank the recess vote from Rep. Weaver for the second caucus even occurring. You see, Speaker Williams voted against allowing the Dems to have an additional hour to caucus after you announced your nominee, Jason Mumpower. (A curious vote to make if you were secretly orchestrating to take over the House, don’t you think?)
We were all praying to God to give Jason strength to be a great leader. I should say I thought we were all praying to God. I had not thought about the Judas at the last supper/Gethsemane analogy, but I guess the prayer for strength and betrayal similarity is there.
Am I the only person who finds it disgusting for someone to pretend to know how another man prays when his head is bowed? I thought only God knew the hearts of men. Campfield and Cochran and Rudd seem to have the gift of telepathy, divining Speaker Williams’ prayers from this photograph. (Perhaps they are all in the same Coven as Christine O’Donnell?)
The truth
This snapshot-in-time that has been used to besmirch Speaker Kent Williams is not a photograph of House members praying to give Jason “strength to be a great leader.” This was taken of House members offering up prayers on behalf of Speaker Williams’ father, Roby Williams, who was dying of a chronic lung disease and pneumonia. He was 92.
Prior to the full House session on January 13, Republican caucus members gathered that morning to discuss their nominee for Speaker. It was well-known among GOP caucus members that by this time, Mumpower had at least 4 Democrats willing to vote for him. Naifeh, even up to this point, thought he might have the ability to retain the position as well. With Speaker Williams’ father extremely ill, he was debating whether to stay or leave to be by his father’s side. Mumpower asked if those assembled at the time could join in a prayer for Roby Williams (which is why the two men are standing next to each other in this picture).
Speaker Williams wasn’t in the second caucus meeting of either the GOP or the Dems because he was on the phone with his family members and caregivers at the hospital.
Jerome Cochran should know better what was going on during this time though. His wife was the nurse attending to Roby Williams.
Roby Williams passed away in April of that year and he deserves our respect and honor. He was a glider pilot in WWII during the Battle of the Bulge. He returned home to work honorably in a textile mill, raising his five children along with his wife. His oldest son, Hubert, was killed at the young age of 23 in an automobile accident six months after returning home from a tour in the Air Force in Okinawa during the Vietnam War. Of his father, Speaker Williams said:
“Thank you for your prayers and kind words. I couldn’t have asked for a better father, he was a model for all fathers. He came up hard, he was born in 1916, he went through the Great Depression, and fought through WWII. I don’t know of another man that I can respect more than him. I am gonna miss him.”
The end
CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. The sound of a photographer capturing you in a moment of fervent prayer for a dying parent. Imagine if that picture was misinterpreted time and time again and used to attack and mock you. Imagine if you woke up one Sunday morning and saw that picture used in an official campaign advertisement in your hometown newspaper. Imagine the real pain felt by your mother and your siblings, not the faux pain described by Campfield.
TICK. TICK. BOOM! The sound of Jerome Cochran’s campaign imploding upon itself. In addition to the false interpretation of the photo and the assumption of Speaker William’s heart, Cochran’s ad doesn’t have the correct date of the quote from WJCW. June 2009? Wasn’t the election in January? If he thinks he has gained supporters in Carter County, he has not. He has offended a great number of people who don’t know the back-story on the picture; they just know that a decent man, much less someone running for public office, doesn’t pretend to know the prayers of another man’s heart.
Can you REALLY trust or believe ANYTHING from JEROME COCHRAN?
UPDATE: I erroneously stated that Roby Williams passed from cancer. It was actually a lung disease and pneumonia. Also, I failed to report that the Williams’ oldest son, Hubert, was killed shortly after returning from the Vietnam War in an automobile accident. I regret the omission and mistake.
Fantastic job. What’s frustrating is that so few people will ever do this much digging or even bother to read all of your findings — they’re just going to see this ad. I see it happening every day in Nevada, where I live, too (no surprise). I’m doing my best not to become completely despondent about the whole process.
http://www.partlysunnyblog.com
http://www.worldsworstmoms.com
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So, the photo is not accurate? Let me see…. they are bowing and praying. He is next to Mumpower. He knows he has been telling everyone leading up to this that he is voting for Mumpower. He also knows that he had a conversation with Odom about a deal to become speaker himself…. Am I missing something?
Ah, another person with the power to read minds from a picture! Notice that Mumpower’s head isn’t bowed. If the prayer was being offered to give Jason strength, then was he leading the prayer on his own behalf? Would he be standing next to someone whose vote he knew he didn’t need because he thought he had secured enough Dem votes? Jason’s head isn’t bowed because he is the one leading the prayer. He is next to Speaker Williams because Jason wanted to say a prayer for Kent’s father. While other prayers may have been offered by others following that one, Jason called Kent into the room for that reason, as Speaker Williams had told Jason that he wanted to leave to go be with his father.
I didn’t say I could read minds. I am just saying that Kent is praying, holding the hand of Mumpower, and he knows he is willing to go out there and vote for himself though he already said he was voting for Mumpower. Heck, for all I know Kent is praying saying he is sorry for offering a weeks pay to see a fellow legislator in her birthday suit.
If someone is praying for your family member, would it be out of the realm of possibilities to join hands with them?
The wonderful thing about being a Christian is that regardless of who you are, what you do, where you live, or even your political affiliation, you can put all of that aside to focus on your unity in Christ. Any time two or more are gathered together in prayer, He is there. It was a sacred moment, regardless of what was being prayed for. That this picture has been used in this way, and that its use is applauded, is very sad. It mocks the sacred nature of prayer.
I do find it troubling that you go after Jerome like you do and act as if you are fair minded when you are working for Kent. Why are you attacking insteading of tooting your candidate’s horn? These non-issues are getting a little old…
Act like I’m fair-minded? I’m not a journalist. I write a personal blog of my own opinions. I work for people with whom I believe. I didn’t bring this particular issue up. Mr. Cochran brought it up. I suppose if his attacks were ignored, people would believe that there might be truth to it. In fact, because Speaker Williams, in Dec 2009, didn’t say a word about that picture (when it was circulating via email), people are suggesting that very thing. So now, when the picture is splashed in the paper in full-color, something is said and suddenly it’s NOT appropriate to comment? Damned if you do; damned if you don’t.
Not saying not to comment. If I were working for a campaign, I would just make sure that any time I commented on my blog that I made sure to offer that information.
If you would read the “About” portion on my blog, I do not hide the the fact that I am working on his campaign. I just didn’t think it was necessary to put that on every single post. I certainly understand your point tho, which is why I haven’t tried to hide that fact. Furthermore, I told JR at PP a good while ago and spoke to Tom Humphrey on the Hill because I didn’t want them to feel like I was trying to pull one over on them. I post stuff to my blog and others are free to respond or link to it as they see fit. Hell, I even wore a Kent Williams t-shirt when I met RNC Chairman Michael Steele and posted a picture of it for all to see.
I do appreciate your comments and the comments of everyone (even if I highly disagree). What we say has a context always, unless you say it in a vacuum. I firmly believe in hearing from all sides, because it allows for better discussion and understanding (in general). One must be willing to accept those comments, good and bad, and also be willing to admit when what is said turns out to be wrong. Unfortunately, there are many times when matters boil down to “he said / she said.”
I realize this is a very emotional issue for people, not only the parties involved, but many more who feel wronged or hurt. Up until now, people have primarily heard one side of the story. As in all things, there is always another side. It’s easy to dig in your heels and only see certain events from one POV or another; I hope that people will begin to realize that what they believe to be true might not be “the whole truth.” In an age of sound-bite journalism, it can be down right impossible to provide context and explain situations that are at their core, very complex. I’ve certainly been guilty of taking advantage of that too, as do most campaigns. So-and-so voted NO or YES on this issue – be outraged voters (don’t bother finding out why that person voted the way they did or read up on the bill to see that their vote was against a larger issue or problem with the language of the bill… or that the measure was included in a bigger bill etc. etc. etc.) That is why, many times, politicians and candidates choose to simply not respond to attacks, because doing so would either take them away from their core message, or would not make any difference to their numbers one way or another.
When I come across instances where, as a voter, I’ve only given thought to the “sound-bite” and not the whole story in forming my opinion, it angers me. It fuels my passion to share what I have learned (maybe at times, with too much passion.) In all honesty, this is one of those issues. I never bothered or cared to know anything about Speaker Williams or the circumstances surrounding his election as Speaker. I was merely part of the mob mentality. Four legs good; two legs bad! I’ve had the opportunity to learn more, to research more, to see this within its full context. It truly made me angry with myself for not looking deeper at the time, for not asking questions. Whether or not any compensation is involved, my passion is not manufactured. If being paid to stand up for what you believe means that your motives are disingenuous, then why not demand that our part-time General Assembly work for free? At least that way, no one could say they were doing it for money or were motivated by some desire to keep that gravy train coming.
Anyway Josh, I do look forward to future debate.
Actually, Roby Williams was not a glider pilot. He was a jeep driver in an artillery battery of the 101st Airborne Division. While it took guts to be a glider pilot, imagine how much guts it took to be prepared to ride into battle with your jeep stuffed inside a flimsy glider, with a 1/4-ton trailer attached to the jeep loaded down with high explosive artillery rounds.
Your story is accurate about his being in the Battle of the Bulge. He was part of that inspirational and historic stand when the Germans made the mistake of surrounding the 101st at Bastogne.
Thank you for the clarification. Yes, whether you were piloting the plane or in the jeep prepared for battle, it took a special kind of courage to face that uncertain future. I cannot even begin to put myself in that sort of situation, and am humbled and grateful for their sacrifices.
Kent was paying Mumpower to do his mail pieces for the last Jerome v. Kent race. Mumpower was forwarding them to Jerome before they got mailed out. Kent found out that Mumpower was doing this and the rest is history.
Just for clarification, Kent was absolutely in the meeting just prior to the Speaker’s vote. He actually got all bent out of shape and began hollering when a member started calling the Dems liars for wanting a recess to take pictures with their families. Dispute that one !
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If they were praying for Kents father in the photo why are all but one of the people in the room saying it was not for his father? The only one coming to Kents side on this one is the second biggest joke in Nashville Dale “porky pig” Ford. I just find it odd that all of the other legislators in the room are all saying that the prayer was for Jason but these two are not. Also the fact that Kent had to throw father and brothers war records out while trying to defend himself is what I call trashy! You don’t hear Jerome going around say “oh my brother and sister in law are in Iraq so vote for me”
Give Williams the boot! No more RINOs for Tennessee!!
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