Friday, April 13, 2018

Greg Brand: There they go again.

"There you go again" emerged as a single defining phrase of the 1980 presidential election between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. The phrase has endured in the political lexicon in news headlines and articles, as a way to quickly refer to various candidates, operatives or a political party bringing certain issues up repeatedly during debates, campaigns. In the context of current Mississippi politics, a paraphrase of that often used Reagan response applies to the actions of leaders, operatives and pundits of today’s MS GOP.


The Republican strategy of “attack, slander and destroy and repeat if necessary” an opponent is in play, to no one’s surprise, in the two US Senate races in our state. They have shown a willingness to use this tactic on their “own”, if they fail to “toe the party line”, and not only on those who do not identify as Republican.

Recently, “leaders” of the MSGOP have taken to social media and the main stream media to launch character assassination tactics on an honorable man, Mike Espy. By the way, they normally cry “foul” or “fake” about news coverage emanating from the same sources they are utilizing.

They would have us forget their attempted political assassination of a good man, Bill Allain. They used lies, false accusations, and paid accusers to launch a salacious attack, on the then Democrat Attorney General. All those charges were proven to be false, when the truth was brought to light by local and national news outlets.

Fast forward, to the recent Supreme Court race, where they again used the vilest accusations possible to malign the character of Justice Jim Kitchens. Fast forward again to today, where we have the Chairman of the MSGOP, who failed to get his party’s support and lost his bid for the office of State Treasurer, attacking and maligning Mr. Espy, in a recent Wall Street Journal article. Also, a Republican political strategist, for Roger Wicker and Tate Reeves, utilizes email and social media to try and malign Mike Espy.

Have they forgotten who Jon Hinson was? Jon Clifton Hinson (March 16, 1942 – July 21, 1995) was a Republican U.S. Representative for Mississippi's 4th congressional district from 1979 to 1981. Following his 1981 resignation following arrest for engaging in a homosexual act, he became an LGBT activist in metropolitan Washington D.C.
In that situation, a special election was necessary but the ultimate winner did not choose to capitalize by regurgitating the details of why an election was necessary.

It is a sad commentary on the current political environment in our great State!

Greg Brand is a political consultant in Jackson. 

Kingfish note: This gonna be fun. 

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greg, more to come?

Anonymous said...

I dont know what scandalous slandor this is referring to, but it is about being run out of DC for corruption then that is accurate. The fact that he wasnt convicted is meaninglessness. Leaving town with your tail between your legs is the most a guilty politician will ever get.

Anonymous said...

pot writes article on kettle

Anonymous said...

dear greg, please be advised that 95% of the political 'experts' on this blog dont know political history past last wednesday.

Anonymous said...

Greg Brand is complaining of character assassination? That's awesome.

Anonymous said...

KF, I hope you didn't have to pay for this "commentary" from Mr. Brand. If you did, you should have gotten the fictional novel rate rather than the political consultant charge.

For Greg Brand to be questioning any political campaign's character, or the character of any individual involved as a candidate or a paid staffer would be laughable. Surely this was an Onion satire written under the name of Brand - can't believe he would even try to cry foul for the benefit of his buddy Mike Espy.

But what makes his support of Espy so interesting is the connection between Espy and the infamous Rudy Warnock. Yes, the Rudy Warnock of Madison County that financed a mail piece attacking Mayor Mary - a mail piece put together by Mr. Brand himself and printed and distributed by his network. When charges were brought about this mail piece, Mr. Warnock financed the attorney fees for all involved - Warnock, Brand, G Williams. But at the last minute, the attorney being paid for by Rudy dropped the other two and cut a deal for the financier that gave him a clean bill of health while the honorable Mr. Brand was convicted for his part in the defamation scheme.

Seems that the bed is getting crowded with Rudy (who Brand now despises although at the time was his best bud) Espy, and Brand all interconnected. Wonder when Rudy starts financing hit pieces on the opponents in the Senate race if Brand will orchastrate them again as he did when fighting his friend, Mayor Mary.

Anonymous said...

Who is Greg Brand? Is this like asking "Who is John Galt."

Anonymous said...

Rudy is getting in the Senate race too.

Anonymous said...

Greg Brand. The bag man for former State Auditor Steve Patterson. How many dollars did he collect not just for the campaign, but to keep Ms. Patterson able to live in the lifestyle she thought she deserved. Let us all recount the many times Mr. Brand has told the stories of collecting the hundreds, several hundreds, of thousands of unreported campaign dollars for Mr. Patterson's campaign. (for those that don't remember, Mr. Patterson resigned in a similar manner to Mr. Espy - with Mr. Patterson being replaced in the auditors office by the current Governor back twenty years ago.)

Did Mr. Brand eventually have to pay the income taxes on all those dollars he supposedly "contributed" to Mr. Patterson's campaign because the friendly folks at the IRS questioned how he earned those dollars that went through his bank accounts? Does Mr. Brand want to disclose the source of those $700k that passed through him illegally in that campaign? And then, the $20k or so that went monthly to support his auditor? Or why he has always been so interested in the election of auditors, including the current occupier of the office?

To be lectured to by someone as corrupt in MS political history as this individual is actually a very good way to start the weekend, Fish. Needed a good laugh to leave the office with this Friday.

Anonymous said...

It was not clear to me, when I read this piece, that Brand was the author, even though his name appears in the headline. I figured Kingfish had taken ill or maybe had passed under a Jackson loft and had a piano drop on his head.....if he were indeed supporting the reputation of Espy.

The shenanigans of Espy and Warnock are well known in these parts and more than a few credible people have supplied information to the appropriate authorities, who, according to rumor, are still investigating the two (and others). For this Brand guy to now surface and come out in support of Espy is not surprising but, most of us thought the old guy had disappeared after his last conviction. He's been up to this crap since the early 80s at least.

Anybody who finds his name associated with Brand ought to take a knife to his own wrists or, if not, then at least to his resume and political future. The same holds true for anybody who sees himself mentioned in the same paragraph with Espy or Warnock.

Anonymous said...

I have read all the comments on Greg Brand. What office did you say he is running for?

Anonymous said...

I am a long time republican who donates a lot of money to Republican candidates. But if Cyndy Hyde-Smith doesn't end up in a run-off, then I certainly will vote for Mike Espy over the idiot McDaniel.

Anonymous said...

2:46, probably true. But some of the remaining 5% are quite familiar with MS political history and of Mr. Brand's hijinks and illegal activity.

Most recently, his purchasing radio time on a Canton radio station to benefit his candidate for local office - and using a made up political committee as purchasing it. Problem was, he tried to invoke the Cochran campaign into the ad and opened up a can of worms. Race baiting (which is typical Brand style) was blamed on the Cochran campaign by McDaniel when it was ultimately proven that one of Brand's operatives made the ad, cut it at his favorite recording studio, and was paid for by none other than Brand himself. But the story continues by McDaniel's folks that it was Cochran that did the race baiting ad when in fact it was, none other than Mr. Brand and for a local candidate and had absolutely no association with Cochran. Once again, Brand's underhanded tactics got caught and he tried to let the blame get put on others. Now - he wants to lecture us all on campaign dirty tricks? BS!

Anonymous said...

@4:42 somehow thinks Brand works for free. ROFLMAO

Anonymous said...

2:22, you probably asked your question wrong. Its not whether Greg had more to come, but all those that are familiar with his decades of political activities that put to shame what he is trying to condemn with this column. Don't know how much KF might actually publish, but there is certainly plenty "more to come"!

Anonymous said...

I would remind everyone that the " pot calling the kettle black" means both the pot and the kettle are dirty.
Two wrongs don't make a right so the argument is lost.
Everyone should be ashamed for using such a justification.
It's like saying, I didn't steal the Hope Diamond, just Elizabeth Taylor's diamond so I'm not a no good thief.
And, 2:36 pm is continuing to blacken his pot Resigning when one can't do the job that needs to be done while their time is consumed with proving their innocence is court is honorable, not dishonorable.

Unknown said...

If I recall correctly, Espy resigned because he accepted football tickets from a lobbyist.

Compare that to Trump and the Trump administration hi-jinx.

Anonymous said...

I’m a Republican and I’ve known Greg Brand for over 30 years. He is a rough and tumble political operative who is in it to win. He has certainly used aggressive tactics in campaigns. However, it is easy to label aggressive tactics as dirty tricks. The label you choose mostly depends on whether your candidate is on the reviving end or the giving end of the tactic/trick. For example, some in the McDaniel camp in 2014 call the organizing of black voters— who had the perfectly legal right to vote in the runoff of either party— to go and vote for Thad Cochran in the GOP runoff, a “dirty trick”. Others saw it as a smart political tactic that worked.

I’ve never heard about Brand letting Warnock hire or pay for his lawyer. But anyone who does that versus hiring his own lawyer deserves what he or she gets, which is usually bad. Ask Karen Irby about how that works out.

Regardless of what you think of Greg Brand, I can make two observations over the decades I have known him: one, Greg Brand gets blamed for a lot of stuff he doesn’t or didn’t do. And two, Greg Brand is not a bearer of false witness. He sticks to the truth and gets that word out there with a spin, but what he distributes is not lies. A lot of politicians don’t want the truth about them put out there.

Anonymous said...

F mickns, was a lot more than football tickets, and not just from 'a lobbyist'. Sounds good until you add all the other benefits he received from ConAgri, Sun Diamond, Tyson - companies who received passes in their food inspections. Sevreal execs found guilty for payoffs made. But the football tickets is a nice attempt at spin - almost as good as Brand's commentary.

Anonymous said...

No 7:10. The pot CALLING the kettle black does not mean both are dirty. It means the dirty pot says that the kettle is black. Big difference. Greg Brand's hands are so dirty politically he doesn't recognize any other form of politicong except his constant game of cheaply printed flyers thrown in front yards or put on windshields the Sunday before elections; defamation statements in mail pieces or black radio bought under fictitious names, bags of cash from his sources scattered through Hinds and Copiah Counties - need one go on?

Anonymous said...

You actually recall incorrectly, Mr. mickns. Espy resigned because President Clinton's Chief of Staff told him to. And the Chief Of Staff was given that nod by Clinton because of the embarrassment caused by Espy in the scandal with Tyson. It was much more than football tickets, although tickets were definitely in the mix. Much more gifting was documented as well as the gift by Tyson of a job to Espy's friend-girl. And the Tyson crowd plead guilty although a jury of Espy's, ahem, 'peers' did not choose to convict him.

Turn your cap around mickns. If you want to retain credibility, you can't post stuff like your last post. You sometimes make sense part way through your posts; however, in this case...nope.

Anonymous said...

Brand and Espy at tied at the hip along with Madison County Chancery Clerk Ronnie Lott. Espy is also close to Rudy Warnock and Karl Banks. That is all anyone should have to know to vote against Espy.

Anonymous said...

The usual harpy, this time at 4:38 April 13, enters from stage left to shout: "HARK, I rise upon this mountain to shout to the countryside that, given all possible alternatives, I shall vote ESPY!"

Then, as always, the shepherd's hook snatches him away, stage-right. He then dashes into the dressing room to change out of his punchinello costume.

Anonymous said...

Brand 'doesn't bear false witness'? What about the times he's created fictitious signs, ads and ballots (and had them widely distributed) which totally misrepresent (lie about) candidate political affiliations? Is that not 'false witness'? Or is that simply a genius plying his trade? Or do you classify that as simply a 'smart political tactic'.

Anonymous said...

12:08 - Yours is an interesting post. First I've heard mention of Ronnie Lott being affiliated with Espy and Warnock? I don't doubt it, but, can you elaborate?

Anonymous said...

Those defending Brand seem to miss that it is Brand and his ilk on either side of the aisle that is deliberately dividing our Nation and destroying us from within.

The Russians fed BS to these " opposition/take no prisoners" operatives for a reason.

What is it about " divide and conquer" some of you fail to understand?

Anonymous said...

Get em Brand!
There're no rules in Politics.

Win if you can, lose if you must, but alwys cheat.

Anonymous said...

Lott brought Espy to be Board attorney for Madison County. Brand, Lott and Espy have been friends for years. Espy and Warnock worked together to take over CMU until the bigger boys ( Blackmons) took em out.



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