I just got an email from Google Alerts that included a link to a Groups post with the title:
"Ted Strickland... FAG!!!?"

Catchy, eh?

Really makes you think.... that the author of the post has something to hide.

Just because it was posted to the group rec.sport.pro-wrestling
by a guy named Long Rod Silver
who typically ends his messages with phrases like: "suck my ball sack"?

That doesn't say anything about Long Rod, does it?

Just because he has an email address at your-tonsils.net?

What could THAT possibly mean?

Anyway, here is the original text of the message.


Ted Strickland... FAG!!!?

From: Long Rod Silver - view profile
Date: Wed, Oct 18 2006 7:52 pm
Email: Long Rod Silver
Groups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling

Note: The author of this message requested that it not be archived. This message will be removed from Groups in 6 days (Oct 25, 7:52 pm).

Bill Cunningham on Ted Strickland and pedophiles and gay lovers
Submitted by jamesrhodes on October 12, 2006 - 4:59pm. general
This is today's complete show from Bill Cunningham on 700 WLW in
Cincinnati. Bill spends 3 hours covering the story that the MSM
doesn't want to run, because it hurts the candidate they support.

Hour 1
Who is the real Ted Strickland?? Willie finally finds out.

Hour 2
Who is more important, Mark Foley or finding out the REAL Ted
Strickland?

Hour 3
Willie gets your reaction to todays events..++++

Sexual rumors swirl in Buckeye State

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­-----
Posted: October 14, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Ohio attorney Scott A. Pullins runs a blog, the Pullins Report, which
has relentlessly pursued Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, the Democratic
Party gubernatorial candidate for 2006 in Ohio. Pullins has been
fearless in exploring charges that Strickland is a closet homosexual
and supports the LGBT agenda.

"We started following Strickland in the primary," Pullins, who
practices law in Vernon, Ohio, near Columbus, told WND. "We especially
picked up on the issue after Brian Flannery, his Democratic Party
challenger in the primary, began hammering Strickland on sexual
issues."

A Father's Day newspaper article in the Toledo Blade, published June
19, piqued Pullins interest. The story noted Flannery "criticized Mr.
Strickland for vacationing in Italy with a male political 'protégé'
who had been convicted of indecent exposure."

Flannery, according to the paper, had put out a press release
stressing he and his running mate both have children, thereby calling
attention to Strickland's childless marriage.

Jim Tankersley, the Blade's politics writer, suggested Strickland was
defensive that his family was not a traditional one. Strickland
countered that children have filled his life, pointing out the
children of his best friend, a doctor in Florida, call him "Uncle
Ted."

Pullins said the Blade article caused him to look deeper.

"Ted and Frances had dated for several years, and Ted did not want to
get married," Pullins said. "But finally, when they were both over 40,
they decided to get married at a time when Ted was running for office.
Typically, politicians marry young, they have two or three children,
and they smile for the pictures. I found it strange that Strickland
was a driven politician, but he waited until he was 46 before getting
married, and they never had children."

Pullins commented on the Blade article in a June 19 post on his blog
titled "Article Adds Fire to Strickland Gay Rumors" in which he said
the story "adds fuel to the fire" of Strickland's votes in Congress
that suggest "he is soft on those that sexually assault our children."
"The stories imply that the Stricklands are both gay and lead separate
lives, Frances in Kentucky and Ted in Ohio and D.C."

'Are you gay or not?'

An Ohio television commentator, hosting a political issues program,
brought up Pullins blog reports and apologetically posed the "gay
question" to Strickland.

"I just put it out there once and for all and shut everybody up about
this … are you gay or not?"

The congressman did not give a direct answer, however.

"Let me tell you this, John, I've been married almost 20 years, I am
deeply in love with my wife, and I believe that she is deeply in love
with me," Strickland said. "I have been faithful to my wife and I
deeply believe she has been faithful to me."

[A video clip of Strickland's answer is available online.]

Strickland continued: "These blogs are really mean-spirited, smear
efforts. This fellow that you mentioned, I won't use his name, but he
continually puts out information that is absolutely wrong and false."

Strickland gave an example of an allegedly false report by Pullins,
but it had nothing to do with any issue related to homosexuality.

Pullins insisted he doesn't "give a hoot about how the Stricklands
live their private lives."

"But what I do find interesting," he said, "is the whisper campaign
that has been going on behind the scenes for months and the efforts by
liberals and some conservatives to shut down any discussion of the
issue."

Ohio newspapers and bloggers created a firestorm over the story.
According to Pullins, the Stricklands do not own a home in Washington,
D.C., or in their Ohio congressional district. They rent an apartment
in the nation's capital and own a small condo in Columbus, Ohio.
Frances Smith is Frances Strickland's maiden name, which she uses for
her published works, including a children's book titled "The Little
Girl Who Grew Up to be Governor: Stories from the Life of Martha Layne
Collins." Collins was governor of Kentucky from 1983 to 1987.

Pullins also has noted that Frances Strickland is listed on public
records as the president and director of a consulting corporation
named "Smith Educational Enterprises," a Kentucky corporation.

Smith is listed on public documents with the Kentucky secretary of
state as the registered agent for the company. But there is a problem
here for the Stricklands – to be a registered agent for a corporation
or other business entity in Kentucky, you must be an individual
resident of Kentucky or be a business entity that is located in the
state. Smith Educational Enterprises is not registered to do business
in Ohio.

In a video posted on YouTube.com, Frances Strickland sings a folksy
version of her husband's biography, emphasizing his humble roots, all
to the tune of "Davy Crockett."

For pursuing this story, Pullins has been soundly attacked by Ohio's
liberal bloggers. A blogger self-identified as "Pho" from Akron
described Pullins as an "arch-conservative blogger and all-around
douchebag," but he finally reconsidered, admitting "I don't really
know that Pullins is a douchebag." MLM Liberal, another Ohio blog,
accused Pullins of "Swift Boating" Strickland and his wife.

Conservative Ohio bloggers generally have been supportive of Pullins.
BizzyBlog, for example, ran a detailed analysis of Ted Strickland's
1999 "Present" vote on House Concurrent Resolution 107, an
overwhelmingly bipartisan vote that condemned the American
Psychological Association for publishing an article that argued sex
between adults and minor children could be beneficial to the child.

Pullins told WND that while "the rumors in Ohio have swirled for a
number of years that Strickland is gay," to date "nothing has been
proven conclusively."

"Personally, I don't really care if Strickland is gay," Pullins said.
"But I don't want to see him as governor of Ohio in the same situation
McGreevey faced in New Jersey."

James McGreevey resigned in August 2004, admitting he had been living
a secret homosexual lifestyle. His resignation was prompted by a
sexual harassment suit filed against him by a former security aide
Golan Cipel."

In reference to Strickland's 1999 vote on HCR 107, Pullins insisted
that the "Foley problems" needed to be explored:

"There are legitimate issues here. Is Strickland as governor going to
surround himself with those individuals who prey on children? Is he
going to surround his administration with those type of people? The
voters in Ohio deserve answers to these questions."

Pullins also says there are unanswered questions about the staff
member with whom Strickland traveled to Europe.

"We don't even know who this guy was, even though Strickland admits
taking him on a private vacation to Italy," the attorney said. "The
records are sealed, and we don't have any idea who this guy is. His
name, address and photograph should be up on a website warning people
about this predator. Why does Strickland continue to hide the man's
identity?"