Yipee. File a complaint with the Ethics Commission or shut up, Kerry. You're just making yourself look bad. And I AGREE with you.

I also agree with mr. king -- in principle. And though I realize that corruption is one of the top-3 issues on people's minds, what does the king campaign expect to actually DO about the problem if he's elected Lt. Gov?

Just like G. De Ramel's "breath of fresh air" campaign for SOS, what can the Lt. Gov. or SOS for that matter REALLY do about cleaning up gov't corruption? Like I said, I agree with Mr. King, but isn't this anti-corruption effort simply an attempt by general officer candidates (such as G. De Ramel and Kerry King) with little public relevancy to give a greater definition to their desired offices?

So, to DeRamel, King, et al, I say: stick to the issues that your desired offices truly address. Don't try to pass off water as wine: the Lt. Gov. has important functions in addressing healthcare and emergency preparedness -- stick to it. The SOS has an important function to preserve open records and clean elections. We all want to "save Rhode Island from public corruption" but aside from taking the initiative to file appropriate legal or ethical complaints, I cannot help but think that this is simply political posturing.

While I applaud Mr. King's concern over rooting out public corruption (Lord knows we need all the help we can get), I would have been more impressed had he taken some meaningful legal action.

Political self-inflation does not reflect well on any candidate in the end. All it does it offer promises that cannot be fullfilled, and Mr. King would be wise to avoid it.

Negative campaigning equals you won't win Mr. King. This guy Kerry King is a self serving, arrogant tool anyway. Nice work Kerry!

While I support King's concept, I have some concerns about his proposal.

1. "Prohibit all elected municipal and state officials from accepting contributions from anyone doing business with state or local governments."

This provision is overly-broad and there are serious 1st Amendment and free speech issues in doing this.

2. "Require that all the State’s constitutional officers have no outside business interests whatsoever."

What are we left with? Career politicians, unionized teachers and government employees, and retirees. We need to attract more people with business backgrounds INTO politics, not work to prevent them from running. If the problem is people with conflicts of interest, address the problem--the conflicts.

3. "Disallow any General Assembly member from serving as an employee, officer or Board member of any organization funded with a state grant."

I agree that General Assembly members should not serve as an employee of an organizaton that receives state grants. But the point of a board is to provide oversight of an organization. If state money is going to an organization, it makes sense to allow legislators to sit on a board, provided that the position does not receive compensation.

I like King's anti-corruption ideas in general, and that he is naming names. It's about time that someone stated the obvious, instead of tiptoeing around the edges. My only complaint here is, "why only 4"? That list should be a whole lot longer! You could easily have a "top 10 list" or a "dirty dozen"!

I think Kerry King is a RISC puppet. Sorry moderator but, I do believe he is schill.

Dear Will,

You are absolutely correct. Allow me to fill out the list of nominations:

1. Rep. Singleton. Funny what water can make you do. Maybe Dan Yorke might get to be a witness.

2. Jeff Grybowski. Gotta love those no-bid contracts going to his old law firm. By the way, why do they still cut him checks?

3. Jeff Britt. Someone please tell him that Rocky Point and Condos just don't mix. No, just because Mayor Avedisian waved his magic wand won't make it any better.

4. Governor Carcieri. Has everyone forgotten that there's another ethics complaint lying dormant waiting for the Board of Elections to finish its business? Offering bribes to the former BOE Chairman is not a way to exhibit ethical behavior.

5. Adelita Orefice. I understand investigators have already stumbled upon the "shakedown". At least they could have made it look like she wrote the letter instead of just signing it. (Thanks again to Dan Yorke)

6. Spence Maguire. Double dipping, tell me it's not true. If meeting with John Harwood wasn't bad enough, now we find this. He takes contributions from RWU employees, where he goes to school, and Foxwood employees, thought he hated casinos. (Somebody needs to ask Spence if the death of that fine lady at Lincoln keeps him up at night.)

7. Kerry King himself. First, he doesn't vote here. Then, the wife doesn't vote here. He says he's in line with Governor's policy on LNG but takes contributions from pro-LNG sources.

Just thought I could help.

Bobby,
Your posts are filled with innuendo. I'm unfamiliar with some of your points, but let me address a couple of things--

1. Grybowski: The executive branch has a right to determine which law firm it retains. It's not like buying a box of staples. You could probably bid legal work and find a lawyer to do work for $25 an hour, but would you trust them? Would they provide the best legal representation?

You accuse Grybowski of being on his old firm's payroll? If this is the case, provide the details.

2. The Board of Elections issue is so old and tainted by inappropriate partisan Democrat interference that it makes you guys look far worse than it does Carcieri. I only hope this issue gets more press, because every time it does, Carcieri's poll numbers seem to go up. Maybe Guy Dufault can hold a press conference about it. That would be ideal.

3. You've pointed out nothing wrong with Spencer Maguire's campaign contributions. He took campaign contributions from Foxwoods employees? I bet most Foxwoods employees share Maguire's views on a Rhode Island casino. You seem to ass-ume that the only reason someone would oppose a casino is for moral grounds, but there are very real economic reasons for opposing the casino.

I don't know about Britt or Orefice, but do you ever get tired of engaging in unsubstantied character assassination?

How do you morally justify it to yourself when you go to sleep at night? Do you just believe that the means justify the ends?

Dear Anthony,

When things are either common knowledge on the hill, Grybowski, writes a really dumb email (yes - copies are available) where he calls members of the medical profession "lemmings", Singleton or the person themselves takes to bragging about their misdeeds at an open meeting, Britt, or gets posted on Dan Yorke's website, Orefice, or it makes the newspaper, Maguire and Carcieri, I don't think it's unsubstantiated.

However, if you still are a disbeliever, I understand. It took me alsmost a year to accept the Monica thing.

Bobby,
If you're going to make those assertions, you should at least post the substantiating information.

Then you can go back to enjoy watching Steve Laffey destroy the GOP Senate majority.

I don't know about you, but at one point I thought you had to be smart to go to Harvard...I may disagree with Jack Reed, but he masters the political game fairly well...what do you think went wrong with Laffey?

Dear Anthony,

It is the same thing we ran into when we nominated John Kerry:

Trying to switch branches can make a fool out of anybody since they are at cross purposes with each other. Therefore, what you propose to do in the future is automatically at odds with the way you've conducted your past.

Bobby,

Where is the fire? Nice collection of names but not much else. I've got to tell you Bob I laughed out loud when I saw the name "Orefice" in your list. The Beacon Mutual Whisteblower has made the Boss of the Lemmings unhappy I presume? lol What do they have you doing about this Bob? Writing letters? With all do lack of respect Bob you are losing your mojo. But I do understand why you would take offense at the word "lemmings". lol

Dear Tim,

I already helped get her "fired" once.

Twice is probably beyond the scope of our collective abilities.

Well congratulations to Kerry King. He's finally got poeple talking about really ending corruption in our state. Maybe's he's just what this state needs: A non-politician who isn't afraid to speak the truth. Maybe Reggie might tell the trust about his failures as head of Emergency Management, like having no hurricane plan and completely screwing up EMA's response to the Station fire.