I am sitting here in my apartment, far from Asheboro, watching Mike
Of course, being a "right person" (he's wearing a bright blue tie - with stripes), Sleazely will not be doing any time. He'll pay a $1000 fine. No community service. No probation. The Feds are walking away (of course, their case took a big blow earlier in the year).
The prosecutor and judge are putting on quite-the-show minimizing Easley's actions . . . "good lawyers" worked honorably and professionally to come to a resolution.
It really IS hard not to vomit.
As they do this, they KNOW the people of North Carolina are watching . . . and that we are very, Very, VERY angry. And their voices are cracking and trembling as they posture.
This piece-of-crap - this convicted FELON - was the Attorney General of North Carolina back in 1998 (and, as such, the North Carolina Department of Human Services' Attorney) when, while in service to the National Health Service Corps and the N.C. Office of Rural Health, I found myself under siege and my life/practice in my hometown reduced to shambles by a "non-profit" hospital in North Carolina for the horrible, awful sin of picking up a phone in the middle-of-the-night and answering a terrified nurse's call for help.
According to the North Carolina Medical Board and JCAHO and N.C./U.S. Departments of Health & Human Services and American Board of Pediatrics (the topic of an upcoming post) and American Medical Association, and EVERY other medical regulatory body under the American sun, I DID MY DUTY.
By ALL ACCOUNTS, I saved a critically-ill child's life. I defied the prior threats of Randolph Hospital executives, and reported what JCAHO would call a "sentinel event" the next day.
And for that, everything I had worked MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE to build was turned to ashes in a matter of days. Meanwhile, the arrogant, overpaid BULLIES who did me wrong kept collecting their very fat checks underwritten by the public . . . under the radar of a methodically OBLIVIOUS government . . . and protected from ANY kind of public scrutiny by a pair of in-the-tank local newspapers.
I BEGGED the NHSC and NC Office of Rural Health for help. Pleaded. Debased myself. And in the beginning, I was very, very nice. But Attorney General Mike Easley and his minions could not be bothered. It was nine months before ANYONE lifted a finger to enforce ANY part of my service agreements with the government . . . and even that took the intervention of Howard Coble . . . moreover, what little was done was far too little, far too late.
I got sued for telling the truth. The state and Federal governments turned a blind eye.
Later on, when I realized that I had been swindled at settlement by PERJURY, CONTEMPT and FRAUD . . . and having had Randolph County DA Garland Yates slam EVERY door in my face (without ANY kind of investigation) . . . not to mention Attorney Cooper Roy Cooper pretend I was not a doctor licensed-by-the-state - and never in public service . . . I found some small sliver of hope in Easley's public statements (as Governor) on ethics and fighting corruption.
So I wrote the Governor (and then-Lt. Governor Bev Perdue) . . . once again BEGGING for his help.
And once again, Mike Sleazely could not be bothered. The Governor could have changed my life with the snap of his finger. But "ethics" was only a political buzzword to be pulled out when being "the education Governor" - or bringing us the lottery - didn't keep the masses snowed.
The North Carolina justice system has NEVER been something Dr. Mary Johnson could count on. The state of North Carolina never gave a CRAP about her civil or "due process" rights (the case was just "too complicated") . . . but it has bent over backwards to accommodate poor, put-upon Mike Easley and his own "complex" case.
And the government is quite content to let Asheboro VIP's, Robert Morrison and Steve Eblin, totally skate on multiple counts of perjury.
Multiple FELONIES.
I am disgusted by what I am watching on television. No. That's not it. I'm seething. As I type this, Easley's attorney, Joe Cheshire, is sputtering and spewing and blaming the press for Mike (and Mary) Easley's troubles. It's all the evil N&O's fault.
After entering a GUILTY PLEA for his client, Cheshire has the UNMITIGATED GALL to talk about "the truth" and the lives of these fine public servants being "trashed".
(He's hitting all of Ed Cone's future talking points.)
Here's the thing, Mr. Cheshire. I may not be a lawyer. But I damned well know something about fighting corruption. I know ALL about a life spent in eternal limbo (twelve years as opposed to two) And, as a former public servant, I know something of being treated like trash - by the "leaders" of my own hometown - as they spew out of the other side of their mouths about "small town values". I also know something of resurrecting my life and career . . . after being publicly humiliated and legally eviscerated.
The BIG DIFFERENCE is that I've endured all of it for doing the right thing . . . only to be spat upon by fine, upstanding "honorables" like Mike Easley. But according to his attorney, we're supposed to WEEP for him and his family
And I can tell you, Mr. Cheshire, one thing with absolute certainty:
The TRUTH did not prevail here. This was a despicable compromise "verdict" - an easy out for all concerned. It saved the state that Mike Easley helped bankrupt untold millions in terms of prosecuting the case . . . and Mr. Easley (no "victim" by ANY stretch of the imagination) a massive attorney's fee, courtesy of your hourly rate - assuming you are charging it.
There's another thing I know for sure. "The Two Americas" is very much alive and well in North Carolina.
Wednesday Morning Update:
An offhand comment from a friend (not Buzz-of-the-Armfields) . . . and with apologies to anyone who might be "offended":
"Yeah, the North Carolina legal system and its honorable lawyers "worked" like a hot whore on a Saturday night for Mike Easley. Meanwhile, you've been locked out of the whorehouse."
1 comments:
Well...maybe I didn't say it Doctor, but I sure thought it !!!
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