Monday, April 07, 2014

Joplin Globe columnist: Loraine Report exonerates Woolston, Rohr, Wallace-Bajjali

Frequent Joplin Globe guest columnist Anson Burlingame took his time, but he finally weighed in on the Loraine Report on his blog today.

According to Burlingame, a contributor to the Joplin Progress Committee, the report does not lay a glove on Mark Rohr, Mike Woolston, or Wallace-Bajjali and that it shows that Bill Scearce should resign.

A sample:

Based on my reading of all the testimony I find no evidence of insider trading by anyone involved in land acquisitions by the city to support redevelopment. Yet Woolston was accused of unethical behavior, maybe even fraud (a violation of LAW), and other strong and pointed accusations by Loraine. Well based on what exactly, Mr. Loraine, buying and selling real estate like any other realtor has been doing in Joplin since the storm? Did any of THEM, all other realtors in Joplin operate unethically or break any laws?

No wonder Kuen decided not to talk to you. He saw a witch hunt in the first five minutes of any conversation with you. I submit that Kuen in no way thought he was breaking any laws or acting unethically but saw a lawyer hell bent to “prove something wrong” and decided to tell the lawyer to call his own lawyer. I would have done the same thing, essentially told you, Mr. Loraine, to go pack sand with your “investigation”.

I leave the evident debacle of rumor and innuendo used against Rohr for another blog.

I admit I have been irritated by the fact that only two negative reviews of my novel, No Child Left Alive, have been written- one by Anson Burlingame and the other by another blogger and frequent Joplin Globe columnist, Geoff Caldwell.

Now I understand. When it comes to writing fiction, Anson Burlingame leaves me in the dust.

8 comments:

onetjefferson said...

Burlingame is a disgrace to anyone who has half a brain. He sees what he wants to see but its not the truth. Woolston should resign. Rohr was not only unqualified for a city of this size he also covered up abuse allegations against his wife. Ohio told him good riddance and Im glad Joplin did too. He hurt the morale of the workers that make the city tick and he was arrogant. He didnt use the licensed people he had on staff to make decisions. He made promises never kept. Anson Burlingame is a disgrace for that blog misinformation. I wonder if he is on the payroll of some of the corrupt candidates?

Anonymous said...

Anson and Geoff have a couple of things in common.

First they never let facts enter into any of their blowhard phony analysis of events. They seem to marvel at how clever they think they are and think everyone is probably hanging on every word they write.

Second they both are most likely on the Globe payroll and have to keep their lips attached to Starks ample rear end to keep their jobs.

We know they aren't making a living with their literary skills.

Anonymous said...

People who smoke weed should not have a computer, and he is not high then he's nuts.

Anonymous said...

Burlingame goes to such extremes to make his conclusions look like they were arrived at through some process other than innate bias. There's nothing wrong with having a worldview, but if you don't recognize it in yourself and pretend that each of your opinions were arrived at through objective weighing of evidence, then all of your judgments are suspect.

Many fields of study train you to remain self-aware of your bias so that you can keep it in check to the best of your ability. Anson Burlingame demonstrates none of those qualities, never refers to himself as having made mistakes or having had self-doubt. Occasionally he cites his professional "achievements" as if they demonstrate his expertise on all things.

Such displays of self-importance do not render Burlingame stronger or instantly worthy of respect, they highlight the absence of humility and the underlying insecurity. The contrast between his poor understanding of himself & the world versus the way things really are renders him all the more amusing.

Burlingame is like the grandpa on The Simpsons who spends his spare time writing letters of complaint. One time Grandpa Simpson wrote the president to complain that there were too many states. Just like a sitcom grandpa, we laugh and shake our heads at his silliness: "That's our Anson!" Or like the puppy who jumps into a chair at the dinner table: "Awww, he thinks he's people!"

Anonymous said...

Amusing that Woolston himself isn't so sure that he's in the clear: Loraine made a significant point about how he's been denying the City Council his expertise in real estate by abstaining on "many ... crucial votes on real estate matters". See pages 12-14 of the report.

Anonymous said...

Cj, Flowers, and Landis take Anson very, very seriously. Why, despite the fact that his district is falling down around his ears. Cj has found time to make many personal visits to Anson's in order to educate him the Joplin Way about the state of the schools and their all-American activities concerning the school board race. Unfortunately, only about five people can stomach reading Anson's prattle, including Anson, so their efforts have gained them nothing. No matter how hard you try, you just can't sell a dead mule. But nice try, fellas!! Now, back to trying to run the district. Truly, I amuse myself sometimes...when have they actually tried to run the district anywhere but straight into the ground?

Anonymous said...

it took anson a long time to respond because he couldn't find his crayons

Anonymous said...

I wish someone could explain how the investigator got it so wrong or did a witch hunt? Do the so called 5 wave a hand and he just made up stuff? The investigator had a job to do and some just don't like what came out, but to call the man on the payroll of corrupt candidates is silly. If Mr. Burlingame has some information to back up his statements by all means "please" let everyone know! If not then you should stick to things you can prove!