Archive for November 3rd, 2011
Former NPR Board Chairman Says Herman Cain Victim Of Hatchet Job
November 3, 2011 - By David Martosko – The Daily Caller Published: 6:33 PM 11/03/2011 | Updated: 8:20 PM 11/03/2011
In an interview with The Daily Caller, former National Restaurant Association board chairman Joseph Fassler offered a firm defense of GOP presidential front-runner Herman Cain, along with an explanation for how Washington’s best kept secret — the identities of Cain’s sexual-harassment accusers — was also kept from the association’s board.
“The accusations? It’s a hatchet job, in my opinion,” Fassler told TheDC from his Phoenix, Ariz. office. “My gut tells me it’s a hatchet job. He gets a lead, he gets some traction, and the next thing you know, here come these allegations. It’s sad.”
Fassler said his four years in leadership positions on the association’s board — including one year as chairman and another as past chairman — overlapped with two and one-half years of Cain’s time as CEO. Fassler was first elected to the board in 1984, and was chairman in 1997.
While he said he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of reports that the restaurant trade group made five-figure payments to employees then embroiled in what is now a campaign scandal, Fassler said he was never informed about those payments while on the board.
Politico reported late Thursday that one of Cain’s accusers, then a 30-year-old female government-affairs staffer, reported an allegation of sexual harassment to an NRA board member within hours of what she said was an improper sexual overture.
Fassler’s account, however, either questions the accuracy of this account or suggests a communications failure among board members.
He told TheDC that he “never heard anything about Herman that would suggest he had those sort of allegations lodged against him. He was a professional. Thoroughly professional.”
Severance agreements, he said, were — and remain — “common” in human resource management. “You offer people severance agreements, unless they are for cause, all the time,” he said.
At the National Restaurant Association, Fassler explained, complaints about workplace behavior were referred to the human resources department. “Then HR would bring it to the legal department. If it was about someone in a particular job, I imagine the complaint would have gone to his boss.”
The board of directors is the CEO’s “boss,” of course.
Asked why no complaint about Herman Cain ever reached the board, Fassler put the episode in perspective, essentially seeing the amount of money involved as small-potatoes.
“This agreement? If it was of a major magnitude, I would have been shocked to not have known about it. So my takeaway was that it must not have been of a major magnitude,” he told TheDC.
Fassler drew a clear distinction between legal settlements for significant amounts of money and routine severance packages that would normally be handled far beneath the board’s level of responsibility.
“At the association, people had a level of authority — an amount of money that they can spend before they have to bring it to the board [for approval],” he explained. “In this case, if it was over their authority level — and I don’t remember what that level was — they would have to bring it to the executive committee [of the board].
“If it’s a routine matter, they don’t have to bring it to us. We never got it, so it was a routine matter.”
Fassler’s memories of Cain, he said, were all positive. He called the GOP front-runner a smart businessman, and said that even 15 years ago, the Georgia pizza mogul had a grasp of government policy and routine that was stronger than most of his peers.
“Herman, during those days, did a very good job of getting our message heard on the Hill,” Fassler said.
“He’s a very expressive communicator, very affable. People enjoy listening to his speeches. He’s very entertaining, and in my mind a very factual-oriented person.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/03/national-restaurant-association-chairman-during-cain%e2%80%99s-tenure-its-a-hatchet-job/#ixzz1ch0oDIne
Herman Cain: Defying All Odds And The Liberal Media
November 3, 2011- Nothing seems to be able to stop the Herman Cain campaign. His donations and popularity continue to grow despite the negative reports which seem endless at this point.
With all that has come out about Cain, and his alleged sex scandal, Cain remains strong and eager to fight. The stories just keep coming. First two women, now a third comes into play. Then we have the Cain team saying it’s either Curt Anderson or it’s all Rick Perry’s fault. Curt Anderson just happened to be Herman Cain’s strategist when he ran for the Senate. Now Curt Anderson works for Perry campaign.
In fairness, here is Curt Anderson’s response to Herman Cain’s comments :
“I’ve known Herman Cain for about 7 years. I was one of several consultants on his Senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. I’d never heard any of these allegations until I read them in Politico, nor does anything I read in the press change my opinion that Herman is an upstanding man and a gentleman. I have great respect for Herman and his character and I would never speak ill of him, on the record or off the record. That’s true today and it’s not going to change.”
Now what the hell is going on over at the Washington Post? They ran an on line story about the Herman Cain sex scandal, and for some mysterious reason they decided to omit parts of the end of the story in a second version of it.
Here is the part that was deleted from the Washington Post website story as it ran on Tuesday: “Because the case is more than a dozen years old, Bennett,” the woman’s lawyer, “said he no longer has the file nor does he have the confidentiality agreement. He said that he had not even remembered the name of the Association official who his client had accused. He said he doesn’t remember going to the Association offices. He thinks the matter might have been handled over fax and telephone quite expeditiously.”
That part of the story, which was omitted, is critical to the full story. It’s been omitted from the Washington Post story that is now, at present, running. Are you freaking kidding me? This Bennett guy didn’t even remember that it was Herman Cain. The case was handled via faxes and phone conversations? Yet this guy is running around making it sound like his client has some big damn story that is going to destroy Herman Cain if it ever gets out. Sounds to me like it wasn’t all that big a deal back then. It was handled through faxes and freaking phone conversations! How damn serious could it have been?
Regardless of all that has, and is taking place, I still believe that Herman Cain will pull through this. He will remain a serious contender despite the media and the oppositions attempts to destroy him. He has to. We need this guy to succeed.
Remember how the media gave Clinton an easy ticket through his series of adultery, sex scandals and rape. Yes I said rape. Remember Juanita Broddrick? Clinton got a pass on damn near everything he did. Including the rape accusation. Of course that was the liberal media kissing his ass just like they kissed Ted Kennedy’s ass when he killed Mary Jo Kopechne. Bill Clinton, I wouldn’t trust that bastard alone with my daughter for a minute.
Herman Cain is a different target. He isn’t a politician. Cain is more like you and me. Cain stands up to the media with as few excuses as he can. He doesn’t act like a politician. He doesn’t answer like a politician which makes him sound somewhat raw. He answers questions without beating around the bush. Yea, sure he has later modified some of his comments, but who doesn’t. This is a man being sincere with his answers. Unlike a seasoned politician who has been taught to lie and mislead his way through the media. Cain answers without trying please or pacify everyone around him. He speaks from his heart, not his teleprompter. I find Herman Cain to be refreshing, and good change for a man who is running for President of the United States.
I hope Herman Cain stays the course and fights the good fight. Keep the faith Herminator, America needs you.
- J Roycroft
Related articles
- Jump on the Herman Cain Blame Game Train (slog.thestranger.com)
- Romney tie to former National Restaurant Association head? Though Cain says leaker was Perry adviser. (americablog.com)
- Herman Cain accuses Rick Perry of smear campaign over sexual harrassment allegations (telegraph.co.uk)
- AP: Third woman comes forward to accuse Cain of harassment; Update: “Positive development” coming? Update: Cain blames Perry camp (hotair.com)
