Cultural Revolutionary

It would probably never happen, but I would love to see a split party ticket. Giuliani/Edwards… Thoughts?

Over the past 24 hours, I have gotten and answered a lot of questions about Thomas and the time I spent working for him. There are others that I haven’t had the opportunity to answer yet. So, I thought I would post some of them here.

1. Is Thomas gay? No, not to my knowledge. Apparently this seems to be a rumor that a lot of people have heard. As usual, I couldn’t care less what his sexual orientation is. But, I can tell you that during my time working with him, he only “dated” women.

2. Has Thomas been married? Yes. He had a short marriage to the daughter of General Ryan. She had been previously married and had a child. It was my understanding that she was so unhappy with the way the relationship turned out that she simply wanted “out”. Thomas was later engaged to a dental hygenist that he basically left standing at the alter. His secretary and longterm employee told me that she was asked to call “Candace” (yes, her real name) several hours before the wedding was to take place and let her know that she could pick up house keys, there would be no wedding, and Thomas would be gone for awhile. Apparently she was given some time to get things in order while living in one of his houses.

3. When did I work for Thomas? I worked for him the first part of 2003. I was being paid by Ravenel Development Company. However, I was actually working on his US Senate campaign. He had not declared his candidacy at the time I went to work for him. But, within several months he did. Yes, I now realize that according to FEC guidelines that he should not have been paying us (there were 3 of us working full-time on the campaign) out of his business funds. He should have had campaign accounts set-up before hiring people. But, I didn’t know that at the time.

4. Do I hate Thomas? Am I jealous of him? Am I just a disgruntled employee? None of the above. I left under good terms. I worked out a notice. I have spoken to him since. And, I believe he does have some good ideas. He is, afterall, really a libertarian and not a Republican. However, he broke the law (or at least the feds believe he did… and so do I). And, I feel that it is only right that people know the truth. Back during the US Senate election, and during the SC Treasurer’s race, I spoke out. People simply didn’t wish to listen then.

Cash and cocaine is the answer. The question is, “What does a state treasurer need to know a lot about? ”

Yesterday, South Carolina’s treasurer, Thomas J. J. Ravenel, was indicted on federal drug charges for “intent to distribute cocaine”. Of course, he has now been suspended from his elected position.

Way back in 2003, I worked for Thomas Ravenel. Yep… He’s a Republican. Nope…. I’m not. But, believe it or not, we did have some things in common politically. Thusly, I took a paid position working with him on his US Senate campaign. Of course, he came in third. But, for a rich boy from Charleston with no political background (except for being the son of politician Arthur Ravenel), most think he did pretty well.

Working with Thomas taught me just how disgusting the business of politics really is. Granted, I had some fun, I made reasonable money. And it was a learning experience (to say the very least). But the cost was that in the few months that I worked with him, I came home feeling disgusted every day. The song phrase “I don’t wanna do your dirty work no more” comes to mind. After awhile, I could no longer take it and left the position under supposedly good terms.

Here’s the truth of the matter though…. ANYONE who put Thomas Ravenel on a pedestal, should not have done so. Furthermore, if you’re the sort of person that believes that politicians, police officers, members of the clergy, etc., should be held in high regard and therefore accountable to fairly high standards, you’re fooling yourself. The real truth is the politicians are, in general, “icky”. Like Thomas, most are wealthy. Like Thomas, most aren’t morally responsible citizens. They get into office not to be the helpers of society like they would like for their voters to believe. It’s rare that someone who actually gives a damn is elected. In fact, it’s much more likely that they are there for their power trip.

Extremely wealthy people do things the rest of us can’t even imagine. For instance, Thomas jetted off to Paris several times a year to “hang-out” because he liked French wine, food, and the lifestyle there. He had (possibly still has) an apartment there that he used for his escapades. Back in Charleston, he dated little poodle haired girls and had them working for him (for the record, she was barely legal to have a drink and he was 40). He left a fiance at the alter and had his secretary call off the wedding. He had VERY expensive nude portraits (which were actually quite nice) in his even more expensive downtown Charleston house. On one occasion when we were waiting for Thomas to show up for a meeting we were surprised by a cell phone call from him in Hawaii… You see, he had (pardon the pun) “blown off” the meeting because he wanted to get some sun. Another time the cell phone call was from Hollywood where he had flown in the middle of the night to party with friends. I know these things from seeing and hearing them for myself. I was there.

Obviously, it was no news to me that Thomas would inhale, snort, drink, or anything else that a typical “Playboy” would do. There is no defense for the fact that he is a public official who was likely breaking the law- innocent until PROVEN guilty, right? However, anyone who would have expected different should examine their motivations for thinking otherwise. Just because someone is wealthy, attractive, well-spoken, educated, and has some good ideas, they are no different than any of the rest of us. Still human.

….Stay Tuned For PART 2 Tomorrrow!

That’s right, folks! Whitney is coming for a visit. For those of you who don’t know, Whit is one of my favorite people. She’s like the younger sister I never had (except lots taller, with blonde hair, cuter, and skinnier). Whit was one of Tony’s first ABA therapists and she became family. I mean family in the sense that no matter where her path in life leads, we will always stay in touch. Family in the way that we always like Whit even when we don’t always like our family. You understand what I mean, right? We credit her with much of Tony’s development. She is ever patient and understanding. I can only imagine what wonderful parents it must take to raise such a well adjusted and smart kid. Seriously. I think that having really great parents must have made Whitney at least part of what she is today and I am hoping that maybe someday my kids will be half as well adjusted. She’s an asset to the world… She left us to get a master’s degree in ABA therapy. She volunteered with non-native speakers to help them get medical care. And, she’s socially and environmentally responsible. What more could one ask for?

Yeah… I love this girl. And I am so happy to see her this weekend. We haven’t seen her since her winter holiday break. And we’ve missed her. Of course, we talk on the phone and online but it isn’t the same. She’ll walk in here tonight and it will be like she was never gone. I can’t wait to give her a rare steak, some shrimp, and a glass of good red wine. What a fabulous early birthday gift to have her here!

The color.

Yes, my son has pink shoes. Yes, he loves mermaids, tractors, blocks, pirates, etc.

No, I am not concerned that by allowing him to have the pink Crocs that he so desperately wanted that I will in someway make him “turn” gay anymore than the fact that he loves tractors and cars will make him “turn” straight.

No, I do not believe people “turn” gay (or straight for that matter). Sexuality is not a choice. All of the gay people that I know well will tell you that their lives would have been easier if they could have denied to themselves, as well as the rest of the world, who they really are.

So, get a life and quit giving my kid strange looks because he likes pink and mermaids! Besides, if he does end up choosing to share his life with a man instead of a woman, at least I will continue to be the only bitch in his life. LOL!

And, while you’re at it, you can quit giving my other kid strange looks and making snide comments because she likes what she likes… THEY ARE CLOTHES. A way of expressing individuality.

This is the last rant of the day… I swear.

There have been several instances in my life recently that have left me to ponder this question…

I am going to speak in generalizations, as well as some limited specifics, but I think that my thoughts and beliefs will still shine though (just as they always seem to).

Why can people not agree to disagree? Just because we may disagree on one topic or issue, I can’t why one should assume that we might not have other things or beliefs in common.

Why do supposed “friends” no longer support each other? When my friends are having a bad day, week, month, etc., I WANT to offer them support. I want to tell them I give a damn. I expect the same from them. My true friends always come through for me and I hope I do the same for them. Granted, sometimes we might not stay in touch like we should, but in the end, when the crap hits the fan, I know who I can depend on. It seems like that sort of thing is missing in today’s world. I have watched recently as friends, and Anton (who I guess is also a friend… LOL!), were having truly bad things happen in their world’s only to have people they considered friends not even comment. Who needs friends like that? Not Marlaina. Not today, not ever. The only difference is that in both the case of my friends and Anton, they didn’t speak up and tell these people when they weren’t being treated like a friend. In this instance, I am happy that I wear my heart on my sleeve and am a completely open book. You can damn well bet that my best friends can tell you how I feel about anything and everything. And if they hurt me, they know it and we either move past it or not…

Along the same lines as support come loyalty. What happened to loyalty? My best friend, Natalie, and I have always sort of had an agreement about loyalty. I tell her when she’s wrong and she does the same for me. But, I will ALWAYS be loyal to her. There is no way I would stand by and let people talk shit about her. There is no way that I would be on an e-mail list or online group while others said negative things about her. The same goes for other important people in my life like my children, husband, parents, brother, in-laws, etc. I guess that people in my life are sort of ranked based upon our history together. For instance, I would never allow old acquaintances to treat my husband negatively. And, furthermore, I would expect them to also stand-up for him because he is married to me and they supposedly respect me. I realize others don’t feel as strongly about this as I do. In fact, my own husband doesn’t feel strongly about it at all. He believes I should stand-up for myself (which I never seem to have a problem doing anyway). But, I see it as a loyalty issue. An issue of standing-up for one’s friends or spouse and family above all others. Is this the one way in which I am sort of old fashioned?

Rant over… Just something to ponder and something I am trying to “work-out” in my own head…

I never do get around to doing everything that I plan on doing. Therefore, the gardening page is still without photos. And I didn’t have time to give truly complete updates. But, the page deserved at least a little attention…

I suppose that this is a rant of sorts… So I will tag it as such…

Those of you who have been reading my blog for several months will remember our trials and tribulations with the “faux-hippies” from the Full Moon Bus Club. Since my original posts about them, several of their members have continued to spread rumors (untrue, of course) and be simply nasty. Of course, there is no way they can actually hurt us and I find it actually funny that they would continue to keep it up months afterwards. I did try several months back to reach out to the club as a whole and was welcomed back by a few of the real people there. Unfortunately, they are ruled by a dictatorship…

Here’s the REALLY funny thing though… I check the stats on this webpage regularly. I like to see who my readers are. Apparently TONS of people from FMBC still read my blog and link to it directly from the Full Moon website. In fact, the dictators themselves read it! You see, you can tell a lot from webstats if you know what you’re looking at and you know how to read between the lines. Too funny that they are so interested in the one person that they all love to hate…