Get Outta Town August 27
(August 27) This week’s episode of Get Out of Town is dedicated to Al Franken, author of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, the number one non-fiction book in the country. And it definitely deserves that honor as it is the first book in years that has had me laughing out loud.
Before we get to today’s victim, I have another New Rule. Actually, I intended to include this one last week, and it was one of the main reasons I wanted to do a New Rule segment. Being the space cadet that I am, though, I forgot all about it when I was compiling my list last Tuesday night.
So this week’s New Rule – as of today nobody can ever use 9/11 as an excuse for their own personal failure. I’ve always found 9/11 as a convenient excuse. Anytime something goes wrong, it’s 9/11. That’s BS. But a few weeks ago, an article in the paper once again allowed a failure of a businessman to blame the terrorists for his own shortcomings.
This story dealt with a certain downtown restaurant that took over a formerly successful business. The new owner immediately threw money into the building. He expanded into the open spot next door; he hired twice as many employees as needed and also sunk a ton of money into advertising. Unfortunately, he mainly threw this money at an AM station that appealed to an age group approximately double of those that had frequented the former business.
He also held back his scheduled payments to the previous owner, a small businesswoman who had sunk her life savings into this place. Even when he made it known that he was going to close, he refused to throw her a couple of bones. She even requested that he turn over his overpriced wine inventory. Instead, he threw a big party for his friends the day after he closed. A few days later he declared bankruptcy. Not only did the former owner never receive her cash, she was ultimately forced to spend a ton of cash to buy it back.
So let’s declare a moratorium on 9/11 as an excuse. It’s been two years and we’re a couple of thousand miles from New York City. I don’t think the tragedy is really affecting our day to day life.
On to this week’s Get Out of Town. I must say that I gave this week’s victim a lot of thought before I put these words on paper. This guy is a pure nutjob, and as I discussed with Cade and a few other Midco staffers a few weeks ago, I’m kind of hesitant to give these morons any sort of publicity. You know, people like Neil Tapio, who has no reason to be in the news yet always manages to say something outrageous just to further his own self-interest.
But I can’t help but rant about this week’s victim. The story begins this past Monday. As you remember, this was two days after Wild Bill’s tragic adventure, and we still didn’t know much about what happened. I was listening to Greg Belfrage’s show that afternoon, and to his credit he was only allowing people to comment on what was known to be fact. There was no speculation allowed.
Greg was consistent in cutting off anyone who would provide second-hand info or just plain guessing as to what happened at Trent-aquidic. Around halfway into his broadcast, he received a call from a listener babbling uncomfirmed theories about Randy Scott, the victim of the tragic accident.
This gentleman was babbling about alcohol use and the driving speed of Scott, arguing that he had to be speeding or else he wouldn’t have flown as far as he did. He agreed that nobody should be speculating about Janklow’s actions, but for some reason he should feel free to do the same about Randy Scott.
Two days later came reports that a gentleman by the name of James P. Wainscoat, of Viborg, had been quoted at the scene of the accident by a Washington Post reporter as being hired by the Janklow family to “gather information about the accident and the cyclist”. The supposedly former Metropolitan Police Department officer from the District of Columbia, also was quoted as saying “even if you run a stop sign and somebody iskilled, there can be mitigating factors that help your defense. My job is to find those factors”.
When the story hit the papers, Wainscoat then called the Associated Press and denied that he had been hired by Janklow, and that he was “working on his own to scour the accident scene for evidence because he thinks news reports about the crash have not given enough information favorable to the Congressman”.
Further reports also stated that he had actually visited Janklow’s residence and tried to talk to Janklow’s wife, Mary Dean Janklow. He was quickly asked to leave, and Janklow even made his first and only comment since the accident – “This guy’s a liar and he’s invented this. It isn’t just a matter of denying it. It never happened…I don’t even know who he is”.
Thursday afternoon, Wainscoat, who turned out to be the insane guy who called on Monday, once again called Belfrage’s show. The Washington Post story came about because three days after the accident he had traveled to the crash site to investigate. He claimed to have found a Coke can that reeked of alcohol, and when he called out to someone to witness his find the Washington Post reporter responded. Asked who he was, Wainscoat admittedly told the reporter that he was on the scene on behalf of the Janklow’s….not investigating on his own but in behalf of Bill.
In his call to Belfrage, he also claimed to be investigating Scott’s background by visiting the liquor establishments in his hometown. All of this despite the fact that investigators had already concluded that Janklow was speeding, had failed to stop at the stop sign, and that neither driver had consumed alcohol. But this Coke, again found three days later, was supposed to lead investigators to retest Scott’s blood alcohol levels.
What a moron. As Belfrage said on his website, these are “reckless allegations. Wainscoat has not only harmed Congressman Janklow with his actions…but his brazen arrogance only deepens the wounds suffered by the Scott family.”
As if this wasn’t enough, it turns out that in November, 2001, Wainscoat was arrested in Omaha after climbing atop a fountain on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus and burning a flag bearing the likeness of Osama Bin Laden. According to the AP, “Wainscoat, clad head-to-toe in fatigues, defied police for more than two hours as he waved an American flag atop the fountain, then burned what he deemed a Taliban flag.”
This guy is obviously short a few marbles, and needs to leave immediately. I’ve got a few suggestions for his next gig. Maybe the unsolved anthrax found in Daschle’s office? Oh yeah; wrong political party. Or the Laci Peterson case probably needs a few more nutjobs. Isn’t OJ still searching for the real killers? No, I got it. Let’s send him to Iraq to search for Weapons of Mass Destruction.
(August 27) This week’s episode of Get Out of Town is dedicated to Al Franken, author of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, the number one non-fiction book in the country. And it definitely deserves that honor as it is the first book in years that has had me laughing out loud.
Before we get to today’s victim, I have another New Rule. Actually, I intended to include this one last week, and it was one of the main reasons I wanted to do a New Rule segment. Being the space cadet that I am, though, I forgot all about it when I was compiling my list last Tuesday night.
So this week’s New Rule – as of today nobody can ever use 9/11 as an excuse for their own personal failure. I’ve always found 9/11 as a convenient excuse. Anytime something goes wrong, it’s 9/11. That’s BS. But a few weeks ago, an article in the paper once again allowed a failure of a businessman to blame the terrorists for his own shortcomings.
This story dealt with a certain downtown restaurant that took over a formerly successful business. The new owner immediately threw money into the building. He expanded into the open spot next door; he hired twice as many employees as needed and also sunk a ton of money into advertising. Unfortunately, he mainly threw this money at an AM station that appealed to an age group approximately double of those that had frequented the former business.
He also held back his scheduled payments to the previous owner, a small businesswoman who had sunk her life savings into this place. Even when he made it known that he was going to close, he refused to throw her a couple of bones. She even requested that he turn over his overpriced wine inventory. Instead, he threw a big party for his friends the day after he closed. A few days later he declared bankruptcy. Not only did the former owner never receive her cash, she was ultimately forced to spend a ton of cash to buy it back.
So let’s declare a moratorium on 9/11 as an excuse. It’s been two years and we’re a couple of thousand miles from New York City. I don’t think the tragedy is really affecting our day to day life.
On to this week’s Get Out of Town. I must say that I gave this week’s victim a lot of thought before I put these words on paper. This guy is a pure nutjob, and as I discussed with Cade and a few other Midco staffers a few weeks ago, I’m kind of hesitant to give these morons any sort of publicity. You know, people like Neil Tapio, who has no reason to be in the news yet always manages to say something outrageous just to further his own self-interest.
But I can’t help but rant about this week’s victim. The story begins this past Monday. As you remember, this was two days after Wild Bill’s tragic adventure, and we still didn’t know much about what happened. I was listening to Greg Belfrage’s show that afternoon, and to his credit he was only allowing people to comment on what was known to be fact. There was no speculation allowed.
Greg was consistent in cutting off anyone who would provide second-hand info or just plain guessing as to what happened at Trent-aquidic. Around halfway into his broadcast, he received a call from a listener babbling uncomfirmed theories about Randy Scott, the victim of the tragic accident.
This gentleman was babbling about alcohol use and the driving speed of Scott, arguing that he had to be speeding or else he wouldn’t have flown as far as he did. He agreed that nobody should be speculating about Janklow’s actions, but for some reason he should feel free to do the same about Randy Scott.
Two days later came reports that a gentleman by the name of James P. Wainscoat, of Viborg, had been quoted at the scene of the accident by a Washington Post reporter as being hired by the Janklow family to “gather information about the accident and the cyclist”. The supposedly former Metropolitan Police Department officer from the District of Columbia, also was quoted as saying “even if you run a stop sign and somebody iskilled, there can be mitigating factors that help your defense. My job is to find those factors”.
When the story hit the papers, Wainscoat then called the Associated Press and denied that he had been hired by Janklow, and that he was “working on his own to scour the accident scene for evidence because he thinks news reports about the crash have not given enough information favorable to the Congressman”.
Further reports also stated that he had actually visited Janklow’s residence and tried to talk to Janklow’s wife, Mary Dean Janklow. He was quickly asked to leave, and Janklow even made his first and only comment since the accident – “This guy’s a liar and he’s invented this. It isn’t just a matter of denying it. It never happened…I don’t even know who he is”.
Thursday afternoon, Wainscoat, who turned out to be the insane guy who called on Monday, once again called Belfrage’s show. The Washington Post story came about because three days after the accident he had traveled to the crash site to investigate. He claimed to have found a Coke can that reeked of alcohol, and when he called out to someone to witness his find the Washington Post reporter responded. Asked who he was, Wainscoat admittedly told the reporter that he was on the scene on behalf of the Janklow’s….not investigating on his own but in behalf of Bill.
In his call to Belfrage, he also claimed to be investigating Scott’s background by visiting the liquor establishments in his hometown. All of this despite the fact that investigators had already concluded that Janklow was speeding, had failed to stop at the stop sign, and that neither driver had consumed alcohol. But this Coke, again found three days later, was supposed to lead investigators to retest Scott’s blood alcohol levels.
What a moron. As Belfrage said on his website, these are “reckless allegations. Wainscoat has not only harmed Congressman Janklow with his actions…but his brazen arrogance only deepens the wounds suffered by the Scott family.”
As if this wasn’t enough, it turns out that in November, 2001, Wainscoat was arrested in Omaha after climbing atop a fountain on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus and burning a flag bearing the likeness of Osama Bin Laden. According to the AP, “Wainscoat, clad head-to-toe in fatigues, defied police for more than two hours as he waved an American flag atop the fountain, then burned what he deemed a Taliban flag.”
This guy is obviously short a few marbles, and needs to leave immediately. I’ve got a few suggestions for his next gig. Maybe the unsolved anthrax found in Daschle’s office? Oh yeah; wrong political party. Or the Laci Peterson case probably needs a few more nutjobs. Isn’t OJ still searching for the real killers? No, I got it. Let’s send him to Iraq to search for Weapons of Mass Destruction.
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