Scott Pullins endorses tax dollars going to al Qaeda, anti-Amway/Quixtar blogger claims

COLUMBUS--A liberal blogger whose focus has been on the politicians backed by direct sales company Amway and its North American reincarnation, Quixtar, says the nasty behavior by Ohio's conservative bloggers such as Mount Vernon attorney Scott Pullins is a smokescreen for their support of Federal tax money going to al Qaeda operatives in Iraq.

"Scott Pullins and his blog buddies are showing their support for al Qaeda by just how low they can go in their smear tactics," said MLM Liberal blogger Sean Gilbow. "They're trying to hide the fact the candidates they endorse have, in one way or another, put our tax money in the hands of al Qaeda.

"These are the bloggers who oppose taxation in general, and they repeatedly say the Democrats, regardless of what office they run for, are going to raise taxes. After I heard about what's happening with some of our tax dollars in Iraq, and how the politicians these neocons put into office made this all possible, I consider Scott Pullins to be the leader of the Ohio equivalent of al Qaeda."

Gilbow cited comments from a report released by U.S. Senator Carl Levin on his trip to Iraq earlier this month:

In our visit to al-Anbar province, we learned that, unlike elsewhere in Iraq where sectarian violence is the biggest threat, the insurgency, which is increasingly dominated and led by al Qaeda, is the main threat. Our Marine leadership in al Anbar advises that 30 percent of all contracts, including U.S. Government let contracts paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars, goes to al Qaeda.

Levin is a Senator from Michigan, home to Amway/Quixtar and its parent company Alticor. And private contractors in Iraq have become an issue in the race for Governor as former Amway President Dick DeVos is running on the Republican ticket. DeVos' brother-in law, Erik Prince, is CEO and co-founder of Blackwater, one of the companies receiving government contracts to aid in Iraq's reconstruction.

Gilbow blames bloggers such as Pullins, BizzyBlog's Tom Blumer, Matt Cole of Lincoln Logs and NixGuy Dave for supporting terrorists on another front: the U.S.-Mexican border.

"They are pro-cheap labor, regardless of what spin they may place on the illegal immigrant issue, and more illegal immigrants mean more cheap labor," said Gilbow, who himself is a member of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association. "In the process, these bloggers have given the welcome mat to Hezbollah."

Gilbow, who has worked with employees of Ohio Homeland Security during his nearly 10 years with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, cited a report released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The 40-page report included results of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which documented how members of Hezbollah and other Middle Eastern terrorists were able to enter the U.S. from Mexico.

The MLM Liberal blog has received media attention in a roundabout way over the past two weeks. While neither the blog nor Gilbow were mentioned by name, a posting on the blog was mentioned in a front page article in Monday's Wall Street Journal on William Kerr, the conservative blogger from Oklahoma City who "outed" a former Congressional page in the center of the Mark Foley scandal.

The posting was a photo of Kerr's son Brandon, which the Journal says was an attempt to spook Kerr. Gilbow cited his comments underneath Brandon's photo as proof to the contrary:

I work with some of the state's best investigators and officers. What William Kerr did in one fell swoop was jeopardize the work of these investigators, along with those on the local level, who are determined to find child sexual predators and get them off our streets...Now, thanks to William Kerr, no child is as safe as he or she was yesterday. Not even his own flesh and blood.

The Journal story came just days after MLM Liberal was cited by the conservative World Net Daily for calling Scott Pullins' postings on Ohio Congressman Ted Strickland "Swift Boating tactics." However, the WND piece linked to a follow-up of the original posting, which linked Pullins to the 2004 suicide of Brandon Ratliff, an Afghan war veteran who returned home to discover his promotion with the Columbus Health Department was taken away.

Pullins' Ohio Taxpayers Association ran a barrage of commercials which Gilbow calls "deceitful." The commercials aired in 2002 to get voters to turn down Issue 18, a $4-per-day car rental tax which would have averted the budget cuts made by the City of Columbus--cuts which resulted in a "bumped" city employee getting the position which was originally to go to Ratliff. He took his own life as the City of Columbus was investigating the loss of his promotion.

Gilbow emphasized he has generally been careful with his comments on MLM Liberal, including his statements about Pullins, but he said the postings by Pullins and BizzyBlog's Tom Blumer justify him getting, to quote liberal talk-show host Ed Schultz, "down in the mud with the pigs."

After the final gubernatorial candidate debate between Democrat Strickland and Republican Ken Blackwell, Gilbow said a quick Google search showed where Blackwell read about the 1999 resolution on which Strickland's vote resulted in, according to Blackwell, a standing ovation from the North American Man/Boy Love Association: Tom Blumer at BizzyBlog.

Gilbow posted Blumer's photo with these comments: "There is no doubt Blackwell's comments were based on what he read at BizzyBlog. Now, thanks to Ken Blackwell, Tom Blumer is linked to the National Man-Boy Love Association."

But Gilbow has left his choicest comments for Scott Pullins, especially after learning he followed the lead of William Kerr. In comments he left at Buckeye State Blog, Gilbow said:

"Scott Pullins has done something even more despicable by releasing the name and address of the victim of a sex crime which occurred when she was 13...Upon reading this, I'd be more than happy (please pardon the sarcasm) to post a picture of his daughter Alaina."

Gilbow said his focus on politicians backed with campaign money from Amway/Quixtar has not changed. Case in point: A posting yesterday citing figures from OhioMoneyTree.com which indicate Ken Blackwell's campaign coffers received more than $770,000 from the corporation, co-founder Rich DeVos and son Dick.

"Let's not forget that Ken Blackwell headed the Bush-Cheney Ohio campaign in 2004. And I won't let anyone forget his role in making me a second-class citizen," said the openly gay Gilbow, who cited Blackwell's involvement while Secretary of State in the campaign to get passed Ohio's Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

"Just Cheney's longstanding connection with Halliburton is enough for me to start posting photos of bin Laden right beside Ken Blackwell in future blog postings. Same goes for Dick DeVos and his dad," Gilbow said. "Thanks to what Senator Levin found out, we now know how much they have shown support for al Qaeda. And no sex scandal is going to stand in the way of this message getting out the voters.

"And just as bad for Ken Blackwell as his being linked to al Qaeda will be that he is, without question, the Amway candidate."

MLM Liberal blogger Sean Gilbow with talk show host Stephanie Miller during her 2005 appearance in Columbus.