Couldn’t Help But Notice (021808)

This story isn’t ringing true for me:

Throughout the event, as (former president Bill) Clinton made his case for his wife, (Robert) Holeman’s dissenting voice could be heard. At times he simply shouted Obama’s name. When Clinton would set up a sure applause line, Holeman could be heard heckling. As soon as Clinton finished speaking, the Canton native made a beeline to the ropeline to give Clinton a piece of his mind.

“I asked the president to please stop the bickering between the campaigns,” Holeman said in an interview afterwards. “All this name calling is like the bully in the yard. He can’t get his way, he can’t get nothing done.” Holeman said he thought Clinton was “gasping for air.”

“This is the last hurrah. After March 4, Hillary Clinton will be out of the race for good, and Obama will take the commanding lead,” he said. “She should back him with her delegates immediately. That’s what I’m asking them to do.”

*** UPDATE *** Obama spokesperson Ben LaBolt said Holeman was “absolutely not” a plant by the campaign. And a spokesperson for President Clinton who was near the president said there was no physical contact.

There’s no Canton-area listing for “Canton native” Robert Holeman at InfoSpace, and no “home listing” (with or without a phone number) for ANY Canton-area Holeman at 411.com. In fact, there’s only one Robert Holeman listed for all of Ohio, and his estimated age doesn’t tie in.

I also find it interesting that security for the husband of The Queen of Plants allowed “Holeman,” or whoever he really is, to interrupt Mr. Clinton so frequently, and to get so close to him. Also, was MSNBC “encouraged” to follow up with the Obama campaign, which as far as I know has never been accused of placing plants, or did it follow up without prodding?

Finally, as to the “When Clinton would set up a sure applause line” part — Where does a lone heckler get that kind of impeccable timing?

Of course, I haven’t proven anything, but given Mrs. Clinton’s past record, “somebody” should be digging — and hard. I wonder if anyone who tries will be able to find Mr. “Holeman” today?

Posted in longer form at NewsBusters.org. NewsBusters has deleted its version of this post on the grounds that the evidence is too thin. I respect their decision to do as they wish with their blog, but I feel comfortable that what is presented above is presented properly as somewhat speculative but worthy of consideration. I intend to get more evidence on the existence or non-existence of “Robert Holeman” in the coming days, and will reveal it when known.

Also: Did Mr. “Holeman” self-characterize as a “Canton native” to avoid telling reporters where he’s really living now?

UPDATE, Feb. 19: According to the Stark County Board of Elections (county seat is Canton), a Robert Holeman was registered to vote until 1999, when his registration was cancelled for non-activity. The Stark County person I spoke with also did a statewide search, and found no other Robert Holeman besides the one mentioned earlier whose age doesn’t tie in.

I discussed registration cancellation procedures with an official at the Warren County Board of Elections (my home county). That person indicated that cancellation procedures begin after a person has not voted in two “general elections,” which, as they define it, only occur in presidential election years.

This would indicate, if it’s the same guy, that this person, who according to the MSNBC report “said he did support Bill Clinton during his campaigns,” didn’t support him enough to vote for him in 1996 or 1992.

So a guy who doesn’t vote, and who may not even live in the area (remember that there is no evidence has been found that he lives anywhere in Ohio), gets motivated to go out and heckle a former president, and then to get in his face in a rope line? Not, adding, up.

UPDATE 2, Feb. 19: There is other indirect evidence. There is only one Robert Holeman listed at 411.com in semi-nearby Pennsylvania — and he is in Philadelphia, about 250 miles away. Various Google searches yielded no results relating to any Northeast Ohio-based Robert Holeman.

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Fiddle-dee-oops.

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If you live in California, a Globaloney curriculum (”globaloney” being shorthand around here for “global warming” and “climate change” hysteria) appears to be on its way to a school near you.

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Even if I weren’t giving Ford grief about suicidally ignoring the boycott by the American Family Association over the company’s proactive gay-agenda support, I would calling out the following exercise in corporate self-delusion:

Ford hopes buyouts help morale, bottom line

The current round of early retirement and buyout offers to most of Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. hourly workers will give them options to move on with their lives, but it also will help the automaker’s bottom line, according to Ford executives.

….. Joe Hinrichs, group vice president of global manufacturing, and Marty Mulloy, vice president for labor affairs, said this week in an interview that getting to the lower-tier wage scale is not the prime reason for offering the packages.

Yes, they want to improve the company’s profitability, but they also believe the packages will keep up morale as workers adjust to a new, smaller Ford that is sized to match customer demand for its cars and trucks.

At least in the short-term, the “bottom line” part of the improvement is probably true, though what constitutes “improvement” may be a smaller loss and not a profit. It’s the “morale” part that is probably wishful thinking by Hinrichs and Mulloy.

Most who have been through buyout situations like these will tell you that in general, the people you’d rather keep are more likely to leave, and the ones you’d like to see take a hike all too often don’t. The better employees who leave take with them quite a bit of institutional memory that simply doesn’t get passed on to those who stay, and the newbies who come on board.