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Norris bid in tatters as media vultures continue their swoop
Posted on Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 04:22 PM
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David Norris' bid for the Irish presidency looks to be on the brink of collapse as a media onslaught that reeks just a little of McCarthyism continues to pile on the ammunition.
The latest scandal to rock the Norris camp looks to be the toughest one yet: the revelation that the flamboyant Senator used his public office to seek clemency for a convicted Israeli sex offender has prompted the desertion of both his elections and communications managers, and left him clinging to a desperate alibi that he 'remains committed' to running for office no matter what.
Norris also took the unusual step of allowing Ireland's biggest selling weekly newspaper The Sunday Independent to reproduce the grovelling correspondence in full. The paper carries the text of the letters as well as photography clearing showing that they were panned on paper headed with the Seanad (Senate) emblem.
The letters -- addressed to the Israeli High Court judges hearing a trial which resulted in the conviction of his ex-lover for underage sex -- were intended either as a character reference or as a 'mitigating factor' in his prosecution (likely both) and try to portray Norris' ex as a hardworking Jerusalemite plumber seemingly caught in the middle of an over-zealous prosecution.
Most critically, however, they clearly show a Senator abusing his position in Government to seek doubtfully legitimate clemency for a former boyfriend. Thus the uproar.
Not the first scandal
This isn't the first 'scandal' to rock Norris' rocky road to a now very unlikely nomination as President this October.
In fact if truth be told his campaign trail so far has been a more or less fluid collection of them.
A talk radio show recently returned to public memory a highly contested interview Norris conducted with current affairs magazine Magill in 2002.
The part Norris strenuously denies is a comment he allegedly made condoning pederasty in Ancient Greece. Although Norris' interviewer has since apparently lost the tape of the interview recording (unfortunately a remarkably common phenomenon where Irish politics and the media collide), few seem to have given Norris the benefit of the doubt from that episode.
Where Norris' treatment at the hands of the all powerful media differs from practically all other candidates, both past and present, is that seemingly only he has been subjected to what appears to be something of a longstanding smear campaign that finds its primary mode of attack in regurgitating decades-old controversies back into the public eye.
That does nothing to make Norris' abuse of parliamentary power any less reprehensible (nor, if true, would it excuse the pederasty remarks), but it has given many commentators - supporters and detractors of his campaign alike - the uneasy feeling that Norris' bid is running 'up against it' in a way that other pretenders to the throne simply aren't. Taking into account his rather colourful history as a longstanding advocate for gay rights - still opposed by a not discountable proportion of the Irish population - there's plenty of reason to believe that the various 'tip-offs' that now seem to have felled his floundering campaign were carefully pre-meditated.
Every candidate for presidency no matter where in the world can expect to come up against some measure of political sniping and dirt-digging during the course of their bid for office, but for some what they face crosses the line of fairness.
As much I don't support his bid and disprove of his letter, Norris, I'm beginning to think, may be one of the latter.
See more: David Norris, Presidential elections
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themurphia | Jul 31, 2011, 06:43 PM EDT
Nowhere in the text of either document i.e. the one submitted to the trial of first instance or the subsequent Appeal does Norris state that he had a relationship with the defendant/Appellant...He states in the second document that he was 'a direct personal witness to some of the peripheral events surrounding the case' but does not cite what he witnessed merely refers the *JUDGES* to a letter in possession of the Appellants lawyers...The second document to the Appeal Court is addressed to the *JUDGES* of the Appeal Court NOT the lawyers...this could be construed as interference in the course of Justice...In the document to the Appeal Court (?) he begins by setting out his 'locus standii'*...and continues by referring to himself as 'a person of some consequence'...Say no more...!
*seems to be an awful lot of wannabe lawyers around these days...!
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kerryman201 | Jul 31, 2011, 05:50 PM EDT
I'm with TheMurphia on this one. Norris has played the media well -- so well that he shouldn't be surprised when it backfires on him as it has now.
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themurphia | Jul 31, 2011, 05:49 PM EDT
According to the interview in the Sunday Indo he wrote two character references one for the trial court the second for the Appeal...he claims the second was sent to the lawyers only and not the judges...It reads like Grounds of Appeal citing authorites mitigation submissions on appropriate sentencing...It's quite extraordinary...!Surely his ex's lawyers' were capable of making relevant submissions themselves...He also appears to be in total denial and suffering from selective memory syndrome...On the one hand this man meant so much to him he felt compelled to write to the court not once but twice years after their relationship had ended on the other hand he had 'mis-remembered' it when it came to canvassing...One of the grounds submitted to the Appeal hearing included 'late complaint' (?) which is I understand the one usd by the RCC when defending clerical sexual abuse cases...!
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themurphia | Jul 31, 2011, 05:11 PM EDT
On the contrary Danny...Norris has been the meeja darling...he has had more front page coverage than any other candidate...he was asked when he went courting nominations from the County Councillors if there was anything else likely to emerge that could embarass him or them and he told them there wasn't...His interview on Irish radio where he tried to extrictae himself from the Magill article was more damning that the original article... Following Magill there was a further article given last year and now this...The interview in the Indo speaks for itself...the attempt to use his position as an Irish Senator written on Seanad Ireland writing paper thus lending weight and implying greater credibility than a mere character reference...shows at the very least poor judgment...This is hardly conduct becoming of a Head of State...The liberal elite of Ireland have bent over backwards to get behind Norris...He's going to have to swallow this one...His political views let alone his personal views do not bear scrutiny for the President of an Independent Republic...so please don't play the GAY card...!
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