“It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that no one has heard before”

Written by Site Blog on April 27, 2011, 01:30 PM

 

Unfortunately in politics, when people don’t care for the person running for office, they are prone to believe the worst in them. This is obviously the case with some Utah voters, Paul Rolly (SL Tribune) and Ethan Millard (KSL-Nightside Project) in regards to Rep. Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman) who is considering and exploring running for U.S. Congress.

 

The misinformation is best described by both Mr. Millard’s Twitter post (past Twitter posts and comments show he despises Mr. Wimmer) and Mr. Rolly’s second column stating that I bought Mr. Wimmer a $11 movie ticket to the movie premier of Atlas Shrug that was sponsored as a fundraiser for Utah Young Republicans.  Reality, yes, I bought 10 tickets to the event upfront for friends, but everyone paid me back, but why bother with the facts?

 

Below are two of the recent posts by these gentlemen that explain their tone:

 

Ethan Millard:

 

Dear @CarlWimmer since Chuck Warren is obviously not buying you with his money, ask him to also spend some on me.#utpol

 

I don’t know Ethan Millard, doubt I ever will nor do I have a desire to meet him, but he apparently has it out for Rep. Wimmer, and for the record, if lobbyists could really buy a legislator for $11 then there would be a never ending line at the ATM in the Capital Building. 

 

Mr. Rolly’s Column snippet in today’s Salt Lake Tribune (April 27):

 

Atlas is still shrugging » My column item Monday about Carl Wimmer accepting tickets from lobbyist Chuck Warren to the Utah Young Republicans’ viewing of “Atlas Shrugged” exploded into a Twitter war on KSL Radio’s Nightside Project that evening.

For the record, Wimmer says Warren reserved seats so several friends could sit together and they all paid Warren back.

Some of those tweeting on the issue wondered why Wimmer couldn’t have reserved the seats himself. Others called on Wimmer to provide proof that he paid Warren back. Wimmer tweeted that he didn’t have to justify himself to those folks.

Warren is a noted political consultant and lobbyist. Wimmer, a former cop, confirmed to The Tribune months ago that he had a contract to provide security for Warren.

Mr. Rolly is a good guy --- old school – and I can see he is having some fun digging at Mr. Wimmer, but what he described above are neither the facts nor the full story.

 

For anyone who cares about the facts – apparently not many Nightside listeners do – here is the chronology of what happened and why Mr. Wimmer was never gifted tickets:

The Young Republicans did a major push on Facebook for the Atlas Shrug movie. They had reserved a movie theater.  Here is the exact message I saw on Facebook advertising the movie:

 

Daniel Burton (Young Republicans)

We still have tickets...reserve yours today!:

Atlas Shrugged, sponsored by the Utah Young Republicans

Location: Jordan Commons

Time: ‎7:30PM Saturday, April 16^th

I wanted to see the movie so I reserved a spot for myself.  A few days later the Young Republicans posted again, on Facebook, that they had more tickets to sell, and if interested, please RSVP for the event and pay through PayPal.  

 

I told Daniel (of Young Republicans) I would email a few friends I thought would be interested. I know what it is like putting your tail on the line and trying to get people to come see or participate in an event like this.

I emailed fifteen to twenty friends who I thought might be interested in the movie -- Carl Wimmer was one of the ten who responded back.  Since you couldn't pay for the tickets at the theater, Daniel sent me a PayPal invoice for the ten tickets. It made sense to pay for the invoice and have my friends pay me back instead of having Daniel send everyone a separate PayPal invoice.  I bought the tickets -- apparently this was a mistake on my part – and everyone paid me back that night or within a few days in cash.

 

When I read Rolly’s first column on the matter, I called my assistant and told her to explain the situation to the Lt. Governor office and ask if we need to report buying a ticket and then having it paid back. The following is what my assistant sent me after talking to Lt. Governor Office:

        

            Date: Mon, Apr. 25, 2011 at 4:04 PM

            Subject: Lobbying Filing

 

“I talked to Spencer Hadley at the Lt. Governor's office today, April 25th at 3:50 pm. I explained what was reported in the media and what the situation actually was. I explained that Chuck was reimbursed via cash for the ticket that he purchased over PayPal for a number of tickets for a number of different people. Mr. Hadley explained that in the laws of lobbying it states in the last line that if the lobbyist if reimbursed of equal value for something, it does NOT need to be filed in their quarterly report. I confirmed again that Chuck did not need to report the ticket purchase because he was reimbursed -- Mr. Hadely confirmed. He has not heard of any complaint about this.” 

For the dumb and dumber of the world that asked why Mr. Wimmer couldn’t reserve his own seats or to provide proof, please understand the facts and don’t base your judgment on a Twitter post by an antagonist of a man. 

Of course Rep. Wimmer could have booked the tickets (he asked me how he could buy the tickets), but I told the Young Republican’s Chair, Daniel Burton, that I would try to get more people to the event.  As described above, the way one participated in this movie viewing was via PayPal invoice. I told all 10 of my friends who came that I would buy the tickets and they all agreed to pay me back.  There were probably a half dozen people who did the same thing that night (confirmed by Daniel Burton, YR Chair) and probably thousands of people across the country that night who did the same thing for their group of friends.

 

Regarding proof, people usually pay back $11 with cash – not a check.  In my world, all my friends paid me back in cash for an $11 movie ticket.

 

Anybody can say what strikes them as news worthy, but that doesn’t change the facts or the truth regarding this overblown, fabricated story.

 

As for the person who first contacted Mr. Rolly with this mistruth – grow up, know your facts, and get a life.