Tea Party Crasher of Nevada candidate Scott Ashjian threw a proverbial hissy fit yesterday and issued a press release claiming all manner of political intrigue and conspiracy against him.
In the release, Ashjian says news reports about him “bouncing” a $5,000 check are “part of a wider attempt to discredit (his) candidacy and the Tea Party of Nevada, to the detriment of a fair and open elections process.”
Sheesh. Joan of Arc did less whining on the stake.
Ashjian specifically accused Chief Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski, a former Clark County GOP chairman, of prosecuting him on “trumped up” charges for political reasons, also claiming he never “bounced” that $5,000 check; rather he “stopped payment” on it.
But Zadrowski says Ashjian is full of Grade-A, USDA-approved flapdoodle. “The fact that I’m a former county Republican party chairman has nothing to do with my job,” Zadrowski said.
He also shot down Ashjian’s claim that he stopped payment on the check rather than bouncing it. “The check bounced. Twice,” Zadrowski told the AP. “His stop-payment was placed on the check after the second time it bounced.”
How convenient. Sorta like registering with a political party AFTER falsely filing for office as a candidate of that political party. But what kind of political dunderhead would do something that dumb?
In addition, Ashjian claims to be the object of “numerous threats that have been made to me, to my family, to other members of the Tea Party of Nevada (TPN).” He claims he’s being “followed” and that “unknown individuals” have approached his children.
In an Associated Press interview yesterday, Ashjian said, “I believe the Republican party has targeted me and my family to get me out of the race.”
Dude, paranoia will destroy ya.
Or as Jon Ralston wrote yesterday in his Flash e-newsletter, “This will cement in the minds of some folks that Ashjian is a kook.”
Nevertheless, the Tea Party Crasher is making a federal case out of all this…literally.
Ashjian advises that he’s calling in the FBI to investigate what he calls “voter intimidation, defamation and extortion.”
Oh, my. That sounds serious, don’t it?
Ashjian says he has “little doubt who is behind” all this, but declares that he will “vigorously defend” his right to run for the U.S. Senate “despite the threats, false charges, political retaliation, and attempts to challenge (his) candidacy.”
Here’s what’s really going on here, folks.
Mr. Ashjian obviously thought it would be cute and fun to “steal” the tea party name despite the fact that he’s had virtually nothing to do with the actual tea party movement in this state – all in a self-serving effort to stroke his own ego and make a 15-minutes-of-fame name for himself. It apparently never occurred to him that people who are actually involved in the political arena take it very, very seriously and would, you know, treat him like a political opponent.
Welcome to the big leagues, Sport.
The fact is, Ashjian brought all of this on himself with his little stunt whereby he pilfered the “tea party” name and entered the one race where he knew he’d draw the most media and public attention. And while this “kook” may have a legal right to try to create a “Tea Party” party, he should have known the active tea party activists would object. Loudly.
Had Ashjian attempted to form the “Patriot Party” or the “Freedom Party” or the “Liberty Party” or something like that, no one would have cared and no one would have paid him a bit of attention. He’d have been treated like the gadfly that he is. But by taking a popular movement name that didn’t belong him (or anyone for that matter), he invited all manner of people to open a can of political whoop-ass on him.
And now that he’s found out politics isn’t a game but a serious endeavor taken seriously by serious people, little Scotty yells foul. What a crybaby. Here, let mommy put at band-aid on that boo-boo, Pumpkin.
As the saying goes, Mr. Ashjian, if you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.
