Career political hack Steven Palazzo was in the news this week as his top two staffers abruptly resigned. To these extent these two guys were highly touted after the election as being the guys who would help the coast bridge the gap from Gene Taylor’s 21 years of seniority to Palazzo’s zero the fact they abandoned the ship so quickly is highly meaningful.
Former chief of staff Erskine Wells and coms director Jonathan Samford were described to me as seasoned congressional staffers, Wells working for Roger Wicker in both the House and Senate and Samford for Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. Slabbed commenter Brian Martin described Wells, whom he worked with during his time on Gene Taylor’s staff, as a “straight shooter”.
Offline I’ve seen emails which detailed rumors of a 10 year non disclosure agreement etc as the rumors swirled surrounding the sudden departure of these two men from Team Palazzo. That said a new Slabbed commenter RebelWitaCause left some analysis that bears repeating:
Palazzo’s 2 top dogs (Chief of Staff Erskine Wells and Communications Director Jonathan Samford) bolted “unexpectedly” from the Palazzo camp this week. Note closely the wording of the e-mail Wells gave to the media as they contained not a word about Palazzo, the words only directed at his “colleagues”. Both of these 2 guys are trying to keep their noses clean to protect their futures in the DC marketplace. Word travels fast in the those environs..so they TRY to exit gracefully. Mums the word.. for now. The scent of what really happened will no doubt travel with light speed in the circles the resignee’s circulate in. Trolling for a new Chief of Staff for Palazzo will be nigh on impossible once word is out of what precipitated the hasty exits. Hunter Lipscomb, Palazzo’s legislative assistant said “It’s just a personnel matter that I really can’t discuss”. We bet you can’t Hunter, cause it would shine a light onto the overwhelming incompetence that is becoming apparent at Palazzo.com
Palazzo might as well just hang out a sign that says “Professionals Need Not Apply”. They won’t is our guess, at least none with an IQ over 60. Wait, stop the presses we may have spoken too quickly, there just may be a candidate back home in Hooterville.
Word on the street is that Steven’s wife, Lisa Palazzo (who incidentally wears the pants in the family when she isn’t pickled) had a “falling out” with the two. Lisa just may be the real “chief” of The Staff, controlling the lever of power. She certainly wouldn’t be the first woman with such designs, though not the brightest, by a considerable margin.
Lisa’s ability to coexist with 2 seasoned pro’s was something us political handicappers were wagering on from the start. We figured it couldn’t last.
Many have called, surmissing the sudden departures could be because the two got wind of a possible finding from the Federal Elections Commission in re the multiple shady looking contributions to Palazzo’s campaign, most of which have the distinct odor of Lisa and her social climbing mother Edna Scoggins on them. We wish it were true, but we don’t have much hopes that the incompetents at the FEC are really doing their jobs so we think the motive lies elsewhere.
Damage control has since hit high gear as Palazzo temporarily poached D’Iberville City Manager Michael Janus to take over in DC. According to the Rebel:
We wonder just how hard the two poor chaps vetted their prospective new boss, they probably just took the word of the Good Ole Boy Network who got Mr.NotSoBright elected, on face value, and got stung for doing so.
So, faced with a growing backlog of questions arising from the incident, what does Hayseed Incorporated do…quick find someone that will be subservient to Lisa, let’s see, humm.. how about Michael Janus, the City Manager of D’Iberville, MS??.. he ain’t got NO DC experience and like Lisa would probably kill to stand under the Klieg Lights..quick..go fetch him, so we can get this debacle off the front page.
Inquiring minds now want to know..will Janus the City “Manager” be up to the job of “managing” Lisa?
This is getting good folks. Unfortunately Palazzo thus far has exhibited that he does not understand how many local jobs hang in the balance, especially if he does not earn the respect of his colleagues on the Armed Services Committee. I won’t lie, I think Palazzo’s family is crooked just like the Walkers, especially their penchant for shit-house taxpayer-funded land deals. If people at the shipyard start getting laid off I know the pople down here on the coast are bright enough to know who to blame.
sop