Fornits
General Interest => Tacitus' Realm => Topic started by: Antigen on September 06, 2007, 03:59:52 PM
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The Huffington Post
Home > The Blogs > Maia Szalavitz
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Romney Fires One Teen-Abuse Linked Financier, Keeps Big One
Posted September 6, 2007 | 12:07 PM (EST)
Read More: Breaking Politics News, Mitt Romney
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Radar has the news that Mitt Romney has kicked troubled-teen titan Robert Lichfield to the curb. Lichfield's organization, the World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs (WWASPS, previously WWASP), is being sued in a class action suit by over 100 plaintiffs, alleging serious sexual, emotional and physical abuse. In the worst cases, teens were beaten, kept in stress positions, sleep deprived, made to walk thousands of laps on a hot desert track, forced to eat their own vomit and held in dog cages. Mexican police shot footage of the dog cages and the track, which was aired on Inside Edition.
Another lawsuit alleges educational fraud by one facility-- that facility was already made to pay parents back over $1 million for falsely claiming to provide legitimate New York state high school diplomas, in one of the largest educational fraud judgments in New York history.
Lichfield was Romney's Utah co-chair for finance-- and he has been relieved of that position "until the lawsuit is resolved in the positive, which we are confident will happen," WWASPS spokesperson Ken Kay told Radar. This is the same Ken Kay who said under oath in another civil suit that he did not know whether sex between staff and teens in WWASPS programs was necessarily abusive.
But Romney's national finance co-chair, Mel Sembler, remains. While Sembler has not been linked with any abuse personally, the organization he co-founded, Straight Inc., paid out millions of dollars in similar suits during the 1980's and 1990's. The abuse included kidnapping, false imprisonment, beatings, sexual humiliation (boys were called "fags," girls, "whores"), punitive use of isolation and restraint and bizarre incidents like teens being gagged with Kotex and held on the floor for hours until they wet or even soiled themselves. In every state where Straight had a facility, regulators and/or lawsuits eventually documented serious abuse.
The treatment regime itself is essentially abusive-- it was virtually identical to a program in which Sembler was a participant that a Congressional investigation compared to North Korean brainwashing. (That investigation prompted the founding of Straight as the prior group had been so discredited by the report and resulting bad publicity).
And in Florida, home to both Sembler and the first Straight site, when Straight finally folded in 1993 after nearly two decades of documented abuse cases, lawsuits and investigations, one final investigation suggested that political influence had kept regulators from shutting it down sooner. At the time, Sembler was serving as a U.S. Ambassador. The Florida Inspector General's report said, "there were indications that outside influence was involved with this licensing issue. It appears that pressure may have been generated by Ambassador Sembler ."
Of course, Lichfield has only raised hundreds of thousands for Romney; Sembler, who was national finance chair for the Republican party for the 2000 election season, can raise many millions.
Comments (4)
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ordinaryguy (See profile | I'm a fan of ordinaryguy)
i'm from massachusetts, so i know a bit more about romney than the general public. he became governor by lying. romney will do or say anyhting to get elected, so this story is not surprising.
Reply | Favorite | Flag as abusive | posted 01:21 pm on 09/06/2007
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Logged in as Antigen (Not you? Log out)
expand collapse DemandTruth (See profile | I'm a fan of DemandTruth)
This fits perfectly with my impression of Romney the very first time I saw him.
A plastic, closeted gay ken doll with a smarmy slimy voice and fake plastic smile. That he's best buds with Jeb Bush just confirms my suspicions. And then there's this story, and then there's the Larry Craig thing. And then there's the way I heard him described by all the regressive right pundits (oh, such a manly man with that hair and jaw and all) they were positively SWOONING over the guy...
He must be more attractive to men than he is to THIS straight woman, anyway.
This guy would be the worst thing to happen to America since W if he's installed in the Whitehouse. Ugh.
Reply | Favorite | Flag as abusive | posted 01:48 pm on 09/06/2007
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NEW expand collapse yellowdogSC (See profile | I'm a fan of yellowdogSC)
This is the same Romney who made it very clear that anywhere, ANY environment was better for homeless children than that of a household with a gay parent or parents.
Now we know what he meant by "anywhere".
Considering the logical extension of this attitude, will he next "require" marriage of ALL heteros, and then require such families to "acquire" children (perhaps in large numbers) from any and all available sources? What does this kinda sound like? (Hint: young men with ties and white shirts on bicycles.)
Makes as much sense as anything else he's done involving our most precious resource.
Thank you.
Reply | Favorite | Flag as abusive | posted 02:44 pm on 09/06/2007
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NEW expand collapse djarvis (See profile | I'm a fan of djarvis)
This is yet another example of the questionable character of Mitt Romney, and another example of the bad hiring decisions he has made for campaign staff.
He also had Larry Craig as a member of his campaign organization, before Craig got outed.
Reply | Favorite | Flag as abusive | posted 02:49 pm on 09/06/2007
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Fuck Mitt Romney. Fuck all of his advisors and sycophants, and his guru, Mel Sembler.
This guy is basically all about preventing us from getting what we want, i.e., DOPE, GUNS, and FUCKING IN THE STREETS, so he must be stopped. By any means necessary.
Now, I don't like Hillary, but at least with her, I'd be able to scam some free dope from the government, and I bet Obama smoked weed when he was younger. Edwards is the prototypical corrupt Southern politico, and I'm comfortable with that, at least I know how those guys think. Richardson is really the dude we need right now, he's got the foreign policy experience that could help get us out of the fucked up opinion of us that the rest of the world has.
But really, they ALL suck, and there's nothing any of them can do for ya anyway.
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I like Ron Paul. Not that a decent human being could have much influence as president in this corrupt system. But having him in the running is tweaking the public dialogue in interesting ways. Politics really is just an ongoing public brawl, after all; just another form of communication.
More:
Top Utah money man leaves Romney campaign
By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:09/06/2007 01:46:11 PM MDT
Posted: 1:47 PM- WASHINGTON - A top Utah fund-raiser for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign - who has links to an organization facing a civil lawsuit alleging child abuse - is no longer part of Romney's state finance team.
Robert Lichfield of La Verkin, who founded the umbrella group called the Worldwide Association of Specialty Schools, brought in some $300,000 earlier this year for Romney during a single Utah event and has donated tens of thousands to the former Massachusetts governor and other Republicans in recent years.
Lichfield is named in a federal lawsuit charging that students of the "behavior modification" schools with ties to WWASPS were subjected to "physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse." The suit had 140 defendants at last count.
WWASPS president Ken Kay declined to comment Thursday to The Salt Lake Tribune but told Radaronline.com that the Romney campaign asked Lichfield to resign his spot on the finance team. Lichfield could not be reached for comment.
"Gov. Romney has asked Mr. Lichfield to step down and not be involved in any more fund-raising until the lawsuit is resolved in the positive, which we are confident will happen," Kay told Radaronline.com via e-mail.
Romney's campaign disputes Kay's account, saying Lichfield resigned on his own in July and Kay has no standing to comment on the campaign's internal workings.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Utah, alleges brazen acts of child abuse, including that students of the various programs had been forced to eat their own vomit, clean toilets with a toothbrush and brush their teeth afterward, were chained or locked in dog cages, kicked, beaten, thrown and slammed to the ground and forced into sexual acts.
Kay previously called the lawsuit's allegations "ludicrous."
"We don't condone any type of child abuse and it's highly unlikely that any of the incidents ever happened," Kay said.
tburr@sltrib.com
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"Gov. Romney has asked Mr. Lichfield to step down and not be involved in any more fund-raising until the lawsuit is resolved in the positive, which we are confident will happen,"
...
"We don't condone any type of child abuse and it's highly unlikely that any of the incidents ever happened," Kay said.
tburr@sltrib.com
Romney's campaign disputes Kay's account, saying Lichfield resigned on his own in July and Kay has no standing to comment on the campaign's internal workings.
Whoooo Hooooo! ::cheers:: :nworthy: ::rocker:: Way ta go, Kenny boy! Make good and sure your man Romney's name is firmly tied to you. The depositions and testimony promise to be very, very interesting and we wouldn't want anybody to forget what bosom buddies you two are.
::roflmao::
Holy crap! This is just one of those Zippety-do-dah moments.
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Holy crap! This is just one of those Zippety-do-dah moments.
Please, Ginger, never use that term again. Please.
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Holy crap! This is just one of those Zippety-do-dah moments.
Please, Ginger, never use that term again. Please.
oh jesus christ... no shit! if someone says that in my presence i am not responsible for my reaction.
it's like a tic, i suggest you duck and cover!
::puke:: ::unhappy::
[
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..."it's like a tic, i suggest you duck and cover! "
Is that a tic, or a "duck: it's-Dick?!!" ::unhappy::
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:rofl:
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Looks like this story has some legs!
Google News Alert for: *"robert lichfield"*
Top Utah money man leaves Romney campaign http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6818837 (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6818837)
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
*Robert Lichfield* of La Verkin, who founded the umbrella group called the
Worldwide Association of Specialty Schools, brought in some $300000 earlier this
*...*
See all stories on this topic
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=h ... ci_6818837 (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6818837)
Romney Fires One Teen-Abuse Linked Financier, Keeps Big One
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-szal ... 63311.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-szalavitz/romney-fires-one-teenabu_b_63311.html)
Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA
Radar has the news that Mitt Romney has kicked troubled-teen titan *Robert
Lichfield* to the curb. Lichfield's organization, the World Wide Association of
*...*
See all stories on this topic
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=h ... 63311.html (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-szalavitz/romney-fires-one-teenabu_b_63311.html)
Wash. Post's Solomon blamed editor for deletion about GOP fundraiser
http://mediamatters.org/items/200709060001?f=h_latest (http://mediamatters.org/items/200709060001?f=h_latest)
Media Matters for America - Washington,DC,USA
*...* recently indicted former national finance co-chairman -- he did not
mention Fabian but claimed that the article included a passage on *Robert
Lichfield*, *...*
See all stories on this topic
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=h ... 3Dh_latest (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://mediamatters.org/items/200709060001%3Ff%3Dh_latest)
Romney campaign says top fund raiser with links to 'abusive *...*
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Romney_as ... _0906.html (http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Romney_asks_top_Utah_fundraiser_to_0906.html)
Raw Story - Cambridge,MA,USA
A spokesman for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney says the candidate's
finance committee co-chair, *Robert Lichfield*, who is the co-founder of an *...*
See all stories on this topic
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=h ... _0906.html (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Romney_asks_top_Utah_fundraiser_to_0906.html)
Google Blogs Alert for: *"robert lichfield"*
Romney Drops Finance Chair Accused of Fraud and Abuse
http://rightsfield.com/2007/09/06/romne ... and-abuse/ (http://rightsfield.com/2007/09/06/romney-drops-finance-chair-accused-of-fraud-and-abuse/)
By Paul Curtis
Former Governor Mitt Romney has parted ways with controversial fundraiser
*Robert Lichfield*, Romney's Utah finance chair, according to an exclusive
report from radaronline. This comes on the heals of the departure of Romney's
national *...*
The Right's Field - http://rightsfield.com (http://rightsfield.com)
Romney Forced to Fire Another Crucial Campaign Backer
http://bigheaddc.com/2007/09/06/romney- ... gn-backer/ (http://bigheaddc.com/2007/09/06/romney-forced-to-fire-another-crucial-campaign-backer/)
By BHDC Staff
*...* campaign organizer due to tawdry dealings -- this time involving abuse and
fraud toward troubled teens."Mitt Romney has asked his Utah finance committee
co-chair, *Robert Lichfield*, who is affiliated with a controversial network [...]
Big Head DC - http://bigheaddc.com (http://bigheaddc.com)
Wash. Post's Solomon blamed editor for deletion about GOP fundraiser
http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200709060001 (http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200709060001)
"Likewise, Republican Mitt Romney faced questions about one of his Utah finance
chairmen, *Robert Lichfield*, because of lawsuits he is facing alleging abusive
treatment at boarding schools he founded to handle troubled youths. *...*
Media Matters for America - http://mediamatters.org/ (http://mediamatters.org/) http://mediamatters.org/ (http://mediamatters.org/)
Maia Szalavitz: Romney Fires One Teen-Abuse Linked Financier *...*
http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/~r/HP/P ... 63311.html (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/~r/HP/Politics/~3/153033559/romney-fires-one-teenabu_b_63311.html)
By Maia Szalavitz(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/feeds/ver ... /index.xml (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/feeds/verticals/politics/index.xml)
Romney Drops Controversial fundraiser, *Robert Lichfield*
http://race42008.com/2007/09/06/romney- ... lichfield/ (http://race42008.com/2007/09/06/romney-drops-controversial-fundraiser-robert-lichfield/)
By Tommy Oliver
Mitt Romney has asked his Utah finance committee co-chair, *Robert Lichfield*,
who is affiliated with a controversial network of schools for troubled teens and
has been dogged by allegations of abuse and fraud, to step down, *...*
race42008.com - http://race42008.com (http://race42008.com) http://race42008.com (http://race42008.com)
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Google News Alert for: *"robert lichfield"*
Utah fund-raiser for Romney steps down
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695207951,00.html (http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695207951,00.html)
Deseret News - Salt Lake City,UT,USA
*Robert Lichfield*, who is affiliated with several schools for troubled teens
that are the subjects of lawsuits alleging child abuse, left his position as a *...*
See all stories on this topic
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=h ... 51,00.html (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695207951,00.html)
Google Blogs Alert for: *"robert lichfield"*
Fundraiser Leaves Romney Campaign Team
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1892587/posts (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1892587/posts)
By AP via KSL-5 TV
Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho says *Robert Lichfield's* work with the campaign
ended in July. At a single Utah event this year, Lichfield brought in about
$300000 for Romney. Lichfield is the founder of the World Wide Association of *...*
News/Activism - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse)
Mitt Romney & Child Abuse - the Saga Continues
http://digg.com/politics/Mitt_Romney_Ch ... _Continues (http://digg.com/politics/Mitt_Romney_Child_Abuse_the_Saga_Continues)
After his involvement with House Speaker Hastert's cover-up of the DC page-boy
sex scandal, Romney is in deep again with abusers of children. Romney's finance
committee co-chair, *Robert Lichfield*, who is the co-founder of an educational
*...*
Digg - http://digg.com/ (http://digg.com/)
Romney's top money man in Utah steps down.
http://www.wasatchwatcher.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=284 (http://www.wasatchwatcher.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=284)
By Aramis
You all remember our swindling, child abusing, Republican donating friend
*Robert Lichfield* right? It seems that the Romney campaign doesn't want him
around any more. I guess pulling in $300000 in one fund raiser can't quite out
way the *...*
WasatchWatcher.com :: Utah Politics... - http://www.WasatchWatcher.com (http://www.WasatchWatcher.com)
http://www.WasatchWatcher.com (http://www.WasatchWatcher.com)
Why Isn't The Corporate Media Covering GOP Donor *Robert Lichfield*?
http://www.democrats.com/why-isn't-the- ... -lichfield (http://www.democrats.com/why-isn't-the-corporate-media-covering-gop-donor-robert-lichfield)
By Bob Fertik
So why hasn't the Corporate Media covered *Robert Lichfield*, founder of the
highly controversial World Wide Association Of Specialty Programs and Schools
(h/t Josh Marshall)? A top Utah fund-raiser for Mitt Romney's presidential
campaign *...*
Democrats.com blogs - http://www.democrats.com/blog (http://www.democrats.com/blog) http://www.democrats.com/blog (http://www.democrats.com/blog)
Romney: Good Help Is Hard to Find
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/052489.php (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/052489.php)
By Josh Marshall
*Robert Lichfield* of La Verkin, who founded the umbrella group called the
Worldwide Association of Specialty Schools, brought in some $300000 earlier this
year for Romney during a single Utah event and has donated tens of thousands to
*...*
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua... - http://talkingpointsmemo.com/ (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/ (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)
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This once a day Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
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With Donors Like These. . .
AOL News Newsbloggers - Dulles,VA,USA
Lichflield is named in a federal lawsuit charging that the students of the
"behavior modification" schools with ties to WWASPS were subjected to
"physical ...
http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2007 ... ike-these/ (http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2007/09/07/with-donors-like-these/)
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=h ... ike-these/ (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2007/09/07/with-donors-like-these/)
Romney Fires One Teen-Abuse Linked Financier, Keeps Big One
By WM
Lichfield's organization, the World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs (WWASPS, previously WWASP), is being sued in a class action suit by over 100 plaintiffs, alleging serious sexual, emotional and physical abuse. ...
http://critest.blogware.com/blog/_archi ... 14447.html (http://critest.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/9/7/3214447.html)
Critical Estoppel Research and Newsdesk
http://critest.blogware.com/blog (http://critest.blogware.com/blog)
Romney's top money man in Utah steps down.
By Aramis
Lichfield is named in a federal lawsuit charging that students of the "behavior modification" schools with ties to WWASPS were subjected to "physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse." The suit had 140 defendants at last count. ...
http://www.wasatchwatcher.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=284 (http://www.wasatchwatcher.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=284)
WasatchWatcher.com :: Utah Politics...
http://www.WasatchWatcher.com (http://www.WasatchWatcher.com)
This once a day Google Alert is brought to you by Google...
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Holy crap! This is just one of those Zippety-do-dah moments.
Having nothing to do w/the topic....
My son came out to me yesterday morning and started to tell me about the 'ZippetyDoDah' moment he was having online :o
So what I want to know is: who's been talking to my kid?!!