Porno, Puppets, and Politics, Oh My!

EDITORIAL

Let me start my telling you a little about myself, because I know the first thing out of my hater's mouths will be, "Tom Lemons is a fake news liberal," "Tom Lemons is not a conservative," "Tom Lemons is anti-law enforcement," etc., etc., etc. I'm used to the unfounded attacks. I am not only a true conservative, I'm more conservative than most self-proclaimed Republican politicians. The Right can be just as vitriolic as the Left, when it comes to attacking those who dare question a candidate with an R next to their name, especially if they are a "golden child." Look no further than what they did to me when I exposed Der Führer Nienhuis's coverup of human trafficking, drug trafficking, and federal fraud with a local non-profit. Oh, you guys forgot about that, didn't you? Or maybe you're new to Hernando County and don't know the history. If that's the case, Google Behind the Gate by Tom Lemons.

The country has lost faith in the media, and for good reason. The difference between "MAGA" and "FJB" is unparalleled, and the division created by the polar opposite Presidents has led to media outlets becoming subjective editorialists and bloggers. I'll stop short of calling them pathological liars. The Left-wing media, which accounts for the vast majority of mainstream outlets, has latched onto the progressive agenda, and they've thrown fact-based, truth-telling journalism in the trash. Who needs it, when the information oligarchs are funding the agenda.

Hernando County used to have a wide selection of local journalists, objectively reporting the goings-on, with a lot less noticeable bias. What's left in Hernando County? The Tampa Bay broadcasters who barely reach our viewing area and don't really cover local politics? Outside of that, we have the establishment's Hernando Sun and Liberal Tampa Bay Blog, oops, I mean Times. Lastly, you have the dying breed of independent journalists. The ones who have no loyalty to anyone but themselves and their audience. The latter is a dying breed and probably the only option for getting "Real News."

Over the years, I've had several politicians try to pay to keep me "quiet" or write praiseworthy articles for their campaign. The only money I've ever taken from candidates, or their managers has been to cover the cost of legitimate campaign ads.

I have been reporting news in and around Hernando County since 2011 and I've gained a reputation with my readers/viewers as being one of the few truth-telling, unbiased reporters in the region. But enough about me.

We are just one month away from the Primary Election and early voting by mail has already begun. That means a lot of people have already made their choices, without knowing everything there is to know about each candidate.

Mudslinging is part of every election cycle, but things really start heating up the closer you get to election day. But sometimes the candidates create their own dirt and shoot themselves in the foot. It's moments like those that make it easy for journalists to have a field day with [their] misguidedness. There are some candidates in Hernando County, past and present, who have a higher degree of imbecility than others - we'll get to them later.

The most hotly contested races right now are the candidates running for District's 2 and 4 County Commissioner. District 2 is comprised of three Republicans; Mike Fulford, Brian Hawkins, and April Johnson-Spence, in addition to write-in candidate Kathryn Birren. Anthony Arenz and Jerry Campbell are the only two candidates competing for District 4.

Mike Fulford and Brian Hawkins are the most likely front runners in the District 2 race, because no one really likes April Johnson-Spence, for a number of reasons. The main issue Conservatives have with Johnson-Spence is that she is a liberal at heart. She supports the anti-conservative group #metoo and believes we should always, under any circumstance "believe all women," when allegations of sexual assault are made against a man. Supreme Court Justice Bret Kavanaugh can attest to the damage #metoo does to an innocent man's reputation. But hey, in recent months the Left has decided that there is no difference between men and women. Very confusing, but I digress.

What really sunk Johnson-Spence's ship is when she slapped the face of Hernando County's political mob boss Blaise Ingoglia in the face, metaphorically speaking of course. Everyone knows that you don't run for office in Hernando County without Ingoglia's blessing. When Johnson-Spence opposed the "Don's" order, she was excommunicated from the family and is now on her own. But even without the benediction, Johnson-Spence had already become the darling of the Democrats.

It should be noted that Hawkins has been tapped as Ingoglia's favorite, which puts Fulford at a slight disadvantage. If not for his experience as a civil engineer and serving as an officer with the Army Corps of Engineers, among numerous other accolades, Fulford would have an uphill battle. Hawkins is also a veteran and is a local businessman, but the obvious advantage is being on Ingoglia's chosen list.

Anthony Arenz and Jerry Campbell are miles apart when it comes to their agendas and experience, but like the other races, only one has been tapped by Ingoglia. Yes, that's right, former Dominoes Pizza Restaurant owner Jerry Campbell. But let's not take away from Campbell's years of experience, operating a successful franchise. Arenz, on the other hand, has focused his campaign on attracting the youth and minorities in Hernando County. As a former Hip Hop artist, Arenz often promoted anti-bullying campaigns. He is also the youngest candidate to run for County Commissioner.

One would think that the Board of County Commissioner races would be the most interesting, but think again. There are three district seats up for grabs and there is plenty of drama to go around. There really isn't too much to say about the District 1 race, other than Jen Licata is the "chosen one" and Mark Johnson is not. Kay Hatch is the incumbent and lifelong Democrat, and Ingoglia's Republicans are on a crusade to make sure that changes.

The next two races are akin to turning on Netflix and watching episodes of House of Cards, with a touch of Sopranos. That's because the "family's" influence is palpable, and like the other races, there is only one candidate in each district that gets to kiss the ring.

Incumbent Jimmy Lodato is up against Shannon Rodriguez for the District 3 race, and like the other snubbed Republican candidates, he has an uphill battle against Ingoglia's favorite.

The "family" makes no bones about denouncing Jimmy Lodato and calling him a flip-flopping Democrat. They also allege that he voted to force children to wear masks and allowed pornographic reading material in elementary schools. Some of that is true, but like they say, there are three sides to every story. I have not always agreed with Jimmy, and he knows I will not pull punches, but he has always been forthcoming and answered the phone anytime I had a question about school related issues. That alone will earn the respect of any journalist. Something the "establishment" candidates can't do without first consulting the consigliere.

During a recent interview, Lodato explained that he only voted to put masks on the children after the teachers threatened not to go to work. Lodato claims he had to follow the Governor's order and open the schools in August of 2020, with the option of remote learning. To appease the teachers, the Governor, and his fellow board members, Jimmy says he had no choice but to vote to keep masks on children. Soon after that decision, Lodato says he pushed to make masks optional, after learning that children were not in a high-risk category for developing serious illness.

Regarding the pornographic reading material that was recently discovered, Lodato says he had no idea it was there and if someone knew it was there, why didn't they bring it to his attention sooner? Lodato vehemently denies being pro Critical Race Theory and says, "if I find it, I'm going to let the Governor handle it."

Rodriguez is a wife, mother of school aged children, and owns Dynasty Collision located on Commercial Way. She and her husband are well-liked and have ties throughout the community. So, what could be wrong, you ask? In allowing Ingoglia to control her destiny, that's what.

Rodriguez first contacted R News back in February of this year. It's common for an influential journalist to have political candidates knocking at their door when an election cycle is getting underway, so I thought nothing of it, until I found out just how much control Ingoglia had over her campaign. I soon found out that Rodriguez was just trying to build an alliance with this reporter, thinking it would stave off any negative press. She clearly wasn't briefed about my unwavering integrity, untiring principles, and ability to see straight through bullsh*t. I told her from day one that if she does something newsworthy, it will make headlines.

Over the course of the last five months or so, I made several requests to conduct a one-on-one interview with Rodriguez about her campaign. I sincerely wanted to give her the same opportunity that other candidates were afforded, but time after time Rodriguez had an excuse for not wanting to do an interview. Finally, during the Politics in the Park event at Challenger K-8, I was able to lock down nearly every candidate running local and state campaigns. Rodriguez was one of the last people I asked, and she finally agreed to do an interview. I decided to do a live broadcast and made my way towards her booth, but in the course of just a few minutes everything changed. My cameraman pointed the camera at her and I said, "are you ready for that interview Shannon?" But she nervously waved me off as if I didn't exist. "Not a good move during a live broadcast," I told her in a text message. But what caused the sudden change of heart? Well, look no further than who was standing in her shadow, the capo dei capi himself, none other than State Representative Blaise Ingoglia. No additional explanation necessary.

Before publishing this article, I gave Rodriguez one last chance to redeem herself and avoid being referred to as just another "Blaise puppet." During what I thought was a 30-minute on the record interview with Rodriguez, she talked about her campaign, her love of the community, her dedication to the schools, and how she was the better choice for the District 3 school board seat. Towards the end of the interview I said, "So, we are on the record, right?" She stuttered and said, "I don't want to get in the game of playing dirty politics." After several minutes of back-and-forth nonsense, and her stating, "I'm not declining, I just don't want to do it," I asked if she had done interviews with other publications. She answered without hesitation, "no, no, I have not." Did she think I wouldn't immediately do a Google search to check? Uh oh! She wasn't being quite honest, because just two days ago, an article was posted in the Hernando Sun, where she answered several questions about her campaign. Respect lost.

I told you Hernando County politics was like a reality T.V. Show. But we aren't finished yet.

Running in the District 5 school board race are four candidates; Monty Floyd, Pam Everett, incumbent Susan Duval, and newcomer Lara Dedman. Is Dedman the chosen? Nope. Is Everett the chosen? Nope. Is Duval the chosen? Of course not, she's a life-long Democrat. Who is left? Oh yeah, Monty Floyd is the "made man," since we are sticking with mafia terms.

There isn't much drama with Dedman, Everett or Duval but Floyd has certainly made a name for himself, lately. Porn, porn, and more porn. That's what Floyd says was in our schools until he brought to the District's attention. Good for him! The garbage he read in his "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood" themed videos is disgusting and should never be seen by our children. But some say the Cowboy hat wearing candidate has gone too far with his adult only montages and that he needs to bring it down a notch.

Last Saturday, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office and several generous sponsors gave away supply-filled backpacks to thousands of children. There are unconfirmed reports from several witnesses that Floyd attended the event and continued to harangue event-goers about the pornographic material that was in our school libraries. Apparently, that drew the attention of authorities, and he was asked to leave the event, according to sources.

In typical journalistic fashion, I performed my due diligence and contacted Floyd on his personal Facebook page, to ask if the rumors were true. No reply. So, I went to his campaign page and sent a message. No reply. I then contacted his wife Kara for comment. Kara did not comment on the incident, but she did tell me to contact her husband's campaign manager Alice Gonzalez-Rivera. Kara then proceeded to block me from her Facebook page. In a last-ditch effort to confirm what happened, I contacted Gonzalez-Rivera on her Facebook page and email, but just like all the other attempts, not a single response. Now, of course that doesn't prove anything. I'll leave that up to you to decide. But it doesn't end there.

I assume the "family" wasn't aware of the backpack incident, when Ingoglia used his PAC, Government Gone Wild, to finance thousands of "anti-porn" fliers that were mailed out to Hernando County residents, this week. At the top of the page, the words "WARNING! DO NOT READ AROUND CHILDREN!" was written, followed by several sexually charged excerpts from Hernando County School books. Gosh, I hope no one's children check the mail. It goes on to assert that Jimmy Lodato and the two Democrat board members knowingly authorized the pornographic material and endorsed critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and Black Lives Matter material in the schools. Again, it's up to you the reader and voter to decide if any Republican school board candidate would condone the material or if this "July Surprise" is simply political mudslinging. That's not for me to decide.

Let me circle back to my opening statement. I do not follow lockstep with the establishment, and it's not because I'm some kind of rebellious liberal. I am a true conservative, in a "Trump" sort of way, like it or not. He didn't care who he offended and neither do I. If you're corrupt, I will "out" you – "drain the swamp." It doesn't matter if you are Democrat, Republican or any other Party member, I will report on anything that is newsworthy and is information the voter should know. I will not become a bought and paid for media outlet, like the other local publication that do the bidding of Ingoglia and Sheriff Al Nienhuis. I do not openly support, and my publication will not officially endorse any political candidate (well, maybe Donald Trump).

Since my exposé into the criminal activity involving Dawn Center, Nienhuis, and yes, Blaise Ingoglia, Tampa Bay and local media has targeted me and my family with inaccurate news articles that were published without even asking for comment. For any outlet that refers to me as a "blogger," you certainly know what it takes to operate great blog sites. Newsflash! Being inaccurate and not attempting to get quotes from your subjects is the textbook definition of being a blogger. I follow all pillars of ethical journalism but that doesn't seem to be too popular lately. Thanks CNN for setting the standard for aspiring journalists.

Well, we've run out time folks, but never fear, Lemons is still here – for now.

The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of our sponsors.