By The Cornhusker Guardian’s Editorial Board
The Cornhusker Guardian received an email this morning that establishes an additional tie between the “Republican Establishment” and The Nebraska Examiner, an online news source that broke the story alleging inappropriate touching of women by GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles W. Herbster. It was intended to lay out support for the Examiner position on the story.
In a fair-minded emphasis on full disclosure, the email from J. D. Folsom stated that he is both the husband of Examiner editor Cate Folsom and also the nephew of former Republican Gov. Kay Orr. Gov. Orr is a longtime leader of the Republican Establishment that is determined to defeat Mr. Herbster’s bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
In addition, and it should be noted, that our research showed J. D. Folsom to be a retired Marine Corps colonel who was decorated for wartime heroism.
The Cornhusker Guardian first of all salutes and thanks Col. Folsom for his bravery under fire and his heroic service to our country. We also appreciate the fact that he took time to critique our work in such a constructive manner.
The allegations published in The Nebraska Examiner will ultimately be adjudicated not in newspapers but in a court of law, where litigation is presently on file between Mr. Herbster and his principal accuser, Sen. Julie Slama (a political vassal of Herbster critic and Establishment Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts).
At the same time, we could not help but notice that his email actually reinforces The Cornhusker Guardian’s position that:
1. There are significant ties between The Nebraska Examiner (as well as its stories on the subject) and the Republican Establishment that seeks to destroy the gubernatorial candidacy of Mr. Herbster.
2. These ties are not always apparent to the voters, who have been casting their ballots since early last month, with primary election day little more than one week away.
For these reasons, The Cornhusker Guardian reiterates its encouragement of voters to discount these politically-motivated and thinly-sourced allegations against Mr. Herbster — and instead to focus on the important Nebraska and national issues raised by all the candidates.
The allegations published in The Nebraska Examiner will ultimately be adjudicated not in newspapers but in a court of law, where litigation is presently on file between Mr. Herbster and his principal accuser, Sen. Julie Slama (a political vassal of Herbster critic and Establishment Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts).
Unlike the “she said/he said” back-and-forth reported in news stores, both sides in this litigation now have access to all the tools of discovery (such as written interrogatories and oral depositions) afforded by our country’s legal system. Most importantly, all the players in this political drama will be under oath (and thus subject to penalties for perjury), and the parties to the litigation will also have the benefit of subpoena power.
Although it cannot happen before Nebraska’s May 10th primary election, the truth will ultimately come out on these allegations, and the chips will fall where they may.
It is The Cornhusker Guardian’s hope that voters will spend the next eight days focusing on the important local, state and national issues put forward by the candidates, and not on sordid accusations obviously raised to derail a campaign by the one major candidate who is not part of the Republican Establishment.
Featured image: The Undecided Political Prize Fight - an 1860 political cartoon
