Scott wrapped up his speech by proclaiming "On Nov. 4, let’s leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened." At which time, he saluted the audience and stepped down. As did GOP Chairman Bill Platt in his warm-up speech for McCain in Bethlehem, PA, Scott uttered Obama’s middle name as though it was a dirty word.

Never mind the fact that other American patriots have had Arabic names, like General Omar Bradley, Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. George Joulwan, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, Gen. John Abizaid, former CENTCOM commander, Congressman Darrell Issa of California, and former cabinet secretary Donna Shalala . The usage of Obama’s middle name in an effort to tie him to international terrorists (as they have attempted to in the past), is symbolic of just how desperate McCain and his GOP shills are getting these days.

Unfortunately for Scott, the very fact that he appeared in uniform, supporting a political candidate, makes this a possible violation of the Hatch Act, for which he is now under investigation, and has provided a rather flimsy defense of his conduct. If Sheriff Scott is found guilty, the

“Feds can pull two years salary worth of federal funding - the equivalent to $300,000 for the Lee County Sheriff's Office.”
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp articleid=22058&z=3

Uh-oh!

Cross-posted here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/9/123851/529/359/625098

Yet another example of Obama Nazi's trying to silence opposition. Threaten people's jobs if they speak against the messiah. Threaten to use the law (in Missouri, why wasn't that a Hatch violation?) to silence them. Scott is a good man with a lot of support. You leftists can stuff it.

Not a fan of either McCain or Palin.
But always willing to advocate for the devil.

Does it make a difference that the sheriff might be an elected official, rather than just an "employee"?

And on the web site of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel there is a page on the Hatch Act and it says this (the second "permitted activity" seems pertinent here:

Permitted Activities
Covered state and local employees may-
-- run for public office in nonpartisan elections
campaign for and hold office in political clubs and organizations
-- actively campaign for candidates for public office in partisan and nonpartisan elections
-- contribute money to political organizations and attend political fundraising functions

Prohibited Activities
Covered state and local employees may not-
-- be candidates for public office in a partisan election
-- use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination
-- directly or indirectly coerce contributions from subordinates in support of a political party or candidate

Thanks, Mr. Tamblyn, for this post. In my own little way, I've discovered the fear of anything Arabic this week....I finally found the necklace I had misplaced, the one my dad brought home to me after he'd been living in Abu Dhabi for several years, working for the UAE (United Arab Emirates) as a stock analyst.

He bought a necklace that spelled my name in Arabic. I found it this week after turning my apartment upside down due to my roommate's moving out, and I put the necklace on this past Sunday and ever since then, people have been coming up to me and asking what the "weird lettering" says, and asking me why I would wear such a thing.

Never mind the fact that my father passed away a few years ago, and that this is one of the few touchstones I have left, other than his silver Zippo lighter from 1974....I now have to declare myself not a "terrist" for wearing Arabic letters under my neck.

So much for America being the melting pot that urged everyone to "Give me your tired, your poor, your hungry...."

I cannot tolerate close-mindedness.

Curveball, the issue is about using official insignia or position. As a state employee, I can campaign for a candidate so long as I don't use my state position to do so. Showing up in uniform is exactly the kind of use of official position the Hatch Act is talking about.

I believe--and someone correct me if I'm wrong--that Sheriff Scott's problem is that he's 1) an elected head of an executive agency that 2) administers federal funds. Or something like that. So he can campaign for his own job, but can't stump on behalf of someone else--at least not in uniform.

Oh, my sides are splitting from laughing so heartily. To call Obama supporters Nazis is as cosmically accurate as it would be to refer to McCain supporters as Peace Corps volunteers. John McCain's campaign is now relying on hate, fear and all manner of insinuations of the most vile kind to incite the less-than-savvy bottom feeders affectionately known as their base. As a former resident of nearby Volusia county, I will attest to the vitriolic, racist mentality that yes, still permeates in areas of the great state of Florida. This sheriff should be made to shovel manure on a chain gang in the heat of the Florida summer, so that he will never forget what bull crap smells like in case he dares to surround himself with its purveyors again.

Theone, I think the penalty from the feds is the loss of a couple years of his salary from federal funds they would have otherwise gotten. He doesn't work for the feds, so they can't fire him. Non-federal employers might discipline or even fire someone who violated the Hatch Act, but, because Scott's elected, only a recall election would do it. Unlikely.