Another Goofy LTE For Mike Messier
By Greg L | 12 May 2007 | Prince William County | 20 Comments
Today’s Manassas Journal-Messenger features an utterly bizarre letter to the editor by a Mr. Keith Kessler of Dale City, telling Republican voters that Mike Messier deserves their vote. But as James Young points out, the supporter of this “life long Republican” is none other than a notorious Democrat activist. Here’s what he wrote on the Huffington Post as advice to fellow Democrats two years ago:
I’ve been telling the Democratic party for years that they need to “regroup” and come up with a platform that constituents can understand and/or relate too. Walter Cronkite hit it right on the head. If we allow the GOP to stack the deck completely in their favor and end the “balance of powers” then we are doomed as a free society. It really doesn’t matter which party holds the White House as long as we have checks and balances to hinder any inappropriate actions. I’m very concerned with the direction this country is taking and if we do start closing our borders by making accessibility into Canada and Mexico even more difficult then we may as well let “big brother” into all aspects of our lives. Will we one day require permits to travel from state to state? I’m becoming more concerned about such a possibility. So if the Democrats were smart they’d start addressing these issues head on and put the spotlights where they belong.
Keith Kessler
Dale City, VA
And this guy is trying to tell Republicans who they should vote for for Sheriff. Unreal.
Keith Kessler is parroting Mike Messier’s outright lie that Glen Hill has increased the Sheriff’s Department budget to nine million dollars when it is in fact a $7.1 million budget. I suppose that’s not too surprising since he’s masquerading as a Republican, and can’t even be honest about what his convictions really are. With supporters like this, Mike Messier hardly needs opponents.
UPDATE: This is followed up the next day with a letter from Mike’s two daughters, in which all of this angst seems to be absent. Hmmm.
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This is an amazing comment from a Democrat: “If we allow the GOP to stack the deck completely in their favor and end the “balance of powers” then we are doomed as a free society.”
What nonsense. There’s only one group in this nation permitted to extract from Americans money without their consent, and that’s labor unions. Who do labor unions support? Democrats. What party is on record (largely) against prohibiting forced union dues for politics? Democrats.
The notion that it is the GOP which is trying to “stack the deck” ignores the last eighty years of the Democrat Party’s history.
One should pose a simple yes or no question to Keith Kessler and it should go something like this:
Mr. Kessler did you purchase your badge from Stoffregan?
Note: Mr. Kessler was in fact one of Stoffy’s cronies, you know those “reserve” deputies that had no training, but had a badge of authority….of course he will put Messier on a pedestal…come on this is a no brainer…Messier wants nothing more than to bring back this “service” to the citizens in which he will NOT serve in this Sheriff’s election….
I didn’t know that about Kessler.
I’ve run across some information that suggest that Mr. Kessler may be disabled, or perhaps there are two individuals we’re confusing here. I’m not sure that even Stoffregen would be deputizing people who require a wheelchair. I believe he ran for Supervisor in 1993 against Hirons and Jenkins as an independent — perhaps someone with a recollection of that race could clarify?
You’re correct about Kessler. I was confusing him with Kevin Raymond, initially, who is very close to John Jenkins. Now that I think about it, Kessler ran against Jenkins as an independent in 2003, but he is a long-time Democrat, to the best of my knowledge. I do have a copy of a letter he sent to the Pot. News, stating that he was an auxiliary deputy under Stoffregen.
Keith is a long time letter writer to the MJM and Potomac News. He is disabled and that along with affordable housing seems to be his major issues. Fair enough. Don’t know if he is a Democrat or not, but he is on the left. He also ran for President of the United States in 1996 Check about half way down this list… http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/list3.shtml
James, that would be interesting to see if he was actually given deputy credentials. I’m not sure about this, but it may be that Kessler cannot physically employ a firearm in his own defense.
I have known Keith for several years. He is a controlled-growth fiscal conservative who applauds anyone who champions those causes. He ran against Jenkins as an Independent in 2003. He is not a fan of Jenkins. While I wouldn’t classify him as an active Republican, he is not a Democrat either. He is a classic Independent.
Classic Independent - that’s laughable.
I have considerable knowledge of Mr. Kessler - since yes he did run for Supervisor as an Independent when I ran as the Republican nominee. He and I even met a couple of times throughout the campaign.
He did boast about his support of Stoffregan. In fact I think he had his aux. deputy status listed on the one xerox campaign flyer he produced for the campaign.
He’s anything but fiscal conservative. He’s an incredible advocate for the disable, however his solution is 100% government support for anything related to making life easier for the disable - no matter what the cost.
His beef about with Jenkins was little more than Jenkins dropping him from one of the county boards/commissions he was his appointment on and stopping a transportation service supplied by JJ’s office for him.
Enough about Keith. He’s a little more than a thorn in the side of anyone political in PWC, Va and to a certain extend nationwide. I actually grew to like him on a personal level through the campaign. He has certain struggles that he has to deal with and he works hard for those who have needs as he does.
As for his letters to the editors, he’s been all across the board on issues for many many years. Pretty useless to the regular reader of the Pot. news.
R u guys serious. Who cares about kessler. How much do party lines affect how you run a sheriff’s department? None. Its actually all about the fact that Hill sits on his ass and has the prince william police on his side. At least messier will do something for the community and actually respects the job.
Haha voting party lines for sheriff. Thats one office where party lines doesnt matter at all. The guy who is running this blog seems pretty stupid.
Why is it that Mike Messier’s supporters always try to go out of their way to try and antagonize me?
That reminds me — I think I need to go pull Mike Messier’s campaign finance disclosure from SBE. I’m sure it’ll be interesting…
Well, if you all wish to talk about me you should at least get your facts straight. I’m Keith Kessler and I am an Independent voter. I’ll vote for the best person be it Republican, Democrat or Independent. As far as the claim I bought a badge that is pure nonsense. I applied for and was accepted in the Auxiliary Deputy program and never carried a gun. Only Reserve Deputies had that privilege but only if they qualified after strict training.
I was proud to serve as an Auxiliary Deputy fingerprinting detail and helped print hundreds of kids throughout the county. My badge was never abused as a few have done and I never paid a dime to earn it. The sheriff knew my views whenever I disagreed with a decision but I fulfilled my duties as a volunteer faithfully.
Now Scott Hirons you know I wanted you to beat John Jenkins. Heck, I was in the hospital during most of that election. I was hoping you’d get out and meet the people and not think you’d win just because you were a Republican. That was explained to you very well. Why aren’t you running now? You would have had my support.
Your allegations that my health care advocacy is to solve everything with money is way off base and very unfounded. If you’d check my letters my solutions to health care were mostly cost neutral or no cost increase at all. One shouldn’t make false assumptions on my advocacy without knowing the truth. I’ve supplied people all across the country with over $50,000 of medical, computer or other needs by “in kind” donations. I think you need to get your facts straight.
I’ve assisted many people throughout Virginia and nationwide and am well known and called upon when folks are at their wits end. Some of you may call on me someday and I help free of charge which is more than any of you work for.
John Jenkins never fired me from anything but I did quit his committees because I couldn’t agree with him on anything. Get your facts straight.
Where are the Republicans now to run against Jenkins? No where to be found. If I wasn’t serving on so many committees, commissions and other advocacy groups I’d run a serious campaign but I’m not able to commit the time to a supervisor job when I can have a lasting more profound effect on ALL Virginians rather than just a few. So I choose to help the many instead of bickering with a few county politicians.
In the future if you choose to speak about me you might try calling me to get your facts straight. Call anytime between 12n-7pm at 703-878-1737. I don’t hide behind blogs and I do support Mike Messier for sheriff.
I’m Keith Kessler and I endorse this message.
Keith Kessler
Dale City, VA
You folks hide behind screen names yet claim to be such party faithfuls. That’s why I have no political affiliations to any particular party because of the hypocrisy. Now I’ll answer the question posed below since you all have no clue about me or much of anything else I can see that’s of value.
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anon said on 12 May 2007 at 7:20 pm: One should pose a simple yes or no question to Keith Kessler and it should go something like this:
Mr. Kessler did you purchase your badge from Stoffregan?
Note: Mr. Kessler was in fact one of Stoffy’s cronies, you know those “reserve” deputies that had no training, but had a badge of authority….of course he will put Messier on a pedestal…come on this is a no brainer…Messier wants nothing more than to bring back this “service” to the citizens in which he will NOT serve in this Sheriff’s election….
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Nobody that I’m aware of has ever purchased a badge from Stoffregan, including me. I am not a “Stoffy” crony nor was I a Reserve Deputy. Contrary to your beliefs, Reserve Deputies had to have training and had to qualify regularly with fire arms. The badge gave “only” Reserve Deputies limited authority. Auxiliary Deputies were volunteers as well as the Reserve Deputies but the Auxiliary squad did more of the fingerprinting details and programs to alert senior citizens about potential frauds or other abuses. By having the Reserve Deputy squad it saved the county hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars by having an all volunteer Reserve squad which most large localities also have. It was a no brainer to have professionals of all areas of expertise to buy their own uniforms and equipment to serve the people of PWC.
If you think these assignments were political presents then you are sadly mistaken. These men and woman who volunteered their time for community service work did so with the diligence of the paid deputies. This was a great service to the community that the current sheriff has dismantled. The people of the county lost by not having the additional police presence which is very much needed with our short staffed county police.
I think before you just make things up out of thin air that you might try researching the facts and stop trying to paint pictures that are completely untrue. If you must act this way to be a Republican I’m glad I remain Independent and lay no claim to either party. At least I vote for the most qualified person and won’t hide who I am behind blogger names. These blogs remind me of the KKK who also hide behind masks. If you’re so proud of what you are then stand up and put your name behind your comments which are mostly untrue anyway.
Keith Kessler-
You folks hide behind screen names yet claim to be such party faithfuls. That’s why I have no political affiliations to any particular party because of the hypocrisy. Now I’ll answer the question posed below since you all have no clue about me or much of anything else I can see that’s of value.
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anon said on 12 May 2007 at 7:20 pm: One should pose a simple yes or no question to Keith Kessler and it should go something like this:
Mr. Kessler did you purchase your badge from Stoffregan?
Note: Mr. Kessler was in fact one of Stoffy’s cronies, you know those “reserve” deputies that had no training, but had a badge of authority….of course he will put Messier on a pedestal…come on this is a no brainer…Messier wants nothing more than to bring back this “service” to the citizens in which he will NOT serve in this Sheriff’s election….
==========
Nobody that I’m aware of has ever purchased a badge from Stoffregan, including me. I am not a “Stoffy” crony nor was I a Reserve Deputy. Contrary to your beliefs, Reserve Deputies had to have training and had to qualify regularly with fire arms. The badge gave “only” Reserve Deputies limited authority. Auxiliary Deputies were volunteers as well as the Reserve Deputies but the Auxiliary squad did more of the fingerprinting details and programs to alert senior citizens about potential frauds or other abuses. By having the Reserve Deputy squad it saved the county hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars by having an all volunteer Reserve squad which most large localities also have. It was a no brainer to have professionals of all areas of expertise to buy their own uniforms and equipment to serve the people of PWC.
If you think these assignments were political presents then you are sadly mistaken. These men and woman who volunteered their time for community service work did so with the diligence of the paid deputies. This was a great service to the community that the current sheriff has dismantled. The people of the county lost by not having the additional police presence which is very much needed with our short staffed county police.
I think before you just make things up out of thin air that you might try researching the facts and stop trying to paint pictures that are completely untrue. If you must act this way to be a Republican I’m glad I remain Independent and lay no claim to either party. At least I vote for the most qualified person and won’t hide who I am behind blogger names. These blogs remind me of the KKK who also hide behind masks. If you’re so proud of what you are then stand up and put your name behind your comments which are mostly untrue anyway.
Keith Kessler-
So a reserve deputy had to go through training and qualify regularly with a firearm and the auxiliaries bought their own uniforms and equipment and simply fingerprinted and made the elderly aware of fraud and other abuse…Did the reserves go through the 5 months of law enforcement basic? The answer to that is no…did they qualify one time a year as the state mandates? The answer to that is yes…one time of year with no law enforcement training…they simply went one time, shot the weapon and was qualified to carry it…they did not go through extensive training (weeks) in a law enforcement basic school…Please Mr. Kessler do not misrepresent! Now on to the auxiliaries…please tell the readers what equipment did they buy? Was it the badge that they carried???? I am confused…
As a citizen of this County if I see a person in a brown uniform with their “equipment” on…I am led to believe that these people are fully certified, capable, competent, and qualified as a law enforcement officer to assist the residents in any emergency. When in fact that is not the case at all under Stoffy. However because Hill has “dismantled” this lovely I mean liability program the citizens now know that those that are in that uniform are fully trained as law enforcement officers. Thank goodness that the citizens are no longer being misled!!!!! How hard is this to understand…The way I see it is that Prince William County escaped a huge potential lawsuit…And by the way hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings to the taxpayers for fingerprinting and informing the elderly…I have given you way too much credit over the years…I haven’t painted any untrue pictures it is what it is…you were given a badge that you had no business having!!!!!! If you wanted to be a deputy sheriff then you should have appled, gone through a background, psych exam, polygraph, physical, 26 weeks of training, inservice training, civil process, courtroom security, on the job training, defensive tactics, firearms etc. No of course not it was much easier the way you did it huh? I continue to be anon!!!!!!!!!!!
anon said on 19 May 2007 at 5:20 pm: So a reserve deputy had to go through training and qualify regularly with a firearm and the auxiliaries bought their own uniforms and equipment and simply fingerprinted and made the elderly aware of fraud and other abuse…
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Well anon, it seems no matter what I write you seem hell bent on believing whatever you want. You didn’t pay one bit of attention to anything I said because you want to try and put words in my mouth. Now I see why you folks hide behind names. Can you believe that Reserve Deputies actually had to go through different training’s such as how to handle prisoners, court room safety training’s, and many other training’s? No, you’d never believe in such a concept because you keep your head buried in the sand. Reserve’s had to train often and qualify often not one time a year as you suggest. The Reserves purchased all of their uniforms, guns, and everything else required. Auxiliary deputies didn’t have to purchase any uniforms unless they wanted to wear a polo type shirt and certainly no equipment. No requirements were made to wear a badge either but it was done at events by most because we were a part of the sheriff’s office. Try reading anon instead of making things up. You must not have passed the background check to make it to the Reserve or Auxiliary squads so is that why you are so hostile towards a lot of good people including doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who gave up their “free” time to “volunteer” for this community service???
I misrepresent nothing anon but you sure try to dispel myths that are simply untrue. If you’re confused it’s because of your tunnel vision and narrow focus. The volunteers in brown uniforms were trained, capable and competent and could assist residents in any emergency. I suppose you have the same feelings of inadequate training towards our volunteer firefighters who save people’s lives everyday day too anon? Why aren’t you crying about firefighters or the Red Cross or any number of other volunteer groups who happily jump in and risk their lives to save complainers like you???? You can’t have it both ways anon because the folks that give of their time do so because they care even if they must risk their life to save the naysayers like you. And they do it without complaints or giving it a second thought.
If you feel that the volunteers we have in this county are all large liabilities then certainly you should tell them that to their face. But no, you can’t because you hide behind an anonymous screen name and just call them names, that is, until you need them. Then they are your hero’s or do you feel that the liability in saving you far outweighs the good????
You were never misled anon you just need to remove your blinders. Maybe then you’ll realize the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were saved before Hill dismantled the volunteer squads. Hopefully we won’t get a new fire chief that will dismantle our volunteer firefighters and rescue squads for fear of the liability issues you try to raise that don’t exist.
I’ve never asked for any credit from you anon or anyone else and I can assure you that anything I have or had that I earned by working hard for it and not crying foul. Folks like you just don’t get it until you need the help or assistance from folks like me. I hope you never have to rely on us wee little volunteers who gladly give up our time to help save folks like you. But rest assured that if you do need the help we will be there to provide it no matter how much you hate us.
Have a great life anon and maybe one day you too will be proud to stand beside your real name.
I’m Keith Kessler and I’m proud of who I am and what I do.
I do have one last thing to say to this group so I can go on my way while you all do your petty bickering.
Hirons got it wrong when he suggested and others have suggested my wish is just to throw money around or I like to waste our tax dollars on health care issues. If this was true then my suggestions taken by your own Bush administration would never have combined Medicare & Medicaid (now CMS) as I suggested years ago.
The only exception is I would insist that Medicare have the same rights as the VA (Veterans Administration) to negotiate drug prices rather than letting the drug companies rule health care and dictate high costing drugs through Medicare.
Read this story called “Dark Horses” then tell me how much I like wasting money. You folks haven’t a clue.
Go here: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/102496/article017.shtml
Sometimes it helps to do a little research. Also the note I wrote to the Huffington Post could easily have reflected my views of the Republicans too.
Enjoy your blog folks and your anonymity.
Keith Kessler-
http://members.aol.com/dac4va/main.htm
Mr. Kessler,
You should probably do a little more research yourself on the training that the Reserves did in fact receive…Let me refresh some memories…40 hours of training. That is it! Doesn’t even remotely come close to the 26 weeks that deputies and police officers have to go through and the 10 weeks that jail officers have to go through, not to mention the mandated training that is required every two years and the firearms training required every year. Forty hours that is it Mr. Kessler. As far as the “volunteer firefighters” they go through the very same training that is required of the paid firefighters. But that is not what we are here to discuss…the fact of the matter is badges were purchased…I would like to know from you, since my research suggests you were an auxillary carrying a badge, what training did you have? You were no more qualifed to be a deputy the you were when you wrote in as President. Hill has done away with the rampant egotistcal bull that went on under the direction of both Messier and Stoffregan. I am not opposed to volunteers at all, they make the world go round. Hill has a couple of volunteers himself…that are fully certified under the Department of Criminal Justice Services…hell he had too since the numbers were fudged from the Stoffy regime and positions were lost as a result….Hill needs to stay in office to prevent this type of erratic and irresponsible behavior to resurface and continue moving the Sheriffs office forward with strong leadership and visions!
The reserve Deputies of stoffy were and are a joke in all of Law Enforcement,
they know it the police know it and so does the world Oh and Messier new about it all, Oh and you should vote for him so we can have more of this mess.
The Reserves under stoffy and Messier just made people laugh lets stop the joke.