Republican consultant among 3 dead in home

[Scurrilous]

Source: Miami Herald

<snip>

"A local Republican political consultant was among the three men found dead in an apparent double-murder and suicide at an Orange County home, officials and relatives said.

Authorities have not determined a motive for the deaths of Ralph Gonzalez, 39, his roommate, David Abrami, 36, and a friend, Robert Drake, 30.

Investigators found weapons and signs of a struggle in the house. The three men are believed to have been dead for several days before their bodies were discovered Thursday.

Gonzalez served as executive director of the Georgia Republican Party from 2001-2002. He managed U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney's 2002 campaign, and was president of Strategum Group, an Orlando-based political consulting firm that represents Republican candidates."



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/213964.html

[peacetalksforall]

1. Does anyone have a feeling that this might get interesting?

[whistle]

13. I have and possibly in ways none of us can even speculate on at the moment

...without more facts. I do think a lot of information will be withheld under high official orders considering the venue where the killings took place.

So, we will just have to wait and see what develops :hide: :yoiks:

[woodsprite]

2. My personal op is that it was some Repub 'cleanup' work.

It used to be Mafia could be used in the same sentence to replace the words "Organized Crime". Now we can replace Repub in any sentence with "Organized Crime" and it works the same.

[formercia]

4. Can't leave any loose strings

someone might talk.....

[tom_paine]

12. Plenty of beans to spill, in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

I wonder if he was getting an attack of conscience.

Not to worry, like Horst Wessel, even his death will be used to the advantage of the Bushies.

[formercia]

18. A good example

He would have probably been done in at the Night of the Long Knives.

They liked his music.

[formercia]

20. This is who I first thought you meant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_R%C3%B6hm

Death

In spite of the pressure applied to him, Hitler postponed the decision to do away with his long-time comrade to the very end. However, once Hitler knew he had to act, he did so relentlessly. Himmler, Heydrich, and Göring, based on Röhms anti-Hitler rhetoric, contrived a plot of the SA that was to overthrow Hitler. Röhm was executed without trial during the purge of the SA — the "Night of the Long Knives" in June 1934. Following his arrest by Hitler himself at the resort of Bad Wiessee on June 30, Röhm was held briefly at Stadelheim Prison in Munich. There, on July 2, he was visited by SS-Brigadeführer Theodor Eicke (then the Kommandant of Dachau) and SS-Sturmbannführer Michel Lippert. Lippert shot Röhm at point-blank range after he refused to commit suicide with a pistol given to him. Röhm may not have realized who had ordered his execution; it has been unverifiably reported that his last words were reported as being "mein Führer, mein Führer". Eicke's response to the dying Röhm was said to have been, "You should have thought of that before. It is too late now."

[tom_paine]

21. Well, many of Hitler's...man, I can't call Roehm and Wessel victims, they were Loyal Bushies

But yes, Hitler and Bush both used their 'victims' as propaganda, even and especially when those 'victims' were former pals.

Look at Bin Laden, who may or may not actually be killed by his good friend, Bush.

[SpiralHawk]

11. Cleanup? You mean they weren't wearing diapers like most republicons?

Shame on the republicon Homelanders and they mess they have made

[Highway61]

3. Love triangle maybe?

Oh, no way....what am I thinking? No, not these folks.

[formercia]

5. Perhaps

but it also makes a good cover story...

[yardwork]

27. That's exactly what I'm thinking.

It would be convenient to dismiss it as a lover's triangle gone bad. Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't.

[soothsayer]

6. Yipes, sounds juicy!

[gratuitous]

7. Very sad

The men "are believed to have been dead for several days." That's just horrible. I know that once you're dead, you're beyond caring, but to have your body laying around for days or longer unattended and unknown just seems so horrible to me.

[qanda]

9. That is very sad

I cannot imagine not being missed for several days.

[Scurrilous]

8. More:

"Abrami, an attorney, previously worked as an assistant to Orlando political-consultant Doug Guetzloe. He was active with the Young Republicans at the University of Central Florida, and in 1992, he was among a group of Florida Republicans who made a 22-hour drive to New Hampshire to support candidate Pat Buchanan in his unsuccessful presidential bid."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-mmurder2407aug24,0,2604998.story?coll=orl_news_local_southwest_util



From the 11/20/92 Boston Globe

Secret Service vetoes a target
------------------------------

Orlando, Fla. -- A right-wing Young Republican group, bowing to
pressure from the US Secret Service, yesterday backed off plans to use
enlarged photos of President-elect Bill Clinton as targets for a weekend
turkey shoot.

"They came down hard on us, saying we threatened the President,
things like that," said David Abrami, vice president of the Central Florida
Young Republican Club. "So we canceled it."

When Abrami heard the Secret Service was investigating, he was
worried. Yesterday morning, he spoke with the Secret Service, then decided
to cancel the event.

"We just figured he's head of the Democratic Party right now, and
we're Republicans," said Abrami. "We thought it would be a nice parody.
We didn't mean any ill will by it."

http://textfiles.tonytee.nl/magazines/PURPS/purps47

[bobthedrummer]

14. Yep, interesting-and part of a pattern. K&R

[Beausoir]

15. Wha? He wanted to use a cut-out of Clinton's head for target practice? What a sicko.

[go west young man]

10. The comments at the Miami Herald website are interesting.

Possibly a love triangle gone bad.

[Fovea]

19. He was Frankies's man

but he was doin him wrong...

[jamesinca]

16. Wow, three dead Republican activist in OC

With the Republicans trying to organize the state so Presidential electoral votes are counted on CD lines, not all awarded to the majority winner like now. I wonder what they would be doing here? Oh the things to consider. Arnold is being floated as a challenger to Barbara Boxer in '10. I wonder what they could be doing here? Republicans are one thing, Republicans coming from across the US and all in the same house is another. All in the OC area, and I believe that Duncan Hunter(R)has said he will not seek re-election. I wonder what they could be up to?

[bobthedrummer]

17. Patterns everywhere-Florida, California...not by coincidence, not "isolated events" at all n/t

[closeupready]

22. Sad, but I'm wondering, gosh, how many Republicans are gay? Seems like a lot for

a party that professes to hate them.

[Taverner]

23. Good

And good riddance

[mitchum]

24. Rest in dirt...I'm not mourning these lavender fascists

[superconnected]

29. what is a lavender facist

only asking cause I might learn a new concept in facism :)

[mitchum]

34. It's just my term for Log Cabin Republicans

[Judi Lynn]

25. Sure hope they can't completely bury this story. It should be illuminated completely.

Here's a link to Gonzalez's company, the Strategum Group:
http://www.strategumusa.com/about_us.html

His closeness to such a dirty politician as Tom Feeney should prompt people to look very closely at this guy before the book is closed.

http://www.tomfeeney.com/cf/index.html

http://www.bradblog.com.nyud.net:8090/Images/FeenyJebBush_med_named.jpg http://www.insider-magazine.com.nyud.net:8090/FeenyBush.jpg

[eridani]

35. Tom Feeney?

I wonder what Clint Curtis has to say about this. He's been on the receiving end of threats from Feeney associates himself.

[dbt]

26. The only good CONsultant of ANY kind is a DEAD CONsultant!

Speaking from a radio viewpoint, of course.

"A consultant is a man who knows 150 diffrent sexual positions and doesn't have a partner."

:evilgrin:

[cosmicone]

28. This is a good start -- keep them coming ... or going rather! n/t

[Neshanic]

30. I am going the gay closeted republican love nest angle.

[superconnected]

33. That's the one I'm getting too.

Sure men live together as room mates and aren't gay. But how often do they shoot each other.

[Up2Late]

31. Let me be the first to make this bit of wild speculation with two words: Diebold Bankruptcy.

BradBlog reported the other day that either ES&S or Diebold were about to go under due to the recent happenings in California and since "...Gonzalez served as executive director of the Georgia Republican Party from 2001-2002..." which was when Georgia's vote was sold out to Diebold Corp and the Republican Party... I bet you can see where this could lead.

[merh]

32. Family Members Say Visitor Shot Homeowner, Roommate

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Family members said Friday a prominent political consultant was shot to death by someone visiting his home in an apparent double murder-suicide. The three men were found dead in a home off Hickory Oak Boulevard in east Orange County on Thursday.

No one who knew 36-year-old Ralph Gonzalez can believe he's gone. Republican Party state committeewoman Nancy Patterson gave Ralph Gonzalez his first campaign manager's job in 1994 after his graduation from the University of Florida.

-snip-

http://www.wftv.com/news/13969762/detail.html

[MetaTrope]

36. Wonder if he was connected with any flight schools in Florida?

Maybe got discounts for some Saudi students back in the '90s?

[Supersedeas]

37. Another story successfully buried by the GOP/Corp Media Establishment