Former governor Robert Bentley’s website and social media activities pose curious questions
Former governor Robert Bentley, or someone acting on his behalf, has been active online in recent days prompting questions from politicos, the general public and even his own former staff members. Among the recent changes are a name change for his official facebook group and several new posts. His page formally, “Bentley for Governor” was changed to “Bentley for Alabama” on May 28th. Since it has seen a handful of posts including one earlier today. May 26, 2018 two days before the groups name change someone posted on the page a message signed with the Governor’s name. It was the first post since October 2014, and read: “ABOUT THIS PAGE: Bentley for Alabama, and our partner website www.bentleyforalabama.org, examines the specific time during which Governor Robert Bentley served the people of the state as Alabama’s 53rd Governor and provides recent updates on the former Governor in post-public life, his charitable work and his continued enthusiasm for the causes he championed during his two terms in Office. This Facebook Page provides new updates, and past posts in their original form from the time Governor Bentley served in public office. Posts are time stamped, and some links may no longer be active. Governor Bentley has generously made available free and easy access to digital resources of the Bentley Administration as well as two Bentley for Governor Campaigns. Please visit BentleyforAlabama.org for more details.” This recent activity comes among public scrutiny for statements made during depositions taken in June that revealed Rebekah Caldwell Mason, the woman he was accused of having an affair with is now working for him as an office manager at his dermotology practice, Dermatology Care of Alabama in Tucaloosa. AL.com reported, “Under questioning from attorneys, Bentley confirmed Mason works as the office manager for his Tuscaloosa-based medical practice, Dermatology Care of Alabama. Bentley said Mason works 9 a.m.-5 p.m. four days a week and 9 a.m.-noon on Friday, when the practice closes early. She is paid $5,000 a month, or $60,000 a year, he told attorneys.” Bentley’s updated facebook page and this new information has some wondering if Mason is the one updating the page. “He would not have been able to nor did he have any interest in learning to post to social media. Furthermore, if you look at the content, it’s not written using phrasing natural to Bentley but is familiar to those who recognize the writings of Rebekah Mason,” said a former Bentley staffer familiar with Bentley’s social media history told Alabama Today. We attempted to contact Mason and/or Bentley at his medical office to ask about the sudden activity but no one answered the phone. While the Facebook and website updates are mundane in content, the most recent about Bentley’s efforts to bring jobs to the Yellowhammer State, and the process of his elections, some commenters on the page seem puzzled by the recent activity: “It is bizarre and if it wasn’t so sad it would be funny,” the same former Bentley staffer continued. “It’s unfortunate for the state of Alabama that Rebekah Caldwell Mason won’t let the Governor end out his service to Alabama with respect and dignity. She continually makes him a laughing stock with stunts like this.” Speaking to the way Mason has manipulated the Governor, the allegations of how she used her office for her own gain and all of the ways in which she continues to profit off of him the staffer noted she is of the opinion that, “This borders on elder abuse. She’s taking advantage of an elderly man.”
Kicking Jim Zeigler out of statehouse backfiring? Be careful what you ask for insiders
In a classic case of be careful what you ask for, State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who was told in April of 2018 that we was being unceremoniously kicked out the State House, “because they needed the space” all of a sudden, has found a new space for his office to reside. Ha! It’s in the same building as Ethics Commission. Just when lawmakers thought they were getting Zeigler out of their hair, one the state’s best loud and vocal advocates for taxpayers is now going to be ever so close to the people responsible for maintaining ethics. Allowing him to lodge complaints without so much as leaving the comfort of his building. Let’s be clear, if you think lawmakers wanted Zeigler out so they could use his space rather than to stop him from showing up at press conferences and watching what they were doing I’ve got a bridge to the beach in Az. to sell you. There are so many people in Montgomery who don’t like Jim’s in-your-face style, but as his recent showing in the GOP primary revealed he is doing just fine in the mind’s of the voters. Rather than aim to silence him we need to encourage more lawmakers to be like him. Zeigler is taking his job as a watchdog seriously. On a regular basis he’s questioning the actions and spending of those around him. Let’s not forget, it was Zeigler who pressed the issue of Governor Robert Bentley‘s ethics violations, he spoke out against a bizarre corrections contract for $300 million to a firm already tied up in ethics and bribery charges in Mississippi, he’s been outspoken in advocating for the prioritization of limited infrastructure and transportation money asking ALDOT and John Cooper questions they clearly don’t want to answer. As noted in his follow up yesterday, after THREE months of waiting as Cooper and his team dodge Alabama’s open records laws. It’s clear the efforts to move him were nothing but a stunt but those wanting to silence him are going to have to try harder.
