Brendan Doherty demonstrating uncommon integrity
Intergrity. Really? INTEGRITY.
Mr. Doherty’s latest attack ad on television towards Congressman David Cicilline is loaded with insinuation, negative innuendo, a bit of or no truth at all. Remember, Mr. Doherty approved this divisive negative ad.
I was also recently subjected to a robot-call – a female spewing half-truths and innuendo in a very snide tone of voice – that, though it was generated by the National Republican Campaign Committee in support of Brendan Doherty, required his approval for publication. The call was disgusting.
So I ask you, integrity? Mr. Doherty has run a spiteful, negative campaign. Where is his integrity?
I am not surprised that there would be animosity between a retired state police colonel and an attorney whose job it was to provide representation to those accused of alleged criminal activity. Criminal attorneys tend to represent those accused of committing crimes as prosecutors tend to pursue convictions of those crimes. It is the job of these attorneys to do just that – represent one side or the other. This is a fundamental process of fair representation; a tenet of the freedoms granted by our
Constitution. An attorney representing the accused is not guilty of his client’s crimes. Mr. Doherty’s campaign has repeatedly alluded to just that. It is wrong and unbecoming of an individual touting his integrity. Mr. Doherty knows better.
And, to infer that Congressman Cicilline did more than state, though erroneously, that the City of Providence was in good financial state – to raise the aura of corruption without a basis to do so – is pure theater and utterly irresponsible.
Though I have tried to learn more about Mr. Doherty, his negative campaign has taught me only one thing. Integrity is one thing Mr. Doherty can use more of.
I don’t understand why the RI Bar Association hasn’t issued some kind of statement condemning the Doherty Campaign for those “he defended criminals” ads. Doherty is a former State Police Officer – he should know better than most that all criminal defendants are entitled to legal representation.
Let’s not forget that Mr. Cicilline initiated this when he attacked Doherty on women’s issues. All defendants deserve adequate legal protection but no one lives in a bubble including lawyer/legislators. If Doherty had as many integrity issues as Mr. Cicilline (Lying to the electorate, leaving Providence in financial ruins, giving out PEDP loans to campaign insiders, failing to report loan defaults, and failing maintain safe schools) then this wouldn’t even a blip on the radar. I guess if you have nothing else to criticize Doherty for then you you should probably cling to it.
Definition of INTEGRITY
1
: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity
in·teg·ri·ty
[in-teg-ri-tee] noun
1.
adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
dictionary.reference.com/browse/integrity
So, because he claims that Mr. Cicilline is such a dishonest politician, Colonel Doherty’s integrity gets to take a vacation? Isn’t that convenient. What was it about women’s issues that Cicilline attacked Doherty in a dishonest manner?
I’m not sure what your point is with the ‘living in a bubble’ comment – either a lawyer does their job or they do not. If that job includes representation of those accused of crimes – even horrific, heinous crimes such as rape – how does that equate to living in a bubble or not?
“So, because he claims that Mr. Cicilline is such a dishonest politician, Colonel Doherty’s integrity gets to take a vacation?”
Don’t you mean Mr. Cicilline is a dishonest politician and where did the Colonel’s integrity take a vacation? Is there something he said that isn’t true? How can you say someone supports women’s issues when he gets paid to defend rapists and women abusers? The fact is he opposed mandatory sentencing in the legislature because it makes his job harder. You can cling to the uncommon integrity crap all you want but David Cicilline is the worst of the worst when it comes to politicians.
“where did the Colonel’s integrity take a vacation?”
>> An attorney representing the accused is not guilty of his client’s crimes. Mr. Doherty’s campaign has repeatedly alluded to just that. It is wrong and unbecoming of an individual touting his integrity. Mr. Doherty knows better.<<
Remember the article we’re commenting about?
Don’t you think it is dishonest for a law enforcement veteran to run campaign ads that equate an attorney with his client’s crimes (especially when the client has not yet been found guilty while the attorney is representing him)?
With regard to mandatory sentencing, that is a matter of opinion. Personally, I would rather have judges with full information reason decide the sentences for convicted criminals. The court is the most appropriate place to decide sentences – not the legislature. We may have differences of opinion, but how does that equate an attorney with his clients?
“An attorney representing the accused is not guilty of his client’s crimes.”
You’re absolutely correct yet one can’t be called an advocate for women when he practices otherwise. I don’t think the Doherty campaign should have pursued that line of debate. It just provided Cicilline apologists with a talking point. He ample ammunition in Cicilline’s track record as a legislator voting against protection of women and sex offender registration.
“Personally, I would rather have judges with full information reason decide the sentences for convicted criminals. The court is the most appropriate place to decide sentences – not the legislature.”
In the perfect world you would be right. But the mandatory sentencing set by the legislature is the only control that the electorate has regarding the standards of adequate punishment and rehabilitation. It’s not perfect but it prevents some judges, who are nothing more than political appointees, from going rogue. It also has nothing to do the lawyer-client relationships but everything to do with Mr. Cicilline’s voting record in the GA.
I’ve been lukewarm in my support of Cicilline up until now. Those attack ads have really made me much more enthusiastic about his candidacy. It is really beyond belief that anyone with any kind of respect for the Constitution and the rights of the accused would fault a defense attorney for doing their job. I think it takes “uncommon integrity’ to ensure that even the most reviled in society get a fair trial.