"Quite well known","genteel" Zinga campaign manager to Parkinson's patient: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself"

The following is a comment left this afternoon on a post about perennial Republican candidate Andrea Zinga.

I am a Parkinson's patient and an American with a disability.

A sample of true contempt for the disabled!

I give you Campaign Manager for Ms. Zinga's 2004 congressional race Charlie Johnston's response to my phone call about the prejudices they hold and PD patients.


charliej--------@att.net wrote:

From: charliej ------@att.net
To: ---- parisoff@yahoo.com
Subject: Your call
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 18:46:14 0000

Dear Ms. Parisoff,

I was disappointed to hear your reaction to our phone conversation. I have been through a lot of campaigns and have learned to take precautions.

Sometimes people try to whip up an issue for purely political reasons. Whenever I sniff that that may be the case, I always make sure to have a few witnesses present when I take the call. From your tone on the phone, though you were forceful, I thought you might be sincere - and so I took a lot of time to discuss the matter with you. But then the young man you spoke with later told me this was probably a set-up...you see, he was one of the witnesses that I had sit near me to hear my side of the conversation.

He told me you told him I was screaming at you and yelling irrationally. Nice story, but he was sitting there the whole time, and so knew it was not true. Now I won't be terribly surprised to see you telling that story to some paper sometime. It's okay, been there, done that. Except I have my witnesses - and I am quite well-known... and one of the things I am well-known for is that, though I often speak forcefully, I am known to be rather genteel and not given to bouts of screaming except under the most extreme provocation.

Since you described the ravings of a lunatic to one of the people who actually listened to what was being said, I am assuming it doesn't really matter what Andrea Zinga actually said. You were what Rush Limbaugh often calls a seminar caller - your motivation was not to get at the truth, but to slur Ms. Zinga and her campaign. From your initial tone, I had hoped for better from you.

Frankly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.


Charlie Johnston
Campaign Manager
Andrea Zinga for Congress
Office: 309-344-0522
Cell: 618-406-5874

I am not ashamed of being a Parkinson's patient.
Although I feel heart sick, for what some people will do to WIN.

An enemy of the disabled.
name -"Charlie Johnston"

Sincerely,
Ms. Parisoff