reporters – The View from a Drawbridge

I’m Becoming Speculation Averse

Until the facts are in, there’s no sense in pulling conclusions out of your hind end.

There’s this game that we used to play in college, called F***, Marry, or Kill. Someone would name three people, public figures or people commonly known to all the players, and you’d have to place each person in one of the categories. No two could share a category. It could be quite enlightening.

But I’m older now, and I’m starting to play a new game. It’s called Fact, Speculation or Opinion. It deals with details, not individuals. I watch or read about a given event, and as the reporter holds forth, I break the message down into bullet points in my mind, and determine which category each bullet point falls under.

Some people might struggle with the difference between speculation and opinion. The way I see it, when one speculates, they’re throwing out ideas as to what the truth may be in the matter. These speculations can have an agenda to sway the public toward a conspiracy theory, or they may come from a genuine desire to get to the bottom of things, despite a lack of solid evidence.

Opinions, on the other hand, are what you believe about a topic, whether the facts support your opinion or not. I’m only just beginning to realize that most neurotypical people are heavily invested in having others agree with their opinions. I’m all for that if your opinion is based on logic, but if you’re simply parroting the opinion that someone else has given you, or you’re leading with pure emotion, then I lose all respect for your thought process.

Speculations often lead to opinions, but they’re not identical. Either way, they’re not helpful. Basically, until all the facts are in, you are pulling conclusions out of your hind end. Who needs that?

Facts ought to be self explanatory. You’d think they would be. But critical thinking seems to have flown right out the window, and people seem to believe actual evidence is a waste of time. It makes me feel like there is no solid ground anymore, and that feels really scary to me.

But you know what’s scarier still? Now that I play this game regularly, I’m truly realizing how often reporters veer deep into the realm of speculation and opinion. Journalism is supposed to be anathema to that. But facts no longer seem to matter. and when you couple that with a total lack of critical thinking by those who consume this information, it is a dangerous path that society is walking down.

Please don’t take this as an opportunity to tar every journalist with the “fake news” brush. I only do that if I feel that they have a heavy agenda and they know darned well that what they are saying is a complete fabrication. Those types are the lowest of the low. But not all reporting is like that.

Some people stumble into the land of speculation or opinion without even realizing it. The amount of information flowing these days is so overwhelming that it’s impossible to keep up with. Even so, there is a great deal of pressure for reporters to tie up every story in a pretty little bow. Otherwise we stop paying attention.

Unfortunately, life isn’t usually like that. Therefore, reporters are increasingly tempted to speculate and share opinions rather than dig to the very root of the matter. There’s just no time for that in our fast paced world.

If you want some practice in playing Fact, Speculation, or Opinion, I suggest you head on over to the PolitiFact page and see how they go about debunking articles through their Pants on Fire! fact checks. Not only will it strengthen your ability to think critically, but it will also teach you what types of questions need to be asked in various situations. It’s quite eye opening.

For example, there’s been this story going around on social media that COVID vaccines caused more deaths than lives saved. You can see PolitiFact’s investigation of this story here.

First, PolitiFact checked the source of the information, and found that it came from Children’s Health Defense, an organization that has been proven to spread misinformation about vaccines. They also discovered that the story was based on a research paper written by two men who have been known to spread misinformation about both COVID and vaccines.

Next, PolitiFact checked with many experts on infectious diseases. They all agreed that the stories and the paper in question are based on misinformation which is contradicted by the facts. The global public health community agrees that these vaccines are both safe and effective. This is based on hundreds of peer reviewed papers that all draw this conclusion. Fact.

In addition, the paper in question was only published in one very obscure journal that has shown itself to be both predatory and controversial. The paper’s data comes from our VAERS system, where the public can report health effects that they believe came from their vaccination. Speculations. These reports are not run past people’s general practitioners, who are better equipped to determine the cause of an issue. I might think the blue sky is the reason my eyes are blue, but my doctor would never sign off on that. The data from VAERS is flawed and always has been. It even has that disclaimer on the website. Fact.

The paper also claims that the vaccine didn’t go through adequate testing, when all procedural evidence shows that not to be true. It also claims that the vaccinations can alter your DNA, which is scientifically impossible. Public health records indicate that 13 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide, and it is estimated that they have saved 14.4 million lives.

But the best part of the PolitiFact determination is that at the end it provides 37 sources for both the false claims and the proof that those claims are false. That alone makes me believe that they’ve done their homework, and didn’t just write something based on one hysterical paper that is entirely speculative (and I would say it is also extremely biased). People want this information to be true because it supports their debunked opinions. But these stories don’t hold water.

I have broken down so many stories into bullet points that I then have categorized as pure speculation that I’m starting to get irritated. Crystal balls may be pretty and tempting, but I don’t care about what people think might be the case. I don’t really care about their opinions, either. I want evidence. I want proof. I’m beginning to think that anything other than that is a gigantic waste of time. And I really, really hate having my time wasted. That, too, is a fact.

By the way, Dear Reader, I have never claimed to be a reporter. I mainly write opinion pieces, but my opinions are often backed by sources which I do my best to provide.

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Being on Their List

I don’t consider myself a journalist. Nor do I consider myself an influencer. My humble blog is small potatoes, so I’m probably safe, for now. Move along. Nothin’ to read, here. But I must admit, this article in Forbes, entitled Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And ‘Media Influencers’ has me clutching my pearls.

Rest assured that when your government starts compiling lists, it generally does not end well for the people therein. Just ask the Jews in Nazi Germany, or the Muslims in Trump America. Lists are to identify people you plan to treat differently.

This could be bad for writers in general. Especially when the current administration hates the media so intensely that it openly encourages violence toward them. Not good. No bueno.

One particularly chilling part of this database is that they plan to indicate one’s “sentiment.” That’s kind of arbitrary and subjective, isn’t it? If I criticize the government in any way, do I get a black mark? If anything, I should get a gold star for exercising my right to free speech like any American has the right to do. But I’m not going to be the one compiling the list, and I suspect I won’t see eye to eye with whomever they choose to do so.

It’s not in my nature to censor myself. I’m not even sure I have the capacity. That’s one of the many reasons I’m not a journalist. I can’t just state the facts. My opinions are a big part of my writing. That means some people will agree, and others will not. But it never occurred to me that my government had to agree in order for me to keep blogging. If it truly gets to that point, I don’t suspect I will fare well.

First, they came for the bloggers…

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You Are What You “Eat”

I totally get why this country is so divided. It is really easy to hang out in a news realm that confirms what you want to believe. For every Fox News, there’s a Huffington Post. For every Breitbart there’s a Natural News. If you really want to know what’s going on in the world, you might want to consider avoiding sources with such obvious agendas.

A longtime reader whom I now consider to be a friend (waving at Linda) pointed out to me that the term “You are what you eat” also applies to food of the mind. The information you take in, after all, can change who you are and the way you look at the world. If you are spoon-fed hate speech with your pablum, is it any wonder you grow up to become a skinhead?

This concept is known on a basic level by the majority of us. It’s why cults try to control their follower’s access to information. It’s why fundamentalists of every stripe want their children to only learn what they believe, regardless of whether it’s based on fact. It’s why the present Grand Poobah is trying to get us to distrust the press. Beware of those who try to prevent the spread of facts.

Our current political climate has overtaken us at a time when digital information flow is at its height. That’s a toxic intersection. It means that misinformation from both ends of the spectrum is also running rampant.

Be careful. Question everything. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. Most of all, use your common sense.

Below is a handy chart that has been floating around Facebook that gives you an idea of some of the more popular media outlets and their individual biases. I am making a concerted effort to stick to that inner circle and its upper halo whenever I can. From here on out, I’m going to try to only share Facebook fodder from these sources as well. I encourage you to do the same.

That is, unless you enjoy being the human equivalent of a genetically modified organism…

news-quality

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Andy Johnson is a Heel, but I’m NOT Achilles

The downward spiral that has been my life for the past 5 years really started when Andy Johnson, former member of the Florida House of Representatives, stole $3,500.00 from me, and despite the fact that I won the court case and have a lien on his house, he refuses to pay me back.

Looking back, I can see that I let that situation get the better of me. As my circumstances became more desperate, I started making more and more foolhardy choices, and things began to snowball until I found myself in a deep crevasse of desperation, not quite knowing what to do with myself.

Why on earth would I give this man so much power? In retrospect it disgusts me. He has swindler written all over him. The fact that someone can’t even make it as a politician, which is already one of the lowest forms of life, says a great deal about his character.

The fact that I let his betrayal and thievery send me into the profound tailspin that it did says a great deal about mine. I am too trusting. I need to be more self-protective.

Most of all, I need to get some perspective. This man is pathetic. Yes, I am connected to him for as long as this lien can continue to destroy his credit. There’s no getting around that, because he’ll never pay up voluntarily. But other than occasionally spreading the word about who he really is, I shouldn’t pay him any further attention.

I’m starting to take back my life. He, on the other hand, will continue to sell his soul because he refuses to do the right thing. That makes me pity him.

No photo of Andy Johnson is connected to this blog entry. Frankly, I’m sick of looking at the man.

You can read the full and sordid details about Andy Johnson’s underhanded dealings here. Or you can get an abridged version of events here. You can get details on how he blatantly lied about the situation to a reporter and my documented evidence of it here. If you’d like to confront him about this situation, read my suggestion about that here. And if you’d like to buy my judgment at a discount and make a nice profit from collecting the money, read about my offer here. If you would like to talk about other nefarious deeds of his, do so here.

Andy Johnson Scumbag Central

As anyone who has been following my blog knows, Andy Johnson, former member of the Florida House of Representatives, stole $3,500.00 from me, and despite the fact that I won the court case and have a lien on his house, he refuses to pay me back. You can read the full and sordid details about his underhanded dealings here. Or you can get an abridged version of events here. You can get details on how he blatantly lied about the situation to a reporter and my documented evidence of it here. If you’d like to confront him about this situation, read my suggestion about that here. And if you’d like to buy my judgment at a discount and make a nice profit from collecting the money, read about my offer here.

So, what more is there to say? Well, quite a bit, actually. It occurred to me the other day, while discussing the situation with a friend (because I take every opportunity to spread the word), that someone who would do something so underhanded couldn’t possibly be working in a vacuum. This level of scumbaggery, in my opinion, is rarely an isolated event. And in fact, a few people have contacted me privately and intimated that he has done things to them as well. I will respect their privacy and not share the details here, but I am going to open wide a window of opportunity and offer to use this highly public and completely free forum to share your Andy Johnson stories, because cockroaches hate the light.

As much as it pains me, my Andy Johnson entries are often my most viewed entries on a daily basis, so rest assured your account will get a wide readership. It kind of feels like the most vitriolic parts of my blog are the parts that garner the most attention. I long to cut them out like a cancer, but feel the need to share the truth until I see my money, and since it seems like that will never happen, I guess I will have to rip the scab off my scar tissue every few months and continue to sally forth.

Having said that, I may as well go all out and become a central clearinghouse for all things underhanded with respect to this man, so if you have any TRUE stories about Andy Johnson’s nefarious deeds, please contact me. You can add short stories in the comment section below, or, if your story is as long and complicated as mine is, we can dedicate an entire blog entry to the subject if you would like. I only ask that all your information be factual or your personal opinion about those facts, because I want to maintain this blog’s credibility. And with all things Andy Johnson, the truth seems to be much stranger than fiction, so who needs to falsify?

I will state quite emphatically that all views and opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the originator of The View from a Drawbridge and/or any/all other contributors to this site.

So come and get him people! The truth shall set everyone free except, perhaps, Andy Johnson himself!

I wonder what he thinks about as he gazes quietly off into the distance like that. “Who can I rip off next?”

Andy Johnson is a Liar, and I Can Prove It

Recently a journalist, Robert Montgomerie, contacted me about my most popular blog entry, Andy Johnson, SHAME on you!!! in which I describe in detail how this former member of the Florida House of Representatives stole several thousand dollars from me and refuses to pay it back. (For a shorter version of events, see Andy Johnson is a Swindler. To learn what he’s up to these days, see Andy Johnson is Back on the Radio. Heaven Help Us.)

According to Montgomerie, “There are a couple of other folks who are fighting back and forth with Johnson in public about the radio station and funding. It’s a rather slimy affair.”

So the sharks are circling. That doesn’t surprise me in the least. If any lawsuits ensue, I hope these people will contact me, because I can testify to Andy Johnson’s lack of character, and I would be thrilled to have that opportunity.

Especially now, because I’ve caught him in more lies. There’s nothing more pathetic than a con artist who can’t lie well. I honestly believe that he thinks that if he says something, it somehow becomes fact. The hubris of this man is beyond the pale.

Montgomerie, being a responsible journalist, decided to talk to Andy before writing his article. What follows are some excerpts of the conversation. These are all direct quotes from Andy Johnson.

“I have not done anything to stop this woman but I do not owe her any money at all. I lined up a roofer to fix her roof in trade with me and she would not let him do it. And, well, she and her boyfriend owed me about $10,000 for unpaid radio time. I guess you buy this stuff.”

“The lady can do anything she wants. She has already got more money from me than she claims I owe.”

“I AM fundamentally honest and decent and committed to doing unselfish things.”

Oh, where to begin.

The most blatant lie is that I would not let a roofer work on my roof. First of all, that defies logic. Why would I give Andy Johnson $3,500 to acquire a roofer and then refuse to have the roof done? Amongst the piles of evidence I supplied for my lawsuit against Andy, which I won, is an affidavit from Riggins Roofing. This is a matter of public record. If you’d like to see for yourself, it is case number 2010-SC-000516 in the County Court of Duval County, Florida. But for your convenience I’ll quote directly from the affidavit. “What he offered me was as follows: Free ads on his radio station for a certain amount of time. Because of the slow down in my company I was unable to agree to the deal and told him so…As far as I was concerned, that was the end of my company’s involvement in the situation.” This affidavit proves that when he took my money from me, he already knew he didn’t have a roof deal. That’s fraud.
He also sent out a second roofer to look at the place. Chuck Guerra of Shinglemasters Roofing. He was a decent and honest man, so I couldn’t let him make a decision about the situation without knowing the full story, so I told him the truth. At that point he told me he already wasn’t going to take Andy’s deal, because he felt advertising on his show was a waste of time. He had done it in the past and it had yielded him no business whatsoever. In the end, he wound up doing my roof, and he did an excellent job, but I had to pay him full price. Which means I was out that money in addition to the money Andy Johnson stole from me.
Andy also states he has not done anything to stop me. That’s a half-truth at best. What he should have said was that he can’t do anything to stop me. He has a law degree, and knows darned well that all I have to do to prove I’m not slandering or defaming him is to provide proof of what I’m saying, and I’ve got about a half inch thick pile of documentation, including the court judgment in my favor, that backs me up on that.
Another thing I have, among all those court documents, is a letter signed by Andy, dated December 24, 2009, which states: “Within 30 days I will provide either a signed roofing company document including a firm date for completion of a roof repair…or the return in full of the $3500.” Now, being trained in the law, if I had really and truly gotten more money from him than I claim he owes, don’t you think he’d have gotten documentation of that fact? Don’t you think he’d have bothered to show up for the lawsuit and provide such documentation, or, barring that, don’t you think he’d have provided it to the court in order to have my lien on his house vacated? Show me the receipts, Andy. Oh, but you can’t, can you? Because you and I both know you have never given me one thin dime.
As far as me owing him $10,000 dollars in unpaid radio time, that’s patently absurd. I’ve never been on his radio station in my entire life, and wouldn’t want to be. I’ve never even called in to his show, because I think it’s a joke. I’ve never stepped foot in that radio station. Now, if he’s referring to the radio show he allowed my ex-boyfriend, John Maycumber to have for one hour a week, called “The Spot”, he provided that to him in exchange for the fact that John worked for him for an entire year free of charge. He produced a ton of amazing and humorous and highly popular radio ads for him, and he screened his many crackpot callers for his talk show. If he feels that John owes him such a fortune, why hasn’t he taken him to court for it? Because he knows that claim is a steaming pile of horse manure, that’s why. And again, being trained in the law, he should know that common law isn’t recognized in the State of Florida, so any financial issues he may or may not have with John have nothing whatsoever to do with me.

If you are truly “fundamentally honest and decent and committed to doing unselfish things”, Andy, then you would comply with the law. A judge ruled that you owe me this money. Comply with the courts. Or do you think your fundamentally honest and decent butt is above the law? I guess your actions will indicate your real thoughts on the matter.

Here’s Andy Johnson, acting decent and honest at a meeting of the “Southside Business [sic] Men’s Club.” Little do they know. But rest assured, I’ll tell them. (Andy’s the fat one, by the way.)

Andy Johnson is Back on the Radio. Heaven Help Us.

Yes, it’s that time again. My quarterly rant about Andy Johnson, the man who stole thousands of dollars from me and refuses to pay it back, despite my winning court judgment and my lien on his house.

If you want to get the full, ugly story of what this man did to me, check out my blog entry, Andy Johnson, SHAME on you!!! Or you can get the abbreviated version of the whole sordid mess here. But if you don’t care about this man enough to be bothered, and on most days I’m right there with you, suffice it to say that this guy, who tries to style himself as a pillar of the Jacksonville community, is in actuality a thief. As a matter of fact, I’ve recently caught him in some more lies. You can read about that here.

And now he is back on the local airwaves, attempting to perpetuate his own myth. I couldn’t be more disgusted. Here’s the irony. The reason he took my money in the first place was in a desperate attempt to remain on the air a little while longer, and in that he failed. Our airwaves have been blessedly devoid of his blathering for quite some time. But now he’s baaaaaack!

Another irony: in theory his politics and mine are quite similar. I’d love to be his cheerleader. I’d love to support him. But unfortunately I know the content of his moral fiber, and it’s flimsy at best.

What Andy doesn’t seem to realize is that he’s somewhat of a Jacksonville joke. A political has-been who sometimes manages to pay for a few hours on an obscure am radio station to blather on, no one really takes him particularly seriously.

The five views a day I get on my Andy Johnson rants are probably a larger, more loyal group than his listeners. If you listen to his show for any length of time you’ll realize that he spends the bulk of his time begging for callers.

Here’s a cool idea. On weekdays, from 2-6 pm eastern standard time here in the US, listen to his inane show at http://1600thebeach.com, then call 904-861-1026, get past his screener by saying you want to ask about some political foolishness or other, and when you talk to the man himself, ask him if he respects the courts and feels he’s a law abiding citizen. When he says yes, ask him why, when it’s a matter of public record that he has to pay Barbara the thousands of dollars he took from her, he hasn’t bothered to do so.

It would be so much easier and less embarrassing for him if he would just do the right thing and pay me, but yeah, eventually I’ll sell my judgment to a professional who will get the money from him and pay me 50 cents on the dollar if I’m lucky. Either way he will pay on that judgment eventually. But in the meantime, I’m rather enjoying spreading the truth about this man and hearing from others whom he’s bilked. And if it prevents even one more person from being taken in, it’s worth it. Let’s keep those lines of communications open!

(This is Andy Johnson. Ironically, we’ve never met face to face. But knowing what I know about the man, even his photo makes me shudder.)

A Newfound Respect for Journalists

The other day I got an idea for a blog entry. I was going to write about the death of the wristwatch. I mean, I haven’t seen one in ages. And what do you need one for anymore? We have cell phones and laptops and a whole host of other electronic devices that include time pieces, after all. I haven’t worn one in years.

But something made me ask my Facebook friends, and the response I got was surprising. A whole lot of them still wear them. The reasons were varied. Some did so as a fashion statement or a status symbol. Others did it out of habit; they would feel naked without them. Another mentioned that nurses still needed them for the second hands when taking a pulse. Still another said it was just too big a hassle to dig out your cell phone every time you want to know what time it is.

So much for my blog entry about the death of the wristwatch. I was kind of disappointed, to be frank. I already had it all plotted out in my mind.

But that made me think about journalists. People often grumble that they are biased, especially when the report is something that the complainer desperately wants to disagree with. But to be honest I really am impressed that they aren’t much more biased, given my firsthand experience, humble and limited though it may be. The urge to write the story that you want to tell is almost overwhelming. And doing research is a pain in the neck. I was going to actually sit at the mall or something and see how many wristwatches I actually saw, but then I thought, “Oh to heck with it. Life’s too short.” The constant temptation to be lazy and jump to conclusions and pull the information out of one’s own behind must be hard to resist.

So here’s my own personal high five to all the journalists out there. Keep up the good work. Because work it is, indeed.

(Image credit minnesota.publicradio.org)

Andy Johnson, SHAME on you!!!

(Note: Welcome to the most viewed post on my blog! For a shorter version of this blog entry, see “Andy Johnson is a Swindler“, or simply scroll down and read the highlighted sentences here. Also, to see what this shyster is currently up to, check out another post I’ve written here, and to see some very amusing lies I’ve caught him in recently, go here.)

There’s no tactful way to say this. Andrew Johnson, Sr., former member of the Florida House of Representatives, long time progressive radio talk show host in Jacksonville, Florida took $3,500.00 from me under false pretenses and refuses to pay it back. This man, whose slogan is “Down to Business Andy Johnson! Never neutral. But always fair” has ripped me off. If you care at all about justice, please spread the word in any way you can. Share this blog on your Facebook page. Copy it to your own blog. Do whatever you can do, because while I have a lien on his 2,100 square foot house, Florida law says that as long as he lives in it, I cannot collect, and meanwhile, I’m about 3 months away from being homeless. Is that fair?

This is Andy Johnson.

All of this is a matter of public record, and I’ll be happy to provide anyone with the case number if they ask, and I’ve also got a stack of evidence about an inch thick that I’d share with anyone who can help me, but here’s what happened: In June, 2009 I owned a house. The roof developed a leak and I was in a panic. I was barely making the mortgage, let alone any major added expense, and I’d put enough patches on that old house to know this was going to be major. That roof was rotting away. My boyfriend at the time, John, worked at a local radio station, WJSJ. He contacted his boss, Andy Johnson, in hopes that a “trade out” could be done. This means that a company gives you a substantial discount for their services in exchange for free radio advertising. As Mr. Johnson has a rather high profile in the community, and at the time I was told he was still a lawyer, and John trusted him and liked working for him, I thought there might be a chance that Mr. Johnson would do this kind thing for a long time loyal employee. And in fact, Mr. Johnson told John to contact Riggins Roofing. He believed a trade out could be done with them.

A few weeks later, an employee from Riggins Roofing came to the house to give us a quote so we could determine the extent of the subsequent discount. The quote came in at $5,900.00. Now it was up to Andy Johnson to enter into negotiations with them. In the meantime, Riggins Roofing had someone come over to put a temporary patch to stop the leak, which led me to believe that a deal was in progress.

After almost two months of Mr. Johnson’s procrastination, on August 21^st he finally told John that he had arrived at a deal. They would do our roof for $3,500.00 plus radio advertising. Even that was more money than I had, but it needed to be done. Looking at the ever-expanding water stain on my bedroom ceiling, I had no choice. On August 23^rd, John met with Andy Johnson and gave him a check that I wrote from my home equity loan, and he gave us something in writing outlining the deal.

And then nothing happened. Johnson came up with a million excuses, including but not limited to “Riggins is really busy at the moment. They’ll get to it, though.” “They haven’t returned my calls,” and “I have been really busy, John. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them. I’ll have something for you tomorrow.” Many, many tomorrows went by. I got increasingly nervous. By September, I started to suspect I’d never see my money again. But John loved working with this man, so I kept giving him one more chance.

It started to have a negative impact on our relationship and our life. Now I was facing the loss of $3,500.00, plus the prospect of paying someone $5,900.00 to repair the roof. I started losing sleep and having nightmares. Then I broke my foot and never got it treated because I knew the cost would be astronomical. Our overseas vacation got cancelled, and Christmas was downgraded to no tree and two lottery tickets as gifts.

In November, 2009, John found out that Andy Johnson was on the verge of losing the radio station. That’s when I really started to panic. On November 16^th, I wrote a letter to Johnson as a good faith effort to try to resolve this issue. John gave it to him, but he refused to sign it. He said he was too busy at the moment, but that John could come get it the next day. The next day, of course, Andy Johnson wasn’t there.

On December 3^rd I spoke to Dan Underhill of Riggins Roofing. He expressed shock and dismay that his company was drawn into this, and stated he never agreed to the deal, and in fact, when he sent someone to put a temporary patch on the roof, he did it as a favor to Andy Johnson, and as far as he was concerned, this was the last of his involvement in the matter. He kindly provided me with an affidavit.

This meant that when Mr. Johnson took my money in August he knew full well that he had no roof deal. (Frankly I think this constitutes fraud, but when I spoke with someone at the State Attorney’s office, they said they had much bigger fish to fry, unfortunately. And when I spoke to the Florida Bar, they said that no one by that name was an attorney at the present time.) At this point Andy Johnson stopped returning our calls. I tried calling him at home and spoke to his wife, Mary Johnson, who was totally unaware of this situation. When I told her about it, much to my chagrin I burst into tears. She said, “I’m not impressed with your tears, little girl. You need to be more professional.” I need to be more professional? Me? What about your husband who took my money, lady?

Andy immediately called for a meeting with John, and we got yet another deal with him, which I dictated over the phone and he signed. I’m embarrassed to say I was pretty hysterical at this point. I found out something very interesting during that conversation. Mr. Johnson seemed to be operating under the impression that he’d “have use of” my money for “a time” before the roof was done. This was news to me, and I would have never entered into the deal if I had known that. I also wouldn’t have entered into the deal if I had known that Andy Johnson had not been paying John since March, 2009, something John had neglected to tell me until I filed the lawsuit.

Mr. Johnson’s final deadline to resolve things with me was January 23^rd, 2010, and as predicted, nothing happened. He continued to beg for extensions. I finally took him to court, and won the judgment. Andy Johnson, thinking mistakenly that people still cared about him or his reputation, failed to show up as he thought reporters would be waiting at the courthouse, according to John. I’ve had a lien on his house since April, 2010.

Through all of this, John continued to “work” for him, and did so for years afterward. Needless to say, our 16 year relationship ended in June, 2010. He still occasionally makes snide comments on his Facebook page that gives the impression that he was the martyr in the relationship. But how could I live with a man who was too spineless to stand up to his boss, who had done so much damage to me? If my boss had done that to someone I claimed to love, I’d have dragged him around the office by his, well, you know, until he coughed up the money, and then I would have quit. But hey, that’s how I roll. With integrity.

I’ve since sold the house and tried to move on with my life, and I’m in a much better relationship now, with someone who has my back, but I’m even worse off now financially than ever before, and am on the verge of sleeping in my car while Andy Johnson has a decent roof over his head.

I know. I was a fool. And the more research I do on Andy Johnson, the more I realize it. From an Article written by Rich Tucker, staff writer of the Florida Times-Union on July 30, 2000 comes the following quotes about Andy:

“Johnson succeeded in winning a state House seat on schedule and was even re-elected in 1980. But his political career was to end far before he imagined. Johnson would lose four more elections before accepting that reality.

Today, many of the city’s most influential people view Johnson as a rather insignificant, albeit noisy, source of aggravation — a political has-been who had much potential but who no longer is capable of being anything for the city except a disruption.”

“He’s Rush Limbaugh for the Democrats. He is a nut, as far as I’m concerned,” said former state Sen. Arnett Girardeau, who ran against Johnson in 1976, 1982 and 1992. “In his own mind, he thinks he’s a liberal. In my own mind, he’s a liberal with a misguided cause.”

“Johnson’s in-your-face style annoyed some of his colleagues. By his second term, even Johnson admits he was out of favor with many of the senior legislators.

Don Davis, who defeated Johnson in a run for City Council in 1986, said he counts himself lucky that Johnson does not hold an elected office for the city or state.”

“I can tell you one thing,” Davis said. “Had he been successful in getting elected to the Jacksonville City Council, I feel like he would have been the most disruptive factor to hit local government in the history of the state of Florida.”

“Johnson said he sponsored more legislation than nearly any other representative during his time in office, but those who served with Johnson described his behavior as hyperactive and largely unproductive.”

“It seemed like he was always running for something rather than trying to find some issues,” said Tommy Hazouri, a former state representative and Jacksonville mayor. “He was a great debater. The problem is no one ever listened to him.”

“Each of the last three times I was in a campaign it became so stressful that my wife seriously brought up the idea, ‘You know, I don’t think I want to be married to you anymore,’ ” Johnson said. (This coming from the woman who was unimpressed by my tears.)

“And while Johnson remembers each of his defeats with regret, his wife said she often just felt relieved.

Without much remorse, Mary Johnson concedes her husband’s chances of being elected again to any civic office are slim. “He’s so outspoken, and he’s made so many people mad. I think he’s realistic in the respect that he’s got a lot of enemies now.”

“For a political animal like Johnson, that reality is painful.”

“I wish I could have been more effective on all public issues that have concerned me, and I wish I could have done that in such a way that I didn’t make a bunch of people angry,” he said. “People think I enjoy making them angry. That’s just not true. I’m not like that.”

Oh, you aren’t, Andy? Are you a good guy? THEN GIVE ME MY FREAKIN’ MONEY!!!!!

The irony is that I’m probably as progressive as Andy Johnson ever was. I would LOVE to sing his praises. I really would. I’d love to be able to say nice things about him. But his actions prevent me from doing so. In my opinion, he’s an embarrassment to liberal politics, and a moral blight to humanity. His progressive talk show, which always struggled for advertising dollars, was taken off the air in January, 2011. He seems to have fallen off the public radar since then. I’m sure that devastates him, but not nearly as much as he has devastated me.

With court costs, attorney’s fees and interests on the lein, Andrew Johnson, Sr., former member of the Florida House of Representatives, now owes me approximately $4,600.00.

Please spread the word. I’ll keep reposting this blog entry every few months until I have my money.