Home Where 3 Died Owned By GOP Strategist
By John Amato Wednesday Aug 22, 2007 9:15pmAuthorities in Orange County are investigating the discovery of three dead bodies inside a home in east Orange County on Thursday.---According to records from the Orange County Property Appraiser's Office, the home is owned by Rafael Gonzalez, who is known to be a prominent Republican party strategist. It is not known if Gonzalez is one of the victims.
The address of the home is also listed as the office of the Strategum Group, a political firm whose president is listed as Ralph Gonzalez, who served as executive director of the Georgia Republican Party.
UPDATE: WESH 2 News has confirmed Republican political strategist Ralph Gonzalez was one of three people found dead inside a home in East Orange County on Thursday.
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Ouch.
Creepy
If he did die then who will be around to blame Clinton?
Is it really appropriate to file this under scandal without all the facts? Seems like a little bit of a low blow considering 3 people are dead.
Isnt that the Strategerium Group?
Clinton did it!
Seein' as this is filed under "Abramoff", are we to assume there's some connection between either Gonzalez(father or son) and everyone's favorite disgraced lobbyist?
...you wanna bet Clinton's cocaine was involved?
some people know too much for their own good.
to all the greedy egoist republicans....be careful where the carrot takes you.
i know this is really hard to comprehend that carrot looks so good.
it shines with like the power of a thousand suns and appears in all forms.
...like a carrot with Bill Clinton's face on it!
Let's keep digg'in and see how far this corruption goes in our government. The current Republicans seem to be the most corrupt corporate party that I've ever seen. From Jack Off Abramoff to Jeff Gannon/Guckert and The Franklin Cover-Up. These republicans are messed up. Ted I'll give head Haggard. Let's not let hypocracy go unchallenged, unconfronted, and unpublicized in our country. I'll Amen to that too.
Peace.
Wow.
I read about these bodies being found this morning and just assumed, drug deal gone bad.
Wow. The thug crime family is really hitting the skids.
...the thing is, just knowing who the repubs are you know full well this is probably some dirty, nasty, politically-related inside job. And that a gay hooker is involved, somehow, but I suppose that's a given. But the old "Reep What You Sew" is so probable as to be certain... if not, I'll eat my hat. Seriously, I will eat my hat if a nest of these nasty vipers didn't turn on one another. Any takers?
This could get interesting.
How is this political news? Gonzalez has been identified by his mother as one of the victims and police are "speculating" as to what happened. As Tyler @4 above said, why is this filed as a GOP "scandal", rather than ... say ... a tradegy or an unsolved murder or something similar.
If a Republican strategist is killed in a car accident, is that also post worthy?
Let's make a transparent government our top priority from now on. From the Federal Reserve to the Election Process and the bills we pass. Damn it. I'd love to see some changes here real soon in this country.
[deleted - knock it off. Keep your posts to the topic, not other posters. Check your attitude.]
Tyler @ 4:
Maybe. Maybe not.
On their website, one of Strategum's clients is Tom Feeney.
From Wikipedia:
"In September 2006, Feeney was named one of the "20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress""
COULD IT BE THIS?
"In August 2003, Feeney took a trip to Scotland, apparently to golf (a violation of House rules). When Feeney reported the trip on congressional-disclosure forms, he said the National Center for Public Policy Research had paid for it, something that the Center denied. In fact, the trip was paid for by former lobbyist (now convicted criminal) Jack Abramoff, who went with Feeney to Scotland. Feeney has said "My office has never done anything for Jack Abramoff", but in March 2003, Feeney was one of ten Republican lawmakers who wrote to the Energy Department opposing changes to the Energy Star, changes also being fought by an Abramoff client."
OR COULD IT BE THIS?
"Feeney's 2006 congressional opponent, Clint Curtis has previously provided a sworn affidavit alleging that in October 2000, Feeney asked Curtis, then a computer programmer at Yang Enterprises, to design a computer program to falsify touch-screen voting results in Palm Beach County."
JUST A FEW LOOSE THREADS, BUT...
WITH CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT FINALLY GETTING SOME TEETH, MAYBE STRATEGUM'S PRESIDENT KNEW TOO MUCH.
This is political news because the republican party is so corrupt that it's almost safe for the media to assume this was politically motivated.
And based on the vast array of similar circumstances throughout history, my bet is it was either Clinton or a gay hooker.
THAT, mi amigo, is why it is political news.
I think bamboozled is just trying to confuse the issue with facts.
Drugs and Florida go hand in hand. And FLA. makes money flow through two conduits: Tourism and drugs.
Raphael GONZALES director of the GEORGIA thug party?
Oh man there is a real dirty story going on here. Not that I'm invoking stereotypes involving people of hispanic descent. I am invoking stereotypes involving lilly-white Georgia Republicans being involved with murder in east Orlando.
(Kinda helps to be around here to appreciate the air of desparation and increasing dispair.)
What more can you expect from a member of a party whose political philosophy matches the psychological profile of the BTK serial killer?
Orlando paper reporting this was an apparent double killing and a sucide....and
that Ralph Gonzales was in fact one of the deceased.
Update:
One of the bodies has been confirmed to be that of Rafeal Gonzales.
Further:
Really strange
Snowball @ 24:
Yeah, strange indeed. Also, as I recall, the Orlando paper implied that the three men
may have been deceased for serveral days..
From the article:
'Gonzalez lived in the home with another man, and the third person found dead is a former roommate who was visiting from out of town.'
Want to bet it's a love triangle that ended badly? Not that it should be a major story except that it's just so antithesis of what the Repug party preaches.
Blue Rose @ 26:
Exactly what I was thinking....
What's with the backpacks?
Blue Rose @ 26:
I find it hard to believe that any Republican is capable of 'love'. Except, perhaps, self-love....
Not the kindest comment I've ever written; but, I believe it's not far off the mark....
Q: Why do I care about this??
A: I don't.
Fdog @ 13:
Sorry. Tried to accept your bet. Got deleted.
http://www.strategumusa.com/staff.html
Strategum staff bio for Mr Gonzalez. (People make a living doing this stuff?!)
#17 Bob,
The murders do not need to be committed for "overly political reasons", and no one here will be eating their hats because of that. The point is that core GOPers are a bunch of crazy people. Take your pick pedos, self-hating queers, power mongers by day and submissives visiting the dominatrix dungeon at night, religious fanatics by day and crack snorting salami sucking family type men at night. These are folks who have some serious mental issues. The Preznit himself was quite the coke-whore and alcoholic well into his thirties and fourties. Perhaps you've seen pics of him walking hand in hand with Saudis and giving them a kiss. Not my taste, but for guys that run around screaming about gays it sure does make you want to question your lying eyes.
Take care, you can recover from being a Republican.
A.Citizen @ 29:
Hense the bad ending?! :~/
The Group's website is pretty creepy- and also very tied into Florida...Orlando...and also Vegas...Backpacks? and yes, I think it is fine to ask??? And has MrFeeny given a statement- he is All over their website...according to the website- Gonzalez is the only "staff"? I would love to know more about this little company and did it have any "Contracts" with the Commerce Dept ? ( and that little scandel that is winding up- with Rove/Commerce and Winning Repuke Elections....)
BTW according to the company website- Ralph lived in Orlando..
Ralph Gonzalez's career seems to have always put him one degree of separation away from infamous former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
When Ralph Reed was elected chairman of the Georgia Republican Party in 2001 [link], two of the party's executive directors were Todd Schnick and Ralph Gonzalez. When Gonzalez filed an annual report for Strategum with the State of Florida Division of Corporations in January, 2007, Schnick was listed as one of his business partners.
(Note: Todd Schnick is a name that you might remember if you believe the 2000 presidential election was stolen, and that said theft occurred in Florida.)
Ralph Reed has been associated with Abramoff since at least 1981.
Tom Feeney's connections with Abramoff have been well-documented by Brad Friedman. This link goes to just one example.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4995
Gonzales didn't want to share his bum-bum in the bus station men's room and paid the ultimate price. Part of the GOP' religious belief system. Boink other men and/or children and have a good relationship with your local pusher or you're a traitor.
Seems a little premature to call this a "scandal."
sharkcellar @ 2:
They're ALL creepy.
ScrewBush @ 33:
You've got it mostly right but you should not lump Saudi tradition with homosexuality. All that I've read is that the Saudis frown on homosexuality, altho I could be wrong. I do find their traditions strange that the sexes are separate quite a bit, and perturbed that women are not looked on as equal partners.
I love the smell of a good conspiracy theory brewing in the blogosphere.
ScrewBush @ 33:
Who me? I usually get accused of being a DNC troll...
Bluerose@41 you said,
"You’ve got it mostly right but you should not lump Saudi tradition with homosexuality. All that I’ve read is that the Saudis frown on homosexuality, altho I could be wrong. I do find their traditions strange that the sexes are separate quite a bit, and perturbed that women are not looked on as equal partners."
Of course they "frown" on homosexuality just like the GOP Jeezuser's. They just weep and mewl like little girls when they get caught.
Tyler @ 4:
Agreed. If they were murdered, then I don't care if they were Republicans or not, its not right. We're better than this, or at least, supposed to be.
>From the 11/20/92 Boston Globe, p.21 (attributed by the Globe to the
Orlando Sentinel; lord knows how much editing was done to the original
O.S. version):
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."
People are always tipping over when repubs are involved. "nothing to see here"-cable news anchors in Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons mode
...but it was a CHOCOLATE hat!
so, remind me again, why did Clinton kill 'em?
Fdog @ 6:
yeah, he drove a train into the house and killed them!!!
Not how, but why? I need to know WHY Clinton killed 'em... was it the cocaine or part of the Waco cover-up?
Actually, didn't Ralph "Blood-of-Christ" Reed get his start (Christian Coalition) in Georgia? Why would he want to help Clinton?
God damit, too bad the chimp wasn't there for dinner.
Wow. Three people murdered and 99% of the reactions are conspiratorial, insulting, or gleeful. These are human beings, and there's no reason to act in such a disrespectful way towards them. Can any of you cite evidence that these weren't decent people, whose family members will grieve just as much as any democrat's would? Is everything an opportunity to attack the other side, or is there a limit?
mtrip @ 53:
name any person who will stands up to be counted as a supporter of this White House Administration's agenda of fear hate and suffering and tell me again why such a person deserves compassion just for dying....?
Verdillac @ 54:
Basic human decency? Not becoming a monster to fight the monster? Being better than those you're condemning?
Where was Karl at the time?
Verdillac @ 54:
People deserve compassion because they're people. Unless somebody has committed some unspeakable crime (and thought crimes, such as supporting Bush, don't count at all), there is absolutely no justification for dehumanizing them by removing any possibility of compassion towards them. When you say we should have zero compassion towards a murdered person because of the beliefs they hold, you tread a dangerous path.
mtrip @ 53:
Look, nobody on this site has been "gleeful."
But there is good reason for suspicion: EXHIBIT A: They didn't die in a car accident. They were gunned down in cold blood under suspicious circumstances with EXTREMELY suspicious connections to Abramoff, Reed and every high-level member of the Republican Party and Bush Administration.
See Jacko @ 37:
"Ralph Gonzalez’s career seems to have always put him one degree of separation away from infamous former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"When Ralph Reed was elected chairman of the Georgia Republican Party in 2001 [link], two of the party’s executive directors were Todd Schnick and Ralph Gonzalez. When Gonzalez filed an annual report for Strategum with the State of Florida Division of Corporations in January, 2007, Schnick was listed as one of his business partners.
"(Note: Todd Schnick is a name that you might remember if you believe the 2000 presidential election was stolen, and that said theft occurred in Florida.)
"Ralph Reed has been associated with Abramoff since at least 1981.
"Tom Feeney’s connections with Abramoff have been well-documented by Brad Friedman. This link goes to just one example.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4995"
Keep digging.
bamboozled -- you sound like the crazy right-wingers who were convinced that Vince Foster was murdered. This guy worked for a guy who was associated with Abramoff, and therefore he was murdered to cover up some yet unidentified and undefined scandal? Huh? This looks like a tragic domestic murder of some kind, a tragedy, and filing this under "Abramoff" and launching unhinged conspiracies is really beyond the pale.
The police apparently think it was a murder-suicide. So I guess it's their forensics department against your amazingly vague conspiracy theory.
Blue Rose @ 26:
Damn! You beat me to it. I was thinking the same - a love triangle.
yep, love triangle
Three less republicans means the world is a better place.
#54 Verdillac
Exactly.
It sounds like their thuggery is catching up to them.
This might seem like a petty thing to bring up, but it annoys me when the place referenced is such a common name yet they don't make where they're talking about less ambiguous. There are at least two other Orange County's, probably more, but there's little to nothing to tell the reader which one. With the web, reporters should not assume that the reader knows what the reporter is referencing.
Well well well. The Clintons are starting early this time. Tsk tsk tsk... I can hear the old "Oxycontin Kid" right now. This calls for a Hannitys' America SPECIAL REPORT!!!!
He was found dead just like Vince Foster was. Can Hilliary account for her whereabouts? The paralells are just too obvious!
google "raymond lemme" , as ray said "all the way to the top"
or just read this whole page and your sure to say WTF
http://www.insider-magazine.com/unrestricted_warfare.htm
Drugs or a homosexual love triangle. After all it's the Republickans.
What did they know?
Tyler @ 4:
Uh, I think "low blow" just about sums it up. These were Republicans. This has "homosexual love triangle" written all over it.
Fdog @ 6:
Which Clinton?
Bill?
Hill?
Chelsea?
Any proof? ;)
Doggiebobo @ 23:
One guy committed suicide then killed the other two.
Probably all three had simultaneous "heart attacks" for knowing or seeing too much.
The shooter shot
"RALPH AND DAVID" in their home........
G.O.P.ers
Isn't that what the news report said?
test test
"Gonzalez lived in the home with another man, and the third person found dead is a former roommate who was visiting from out of town."
It sounds as if it might have been a murder-suicide, and maybe it was. We're all jumping to the conclusions that best fit our biases.
My own bias leans toward a triple murder made to look like murder suicide. My guess is that something is (or was) about to break that would destroy lives, careers or maybe the mostly illusory image that we still live in a democratic republic.
I'm thinking the key lies in what was in all those backpacks. It would also be key to learn if any federal agencies have been brought in to investigate, as this would suggest something at bit more serious than a love triangle gone bad.
I read that Abrami worked at an Atlanta firm - Gonzalez headed the Georgia Republicans - Ralph Reed, noted Abramoff sidekick, ran for office in GA. What a cesspool the Peach State has become...And they are worried about baggy pants and thongs showing...
Ralph ate, slept and breathed politics. And like many of those who make up the rare and somewhat strange breed of people who are political consultants, he was part of campaigns that sometimes did goofy things.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2007/08/ralph-gonz...
My heart is absolutely broken. Ralph was not only my political strategist since I was first elected to the City Commission in West Palm Beach, he was a dear friend, who made me laugh till I cried. I have a picture of Ralph and Carol Roberts (of hanging chads fame) that he begged to get.
MY HEART ES IN CHOCK, I KNEW "RAFELITO" SINCE HE WAS A LITTLE BOY
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2007/08/ralph-gonz...
Smell like Gay mafia.
Florida Today published an article this morning titled, “Lovers’ fight may have sparked 3 deaths.”
Who the “lovers” were is not clear. Quote:
A Republican Party consultant is one of three men found dead in a Central Florida home Thursday in an apparent double murder-suicide possibly sparked by a lovers’ quarrel, according to detectives.
If said lovers were among the three dead men, no one will miss the irony of Abrami and Gonzalez having ties to conservative Republican campaigns for the last 15 years or more.
http://crimeblog.us/?p=535
test test
August 24, 2007
Florida GOP consultant among 3 dead
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO, Fla. -- 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.
Fdog @ 6:
He beat them senseless with his massive p***k.
I read a comment that it may be murder suicide, but my gut made me wonder if this was a robbery gone bad.
Wow, is this Free Republic?
If a NeoCon falls in the Woods, and no Liberal is around, is it still Clinton's fault?
It's a tragedy but did anyone else think this might be a lovers quarrel? Two "roommates" and a former "roommate" who came into town and murder them and then killed himself? They were "nice gentlemen." It all sounds like code to me.
The real tragedy here is that this guy was such a Superstar yet his own death is not even listed under the "Breaking News" section of his own website. I mean, life is so fleeting you know?
The Republican party is so corrupt? Hum come down to Louisiana and save David Vitter I can name 30 politicians all either in jail under indictment, or have done time and this state is screwed up and guess what they are all DEMOCRATS! Corruption knows no party so get off your high horse!
Fdog @ 19:
there is no joy in mudville. i am very sorry for the grief mrs gonzales and the friends/families of the three men are going through.
at the same time, i did not know them and so can take a more impersonal view. it is not surprising that this story will generate interest - three men, one of whom was connected at very high levels to one of the biggest political conspiracies of out time suffer violent deaths in mysterious circumstances. two of the men, who belong to a political party propelled by homophobia and evangelical moralists, live together and the third is an "ex-roommate." in florida, no less.
if robert craias started a novel with this scenario, it would be a best seller. so no one should be surprised that when it happens in real life people will be fascinated with what the next chapter will revel.
hey, spell check doesn't catch "out" for "our" or "revel" for "reveal" :)
Oops, wrong Gonzales...
Doggiebobo @ 27:
My thoughts exactly! More closeted GAY republicans...a love triangle gone bad.
Blue Rose @ 26:
I was all set to make a Vince Foster reference before someone posted something sensible. Dang!
I wonder how many Republican Party activists are living a closeted gay or bisexual lifestyle?
...Other than former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley of Florida.
i think it may be more about election fraud than lovers even if they were lovers?
It doesn't sound like anything fishy, but I gotta admit, for a moment I was thinking "what kind of dirt is Abramoff dishing?'
AbbeyHoffmansGhost @ 69:
Near Florida? Probably both!
There is a lot of seeming self-loathing in your average closeted Gay Republican party thug.....Self Medicating themselves with Coke fits that pattern.
BTW, you will see if there is an underlying scandal here, just watch his website?
Lots of quotes and pictures of Southern Republic Congress-thugs listed.
At the first whiff of Gay Love Triangle Suicide, they will wipe that site in a hurry.
The local news outlets are reporting more details about this incident. It apparently was some sort of gay relationship gone bad. The gay aspect of this will be raised for all the obvious reasons. It is tragic that we see yet another closeted Republican living a lie. I wonder how many family values politicians he worked for knew he was gay? My guess is, most of them. All they care about is turning out the votes. Throw some red meat to the base and go about your morally bankrupt lifestyles. It how its done, Florida style.
When you wonder how they get so many people to do such stupid things, remember this article.
Whack a family and keep it quiet.... Sounds like a Cheney...
pontificator @ 59:
Look, first off, one major difference from Vince Foster: This guy WAS murdered.
Comparing wingnuts who speculate that a suicide was a murder to someone who is speculating about the possible motive in an actual murder probably isn't quite fair.
But given it WAS a murder, could it have been a "domestic murder...a tragedy"? Certainly. Maybe it was a gay love triangle. Maybe it was a business deal gone wrong.
I haven't offered a single conspiracy theory.
I'm simply making note of the connections of this guy who WAS MURDERED to several high-ranking and corrupt Republican figures, some of whom have been CONVICTED of major crimes, others who are CURRENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION, in relation to probably the biggest Republican scandal of the past 20 years. A scandal that's already turned up unsolved murders, by the way.
If a Gambino was in prison, his acquaintances were being investigated and suddenly Gambino's former accountant was murdered, it might be fair to speculate that someone had the accountant murdered, right?
Even in death he leads this group.
http://www.strategumusa.com/staff.html
The "Breaking news" page hasn't been updated since November 2006.
bill w @ 73:
Huh??
Also:
http://wonkette.com/politics/from-the-inbox-dept%27/the-secret-life-of-r...
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