Unsubstantiated allegations

GREENSBORO, NC -- I called into Dimitri's show on Rush Radio 94.5 this morning after hearing host Dimitri say that XMG got the Guilford County website design job because County Commissioner Chairman Skip Alston, in Dimitri's words, "threw some business" to his "buddy."

I appreciate Dimitri taking my call and giving us enough time to have something of a conversation, but his assertion that Alston was instrumental in, or even involved in any way with, getting XMG the design job is completely unfounded. Dimitri insisted it was a reasonable assumption and that all we had to do was connect the dots, but he couldn't come up with any dots other than the one dot that Alston and XMG CEO Calvin WIlliams, Jr. knew each other. That "thinking" -- that, because they knew each other, Skip must have procured the job for XMG -- is a belief irresponsibly perpetuated by County Commissioners Billy Yow and Paul Gibson, but they don't have any dots either.

The dots we do have, those that, you know, actually exist, document Skip Alston getting involved well after XMG had been hired, months after XMG had received their final payment and that Skip's involvement was at a meeting called to try to settle disputes between XMG and the County. Saying that Skip threw some work to his buddy is not, despite Dmitir's insistance, rational. While plausible, insisting that is what happened is really just a knee-jerk jump to an unfounded conclusion.

Look, folks, we have to stop floating off into fantasy land just because some circumstance accommodates our suspicions. It's stupid. It's hicksville. Maybe Skip did help XMG get the job, but there is zero evidence for it, just as there is zero evidence that County Commissioner Billy Yow improperly profited off of stray cows. Would it be impossible for us to keep our understanding attached to reality instead of floating off into the land of make-believe just because it feels right?

[Just for the record, I told Dimitri to "put up or shut up" while on the air. I wasn't really telling Dimitri to shut up, it was an expression, but it sounded a little harsh after the words left my lips. I also recall saying something about "conservatives in Guilford county" that I'm pretty sure sounded very much like the kind of broad-brush label I deplore. The conservative landscape in Guilford county is varied and I should not have lumped everyone together.]