Senator Stanley’s Affair
Of course I have to comment on Senator Paul Stanley and his poor choices. The internet is abuzz. He is a conservative. Though I believe I only met Senator Stanley once, many, many moons ago in the Young Republicans, (it was one of those handshake kind of deals at a YR event) I did call his office once during this session about one of his votes.
Normally, Senator Stanely votes what I believe is the right way. But on one particular piece of legislation, I think he made a mistake. He called me back. He looked back over the tapes of the committee meeting. And he agreed to take another look at the legislation. His second look caused many other Senators to take a second look, and the ugly beast of legislation went down in flames. I appreciated and still appreciate, his candid discussion and his willingness to earnestly take to heart my concerns.
But though I don’t know him, I do follow our legislature. I have my heroes and many of you know who I think the goats are.
Having served as an intern myself, I’m very familiar with the toxic environment of the legislature. Toxic? Yes, toxic. As an elected official, you are lavished with attention, with praise. You have something others want: your vote. And it doesn’t take long for the ego to believe the flattery.
I can proudly say I wasn’t an intern who “dated” a legislator (to be more diplomatic.) I guess I thought most of them were under-qualified and lazy. And too old. And many were cheesy. They weren’t all finks, there were some good ones. A few great ones. There were gentlemen and ladies who loved their opportunity to serve and did so very well.
But when barbs are flying and the pressure is on, I also saw otherwise good people make the wrong decisions. Too many drinks. Too much talking. Pouring out problems to staff or interns. Forming bonds with the wrong folks. Unfortunately Paul Stanley isn’t the rare story. And though it’s not a brothel in Nashville, sometimes it’s a sad, and like I said, a toxic place.
I am not making excuses for folks who have fallen. I’ve seen it too many times. Adultery isn’t illegal, but people are always hurt. It is wrong and it is sinful. And I will always believe that. But there is also a distinction between those who “fall” and those who do it as a way of life, or even for some female legislators, as a way to climb the ladder.
Without much more comment on his actions and the problems he has caused for his family and his party, I do want to raise a few issues.
1. Senator Stanley did go to the TBI and thus basically assure that this would all eventually come out.
2. He is still married. And with that, I assume he made the right decisions and I pray for his wife and children and her healing if she is able to do so.
3. The portrayal of this 22 year old on various blogs and media reports as a victim is quite startling. Both Stanley AND Ms. Morrison made horrible decisions! When a State Senator asked me on a date when I was an intern, I said “no.” He asked me “why not”, and it was very easy for me to say, “because you’re married.” I was Ms. Morrison’s age.
4. News Channel 5 reports that the alleged extortionist is outraged! Uh, what’s up with this that I found on a blog about the young woman:
We can sympathize with her poor boyfriend, the schlub. Rambling though it may be, the messages he left on her MySpace page are just rough. In May, shortly after his arrest, he wrote, “you should have taken a stand in my behalf. good luck cause i was going to lie and stand up for you”
Going to “lie” and stand up for you? Was Ms. Morrison in on the extortion? The NewsChannel5 report says no. But it doesn’t make sense. What would the extortionist say he would “lie” about?
So I started doing internet searches on Ms. Morrison. And I came up with a few things about this innocent young maiden who is said to be targeted by the powerful Senator.
From what I can tell, she was married at the time she was having the affair with Stanley. And married at the time the extortionist claims Stanley busted up their beautiful relationship.
Check out the links and my uploaded snapshots. It took both Stanley and Morrison to make bad choices. Hey, like I said. I was an intern too. And too many of the interns I served with were more than happy to bed legislators who they very well knew had wives and even children.
First I found a divorce record in a Florida paper from June 2009:
MARRIAGE DISSOLUTIONS STARTED: Crystal v. Michael Murphy; Lynette L. v. Timothy R. Ball; Darryl L. v. Jennifer A. Vann; Randy W. Mueller v. McKensie J. Morrison;***Randy W. Mueller v. McKensie J. Morrison;
So from there I did some more searching. I found husband Randy with a criminal record in Volusia County, the same county as the divorce:
Is that the same Randy? Both are in Volusia County. And then McKensie Morrison has a family history in the insurance business and Randy does too:
Then I found a record of the marriage in 2005: (Sorry, the search engine won’t allow the link to work, so here’s the snap),Click to make it larger:
You can get the same results I did by doing the search here.
So what’s up? She’s married and and she’s dating the guy interviewed on NewsChannel5 for extortion and she’s having a sexual affair with Stanley? Where was the husband during this time?
Maybe the pros can find out the answer to that question and more with better search capabilities. Perhaps they can verify with tools that I don’t have at this moment, if the folks I’ve found in my searches are the same folks. But for now, I’m off to rest for another day!
15 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Great post, Terry. I have no tolerance for Stanley’s actions, but re. Morrison’s culpability, one text message sent by her boyfriend to Stanley said, “Good morning sir, how are you this fine day. McKensie and I have been talking and I feel that I have a video and some pictures you might be interested in seeing.” Explains how he got the pics and implies that the two of them came up with the extortion plan.
By nedro on 07.22.09 11:13 pm
Very good research and a fair statement of the scene up in Nashville.
By Wintermute on 07.22.09 11:34 pm
Love the Internet: They can run but they can’t hide.
By Dru on 07.23.09 8:56 am
[...] Terry Frank: From what I can tell, she was married at the time she was having the affair with Stanley. And married at the time the extortionist claims Stanley busted up their beautiful relationship. Check out the links and my uploaded snapshots. It took both Stanley and Morrison to make bad choices. Hey, like I said. I was an intern too. And too many of the interns I served with were more than happy to bed legislators who they very well knew had wives and even children. [...]
By Tennessee bloggers react to Sen. Paul Stanley’s affair with an intern « Nashville Is Talking on 07.23.09 10:29 am
he is my state senator and he needs to resign-if this had been a democrat you would not make a singe excuse for him-dont be a hypocrite-
By lori keen on 07.23.09 4:40 pm
Not bad, not bad at all lady. It’s unfortunate that people make bad life choices, if only we had a government that cared about us and kept us from making bad decisions…..
Like I said, not a bad bit of research ma’am, I’m impressed.
By BCB on 07.23.09 5:17 pm
Lori–I’m not making excuses for him. As far as “if it would have been a Democrat,” I’m going to have to call you on that.
I have watched other bloggers tear apart both Dems and R’s on these marital issues and you won’t find me doing it on this site. I just don’t choose to cover it.
Stanley is the only one I can think of that I’ve ever posted on—and the reason for doing so was because the extortionist was “moralizing” on the TV and the lib bloggers were treating her as a victim. I simply pointed out that she was an adult who was married with two boyfriends.
If we wanted to turn it to politics, I could bring up the fact that the left sent out paid henchman on folks like Paula Jones to demonize her.
The facts are that Stanley’s bad decisions are now on full display for all to see. He’ll have to deal with all of that and be judged for them. To be sure, our sins will find us out.
Since everyone is having so much fun with all this sordidness, perhaps I’ll make sure we get ALL of the legislative affairs out in the open.
I can be the Tennessee Smoking Gun and pay for pictures, information, and proof. That could keep me busy for a long, long time.
By Terry on 07.23.09 5:19 pm
Seems like a tenuous connection at best.
You mean a girl from Dickson marries somebody right out of high school and moves to Florida, only to immediately return to Tennessee to attend Austin Peay?????
Not saying its impossible, but I am more apt to believe it is someone who shares McKensie Morrison’s name. And unless you have something else that you aren’t reporting, it seems like a pathetic attempt to confuse the issue.
By Jim Everett on 07.23.09 11:11 pm
Terry, don’t ever apologize for what paid reporters should be doing. As you demonstrated, a simple Google search turned up a good lead that you pursued. And why should, why would, anyone settle for less than the full pertinent story, ever?
People see what they want to see in blog posts — I’ve read enough comments to be aware of that.
Tennessee surely has the best bloggers of any state, I think.
By Donna Locke on 07.23.09 11:50 pm
Well, Jim, I guess it’s not a tenuous connection. Looks like I’m right. Memphis media went and got all the papers.
http://www.wreg.com/wreg-alleged-mistress-married-story,0,5085694.story
By Terry on 07.24.09 5:20 am
Lori Keen:
I see that your law firm represents various companies in the insurance industry. Do you know or are you familiar with Ms. Morrison from her work in the industry?
By Terry on 07.24.09 5:30 am
Toxic? You’re exactly right. I was an intern at the legislature in 1985. You had to be deaf and blind not to know that many legislators were having affairs with staffers, other legislators, interns. Not everyone was doing it, but plenty were. Young women staffers and interns were treated as a target-rich environment by male legislators, some of whom are still in the legislature in positions of power.
More toxicity: Drugs. One quiet Friday at the legislature, I went to use the restroom and spotted on the floor of one of the stalls a small plastic case, open, with what appeared to be a small amount of a powdery substance and a small tube. Cocaine, probably, I thought, so I left the restroom and went to find a state trooper. As I walked down one of the halls, a paid full-time staffer for one of the prominent legislative leaders (at the time, the Dems were in the majority), walked past, hurriedly and with a worried look on his face, and turned down the hallway toward the restroom.
By the time I found a trooper and we returned to the restroom, the little plastic case was gone.
That was the end of it.
A few years later, I read that the staffer had died. Of a drug overdose.
By Bill Hobbs on 07.24.09 9:06 am
Paul Stanley is a 47 years old man who fell for a 21 years old woman.So what…
It is his private life, and it should not interfere with his job as a senator.
Did Senator Paul Stanley do something wrong in his job?Did he betray some of his constituents and fail to protect them, ?Not I know of.
The bed part should be his wife ’s concern not his constituents.
Secretaries sleep with their bosses. nurses sleep with doctors , interns sleep with senator and sometimes presidents.
It takes two to tango. Women in this country are very liberated and agressive. I saw this fact in business too.
The medias should focus on more important problems that the state is facing and expose the judicial corruption which is devastating families and children in Tennessee.
Years ago when Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica, Washington stopped breathing and the whole world was on alert.
Meanwhile Louis Freeh, FBI director was trying to get more help in order to investigate the potential terrorist threat. Every one was so wrapped up with Monica and Bill story that nobody cared. 3 years later almost 4000 thousands Americans died on Sept 11, a tragedy which could have been avoided with the proper attention.
Let us take a closer look at the business records of Senator Stanley.
Let the 40 something years old man who never had an affair or a flint with a younger woman, throw the first stone at Paul Stanley
By Rosine Ghawji on 07.26.09 10:14 am
I’m sick of the apologists for unethical behavior. This case is a perfect example of how unethical choices can be used against the ignorant for monetary or political gain. If they will lie and cheat on their spouses and family then what chance do we citizens have?
If you have ever held a top secret clearance then you know as part of your briefing you are warned about illegal or unethical behavior that can be used as blackmail.
Just imagine how many inside the beltway are being squeezed because of their unethical or illegal “personal” behavior.
By Pogo on 07.28.09 11:49 pm
“Just imagine how many inside the beltway are being squeezed because of their unethical or illegal “personal” behavior.”
I believe they were selected for exactly those reasons (Obama – citizenship, Geitner – tax fraud, etc.). Known criminals with known skeletons in the closet are easy marks.
By Eric Holcombe on 08.03.09 6:23 am
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>