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November 29, 2007

Male Dominance Without Chivalry

The news today that the teachers' unions have filed another lawsuit against Bill Sizemore (thereby launching a new chapter in what is beginning to feel to me like a never-ending nightmare) has really brought into sharp relief for me what has bothered me most about the man over the years. My reaction relates to something that always deeply bothers me when I see it, and something that no doubt will not be appreciated by a lot of modern women, but which is, nevertheless, a core part of my own view of the world due to my upbringing. That something is chivalry. And what bothers me most about Bill Sizemore is his utter lack of it, particularly because it is combined with his male-dominated view of the world.

The latest lawsuit alleges that he is hiding behind his wife, who is being paid by a Nevada company called the American Tax Research Foundation for work that Sizemore is actually doing. As a side note, it is revealing that the "foundation" lists no officers on its website (which not coincidentally was designed by the same website designer Sizemore uses for his own site). This is contrary to what one would expect from a legitimate foundation. It is also interesting that this foundation is located in Nevada - the same state where Loren Parks, who has a history of laundering money through non-profits to pay Sizemore, now resides.

Anyway, this is allegedly being done so that Sizemore can remain technically peniless and unable to pay the unions what the Court has ordered him to pay. Really, this is a common tactic and I don't doubt that the allegations are true. Still, it demonstrates in my opinion a serious disregard for the well-being of his wife. If something illegal is going on here, she is now a party to it and will be held responsible, too. And I'm betting it was Sizemore's scheme, not hers.

Upon reading the story I was immediately reminded of an incident that occurred when he was running for Governor. The Oregonian had just published the second of its hit pieces on Sizemore and my eyes were just beginning to be opened. As I read the story of his having lied on a loan application, my eye was drawn to the article's accompanying photograph of his and his wife's signatures on the application. Having seen his wife's real signature I was immediately certain that he had forged her signature on this particular loan application. I spoke with him by telephone that morning and told him what I thought. Rather than denying it, he asked me to call her for him and tell her about it. So not only did he apply his wife's name to something in a lordly fashion with no regard to whether she would have supported it, he then hid behind me to tell her about it. An honest and chivalrous man in the male-dominated sub-culture of which we were both a part would have handled the entire matter quite differently.

I could go on and on about his unchivalrous behavior toward me, setting me up to take the blame for what was happening at OTU, asking me to sign his signature on documents he knew were legally problematic so that he would have an "out" down the line, claiming I did the taxes and the reports and he merely signed them, etc. But the point is, rather than taking his role as a man and a leader seriously and looking out for the women in different roles in his life, he exhibited a pattern of using them without concern for their feelings or futures.

And ultimately, that is the problem when someone who, due to upbringing and other cultural factors, comes at the world from an old-fashioned, conservative, male-dominated perspective, the way both Sizemore and I do, but does not incorporate chivalry into their behavior. Not only are women less than equal, they don't matter. When the rules of chivalry, which remind such men of their role to protect the women in their lives, are abandoned, then men are left to merely use women as tools to get what they want.

When both sexes are equal, with neither dominating the other, then chivalry is not necessary. But a male-dominated world without chivalry is the worst oppression of all for women.

***********UPDATE***********

I just received a copy of the American Federation of Teachers' press release on the new lawsuit:

Oregon Educators and School Employees File Lawsuit Against Sizemores

Suit Claims Fraudulent Transfer of Funds and Civil Conspiracy

Portland – This morning, attorneys for the Oregon Education Association (OEA) and the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon (AFT-Oregon) filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Bill Sizemore, his wife Cindy, and the Americans for Tax Research Foundation (ATRF) for fraudulent transfer of funds and civil conspiracy. The lawsuit is based on evidence of the illegal transfer of funds among the defendants named in the suit and evidence of a conspiracy to defraud the plaintiffs.

The new lawsuit stems from evidence gathered during court proceedings in which Bill Sizemore disclosed information about his income and household finances. The proceedings are part of the process to enforce a court-awarded money judgment against Mr. Sizemore. During the proceedings, Mr. Sizemore admitted that the Americans for Tax Research Foundation has been paying CBS Consulting, a firm operating under Cindy Sizemore’s name, $7,500 a month to design a website. ATRF is Cindy Sizemore’s only client. Additionally, ATRF has paid $2,500 a month for rent for the Sizemore family residence and additional amounts for a family vehicle, office space and equipment. Mr. Sizemore is legally obligated to pay the amounts owed to OEA and AFT, but he has consistently claimed he has little to no income. Mr. Sizemore has disclosed, however, that he receives $1,000 a month from his wife.

“Bill Sizemore has stated under oath that he receives a salary from his wife, who, in turn, is on the payroll of Americans for Tax Research. It seems pretty clear what is going on here.” says Richard Schwarz, Executive Director of AFT-Oregon. “This is not only illegal, it’s unconscionable.”

The lawsuit asserts that Mr. Sizemore, his wife Cindy, and the Nevada based Americans for Tax Research Foundation have devised a complicated conspiracy to illegally funnel money to the Sizemore household.

“Mr. Sizemore continues to think and act like he is above the law,” says OEA President Larry Wolf. “And now he’s enlisted the help of his wife and an out-of-state special interest group to assist in his continued unlawful schemes.”

On a related note, attorneys for OEA and AFT-Oregon are pursuing contempt claims for Mr. Sizemore’s repeated violations of a court-ordered injunction barring him from raising and spending money through a political action committee until the judgment is satisfied. They argue that because of Mr. Sizemore’s ongoing course of conduct, which violates the court’s order, that Mr. Sizemore should be held in contempt and be required to serve as much as six months in jail.

In 2002, a Multnomah County jury found that Mr. Sizemore had engaged in racketeering, fraud and forgery during the signature gathering process and a final judgment of approximately $3.5 million was entered against Mr. Sizemore’s organizations. The court also entered an injunction limiting Mr. Sizemore’s ability to utilize the assets of those organizations. In September 2004 the court found Bill Sizemore in contempt for violating the court’s injunction and ultimately awarded OEA and AFT $125,000 to compensate for their attorney fees in the contempt matter. In 2006, the Court of Appeals denied Mr. Sizemore’s attempt to overturn the jury ruling and affirmed that his organization engaged in a “calculated course of criminal conduct” and “cynical, criminal manipulation of the democratic process.”

A little different take on the website design than what I found by Googling, but definitely interesting. And so obviously another Sizemore scam that it turns my stomach. Just when I had begun to entertain the hope that he had learned something from all this, he proves he hasn't learned a damned thing. It's the saddest thing I've ever seen.

Posted by Becky at November 29, 2007 11:09 AM