Talk:Michael O'Donnell (Kansas politician)

Cheap shots by anonymous resemble the person he/she is ridiculing.

Some anonymous childlike crackpot has been vandalizing the hard work of conscientious, RESPONSIBLE ADULT editors with cheap shots. His/her stunts resemble the underhanded, anonymous defamation stunt committed by the very person he/she is ridiculing. You're no better than O'Donnell, if you don't conduct yourself differently.

~ Zxtxtxz (talk) 08:25, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Vandalism is a persistent problem with Wikipedia biographical entries, but some nitwit anonymously posting obvious and easily erasable, even defamatory graffiti to an article is considerably less harmful than what the evidence indicates that O'Donnell has apparently regularly done: Corrupted the legislative and electoral processes and conspired to defraud voters, candidates, and taxpayers. It's more irritating than anything else. The chances are that the bozos who think it's useful to paste nasty nonsense to articles will read comments in Talk are remote, or that it will move them to change their behaviors. They're hit and run artists. I'm much more concerned about those who post much less transparent but damaging content, or even those who dilute or erase legitimate content in the interests of protecting their favorites or actual clients. Activist (talk) 14:41, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

Elaborate details important while current event -- should trim later

The elaborate details in this article are important while they are current events, but are more detailed than normal for a public figure, and should be trimmed down / summarized, later (in several months, or a year or two, probably) after the current controversy is resolved and dies down -- particularly if O'Donnell leaves public life, and the pending litigation is resolved.

~ Zxtxtxz (talk) 08:44, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

O'Donnell's case is not "normal," IMHO, nor did it occur in a vacuum, and I think you've done a remarkable job in informing Wikipedia readers as to the broad extent of this awful situation. I don't think that if O'Donnell somehow manages to fully or partly escape the apparent consequences of his actions, that it will bring him to any sort of epiphany and that the lessons learned in this unfortunate situation will change his behavior or those who may have conspired with him. Just documenting the problems is also no guarantee of avoiding repetition of the behaviors. A case in point is Roger Stone who has engaged in similar but worse behavior but once again has escaped fully suffering the consequences of such behavior. Activist (talk) 15:17, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

I came here to note that a reference posted to the early political involvement of O'Donnell, noting that he was 26 when he ran for the Wichita City Council as reported by the June 2011 issue of the Kansas Governing Journal confirms his birth year as 1984. Activist (talk) 15:17, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

Beware -- vandals attacking this page, deleting relevant content

In addition to some minor crackpot vandal(s) leaving snide remarks about O'Donnell, there have recently been persistent efforts -- by an anonymous editor at 2600:1700:91E8:A810:4422:3034:226:7907 -- to delete massive portions (even entire sections) of this article, which contain information that is potentially discrediting to O'Donnell. This, despite the fact that the attacked sections have been carefully documented with ref cites to articles published by principal local news media.

Given O'Donnell's well-documented history (some of it caught on audio tape) of trying to commit and cover-up various acts of allegedly civil and criminal misconduct, it would not seem unlikely that this is his work, or that of one of his handful of co-conspirators, who have been caught in efforts to cover-up other conduct (resulting in their recent, abrupt, essentially-forced resignations from public office).

To be sure that you are viewing a version of the article that includes ALL of the sections/subsections/sub-subsections in place in mid/late-December, check the article's current table of contents against this one (you might want to check to see if THIS "Talk page" entry has been edited, also, in case the vandal is thorough.)

Contents:

• 1 Early life
• 2 Political Career

2.1 Sedgwick County Republican Party

2.2 Bel Aire Mayor candidacy

2.3 Wichita City Council

2.4 Kansas Senate

2.5 Sedgwick County Commission

• 3 Controversies

3.1 Wichita City Council residency disqualification

3.2 Wichita property taxes

3.3 Illegal alcohol to minors allegation

3.4 Alcohol in church school van

3.5 Federal investigation and FBI wiretap

3.6 Federal indictments for wire fraud and money laundering

3.7 County Commission opponent's residency

3.8 Altered photo in attack ad

3.9 Defamation conspiracy charges in mayoral race

3.9.1 Investigation and charges

3.9.2 Audio recording revelations

3.9.3 Removal or resignation demands

3.9.4 Official actions in response

3.9.4.1 Investigation

3.9.4.2 Wichita City Council response

3.9.4.3 Sedgwick County Commission response

3.10 O'Donnell pledges to refrain from 2nd term if elected

3.10.1 Backlash

3.11 Investigation findings

3.12 Resignation and replacement

3.12.1 Resignation

3.12.2 Replacement

• 4 Personal
• 5 References
• 6 External links

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~ Zxtxtxz (talk) 11:31, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

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