(7/9)

Who's ready for ol' Chuck Schumer's name to pop up somewhere he really doesn't want it to?

[13]:

Endorsements and criticism

The project had a mixed response from public officials. Margarita López, a former member of New York City Council, endorsed the program and helped it to win public funding. Subsequently, she received nearly $115,000 in campaign contributions from Scientologists.[17][25] Another councillor, Joseph Addabbo, Jr., also supported the project, telling reporters, "The project seems to work. I've seen it firsthand."[26] Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke out against Addabbo and López for their connections with the program,[1] saying that Scientology is "not science, and we should only fund those programs that reputable scientists believe will stand the light of day."[24][26]

Another supportive member of the City Council was Hiram Monserrate. Monserrate went through the program himself, and drafted official proclamations honoring both Tom Cruise and L. Ron Hubbard.[1][26] Describing himself as a Christian, he distanced himself from Scientology but said he believes in the Purification Rundown.[27][28] Another councillor (and chair of the Public Safety Committee), Peter Vallone, Jr. vocally criticized the detoxification project and argued that public money should not be spent on it.[1][29] He accused Monserrate of crossing the line between "cult and state."[30]

The project's publicity included favorable quotations from Senator Charles Schumer and from Michael Balboni, New York's deputy secretary for Public Security, though Schumer later withdrew his support and Balboni denied ever making the statement.[1][17] Council speaker Christine C. Quinn denounced the program as meritless.[30] U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney wrote a letter supporting the project.[25] Dr. Bob Hoffman of the New York City Poison Control Center warned that the Purification Rundown is potentially dangerous, calling it "hocus pocus."[31] Mayor Doreen Ehrbar of Williston Park took part in the opening ceremony for the Long Island clinic.[4]

Neither the police nor the fire department officially supported the project.[32][33] The Uniformed Firefighters Association initially supported it, but withdrew when the connection to the Church of Scientology was revealed.[1] Firefighter Union President Patrick Bahnken said his members' lives had benefited from the program, and that it had involved no religious rhetoric.[24][31] Deputy Fire Commissioner Frank Gribbon of the FDNY told The New York Times, "while we are aware some members of the department have availed themselves of the program, we in no way endorse it."[3] Officials at the department raised concerns that firefighters were giving up existing medications in order to take part.[3] The department's deputy chief medical officer Dr. David Prezant said, "It's not our job to say you can't go. All we can do is say there's no proven evidence it works."[3]

Actress and radio show host Janeane Garofalo drew criticism by allowing actress Leah Remini, then a Scientologist, to promote the project on her Air America Radio show.[34]

Yep, you just read that correctly:

Senator Charles Schumer spoke favorably of a Scientologist program aimed at involving itself in overseeing and directing the medical treatment of people who were close to ground-zero of the WTC building collapses on September 11, 2001...

Also noteworthy:

Neither the police nor the fire department officially supported the project.[32][33] The Uniformed Firefighters Association initially supported it, but withdrew when the connection to the Church of Scientology was revealed.[1]

While it is unfortunate that Leah Remini also promoted the project, I feel it is necessary to commend her for walking away and being willing to speak publicly about her time and other curiosities with Scientology.

In fact, I'm going to take a moment again for Leah's sake:

Notes from [32]: _{Links provided are also archived}

• Remini reportedly spoke out about the mysterious disappearance of Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, who has reportedly only been seen once since 2006.
• Another PageSix source explained, “Because Leah threatened to call the police to find Shelly, she was put through ‘Security Checking,’ her family was put through it, and her friends.”
• Mike Rinder, a former Scientologist who was featured in “Going Clear” and runs a blog about the religion, said at the time that Remini “will no longer tolerate the squirrelling and human rights abuses perpetrated in the church… As a result, the church has lost one of its most effective supporters — both in the public relations arena and their bank balances.”

Also from [32]:

~~Remini’s mother, husband, and daughter were also practicing Scientologists. The actress had been a member of the church for three decades after her mother became a Scientologist in the 1970s, rising through Scientology’s ranks to achieve Operating Thetan Level Five, with three more rungs to climb until reaching the highest spiritual rank, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“We went from a middle-class lifestyle [in Brooklyn, N.Y.] to living in a roach-infested motel with six other girls off a freeway in Clearwater,” Remini recalled to BuzzFeed of her family’s transition to the Church’s compound in Florida, before her 10th birthday. “We were separated from our mother. We had to sign billion-year contracts we didn’t understand. And we kept saying, ‘Why are you doing this to us? Why are we here?'”

Remini’s mother had moved the family to Florida at the urging of her stepfather, who abandoned the family before they entered the Clearwater compound’s gates.~~

~~_{[photo: Kirstie Alley outsite Church of Scientology building in Berverly Hills]: Peter Brandt/Getty Images}

^{Many Scientologists, like Kirstie Alley, cut ties with Remini after she left the church.}

Fellow church-member Kirstie Alley called Remini “repulsive” and “a bigot” during a 2013 interview on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show.

Alley, who told Stern that she recently reached the OT-7 level in the church’s hierarchy of achievements, continued about Remini: “She left the religion and she was very critical. That’s just sort of water under the bridge. I didn’t shun her, but if a lot of people are rejecting you, at some point you gotta ask, ‘What am I doing?’ I mean, that’s what I would have asked myself.”

Others, however, were more supportive of the actress’ decision to leave.~~

Oscar-winning writer/director Paul Haggis, a former Scientologist who is featured in “Going Clear” and has publicly criticised the church, wrote an open letter thanking the actress in The Hollywood Reporter:

“I read some things that really disturbed me. First was the way Leah was being attacked by her celebrity ‘friends,’ who were disparaging her character. What was new to me was the report that Leah had run afoul of the church by challenging Scientology’s leader, David Miscavige, who is held to be infallible…

I can’t express how much I admire Leah. Her parents, family and close friends were almost all Scientologists; the stakes for her were so much higher than for me. Her decision to leave was so much braver… I will forever be grateful to her.”

Read the full letter here.

Shoutouts to the following voat users for also sharing material relevant to Leah's situation:

@Some_Guy_from_RI:

[33. [v/tv - Leah Remini Defends Paul Haggis Against Rape Claims, Suggests Scientology Is Behind It]: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/01/16/leah-remini-defends-fellow-ex-scientologist-paul-haggis-suggests-church-scientology-is-behind-rape-claims.html | https://archive.is/xaUZQ]

@RampancyLambentRaven:

[34. [v/BadCopNoDonut - Leah Remini is still being stalked, and now Scientology has turned to an ex-NYPD detective to use to stalk her]: https://tonyortega.org/2018/03/26/leah-remini-is-still-being-stalked-and-now-scientology-has-turned-to-an-ex-nypd-detective/ | https://archive.is/U98fN]

References from [32]:

[35. "mysterious disappearance of Miscavige’s wife"]

[36. "Another PageSix source explained"]

[37. "Mike Rinder, a former Scientologist who was featured in “Going Clear” "]

[38. "Fellow church-member Kirstie Alley called ~"]

[39. "~Remini “repulsive” and “a bigot” during a 2013 interview"]

[40. "Oscar-winning writer/director Paul Haggis, a former Scientologist who is featured in “Going Clear”~"]

[41. "~and has publicly criticised the church,~"]

[42. "~ wrote an open letter thanking the actress in The Hollywood Reporter:"]

[43. "~ "Leah was being attacked by her celebrity ‘friends,’ who were disparaging her character."~"]

[44. "~Read the full letter here."]

Okay let's squeeze Chuck Schumer in here then continue in the next comment:

[45. wiki: Chuck Schumer]:

Charles Ellis Schumer (/ˈʃuːmər/; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician of the Democratic Party serving as the senior United States Senator from New York, a seat he was first elected to in 1998.~~

Continued ahead in comment 8...