ED, not Ed.

http://www.aeolia.net/legs/hof.htm

You can look her up in the legs hall of fame when they buy some more bandwidth.

[[snicker]]

Me too. AV is hot.

So that was him?

If you got it, trot it.

Ramsey Clark: An American Traitor


Adam Sparks
Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Editor's note: Adam Sparks, token conservative columnist at SFGATE.com (San Francisco Chronicle), submitted this essay to NewsMax.com after SFGATE rejected it.

"Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War against them (America), or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court." U.S. Constitution Article III, Section 3.

Ramsey Clark, a former attorney general under President Lyndon Baines Johnson, seems to fit the definition of having committed treasonous behavior in spades. I think we can find the necessary "two witnesses."

The key words are giving "Aid and Comfort" to America's enemies and particularly in the supporting of those who are conducting a war with us. You be the judge.

Mohammad Daoud al-Owhali, a student of Osama bin Laden, guided a truck packed with explosives into the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya in 1998. He was also seen throwing grenades at the guards, before he fled. The bomb-laden truck killed 213 and injured scores of others.

American Embassies are considered American soil and attacking our embassy is an Act of War. The same al-Owhali was implicated in the bombings at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed 224 and critically injured 4,500.

Defending a Terrorist Bomber

Fortunately, al-Owhali was finally caught and brought back to justice in the United States. Only one attorney would volunteer to handle this brutal murderer and sworn enemy of the United States: Ramsey Clark. Clark soon began to use the courtroom as a bully pulpit to rail against U.S. policies around the world.

For decades, this icon of the American Left has vilified America at every turn while siding with and giving Aid and Comfort to nearly every single one of America's sworn enemies from North Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Libya and Iraq, to name a few.

Former Attorney General Clark, in his capacity as founder and head of International Action Center (a major organizing component of the current anti-war A.N.S.W.E.R.), which was founded both by Clark and the leaders of the Workers World Party several years ago, produced a document called an "Appeal To Troops."

Urging Insurrection

Clark urged insurrection and mutiny of our soldiers while a war was raging in Europe with our troops. He wrote:


"President Clinton and the Pentagon generals have put you in danger … Kosovo is Vietnam. During that war, the Pentagon had ordered--a burn all, kill all assault on the civilian population. Atrocities like that also led many U.S. soldiers to drug addiction, suicide and mental breakdowns. But there were other U.S. troops that resisted the war. Hundreds of thousands refused to go into aggressive action."
Hundreds of thousands? Holy smoke! And ne'er a peep from anyone in the mainstream media. Whad'ya know?

Isn't inciting an insurrection during wartime a traitorous behavior? A traitor, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition, is "... One who betrays one's country, a cause, or a trust, especially one who commits treason."

Friend of Tyrants

I think we've met the test of betrayal that far exceeds a constitutionally permissible peaceful protest. Ramsey has been busy. He's a longtime pal and on a first-name basis of nearly every ruthless thug and enemy of America from Libya's Qadaffi to former Yugoslavia's brutal mass murderer Slobodan Milosovic.

It seems that in order to be a friend of Ramsey one must hate and wish to destroy America. Or as the Arab adage goes, the "enemy of my enemy is my friend."

In fact, it was due to Ramsey's close association with another world mass murderer, Saddam Hussein, that enabled news anchor Dan Rather to get his big puff-piece interview late last month with Saddam. These machinations have provided simultaneous wartime propaganda and the aiding and abetting of the enemy.

Today, as we verge on the brink of war with Iraq, we find that Saddam's pen pal Ramsey Clark wrote a letter to Kofi Annan, secretary general of the U.N., just last month, accusing America of war crimes.

Keep in mind that he's writing to the U.N. asking for them to take a stand on moral leadership. This is the same U.N. that recently put Libya, a state sponsor of terrorism, and Sudan, a slave state, on its "Human Rights" committee. Furthermore, Syria, which is on the State Department's watch list of terrorist states, now sits on the Security Council.


His letter, writing about Operation Desert Storm, read in part:


"Iraq Has Been The Victim Of U.S. Aggression For 12 Years. Far from being a threat to the United States, or any other people, Iraq has been a victim of U.S. aggression for 12 years. Between January 16, 1991 and March 1, 1991 the U.S. acknowledges it dropped 88,500 tons of bombs the equivalent of 7 1/2 Hiroshima bombs, on a defenseless Iraq. The U.S. targeted and destroyed essential parts of the civilian life support system; water storage, pipe lines, pumping stations, filtration plants; food production, processing, storage and marketing; medical facilities services and supplies; transportation; communications; housing; schools; mosques, churches and synagogues."
How did someone, who was once held the reigns of power of the entire law enforcement branch of the United States as its attorney general, become such a wacko, America-hating left winger spinning in the solar system's outer political orbit?

Ramsey came from a powerful family. His own father, Tom Clark, was not only a former attorney general under Truman, but a U.S. Supreme Court justice as well.

Originally, Attorney General Ramsey Clark was a tough-as-nails prosecutor. He directed FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to conduct the notorious COINTELPRO program that proactively infiltrated radical groups. The program, considered politically incorrect now, probably saved thousands of lives by infiltrating criminal gangs.

Then in 1968, prior to ascending to the throne as the darling of America's left, Attorney General Clark even prosecuted the then-reigning king of the left, Dr. Benjamin Spock, for advocating, of all things, draft resistance!

How the world turns! And Dr. Spock, combined with Hanoi Jane Fonda, did only a fraction of the outrageous behavior of Ramsey Clark.

Abetting Iran, PLO Terrorists, Nazi, Vietnam ...

In June 1980, with America transfixed trying to rescue Americans during the Iran hostage crisis, Clark cheerfully participated in a forum called "Crimes of America" - in Tehran! He sought out nearly every murderous American-hating, tin-pot dictator to commiserate with that he could find. After the U.S. bombing of Libya in 1986, he hung out with and gave Aid and Comfort to Col. Moammar Qadaffi in Tripoli.

Clark, who was concerned about America dropping bombs on Iraq's synagogues (according to the letter he penned to the U.N.), had no qualms defending PLO leaders in the suit brought by the family of Leon Klinghoffer. You may remember Klinghoffer as the savagely murdered, wheelchair-bound passenger who was thrown overboard on the PLO-hijacked ocean liner the Achille Lauro in 1986.

Clark must have been doing everything possible to undermine America; either that or he was just racing to rack up frequent-flier miles. No other explanation satisfies.

This same alleged defender of Iraqi synagogues was later representing Karl Linnas, an ex-Nazi concentration camp guard, charged with the slaughter of some 12,000 Jews, who was being deported from the U.S. back to his native Estonia. Clark wondered "why now?" and said in Linnas' defense, "40 years after some god-awful crime they're alleged to have committed."

Earlier, Ramsey Clark had flown to Hanoi to offer comfort to the communist leaders while our POWs were still being tortured and murdered. He urged them to fight on. He later came back and told our own Congress that the POWs were well exercised and fed. Tell that to former prisoner of war Sen. McCain and his MIA buddies.

In 1990, while U.S. bombs were falling in Iraq, Clark flew to meet and greet Saddam our wartime enemy in Basra, Iraq's southern port. Clark was playing footsies with Saddam while our soldiers were in harm's way.

Helping the '93 WTC Bombers

In 1993, al-Qaeda's first attack on our soil occurred when they bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. Remember that one? Scores were killed and thousands were injured in that failed attempt to take down the twin towers.


The perpetrators were found, and Ramsey Clark represented the bombers, a group that included the blind cleric Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman. He unsuccessfully argued during the trial that the suspects' race was the reason that they were being tried. Can we please find this man a rubber room somewhere so he won't be a danger to himself or the rest of the country?

The suspects were all found guilty and are now serving time. Ramsey still represents Sheik Rahman.

Just as a company's "corporate veil" can be pierced and a company's executives can be found personally and criminally liable for wrongdoing, can we not also pierce the even thinner veil of a "lawyer's immunity" from prosecution, particularly once it crosses the line from reasonable criminal defense to blatant conspiracy to help bring down America?

In October 1999, Clark met with and praised Yugoslav Slobodan Milosovic in Belgrade during the NATO campaign that included American combatants. Milosovic was already charged with "crimes against humanity" at the time. But Clark praised him as "brave, objective and moral." He told his host: "It will be a great struggle, but a glorious victory. You can be victorious."

In fact, Milosovic did have a degree of success. He created millions of homeless refugees from Kosovo, left scores of mass graves later to be dug up by NATO, killed tens of thousands of his own people and conducted the massacre of Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo. This was all going on with American troops nearly in earshot, and for Clark that was what he meant by "victorious" - for America's enemy, that is.

I have to hand it to Ramsey. After decades of undermining America's resolve, giving Aid and Comfort to each and everyone of America's enemies, he has failed to be brought up on charges.

He reminds me of the spoiled rich kid that does something intentionally wrong right in front of his own parents just so he can finally elicit a punishment. He's crying out to be disciplined. "Hit me; I know I'm bad." But for whatever reason, no sitting attorney general has ever brought charges against this man who embodies the very dictionary definition of a traitor.

To add insult to injury, a bit of outrageousness and a whole lot of irony, Clark has brought charges against President Bush this past January. He has drawn up his own Articles of Impeachment. Gag.

Ramsey Clark is obviously crying out for help. Will someone please arrest him, once and for all? It should be done not for America's sake, but for Ramsey's own sake. Let's respect this man's innermost wishes before we all go insane.

"Treason doth never prosper; what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
– Sir John Harington, 16th-century British author

American Traitor

Just learning to play the board as artfully, are we? IM In the wee hours so few C.

I certainly hope, judy, that you're just engaging in your usual vitriol and hyperbole, and not seriously suggesting we begin prosecuting people for treason for expressing unpopular political opinions?

Ramsey Clark Endorses John Kerry

By Cliff Kincaid | March 1, 2004 Clark has been labeled a "traitor" for his habit of showing up in countries hostile to the U.S. A lawyer, he has represented accused terrorists and war criminals.


One of the leading "America bashers" on the political scene today has endorsed John Kerry for president. Speaking to reporters after a February 27 Washington press conference to rally support for Haiti's Marxist President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Ramsey Clark said he's voting for Kerry because he would take U.S. foreign policy in a new direction.

Rest of article--click here


"Birds of a feather"

You watch too much Seinfeld!

Isn't a picture worth 10,000 words? I think they speak volumes.
I'm PST. (yawn)

You forgot satire.

And what about that hate piece suggesting that a lawyer who zealously represents a terrorist is guilty of treason did you find "satirical"?

Your author appears to be perfectly serious about it.

P.S.-I hope you shower after your visits to your hate sites, to wash the stink off before bed.

What the hell you talkin bout Willis?

What do you do for yours?

You're welcome.

My Webster's Dictionary (unabridged) second edition of the Twentieth Century also lists "Tack" as a foodstuff: food; foodstuff; as, hardtack

Clark was already a traitor. Representing Saddam is just a further illustration of is overall attitude. Considering what has happened to other Saddam defense lawyers I'd say it's the perfect position for him.

I wouldn't risk a single soldier protecting him.

Randy 'Duke' Cunningham
Bribery case shows House panel laxness, critics claim
Save a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.comSave a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.com Email a link to this articleEmail a link to this article Printer-friendly version of this articlePrinter-friendly version of this article View a list of the most popular articles on our siteView a list of the most popular articles on our site

By Joe Cantlupe
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

December 1, 2005

WASHINGTON – For months, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham was the focus of highly public federal investigations, and this week pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges.



Throughout, the House ethics committee, which is supposed to look into wrongdoing of members, has been silent.

Critics say that is typical of the committee: a panel embroiled in political gamesmanship that has left it unable to do its job.

"It has been moribund for quite a while," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. "Duke Cunningham's situation is a classic example of what they should have been looking at."

"But they have been ineffective in the past, and they have curled up and done nothing for the past couple of years," Noble said.

On Monday, Cunningham, a Rancho Santa Fe Republican, pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego and tearfully confessed to taking $2.4 million in bribes.

Five months ago, as the scope of the federal investigation into Cunningham's conduct became clear, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called for the House ethics committee to launch an investigation.

Under House rules, an outside person or agency isn't allowed to make an ethics complaint. So the group shopped around among members of Congress to see if someone was interested in filing a complaint against Cunningham. No one was.

The panel, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, barely shrugged.


"There was a guy clearly involved in bribery. But we've learned that going after House members is a waste of time," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the citizens group.

"We say there's a lot of talk about ethics with all the scandals going around, but there is no effective oversight. There are rules that exist and no one is enforcing them," said Mike Surrusco, assistant director of research for Common Cause, the political watchdog group.

The ethics committee has been in political paralysis for several years as congressional leaders have called a truce in investigating one another, critics say. The committee has done little work and has only recently named a counsel after nearly a year without one.

The committee has five Democrats and five Republicans and is led by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash. Committee officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Some advocates say a vigorous ethics committee is needed more than ever at a time of increasing scandals involving Congress.

Concerned about the extent of Cunningham's criminal misconduct, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, on Tuesday urged Speaker Dennis Hastert, D-Ill., to create a bipartisan House committee to investigate Cunningham's role involving national security matters. Cunningham has seats on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the defense appropriations subcommittee.

One of the most highly publicized criminal investigations involves Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who was forced to step down as House majority leader when he was indicted in Texas for alleged violations of campaign finance laws.

Moreover, a sweeping Justice Department investigation involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff involves at least one congressman and other public officials linked to bribery charges. Prosecutors reportedly told Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, that they are preparing a possible bribery case against him. Ney's office has not commented on the reports.

Since the conclusion of ethics investigations involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997, both parties have largely avoided such probes. At that time, the Republican-led committee changed the rules so that only members of Congress could file ethics complaints.

There have been only a few dents in the truce.

The ethics committee launched an investigation into whether Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., used members of his staff for political campaigning during congressional work hours last year, but the probe has been effectively on hold.

Last year, when Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas, filed a complaint against DeLay, it prompted the committee to admonish DeLay. But more important, say critics, the complaint prompted the committee to make it more difficult to tackle ethics violations. Bell was defeated in a re-election bid last year after a redistricting that DeLay helped engineer.

Hastert has "completely emasculated" the committee, removing several diligent members, said Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

"Now we have an ethics committee that has gone through this entire Congress being nonfunctioning," Ornstein said.

Keeping anyone outside the House from initiating a complaint has resulted in a process that "has careened out of control," Ornstein said.

A watchdog press is necessary to fill the void, he said.

The Cunningham investigation was launched after a June 12 Copley News Service story in The San Diego Union-Tribune about the congressman's sale of his house to a defense contractor.

"Not only might he have gotten away with it, he might have accumulated millions more while directing other contracts," Ornstein said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politic...-1n1ethics.html

Say what you will about Duke – he's a war hero, he's a born-again Christian who now pledges to be born once again, he's a venal traitor who sold out his country for a Rolls in the hay – he has become a national laughing matter.

For that we should thank him.

On Tuesday night, Comedy Central's cracked newsmen – Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show") and Stephen Colbert ("The Colbert Report," pronounced re-PORE) had a party with the famously fun-loving congressman.

Colbert (pronounced coal-BARE) tearfully revealed to his audience that he, Stephen Colbert, was one of the friends whom Duke tearfully admitted betraying.

"Duke, Duke, Dukie," Colbert moaned. "Why, Duke. Oh, poor Duke-Stir," which Colbert pointed out was also the name of the party boat offered to Cunningham as a bribe.

"Oh, we had some good times on that yacht," Colbert recalled. He explained why he never questioned a salaried congressman owning yachts and luxury homes. "He's a Republican," Colbert said. "These guys know how to handle money."

To educate his young audience, Colbert lectured that Duke is a war hero, a Vietnam ace and role model in the film "Top Gun." "Now I know how Maverick felt when he lost Goose," Colbert cried. "I've lost Duke!"

Colbert then pointed his bony finger at the real villain. "I blame the congressional district, the Fighting 50th! You should have stopped him! You should have seen it! It was a cry for help! California 50th, you're dead to me!"

As for Stewart, the anchorman pointed out that Duke was a public official who, like Scooter Libby, is "pre-nicknamed for prison." About Duke's wet confession, Stewart said, "Those tears were paid for by lobbyists for the saline (solution) industry."

Oh, Duke. You're killing us!

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northco...mi1jenkins.html

CREW FILES IRS COMPLAINT AGAINST JAMES DOBSON’S FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today filed an Internal Revenue Services (IRS) complaint against Focus on the Family, a conservative, non-profit organization led by its Founder and Chairman James C. Dobson. The complaint asks for the IRS to investigate activities by the group which may violate IRS regulations and require a revocation of its tax-exempt status.

Although barred from electioneering, Mr. Dobson has endorsed candidates for political office several times. In early April, 2004, Mr. Dobson endorsed Republican Representative Patrick J. Toomey in his race for Senate in Pennsylvania. In addition, it was reported that Mr. Dobson actively campaigned during a rally for Rep. Toomey. Other candidates that Mr. Dobson reportedly endorsed in 2004 include North Carolina Republican candidate Pat Ballentine for Govenor and Oklahoma Republican candidate Tom Coburn for Senate.

“Mr. Dobson’s egregious violations of IRS code demand an investigation into his improper activities that break both the spirit and the letter of IRS law,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today.

Recently, the IRS has actively pursued investigations against several perceived liberal groups. The IRS targeted the NAACP’s chairman Julian Bond for a July 2004 speech in which he criticized the Bush administration's policies on civil rights and the war in Iraq. Additionally, the IRS has threatened to revoke the tax-exempt status of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California because of an antiwar sermon there during the 2004 presidential election. In his sermon "If Jesus Debated Sen. Kerry and President Bush," the Rector Emeritus of the church, George Regas, never encouraged parishoners to vote for one candidate over another, but only to vote their deepest values.

Sloan continued, “The IRS has established a track record of scrutinizing organizations, in particular liberal ones, that have purportedly violated electioneering regulations. We hope that the IRS will fully investigate Focus on the Family activities as vigorously as it has targeted those of progressive organizations.”

CREW has sent copies of the complaint to Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) in their roles as Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee.

The IRS complaint is available at www.citizensforethics.org.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/new...ase.php?view=91

or Fawelll. He actually said if you are a Christian you must vote for Bush. Can't get any more blatant thatn that. Favoring one sect of a religion over another as far as political talk goes isn't exactly ethical, now is it?

Donors to lawmaker angered at his 'greed'
Cunningham bribery case repulses many

By Alex Roth, The San Diego Union-Tribune

December 1, 2005

They liked the war-hero congressman, liked his conservative bona fides and his back-slapping good nature, and so they contributed money to Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham over the years. Maybe a $250 check. Maybe a bit more – $1,000, $2,000.

Penelope Bax's contribution came in the form of $2,000 worth of flowers that she donated to a 2004 Cunningham fundraiser held in Rancho Santa Fe in his home district. Bax, a florist, attended the fundraiser and had her picture taken with the Republican.

In retrospect, she's embarrassed to have attended.

"I'm absolutely disgusted, absolutely disappointed" in the eight-term congressman, she said yesterday. Cunningham, she added, is guilty of "phenomenal greed."

Two days after Cunningham admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes, contributors to his re-election campaigns expressed repulsion and astonishment at the sheer scope of his corruption.
Some, like Bax, feel nothing but anger and betrayal.

Others also feel sorry for the highly decorated Vietnam War fighter pilot, who faces up to 10 years in prison at the age of 63.

Many said they had trouble understanding how someone in Cunningham's position – with his patriotic credentials and job as a public servant – could have committed such egregious transgressions.

"What would make him want to drive around in a Rolls-Royce?" said Barbara Bray, 77, a retired Rancho Santa Fe businesswoman who gave Cunningham $200 in 1997. "That's just stupid greed."

Bray was referring to the used Rolls-Royce that Cunningham admitted buying with $13,500 in bribe money in 2002.

According to prosecutors, the illegal payments from defense contractors came in many forms – cash, antiques, Persian rugs, a $2,000 contribution for his daughter's college graduation party.

What stunned some donors is that Cunningham began taking the bribes when he enjoyed a comfortable position in life. He lived in a nice house in Del Mar and had a military pension and a six-figure salary as a congressman.

"I don't know why he resorted to anything like that," said Richard Blackington, 75, a retired Navy commander from Coronado who contributed $1,000 to Cunningham in 1997. "A congressional salary isn't $1.95 an hour, certainly."

Blackington said he'd always liked Cunningham, in part because of the congressman's military service. But what Cunningham did was "unconscionable."

"I'm rather disgusted with the man, to put it bluntly," Blackington said. "He'll get what he deserves."

Dr. Robert Hertzka, a Rancho Santa Fe anesthesiologist and a past chairman of the American Medical Association's political action committee, said the revelations surprised him because Cunningham never seemed to be obsessed with money.

Hertzka, who lobbied Cunningham for the AMA over the years and also made a $1,000 personal donation to the congressman in 2003, said he places Cunningham in the "less-aggressive category" when it came to soliciting funds.

"I can't recall any meeting where there was a little reminder like, 'Hope you can help at the next fundraiser,' " he said.

Hertzka was stunned and saddened by the revelations.

He has known Cunningham since 1990. He likes the guy. He admires the congressman's work ethic and loyalty to his staff. He's bothered that Cunningham's heroic military service will be overshadowed by his disgraceful exit from Congress.

"Nobody's going to remember that he was the model for 'Top Gun,' " Hertzka said. "They'll remember him as the guy who took money and did time."

Dee Gaines also feels compassion for Cunningham.

She and her husband are political contributors – they've given the congressman $950 in the past four years – but they also consider themselves his friends.

Gaines, 63, met Cunningham when her husband volunteered for Cunningham's first congressional campaign in 1990. She hasn't talked to him since the scandal surfaced and admitted to being "disappointed with what has transpired."

"However, I support him spiritually and emotionally 100 percent," she said. "He shouldn't have done it. And he knows that. But I'm not going to forsake him."

Some donors say Cunningham's downfall is symptomatic of the problems with the political process – the big money, the lobbyists, the temptations of power.

Susan Kazmarek, a Realtor based in Rancho Santa Fe, called Cunningham's unraveling painful to behold.

She had believed in him. She gave him a $250 donation in 1999 because she thought he was fighting the good fight in Washington.

"It's very disappointing," Kazmarek said. "It's just a betrayal of trust."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northco...i29jenkins.html

I'm going to hav to start a counter organization and call it Silly Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. SCREW

I wonder who else they're going after?

So, you care less about who the IRS has been after than about who CREW has been 'after'?

I jUSt wish you weren't so anxious to risk them for even less.

Buy that man a beer...

But perhaps "Serious Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington"... would be better received.

That too. We can get SCREWed twice.

As I recall the Clinton administration used them against their enemies too. I just have my doubts whenever people get together to form groups that purport to care about fairness, responsibility, ethics, etc just because they mention it in an acronym.

I like to know exactly who I'm getting SCREWed by.

That's a keeper. More, a jewel. Pearl. Sleek facet.

Why can't we have an actual discussion every now and then? Why is it "Clinton did it, too", "everything is politically motivated", "people pretend to be what they're not", all the time?

For crying out loud, who gets 'confused' by the 'name' of an organization?

Well, an awful lot of people seem to think the Family Research Council is interested in actual families and their problems.

I wonder if FRC even -has- a position on medical care, retirement security, aging parents and the squeeze generation, job security or affordable housing?

Is FRC better or worse than CREW? Do I have to believe either one, or can we question both?

FRC is much more influential. But, by all means, certainly, question both.

I don't trust orgs that make a big deal about being pro-family, because they cater mostly to only Leave it to Beaver style families. My brother Wally agrees.

I think we have more than one Eddie Haskell around here.

I like seeing these. Clean them all out.

A culture of bribery in Congress
The Monitor's View
Almost every US lawmaker takes big money aimed at helping private interests win favorable government action. If they stash the cash for themselves, it's illegal. If they use it to get reelected, keep their job, and help the private interests, it's generally legal.

Either way, money still talks in Washington and the legal/illegal distinction gets easily blurred in all the backroom dealings with private interests until, that is, a brazen case of bribery pops up. Then Washington, if it had any sense, might ask if the laws and rules that regulate campaign donations and lobbyist gifts are tough enough or prosecutors are vigilant enough.





Obviously the laws and prosecutors weren't good enough in the case of Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The California Republican congressmen resigned on Monday after admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes - yes, $2.4 million - to help steer Pentagon business toward select defense contractors. (Newspapers, not prosecutors, first exposed Mr. Cunningham's unexplained wealth.)

Strangely, his official crimes were committed openly in Congress as he worked like many lawmakers in pushing through specific benefits for private interests or calling government departments to coerce a decision in favor of a well-funded, private interest. The plea agreement stated he steered spending "to the benefit" of defense contractors who bribed him, and those contracts were not "in the best interests of the country."

Cunningham, who wisely and contritely admitted the wrongdoing, will probably serve years in jail. But the question lingers: How many other members of Congress (or presidents) have collected big money from private interests - either as campaign-related donations or as bribes - and then conducted the people's business in shady ways that also weren't "in the best interests of the country"?

And let's not stop there with the obvious rhetorical questions: Why should large amounts of money, either as bribes or as big campaign funds from businesses and unions, be permitted at all, since in too many cases such hefty chunks of change can easily distort a lawmaker's ability to represent the highest interests of the most people?

The Washington Post reported that Rep. Virgil Goode ® received more than $80,000 in campaign donations from the employees of MZM - a defense firm that's an alleged co-conspirator in Cunningham's case - and then was the principal sponsor of a measure helping MZM get a contract in his district. He's since offered to refund the money.

Other recent ethics scandals in Washington, almost all involving Republicans, point to weaknesses in current laws and a need for some sort of public campaign financing. They also highlight Congress's inaction toward further campaign-finance reform and ethics watchdogging - an inaction that seems purposeful: "Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, have used ethics allegations as a political weapon for years," Common Cause stated after Cunningham's guilty plea.

No wonder dictators laugh at US demands for representative democracy. They can easily point to American democracy's big failing: allowing the well-monied to corrupt lawmakers by dictating government actions - either legally or illegally.•

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1202/p08s01-comv.html

This mornings WJ had good discussions of corruption in DC. Featured links:

WASHINGTON JOURNAL LINKS: POLICY AND MONEY


Stories and Articles:
House of Cards, Washington Post
Money, Mobsters, Murder, Weekly Standard
Hill Leaders Often Take Corporate Jets, Washington Post
Abramoff Lobbying Questioned, Washington Post
Randy 'Duke' Cunningham: Archive, San Diego Union-Tribune
Rep. Cunningham Plea Agreement
U.S. Congress, Led By Oxley, Flies in Style on Corporate Jets, BloombergNews

Information:
Center for Responsive Politics:
www.opensecrets.org

PoliticalMoneyLine:
www.politicalmoneyline.com

Public Citizen:
www.citizen.org

Public Citizen's Report on lobbying:
www.lobbyinginfo.org/documents/RevolveDoor.pdf

Federal Election Commission:
www.fec.gov

Taxpayers for Common Sense:
www.taxpayer.net

Center for Public Integrity:
www.publicintegrity.org

The Institute on Money in Politics:
www.followthemoney.org

Public Campaign:
www.publicampaign.org

More Soft Money, Hard Law:
www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com


I am so loving this. I'm ordering lots of popcorn and snacks, the show is going to be great!!


http://www.c-span.org/journal/journal_120205.asp

The reporters from Bloomberg News are digging around in the basement of the Capital matching money brought in and favors going out. They have no other jobs but to bring SUNSHINE into the Capital.

I am so loving this.

Good to see somthing makes you happy. Maybe you could go down the the local prison and razz inmates for entertainment.

aye'll throw a cople o' shrimps on th' barbie!!

It'll be a regular party.

The ironic thing is ... THEY WILL BE INMATES!!!

Trafficant can show them the ropes.

Rostenkowski can prepare them for the experience.

Web Hubbell can help with the legal end.

Susan McDougal can provide the conjugal visits.