Year: 2006
Katherine Harris is Named as “Representative A” in Cunningham Bribe Case
Over one year ago, PR reported on U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Stolen Elections) trying to divest herself of the same illegal contributions which former California Representative Duke Cunningham is going to jail for accepting.
“The congressman who got the most money is going to prison,” McLaughlin said. “The one who got the second-most money wants to be a senator. I would hope voters would look at that”
If you missed it the first time around, Harris took somewhere near $50,000, funneled through employees of defense contractor MZM Inc., whose employees also favored Duke.
After the employees complained about coercion, Harris offered — in the style of the DeLay-linked — to return the payola. Now the horse manootey is hitting the fan, and Harris’ new name is in legal circles is “Rep. A.”
Harris’ campaign attempted to return the campaign contributions to MZM employees but never received a response, the release said.
Harris acknowledged having contact with Wade and his firm…
Cunningham, a Vietnam veteran who represented a southern California district, resigned from Congress in November and pleaded guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from Wade and MZM in exchange for help securing Pentagon contracts. Cunningham faces up to 10 years in prison.
In Wade’s guilty plea on Friday, the court document stated “Representative A” received $46,000 in “illegal contributions” from employees and spouses at Wade’s firm.
Harris is “Representative A.”
Let’s All Get ‘Cheneyed’
New word: Here’s a new term for the OED — get “cheneyed,” which means to get inebriated. To get properly cheneyed, you should:
1. Drink until intoxicated.
2. Accidentally shoot someone.
3. Lie about your actions.
Most people skip step 2.
(Variation: “Get cheney-eyed.” As in: “After that twelfth beer, Dick was positively cheney-eyed.”)
Let’s Outsource the Secret Service to the UAE
Alert PR reader Vito D. had a really good question for the Deputy Defense Secretary. Gordon England said last week that those who question the port deal put our security at risk by giving people from Arab countries a complex. Vito asked:
Why not abolish the Secret Service and let U.A.E. guard the President? Now this would show our Arab allies that we trust them.
I agree. If there’s no problem with letting them hire the longshoremen in our ports, then while we’re at it, let’s put them where they could really do some good.
Brown Says Bush Was Fully Briefed on Katrina
Michael Brown tells NBC News that President Bush was fully informed prior to landfall that Hurricane Katrina would likely destroy New Orleans:
“We ought to get mad at the President… The alarm bells were being sounded on Sunday. Because not only was I having conferences with the President on the telephone, but he was also on the video conference with all of the state emergency managers.”
This means that while the president was cavorting across the country, strumming the guitar, cutting up with John McCain and birthday cake and sleeping peacefully in San Diego, he knew that Americans were drowning in the flooded streets or clinging for dear life on rooftops.
It also means that he was lying on Good Morning America that week when he said:
“No one could have anticipated that the levees would be breached.”
Now William F. Buckley Jr. Hates America
Remember the equation set forth by the GOP message machine:
Criticizing President Bush = Hating America
The latest America-hating critic of Dear Leader is the elder statesman of conservative fantasists himself, William F. Buckley. Under the headline “It Didn’t Work,” he writes:
One can’t doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed… And the administration has, now, to cope with failure..
Mr. Bush has a very difficult internal problem here because to make the kind of concession that is strategically appropriate requires a mitigation of policies he has several times affirmed in high-flown pronouncements. His challenge is to persuade himself that he can submit to a historical reality without forswearing basic commitments in foreign policy.
He will certainly face the current development as military leaders are expected to do: They are called upon to acknowledge a tactical setback, but to insist on the survival of strategic policies.
Yes, but within their own counsels, different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgment of defeat.
So Buckley is one of those cut-and-runners, huh? He’d better watch out for Swiftboaters. Bushistas don’t take kindly to this kind of talk. The next thing you know, they’ll be questioning his conservative credentials.
Hat Tip to LL & ST
First They Came for Cat Stevens
Apparently, there’s a thin line between whining and terrorizing. Singer Morrissey, who has in the past made no secret of his distaste for the British Royal Family, Tony Blair and George W. Bush, reports that he has been worked over by government officials:
The FBI and the Special Branch have investigated me and I’ve been interviewed and taped and so forth. They were trying to determine if I was a threat to the government, and similarly in England. But it didn’t take them very long to realise that I’m not…
I don’t belong to any political groups, I don’t really say anything unless I’m asked directly and I don’t even demonstrate in public. I always assume that so-called authoritarian figures just assume that pop/rock music is slightly insane and an untouchable platform for the working classes to stand up and say something noticeable.
My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies. You can’t really speak your mind and if you do you’re investigated.
We are only half-laughing.
Poll: 17% Favor Bush’s Ports Deal
Mr. President, read ’em and weep:
Just 17 percent of Americans believe Dubai Ports World should be allowed to purchase operating rights to several U.S. ports. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 64 percent disagree and believe the sale should not be allowed…
From a political perspective, President Bush’s national security credentials have clearly been tarnished due to the outcry over this issue. For the first time ever, Americans have a slight preference for Democrats in Congress over the President on national security issues. Forty-three percent say they trust the Democrats more on this issue today while 41 percent prefer the President.
It is important to note that the question about trust on national security issues was asked first, before any mention was made of the Dubai Ports issue.
The preference for the opposition party is small, but the fact that Democrats are even competitive on the national security front is startling.
Startling for you maybe but the rest of us have seen through the “Bush makes us safe” charade from the beginning. His response to Katrina exposed his true colors in plain sight.
Pensito Review: Off the Wires
China Frees Man Jailed During 1989 Protest
BEIJING – A man who was jailed for throwing paint on Mao Zedong’s portrait in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during pro-democracy protests in 1989 has been released after nearly 17 years in prison, his family said Thursday. We’ll wager he won’t do that again.
London Mayor Suspended Over Nazi Remark
LONDON – Mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended from office for four weeks on Friday for bringing his office into disrepute by comparing a Jewish reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard. “He didn’t look Jewish,” explained Livingstone.
Hamas’ Moscow Trip Angers Israel
JERUSALEM – A top-level Hamas delegation will travel to Moscow next week for meetings with Russian officials, a Hamas official said Friday, part of the militant group’s efforts to gain international legitimacy after sweeping a Palestinian parliamentary election. More evidence these guys should not be allowed to run a country — they think hangin’ with Putin will boost their legitimacy.
Police Sketch Suspect in Big Heist
TONBRIDGE, England – One of Britain’s biggest and most audacious robberies was executed with military-style precision: One gang abducted the cash depot manager’s family while another tied up guards and made off with up to $87 million. Police expect a “Reservoir Dogs” resolution to the matter when one set of robbers realizes they only got the cash depot manager’s family while the other guys got away with all that dough.
Poll: Americans Expect More Terrorism
Fear factor: It seems that the Bush adminstration’s constant repetition of the “terrer” mantra appears to be working, according to a recent Harris poll:
About two-thirds of respondents said they thought it was likely there would be a terrorist attack in the next year, an increase of more than 10 points since a June 2005 poll.
A majority of respondents also said U.S. law enforcement is “using its expanded surveillance powers in a proper way” to combat terrorism. Four in 10 said it is not, 6 points higher than last year’s measure. Majorities also said they favored most of the security proposals mentioned in the poll, including “expanded camera surveillance on streets and in public places” and “law enforcement monitoring of Internet discussions in chat rooms and other forums.” The only one of the seven that most did not support was “expanded government monitoring of cell phones and email, to intercept communications.”
But most also said that President Bush is at least sometimes justified in wiretapping domestic citizens if they are terrorism suspects, even without court orders. Fifty-three percent said they were familiar with the National Security Agency program.
