Tag: Crime & Punishment

Nixon on Fred Thompson: “He’s Dumb as Hell”

Trish

Pres. Nixon didn’t want Fred Thompson as minority counsel during the Watergate hearings because he doubted the mental capacity of the future actor and lobbyist.

Nixon to Haldeman: “Oh shit, that kid!” Haldeman: “Well, we’re stuck with him.”

Thompson, then 30, was appointed counsel by his political mentor, Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker, the top Republican on the Senate committee. Thompson had been an assistant U.S. attorney in Nashville and had managed Baker’s re-election campaign…

Nixon was disappointed with the selection of Thompson, whom he called “dumb as hell.” Nixon did not think Thompson was skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the committee’s Democratic counsel.

This assessment comes from audiotapes of White House conversations recently reviewed by the Associated Press at the National Archives in College Park, Md., and transcripts of those discussions published in Abuse of Power: The New Watergate Tapes, by Stanley Kutler.

“Oh, s—, that kid,” Nixon said when told by his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, of Thompson’s appointment on Feb. 22, 1973.

“Well, we’re stuck with him,” Haldeman said.

The two were concerned that Thompson would be outgunned by much brighter lawyer John Dean, who was ready to desert their sinking ship. Appealing to Thompson’s strong partisan side helped him focus and prepare for the questioning.

Dean, the panel’s star witness, had agreed to tell what he knew if he was granted immunity.

Nixon expressed concern that Thompson was not “very smart.”

“Not extremely so,” [Nixon lawyer J. Fred] Buzhardt agreed.

“But he’s friendly,” Nixon said.

“But he’s friendly,” Buzhardt agreed. “We are hoping, though, to work with Thompson and prepare him, if Dean does appear next week, to do a very thorough cross-examination.”

Five days later, Buzhardt reported to Nixon that he had primed Thompson for the cross-examination.

“I found Thompson most cooperative, feeling more Republican every day,” Buzhardt said.

Later in the conversation, Buzhardt said Thompson was “willing to go, you know, pretty much the distance now. And he said he realized his responsibility was going to have to be as a Republican increasingly.”

That seems to be one lesson that got through Thompson’s thick skull and stuck.

Hate Crime Victim Ryan Skipper’s Rep, Tom Feeney: No Need for Hate Crime Bill

Trish
Let the party begin! Rep. Tom Feeney rings the bell opening the American Stock Exchange.

This just in from Vicki Nantz, an independent film maker planning a documentary on Ryan Skipper, whose March murder in Central Florida is being investigated as a hate crime.

I recently wrote U.S. House Representative, Tom Feeney, Republican of Central Florida, and asked him why he does not support federal hate crime legislation that includes the gay and lesbian community. Why are acts of brutality, physical assaults and murder, which are meant to intimidate and terrorize the LGBT community, not included in our current, or likely-to-be-passed federal hate crime laws – the legislation that President Bush has promised to veto. I received written correspondence yesterday from Feeney that included the following:

…”I do not support specialized punishment for particular mentalities. This idea singles out groups for special treatment…When someone is murdered because the killer does not like the color of their skin, that killer deserves harsh punishment; but the killer deserves it because the victim is a human, not because of the killer’s hateful thoughts…Justice ultimately ought to be based on the fundamental worth of a human being and not the thoughts of the specific criminal…I hope in the near future crime legislation can be voted on that protects all equally and punishes the offender for the crime committed and not the thoughts in his mind.”

And yet Feeney and the other overwhelmingly Republican, antigay hypocrites like him have voted in support of federal legislation that does punish people for the thoughts in their minds. The following is part of the U.S. Code, federal law currently being followed in this country:

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 113B

CHAPTER 113B—TERRORISM

(1) the term “international terrorism” means activities that—

(A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State;

(B) appear to be intended—

(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and…

(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—

(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;

(B) appear to be intended—

(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping…

Clearly, hypocritical Representative Feeney, President Bush and the American religious extremists who decry inclusive hate crime legislation as being “thought crime” legislation reveal much behind their own selective, hate-filled thoughts. It is that same base thinking that led to the murders of Matthew Shephard and Ryan Skipper, and the dozens more LGBT murders and innumerable of acts of brutal violence that most people have never bothered to know about.

Use your voice. Use your votes.

Thanks Vicki. We agree with everything you said and find it particularly upsetting that Ryan’s own representatives, and those of his family and friends, can’t see the need for hate crime legislation.

But Tom Feeney’s words mean nothing. Feeney was among a group of fellow members of Congress investigated by the FBI because they were known by jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be for sale.

Feeney, former speaker of the Florida House, is one of three men who were U.S. House members when they accompanied Abramoff to Scotland on trips that included rounds of golf at the legendary Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews.

The others: former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who is serving prison time for corruption related to his Abramoff relationship, and former House Republican leader Tom DeLay, who was indicted in an unrelated Texas fundraising case and is under investigation in the Abramoff case.

L.A. City Attorney’s Publicity-Seeking in Paris Hilton Case Wrecks Promising Political Career

Jon Ponder
L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo

Crash and burn: Nothing compelled Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to join the fray in objecting to Paris Hilton’s early release from the county jail earlier this month.

Judge Michael Sauer, whose sentence was curtailed by the decision to let Hilton serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest, called a hearing into the matter and had it under control.

But Delgadillo (“Del-gah-dee-yo”) weighed in for no reason other than to cash in on the national publicity around the case.

Now it appears inserting himself into the Hilton case may have permanently sidelined his ambitions for higher office. Here are headlines from this month in the Los Angeles Times that tell the story:

Delgadillo has had his eye on higher office. Last year, he ran for California State Treasurer in the Democratic primary, losing to former Gov. Jerry Brown, who went on to win the general. Now he’ll be lucky to keep his job through the next city elections.

It didn’t have to be. For one thing, if Hilton had been a regular non-celebutante citizen, she would have spent zero minutes in jail, according to L.A. County Sheriff Lee, the man in charge of the jails here.

If you doubt it, watch this video of Baca saying Hilton would not have gone to jail if she were a non-celebrity. (Starts at 04:18.)

Libby Shouldn’t Have Asked Judge to ‘Consider His Whole Life’

Trish

Just before the judge sentenced I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby for his role in the revenge exposure of a CIA agent by the Bush administration, Libby asked him to look at the big picture.

Libby did not admit to any mistakes, but said, “I ask that you consider my whole life.”

And maybe the judge did, which is why Libby is now facing a total of 30 months in jail and a $250,000 fine.

John Dean, in his book, “Conservatives Without Conscience” uses Libby as an illustration of an “uberneoconservative” and an “exemplary authoritarian.” He points to an American Progress backgrounder that does in fact, consider Libby’s whole life.

Dean: Libby was outraged and believed that by claiming Wilson’s wife had been involved in sending her husband to Niger, the trip would be perceived as some kind of boondoggle. In fact, she was not involved, but Libby leaked her covert identity to members of the news media anyway

It was Libby – along with Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, and a handful of other top aides at the Pentagon and White House – who convinced the president that the U.S. should go to war in Iraq. It was Libby who pushed Cheney to publicly argue that Saddam Hussein had ties to al Qaeda and 9/11.

It was also Libby who prodded former Secretary of State Colin Powell to include specious reports about an alleged meeting between 9/11 terrorist Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence official in Powell’s February 2003 speech to the United Nations. Libby and his staff reportedly badgered Powell’s speech writers for weeks, culminating in a meeting where Libby presented information in a manner that, according to those who were there, was aggressive and over the top…

Within the Bush administration, what has touched Cheney has also reached Libby and vice versa. Libby’s role in the awarding of at least one no-bid, multi-million dollar contract to Halliburton is a case in point.

For months, the vice president’s office denied that it played any role in the selection of the company once headed by Cheney to repair Iraq’s oil fields. But, as the Washington Post reported [in 2004], it turns out that Libby had been briefed by Pentagon officials before the contract was awarded – raising questions of impropriety at best, and corruption at worst.

So much for the big picture. Libby is dirty, and Dean has no trouble keeping the facts straight.

[…]

Florida’s Crist — Crank Up the Death Machine!

Buck Banks

Although Tennessee beat Florida to the punch in dropping its death penalty moratorium by offing a prisoner Wednesday, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist lost no time in getting our great state back on the state-sanctioned murder list. Florida and Tennesse were among 37 states that had suspended killing prisoners because of questions over whether lethal injection was really less painful than, say, hanging by the neck or having a couple million volts of electricity shot into your cranium.

The state has made some changes at Starke, the state penitentiary where we mete out the ultimate punishment in these here parts. They made the death chamber bigger, installed video cameras and locks for the wheels of the gurney, so it doesn’t roll when the injection is made. All that is supposed to get our average time between injection and death back down in the 15-minute range, which is deemed humane, compared with the 34 minutes it took us to off the last guy.

But one thing hasn’t changed — the three-chemical combo that Florida has used for years to put down the ultimate offenders. Turns out it took 34 minutes for Angel Diaz to die, not because of the chemical mix, but because the needle was pushed through his vein and the drugs were absorbed slowly rather than quickly. Besides, we haven’t had any official post-execution complaints about the potion from the guilty ones.

I have a suggestion. Screw the moratorium. Ban execution in the United States. We’ll save piles of money on prosecutions and appeals, the perps will still be terminated in prison and we won’t be a member if the real Axis of Evil — the four nations that account for 92 percent of the world’s executions: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and us.

New Mexico U.S. Attorney Fired for Being a Vet

Trish

Only in the George Bush years could something like this happen.

The Office of Special Counsel, charged with enforcing both the Civil Service Act and the Hatch Act, is looking into the firing of New Mexico federal attorney and Navy Reserve Capt. David Iglesias. If you recall, Iglesias was fired after Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) called him at home and blasted him for not speeding up fraud prosecutions of Democrats before the 2006 elections.

The Office of Special Counsel is also responsible for protecting the job rights of National Guard and Reserve members who are called away for military duty. In that capacity, [Agency Director Scott] Bloch is looking into whether David Iglesias, one of eight U.S. attorneys dismissed earlier this year, was punished for missing work to serve in the Navy Reserve.

Iglesias, who was the U.S. attorney for New Mexico until he was replaced in February, was cited as an “absentee landlord” in a Justice Department document laying out reasons for his termination. William Moschella, the No. 3 official at Justice, told a House subcommittee in March that Iglesias was fired because he delegated too much responsibility to his deputy.

Good lord. How low can these people go?

NRA Lobbyist: “Lock and Load; We’ll Be Back”

Trish

Florida Republicans got sideways yesterday with an old friend, and she’s mad as hell.

Forced to make a virtual Sophie’s choice between the gun and business lobbies — and no doubt influenced by events at Virginia Tech — they defeated the so-called, “Take Your Gun to Work” bill. The law was expected to serve as a model for the rest of the country.

The NRA put the blame for the defeat on “Republican turncoats”

In a rare setback for the powerful gun lobby, a House council on Wednesday soundly defeated a bill that would have allowed employees to bring their guns to work as long as they locked them in their cars or trucks…

Mark Wilson of the Florida Chamber of Commerce said the committee voted to protect “the private property rights” of businesses and residents. He applauded the council members “for voting their consciences under such tremendous pressure.”

…Some lawmakers clearly wanted to avoid the showdown. Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, asked that the vote be postponed, saying it was “highly inappropriate” following the massacre at Virginia Tech.

Actually, it couldn’t have been more appropriate. But that’s not how past NRA president and chief lobbyist, Marion Hammer, sees it. Floridians recognize Hammer for her place in the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, where she was installed by none other than former governor Jeb Bush.

In an e-mail to supporters, the NRA put the blame for the defeat on “Republican turncoats.”

“We will not forget these anti-gun, anti-freedom, anti-constitution representatives,” said the message from Hammer, a former NRA president. “Most particularly we will not forget the Republican betrayers — some of whom have to run for re-election in 2008 and some are term-limited out but are planning to run for other offices.”

Actually it was large Florida employers, like Disney, who are more to thank. I can see why a parking lot full of loaded weapons would be unwelcome among the Mickey Mouse ears and strollers. But by all means, Marion, hammer away at those Republicans you don’t see as rabid enough.

She already is.

After the vote, Wilson, of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, tried to shake Hammer’s hand.

“Lock and load,” Hammer said. “We’ll be back.”