Bush has explaining to do (Barf Alert)

The scandal engulfing corporate America is calling more and more attention to President Bush's own past transactions, and, as a result, rapidly eroding his moral authority to lead the fight against corporate terrorism.

Before Bush became governor of Texas and president of the United States, he acquired considerable wealth in a very short time through a few well-timed purchases of stocks and even better-timed sales. Indeed, the president is the most prominent member of a very elite corporate society, but some of his corporate colleagues are finding themselves standing very deep in criminal do-do, and the stench is beginning to stick on Bush.

Questions are resurfacing about how much Bush actually paid in taxes when he sold his share of ownership in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise. Fewer people are giving Bush the benefit of the doubt about exactly what the Securities and Exchange Commission did or didn't do, find or say in its investigation of his dealings at Harken Energy. How did he borrow $189,000 from the company to buy 212,000 shares of stock and then sell the same stock for $800,000 two months before the stock lost its value? Was it insider trading? A Newsweek poll last week found that 42 percent of Americans believe Bush took advantage of Harken to enrich himself. And why did he wait eight months before reporting the sale to the SEC? While SEC investigators found no wrongdoing, they said that Bush was ''not exonerated'' by the findings.

If Bush wants to cut his losses, now is the time for full disclosure. It's disingenuous to blow this off as ''old news.'' Every president and vice president whose personal transactions have been called into question since 1972 has ultimately been exposed. Bush campaigned on the promise to restore integrity to the White House, but the first opportunity he has to do so, he reacts as though he has something to hide. Does he?

Having been selected president, Bush assumed the presidency without a popular mandate and therefore can't afford even the appearance of impropriety. To do so is to risk losing the goodwill that tens of millions of Americans have poured out to him since 9/11. No president can hide the truth forever and Bush should know that. With the future of 85 million investors at stake, Bush can't afford to dilly-dally around when it comes to his integrity. The sooner he releases the documents that can remove the cloud of doubt hovering over his administration, the sooner he will regain the moral authority to lead the war against corporate terrorism.

It has been Bush's instinct to scramble to find the high moral ground in this crisis, but he's landed on a very slippery slope instead. As a result, even his unqualified support of embattled SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt is appearing to be nothing more than an attempt to stave off a new investigation into his own financial past, when he should be standing up for investors who have been swindled out of hundreds of billions of dollars and the tens of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs and 401(k) investments because of corporate fraud.

Before his moral authority slips away completely, Bush is hoping any semblance of his Homeland Security proposal gets passed before Congress adjourns in August. Exactly what the bill may say is secondary because, as we have learned to expect, politics always trumps policy. Indeed, Bush needs a Homeland Security bill to knock the corporate scandal off the front pages long enough for him to pull off a political victory and remind us that we are at war against terrorism, although not the corporate kind. Then he can get what he really wants: another monthlong vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Bush just doesn't get it. Now is the time to show some leadership in fighting both kinds of terrorism, not go on vacation. And forget that nonsense about him being briefed by his advisers. Bush was on a monthlong vacation last year at his ranch when he was briefed on August 16 about the possibility of terrorist attacks. Afterward, Bush went fishing, and then took the rest of the day off! Believe me: When Bush is on vacation, he is doing even less for displaced workers and investors than he is on the job.

You would think a learned man such as Dr. Andrade would at least apply a small amount of objectivity to his writing, but the above sentence obliterated that possibility. Maybe less time spent empowering Hispanics and more time empowering all Americans would make him more circumspect.

Here is the speech Clinton gave when awarding him the "President's Citizens Medal," on January 8, 2001

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT CITIZENS MEDAL CEREMONY

..... As a civics teacher fresh out of college, Juan Andrade showed up for the first day of class eager to teach his students the fundamentals of American democracy. Two days later, he was under arrest. What was his terrible crime? He was teaching his students in his native tongue, Spanish, which was at the time a violation of Texas law.

That early injustice helped to spark Juan's life-long crusade for Hispanic American civil rights, including the founding of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute and nearly a thousand registration drives that have enfranchised over 1 million new voters. Today, we honor Juan Andrade for his courage, his commitment to both democracy and diversity; and for giving so many more Americans a voice in their own destiny.

I guess Dr. Andrade's political leanings are pretty clear.

Just as an aside, Robert Rubin was given the same medal at the same time. Here is the test of Slick's speech for that:

Eight years ago, in a very troubled time for the American economy, I asked Bob Rubin to head my economic team and to establish for the first time a National Economic Council in the White House and involving all the economic agencies of the government. I did it not because he had been immensely successful in making money and knew a lot about the economy, but because he also understood the very real impact decisions in Washington have on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Americans all across this nation. As my National Economic Advisor, and later as a superb Secretary of the Treasury, Bob balanced a commitment to fiscal prudence and social progress. He understood that good economics and a generous progressive social policy could go hand in hand. He helped to balance the nation's books and to balance the nation's priorities. And it is no accident that his leadership in economic policy accompanied not only the longest economic expansion in history but last year, the biggest drop in child poverty in 34 years, the biggest increase in personal income among the lowest 20 percent of working Americans in a very long time and a general growth in the equality and harmony we all seek from all our people. He also never let me forget our special responsibilities to the inner cities of America, which is why I mentioned earlier that even though the Community Reinvestment Act has been on the books for over 20 years, 95 percent of all the investment occurred during the last eight years. Thank you, Bob Rubin, for helping make America a better place.

Yeah, thanks Bob, for ushering in the latest recession and allowing Chris Dodd to screw up the oversight of accountants. And thanks for all your fine work at Citicorp, humping Enron stocks long after the value was worth a glass of urine.

I don't see any "objective" articles by Andrade about Rubin's exploits, do we?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.