Posted on 07/20/2004 8:07:00 AM PDT by Mike Bates
So it appears Martha Stewart will, one of these years, go to prison for five months. I’m starting to wish there were a way to send her up the river for life.
Not that her crimes warrant such a sentence. I used to be ambivalent about her case, wondering if what she did justified such tough, resolute prosecution.
She was sentenced for lying about a stock sale.
I can understand her astonishment at being nailed for that. Not many years ago, we had a president who was giving Burger King stiff competition for turning out the most whoppers.
Lying under oath didn’t damage his reputation. Then again, there’s little that could have.
It’s ironic that Clinton was a beneficiary of Martha’s rather limited largess. He and several other Democrats received political contributions from her.
I’m surprised she didn’t cop a plea for leniency based on that. Where are Roger Clinton and the Brothers Rodham when you really need them?
According to court documents posted on the Smoking Gun web site, Martha listed several reasons why she deserved an extra measure of mercy. Some of them will bring a lump to your throat.
She helped her sister out with money after the sister’s husband died. She donated household goods to an orphanage. Martha gave a "small honorarium" to the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation.
Nor were these her only acts of selfless generosity. She greeted new neighbors with freshly baked bread. And, get the hankies out, this altruistic woman even served cocoa to the parents of kids appearing on her TV show.
No, I am not making this up. She really thought deeds such as these should be taken into consideration in her sentencing.
You may have noticed that Mrs. Stewart is not a sympathetic figure. Her arrogance is legendary and, even after all she’s been through, she apparently still doesn’t get it.
In a letter to the judge written days before sentencing, Martha patiently explained: ". . .the way we looked at our business is that we were ‘teachers’ and what we taught had to be based in fact, truth and ‘highest standards of perfection’, a phrase I adopted from the American Poultry Association’s handbook, ‘The Standard of Perfection.’"
Yet the unwashed masses simply never understood the fact and truth to be learned in whipping up a really good Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
What finally convinced me that Martha Stewart is a clear and present danger that needs to be kept out of society for keeps was how she’s acted since her sentencing.
She sashayed out of court and stepped to the microphones and cameras awaiting her. Martha must have studied the Clinton playbook. Like Bill, she said she had been punished for a "small personal matter." She claimed she’s been "choked and almost suffocated to death during that time. . ." This sounds like Hillary’s laughable claim that when her husband finally ‘fessed up, she was so stunned she could hardly breathe and had to gulp for air.
But then Martha really got down to business. She urged her supporters to continue standing by their gal:
"Perhaps all of you out there can continue to show your support by subscribing to our magazine, by buying our products, by encouraging our advertisers to come back in full-force to our magazines. Our magazines are great."
Then she said she wasn’t exploiting the occasion for a sales-pitch. Right. Share the love. Send cash.
The following day she spoke of the many, many good people who have gone to prison and cited Nelson Mandela. I’m no fan of his, but I do believe his imprisonment was due to a principled belief. By contrast, Martha’s headaches stared when she tried to save a (relatively) few bucks.
On Monday evening, Mrs. Stewart found yet another silver lining. She told Larry King on his program that she intends to write a book about her experience. What’s the use of going through the criminal justice system without making a buck on it?
Yes, a very dangerous woman, one who every day provides additional evidence that she should be locked up permanently. And that’s a good thing.
Someone educate me here. Why, after sentencing, is Martha Stewart not starting to serve her sentence?
If you or I was just finished getting sentenced by a judge for being convicted of a felony don't you know that they would take you straight from the court room to the jailhouse.
What gives here? Any enlightened legal scholars please explain.
Thanks for posting the "Living Behind Bars" graphic. I had not seen that one yet. / sarcasm >
I will always remember her for that. Of all the legendary people who have ever served time in prison, she picked the purveyor of flaming-tire necklaces.
Since she's a 'Rat, perhaps that was to be expected.
Since I hadn't seen it before, I'm glad he posted it.
I believe the necklace proponent was Mrs. Mandela, not Mr. Mandela. As far as I know, he never publicly promoted such atrocities.
Thw worst for Martha Stewart has yet to come. There is a very good reason the insider trading charges were filed in Civil Court, not criminal.
In the coming Civil Trial, Stewart can't plead the Fifth Amendment. She can't refuse to answer questions, she can't refuse to sit on the witness stand.
And thats the ballgame for her, and Omniliving, folks. When that trial is over, Martha Stewart will never be allowed to sit as the CEO of a company again, will never be able to sit on any board of directors. She will never be able to assume a position of control in any company.
And the verdict will cost her millions of dollars in fines.
Won't happen til the appeal process is over....about 18 months from now.
She was permitted to remain free until her appeals are exhausted.
Having noticed your "FREE MARTHA" tagline, I thought you might like this.
Just what is it that Stewart did that warranted the cost of this investigation? She stands accused of telling investigators that she wasn't guilty of what they accused her of doing. The fact is that the prosecutors were not able to make those accusations in a court of law, where she would have been forced to proclaim her guilt or innocence, so the prosecutors charged her with lying about her guilt. Now does that make much sense? The reason that they were unable to charge her with insider trading is because she was not an insider.
Martha's an idiot and a FOB. She's also the victim of a witch-hunt based on trumped up charges.
What was the cost of the investigation?
I don't know what the cost was, but it's got to have been big bucks, and now there is the case against the gov't witness who lied on the stand to get the conviction against Stewart. All for what? to make gov't lawyers look like control freaks?
From News Max:And then there's this tidbit: "Officials with the Bush-Cheney campaign point out that Berger gave a surprise background briefing to reporters on Feb. 27 on behalf of the Kerry campaign, in which he outlined airline security issues apparently drawn from the now-missing classified memos Berger is accused of removing from the National Archives," FNC reported.
The way your post began, I thought Sandy Baby had maybe given briefings to Martha Stewart.
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