“Fred is guilty of nothing.”
He is guilty of being a presidential candidate with a scumbag associate. That shows, at the very least, a lack of thoroughness. A presidential candidate should vet all his associates.
I don’t know this guy Philip Martin and I don’t know if he’s a scumbag. But this isn’t about Martin. Its about Fred. You’re trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. I doubt this is gonna blow up in Fred`s face.
dsc wrote: “He is guilty of being a presidential candidate with a scumbag associate. That shows, at the very least, a lack of thoroughness. A presidential candidate should vet all his associates.”
And how does that make him any less “guilty” than the other candidates?
These charges go back to 1979 and 1983, 25 or more years ago. Whatever debt Martin owed to society, he paid a long time ago.
In contrast, three of Mitt Romney’s inner circle are under investigation and/or facing current criminal charges:
Sen. Larry Craig, who was caught in a Minneapolis bathroom sex sting this summer, was Romney’s Senate liaison.
Jay Garrity, who was director of operations for Romney and constantly at the ex-governor’s side, is under investigation in two states for impersonating a law enforcement officer.
One-time Romney national finance co-chairman Alan Fabian was charged in a 23-count(!) indictment alleging mail fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice.
In addition, Robert Lichfield, Romney’s former Utah finance co-chairman, is the subject of lawsuits alleging abusive treatment at the boarding schools Lichfield founded for troubled youths.
All of these stories involving Romney associates hit the news, and, with the exception of Craig’s situation, faded off the radar screens. Crag keeps himself in the spotlight.
How about Rudy?
John Wren, the CEO of Omnicom and a member of Rudy Giuliani’s Republican presidential campaign finance team, is the subject of a class-action lawsuit involving allegations of fraud.
Then there’s Guiliani’s child-molesting staffer, his associate arrested for possessing kiddy porn and good old Bernie, who Rudy suggested to head homeland security with his own “issues.”
McCain? Can you say “Keating Five?” Heck, Martin’s troubles go back even earlier than that.
The Huckster must be clean, right? He was a by-God Baptist minister. Wrong! His ethical difficulties have been well documented.
Dang, maybe we need to go to the bottom tier of candidates. How about Duncan Hunter? Not so fast. If we’re going to play guilt by association here, Hunter’s best buddy Buzz Cunningham is sitting in a jail cell right now for influence-peddling.
But none of these Republicans can hold a candle to the King and Queen of sleaze, the Clintons!
Watch how the drive-by media will try to graft long legs onto this story. Much longer than the ones they gave to Garrity, Fabian and Lichfield, I’ll wager.
If you met this guy today, you would call him a scumbag to his face? What makes you pass such judgment on a man, something that he did 24 years ago and paid for?