Posted on 09/20/2008 5:58:33 AM PDT by dirtboy
During the last election cycle, the Democrats and the MSM made considerable political hay from the Abramoff scandal, where lobbyist Jack Abramoff directed campaign contributions and perks to Republicans and Democrats alike (somehow, the MSM seldom got around to mentioning the Democrats involved in the scandal, such as Harry Reid). The non-stop MSM harping on the Abramoff scandal was a key factor in the GOP Congressional defeats of 2006 (along with GOP overspending).
At the end of the day, any Pubbie caught up in the scandal deserved to lose his seat (too bad none of the Dems implicated in the scandal were impacted, but we’ve gotten used to that). Abramoff was a two-sided sword swung only in one direction.
But Abramoff’s impact was mostly about filling campaign coffers, not the bank accounts of politicians and their relatives. Over the last few years, multiple reports of direct enrichment of Democratic elected officials and well-connected insiders have come to light – but these stories have received nowhere near the media coverage as the Abramoff scandal, despite the fact that the corruption and its impacts are far more drastic:
- The Fannie and Freddie Salad Bar
- Chris Dodd – Countrywide’s Sweetheart
- Harry Reid’s Dirty Real Estate Deals and Dirtier Offspring
- Joe Biden – MBNA Sugar Daddy
- The Speaker and the Windbag (Pelosi Blocks Drilling while Investing in T Boone’s Scheme)
- Charlie Rangel and the Rent-Controlled Office Space
- Obama’s Thank-You For My Wife's Raise Earmark
Some of these payments and payments in kind had minor public financial impacts, and are more a reflection of the poor moral character and lack of fitness to lead of the politicians in question. But at least two of these – Fannie Mae and Chris Dodd – have had major ramifications for taxpayers, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts, along with direct consequences to the financial turmoil now affecting the globe.
Yet the media, other than the WSJ, have largely declined to connect the dots and demonstrate to the American people how these scandals are much worse than Abramoff. And for obvious reasons - if voters were as aware of Dem corruption this election the way the media made them aware of GOP corruption last election, the end result would be the same – the party in power, the party implicated in the scandals, would go down in electoral defeat. So the MSM runs interference to prevent that from happening, even though ferreting out this pervasive corruption is the only real long-term solution to the problems facing how we are governed.
Bill Clinton coined the term Politics of Personal Destruction years ago (fair enough, since he perfected the art). We need to make it clear that that Dem leaders swept into power in the last election cycle by comparatively minor GOP corruption are conversely up to their eyeballs in the Politics of Personal Enrichment, otherwise known as rank corruption from direct payments of dirty money. This goes beyond bringing home the bacon for constituents, grubbing for campaign contributions and doing favors for influential donors. This is graft, as base as it gets, and at a level that would have made Boss Tweed blush. And for a relative pittance, they sell out Americans, sometimes at great cost.
Since the media won’t cover this in detail, it’s up to us. And we should put to work the best aspects of FR – research, biting commentary, black humor and brilliant analysis – along with what truly differentiates FR from the liberal egomaniacal lunatics that infest the blogsphere – teamwork that transcends any one of us.
So I’m calling out to my fellow FReepers – hopefully, this is the introductory thread of many threads to come. I ask for other FReepers to please add to this thread and also feel free to start Politics of Personal Enrichment threads with the topics mentioned above, or other topics as you see fit. I’m going to start with Chris Dodd myself. But please emphasize situations where politicians and/or their relatives have gotten direct monetary financial benefit from their dirty dealings, as opposed to just campaign contributions or a junket to a golf resort. We have to clearly demonstrate that Dem corruption has gone well beyond the Abramoff variety decried by Dem media sycophants two years ago. And nail the collective lot of them with their hypocrisy and corruption in a manner that non-political junkies can understand, be outraged about, and act upon come November.
Let’s fan out and bring in a comprehensive reference library of links to articles about these corrupt hacks. Document the dirty deals and their impacts. Deconstruct the rationalizations their toadies in the media have spun to defend the largess. And craft and critique and perfect a range of essays, from sound bites to extended analysis, that others can take and use elsewhere, in all forms of communication, to drive the point home – it is time for the real culture of corruption to be revealed, and to be removed.
Let’s do it!
Amen to that sentiment!
I had no idea that the DSCC was doing that in Oregon.
I’m convinced it won’t work in Mississippi.
Thank God for Haley is right!
Recent news about Mr. “Frozen Assets” William Jefferson, D-LA. More on background to come.
Indicted Louisiana congressman seeks 10th term
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jhyxqwT9LfU2KxIMO9AMBfWVuuAAD93F72PO0
What Ever Happened to Bill Jefferson? He’s Running for Re-election
A federal court in Virginia recently heard his argument on appeal from a lower court ruling last February that found no such intrusion. In that ruling, Judge T.S. Ellis III wrote: “Put simply, the Speech or Debate clause is not a license to commit crime.”
Mr. Jefferson’s bribery trial,
Jefferson ad uses photos of Pelosi in U.S. Congressional race
by Frank Donze and Mary Sparacello, The Times-Picayune
Monday September 29, 2008, 10:21 PM
It’s a safe bet that U.S. Rep. William Jefferson isn’t the biggest fan of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who booted him off the influential Ways and Means Committee in 2006 after news broke about the federal criminal probe into his business dealings.
But that stinging rebuke didn’t stop Jefferson from featuring Pelosi in a pair of new television commercials.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/jefferson_ad_uses_photos_of_pe.html
Jefferson siblings told to hire attorneys
The two Jefferson siblings, along with Betty Jefferson’s daughter, Angela Coleman, are charged with bilking several charities they controlled of at least $627,000.
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base//library-155/1221715909166610.xml&coll=1
Black Caucus members divided on bailout bill
Voted against the bailout
http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2008/09/cbc-members-oppose-bailout-bil-001186.php
Also casting a “nay” vote was Democrat William Jefferson of New Orleans who contended that “not enough time has been taken to consider alternatives.”
http://995fm.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=135361&article=4320645
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