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WHERE'S BUBBA? Nathanson letters keep Bill Clinton visit to L.A. (and our FReep!) out of the news
Hide your daughters! (And watch your wallet!) BILL CLINTON & Gray Davis in L.A. 5pm TODAY! ^ | October 29, 2002 | RonDog

Posted on 10/29/2002 3:02:01 AM PST by RonDog

WHERE'S BUBBA?
What if the leader of the Democratic Party came to town, and NOBODY noticed?

From the FRONT PAGE of the online edition of today's Los Angeles Times:

George Wilhelm/Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Republican challenger Bill Simon Jr., left,
holds a news conference on the beach in
Malibu. Davis, right, campaigned in
Inglewood to get out the vote.(LAT)

That's it: "Davis campaigned in Inglewood to get out the vote..."

NO MENTION of BUBBA - ANYWHERE in today's L.A. Times!
(At least none that **I* could find!)

Talk about a "low profile" event!
FReepers are used to being ignored by the mainstream media, but Bubba?

You know that something is fishy when the ultra-left L.A. Times does not even MENTION that Bill Clinton was in Los Angeles last night for a political rally!
We KNOW that he was there, thanks to Reuters...

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) greets incumbent California Governor Gray Davis as they attend a 'get-out-the-vote' rally, October 28, 2002 at Animo Leadership Charter High School in Inglewood, California near Los Angeles. Davis faces 
Republican challenger Bill Simon in the his re-election bid November 5. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
Mon Oct 28,12:27 AM ET
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) greets incumbent California Governor
Gray Davis as they attend a 'get-out-the-vote' rally, October 28, 2002 at
Animo Leadership Charter High School in Inglewood, California near Los Angeles.
Davis faces Republican challenger Bill Simon in the his re-election bid November 5.
REUTERS/Fred Prouser
Even the Associated Press buried any mention of this event DEEP within the larger story:
Davis fights back against fund-raising allegations

ALEXA H. BLUTH, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, October 29, 2002

(10-29) 00:10 PST SACRAMENTO (AP) --

Gov. Gray Davis is striking back against newly revealed allegations made a decade ago by a convicted felon that he participated in a scheme to solicit campaign donations in exchange for political favors.

A federal judge ordered the release Monday of documents stemming from a 1992 racketeering case in which a convicted felon offered information about alleged improprieties by Davis in a failed attempt to win a lighter sentence. Prosecutors declined to pursue the offer at the time, dismissing the man as a liar.

Davis dismissed the claims Monday as tales concocted by an ex-con and lashed out at his GOP challenger, Bill Simon, who called the freshly released details "serious allegations."

"Mr. Simon should not be critical of anyone else," Davis said Monday evening during an interview with KCRW-FM public radio in Los Angeles.

Davis also quickly unleashed a new television ad attacking Simon for making a false accusation against him earlier this month that Simon was later forced to retract.

Monday's new revelations came eight days before voters go to the polls to choose between Davis and Simon, who has made attacks on the governor's fund-raising practices a centerpiece of his campaign.

Former Coastal Commissioner Mark Nathanson named Davis, then state controller, in two letters submitted by his attorneys to prosecutors in 1993 and 1994 as part of an unsuccessful attempt to cut a more favorable deal after pleading guilty to racketeering, tax fraud and soliciting bribes.

The charges against Nathanson stemmed from an investigation that began with an FBI undercover probe of alleged vote-buying in the Legislature and also resulted in convictions or guilty pleas from five sitting or former lawmakers.

Nathanson was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and fined $200,000. Prosecutors said Nathanson solicited money from celebrities, developers and others in exchange for help getting projects approved by the powerful commission that regulates development along the coast.

The letters were unsealed Monday by Sacramento-based U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton.

The Sacramento Bee had sought full release of the letters for two years. Until now they've been released only in censored form. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the release three weeks ago when the high court refused to hear an appeal.

In 2001, Karlton said there was "absolutely no reason to believe that the accusations ... are true," that they "contain no newsworthy information" and that the letters would unjustly damage the reputation of the high public official -- now revealed as Davis -- named in them.

Nathanson's lawyers wrote twice to prosecutors, offering them information about alleged meetings with Davis, in exchange for a lighter sentence. Prosecutors dismissed Nathanson as a liar, rebuffing his offers to make a deal, and federal investigators refused to further check his claims.

In the letters, Nathanson attorneys detailed a series of meetings between Nathanson and Davis at a Beverly Hills delicatessen. Nathanson said the two agreed upon a scheme in which Davis would take credit for the coastal commission's favorable treatment of their projects when asking developers and landowners for campaign contributions.

Davis spokesman Roger Salazar released a statement Monday saying, "These baseless charges were made ... by a man who is a convicted felon, an admitted perjurer -- and ultimately a parole violator -- in an attempt to get his sentence reduced."

Davis has repeatedly brushed off the Nathanson allegations and has demanded that Simon "resign in shame" over that and other accusations.

Earlier this month, Simon accused Davis of illegally taking a campaign check in the state Capitol. He was forced to retract the claim when the photo he was using as evidence turned out to have been taken at a private home in Santa Monica.

The blunder is the topic of a new Davis ad launched Monday that asks, "Can we trust anything Bill Simon says?"

Simon attacked Davis Monday over the Nathanson revelations and what he has repeatedly called a "pay-to-play" atmosphere in the Davis administration.

"These are very serious allegations and yes, of course, we need to consider the source, but one should also consider the well-documented record of Davis' pay-to-play politics," Simon told a news conference.

On the campaign trail, Davis appeared Monday evening with former President Clinton, actor Martin Sheen and a host of elected officials for a get-out-the-vote rally on an outdoor stage in Inglewood.

"If you look at the difference in what Governor Davis and the Democrats in the California Legislature have done, as compared with America, you will see the difference between our party and theirs," Clinton told the crowd of more than 1,000.


Associated Press Writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: billclinton; bubba; calgov2002; dumpdavis; egray; freep; graydavis
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Dump Davi$ Bump
41 posted on 10/29/2002 1:34:37 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: RonDog
Flanked by two of America's most popular presidents -- one real, one fictional -- Gov. Gray Davis

ok, the fictitional president, X42 was there... /sarcasm

the real one was working for FReedom, and unable to appear-- It's time to send a message to Hollyweird!

42 posted on 10/29/2002 1:46:14 PM PST by let freedom sing
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To: RonDog
Check out the NEW FReep-report thread - with PICTURES!!!
FREEP REPORT: We Freep the Creeps [Bill Clinton & Davis] 10/28/2002!
amazing.com (my web site) ^ | 10/28/02 | David H Dennis
Posted on 10/29/2002 9:57 AM PST by daviddennis

A brave band of enthusiastic freepers were in Inglewood to freep ex-President Clinton and his equally sleazy sidekick, soon to be ex-Governor Gray Davis!

A crowd of about 30-40 people were hoisting signs and banners, making a lot of noise in the process! And, as always, we got tremendous support from the traffic, with tons of honks and expressions of sympathy for the cause.

Unfortunately, thanks to tight security, we were unable to get anywhere near the actual event. It looks like they got a little smarter with this event - the venue had massive fences around it, and the event was about in the middle. The crowd of 1,000 (surely not that big for the likes of Clinton) was swallowed up by the enormous property, so it's likely that we couldn't have gotten much attention even if we had been allowed free movement.

Loud chanting of our favourite slogans - Hey Hey, Ho, Ho, Gray Davis Gotta Go!, DUMP DAVIS NOW, and many others made sure there was no doubt abbout the intensity of our support!

The star of the show was surely Monica Lewinsky...

more

43 posted on 10/29/2002 3:39:33 PM PST by RonDog
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Click here to download the California Republican Liberty Caucus' tri-fold pamphlet on the governor's race!

It's a .pdf file, so you'll need Acrobat Reader... it's free, and chances are good you already have it on your computer. Try the link and see.

Print it using the printer-icon button in the Acrobat toolbar in your browser (not File|Print in your browser's menu). It's intended for double-sided printing using single pieces of paper-- no stapling needed if you do it that way, and saves trees! ;-) Print one side, then invert the paper and feed it through a second time for the second side. Fold, and sally forth to get out the vote!

Give this to friends, walk your neighborhood, take it to stores, give a wad of 'em to your school, hand some out at your house of worship, at clubs, at stores and small businesses...

Let's retire Gray Davis!

Let's show the media and RINOs that "It's the base, stupid!"

Let's show Gray Davis that money can't buy him love ...or re-election!

Freepers and RLC activists can claim considerable credit for nominating Bill Simon, so now let's elect him!

44 posted on 10/29/2002 5:58:02 PM PST by RightOnTheLeftCoast
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To: TheSpottedOwl
As I posted on the OTHER thread, it appears that COLLEGE journalists did a MUCH BETTER job covering this event than their counter-parts with the MAINSTREAM media, although this reporter does not quite capture the TRUE nature of the protesters, from www.csulb.edu:

Democrats rally for Davis


By Jill Thomsen

On-line Forty-Niner

Two presidents joined Gov. Gray Davis for a Democratic “get out the vote” rally Monday night at Animo Charter High School in Inglewood.
 
Former President Bill Clinton, actor Martin Sheen and around 23 statewide democratic elected officials rallied the crowd with chants of “Si se puede!” and “Four more years!”
 
“It is time to open up a can of whoop-ass on the Republicans,” California State assemblymember Herb Wesson Jr. said. “They are the party of the privileged, we are the party of the people.”
 
Davis highlighted his improvements in education noting “schools are more accountable. Teachers are better trained. A college education is more accessible.”
 
Clinton echoed the governor and highlighted California’s leading role in America.
 
“There’s not a state in the country that has done more progressive things when it comes to education, when it comes to health care, when it comes to balancing the needs of working families, when it comes to the rights of working people and women and minorities and gays than the state of California,” Clinton said.
 
Davis used the charter school setting as a backdrop for emphasizing his opposition to vouchers.
 
“I will not allow millions of dollars to be funneled away from the public school system,” Davis said.
 
State Board of Equalization member John Chung said, “Republicans want to give tax breaks to Enron, we want to give tax breaks to these beautiful students behind me.”
 
Both Davis and Clinton used the positions of Bill Simon, the Republican candidate for governor, as an example of how far the opposing party’s views are from Californians.
 
While Simon is backed by the NRA, Davis has signed several gun control measures, including bills that limit semiautomatic weapons and limit gun purchases to one a month. Davis also is staunchly pro-choice while Simon is pro-life.
 
“My opponent is out of step, out of touch and out to lunch,” Davis said.
 
About 45 protesters picketed the event. Pro-life activists were especially prominent, as were representatives of the Green Party and its gubernatorial candidate, Peter Camejo.
 
“They won’t let us in, but we’re getting our message to the people,” said Camejo supporter Richard Burlingame.
 
All of the speakers referred to recent polls that indicate Democrats around the country are not going to vote in Tuesday’s election.
 
“When you don’t vote, you are voting — against your families, against your democratic ticket and against your community,” said Assemblyman Jerome Horton.
 
A recent Los Angeles Times poll shows that although Davis had a 56 percent unfavorable rating, he is leading the governor’s race by a 45 percent to 36 percent margin.
 
The rally was part of an ongoing, statewide “get out the vote” effort that is “unparalleled in its scope and reach,” according to Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres. Around $5 million is being spent to mobilize more than 5,000 people to reach out to more than 600,000 voters.
 
“We’re going to give them a surprise on election day,” Clinton said.


45 posted on 10/30/2002 12:42:47 AM PST by RonDog
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For a possible EXPLANATION of the recent "Where's BUBBA? Clinton/Davis news blackout," see:

It's Official: Clinton Loves Gray Davis
American Prowler ^ | 10/30/2002 | George Neumayr
Posted on 10/29/2002 9:37 PM PST by Pokey78

As letters implicating Gray Davis in graft were released on Monday, Davis was busy campaigning with Bill Clinton -- an appropriate echo to the letters' charges. Davis called the impeached former president, accused felon, and disbarred lawyer the "best president in his lifetime." Clinton, for his part, declared California a progressive utopia under Davis.

"Gray Davis has broken new ground every single year, and California is leading America toward an environmentally responsible future," Clinton said in Inglewood. "There's not a state in the country that has done more progressive things when it comes to education, when it comes to health care, when it comes to balancing the needs of working families, when it comes to the rights of working people and women and minorities and gays than the state of California."

Meanwhile, Garry South, Davis's lowlife political adviser, tried to bat down charges from Mark Nathanson that Davis sought to benefit from the California Coastal Commission's corruption. A member of the Willie Brown machine in the 1980s, Nathanson used the commission to extort money from permit applicants. He says that Davis, as an assemblyman and state controller, was a partner in some of his schemes. "The governor is not going to have an argument with a convicted felon and admitted perjurer," says Garry South.

Boy, what contempt for perjurers. Doesn't South know that his boss is campaigning with one?

Davis campaign spokesman Roger Salazar dismisses the allegations as "baseless charges that the FBI, the U.S. attorney and a district court judge found not to be credible." But as Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee notes, Nathanson's charges were evaluated by Clinton officials.

"Federal prosecutors declined to pursue the leads, citing Nathan's record of untruthfulness. But, in fact, he had no incentive to lie and every incentive -- a shorter sentence -- to tell the truth," writes Walters. "Prosecutors' reluctance could have been political since by the time the letters were written in 1993 and 1994, the Democratic Clinton administration had taken over the U.S. Justice Department and the California anti-corruption crusade was kaput..."

more

46 posted on 10/30/2002 3:38:16 AM PST by RonDog
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To: RonDog
“My opponent is out of step, out of touch and out to lunch,” Davis said.

Davis....he's what's for lunch

with apologies to the California Meat Advisory Board

47 posted on 10/30/2002 6:58:43 PM PST by TheSpottedOwl
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See also the NEW thread:

VIDEO: We Freep Davis & Clinton, starring special guest Monica! (10/28/02)
amazing.com (my web site) ^ | 10/29/2002 | David H Dennis
Posted on 10/30/2002 6:58 AM PST by daviddennis

We now have video from Monday's freep! Our short clip stars Monica and the usual suspects. Monica is hilarious and just has to be seen to be believed, so check out the clip now!

more

48 posted on 10/30/2002 9:47:43 PM PST by RonDog
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