"...Start with the serious stuff. Bill Gertz at the Washington Times has written about a warning concerning American nuclear power plants.
Then read the reviews of the President's State of the Union over at NationalReviewOnline. Professor Hanson's is among the collection. Make sure to read Mary McGrory's essay on the same subject in the Washington Post --you can almost see her teeth clench as she writes of the President's masterful performance.
Then it is scandal time.
Bill Press mounted a vigorous defense of Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe on my radio program Wednesday. I think the Left has woken up to the obligations that descend on Enron-inquisitors. Even the Los Angeles Times got around to mentioning McAuliffe in its story today, though in paragraph seven and only after the first President Bush is brought out as exhibit C in the Global Crossing list of connections. John McCain is number one in the Times, followed by Conrad Burns, both Republicans. Get the Times' drift? The Global Crossing pipeline ran to some in the GOP, of course, but you'll read the Jube Shiver and P.J. Huffstutter piece from top to bottom and not get any of the fun details that the Washington Times' Ralph Hallow presents. It turns out that Global Crossing gave the majority of its donations to Democrats, and that its total contributions in 2000 were greater than Enron's! Oh, by the way, Global Crossing founder Gary Winnick gave a million bucks to the Clinton Presidential Library.
The Times does have one amazing detail, but it is buried in the story with no follow up: Global Crossing paid one lobbyist --Anne Bingaman, a former assistant attorney general at the Justice Department-- $2.5 million between January and June 1999. I have trouble figuring out that number or what she could have done to earn that fee, so some more questions are raised that need answering. We know that Ms. Bingaman was the head of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division under Bill Clinton for four years and that she oversaw the assault on Microsoft. We also know that she is married to New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman. So she's a player. But $2.5 million! Shareholders of now nearly worthless stock have got to be asking what they got for their money. Follow the money, Deep Throat whispered in Watergate days. Still good advice.
We also need some answers from McAullife on when he bought his stock and when he sold it. Congressman Waxman needs to come clean on his ties to Global Crossing as well. In fact, the nation's elite media need to devote just 10% of their Enron time to Global Crossing, because all the Enron digging has yet to turn up a smoking "quid pro quo," but the signs are promising over at Global Crossing.
Now with this background re-read the Los Angeles Times piece and ask yourself, how could such wretched journalism not be purposeful? The key fact in the story --the only one not widely circulated in the prints-- is the Bingaman morsel. But it is buried, and there is zero on who this person is. Many, many Enron pieces have dwelt on Dr. Wendy Gramm, wife of Senator Phil Gramm, and her ties to Enron. The talk was muffled and went away because there is nothing to note. But the standard of spousal references is set. So why is it not followed in the Times? I do not believe in purposeful obfuscation, but I do think that the Times' collective mindset is to suspect GOP-types of wrongdoing and to assume the Democrats are just out feeding the homeless, and that this puts big blinders on everyone in the organization. The blinders are so big, in fact, that no one recognizes the obvious irony that one of Microsoft's tormentors has now been linked to a second collapse in the equity markets. The first time she helped lead the attack that destroyed investor confidence in high-tech. This time she was just part of a team that rode a high flyer down. And she's married to a U.S. Senator! The Times thinks its important to note that McCain/Burns got campaign cash, but their combined $62,000 is one-fourth the amount that Global Crossing sent into the Bingaman household. There is nothing illegal in hiring and paying the spouses of Senators, but really, how could the writers and editors have missed this in the very story that is supposed to be about throwing money around in D.C.? Ask John Madigan, CEO of the Tribune Company, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Times. His phone number is 312-222-9100 x 3123. E-mail him at master-webmaster@tribune.com..."
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"...Even the Los Angeles Times got around to mentioning McAuliffe in its story today, though in paragraph seven and only after the first President Bush is brought out as exhibit C in the Global Crossing list of connections. John McCain is number one in the Times, followed by Conrad Burns, both Republicans. Get the Times' drift? The Global Crossing pipeline ran to some in the GOP, of course, but you'll read the Jube Shiver and P.J. Huffstutter piece from top to bottom and not get any of the fun details that the Washington Times' Ralph Hallow presents. It turns out that Global Crossing gave the majority of its donations to Democrats, and that its total contributions in 2000 were greater than Enron's! Oh, by the way, Global Crossing founder Gary Winnick gave a million bucks to the Clinton Presidential Library..." - Hugh HewittSee also, from:
"...Global Crossing, headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif., apparently began negotiating the contract during the Clinton administration. The company and its founder, Gary Winnick, have been major political donors — bigger than Enron — with a majority of those funds going to Democrats..."
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON -- Financially troubled Global Crossing Ltd. catapulted from nowhere four years ago to become one of Washington's biggest political givers, although its lobbying focus was far narrower than most other corporate giants.
Barely a player in 1998, Global Crossing grew to No. 23 on the list of top donors to federal parties and candidates in the 1999-2000 election cycle, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group.
The telecommunications company gave more than $2.8 million in soft money, political action committee money and individual contributions--84 times what it gave during the 1997-98 election cycle. "They just came out of nowhere and ... began flashing a lot of money all over town," said Holly Bailey, a researcher for the center.
I think you want to communicate that The Times thinks its important to note that McCain/Burns got campaign cash, but their combined $62,000 is one-fortieth (1/40) the amount that Global Crossing sent into the Bingaman household.
Significant? .... you decide.
Mike