Bill Richardson Withdraws As Commerce Secretary Nominee

What kind of vetting process misses this?

And not to be nit-picky but BHO nominated not appointed or am I wrong?

good point. will fix.

See that’s the kind of near useless input I offer!
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More on point I really am curious about the vetting process. I had assumed it would be pretty strong, not VEEP level but thorough enough to avoid this kind of thing.

Somewhere, James Carville is laughing.

P-NNTO: Then again, having run for President and Governor, involves a fair amount of vetting in itself. Will post more details on this investigation if and when I get them.

So is Rose, pmc.
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Thanks KT. BHO was under some pressure to appoint Richardson to something so he more than most cabinet nominees would have been looked at harder I would have guessed.

I seem to remember something about a possible difficulty being raised just after the announcement. But I could be hallucinating.
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pourme – you’re right about that (5).
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I hope there’s not a problem here, because I think he would have brought a lot of valuable experience to the administration. He does sort of sound a wee bit pathetic trying to explain to the people of New Mexico that “you’re really my favorite. honest!”
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Is it possible Richardson didn’t know he was the subject of an investigation himself?

I heard he also had a zipper problem. But that is just chatter.

Who is the USAG for New Mexico?

Politico says this has been an issue “in recent weeks,” so it does beg the question why this wasn’t noticed by the transition team:
A Senate aide told Politico there was “nervousness” within the Senate and more specifically the Senate Commerce Committee about the grand jury probe in recent weeks.
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Bloomberg had it on Dec 15; Richardson appointed on Dec 3 (I think) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aL0GGUluJeT8&refer=worldwide

Being very thankful he wasn’t appointed Sec of State.

Poor vetting. Known since at least August 30.

Well it used to be David Iglesias as USA for New mexico. He lost his job though during “the incident” that has never been resolved.

So, considering pourme’s link, you have to wonder if Richardson filled out his form in good faith (do you know of anything that might be an embarrassment to the Obama administration), or if he really didn’t think he was implicated or going to be implicated. It’s not clear from the Alberquerque story that Richardson should have been disqualified.

Good job of digging there, Inspector Pourme.

Not absolving Richardson on the disclosure point but if a commenter (no matter how skilled!) at Swampland can Google the information BHO’s team should have been aware.

I was looking for “pay-to-play” in another context. Preemptive insult inoculation.

Take a bow, pourme! That’s how “real” investigators often find something good.

Can’t get a reference to help me, but I had the impression that something had to be done for Richardson and SoS was not in play for him. The point about vetting is on target. How did they miss pmc’s find? How long did it take you, pmc? Should I recommend you to the Transition Team?I really did not need this after Burris. But I am of no account.

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Why ‘o’ why don’t Democrats learn how to get political money the Republican way? The Republicans set up non-profit “charities” with the word “Children” somewhere in the title. Their political donors give millions to the “charity” and the pol funnels money to himself and his staff and colleagues and family that way. The best part is, that mainstream media never take a look at those “children’s charities.” So it’s all safe, and very lucrative. And being a “non-profit” they refuse to disclose their funding expenditures.
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See Tom DeLay’s Celebrations for Children Inc, or Rick Santorum’s Operation Good Neighbor, Bill Frist’s World of Hope Inc., which is run by Kit Bond’s wife There are hundreds and hundreds of these political “charity” scams run by Republicans. Jack Abramoff had a number of them. They all funnel money into Republican political campaigns and give “consulting” jobs to various family members of Republicans.
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And then when there is a controversy about a political donation, the Republican “donates” the money to “charity.” It’s a hell of a good racket, and one that escapes the watchful eye of the mainstream media too. In fact, reporters slavishly gush, starry-eyed and naive, about that kind of generosity.
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So much for looking down our noses at the Palin vetting, now. Bummer. That was fun while it lasted.

So is Rose, pmc.
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P-NNTO, no! (And that was a terrible comment from James Carville) I’m not his biggest fan, but of course I’m not happy about this. I also feel bad for the Hispanic community, since Richardson was the biggest Hispanic appointment. There’s also absolutely no evidence to tie Richardson to the possible corruption at this point. But he was right to withdraw: The Republicans wouldn’t give a d–n.

After a bowl of chili, it dawned on me that Richardson sure knew what was coming. Why did he wait until now? Did he just find out there is evidence linking him? Other ideas?

[...] Karen Tumulty was told Obama’s transition team was “unaware” of the investigation when Richardson [...]

Good think Obama didnt pick Richardson for State. Whew.

think=thing

I hope we survive this. Day 1: Crisis at Commerce – America’s Rudderless Ship

Anybody else think this is shaping up for a major cluster phuck of a beginning to BO’s administration?

I never really understood what it was the Richardson would bring to this post. I’m sorry to see this happen, as a partisan Democrat, but other than that, I’m not sure how this really impacts the bigger picture. If he was/is going to be a drag on the incoming Obama Admin, good riddance and glad to have him gone now rather than have this surface later (esp during confirmation hearings).
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Seems to me the timing is actually good for Obama, generally speaking. Get this out of the way now. Deal with this. Move on. Done.

Much a’do about nothing. Richardson pulled himself out so… where’s the story? Vetting?… perhaps at the point of vetting it was considered nothing because no one had any evidence of anything.
Now there is some concern about someone in his administration and so Richardson steps aside.

Watch the story: Love to find out if this is one last Republican Dept. of Justice sting or what. Gutting the top Hispanic for fun and games. A classic move by a party that basically hates everyone who isn’t white, radical Christian and right wing Republican.

When the Republicans start to go after the AG appointment wouldn’t it be nice if Obama announces a special prosecutor to investigate war crimes on the part of this administration and the Republican Party? Tie that in with another special prosecutor to investigate ties between the Republican party and policies based on contributions intended to grease the financial markets which have led to the current economic meltdown. Tie that in with another special prosecutor to investigate the banking industry and mortgage industry for collusion in ignoring the mortgage fraud that was happening right under their noses in order to produce additional high return securities.

This should have ZERO impact on Obama. Richardson fell on the grenade.

Again basically this is a non story a story nipped in teh bud before confirmation hearings. Unless of course this is a Republican Dept of Justice operation.

pourmeoffee and swhiteinfla are just being drama queens.

Corrected, pourmecoffee came back in the fold. Just sgwhiteinfla out on a limb.

how could Team Obama be unaware of something that was public knowledge back in August?

What this looks like is that Obama promised Richardson the Commerce job back in the spring when Richardson surprised everyone by endorsing Obama (can you say “Blago”?). Despite the disclosure of the investigation, Richardson insisted that Obama fulfill his end of the “Commerce job for endorsement” deal — but someone has leaked to team Obama that the investigation is VERY serious, and Richardson has been told to unnominate himself….

newfloridian
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Out on a limb? Two show downs over Senate seats, a ground incursion into the Gaza strip by Israel, suicide bombings picking back up in Iraq (don’t know if yall noticed), confirmation hearings battle for Holder, now he has to find a new Commerce Sec. Yeah that doesn’t sound like a cluster phuck AT ALL. lol

Plukasiak @ # 35 – I kinda feel like you and others worried about this may be over thinking this one. If the investigation has been out there since early fall/late summer, I feel pretty sure the Obama people have known about it. As long as Richardson’s hands were clean, and it wasn’t a distraction, they were willing to deal with it. . Obviously they monitored this enough to un-nominate the guy as soon as it looked like it would become a liability – the transition team and/or Richardson’s people have to have become more concerned about this in the last couple-few days. Not a big deal. These things happen. Like I said, better to deal with it now and move on, rather than have it unearthed later, especially say, during a confirmation hearing when media attention would become white-hot.

Oh yeah – one more thing – if Richardson is guilty of any kind of pay for play, let his @ss fry, and he deserves whatever he gets from this. Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but if he’s doling out sweet contracts to contributors, then that’s what we would normally call…uh…”wrong,” and he should be punished for it – if he is indicted and later found guilty.
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For now, better to remove any appearance of impropriety.

If the investigation has been out there since early fall/late summer, I feel pretty sure the Obama people have known about it.
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explain that to Karen, who was told by the Obama people that they didn’t know about it.
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if Richardson is guilty of any kind of pay for play, let his @ss fry
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would that include an endorsement deal with Obama? I mean, I’m not sure that I see much of a distinction between the idea of swapping a cabinet post for an endorsement, and what Blago did — and Obama would be just as guilty as Richardson if there was an endorsement deal (and lets not forget how controversial and surprising that endorsement was…. a “deal” is the best explanaition for it.)

A state election board on Monday will announce Democrat Al Franken as the winner of the Minnesota Senate race, defeating Republican incumbant Norm Coleman, state officials told CNN Sunday.
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http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/04/mn-board-to-certify-frankens-win-in-tight-senate-race/

I’m no Richardson fan, but this has all the appearances of a Republican ratf#ck. The case actually stems from a case out of Alabama in which the company in question was advising Jefferson County on how to avoid bankruptcy from some bond deals gone bad. Hmmm, Alabama US Attorney? Isn’t that our old friend Alice Martin?
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The investigation is being pushed by New Mexico US Attorney Gregory Fouratt, the unconfirmed replacement for David Iglesias. Fouratt is implicated in the ginned-up voting non-scandal in which the FBI stalked some ACORN members and sent private investigators to the homes of Hispanic voters for the purposes of intimidation.
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Of course, it’s much more fun to giggle about the “how it affects the Obama transition” than to look at any facts that might result in some Republican unpleasantness, isn’t it?
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“The New Mexico probe comes two years after the FBI searched CDR’s offices as part of a nationwide investigation into whether banks and advisers conspired to overcharge local governments on financing deals. That probe by the New York office of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is ongoing, and CDR says it is cooperating.”

The probe comes *two years* later?
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Bloomberg has background of the whole story in this excellent piece.
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Will the thoroughly unqualified, terrorist fraternizing, community organizer demand that Richardson’s slot be filled by another racial quota flack or will he allow for a white, male, like-minded ideologue (i.e., socialist) to fill that slot?

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will become chairman of the Democratic National Committee later this month, serving as the top political messenger for Barack Obama’s administration even while he finishes his final year in the governor’s mansion, several sources said.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401139.html?hpid=topnews

textee
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Im thinking he is gonna go with Bill Ayers. How does that grab you?

Ah, the Richardson issue has somewhat reinvigorated the trollery of wingnuttia. A much more impassioned effort here than we’ve seen since November’s sweeping victory. This effort is eminently parsable, and, remarkably, contains multi-syllable descriptives bordering on decipherable. Still, the amateurism of the argumentative rhetorical statement disguised as innocent question is tired and trite. B.

[...] importantly, Richardson failed to disclose the investigation to the transition team, which seems to me, a sin of the highest order, given Obama’s obvious desire not to have [...]

@textee – Dude, you need to get a new schtick.

It’s called “700 billion dollar blank check to prop up the financial services industry”.
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We’re all socialists now, baby.

sgwhiteinfla:

That is funny. If he does, then I’ll send you $1,000. I’ll even send $1,000 to the Obama campaign.

Gov. Granholm got dissed for Energy Sec. My bet is on Jenny for Commerce. (Not that I wouldn’t mind someone with a stake in the Auto Industry getting a chance to tell the GOP how we’re going to *recover* from the mess they made!)

textee
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Too late, Obama campaign is over. He won, you lost. Besides Obama is going to be send us black folks all a lot of free money in a couple of months anyway so I don’t need any of yours.

James, Los Angeles #41, interesting. It’s impossible to be sure about people, but I find it very unlikely that Richardson was actually involved in a pay to play scheme. The whole thing seems… cheap. Richardson makes gaffes – the “choice is a golden word” one was classic – but his CV suggests he’s smart. Since there are so many legal ways for politicians to make money it’s usually only the dumb ones – i.e. Blago – who do something illegal.

@SZ#49p1: “we’re all socialist now, baby”. Win! This is HI-larious!
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This means that the evil Cuban-Casto-Empire having according to the CIA 2006 GDP of $45.5B GDP, meaning about a total of $989B GDP (assuming a 4% annual growth rate) the *entire 50 years* of its existence…has been practically, socialist-ically, outspent by us over the course of the past 3 months…by the Bush administration!
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Oh, the irony!
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Bartender, please!

textee lives!!!! Nice to see your confused, rotting, hate filled mound of flesh posting on Swmapland again. Spent the last two months hiding in your bsement waiting for the Obama thought police to come take you to the re-education camps?

Where’s Rustydog, Obamish, etc. ? Oh yeah, I think we got those posters into the camps. Texte: We’ll make room for you in the Dick Cheney memorial interrogation room. Waaaaterboarding for everyone!!!!

sgwhiteinfla I agree make it Bill Ayers.

This is Jake Tapper the Drudge acolyte so take it with a grain of salt.
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http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/obama-team-feel.html

plukasiak Says:
Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 5:22 pm

If the investigation has been out there since early fall/late summer, I feel pretty sure the Obama people have known about it.
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explain that to Karen, who was told by the Obama people that they didn’t know about it.
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They said they didn’t know about it. Do you believe them? I don’t. I don’t believe a whole lot that politicians say, especially about stuff like this. Your mileage may vary.
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An endorsement traded for a Cabinet position is not what is at question, either. You’re comparing apples to aardvarks. Richardson is one of the top dogs in the party, and as former Clinton official, it’s pretty damned obvious to me that he would have been in top consideration for an Obama Admin post whether he endorsed Obama or a piece of fried chicken. I really think trading a lucrative contract for cash money campaign contributions is quite different. Don’t you?

The story that the transition team requested his departure was reported on msnbc as well.

Forgive my cynicism, but I truly believe that the politician who has no skeletons in the closet or under rocks does not exist. The extention to that theorem is that no politician believes that they will be caught, exposed, or be required to answer, because they know they are not alone and that it is the nature of politics. Richardson is just the latest. Not really earth shaking. My guess is that the vetting process did reveal this foible, but that it was not considered to be worth concern at the time. A major news break of old, existing news changed all that.

If you truly love a Secretary of Commerce designate – let him go. If he comes back, he will be confirmed. If not, he was never, no wait … I forget.

Love means never having to say you are sorry.

But wait, politicians are always saying “sorry”.

Have added a third update with the latest pool report, which clarifies … well, nothing.

OMG
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Check this out, especially the update with the White House response.
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PRICELESS!
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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/04/reid-bush-worst-president/

sg, Reid just clicked up a notch in my book. No other president could have such a long, long list of failures and destructiveness as Bush. That is what the historians should do, rather than offer subjective evaluations. List hard cold facts in list form as to the failures of the presidents they grade. Bush is hands down the leading failure on that score. A miserable, inept disaster.

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What would you have them clarify, Karen? There not much more to say, right?
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One of the things that the Obama messaging team has learned from the Repubs is “When you’re explaining, you’re losing.”
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That’s pretty much what I see here. I hope they have no plans to keep those Republican US Attorney toadies on.
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formerlyjames
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I was actually talking about this part
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White House Press Secretary Dana Perino issued a terse response to Reid’s statement. “The Senate Majority Leader isn’t really taken seriously,” she said.

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Wouldn’t it be something if Swampland had five or six giddy posts in a row about this:
Trooper, union say politics delayed Johnston drug case: Top Stories | adn.com

A Mat-Su drug investigator and the union representing Alaska State Troopers are alleging political meddling in the Sherry Johnston drug case, including a delay in serving the search warrant because of the November election.
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Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who became nationally known in September when Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, announced their daughter, Bristol, was pregnant and he was the father. Palin was running for vice president while Sherry Johnston was under investigation.

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Alas, that kind of treatment by the Swampies is only parceled out to Democrats.
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For once I agree with the White House Press Secretary.

James LA
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I actually could do with less of Palin rather than more. Where in the hell is Scherer these days anyway? Besides that I think this is one time where she might actually not be in the wrong. Now on the other hand there is the case of young Levi Johnston getting to be an electrical apprentice without having a diploma and with out being on a waiting list. But here is why I think this might be bogus.
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Young’s e-mail last week to union members was in response to a written statement issued to news media by Masters last Monday. In the statement, Masters declared the case officer, Anthony, had filed an inaccurate affidavit as part of the charging documents.

The investigation, Masters wrote, was handled normally and that the affidavit wrongly said Johnston had been under Secret Service protection.

He was referring to a line in the affidavit saying “Sherry Johnston is no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service.” Masters wrote he would notify the court about the inaccuracy.

Investigator Young said the affidavit was accurate and that “apparent political pressure” motivated Masters to contact the court and “smear” the case officer.

“It is true that Sherry was not directly under Secret Service protection, but it is true that when Levi was at the house, that he and other household members were under their protection,” Young wrote in his e-mail to union members.

“Text messages from Johnston to the informant indicated that she was afraid to meet and conduct one illegal transaction, because of Secret Service presence at her home,” Young wrote.

In an interview Friday, Masters said neither Levi nor Sherry Johnston were under Secret Service protection — just the governor and her immediate family, including Bristol. A spokesman for the Secret Service said the same thing to the Daily News earlier.
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Masters said the governor’s office didn’t ask him to send out the written statement, and he was just trying to clear up misunderstandings in the media. Troopers director Holloway said he advised Masters against issuing the statement because he didn’t think it was necessary and would just make an issue out of it.
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Sounds a little like sour grapes to me.

Guys, be gentle on textee. He’s still angry that California dissolved his marriage to Jesse Helms.

sg, sorry I missed the White House update point. My thought? I take Reid’s comments more than seriously and beat him to it, because I have voted against Bush 4x. Twice in Texas and twice for president.

sqr1, I haven’t agreed with the White House Press Secretary for 8 years. You live in lalaland.

Palin? Who is that? Oh, wait, I see a vision somewhere in the recycle bin of my memory…

[...] JOSHUAPUNDIT, Firedoglake, The Mahablog, TigerHawk, Michelle Malkin, The Field on the Narcosphere, Swampland, Outside The Beltway, Think Progress, Hotline On Call, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, Scared [...]

Umm “Taco Head”?

Hey taco political byline, no name, #24. That is really vile stuff (I won’t used the other s word in polite company). You should know that your argument is seriously compromised by outrageous, mindless racial epitaphs. Just trying to help you make a more civil argument. You idiot.

Before the service, Burris supporter U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and about 60 ministers condemned Senate Democratic leaders for rejecting Burris. Rush, a Chicago Democrat, called the U.S. Senate “the last bastion of plantation politics.” [Link]

Bobby Rush goes to 11.

Why is no one holding Burris accountable for stoking racial fires? It’s one thing to work the “Why not me?” angle. At this point, like most people, I’m ready to agree with that stance. It’s quite another to hold hand with Bobby Rush while he’s throwing around words like “lynch” and “plantation.” Does this vain and self-centered old man get a total pass?

Pourmecoffee, when you consider the Burris mausoleum, I don’t think that good sense, moderation, or wisdom have much of a chance. As for Bobby Rush, he thinks of 11 as being for weak-kneed compromisers, which is why he’s heading for 13 as fast as his knobbly little legs can carry him.

pourme
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Who is it that you are looking to hold Burris to account?

pourme, the point of playing the race card in the Burris case has been made over and over, and in fact here in recent posts.

But Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page wrote Sunday that he resents the notion that “the black community (has) become the last refuge for scalawags like Blagojevich” and he thinks he’s not alone, based on Secretary of State Jesse White’s refusal to certify Burris’ appointment. White, like Page, is African American.

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same article

@sgw – Senators, and other elected officials. I haven’t heard a single Senator call Burris to account for associating himself with race-baiting on this issue. They uniformly call him an honorable and decent man. He’s not acted as such.

pourme
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The Senators can’t really speak on that for fear of blowback. But Harry Reid DID push back at BRush this morning and brought up the fact that he didn’t back Obama in 04. Both he and Durbin who was on CBS said race has nothing to do with it and pumped up their civil rights cred. I don’t know what more you are looking for but trashing Burris even when warranted would be the opposite of productive for them.

I see. I’m not talking about the media. I’m talking about the SENATE. Burris is standing next to Rush when he says this about the institution:

“We are just faced with a hard-headed room of people in the Senate who want to keep an African-American out of the Senate,” Rush said. [Link]

Yet, they treat him like he is a distinguished statesman who just got caught up in Blagojevich’s evil web. They ought to say, “No. We’re not,and he should be ashamed of that accusation.”

I think Burris is a selfish, shameful hack acting out of pure ego and should be personally slammed for associating himself with Rush’s remarks. I think he is getting a pass himself, not so much because he is African-American, but because he seems like this harmless old dude. He’s not, to me. Danny Davis could tell right from wrong. Clarence Page, Jesse White — they know the deal. Roland Burris knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s not a victim by any stretch. While he’s throwing race grenades into the Senate chamber, someone ought to toss one back at him, not just snipe at his wingmen. This isn’t a civil rights story. It’s a greedy old man story.

pour, I agree with what you say. Didn’t know about the Bobby Rush association, although I know Bobby Rush from the 60s. I didn’t even know that Burris is 71 until sg informed me last night. My opinion, regardless of all of the above, is that Burris, or anybody, black, brown, yellow, white, should have declined the Blago appointment and let it be resolved by the state government. sg adamently disagrees.

pourme
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You are preaching to the choir quit obviously. But what you are saying should be done would be political suicide for any congressman ESPECIALLY the black ones. But fact is you have yet to hear anybody but BRush come out to support Burris and I doubt anybody in the CBC will at this point. But as for Reid, he has enough problems with the report about him opposing Triple J, Davis, and Jones. Besides that, quite a few people including evidently Reid realize Burris has a pretty good legal argument on his side. I don’t see very many people feeling sympathetic to Burris at this point outside of Chicago and I really don’t expect that to change unless for the worse.

The dance card is getting quite full. Burris and Bush are doing a really fancy politician two step. Stoke the racial flames, make it seem like an injustice. What’s next, Blago coming out on national TV and claiming the Senate leadership is racist. At this point I really don’t know what Blago’s next move is or what his end game is. He’s created this smokescreen. Is he just an child playing with matches or an arsonist intent on burning down the entire house?

Is Burris smart enough to keep this thing from spiraling out of control and doing permanent damage to himself? Burris appearances make him look like probably what he is, a political stooge. Vain, self centered, not very birght and apparently incapable of thinking about anyone but himself. It doesn’t help that the hummingbird Rush is fanning the flames just as much as he can. All this smacks of politicians past their prime trying one last hail mary pass to get the brass ring.

quite=quit

They’re talking this on cnn now.

I don’t blame CBC members for supporting the Burris appointment, assuming it is on practical non-incendiary grounds. I know Maxine Waters has spoken in favor of Burris. I have no problem with that. I would like to see more push-back from the rest of the world on Roland Burris, the man — his ambition, his qualifications, his electoral track record, his conduct in lobbying for this appointment. I’d like to see a few Senators — Dick Durbin, whoever, say through the press to Burris, “Mr. Burris should be more careful about the accusations he and his associates make about the Senate. Not only is he wrong on the merits, it’s the wrong tone for the Senate and the nation.”

pourme
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All that does is lead to the inevitable “But don’t you think its wrong that we have a Black President but no Black member of the Senate?” questions that are quite impossible to answer in a positive way in the context of this situation. The more they push back on the race angle the more it continues to come up and they don’t really want that, trust me. Perception is reality in politics and no matter what Reid said today many people will still believe he thought three black men from Illinois were unelectable while two white women were perfect. He won’t change that without some kind of proof so its better to just leave it alone and let Burris continue to hang himself. What you aren’t noticing is how he is eroding any support he might have otherwise had with his rhetoric. Ask yourself why Rev Al Sharpton isn’t planning a march over all of this. Ask yourself why the only person willing to stand with Burris on the race issue is BRush. Ask yourself why Clarence Page is using his bully pulpit to denounce him, and trust me a ton of black folks value Page’s opinion. No matter how this ends Burris will be seen for the rest of his life as a race baiting buffoon. Harry Reid on the other hand has a choice of how he is seen. Now you know I have about the lowest opinion possible of Reid and many of his spineless colleagues but I really don’t see another way to play this that doesn’t come back to haunt them eventually if not forever.

wow, when Team Obama played the race card based on non-existent evidence against Clinton, it was accepted with few complaints.

What everyone is forgetting is that the Burris appointment is perfectly legal and correct — and that those who are opposing his appointment to the Senate are doing so for reasons having nothing to do with propriety of the appointment. Raising the issue of race, given the lack of any legal rationale to oppose the appointment, and given the actions of Reid (didn’t want blacks appointed before the scandal, and didn’t want a special election once the scandal broke) makes the “race” question inevitable.

I’m personally far less convinced that Blago did anything “special” when it came to the question of Obama’s replacement — appointments are coin of the realm in politics, and horse-trading with appointments (and committee assignments) go on all the time. The outrage over the Senate appointment is far out of proportion to the actual evidence of venality, and appears to be orchestrated, with Rahm and Obama holding the baton.

plukasiak:
I think when Fitzgerald has him on tape looking for a deal for money that Blago did something ‘Special.” The one thing Fitzgerald is, is thorough.

Your comments are also race baiting; making the statement Reid disn’t want blacks appointed before the scandal. What’s your proof.. and please something other than Rush or Hannity. I guess in your world Obama is the terrorist?

newfloridian —
when Reid rejects three qualified african americans (all of whom have won elections), and recommends two white people (one of whom has never won an election to anything), and claims its because of “electability”, I think its pretty obvious that Reid sees “white” as more electable than “black”.
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But more to the point, there is simply no reason to think that the black officeholders would be “unelectable” — as I stated earlier, Illinois is the ONLY state that has elected two african americans to the Senate, and absent a complete and utterly disasterous first two years of an Obama administration, antipathy toward the GOP (not to mention loyalty toward Obama) would practically guarantee victory for a Democratic Senate incumbent regardless of race.
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As for the “specialness”, like I said, Blago is accused of trying to maximize the benefit that exists in his appointment power — and there is nothing “special” about that. If we had wiretaps in every politicians office, we’d probably have indictments pending against every politician based on deals being made.

Richardson’s withdrawal should remind us that, like pl says, if all our politicians were recorded making deals Blago might turn out to be a pretty mainstream sort of guy. His trouble: he got caught, he’s a loud mouth and he invited exposure with his arrogant bumbling invitation to be recorded. Richardson has always had “questions” about this and that – his handling of Wen Ho Lee was a disgrace which led to an admonishment by the presiding judge. Even Faint Heart Harry has a number of issues with land deals in Nevada. We will see how the Burris-o-drama plays out given that his pal Gainer is Chief of the Capital Police.

According to Huffpo, Burris is now claiming that God ordained this appointment, so he’s imploring the Senate not to deny the Lord. great.
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I think there hasn’t been more push back on Burris from Senators because they’re trying to make this about Blago, not Burris. Reid had said the Senate wouldn’t seat any appointment of Blago’s before Blago made an appointment, after all. To have changed his stance just because Blago appointed a black would have reeked.
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My guess is that if Reid had said “don’t appoint Tammy Duckworth” then Blago would have appointed Tammy Duckworth. As it is, he gets a two-fer. He infuriates Reid by appointing anybody at all, and gets to create a firestorm by appointing Burris.

Kathy: Burris is a puffball; and it is sad that he does not realise how ridiculous it was for him to accept anything from Blago. But Reid, playing to character, messed things up. I don’t want to have everyone going into the pros and cons. My unseemly, yes unseemly, response has been: get the guy seated, make him an uncontroversial timeserver and get his vote for the balance of the term, and let Ftizgerald go about his business. All this “racial “huffing and puffing”, and Richardson’s withdrawal, and the Colemanesque doing in Pawlentyland are a distraction.

bitter is right. Burris is a silly goose, but Reid has blown this up into a Keystone Kops situation.
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Blago has not yet been indicted nor impeached and he has every right to make the appointment. I do object to the utter loss of any presumption of innocence in this country. That is true with small people as well as big ones.

According to Huffpo, Burris is now claiming that God ordained this appointment, so he’s imploring the Senate not to deny the Lord. great.
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Kathy, wow. This guy is so unimpressive.
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I generally agree with the idea that attacking Burris is unproductive, but I do feel bad for Caroline Kennedy: She’s doing way better than Burris and the AP is writing articles ridiculing her verbal tics. Also, the race stuff has gone so over the top that something needs to be done. It’s important for politicians to not tolerate this kind of unhelpful rhetoric.
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Where is SNL? This calls out for parody.

OT
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Check out this report from the Army War College. I repeat the US ARMY WAR COLLEGE.
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http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/abstract.cfm?q=894
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Israel steadfastly rejected diplomacy and truce offers by HAMAS for 8 months in 2008, despite an earlier truce that held for several years. By the spring of 2008, continued rejection of a truce was politically risky as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert teetered on the edge of indictment by his own party and finally had to announce his resignation in the summer. In fact, on his way out the door, Olmert announced a peace plan that ignores HAMAS and many demands of the Palestinian Authority as a whole ever since Oslo. If the plan was merely to create a sense of Olmert’s legacy, it is not altogether clear why it offered so little compromise.

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snip
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HAMAS emerged as the chief rival to the secularist-nationalist framework of Fatah, the dominant member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This occurred as Palestinians rebelled against the worsening conditions they experienced following the Oslo Peace Accords. HAMAS’ political and strategic development has been both ignored and misreported in Israeli and Western sources which villainizes the group, much as the PLO was once characterized as an anti-Semitic terrorist group. Relatively few detailed treatments in English counter the media blitz that reduces HAMAS to its early, now defunct, 1988 charter.

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snip
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Negotiating solely with the weaker Palestinian party–Fatah–cannot deliver the security Israel requires. This may lead Israel to reconquer the Gaza strip and continue engaging in “preemptive deterrence” or attacks on other states in the region in the longer term.
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The underlying strategies of Israel and HAMAS appear mutually exclusive and did not, prior to the summer of 2008, offer much hope of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian-Arab conflict. Yet each side is still capable of revising its desired endstate and of necessary concessions to establish and preserve a long-term truce, or even a longer-term peace.

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This was released Dec 23 2008. I wonder why this isn’t getting much media play.
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snark

sgwhiteinfla –

Maybe neither the media nor the guys with the rockets were aware of this assessment. Not sure how much turn-around room either side has now. In any case, expect a raft of pieces from dead-end right wingers and lazy media parrots blaming Obama for the lack of a solution.

FlownOver
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Just a few weeks ago there were dozens of stories about the “Known Unknowns” report the Army War College put out about challenges Obama would face and the new report is right on their website. I am not buying that they didn’t know about it.

sgw: there is something worse than ignoring a story: it is not getting it right. Look at the scrubbing Brzenski gave Mourning Joe about his stunning superficiality on Israel-Palestine issues. This morning Joe was parrotting Dennis Ross that “independent” Clinton rep who tried his version of the honest broker routine in Israel-Palestine. A Republican taking head (Amy who worked for Frist – which says a lot-) on a new version of Libs and Wingers on CNN was as glib as ever blaming Arafat. It is so easy: the intellectual dishonesty of these people is made worse by their ignorance. Sure there is a lot to be said for Israel but one ought not to give it a pass on every argument.

Quick note: there’s a weird glitch in the blog software that we are trying to fix, which puts Karen’s post from yesterday above new posts from today. In the meantime, scroll down. m.