A Culture of Corruption and Harriet Miers
Jim Kouri, CPP
October 04, 2005
Last Sunday I got my weekly dose of Fox News Sunday. My favorite part of that news show is the analysis by their "All-star Panel" with Fox News managing editor Brit Hume and conservative columnist and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol on the right; NPR's dynamic duo Mara Liason and Juan Williams on the left. The first topic of discussion was, of course, the indictment of Rep. Tom DeLay, who subsequently stepped down from his powerful majority leader post.
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace introduced the segment with a clip of Rep. Nancy Pelosi earnestly peering into the TV cameras. I suspect she was peering, but it could have been the result of her latest facelift that caused her expression or perhaps her latest Botox shot. Anyway, Pelosi gave her usual accusatory soundbite utilizing the latest mantra written by the Democrat National Committee smear squad. She talked about the Republicans' "culture of corruption." Of course, I heard this same accusation articulated as fact by the usual attack squad in the Democrat Party and their minions in the news media. Democrat Party hack after Democrat Party hack referred to the Republicans' "culture of corruption."
After showing the clip of Pelosi, I waited for Brit Hume or Bill Kristol to mention Rep. Pelosi's own personal lapse into political dishonesty. And I waited. And waited. And waited. It never happened. Here's the leader of the Democrat Party within the House of Representative painting the Republican Party with a broad brush stroke as being systemically corrupt and no one on the Fox All-star Panel even mentioned Pelosi's statement, in spite of her being used prominently in the segment.
According to New York City attorney and columnist Michael Gaynor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is far from being a virgin when it comes to campaign finance hanky-panky. In his latest column Gaynor wrote:
Tom DeLay resigned as House Republican Majority Leader, because he was indicted and Republican Rules (not House rules) require that.
Nancy Pelosi has not resigned, even though she was found guilty of having a "fundraising committee. . .improperly accept donations over federal limits" and fined $21,000.
The Democrats do not have a rule requiring Pelosi to resign, even though convicted.
So let me get this clear: If Republicans are indicted, they must step down from their leadership post; if Democrats are convicted they don't have to step down from their leadership post.
I thought Gaynor's observation was most indicative of the state of 21st Century politics in the United States: Republicans are held accountable for their words and actions; Democrats get a pass. And the usual suspects partially-responsible for this blatant double-standard are the mainstream news media. (The Republicans' lack of spines is the other part of this equation, but that discussion will wait for another column.)
When Senator Trent Lott said, during a celebration honoring the late Senator Strom Thurmond, that things would have been better today if Thurmond had won the presidency as a Dixiecrat, the mainstream media went ballistic. Reporters made certain that every African-American leader with a microphone heard Lott's brief excursion into the realm of political blowhardism. Day after day, Senator Lott apologized for what in essence was baloney from the gitgo. But he did apologize repeatedly. It got to the point where I was considering slitting my wrists if I heard another apology from this man. So intense was the media frenzy that Lott eventually stepped down as Senate Majority Leader. Here's a man who was obviously blowing smoke up Thurmond's keister being forced to give up his job because of other people's interpretation of what he said.
Around the same time, Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat from West Virginia, during a TV interview uttered the "N" word. I remember saying to myself, "Uh oh. This guy's toast." Well, it never happened. Here was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan -- not just a member, a recruiter for the KKK -- using a word even I fear spelling out and nothing happened. Nothing happened! No outcry. No media frenzy. Not one so-called civil rights leader even acknowledged Byrd's statement.
When allegations arose in the news media that it was Karl Rove who outed CIA officer Valerie Plame, wife of Joe Wilson, one of the biggest blowhards since ... well, since Richard Clark, the DNC went into mach-speed with press releases and talking points faxed to their minions including trusted members of the Fourth Estate. The mantra of the DNC bombarded the print pages of newspapers and the TV news broadcasts with a call for Rove's resignation.
Some of the geniuses in the Democrat Party went as far as visiting the Library of Congress to see if there was some way to impeach Karl Rove. If these Democrat congress members bothered to read the Constitution, they'd have known impeachment doesn't apply to a hired hand of the President of the United States. They obviously don't know what's in our Constitution which leads me to wonder how they know when something is unconstitutional.
In the world of the Democrat Party, if they don't like something it's unconstitutional. Heck, someday these geniuses will discover that the US Constitution is unconstitutional.
In the midst of this laughable special prosecutor investigation into who outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, who posed for pictures with her husband in Vanity Fair, Sandy Berger was outed as a thief and maybe even an espionage agent. He outed himself. Reports came out that Berger, the former National Security Advisor during the Clinton Administration, stole -- excuse me, removed -- classified documents regarding terrorism by shoving some documents into his pants and socks and later destroying some of them.
I waited for the firestorm, the special prosecutor and the daily pounding by the members of the news media. No way, Jose. Nothing. A few stories, a couple of giggles, and away the story went, until the millionaire Berger entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge and received a whopping $50,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Of course, we will never know what was contained in the documents he destroyed and no one in the media bothered to ask. Oh, Berger did have his security clearance suspended for three years, so in 2008 he'll be out there again in Washington, DC pilfering and shredding more classified documents, hopefully for Hillary Clinton, before her 2008 presidential run.
Now we are in the midst of not one but two US Supreme Court nominations. Chief Justice John Roberts was confirmed much to the chagrin of the Democrat Party's hard-left. The latest nominee for associate justice of the SCOTUS is Harriet Miers. For the next couple of weeks we can look forward to the Democrats and news media dissecting her past, searching through her garbage cans, and making statements about her being out of the mainstream. Unless she can convince the Democrats and news media that she's another Souter or O'Connor who can be counted on to morph into a Liberal associate justice, Miers is in for a hard time.
Does anyone remember the media frenzy when President Clinton nominated a former ACLU lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the US Supreme Court? No? Neither do I, because there was no media frenzy. In fact, the Republicans, for the most part, confirmed her nomination with little media fanfare. The biggest story regarding her nomination was the fact that ABC White House correspondent Brit Hume dared to question Clinton about his nomination of Ginsburg. Hume was chastised with, "This is not the time!"
So what is the point of this column? The point is that Republicans must learn they are not Democrats. They cannot do the things Democrats do. They cannot say the things Democrats say. And if they want to stay in power, they better clean up their act. There indeed is a culture of corruption; it's called the mainstream news media. And Republicans better get it into their thick skulls.
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace introduced the segment with a clip of Rep. Nancy Pelosi earnestly peering into the TV cameras. I suspect she was peering, but it could have been the result of her latest facelift that caused her expression or perhaps her latest Botox shot. Anyway, Pelosi gave her usual accusatory soundbite utilizing the latest mantra written by the Democrat National Committee smear squad. She talked about the Republicans' "culture of corruption." Of course, I heard this same accusation articulated as fact by the usual attack squad in the Democrat Party and their minions in the news media. Democrat Party hack after Democrat Party hack referred to the Republicans' "culture of corruption."
After showing the clip of Pelosi, I waited for Brit Hume or Bill Kristol to mention Rep. Pelosi's own personal lapse into political dishonesty. And I waited. And waited. And waited. It never happened. Here's the leader of the Democrat Party within the House of Representative painting the Republican Party with a broad brush stroke as being systemically corrupt and no one on the Fox All-star Panel even mentioned Pelosi's statement, in spite of her being used prominently in the segment.
According to New York City attorney and columnist Michael Gaynor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is far from being a virgin when it comes to campaign finance hanky-panky. In his latest column Gaynor wrote:
Tom DeLay resigned as House Republican Majority Leader, because he was indicted and Republican Rules (not House rules) require that.
Nancy Pelosi has not resigned, even though she was found guilty of having a "fundraising committee. . .improperly accept donations over federal limits" and fined $21,000.
The Democrats do not have a rule requiring Pelosi to resign, even though convicted.
So let me get this clear: If Republicans are indicted, they must step down from their leadership post; if Democrats are convicted they don't have to step down from their leadership post.
I thought Gaynor's observation was most indicative of the state of 21st Century politics in the United States: Republicans are held accountable for their words and actions; Democrats get a pass. And the usual suspects partially-responsible for this blatant double-standard are the mainstream news media. (The Republicans' lack of spines is the other part of this equation, but that discussion will wait for another column.)
When Senator Trent Lott said, during a celebration honoring the late Senator Strom Thurmond, that things would have been better today if Thurmond had won the presidency as a Dixiecrat, the mainstream media went ballistic. Reporters made certain that every African-American leader with a microphone heard Lott's brief excursion into the realm of political blowhardism. Day after day, Senator Lott apologized for what in essence was baloney from the gitgo. But he did apologize repeatedly. It got to the point where I was considering slitting my wrists if I heard another apology from this man. So intense was the media frenzy that Lott eventually stepped down as Senate Majority Leader. Here's a man who was obviously blowing smoke up Thurmond's keister being forced to give up his job because of other people's interpretation of what he said.
Around the same time, Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat from West Virginia, during a TV interview uttered the "N" word. I remember saying to myself, "Uh oh. This guy's toast." Well, it never happened. Here was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan -- not just a member, a recruiter for the KKK -- using a word even I fear spelling out and nothing happened. Nothing happened! No outcry. No media frenzy. Not one so-called civil rights leader even acknowledged Byrd's statement.
When allegations arose in the news media that it was Karl Rove who outed CIA officer Valerie Plame, wife of Joe Wilson, one of the biggest blowhards since ... well, since Richard Clark, the DNC went into mach-speed with press releases and talking points faxed to their minions including trusted members of the Fourth Estate. The mantra of the DNC bombarded the print pages of newspapers and the TV news broadcasts with a call for Rove's resignation.
Some of the geniuses in the Democrat Party went as far as visiting the Library of Congress to see if there was some way to impeach Karl Rove. If these Democrat congress members bothered to read the Constitution, they'd have known impeachment doesn't apply to a hired hand of the President of the United States. They obviously don't know what's in our Constitution which leads me to wonder how they know when something is unconstitutional.
In the world of the Democrat Party, if they don't like something it's unconstitutional. Heck, someday these geniuses will discover that the US Constitution is unconstitutional.
In the midst of this laughable special prosecutor investigation into who outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, who posed for pictures with her husband in Vanity Fair, Sandy Berger was outed as a thief and maybe even an espionage agent. He outed himself. Reports came out that Berger, the former National Security Advisor during the Clinton Administration, stole -- excuse me, removed -- classified documents regarding terrorism by shoving some documents into his pants and socks and later destroying some of them.
I waited for the firestorm, the special prosecutor and the daily pounding by the members of the news media. No way, Jose. Nothing. A few stories, a couple of giggles, and away the story went, until the millionaire Berger entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge and received a whopping $50,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Of course, we will never know what was contained in the documents he destroyed and no one in the media bothered to ask. Oh, Berger did have his security clearance suspended for three years, so in 2008 he'll be out there again in Washington, DC pilfering and shredding more classified documents, hopefully for Hillary Clinton, before her 2008 presidential run.
Now we are in the midst of not one but two US Supreme Court nominations. Chief Justice John Roberts was confirmed much to the chagrin of the Democrat Party's hard-left. The latest nominee for associate justice of the SCOTUS is Harriet Miers. For the next couple of weeks we can look forward to the Democrats and news media dissecting her past, searching through her garbage cans, and making statements about her being out of the mainstream. Unless she can convince the Democrats and news media that she's another Souter or O'Connor who can be counted on to morph into a Liberal associate justice, Miers is in for a hard time.
Does anyone remember the media frenzy when President Clinton nominated a former ACLU lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the US Supreme Court? No? Neither do I, because there was no media frenzy. In fact, the Republicans, for the most part, confirmed her nomination with little media fanfare. The biggest story regarding her nomination was the fact that ABC White House correspondent Brit Hume dared to question Clinton about his nomination of Ginsburg. Hume was chastised with, "This is not the time!"
So what is the point of this column? The point is that Republicans must learn they are not Democrats. They cannot do the things Democrats do. They cannot say the things Democrats say. And if they want to stay in power, they better clean up their act. There indeed is a culture of corruption; it's called the mainstream news media. And Republicans better get it into their thick skulls.
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