Post-holiday hijinks

November 28th, 2008

I trust your Thanksgiving was heartfelt — apologies for ignoring you this week; Gracie’s 7th birthday, mine, Thanksgiving with extended family of 40 has taken up most of the week. Lovely chaos, not available in the Pea Patch — I’m filling my tank for the long, isolated winter. I’ll be traveling home again, mid-week.

Wyatt and Grace are like a couple of adorable cats in a bag; screams of “He did it,” or “She started it,” fill their waking hours; the Bart Simpson position. Appropriate for grandarlin’s, each with less than a score of years under their belt; ridiculous for one of the oldest cultures on the planet. The US of A has finally gotten a glimpse of its own culpability in planetary mayhem — we’re no longer in denial of our own warts; now China has stepped up to take the Bart Simpson Award. You can call the Dali Lama a lot of things, but Universal Enemy ain’t one of ‘em. I don’t think they can win this one, ultimately — authority and power of the 3D sort is poor armament against the virtue and idea of compassion.

We’re seeing the dregs of darkness in Mumbai — pitiful, the carnage and rash ideology of such a venture. The focus is now on the Taj; a spot that celebrates beauty inspired by love. Why am I not surprised; it’s like the guru who picks his nose … we need these comparisons to shock us awake. We must choose, now, which energy we serve. Keep an eye on the PW blog for updates — they’re doing a fine job of staying on the breaking details, as well as offering thoughtful articles on our becoming. And here’s a link to live-blogging.

We’re also seeing the signature of mindless consumption and “me-first” in the Black Friday death of a WalMart employee, trampled by door-breakers in the wee hours. Another suffered a miscarriage from being trounced around. Hey Long Island — there’s something to be proud of, today! Grrrrrr!

But hey! They’ve got nothing on Palm Desert CA, where a couple of idiots shot it out at Toys R Us. Double Grrrrrr!

Except for global [and local incidents of] violence, politics is pretty quiet … a recent headline mentioned that Obama is running out of things to say. Well, until he can actually DO something … the long days until January … there isn’t much left to say.

Here’s an article or two for the weekend — as the whistle blowers feel more free, we’ll find a lot of folks with their heads down, trying to avoid microphones shoved in their face. Me’thinks this will be a period of the past catching up with them. Aside from these, there isn’t much interesting out there today … an appreciated lull in [ir]relevancies; the struggle in India, Baghdad and Thailand is enough.

Jude

Five more members of Congress being probed in bribery affair
John Byrne, NYT via Raw Story
Friday November 28, 2008

Five other members of Congress are being probed in association with the bribery scandal linked to former California Republican congressman “Duke” Cunningham, according to a little-noticed legal filing discovered Thursday.

The 42-page sentencing memo was published online by Seth Hettena, an author who has published a book on Cunningham. It was made by the attorney for Mitchell Wade, the former defense contractor who pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham in 2006 who has cooperated with the government in their investigation.

In addition to the five current or former members of Congress, numerous government employees and several private contractors are also under scrutiny.

Of the five congressmembers, two are formally under investigation and three are being examined for their “receipt of straw contributions” — contributions made to members of Congress in an effort to get facilities opened in their districts. Investigators are also looking at a member of Congress for accepting undisclosed gifts, the crime that sunk Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens this year.

According to the filing, the five are being probed for “corruption similar to that of Mr. Cunningham.” Cunningham, 64, was sentenced to 8 years in prison in 2006; Wade faces sentencing Dec. 15. His cooperation with prosecutors has resulted in guilty pleas or conviction for seven other individuals, the sentencing memo said, which seeks to have his sentence reduced to a fine and five years’ probation.

Cunningham expert says Katherine Harris likely among those eyed

Though none of the additional congressmembers are named, Hettena believes they are “no doubt” Republican Reps. Virgil Goode and Katherine Harris. Harris became famous during the Florida recount in 2000, was elected to Congress in 2002, and was defeated in a run for the Senate in 2006. Goode represents Virginia and was narrowly defeated in November.

Harris may be the member of Congress who underreported campaign contributions. Wade took Harris to dinner at the posh French Georgetown restaurant Michel Richard Citronelle the year before her electoral defeat which cost $2,800, according to Harris’ former political strategist Ed Rollins; members of Congress are supposed to report any gifts larger than $50.

Citronelle’s fixed priced menu costs $155 alone. With “wine pairings,” a meal is $230.

“Prosecutors drop tantalizing hints about an even bigger, ongoing investigation,” Hettena notes. “Wade was debriefed in 2006 and provided ‘moderately useful’ background information in another ‘large and important corruption investigation’ that also has not yet resulted in any charges.”

An element of particular interest that remains unresolved is who utilized escorts and limousines another convicted contractor provided and who attended private poker games at the Watergate hotel.

Brent Wilkes, another contractor who went down in the Cunningham affair, used the services of Shirlington Limousine.

“He was a winer and a diner,” the company’s owner told the Hill in 2007. “He liked to take people to eat. If a young lady gets in the car, or he asks us to pick up a young lady, we don’t know who it is. We’re drivers.”

Shirlington sued the Department of Homeland Security after they dropped the firm as a contractor following the revelations.

Clarification: Harris was defeated in a run for the US Senate after she voluntarily gave up her House seat.

Texas DA reveals evidence against Cheney
Hopes media won’t ‘let it die’
Ron Brynaert, Raw Story
Thursday November 27, 2008

Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra spoke to two Texas television stations Wednesday night regarding his investigation of injustice within the prison systems which led to the indictment by a Texas grand jury of Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, along with other officials.

Cheney’s stake in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies that run the detention centers, was cited in the indictment. Cheney is accused of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees through his ownership interest.

Gonzales is accused of using his position during his time as Attorney General to block an investigation into abuses at the detention centers, located in south Texas.

Democratic state Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. is also named in the indictment, Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said. Lucio’s attorney, Michael R. Cowen, called Guerra a “one-man circus.” “In the March 2008 Democratic Primary,” he added, “70 percent of the Willacy County voters elected to remove Juan Guerra…Now, with only a few weeks left in his term, Mr. Guerra has again chosen to misuse his position in an attempt to seek revenge on those who he sees as political enemies.”

Guerra told KVEO 23, an NBC affiliate in Texas, that “elected officials were embedded into the prison business and that it goes all the way to the top.”

“Now that these indictments have seen the light of day, Guerra says, it’s important they are not quashed,” the station reported.

“I’m going to try and do what I can do,” Guerra told KVEO. “Impose it to you guys, and educate you guys, so you don’t let it die.”

On ABC affiliate KRGV Newschannel 5, Guerra showed “records that he says could be used to prove Dick Cheney is guilty of criminal activity.”

“Greed will get you discovered and arrested every time, and that’s what happened to Cheney,” Guerra said.

Excerpts from KRGV’s report:

####

Guerra says he went through Cheney’s financial records and the prison companies’ financial records and found the connection. The three top prison companies Guerra researched were Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Group and Cornell. Those three have the Vanguard Group in common, which is an investment company that puts money into all three prison companies.

“We knew Vanguard was the key,” said Guerra.

Guerra showed us the Vice President’s financial disclosure from last year and it shows he owned shares in the Vanguard Group. Guerra estimates Cheney has $85 million invested in Vanguard and in turn, into the prison companies.

“The problem you have is he now has a direct interest,” said Guerra. And according to Guerra, it’s a direct interest in making sure the prison companies stay in business.

[Open link for more] ++

“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
~ Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007

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Entry Filed under: Political Waves