After the positive reaction I got to my
introductory diary debunking the RNC's response to Feingold's Meet the Press appearance, I thought I might try debunking the RNC spin machine on a more regular basis. Here's the second installment of what I'm now calling "CounterTorque," unspinning
this piece describing a "Democrat Ethics Breakdown."
Now, right off the bat I knew this would be fun. What would they say? What could they say? Precious little, it seems.
Their first smoke-and-mirrors story, under the ominous header of "Democrat Scandals" (with a picture of Ted Kennedy of course, even though he's not mentioned in any of their "bombshells), concerns Representative Jim Moran of Virginia.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) Has Inserted $37 Million In Earmarks For Vibration & Sound Solutions Limited (VSSL) For Project M Five Years After "The Navy Decided It Didn't Need The High-Priced Technology."
Yes, Rep. Moran caused a major ethics crisis when he earmarked money for a program that
wound up costing $37 million dollars over ten years (it wasn't all through Moran's earmarking, despite the RNC's claims otherwise). All of this was for a maglev based noise dampening technology for submarines, which the Navy decided it didn't want five years ago. They program then died a lingering death as it mutated into a maglev shock absorber system. The RNC cites a
Washington Post article on the program, and a piece on
NBC's Nightly News.
The Nightly News piece? An incredibly detailed expose of (gasp!) 390 words. The Washington Post piece, on the other hand, actually does have some useful information on the program, and on its survival, such as the fact that while Moran pressed to keep the program afloat,
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), now chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, kept money flowing to the company until this year.
And what's this?
Former Armed Services Committee aide Anthony R. Battista was an original incorporator of VSSL. Former representative William L. Dickinson (R-Ala), long a senior member and colleague of Hunter's on the Armed Services Committee, was an investor, Conkling said. Both were on the company's board of directors and lobbied for its technology. (emphasis mine)
What? You mean the guy who
actually signed off on the money going to the project was a former colleague of one of the members of the board of directors? And they're both Republicans? Surely you jest!
The Post piece goes on to describe the evolution of the program, from its hopeful beginnings, to eventual demise. Funny thing is, when things got bad
Dickinson, now retired from VSSL's board, said he went to Hunter several times to help VSSL get funding (emphasis mine)
So,it sounds kinda like Hunter was the go-to guy doesn't it? But still, Moran got $19,000 in
completely legal campaign contributions (or $17,000, if you believe the Post and Nightly News stories), so he must be the bad guy, right?
I admit, this was almost certainly pork that should have gotten the ax five years ago. But the very front piece in a list of "Democrat Scandals"? Especially when it looks like a Republican was just as "dirty," as the Democrat you're blasting. Those RNC guys must be running out of straws to grasp at. Let's see what the next "big deal" is, shall we?
Senate Candidate Claire McCaskill (D-MO) "Faxed Political Materials To Several State Offices ..."
...
The Fax Went To "At Least Three Fax Machines At The Department Of Economic Development [And} ... A Fax Machine In The Department Of Insurance's Administrative Offices ..."
Yes, I'm afraid it's true. According to the
AP piece the RNC cited, Claire McCaskill faxed out thousands of copies of a campaign piece, and four of the numbers they sent out to turned out to be State Office fax machines, because the campaign staff didn't recognize the numbers as government owned.
You mean someone made a clerical error?! Oh god, say it ain't so! I... I don't know what to believe anymore! My faith in the Democratic Party has been irrevocably shattered by this shocking, wanton abuse of power (or simple, honest goof up. You know, whichever's more likely).
Next came this bit:
Former Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL) Was Found Guilty Of Federal Fund Bribery, Conspiracy, Mail Fraud, And Obstruction Of Justice.
Wow, after three tries, it looks like they finally managed to find a Democratic politician who is, in fact, a crook. Granted, he isn't a
serving Democratic politician, having lost his bid for re-election in 2002, but still, good find RNC. Find a few more, and you might actually get people to stop thinking "Tom Delay" or "Duke Cunningham" when someone says "crooked politician."
Now for the next segment, "Democrat Lobbying," with a nice picture of the "K St." Street sign. Hmm... K Street. K Street. What's that name that everyone seems to associate with K Street. Oh yeah, Abramoff! Nice visual choice there, RNC.
And what is the terrible lobbying scandal they've dug up on the Democrats? Why, this little bit:
Reps. Michael Capuano, William Delahunt and Richard Neal (D-MA) "Have Attended Luxurious Fourth Of July Weekends [Costing More Than $22,500] At Cape Cod's Exclusive Wequassett Inn ... With Representatives Of Various Interest Groups, Courtesy Of A Little-Known Nonprofit Group Started By A Longtime Lobbyist."
Oh, it gets worse:
Alex Knott, Political Editor At The Center For Public Integrity: "[These trips] could violate the intent [of congressional rules] ... Right now, a lobbyist could organize the trip, go with the congressman, play a round of golf with them, and then come back to D.C., lobbying them the entire time ..."
Now, this is a sad story. After the scandals of the Abramoff era, it just looks bad when politicians do things like this. It's not golf excursions in Scotland of course, but it still looks kinda sleazy in my opinion. And, as Alex Knott is quoted as saying, it could violate the intent of the congressional rules.
What Knott also says, however (and what the RNC carefully edits out), is that what the congressmen did was perfectly legal. Indeed, the full quote from Knott reads:
"While these trips don't violate congressional rules, it appears as though they could violate the intent," said Alex Knott (emphasis mine)
In fact, the congressmen claim in the article that they cleared the trips with the House Ethics Committee, as does the lobbyist who headed the program. I note that the article didn't dispute this, nor does the RNC for that matter. Still, I admit that this sort of thing should be scaled back or eliminated. Maybe starting to enforce the new ethics rules, like
Senators Feingold and Obama, both Democrats, are pushing for, would be a good start.
Of course, after reading through the article (which you might need to create a free account to view), I couldn't help but noticing this little tidbit:
Nationally, 26 congressmen and senators or members of their staff accepted free travel from Invest to Compete between 2000 and the middle of 2005, for a total of 54 trips. Neal, who received $5,800 in travel costs during that period, ranks fourth on the list. Representative Philip English, Republican of Pennsylvania, and his staff lead the pack with nearly $11,000 in travel expenses during the period, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
So, yeah, the RNC considers this an example of an Ethical breakdown on the part of the Democrats? It's sad, it really is, when the RNC tries to smear us with corruption, and the stories
they themselves cite also show Republicans doing the exact same things they accuse Democrats of. I guess this could go towards the "everybody's corrupt" meme, but is it really wise for the RNC to draw attention to Republicans doing things that they obviously consider shameful (at least if Democrats do it)? I mean, I know it's okay if you're a Republican, but usually these guys are a little more subtle about it.
Finally, they go on to attack the blogosphere in their "Democrat Special Interests." They cite a couple of pieces from the New York Post which look suspiciously like hit pieces to me, attacking Mark Warner for hiring Jerome Armstrong, who was supposedly involved in some stock touting that ended six years ago. It could take a full diary to get into this, one which Steven D has already written. I'd also recommend this particularly informative comment by Tom Ford. Because of this deep, dark secret in Jerome's past, I guesss the RNC seems to think he's not up to the ethical responsibilities of consulting with a presidential candidate. Certainly he's nothing like that bastion of integrity, Karl Rove (thank God!), with a history of leaking information for political and personal purposes.
So let's review this "Democrat Ethics Breakdown," shall we? We've got a pork pushing congressman. Never mind the fact that he needed the Republican head of his committee to sign off on his earmarking, and that Republican just happened to be an old colleague of one of the investors in the company, who was also on the board of directors. We've got an overblown clerical error in the McCaskill campaign. We've got the conviction of a Democratic governor who's been out of office for years. We've got a story about a lobbying excursion which was approved by the House Ethics Committee, and involved Republicans as well as Democrats (which the RNC conveniently forgot to mention). Then we've got a murky story based on New York Post hit pieces concerning some civil issues with the SEC involving conflicts of interest and Jerome Armstrong, who's a consultant for Mark Warner. Of course, no one mentioned that Jerome shut down his myDD blog when he was working for Howard Dean to prevent any conflicts of interest in that case.
Basically, the RNC's got bupkis. And quite frankly, it's a little insulting to have the party of Duke Cunningham (convicted), Tom Delay (indicted), Scooter Libby (indicted), Bill Frist (under investigation), Karl Rove (all-around scuzball), and so many others, lecturing us about political ethics. It's like getting chastized by Ken Lay for your crooked business practices. Come on, RNC, this was pathetic. Stick to things you're actually good at, like smearing veterans who disagree with you. Yeah, nice, patriotic activities like that as we go into the 4th of July. Maybe then your bombshells won't sound so much like puny little fire crackers.
So, that's the second installment. What do you think? Should I continue with "CounterTorque?" Must...have...feedback!