The new political gospel: public office is private graft. - Mark Twain
Impeachment is only a matter of time. That is, if the American public has the will to jettison an administration totally dedicated to political hegemony and personal graft.
Yes, the Republicans came to town to "drown government in the bathtub." If that weren't bad enough, the GOP used taxpayer money to buy the water, the tub, and the assassin's services -- all provided by one of their own companies, at a huge mark-up of course.
You don't have to read every line of the slowly uploaded e-mails to get the point: this is the highest level of corruption and graft ever perpetrated in the United States by the government.
If congresspeople ask the right questions and demand all the evidence officials are likely now trying to shred, hide, bury, burn, swallow, or shove up their asses -- then before this thing is over, it will be clear that the lastest scandal is 100% pure, unadulterated obstruction of justice. The obstruction is an attempt to cover up a widespread pattern and practice of GOP and corporate corruption.
Can it be only four days since we heard this?
Republicans close to the White House tell CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod that President Bush is in "his usual posture: pugnacious [Editor's Note: inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative. Random House, 2006] that no one is going to tell him who to fire." But sources also said Gonzales’ firing is just a matter of time.
The White House is bracing for a weekend of criticism and more calls for Gonzales to go. One source tells CBS News he’s never seen the administration in such deep denial, and Republicans are growing increasingly restless for the president to take action.
http://www.newscloud.com/...
I’ll bet he’s combative, all right. The wheels are coming off this mother. Let me tell you something: Bush and a whole lot of other people are hoping against hope that handing Congress the head of Alberto Gonzales will staunch the flow. At first, they plied their usual strategy: hang tough and refuse to budge. For the past six years – through thousands of pointless deaths and trillions of wasted dollars – the strategy worked. Now, not even the firing (or resignation) of Gonzales is going to save them.
They took a thousand bad steps.
Then one too far.
To lodge all power in one party and keep it there is to insure bad government and the sure and gradual deterioration of the public morals. – Mark Twain
Here it is in a nutshell: A huge number of elected GOP officials are as corrupt as they come. Tom Delay was the tip of the iceberg. Bob Ney was a sideshow. Duke Cunningham was just the beginning. Carol Lam was axed because of information she uncovered on others – not just Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes, but apparently several others. If I were holding the hearings, for starters I would get Lam basher and intrepid e-mailer Darrel Issa in a hot seat immediately. Why? Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
To wit:
Lam's most high-profile conviction was corrupt Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. It's an open secret here in San Diego that Cunningham was in cahoots with fellow Republican Congressmen Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter, and word on the street is that they are under investigation. I have no proof to offer, but at one time I didn't have any proof I could make public that Congressman Brian Bilbray was under investigation by a Grand Jury either. He is, though, and I trust my sources on this as well.
In any case, it doesn't take much to read between the lines when the local FBI chief says, "Lam's continued employment as U.S. attorney is crucial to the success of multiple ongoing investigations," while at the same time Congressman Issa is Lam's biggest critic. And last year, after Cunningham was sent to the Big House, his Republican colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee (of which Issa was a member) came down hard on US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to bring Lam back in line. http://www.watchblog.com/...
And this:
I hope there are good people among our representatives in Congress who are taking a fresh look at the movement to impeach. It has never been clearer Lam’s principal public detractor has been right-wing Republican Congressman Darrel Issa, who represents a district adjacent to the one represented by Cunningham. Issa supported Cunningham for months after the disclosure that he had sold his house to a defense contractor for far more than the market price.
http://www.americanprogress.org/...
This guy has stuff to hide – kickbacks from Qualcomm? NorthStar Consultants? – but I’d bet Carol Lam knows. Issa worked tirelessly to try to get Qualcomm [from his California district] a massive, lucrative contract to provide cell phone service in Iraq, against the wishes of about everybody who knew anything about what was best for Iraq and pissing off a lot of Europeans in the process.
Take a look at this:
Two CPA officials resigned this year after claiming they were pressured by John Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for technology security to change an Iraqi police radio contract to favor Qualcomm's patented cellular technology, a move that critics say was intended to lock the technology in as the standard for the entire country. Iraq's cellular market is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues for the company, and potentially much more should it establish a standard for the region. Shaw's efforts to override contracting officials delayed an emergency radio contract, depriving Iraqi police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers and border guards of a joint communications system for months.
Shaw says he was urged to push Qualcomm's technology by Rep. Darrell E. Issa, a Republican whose San Diego County district includes Qualcomm's headquarters. Issa, who received $5,000 in campaign contributions from Qualcomm employees from 2003 to 2004, sits on the House Small Business Committee, and previously tried to help the company by sponsoring a bill that would have required the military to use its CDMA technology.
"Hundreds of thousands of American jobs depend on the success of U.S.-developed wireless technologies like CDMA," Issa claimed in a letter to Donald Rumsfeld. But the Pentagon doesn't seem to be buying the argument. The DoD's inspector general has asked the FBI to investigate Shaw's activities.
http://www.wagingpeace.org/...
But here’s the thing. Issa is also just another tip on the iceberg.
What the firing of the U.S. attorneys has opened up is a window into the massive, systemic corruption of this administration. From Halliburton to Blackwater to Qualcomm to Wilkes’ Poway defense contracting firm "ADCS" – it was always about the graft.
Accusations without evidence? How do you get the evidence? Have we ever seen such a mountain of corruption with a thousand cover companies and shadow officers? We’ve come to know (and despise) Halliburton, KBR, and the ones whose names have floated across this screen almost daily. But then there are the voluminous and weird companies that come out of nowhere, merge into others, reappear in Iraq, then disappear, then reappear under a new name, then fade away when the heat is turned up. At the helm of these companies are congresspeople, family and friends of congresspeople, corporate cronies big and small who worked in concert and provided kickbacks or campaign donations (and sometimes both – plus a yacht), and often the biggest wigs of all – folks like Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.
It’s a simple plan, and utterly evil. You have this war, see, and you hire companies owned by your political allies and pay them obscene amounts of money to "do things." They, in turn, give you back a lot of money, in the form of campaign dough, handy cash and other goodies. Because you have this war – and it’s – yes, by God! – a Global War on Terror – you can keep everything hush-hush. Secrecy is key. This is global terrorism we are dealing with here, and we don’t have to tell nobody nothing. Before long, you’re able to buy a congressional seat anywhere with all that slush, as well as ample accomplices to fiddle with the vote in any district you choose. People got a problem with their representatives? Hey, you elected them! Somebody really turning up the heat? Call the NSA – we got shit on everybody. Some fancy pants U.S. attorney digging up dirt on our pals? Fire her ass! Who can stop us? We have The Patriot Act.
Here is what we learn from the San Diego press way back on February 13, in a story detailing Lam’s indictment of Foggo and Wilkes:
"These two indictments describe patterns of self-dealing and corruption that spanned years and reached deep into our country's systems of procurement in the defense industry," Lam said.
"The allegations in the indictments describe undisclosed personal and financial relationships between government officials and individuals seeking lucrative defense contracts. These personal and financial relationships led to benefits totaling thousands, even millions of dollars, being bestowed on government officials and millions of dollars in defense contracts flowing back in the other direction."
Kenneth J. Hines, special agent in charge of IRS' Criminal Investigation unit, said Wilkes and Foggo went to great lengths to circumvent the law to personally enrich themselves and that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated.
"There's no doubt that the victims in the case truly are the American taxpayer and the money that is lost with this deceptive practice," he said.
Stewart Roberts, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego office, said that "although the perpetrators of these types of crimes involved in corruption may believe that their self dealing is a victimless event, we know that these types of crimes do have victims."
"The American public has a right to expect that their public officials and the contractors they enlist to do the government's work, will be acting with the best interest of the public in mind and not just their best interest in mind," Roberts said.
Wilkes was a big contributor to Republican lawmakers who developed a series of businesses that specialized in landing federal contracts, with ADCS as his flagship.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/...
And another:
San Diego US Attorney, Carol Lam, resigned on orders from the Bush administration. Bush asked Lam to resign because she spent what he felt was an inordinate amount of resources prosecuting corrupt politicians and business executives rather than illegal migrant workers. Despite grumblings of politics and cover-up, Lam kept her lips zipped and made a classy exit.
Lam's continued employment as U.S. attorney is crucial to the success of multiple ongoing investigations, Dan Dzwilewski, the San Diego FBI chief said.
As for the reason for any pressure to resign, Dzwilewski said: "I can't speak for what's behind all that, what's the driving force behind this or the rationale. I guarantee politics is involved."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/...
Meanwhile, Issa is just really, really worried about the "corruption in Mexico that spills onto our streets." What balls! In an effort to divert attention from GOP corruption, he points to corruption elsewhere. A classic Republican maneuver. Why investigate a crooked GOP pol or the firing of attorneys when what really matters is somebody smoking a joint or tunneling their way into California?
Issa said the reason for her ouster is simple: The region needs someone new who will re-energize the office and focus on the administration's priorities: immigrant and drug smuggling. He said he didn't know who that would be.
"It appears as though more could have been done to stop human trafficking and border crime," Issa said. "You can't ignore the tunnels, the drug and people smuggling, and the corruption in Mexico that spills onto our streets."
T.J. Bonner, president of the Border Patrol union, said he was unsure that declining immigration prosecutions was the real reason behind Lam's departure.
"Maybe she just went after the wrong white-collar person," he said. "I don't know that this issue resonated with this administration."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/...
"Maybe she just went after the wrong white collar person."
You think?
Let’s hear from somebody who routinely covers Issa’s district:
Sinister scheme behind Lam's firing
By: RICK HALL - Commentary
We've read some of the apparent reasons for the firing of Carol Lam, the U.S. attorney for San Diego for the last 4 1/2 years. She was going after the big-fish criminals instead of the little ones. She struck too close to the nerve of political and corporate power, including that of Rep. Darrell Issa.
When a prosecutor goes after powerful, white-collar criminals, power brokers and politicians, such as Duke Cunningham, defense contractor Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes ---- a Poway defense contractor believed to be another Cunningham co-conspirator ---- sensitive and powerful nerves are struck in unexpected places higher up. Obviously one nerve leads to Rep. Darrell Issa, for, as the NC Times editorial ( "The one that got away," Feb. 1) stated, "Investigators could easily pick up the fingerprints of Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, on Lam's back." Something about Lam's investigations was making Issa very uncomfortable. This in itself is reason for further investigation.
http://www.nctimes.com/...
As my mother used to say: No shit, Sherlock.
Oh, about NorthStar. This from the recent hearings Waxman held to try to get to the bottom of Iraq spending:
During what seemed to be a particularly uncomfortable moment for Bremer, he was asked about NorthStar Consultants, the firm that received a $1.4 million CPA contract to evaluate the management of the Development Fund for Iraq. The firm’s consultants, Bowen’s office later reported, "were not certified public accountants and did not perform a review of internal controls as required by the contract. Consequently, internal controls over DFI disbursements to and from Iraqi ministries were not evaluated." To emphasize the company’s shoddy operations and the CPA’s negligence in relying on them, Elijah Cummings, the Maryland Democrat, displayed a photograph of NorthStar’s California headquarters, a ramshackle looking home outside of San Diego. Fortunately for Bremer, Darrell Issa, the California Republican, soon came to his rescue. Asking that the picture remain up on a screen, he remarked that Congress "has encouraged telecommuting" and small businesses "run out of homes very similar to that." http://www.motherjones.com/...
Kossacks and others who are pouring over the document dumps say they're seeing quite a few Issa e-mails. I am not surprised.
It's simple. And very, very sinister. The Republicans who had full sway in Washington until recently were not doing the people's business. They were just doing business.
Your money. My money. A generation or more in debt and American ideals trashed for all the world to see so these guys could laugh all the way to the bank. Literally.
So this is what we get them on. A million crimes to pursue and this is it: OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE. They axed Carol Lam to protect government officials and sham corporations -- TO KILL ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS. Everyone had to know -- from Bush to Rove to Gonzales to little old California rep Darrel Issa. Maybe the others were pure cover, maybe the firings were about putting in the fix for the 2008 elections (lots of Democratic investigations, very few GOP problems). I say we find out.
Right after the elections, Waxman said:
"I'm going to have an interesting time because the Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction over everything," Waxman said yesterday, three days after his party's capture of Congress put him in line to chair the panel. "The most difficult thing will be to pick and choose."
http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/...
You're doing great, Waxman. My advice: Let Carol Lam sing until she's hoarse. And then ask Darrel Issa questions. A lot of questions.