HuffPo's Edsall: Mark Penn - Hillary's Campaign Tumor

Wow.  Thomas Edsall really scorches Penn in a piece on HuffingtonPost.  Way beyond most anything I've ever seen on HuffPo.

For instance, the headline for the article is Mark Penn:  Hillary's Campaign Tumor.  Whew.  The gloves are off on that one.  The article however, is quite fascinating and highly recommended.  It lays out ALL of Penn's massive lobbying/PR influence.  In my mind, it irreversibly calls into question HRC's motivation and judgement in using this this guy.  He's at the beck and call (for a hefty price of course) for all, whether Dem or Republican.  The requisite being that you have wealth and power.

More after the flip...

Here's a taste:

Such conflicts only touch the surface. For the media, Burson-Marsteller and its affiliated companies could easily become a full-time beat pumping out a cascade of additional stories:

The creation of such seemingly innocuous organizations as the National Smokers Alliance, European Women for HPV Testing, and the Coalition for Clean and Renewable Energy - organizations which are in fact the creation of corporations seeking to win lucrative support for contentious fights over smoking in public places, the promotion of highly-remunerative testing for a sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, and the expansion of nuclear power facilities.

The laundry list of controversial Burson-Marsteller -- and its subsidiary BKSH -- clients includes US Smokeless (i.e., chewing) Tobacco, Johnnie Walker (distilled spirits), Morongo Casino Resort & Spa (gambling), Lockheed Martin (weapons), and Chevron Texaco (oil/gas) and Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, and Wyeth/Amgen (pharmaceutical).

[snip]

An equally controversial list of foreign clients including the Pakistan People's Party, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Colombia, Armenia, and Greece.

Penn:  Hillary's Campaign Tumor

No.  There may not be a lot new here...however there is a chart that I highly recommend that shows how this guy is connected to All the Major Players.  

One gets the sense that Edsall is almost trying to cast Hillary in the victim role.  A fine candidate who happened to pick the wrong person to head her campaign.  Oh well.  Whooopsie!! Better luck next time.

Nope.  In my mind, it's not so much about Penn as much as its about what his hiring says about HRC, her campaign and her reasons for running for presidency.  Personally, the mere fact that she would consider this yegg and keep him on through thick and thin speaks volumes regarding who and what is important to her.  Hiring him makes a mockery of the party system...At least from this angle, top down, they all really look very much the same whether they are Ed Gillespie (tied to Penn) or Tony Blair, Microsoft or Charles Black (ensconced with McCain.)  And there is no way that Hillary didn't know this at the beginning.

In my mind, McCain versus HRC is a win win.  It is the oligarchic corporatocracy at its most octopoid.  The Special Interests on High will have their person in...it doesn't make that much of a difference to them...business will be, as usual.  If you don't believe me...go check out the chart on the Edsall page.  I'm not generally shocked by this stuff, having pondered it for most of my life, but it's great to see it set out with such clarity.  Everything is, indeed illuminated.  Go check out the chart.  Whew!