Filed under: 2008 Election, Conservatives, Corruption, Economics, Government, Media, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Scandal, Senate | Tags: 2008, Campaigns, Candidates, Corruption, John McBush, John McCain, Lobbyists, Republicans, Scandal, Special Interests
We already know John McCain isn’t a maverick–he’s a pure Washington insider, steeped in 25 years of D.C. culture.
In fact, not only does McCain have inappropriate relationships with lobbyists, but his entire Presidential campaign is run by special interest lobbyists.
Need proof?Take a look at just how far special interests have infiltrated the McCain campaign (a handy visual analysis is here):
| INNER CIRCLE | ||
| Mike Dennehy | National Political Director | Founder, The Dennehy Group |
| Richard Davis | Campaign Manager | Founder, Davis Manfort Inc; COMSAT, SBC Inc. |
| Christian Ferry | Deputy Campaign Manager | SBC Communications, Verizon |
| Charles Black | Chief Political Adviser | Chair, BKSH & Associates; General Motors, United Technologies, JP Morgan, AT&T |
| Wayne Berman | Senior Policy Adviser, National Finance Committee Co-Chair | Managing Director, Oglivy Government Relations; Carlyle Group, Citigroup, Airbus |
| David Crane | Senior Policy Adviser | Quadrapoint Strategies, Bank of America, Financial Services Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce |
| CAMPAIGN CHAIRS | ||
| James Courter | National Finance Committee Co-Chair | Marril Lynch, NBC, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Goldman Schs, SBC Communications |
| Susan Nelson | National Finance Committee Co-Chair | The Loeffler Group, Airbus |
| Brian Ballard | National Finance Committee Co-Chair | Smith Ballard & Logan, Florida Power & Light, GTech, Honda North America |
| Thomas Loeffler | National Finance Committee Co-Chair, Campaign Co-Chair | Founder, The Loeffler Group; AT&T, National Association of Broadcasters, Pharmecutical Research And Manufacturers of America, Port of Huston, Southwest Airlines, Toyota |
| Kirk Blalock | National Chair, Young Professionals For McCain | Fierce Isakowitz & Blalock, Airbus |
| Jerry Kilgore | State Co-Chair (VA) | Williams Mullen, Shell Oil, Alpha National Resources |
| Don Sunquist | State Co-Chair (TN) | Co-Founder, Sunquist Anthony; Freddie Mac, The Hartford, Waste Management |
| William Hilleary | State Co-Chair (TN) | Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, SMS Holding, AmSurg, Militec |
| Matt Salmon | State Co-Chair (AZ) | President, Comptel |
| Slade Gordon | Honorary Co-Chair | T-Mobile, Microsoft, Delta Airlines, Air Transport Association of America, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis |
| Richard Zimmer | Honorary Vice-Chair | Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Network Solutions, T-Mobile, Business Roundtable |
| ADVISERS | ||
| Anthony Villamil | Economic Policy Adviser | Public Service Enterprise Group |
| James Rill | Economic Policy Adviser | Howery LLP, Smokeless Tobacco Council, Intel |
| Carlos Bonilla | Economic Policy Adviser | Senior Vice President, Washington Group; Freddie Mac, Time Warner, Motrola, National Cable & Telecommunications Associaton |
| Grant Aldonas | Economic Policy Adviser | Managing Director, Split Rock International; Mittal Steel USA |
| Nancy Pfotenhauer | Economic Policy Adviser | Koch Industries |
| Joseph Wright | Economic Policy Adviser | CEO, PanAmSat |
| Aquilez Suarez | Economic Policy Adviser | Vice President of Government Affairs, National Association of Industrial & Other Properties |
| John Green | Adviser | Co-Founder, Oglivy Government Relations; BellSouth, NRA, Airbus, U.S. Telecom Association |
| John Timmons | Adviser | Founding Partner, Cormac Group; Time Warner, AT&T, Association of American Railroads, National Association of Broadcasters |
| Robert Aiker | Adviser | Vice President, Pinnacle West Capitol Corp |
| Timothy McKone | Adviser | Vice President, AT&T |
| FUNDRAISERS | ||
| William Ball | Fundraiser | Oglivy Government Relations, Airbus |
How can thus guy claim to be some maverick standing up for the little guy while paying millionaire special interest lobbyists to run his campaign? How does McCain get away with being so two-faced? Well, because the media lets him get away with it:
The media is particularly fond of the myth that John McCain is the senatorial thorn in the side of Washington lobbyists. This myth is pervasive and it suggests that McCain is the “maverick, moderate reformer” that he claims to be. Despite all of his posturing, McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign is rife with lobbyist connections.
Not only does the McCain campaign have more current and former lobbyist bundlers than any other candidate, but McCain has more current and former lobbyists working on his campaign staff than any other candidate in the 2008 presidential election.
The conservative press loves John McCain. Too bad their skewed representation of one of America’s most corrupt Senators leaves the American people in the dark.
Want to fight back? Demand accountability and honesty here.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Government, Iraq, Progressives, Terrorism | Tags: 2008, Candidates, Congress, Democrats, Fred Kaplan, George W. Bush, Iraq, Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr
From the BBC:
More than 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since a clampdown on militias began in Basra on Tuesday.
Today, the Iraqi government extended the deadline for disarmament they placed on the insurgents a few days ago from 3 days to 10.
According to BBC analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, the extension shows either the fighting is proving more difficult than the Prime Minster predicted, or there are behind-the-scenes peace negotiations. The former seems more likely–the Iraqi government can’t put down the armed rebellion themselves, and they don’t know where to proceed after the deadline expires, so they’re extending it in the hopes a solution will somehow present itself.
Iraq’s progress in the 5 intervening years since the start of the war has been absolutely abysmal. The Iraqi government and military are nowhere near prepared to deal with the deep sectarian divisions in their country, and this most recent uprising shows it. Predictably, when the efforts by the Iraqis did nothing to stop the violence, U.S. forces had to intervene:
American military forces conducted air strikes on targets in Basra late Thursday, joining for the first time an onslaught by Iraqi security forces intended to oust Shiite militias in the southern port city.
Two American war planes shelled two targets in Basra, entering the battle at the request of the Iraqi Army, which asked the American and British forces to make the strikes, according to Maj. Tom Holloway, a spokesman for the British Army in Basra.
The air strikes are the clearest sign yet that the coalition forces have been drawn into the fighting in Basra. Up until Thursday night, the American and British air forces insisted that the Iraqis had taken the lead, though they acknowledged surveillance support for the Iraqi Army.
More from The Washington Post:
Four U.S. Stryker armored vehicles were seen in Sadr City by a Washington Post correspondent, one of them engaging Mahdi Army militiamen with heavy fire. The din of American weapons, along with the Mahdi Army’s AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, was heard through much of the day. U.S. helicopters and drones buzzed overhead.
The clashes suggested that American forces were being drawn more deeply into a broad offensive that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, launched in the southern city of Basra on Tuesday, saying death squads, criminal gangs and rogue militias were the targets. The Mahdi Army of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite rival of Maliki, appeared to have taken the brunt of the attacks; fighting spread to many southern cities and parts of Baghdad.
This has been the story of Iraq, day in and day out, for years. Whenever things get tough, the Iraqi government leans on the United States to solve their problems for them. It’s been five years since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government–five years to negotiate, to build a military, to stabilize the country and begin making progress. Unfortunately, due to George W Bush and the Republicans’ disastrous policies, the Iraqi government hasn’t made nearly as much progress as they should have. And now, whenever violence breaks out, American soldiers end up getting caught in the middle.
That’s why this war needs to end as soon as possible. As long as we’re there propping them up, the Iraqi government and military will never need to actually deal with their country’s problems. They’ll never be independent problem-solvers. And whenever things get tough, they’ll use us as a crutch.
That’s why I’m glad to see that 42 Democratic Congressional candidates have signed onto “A Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq.” Iraq needs independence, not co-dependence. Iraq needs to be able to stand up and lead on their own, without the United States holding their hands every step of the way. The sooner we start to withdraw our troops, the sooner we can send a signal to the Iraqi government that we’re serious about leaving and the sooner we can begin preparing them to be independent once and for all.
UPDATE: Fred Kaplan puts the present strife in perspective:
The fighting in Basra, which has spread to parts of Baghdad, is not a clash between good and evil or between a legitimate government and an outlaw insurgency. Rather, as Anthony Cordesman, military analyst for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, writes, it is “a power struggle” between rival “Shiite party mafias” for control of the oil-rich south and other Shiite sections of the country.
Yesterday, President Bush portrayed the intense fighting in Iraq as a return to ‘normalcy.’ While I agree that massive amounts of violence and bloody sectarian fighting have become the norm in Iraq, that’s not exactly the kind of progress I would tout if I were him.
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Iraq, Terrorism | Tags: International, Iraq, Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Republicans, Spin
BREAKING: CNN brings us this headline:
A U.S. government official was killed today when militants fired rockets into the Green Zone in Baghdad, the U.S. Embassy says.
Today, violence has continued to rage in Iraq:
Forty-two people were killed Thursday in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said, the latest casualties in three days of clashes between militias and Iraqi security forces.
[...]
Since Tuesday, clashes in Basra and throughout Iraq’s Shiite heartland have left more than 100 dead and many wounded in Basra, Baghdad, Hilla, Kut, Karbala and Diwaniya.
[...]
Thursday, a car bomb explosion killed three people and wounded five others near a police patrol in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. There are no apparent links to the violence in the Shiite regions.
Witnesses in Basra report smoke rising and gunfire and explosions ringing out across the city, where Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. and British troops, have been taking on fighters using grenades, mortar rounds and machine guns.
There was fighting Thursday in Jamhouriya, one of five neighborhoods the Mehdi Army controls, and Muqal, according to an official from Basra province and witnesses.
In addition to the recent death of an American official, an Iraqi government official has been kidnapped:
A spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Tahsin al-Sheikhly, was kidnapped from his Baghdad home by armed men on Thursday, security officials told AFP.
The officials said Sheikhly, who spoke on civic matters related to the security plan launched in February last year, was abducted from his home in Baghdad’s al-Amin neighborhood at around 2:30 pm (1130 GMT).
“Armed men stormed his home at a time when there were clashes in his neighborhood,” a security official with the interior ministry said.
“They burnt his home and stole two cars and weapons before fleeing with him.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is saying that the end of Al-Sadr’s ceasefire and the violent armed rebellion by his Mahdi Army is a good thing:
The fighting in Basra, and rocket attacks on Baghdad’s Green Zone by members of the Mahdi Army militia, have led some analysts to believe the unilateral ceasefire called by the militia’s powerful leader Moqtada al-Sadr is falling apart. Among those analysts is Ilan Goldenberg, policy director of the National Security Network, a frequent critic of the Bush Administration’s Iraq policy.
“It looks like it’s breaking down. If it is in fact breaking down, and not just a temporary blip, then you could have a major increase in violence,” he said.
That’s not how the Pentagon sees it, according to Press Secretary Geoff Morrell. “I do not think at this stage, at this stage, which is mere days into this operation, anyone is prepared to stand here and tell you that they feel as though the gains we’ve made over the past several months are in jeopardy,” he said.
[...]
Goldenberg sees the situation very differently. “Realistically, this is a massive power struggle between the two strongest segments in the country, at least in the Shia’ south. I can’t see this as being a good thing especially since you already see it spreading to other cities, like Baghdad and Kut and Najaf. What you’re looking for here is potentially an all-out breakout in Shia’ civil war. I can’t really see how that’s a wonderful sign,” he said.
That’s the standard Bush administration/Republican line for you: no matter what happens in Iraq, it’s good news.
If violence goes down, they say it means that our strategy is working and it’s good news. Of course, then we can’t bring American troops home since they’re the only thing keeping violence down.
If violence stays the same, they say it means we’re stabilizing the country and it’s good news. Of course, then we can’t bring American troops home since they need to maintain the stability and make further progress.
And if violence goes up, they say it means we’re doing so well that the anti-American forces are desperately lashing out against us (in what is inevitably their ‘last throes) and it’s good news. Of course, then we can’t bring American troops home because they have to put down the uprisings and bring stability.
What does this show us? Well, that–in the eyes of Republicans–spin trumps reality. Right now, though, the reality on the ground is undeniable: violence is going up in Iraq, and it’s bad news no matter who you are.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Government, International, Iraq, Terrorism | Tags: Baghdad, Basra, Democrats, International, Iraq, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Nouri Al-Maliki, Republicans, The Mahdi Army, The Surge
Ilan Goldenberg at Democracy Arsenal explains the connection between the Mahdi Army’s ceasefire and the reduction of violence in Iraq:
The drop in violence in Iraq has generally been attributed to four elements 1) More American forces and the change in tactics to counterinsurgency; 2) The Awakening movement; 3) The Sadr ceasfire; and 4) The ethnic cleansing and physical separation of the various sides.
It’s hard to say for sure, which of these factors was the most important. The Bush Administration will tell you it’s all about the troop levels. I’ve tended to believe it’s more of a mix and was most inclined towards the Anbar Awakening and the sectarian cleansing as the important factors. But when you look at the data it really seems to indicate that the Sadr ceasefire may have been the key.
[...]
If you look at the graph that MNF-I has been using on civilian casualties [available here] it looks to tell a pretty clear story. The first major drop in violence came in early 2007 before the troop surge. It looks like it was mostly based on the fact that the worst of the sectarian cleansing in Baghdad had been completed
[...]
The second drop in violence came in September. By that time the full surge had already been in effect for 2-3 months and the Awakening had been going on for a year. The Sadr ceasefire occured on August 28 and suddenly boom a big drop in violence. That could be a coincidence and it could be that all four factors came together. But the data seems to point to the fact that the Sadr Ceasefire more then anything else is what caused the drop in violence in the early fall.
[Emphasis added]
So data from the Multinational Force in Iraq (MNF-I) shows that, to a large extent, the Mahdi Army’s ceasefire played a major role in the drop-off in casualties and violence since the end of summer. Now that they’re once again clashing with both U.S. and Iraqi forces, will violence go up to where it was in August?
The major question is, what sparked the Mahdi Army to take up arms once again after over seven months of a successful ceasefire? Well, Iraqi’s security forces began cracking down on Sadrists for, ostensibly, political & sectarian reasons. Eric Martin explains:
It is no secret that America’s main ally in Iraq (and Iran’s), the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), is likely to lose ground to the more popular Sadrist current in the upcoming provincial elections (the Sadrist current boycotted the 2005 round). Absent some extracurricular activities to level the playing field that is. As Cernig noted quoting an AP article on Friday, ISCI, whose Iran-trained militia (the Badr Corp.) has heavily infiltrated Iraqi Security Forces, has been moving aggressively (in tandem with US forces) to help overcome what it lacks in popular appeal:
A Sadrist member of parliament alleged that the crackdown in Kut and elsewhere in the south was part of a move by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa party and [ISCI] to prevent al-Sadr’s followers from winning control of key southern provinces in provincial elections expected this fall.
“They have no supporters in the central and southern provinces, but we do,” Ahmed al-Massoudi told the AP. “If the crackdown against the Sadrists continues, we will begin consultations with other parliamentary blocs to bring down the government and replace it with a genuinely national one.”
So the Iraqi government, fearful of losing ground to the Sadrists in the upcoming election, implemented a crackdown in order to reduce their influence in the upcoming elections, particularly in their strongholds in southern Iraq. Unfortunately, that crackdown pushed the Mahdi Army too far, leading them to violently revolt against the government.
Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki gave the militia three days to lay down their arms:
Clashes continued Wednesday between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki laid down a deadline for gunmen to surrender and fresh rocket attacks hit Baghdad’s Green Zone.
[...]
According to wire service reports, Maliki issued a statement giving gunmen in Basra three days to give up their weapons and renounce further violence. Those who don’t, said a Maliki aide, will be targeted for arrest in the ongoing security operation.
[...]
In a sign of the offensive’s importance, Maliki flew to Basra on Monday to oversee operations.
By Tuesday evening, Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias had also clashed in the cities of Kut and Hilla, as well as outside Sadr’s Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City. Dusk-to-dawn curfews were imposed on at least six cities in southern Iraq, police said.
The head of the Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr, hasn’t officially lifted the ceasefire yet, but he has told his followers that they can attack Iraqi and American forces in self-defense. While it’s good news that the ceasefire technically still stands, the bad news is that he gave his followers orders to use violence when necessary. The ceasefire is already crumbling, and it will continue to do so with or without his explicit endorsement–the violence will rage on regardless of what he does.
This is a key test at a critical time in Iraq. While the administration and their Republican allies claim that progress is being made in Iraq, the level of violence remains abysmally high. The fact that Iraq’s security forces went after the Sadrists for political reasons shows that sectarian interests are trumping Iraq’s national interest in the eyes of the government. If Iraq’s security forces can’t put down this armed rebellion, there will be no question that the Republican policies in Iraq have failed.
This is exactly why we need to end the war in Iraq–the Iraqi government has become too reliant on American troops to keep them safe. Five years after the start of the war, the Iraqi government’s crippling dependence on us is shameful; we should have been pushing them towards independence a long time ago. We need to teach the Iraqi government to solve their own problems, and we need to show them that the United States of America isn’t going to stick around and protect them forever.
Iraq has extensive problems and deep divides that can’t be solved with bullets–there needs to be political reconciliation that brings all of Iraq’s major players to the table and charts a course for the future of the country. They need to be able to manage their own factions, to hold their own country together, to provide basic security and stability to their people. Unless we give the Iraqi government a wake-up call and start pushing them in the right direction, every violent flare-up in Iraq will consume more American lives.
UPDATE: More news from the battlefield:
The day saw street battles in Baghdad and Basra, mortar attacks by Shiite rebels against Baghdad’s Green Zone, bombing by U.S. aircraft and encounters that left government tanks in flames. More than 97 people were reported killed and hundreds were wounded since the operation began early Tuesday.
In Baghdad, at least nine Iraqi civilians were killed and 42 were wounded in mortar attacks, police said. The Mahdi Army, loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, opened fire on civilians in downtown Baghdad and clashed with Iraqi security forces in Kadhemiya in north Baghdad.
In Baghdad’s Shiite Sadr City neighborhood, clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces supported by U.S. forces left at least 20 dead and 115 were injured. By early afternoon, people took to the streets in protest of the Iraqi government.
Mortar rounds crashed into the heavily fortified Green Zone for the third straight day, injuring three U.S. government employees, all U.S. citizens, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo.
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Polls, Progressives | Tags: Democrats, Independents, Karl Rove, Numbers, Party Identification, Pew Research Center, Polls, Republicans, Trends
The Pew Research Center has tracked party identification and the voting patterns of independents over the past eight years; take a look at the most recent trends:
In 2001-2002, nearly as many Americans identified themselves as Republicans as Democrats. During the same period, independents were favoring Republicans by about 1%. This was the peak of Republican dominance in American government.
Today, 9% more Americans identify themselves as Democrats than Republicans, and independent voters favor Democrats bya margin of 5%.
Karl Rove dreamt of creating a permanent majority, and he got his wish–unfortunately for him, it’s a Democratic majority, not a Republican one.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Iraq, Media, Progressives, Senate, Terrorism | Tags: 2008, Baghdad, Basra, Candidates, Democrats, International, Iraq, John McCain, Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Republicans, The Surge
Cross-posted at Daily Kos
Yesterday I reported that the self-imposed cease-fire by Moqtada Al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army was unraveling, sparking violence in the heart of Iraq:
A cease-fire critical to the improved security situation in Iraq appeared to unravel Monday when a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr began shutting down neighborhoods in west Baghdad and issuing demands of the central government.
Simultaneously, in the strategic southern port city of Basra, where Sadr’s Mahdi militia is in control, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown in the face of warnings by Sadr’s followers that they’ll fight government forces if any Sadrists are detained. By 1 a.m. Arab satellite news channels reported clashes between the Mahdi Army and police in Basra
Well, now the violence has spread as the Mahdi Army clashed with Iraqi security forces both inside and outside the capitol city:
Iraqi security forces battled the Mehdi Army militia in Basra on Tuesday in a drive to win control of the southern oil city, but violence appeared to be spreading to Baghdad and other cities.
[...]
In a statement read out by a senior aide on Tuesday, [Moqtada Al-]Sadr called on Iraqis to stage sit-ins all over Iraq and said he would declare a “civil revolt” if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi security forces continued. He also threatened a “third step”, but said it was to early to announce what it would be.
[...]
Pro-Sadr students forced Mustansiriya University in Baghdad to close on Tuesday. Members of Sadr’s movement said the protest would spread to other towns and cities from Wednesday.
Police sources said Sadr supporters seized control of five districts in the southern town of Kut on Tuesday after clashes between gunmen and police.
[...]
Police said fighting erupted in several Sadr City neighbourhoods between Mehdi Army fighters and the Badr Organisation, the armed wing of a rival Shi’ite faction.
Baghdad’s Green Zone, the government and diplomatic compound, was hit by several salvoes of rockets during the day. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said they had been fired from Sadr City.
The Guardian also has a video up of the violence erupting across Iraq.
What does this mean for American troops? Well, it’s nothing less than a disaster.
Violence has abated in Iraq in recent months, which Republicans like George W. Bush and John McCain have attributed to the 2007 troop surge. Remember that the surge began in January 2007 and take a look at the American troop casualties between then and now:
When the surge began, there were slightly more than 80 troop deaths per month. During the spring, after the surge began, there was a huge spike in violence that began in April, peaked in May and decreased until July. In July and August American troop deaths went back to where they were when the surge began–a little over 80 per month. It was only after August that American troop deaths began to taper off, leading to the the relatively-low levels they’re at now.
What happened in August that was unusual? Well, the Mahdi Army began their voluntary cease-fire, which continued right up until yesterday. Now, I’m not saying the surge had no effect, or that the Mahdi Army is the sole cause of American casualties in Iraq. But Al-Sadr’s militia were responsible for a lot of anti-American violence, and it’s undeniable that the recent reduction in casualties is somewhat attributable to their ceasefire.
This is just one more reason showing why the surge hasn’t–and couldn’t–work. Iraq isn’t a military problem. Unless we’re willing to pour hundreds of thousands more soldiers into Iraq, there’s no way we can quell the violence ourselves.
John McCain and the Republicans think Iraq can be solved through bullets. They’re wrong. Iraq needs a political solution–it needs to bring everyone, including Moqtada Al-Sadr, to the table and come up with a comprehensive political plan for their country’s future. Unless we can get the various factions to agree to stop fighting, they never will. This is what we Democrats have been saying for years, and it’s exactly why the GOP can no longer be trusted with our national security.
The Republicans and John McCain gambled on the surge, and lost. How will they spin this most recent setback in the war? How will they pretend that their failed policies didn’t lead to this increase in violence? What idiotic plan or justification will they come up with now to continue putting our troops in danger? And when will they realize that Iraq’s problems can only be solved at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield?
UPDATE: Basra is an oil-rich city, and there’s word that the Mahdi Army is threatening to set fire to the oil fields:
An official in Sadr’s Basra office, speaking on condition of anonymity said, “The Sadr current [movement] is threatening to set fire to the oil wells in Basra if the Iraqi military continues its security plan.”
UPDATE II: More recent developments in the fighting:
Two rockets landed on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s compound, but did not explode, an Iraqi government security official said
[...]
Al-Sadr’s headquarters in Najaf also ordered field commanders with his Mahdi Army militia to go on maximum alert and prepare “to strike the occupiers” _ a term used to describe U.S. forces _ and their Iraqi allies, a militia officer said.
[...]
Lawmakers from al-Sadr’s movement announced in a Baghdad press conference that a general strike campaign _ which began in selected neighborhoods of the capital and included the closure of businesses and schools _ was being expanded nationwide.
Three police officers were kidnapped from a checkpoint in eastern Baghdad, a police official said on condition on anonymity because he wasn’t supposed to release the information.
Stores and schools also were closed in several other predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in the capital, and armed Mahdi Army members were seen patrolling the streets in some Shiite neighborhoods of the capital.
In Basra, Iraqi soldiers and police battled Mahdi fighters for control of key neighborhoods in Iraq’s second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.
[...]
In Baghdad, suspected Mahdi Army gunmen exchanged gunfire with security guards of the rival Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council in Sadr City, police said.
Yesterday, John McCain said:
“We’re succeeding. I don’t care what anybody says. I’ve seen the facts on the ground,”
I wonder if he still feels that way…
Filed under: 2008 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Iraq, Progressives, Senate, Terrorism | Tags: 2008, Candidates, George W. Bush, Iraq, John McCain, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Republicans, Terrorism
Disturbing news tonight out of Iraq:
A cease-fire critical to the improved security situation in Iraq appeared to unravel Monday when a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr began shutting down neighborhoods in west Baghdad and issuing demands of the central government.
Simultaneously, in the strategic southern port city of Basra, where Sadr’s Mahdi militia is in control, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown in the face of warnings by Sadr’s followers that they’ll fight government forces if any Sadrists are detained. By 1 a.m. Arab satellite news channels reported clashes between the Mahdi Army and police in Basra
While a lot of Republicans–like George W. Bush and John McCain–have been lauding the surge for bringing violence levels in Iraq down somewhat, the voluntary ceasefire by Moqtada Al-Sadr and his militia have played a massive role in reducing Iraq’s violence.
If this ceasefire falls apart, the Madhi militia–now with several months of rest, recuperation and rearmament under their belts–will resume their assaults on American forces, which will lead to another spike in violence.
Al-Sadr and his militia would be very difficult to put down by force; this is why, as we Democrats have been saying for years, Iraq needs a political solution. Throwing more soldiers into the mix hasn’t gotten us anywhere closer to a sustainable Iraq, despite what McCain and Bush tell us.
This is why we need a Democratic President come January 2009, so we can sit down and end this war quickly and intelligently.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Iraq, Terrorism | Tags: 2008, Candidates, Casualties, George W. Bush, Iraq, John McCain, Republicans
Today marked the 4,000th American troop death in Iraq.
4,000 faces. 4,000 names. 4,000 families torn apart. 4,000 brave Americans who will never come home. 4,000 too many.
The 4,000th American soldier to die in Iraq lost his/her life in an IED attack in southern Baghdad, all because of George Bush and John McCain’s mistake.
Filed under: 2008 Election, Conservatives, Economics, Iraq, Senate, Terrorism | Tags: 2008, Al-Qaeda, Candidates, CBO, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Incompetence, Iraq, John McBush, John McCain, Republicans, Senate
They were wrong on Iraq then:
At the outset of the Iraq war, the Bush administration predicted that it would cost $50 billion to $60 billion to oust Saddam Hussein, restore order and install a new government.
Five years in, the Pentagon tags the cost of the Iraq war at roughly $600 billion and counting. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and critic of the war, pegs the long-term cost at more than $4 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office and other analysts say that $1 trillion to $2 trillion is more realistic, depending on troop levels and on how long the American occupation continues.
[...]
On CBS’s “Face the Nation” on March 16, Cheney said the fight would be “weeks rather than months. There’s always the possibility of complications that you can’t anticipate, but I have great confidence in our troops.” Cheney also predicted the fight would “go relatively quickly, but we can’t count on that.” That same day on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Cheney said, “I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” It was then he predicted that the regular Iraqi soldiers would not “put up such a struggle,” and that even “significant elements of the Republican Guard . . . are likely to step aside.” Asked if Americans are prepared for a “long, costly and bloody battle,” Cheney replied: “Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way. . . . The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein, and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.” Cheney has spoken that way for months.
[Emphasis Added]
They’re wrong on Iraq now:
At a news conference, McCain said Iran has been supporting the Sunni group al Qaeda in Iraq, until he was corrected by a colleague. U.S. officials believe Iran has been backing Shi’ite extremists in Iraq, not a Sunni group like al Qaeda.
None of these people–Bush, Cheney, McCain–know anything about foreign policy. If the past few years have taught us nothing else, they taught us that Republicans don’t know the first thing about keeping America safe.
Filed under: Interesting
My University’s spring break starts this week, and I’m going on a roadtrip down the coast.
My internet access will be limited, so posting will be pretty scarce until Thursday or Friday.
Have a good week, and I hope the weather is nice wherever you are,
DS
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Government, House, Media, Progressives, Rights, Senate | Tags: Civil Liberties, Congress, FISA, House, Intelligence, Rights, Senate
The FISA debate is underway in the House of Representatives; you can watch it on CSPAN here.
The issue is whether or not to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who helped the Bush administration spy on the American people without warrants, in violation of federal laws.
The current proceedings have been as follows:
- The House passed an immunity-free bill, H.R. 3773
- The Senate passed a bill with immunity in it, S. 2248
- The Senate stripped out the text of H.R. 3773 and substituted in the text of S. 2248, then sent the amended H.R. 3773 back to the House
- Conyers and Reyes have an amendment to H.R. 3773 (as amended by the Senate) that would strip out what the Senate put in (the text of S. 2248) and put in its place the new, immunity-free language.
The GOP is muddying the waters with their usual rhetoric and spin–they talk about patriotic companies doing their duty and keeping America safe by cooperating with the government’s orders.
Of course, ignore the fact that the government was breaking the law, and the telecomm companies went along with it. Ignore the fact that the domestic spying program hasn’t lead to a single terrorism-related conviction or arrest. And ignore the fact that these companies weren’t following the government and doing their duty–in fact, when the federal government didn’t pay their phone bills on time, the telecomm companies shut the wiretaps down.
The telecomm companies and the Bush administration broke the law, and now their enablers in Congress are resorting to tired fear-and-smear tactics to beat their critics into submission and to make themselves exempt from the law.
For centuries, our country has protected itself from threat after threat without stripping away our Constitutional rights. We protected ourselves from threats far greater than terrorism without stripping away everything that makes this country great. And in the end, accountability matters. Our rights matter. The law matters. And it’s time for the secrecy to end.
More as it comes…
UPDATE: They’re voting now on the Senate amendment. With 6:00 left in voting time, the yeas lead the nays 109-69.
UPDATE II: In another attempt to destroy oversight and prevent themselves from being held accountable, the Bush administration recently gutted the Intelligence Oversight Board, which was established in the wake of the Nixon administration to prevent the abuse of intelligence agencies and personnel.
On the House floor, with a minute left in voting, the yeas lead the nays 150 to 126.
UPDATE III: Voting just closed; the yeas lead the nays 161 to 139. The vote totals are still shifting.
UPDATE IV: Vote totals are still changing; right now, 196 yeas to 171 nays. Awaiting the final vote totals.
UPDATE V: Final vote totals: 213 yeas, 197 nays and 1 present. The motion denying retroactive immunity passes; a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
UPDATE VI: Here are the final vote totals on the bill. No Republicans voted yea, while a number of Democrats voted nay. The Democrats who didn’t vote in favor of the bill are below:
| Dan Boren | (D-OK) | (202) 225-2701 |
| Mike Capuano | (D-MA) | (202) 225-5111 |
| Chris Carney | (D-PA) | (202) 225-3731 |
| Bob Filner | (D-CA) | (202) 225-8045 |
| Maurice Hinchey | (D-NY) | (202) 225-6335 |
| Tim Holden | (D-PA) | (202) 225-5546 |
| Dennis Kucinich | (D-OH) | (202) 225-5871 |
| Nick Lampson | (D-TX) | (281) 488-4922 |
| Jim McDermott | (D-WA) | (202) 225-3106 |
| Heath Shuler | (D-NC) | (202) 225-6401 |
| Pete Welch | (D-VT) | (202) 225-4115 |
| Lincoln Davis (Voted Present) | (D-TN) | (202) 225-6831 |
Filed under: Conservatives, Corruption, Economics, Government, Governors, IOKIYAR, Progressives, Scandal | Tags: Corruption, DOJ, Don Siegelman, Eliot Spitzer, FBI, Government, Governors, IRS, Karl Rove, New York, Scandal, U.S. Attorneys Scandal
Cross-posted at Daily Kos.
First, a disclaimer: Eliot Spitzer deserved what he got. He broke the law by soliciting high-priced prostitutes. He hurt his wife and his family with his infidelity. Most of all, he was a hypocrite–cultivating a clean image by going after the corruption of others and hiding his own. It bothers me that Eliot Spitzer had to resign while another prostitute-loving hypocrite–David Vitter–gets to stay in office, but I prefer the double standard remain intact and Spitzer resign.
With that said, there’s something fishy about how Governor Spitzer was caught. The problem wasn’t that he got caught–he deserved that, and more–but that the way in which he got caught was extremely unusual; in involved numerous exceptions-to-the-rule.
This started as an IRS investigation of Spitzer’s finances. Legally, financial transactions of $10,000 or more will automatically trigger federal scrutiny. In order to avoid that scrutiny, Spitzer paid the prostitution ring with a series of smaller transactions. The problem here was that paying someone a series of small transactions to avoid triggering a federal investigation is illegal; it’s called ’structuring.’ Spitzer’s shady transactions tipped off at least one bank–Capitol One–who in turn tipped off the IRS. So this began with Capitol One flagging Spitzer’s finances to the IRS; that’s sensible enough in and of itself.
But why did the IRS to for the DOJ? How did this turn into an FBI sting operation? We’ve been told that the feds looked at Spitzer’s finances and suspected there was bribery going on, which lead them to start a wiretap on the Governor. But that charge doesn’t make sense–Spitzer is the heir to a large family fortune, so there’s no reason for him to take bribes, particularly bribes of such small amounts. Why would a millionaire take bribes of a few thousand dollars? Plus, what raised suspicion was money moving out of Spitzer’s accounts, not into them–that means they couldn’t have suspected him of taking bribes. Did they suspect him of making bribes? To who? He’s the Governor of New York; who would he need to bribe?
So, we don’t know why the inquiry went from the IRS to the DOJ. What we do know is that once the investigation began, the feds found out that Spitzer was involved in a prostitution ring. Now, in most jurisdictions the solicitation of a prostitute is a misdemeanor; these cases are almost always prosecuted on the state level, since they’re seen as relatively minor crimes. Yet, the FBI and DOJ set up a sting to catch Spitzer in the act; only after he was caught did this story leak to the press.
This just doesn’t make sense.
Paul Campos does some digging, and he comes to the same conclusions:
Be that as it may, it’s far more probable that what happened was something like this: An IRS office is tipped off by officials at various banks that Spitzer is depositing a few thousand dollars in different accounts within a day or two. Realizing it has a potential political tiger by the tail, the IRS then contacts the Department of Justice and the FBI.
At the DOJ, the Public Integrity Section launches an investigation. This unit itself has come under intense criticism during the Bush administration for investigating nearly six times more Democratic politicians than Republicans. Furthermore, many of the section’s investigations have seemed timed to coincide with elections and the like.
With a little digging, the feds soon establish that Spitzer is seeing high-priced call girls. This is a petty misdemeanor in most jurisdictions, but the DOJ goes ahead and constructs an elaborate and costly sting operation, for the express purpose of catching one of the country’s most powerful Democratic politicians committing a petty crime.
In the course of the sting, Spitzer makes a really big mistake: He pays a call girl to travel from New York to Washington. This puts him in technical violation of an 85-year-old federal law, the Mann Act, which has a long history of being used for politically motivated prosecutions of the worst sort, such as those of the boxer Jack Johnson and movie legend Charlie Chaplin.
Only then is the existence of the investigation leaked to the media.
[Emphasis Added]
The Wall Street Journal also picked up on the idiosyncracies in this case:
It isn’t clear why the FBI sought the wiretap warrant. Federal prostitution probes are exceedingly rare, lawyers say, except in cases involving organized-crime leaders or child abuse. Federal wiretaps are seldom used to make these cases; search warrants usually suffice. Wiretap applications generally are reserved for serious crimes, such as drug, weapons and terrorism-related cases. There typically are no more than 1,400 wiretaps in use nationwide at any given time.
[Emphasis Added]
Remember, the DOJ is controlled by Republicans. And Spitzer was a thorn in the side of a lot of conservatives–not just corrupt politicians, but wealthy interests like CEOs, corporate executives and Wall Street financiers. In short, a lot of wealthy, well-connected conservatives had a high stake in taking Spitzer down.
And politically-motivated prosecutions are nothing new to the Bush DOJ; remember Don Siegelman, who was knocked out of the Governorship of Alabama because of a politically-motivated ethics investigation triggered by Karl Rove. And remember that a key part of the U.S. Attorneys Scandal was that many of the attorneys were fired for not aggresively prosecuting Democrats enough.
Simply put, this case leaves a lot of questions unanswered–why did the IRS turn the case over to the DOJ? Why did the federal government devote so much time, effort and money to investigating Spitzer? Why did they use a wiretap instead of a search warrant? And once they figured out he was involved with prostitution, why did they set up a sting instead of allowing the state to prosecute this, as they normally do? Why were there so many exceptions made in this one case?
Someone needs to answer for this. Because if any part of the investigation into Spitzer was politically motivated, then someone at the DOJ deserves to be punished just as much as Spitzer does.
UPDATE: The New York Times has more on this:
Bradley D. Simon, a veteran Justice Department trial lawyer who was federal prosecutor in Brooklyn throughout the 1990s, said that although it was rare for the department to use so many resources on the workings of a prostitution ring, the involvement of such a high-level politician must change the equation.
“If they’ve got some evidence of a high-ranking public official involved in violations of federal criminal code, it may not be unreasonable for them to pursue it,” he said. Still, he said, “I don’t think prostitution has been a high priority at the Justice Department.”
[...]
In defending their handling of the case, officials said that in the end, investigators chose to monitor his conduct but made no effort to set up a sting, or an arranged situation in which Mr. Spitzer might implicate himself. They did not surreptitiously record his activities inside the hotel or seek to obtain DNA evidence. It was not necessary, as Mr. Spitzer proved to be easy prey, according to the affidavit, which was signed by an F.B.I. agent.
It indicated that on Feb. 13 federal agents staked out his hotel in Washington, and it contained recorded conversations that amply demonstrated that he willingly had a sexual encounter with a prostitute. Afterward she was recorded on a wiretap telling an Emperor’s Club employee: “I don’t think he’s difficult. I mean it’s kind of like, whatever.”
On March 10, when Mr. Spitzer was first identified by name by The New York Times on its Web site, the affidavit was widely used by news organizations to describe graphic details about his conduct.
Several current and former federal prosecutors and prominent defense lawyers who reviewed the document said the inclusion of such salacious details about Mr. Spitzer’s encounter with the prostitute went far beyond what was necessary to provide probable cause for the arrests and for searches, the purpose of the affidavit.
The government has not accused Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, of any wrongdoing
[...]
Mr. Simon said it was unusual for the department to bring criminal charges in a prostitution case in which there was no allegation of the exploitation of children, human trafficking or some far more serious crime.
He said that in his eight years in the Brooklyn office in the 1990s, he could not recall a single major criminal case that centered on prostitution charges. “There were a lot of serious crimes — organized crime, narcotics cases, major financial crime investigations,” he said in an interview. “Prostitution was not a high priority.”
Law enforcement officials said the F.B.I. has about 450 active prostitution cases under investigation, almost all involving enterprises and some using techniques like wiretapping. In addition, since 2005, the F.B.I. has led an initiative known as Innocence Lost, which investigates prostitution involving underage women.
Justice Department officials insist that it has a strong record of breaking up large prostitution rings around the country, but many of the cases they cite involve case brought several years ago, especially before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks; after that, the department vowed to focus its attention on national security threats.
And for years, they acknowledge, the department has rarely, if ever, prosecuted or even identified the clients of a prostitution ring.
UPDATE II: TPM brings us this piece from McClatchy:
Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer ”used the services of high-priced call girls” while in Florida.
The letter, dated Nov. 19, said Miami Beach resident Stone learned the information from ”a social contact in an adult-themed club.” It offered one potentially identifying detail: The man in question hadn’t taken off his calf-length black socks “during the sex act.”
Stone, known for shutting down the 2000 presidential election recount effort in Miami-Dade County, is a longtime Spitzer nemesis whose political experience ranges from the Nixon White House to Al Sharpton’s presidential campaign. His lawyer wrote the letter containing the call-girl allegations after FBI agents had asked to speak to Stone, though he says the FBI did not specify why he was contacted.
There’s something incredibly suspicious about the investigation into Eliot Spitzer. With so many exceptions to the rule–along with the Bush administration’s history of politicizing the Department of Justice–this definitely warrants further investigation.
How can we get that to happen?
Easy–contact Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and demand an investigation into the DOJ’s takedown of Eliot Spitzer:
In Washington, D.C.
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-3976 (phone)
(202) 225-4099 (fax)
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Corruption, Government, Governors, Media, Progressives, Scandal | Tags: Corruption, David Paterson, Eliot Spitzer, Extremism, Governors, Joe Bruno, Lieutenant Governors, New York, New York State Senate, Roadblock Republicans, Scandal
Eliot Spitzer resigns as the Governor of New York:
“I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,” he said in a brief news conference announcing his intention to resign, effective Monday. “I will try once again outside of politics to serve the common good.”
With his wife, Silda, at his side, he added, “Our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”
The announcement came as the New York governor faces allegations — but no charges — that he is tied to an international prostitution ring ensnared in a federal probe.
[...]
U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia in New York issued a statement saying, “There is no agreement between this office and Gov. Eliot Spitzer relating to his resignation or any other matter.”
Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will take over, making him the first African-American Governor of New York and the 4th African-American Governor in American history. More on Governor-to-be Paterson:
“Like all New Yorkers, I am saddened by what we have learned over the past several days,” Paterson, 53, said Wednesday in a statement issued by his office.
“On a personal level, Gov. Spitzer and Silda have been close and steadfast friends. As an elected official the governor has worked hard for the people of New York.
“My heart goes out to him and to his family at this difficult and painful time,” the statement continued. “I ask all New Yorkers to join Michelle and me in prayer for them.
“It is now time for Albany to get back to work as the people of this state expect from us.”
[...]
“The public is hoping for that replacement to redeem the office and to redeem their faith in elected officials in general. So David Paterson, in a sense, walks into a great opportunity,” said Steve Kornacki of the New York Observer.
Paterson is legally blind, and although documentation is scarce, it is widely believed that he will be the nation’s first blind governor when he takes office Monday.
Unfortunately, Republican Joe Bruno, the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate, will take over as Lieutenant Governor. Bruno is a partisan hack, a right-wing Republican who has blocked progressive reforms like gay marriage and campaign finance reform, while pushing for greater use of the death penalty and for anti-choice parental notification laws. Now he’ll be able to bring his brand of extremist, obstructive conservatism to Albany, where he’s sure to do all in his power to trip-up David Paterson.
It’s a sad time for my home state of New York. Hopefully we’ll be able to move past this scandal; hopefully Paterson will continue the reformist spirit Spitzer had before his fall from grace; and hopefully New York Democrats will be able to limit the damage Joe Bruno is hoping to do to our great state.
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Corruption, Governors, IOKIYAR, Media, Progressives, Scandal | Tags: Corruption, David Vitter, Eliot Spitzer, Governor, IOKIYAR, Louisiana, New York, Republicans, Scandal
The New York Times thinks so:
Top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Tuesday morning that they expect the governor to resign his office, although the timing of the resignation remains uncertain.
Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson and his staff have begun laying the groundwork for him to take over as governor and are reaching out to members of the Legislature, the aides said.
[...]
As the governor pondered his decision, Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Republican and the Assembly minority leader, said he would begin moving to have Mr. Spitzer impeached if the governor did not step down within 48 hours.
[...]
Mr. Spitzer has not been charged with a crime. But one law enforcement official who has been briefed on the case said that Mr. Spitzer’s lawyers would probably meet soon with federal prosecutors to discuss any possible legal exposure. The official said the discussions were likely to focus not on prostitution, but on how it was paid for: Whether the payments from Mr. Spitzer to the service were made in a way to conceal their purpose and source. That could amount to a crime called structuring, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
We’ve been hearing rumors about Spitzer’s resignation since the story broke yesterday, but so far nothing has happened. It’s likely that Spitzer is using his office to bargain for a more lenient penalty, offering the prospect of resignation as part of his punishment.
While he hasn’t yet been indicted, it’s possible that he will be–not for hiring or transporting prostitutes, but for structuring his payments to the prostitutes in a way designed to avoid federal scrutiny of his expenses.
Once again, I can’t help but make the comparison to David Vitter–both men contradicted their clean public images by cavorting with prostitutes; the only difference is that Spitzer’s cost more. The double standard is a major issue here–the GOP (and, to some extent, the media) turned the other way when David Vitter got caught with prostitutes and shrugged it off, yet they’re going into an apolopectic rage and threatening impeachment when Spitzer does the same thing. And while I think stepping down is the right thing for Spitzer (and Vitter) to do, the double standard still bothers me a lot.
More as it comes…
UPDATE: CNN brings us this headline:
A top legislative staffer says N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who is linked to a prostitution ring, is holding transition meetings
UPDATE II: Congresswoman Kirsten Gilibrand, a freshman Democrat from upstate New York, has released the following statement:
“This is very grave and sad news. My heart goes out to the governor’s family…if these serious allegations are true, the governor will have no choice but to resign.”
Gilibrand campaigned with Spitzer in 2006.
Filed under: Breaking, Corruption, Government, Governors, Progressives, Scandal | Tags: Breaking, Corruption, Eliot Spitzer, Government, Governors, New York, Scandal
Breaking, from The New York Times:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, an administration official said this morning.
Mr. Spitzer, who was huddled with his top aides early this afternoon, had hours earlier abruptly canceled his scheduled public events for the day. He is set to make an announcement about 2:15 this afternoon at his Manhattan office.
I was an early fan of Eliot Spitzer, who made a name for himself as New York’s Attorney General, protecting New York’s citizens by going after corporate corruption. As the Bush administration weakened regulatory policies and refused to go after corrupt corporations, Spitzer took it upon himself to enforce the law and protect consumers.
I gladly voted for Spitzer in 2006; I had faith he would do a great job as Governor, cleaning up corruption, protecting regular people from corporate & government abuses, and finally ending the massive legislative logjam in Albany.
A press conference is coming soon; I’ll bring you it as it comes…
UPDATE: Spitzer endorsed Hillary Clinton for President back in May; I would imagine that she will release a statement on this and, in all likelihood, renounce his endorsement.
UPDATE II: New York’s Lieutenant Governor is David Paterson, the former NY Senate Minority Leader. He’s New York’s first African-American Lieutenant Governor; he is also legally blind.
UPDATE III: I wonder if the media is going to treat Eliot Spitzer the same way they treated David Vitter.
In light of the news that Republican Senator David Vitter was involved in the D.C. Madam prostitution scandal, the media treated him with kid gloves. Vitter said that he made peace with God and his wife–never admitting that he did anything wrong, despite the evidence–and right went back to the Senate. That scandal hasn’t hurt his standing in Louisiana or among the GOP–despite the fact that his behavior contradicted his ‘family values’ image. In addition, neither the media nor the GOP rally called for him to step down, despite his hypocritical law-breaking.
In light of this, will the media treat Spitzer the same way? Will they allow him to shrug off his involvement and go back to doing his job? Or will this be another case of the media holding Democrats to a higher standard than Republicans?
We’ll have to see…
UPDATE IV: Here’s Spitzer’s public statement from earlier today:
I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family and that violates my — or any — sense of right and wrong. I apologize first, and most importantly, to my family. I apologize to the public, whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas, the public good and doing what is best for the State of New York. But I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard that I expect of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order. Thank you very much.
Nothing about resignation; he’s probably going to wait to see what the political fallout is before making a decision for sure.
UPDATE V: More on the investigation that snared Spitzer:
According to an affidavit by an FBI agent filed for a search warrant in the case the investigation, led by the FBI and IRS criminal investigators, began in October of last year and focused on the ring itself for prostitution and money laundering charges. The Emperors Club ring allegedly used more than 50 prostitutes and set up dates all over the country and international cities like London and Paris, and had more than $1 million in proceeds through its front company, called QAT.
The feds intercepted more than 5,000 telephone calls and text messages used by the company’s alleged managers and 6,000 emails in the course of their investigation. The wiretaps lasted from January 8th through February 7th, when it expired, and then were renewed on Februrary 11th. As you can see from the excerpt from the affidavit posted below, investigators intercepted calls involving “Client 9,” who is reportedly Spitzer, starting on February 12th and into February 13th.
And more about what triggered the investigation to begin with:
The federal investigation of a New York prostitution ring was triggered by Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s suspicious money transfers, initially leading agents to believe Spitzer was hiding bribes, according to federal officials.It was only months later that the IRS and the FBI determined that Spitzer wasn’t hiding bribes but payments to a company called QAT, what prosecutors say is a prostitution operation operating under the name of the Emperors Club. …
The suspicious financial activity was initially reported by a bank to the IRS which, under direction from the Justice Department, brought in the FBI’s Public Corruption Squad.
“We had no interest at all in the prostitution ring until the thing with Spitzer led us to learn about it,” said one Justice Department official.
The ABC report goes on to say that Spitzer will be charged with structuring, according to its source. If I’m remembering my white collar crime law correctly, structuring is basically trying to avoid triggering the federal reporting requirement for any cash transaction that exceeds $10,000. So a series of $9,000 payments to the same person in a short period of time would raise suspicions, for example.
And Hillary Clinton says she’s going to wait and see before she does anything about Spitzer’s endorsement of her:
When asked whether Gov. Spitzer could survive politically she said “let’s wait and see what comes out of the next few days. Right now I don’t have any comment. I think it’s appropriate to wish his family well and see how things develop.”
UPDATE VI: To be fair in the Vitter-Spitzer comparison, Spitzer is facing an indictment, whereas Vitter was never indicted for his conduct.
Of course, Vitter and Spitzer’s offenses are nearly identical, in that they contradicted their clean, moral public image by cavorting with prostitutes. Spitzer’s indictment is related solely to how he paid for the prostitutes–he paid for them through a series of smaller payments in order to avoid triggering federal scrutiny of his finances, which is in and of itself illegal.
The indictment could prove to be a sticking point, but the fact remains that Spitzer and Vitter both contradicted their clean public images by hiring prostitutes on the side.
