January 02, 2007
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., is scheduled to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, but only because he agreed when Pelosi previously made clear that she intended him not to waste time on impeachment proceedings against President Bush. But now we learn that Conyers has his own problems with obeying the law.There is so much wrong with the Conyers situation that Pelosi shouldnÂ’t have to think twice about nixing ConyersÂ’ chairmanship. Let us look at how the Conyers scandal epitomizes the ethics mess in the House:
First, releasing its report late on Friday before the New Year’s holiday weekend made it clear that the House “Ethics” Committee intended to minimize public understanding of the Conyers scandal. This is classic Washington Establishment manipulation of the news cycle to insulate itself against public accountability.
Second, Conyers responded to the “Ethics” committee by “accepting responsibility” for a “lack of clarity” in asking aides to work on his re-election campaign while on the official payroll instead of going on a campaign staff, as the law requires, and to do personal chores for him. The allegations came from senior staff members, including a former chief of staff, not interns or other short-term aides who might have questionable motives.
Third, the “Ethics” committee report also concerned a second investigation of Conyers from 2003 on allegations that his aides also worked on the Carol Mosely-Braun presidential campaign and JoAnn Watson’s Detroit City Council race. Would Conyers have applied the same slipshod legal standards to his Bush impeachment effort?
Fourth, the Conyers scandal shows it’s still business as usual for the “Ethics” committee. Pelosi should demand that Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the committee leaders who signed off on the Conyers report, be removed permanently from the panel and barred from leadership of other House panels.
Finally, Pelosi should heed former White House chief of staff and ex-congressman Leon Panetta, who said “you can attack one party for having a lack of ethics, but if any of your own members have problems, it dulls the message with the American people, they begin to put everybody in the same box.” In other words, whenever one member of the House has an ethics problem, it damages the credibility of all members of the House, including most especially its most visible leader, the speaker.
So come on, Nancy -- either get rid of this big-time Democrat alligator in the "ethical swamp" or admit that your promises about ethics reform were nothing but empty, partisan rhetoric designed to scare up a few more votes after Democrats ginned up one more scandal involving the GOP.
And for that matter, make sure you take action against Rahm Emanuel, who left House pages at risk by holding back the Foley emails until their release became politically profitable?
The ball is in your court, Nancy -- act, or prove yourself a liar and a hypocrite.
Posted by: Greg at
04:14 AM
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P,
Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, whose sexual relationship with U.S. President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment, has graduated from the London School of Economics, her publicist said on Wednesday.Lewinsky, who was 21 when she became involved with Clinton, is interviewing for jobs in Britain, publicist Barbara Hutson said.
When Lewinsky, 32, received her Masters of Science degree in Social Psychology last Thursday "the audience of students and parents erupted in spontaneous applause. ... It was a very emotional moment for her," Hutson said in a statement.
Hutson said Lewinsky spent the past year studying and "staying away from the London social scene."
She completed a thesis entitled "In Search of the Impartial Juror: An exploration of the third person effect and pre-trial publicity."
My hat is off to Ms. Lewinsky -- well done.
UPDATE 1/2/2007: I agree with Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen about some of the snarky coverage Ms. Lewinsky has received over this very real and very significant accomplishment.
In the various books I've read about the Bill Clinton impeachment scandal -- a scandal because of what was done and a scandal because the president was impeached for it -- the same story is told over and over again. When the prosecutors or lawyers or whoever finally got to meet the storied Monica Lewinsky, they were floored by her. She was smart, personable and -- as the record makes clear -- dignified. This is more than can be said about some of the people who write about her.I will not name names. But in recent days, Lewinsky has been back in the news. In December she graduated with a master's degree in social psychology from the London School of Economics. Her thesis was titled "In Search of the Impartial Juror: An Exploration of the Third Person Effect and Pre-Trial Publicity." Her thesis might well have been called "In Search of the Impartial Journalist," because she was immediately the subject of more poke-in-the-ribs stories about you know what. The Post, a better paper than it was that day, called her "dumb-but-smart." It was more than could be said for that piece.
* * * It would be nice, too, and fair, also, if Lewinsky were treated by the media as it would treat a man. What's astounding is the level of sexism applied to her, as if the wave of the women's movement broke over a new generation of journalists and not a drop fell on any of them. Where, pray tell, is the man who is remembered just for sex? Where is the guy who is the constant joke for something he did in his sexually wanton youth? Maybe here and there some preacher, but in those cases the real subject matter is not sex but hypocrisy. Other than those, no names come to mind.
Which is not to say that there will not always be an element of bawdy humor that is associated with the name "Monica Lewinsky". She is, however, a young woman who has made a new start and has worked hard to better herself. So while she will always be associated with Bill Clinton (who too many admire for his sexual prowess), let's always remember that there is something more to her -- and that there is a human being behind the name who deserves to be treated seriously and with respect.
Posted by: Greg at
04:07 AM
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There is an overwhelming need for temporary relief and permanent resettlement. Last year, however, America accepted only 202 Iraqi refugees, and next year we plan to accept approximately the same number. We and other nations of the world need to do far better.Thousands of these refugees are fleeing because they have been affiliated in some way with the United States. Cooks, drivers and translators have been called traitors for cooperating with the United States. They know all too well that the fate of those who work with U.S. civilians or military forces can be sudden death. Yet, beyond a congressionally mandated program that accepts 50 Iraqi translators from Iraq and Afghanistan each year, the administration has done nothing to resettle brave Iraqis who provided assistance in some way to our military. This lack of conscience is fundamentally unfair. We need to do much more to help Iraqi refugees, especially those who have helped our troops.
As a humanitarian issue, there is no question that Kennedy is right. More humanitarian aid will help to stablize the region and stem the humanitarian crisis that exists. But there is one other consideration as well -- one that the policy proposals we hear from too many Democrats make a real issue.
The biggest disgrace of America's betrayal of South Vietnam was the number of Vietnamese left behind who had relied on US assurances that their assistance to the United States and involvement with the South Vietnamese government would assure them a seat out when the Communists violated the Paris Peace Accords. As some Democrats prepare to force a second great military cut-and-run from success, we need to ensure that there are not many Iraqis who assisted America trying to break through the embassy gates as the last American helicopter leaves the Green Zone
UPDATE -- 1/2/2007: How serious is that refugee crisis?
With thousands of Iraqis desperately fleeing this country every day, advocates for refugees, and even some American officials, say there is an urgent need to allow more Iraqi refugees into the United States.Until recently the Bush administration had planned to resettle just 500 Iraqis this year, a mere fraction of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who are now believed to be fleeing their country each month. State Department officials say they are open to admitting larger numbers, but are limited by a cumbersome and poorly financed United Nations referral system.
“We’re not even meeting our basic obligation to the Iraqis who’ve been imperiled because they worked for the U.S. government,” said Kirk W. Johnson, who worked for the United States Agency for International Development in Falluja in 2005. “We could not have functioned without their hard work, and it’s shameful that we’ve nothing to offer them in their bleakest hour.”
* * * The State Department has made it clear that it is deeply concerned about the fate of IraqÂ’s religious minorities, including Christians. Officials at the department say that any refugee program must also be geared to those vulnerable groups.
As many as 100,000 exiled Iraqi Christians have relatives in the United States and would want to resettle there if given the chance, said Joseph T. Kassab, the executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America, a Michigan-based umbrella group that represents Iraqi Christians. Mr. Kassab said his groupÂ’s estimates were based on questionnaires devised by University of Michigan professors and filled out by several thousand Iraqi Christian refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon in recent months.
Yes, we need to care for the religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq -- but what of those in peril because of their service to the United States? Do we not have an obligation to them? Or is it April 30, 1975 all over again.
Posted by: Greg at
02:45 AM
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