The Tammany Awards

[SEVERUSMAX]

Yes, this is a place to give crooks and liars the recognition and shame that they deserve. I have dubbed this weekly Hall of Shame the Tammany Awards, to link the scum in question with the tainted legacy of Tammany Hall, that disgusting political machine that put even the Daley regime to shame in terms of graft.

My first Tammany Award clearly goes to Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Yes, Senator, you have built a career as the King of Pork and the poster boy for everything wrong with your chamber of Congress. What else can be said of your career, but that people in your native state actually think of SARAH PALIN as an improvement!

You are by far the worst man in the United States Senate, and the second worst man in the history of the institution, surpassed only by Senator Huey P. "The Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. You make even Dan Rostenkowski look respectable by comparison. Yikes!

Here's hoping that whatever the courts decide, the people of your state give you, sir, an early retirement, where you can party on your own dime for a change.

Few men in history have demonstrated such an unadulterated love of waste and graft. Hope that you like your Tammany Award. It's the only recognition that you'll get from me.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I think Teddy Kennedy won the Lifetime Achievement Award for sleeze and cowardice.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Update: last week's winner has just earned some steel bracelets and a residence furnished by Uncle Sam. Admittedly, his orange jumpsuit might not be in style, but beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, nice to so soon have my opinion vindicated by a dozen of Mr. Stevens's peers.

This week's winner: Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). Oh, yes, the man with a name that we can't pronounce who won his Senate seat by a disgraceful campaign of lies and smears against then-incumbent Democrat and decorated Vietnam veteran (not to mention amputee) Sen. Max Cleland. His tactic: he had the utter gall to accuse the war hero of cowardice and weakness on national security, because of the Iraq War, in the GOP's last big mid-term hurrah in 2002.

True, he hasn't committed a crime (that I know of), but for a draft-dodger like Chambliss to go after a Vietnam vet like Cleland is the height (or should I say depth) of shameless slander and hypocrisy.

Since the Tammany Awards are about lies as well as corruption, Mr. Chambliss has earned his place in this Hall of Shame this week. I agree with Esquire- he should NEVER be allowed to live what he did down.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Max Cleland is a knee-pad boy.

 

[DesertPirate]

Sev, could you give one to Murtha? Just for being an idiot?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

This is kind of like the dirtiest-hands-in-the-coal-mine award, isn't it?

 

[DesertPirate]

This is kind of like the dirtiest-hands-in-the-coal-mine award, isn't it?

Amen Brother Zoot
Would Sev consider Orrin Hatch? He is bought and paid for by the MPAA and RIAA.

 

[AllardChardon]

Dr. Suess did a cartoon in the 50s on election day of an alley cat smoking a cigar and wearing a Tammany Hall bowler. The caption said, "Vote early and often."

 

[Emperor_Nero]

Update: last week's winner has just earned some steel bracelets and a residence furnished by Uncle Sam. Admittedly, his orange jumpsuit might not be in style, but beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, nice to so soon have my opinion vindicated by a dozen of Mr. Stevens's peers.

This week's winner: Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). Oh, yes, the man with a name that we can't pronounce who won his Senate seat by a disgraceful campaign of lies and smears against then-incumbent Democrat and decorated Vietnam veteran (not to mention amputee) Sen. Max Cleland. His tactic: he had the utter gall to accuse the war hero of cowardice and weakness on national security, because of the Iraq War, in the GOP's last big mid-term hurrah in 2002.

True, he hasn't committed a crime (that I know of), but for a draft-dodger like Chambliss to go after a Vietnam vet like Cleland is the height (or should I say depth) of shameless slander and hypocrisy.

Since the Tammany Awards are about lies as well as corruption, Mr. Chambliss has earned his place in this Hall of Shame this week. I agree with Esquire- he should NEVER be allowed to live what he did down.

Isn't Stevens eligible for a second-straight award ... this is the man that announced after his CONVICTION that he will NOT resign his senate seat and will remain on the ballot to try an earn another term (there is no rule that a convicted felon can't serve in the U.S. Senate)

 

[cantdog]

Dr. Suess did a cartoon in the 50s on election day of an alley cat smoking a cigar and wearing a Tammany Hall bowler. The caption said, "Vote early and often."

Dr. Seuss was quite the political cartoonist, particularly during the WWII period. Most people have never heard of his stuff. My admiration grows daily for you.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Cantdog. I found the cartoon when I was researching those horrible Tammany Hall guys in New Orleans. They invaded San Fran after the Gold Rush. They were everywhere wielding their corruption and lies. Quite a tale of the early political struggle for power, starting at Five Points, NY, of course.

Until then, I had no idea the Dr. Suess was so political. I found the same thing with Al Capp before Lil' Abner. Where would any of the comedians be without the political arena to make jokes about? Plenty of fodder to make road apples, thanks to our representatives.

 

[trysail]

...Until then, I had no idea the Dr. Suess was so political. I found the same thing with Al Capp before Lil' Abner...

I really, really miss Al Capp's Lil' Abner. I was too young to understand and appreciate it when it was current and only read it because my father loved the strip. My parents looked forward to and roared over Sadie Hawkins Day and constantly referred to the goings-on of Dogpatch. I never forget their knowing mentions of Kickapoo Joy Juice and my big sisters were entranced by Shmoos. Capp created absolutely marvelous characters and his subtle evisceration of the politicos was sublime. Who can ever forget Joe Btfsplk (I never did figure out how it's supposed to be pronounced), Sen. Jack S. Fogbound, General Bullmoose, Moonbeam McSwine, Earthquake McGoon, Jubilation T. Cornpone and, of course, Daisy Mae.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/2987801016_b3b3d7ba7d_o.jpg​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li'l_Abner

 

[AllardChardon]

Blockbuster online has Lil' Abner the movie of the musical. I recently rented ti and it was sooo good. I cannot tell you. That man, Al Capp, what a comedic genius. I highly recommend it. Dogpatch is set to be the sight of a nuclear test, due to nothing exceptional happening in them there parts... most unremarkable place or some such thing.

 

[Emperor_Nero]

Dr. Seuss was quite the political cartoonist, particularly during the WWII period. Most people have never heard of his stuff. My admiration grows daily for you.

Seuss stayed subtly political throughout his career. Read the story he altered for Art Buchwald in 1974 after being challenged that he never wrote anything political -- all he did was take his book Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!, cross out Marvin K. Mooney and write in Richard M. Nixon throughout. Give it a read, it almost seems like it was intended to be that way

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Still, the Master of that era had to be Walt Kelly and his Pogo. I can take them down even today in their tattered 'slow burned' condition and howl for hours at the dialog. In many ways it was a political precurser to Liberty Meadows except for the addition of Brandy, of course.

 

[AllardChardon]

Volupt,

I forgot all about Pogo. I will have to google him and refresh my memory. Thanks.

Allard

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Sev, could you give one to Murtha? Just for being an idiot?

Not to mention a crook. I value his military service, but I'm surprised that he doesn't have a higher standard of personal integrity as a result of said service. I think that DC has corrupted him.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Isn't Stevens eligible for a second-straight award ... this is the man that announced after his CONVICTION that he will NOT resign his senate seat and will remain on the ballot to try an earn another term (there is no rule that a convicted felon can't serve in the U.S. Senate)

Great Merciful Bloodstained Gods!

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

This week's Tammany goes to.......

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), whose loyal patronage of the GSE's helped bring you the mortgage crisis. Yes, as a member of the GLBT community, I hate to rebuke a fellow member, but he had this coming (no pun intended). If only he had been less concerned with his friends in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and more concerned with the interests of the American public. But he has made his bed, and now he has to lie in it (sorry, that pun was intended, just couldn't resist).

This demonstrates that in DC, at least one thing is bipartisan: the corruption there. From the White House to Capitol Hill to the various federal agencies, commissions, and cabinet departments, there is plenty of blame to go around. This isn't a conservative or liberal problem: it's a problem with the culture of entitlement in Washington, exemplified by Mr. Frank.

So, now the time for noisy platitudes from the Left and Right is over. The time for excuses is over. This recession is so big that it took two parties to cause it. And it will take three to end it.

So, to you, Mr. Frank, goes the dubious honor of being the third recipient of the award named in dishonor of a political machine historically linked to your own party, and the ironic distinction of being the first Democrat to win the award so far.

And, once again, I look forward to the voters giving you a further distinction: what Churchill once called the Order of the Boot.

 

[Edward Teach]

I really, really miss Al Capp's Lil' Abner. I was too young to understand and appreciate it when it was current and only read it because my father loved the strip. My parents looked forward to and roared over Sadie Hawkins Day and constantly referred to the goings-on of Dogpatch. I never forget their knowing mentions of Kickapoo Joy Juice and my big sisters were entranced by Shmoos. Capp created absolutely marvelous characters and his subtle evisceration of the politicos was sublime. Who can ever forget Joe Btfsplk (I never did figure out how it's supposed to be pronounced), Sen. Jack S. Fogbound, General Bullmoose, Moonbeam McSwine, Earthquake McGoon, Jubilation T. Cornpone and, of course, Daisy Mae.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/2987801016_b3b3d7ba7d_o.jpg​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li'l_Abner

Remember when Capp created Joanie Phony, making fun of Joan Baez's cashing in on the Civil Rights and Peace Movements. Baez sued him, for impuning her integrity or something like that, but Capp said on national TV that such a thing would be impossible because she didn't have any. Damn, he was funny.

 

[trysail]

This is one small example of the fucking bullshit that goes on in D.C. (a horrid place to live not the least of which is due to the fact that it is full of self-important, arrogant, pompous asses). I've known for decades that the Smithsonian was corrupt and full of feather-bedding. It is one of those incredible rackets ( AARP, National Geographic and the World Bank are others ) that work very hard to keep the public from knowing of their royal lifestyles. The AARP, National Geographic and the Smithsonian should be stripped of their tax-exempt status ( AARP operates vast— and quite profitable— retail and insurance businesses; the Smithsonian's profit-making enterprises include both publishing and retail businesses. National Geographic may be the worst offender of all with its retailing and broadcasting empires ).

Lawrence Small is deserving of some "hard time."

________________


(Fair Use Excerpt)
Smithsonian's New Chief Shares Pay Cuts, Lost Perks With Staff
By Kate Andersen

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The top executive at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington is having to get by on a lot less these days.

Gone are the private chartered planes, the $1.2 million housing allowance, the designer upholstery and $2,000 chairs. Lucrative corporate-board memberships are off limits, too.

Instead, G. Wayne Clough, who took over as secretary of the world's largest museum complex in July, walks to work and flies coach. He makes barely half what his predecessor did, and 16 of his executives are having their pay slashed by as much as $80,000 each in five years.

``The Smithsonian's board of directors were disengaged,'' Senator Charles Grassley said of the free-spending ways that led to last year's resignation of Secretary Lawrence Small and four other top executives, under pressure from Congress.

Grassley had threatened to freeze funding after the Washington Post, an independent panel and the museum's inspector general reported on Small's spending habits. These included a $31,000 bill for designer Berkeley striped upholstery, a $2,535 tab for a chandelier cleaning, and a $4,000 heater for his lap pool, according to the Post, which obtained internal documents.

The threat was withdrawn after Small, a former president of Fannie Mae, stepped down, according to Jill Kozeny, a spokeswoman for Grassley, an Iowa Republican.

``We need to make the administration of the Smithsonian as good as the institution itself,'' Clough, 67, said in an interview. His goal is to modernize the Smithsonian, in part by digitizing its vast collection, and head the first capital- fundraising drive for the entire complex, which gets 70 percent of its $1 billion budget from the federal government.

New Management
His appointment was part of a management overhaul at the 162-year-old institution. Last month, the 17-member governing board elected Patty Stonesifer as its new chairwoman. She assumes the position in January.

Stonesifer, who recently left her position as chief executive of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will take over from Chairman Roger Sant in January. She'll fill a post created to boost oversight of the 19-museum complex, whose more than 136 million artifacts include everything from the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond to the Wright Flyer, the first successful airplane.

The museum's board also responded by cutting the pay and perks of top executives and prohibiting board memberships.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were shaved off the secretary's pay -- Clough's base pay is $490,000 -- and other executives will have their compensation set in line with government salaries. Fearing a rapid exodus, the museum won't put the reductions into effect for five years.

Changed Philosophy
``We decided to change the compensation philosophy,'' said spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas. ``Instead of basing it on the private-sector market, we'll base it on federal salaries.''

Under the new rules, employees can no longer demand to stay at five-star hotels, use private car services when they travel short distances, or attend events such as concerts and music awards free.

Clough, a civil engineer who was president of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta for 14 years until 2008, said he often walks to work from his home along Washington's waterfront. He's also had to resign from all corporate boards.

He makes do with no housing allowance, and all his travel must be approved by the museum's chief financial officer. He said he prefers to fly coach anyway. ``If anybody wants to know what I'm paying for a flight, they are free to find out,'' he said.

`Lavish and Extravagant'
Small, 67, still sits on the boards of Marriott International Inc. and Chubb Corp. By the time he left, his annual salary was $916,000 and he earned millions more on outside work during his seven years at the helm, according to the independent panel's report.

A separate report by the museum's inspector general found ``no evidence of fraud or abuse,'' though it said some expenses ``might be considered lavish and extravagant.''

Small couldn't be reached for comment.

The governing board's decision to tap Clough as the Smithsonian's 12th secretary marks the return of a tradition: Small was the first secretary who wasn't a scientist or an academic. He was president of Fannie Mae from 1991 through 2000 and before that spent 27 years at Citicorp.

The capital-fundraising drive that Clough is planning will be the first for the entire institution, St. Thomas said, although many campaigns have been held for individual museums.

There had been talk of raising $1 billion during a five-to seven-year campaign. ``With the economy the way it is,'' said St. Thomas, ``Clough would never say that now.''

``The economy will affect us the way it does every nonprofit.''

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Why, Georgia, why?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

This week's Tammany goes to.....

1. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), for the same reason as last week's winner. Like Barney Frank, you, sir, have been in the pocket of the GSEs, and have thus contributed to your party's role in causing the recession. Not that GOP is innocent, either. After all, they repealed a useful law that separated investment banks from depository ones. But you helped prevent necessary legislation governing the GSEs' "pyramid schemes", as my Albanian friend called them today. Hope that you can sleep at night, after doing this and then having the audacity to run for President as a reformer.

2. George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, for having the nerve to interfere with California's exercise of its' states rights in the matter of regulating emissions. That an avowed strict constructionist would trample the sovereignty of a state, in the interest of keeping your buddies in the fossil fuels' industries happy is utterly shameless, and matched only by your unmitigated temerity in usurping states' rights by pushing a federal ban on partial-birth abortion. This may be news to you, Mr. President, but your pretense of being a Constitutionalist instead of a puppet for certain factions is not too convincing anymore. Shame on you. It will only add more stains to your legacy.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

1. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), for the same reason as last week's winner. Like Barney Frank, you, sir, have been in the pocket of the GSEs, and have thus contributed to your party's role in causing the recession. Not that GOP is innocent, either. After all, they repealed a useful law that separated investment banks from depository ones. But you helped prevent necessary legislation governing the GSEs' "pyramid schemes", as my Albanian friend called them today. Hope that you can sleep at night, after doing this and then having the audacity to run for President as a reformer.

He probably sleeps very well in his feather bed. Do you really think he gives a rats ass about anyone but himself? Shame on you.

2. George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, for having the nerve to interfere with California's exercise of its' states rights in the matter of regulating emissions. That an avowed strict constructionist would trample the sovereignty of a state, in the interest of keeping your buddies in the fossil fuels' industries happy is utterly shameless, and matched only by your unmitigated temerity in usurping states' rights by pushing a federal ban on partial-birth abortion. This may be news to you, Mr. President, but your pretense of being a Constitutionalist instead of a puppet for certain factions is not too convincing anymore. Shame on you. It will only add more stains to your legacy.

Just wait until he signs all those executive orders and pardons for his buddies before he leaves office in January.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Zeb, I won't hold my breath waiting for Dodd to grow a conscience. Dubya, either. Both have convinced themselves that they are right. But that doesn't make it so.

And I don't envy them their karma.