The Tammany Awards

[SEVERUSMAX]

This week's Tammany Award goes to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), for even insinuating that Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) deserves to be punished for standing on his principles and backing his friend Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the Republican candidate over the now President-elect, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Shame on you for even contemplating such things, Senator. Think what you will of Liebermann, he doesn't deserve to be penalized any more than Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA) did for endorsing Bush over Kerry in 2004. No matter how misguided you believe a man's convictions to be, it's still honorable to follow them, and that's what Liebermann has always done.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

This week's Tammany goes to Gov. Janet Napolitano, for deserting her AZ post for a cabinet slot. It disgusts me how politicians will drop one office for another, just like that. Grrrrr.....Finish your damn terms of office!

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

The latest Tammany goes to Sen. Hillary Clinton, for accepting the State position and pretending that she is actually more qualified than the more obvious choices available. Oh, say, Richard Holbrooke or Bill Richardson. Just for instance.

 

[AllardChardon]

I do not post on this thread often but since I did once, I get the updates and I appreciate your input.

In Hillary's case I have to agree with you. Even though I like her well enough, it seems a marketing ploy to me. Switch out the black lady for the white woman and the world will accept the change easier or some such nonsense.

So far, Obama has picked good people. In reality, this may well be a concession position and maybe, who knows, she might get to bring along Bill to do something, right?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I do not post on this thread often but since I did once, I get the updates and I appreciate your input.

In Hillary's case I have to agree with you. Even though I like her well enough, it seems a marketing ploy to me. Switch out the black lady for the white woman and the world will accept the change easier or some such nonsense.

So far, Obama has picked good people. In reality, this may well be a concession position and maybe, who knows, she might get to bring along Bill to do something, right?

Thanks. Don't worry. I'm an equal-opportunity scold.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Next award goes to Jeb Bush, for his role in the whole Terri Schiavo business. Of course, for that role, he shares this award rightfully with the Florida legislators who tried to meddle in this family ordeal. Shameless pandering to the religious right, nothing more.

 

[DesertPirate]

Sev, shouldn't one be given to Gov. Blagojevich, Baggybitch, Blogforwitch, whatever his name is?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Sev, shouldn't one be given to Gov. Blagojevich, Baggybitch, Blogforwitch, whatever his name is?

Yes, but that's next week.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Next award goes to Jeb Bush, for his role in the whole Terri Schiavo business. Of course, for that role, he shares this award rightfully with the Florida legislators who tried to meddle in this family ordeal. Shameless pandering to the religious right, nothing more.

I don't disagree with the award. I think it is deserved but this happened long ago. Can't you find something more recent? Is this limited to US politics only? Did you ever present one to the Wall Street firms that begged for money from the Treasury and intended to give big chunks of it as bonuses to their incompetent execs?

 

[Liar]

Sev, shouldn't one be given to Gov. Blagojevich, Baggybitch, Blogforwitch, whatever his name is?

I don't think there's room on his mantlepiece for yet another Giant Douchebag trophy.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I don't disagree with the award. I think it is deserved but this happened long ago. Can't you find something more recent? Is this limited to US politics only? Did you ever present one to the Wall Street firms that begged for money from the Treasury and intended to give big chunks of it as bonuses to their incompetent execs?

Something to take under advisement. As for the statute of limitations, there is none for anything that happened in this century. It being a relatively young century and all.

But if one were to go outside of the purely political sphere, one could also speak of the Hollywood actors like Sean Penn and Richard Gere who have made deliberate nuisances of themselves, or of rabid filmmakers like Michael Moore, who seems to adore Fidel Castro. Just for example. Or, to be fair, one could speak of far-right imbeciles like Pat Robertson, who all but endorsed former Liberian President Charles Taylor for another term of kleptocratic tyranny.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I don't think there's room on his mantlepiece for yet another Giant Douchebag trophy.

Don't worry, there's room. As long as there are liars, crooks, and nuts in office, that is.

 

[Dragonlipz]

Severus,
If you have to cling to and spout some neocon nonsense at least get some historical perspective, if only for your own credibility.
What I'm saying is that the folks here deserve more than a 'radio republican'. Hell, the people of the united states deserve better than they've gotten for the past eight years!!!
Quit repeating the talking points you glean from Bill-O and Limp Rush..........
'Those who've forgotten the past are far ahead of those who never learned it. I lived it. I'm a Viet Nam combat vet who hasn't forgotten that freedom isn't free and going AWOL means more than than just working in some of your daddy's buddies political campaigns!
Al Gore, John Kerry, and a couple hundred thousand (as well as myself) of our contemporaries were in country - Don't pontificate about what freedom is unless you're prepared to defend it. Dubya, Cheney, Rumsfeld - yo' heroes - never set foot in Nam......never shed a drop, never saw another human being cut in half by a fifty caliber machine gun......I don't feel good about my role in that slice of reality but I don't lose sight of the fact that there are those who have no qualms about capitalizing on the sacrifices of those brave young men who gave their all.........

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

Severus,
If you have to cling to and spout some neocon nonsense at least get some historical perspective, if only for your own credibility.
What I'm saying is that the folks here deserve more than a 'radio republican'. Hell, the people of the united states deserve better than they've gotten for the past eight years!!!
Quit repeating the talking points you glean from Bill-O and Limp Rush..........
'Those who've forgotten the past are far ahead of those who never learned it. I lived it. I'm a Viet Nam combat vet who hasn't forgotten that freedom isn't free and going AWOL means more than than just working in some of your daddy's buddies political campaigns!
Al Gore, John Kerry, and a couple hundred thousand (as well as myself) of our contemporaries were in country - Don't pontificate about what freedom is unless you're prepared to defend it. Dubya, Cheney, Rumsfeld - yo' heroes - never set foot in Nam......never shed a drop, never saw another human being cut in half by a fifty caliber machine gun......I don't feel good about my role in that slice of reality but I don't lose sight of the fact that there are those who have no qualms about capitalizing on the sacrifices of those brave young men who gave their all.........

Gore was in the Army in Vietnam but saw no combat to speak of:
http://www.sirjeffponygirls.thekinkyserver.com/

Bush Senior was not in Vietnam but he was a combat pilot in WW2 and flew missions against the Japanese.

Just to be complete, when you referred to draft dodgers, why didn't you include Bill clinton?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Severus,
If you have to cling to and spout some neocon nonsense at least get some historical perspective, if only for your own credibility.
What I'm saying is that the folks here deserve more than a 'radio republican'. Hell, the people of the united states deserve better than they've gotten for the past eight years!!!
Quit repeating the talking points you glean from Bill-O and Limp Rush..........
'Those who've forgotten the past are far ahead of those who never learned it. I lived it. I'm a Viet Nam combat vet who hasn't forgotten that freedom isn't free and going AWOL means more than than just working in some of your daddy's buddies political campaigns!
Al Gore, John Kerry, and a couple hundred thousand (as well as myself) of our contemporaries were in country - Don't pontificate about what freedom is unless you're prepared to defend it. Dubya, Cheney, Rumsfeld - yo' heroes - never set foot in Nam......never shed a drop, never saw another human being cut in half by a fifty caliber machine gun......I don't feel good about my role in that slice of reality but I don't lose sight of the fact that there are those who have no qualms about capitalizing on the sacrifices of those brave young men who gave their all.........

That's funny. I always get cracked up when liberals call me a neo-con and conservatives call me a lefty. Neither is true, of course. I'm more of a cynical moderate-conservative who is certainly not a fan of Rush or Bill.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

As promised, Gov. Rod Blagejovich of Illinois gets this week's Tammany, without question. I'm sure that this will be less of an issue for him, however, than his likely sentence to a Federal prison once judged by 12 of his peers.

 

[trysail]

The Scandal Is What's Legal
by John Stossel

Righteous indignation over allegations about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's "pay to play" brazenness camouflages the corruption inherent in all government. After all, what does it mean to be a politician if not that you promise favors -- coerced from the taxpayers -- in return for support from key constituencies?

Ted Stevens and Randy "Duke" Cunningham behaved egregiously enough to be convicted, but their actions didn't cost taxpayers nearly as much as what their colleagues did supposedly acting in the "public interest."

As The New York Times reported, "$700 billion ... seemed to be an ocean of money. But after one of the biggest lobbying free-for-alls in memory, it suddenly looks like a dwindling pool. ... The Treasury Department is under siege by an army of hired guns. ..."

Sen. Charles Schumer has delivered for that army, consistently voting for every bailout. He also "helped raise more than $120 million for the Democrats' Senate campaign committee, drawing nearly four times as much money from Wall Street as the National Republican Senatorial Committee," said The Times.

What Schumer does is legal, but the billions he gives to failing companies comes from taxpayers. A formal quid pro quo between politicians and bailed-out companies is not necessary. But everyone knows that a beneficiary is more likely to contribute to a congressman who votes for a bailout. They are also more likely to hire that congressman as a lobbyist when he retires. It is disgusting. But it is legal.

H.L. Mencken was right: "Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." [ Good God, what a line! Is it any wonder that I love Mencken? There isn't a shred of doubt in my mind that was he one of the most elegant prose writers of the 20th century. I thought I'd read every line he'd ever written but I've never seen that one before. Fantastic! ].

The Public Choice economists remind us that contrary to what the civics textbooks imply, public "servants" have the same ambitions as the rest of us --wealth, career, influence, prestige. But there's a big difference between us and them. Politicians, bureaucrats and the people they "rescue" get money through force -- taxation. Don't think taxation is force? Try not paying, and see what happens.

The rest of us must achieve our goals though voluntary exchange in the marketplace. That difference -- force versus voluntary exchange -- makes all the difference in the world.

In "The Road to Serfdom", F.A. Hayek titled chapter 10 "Why the Worst Get on Top," pointing out why the "unscrupulous and uninhibited are likely to be more successful [than moral people] in a society tending toward totalitarianism. ... [T]he readiness to do bad things becomes a path to promotion and power."

We don't live in an authoritarian society, but Hayek's point still applies.

A system that rewards politicians skilled at campaigning -- which is the art of creating an illusion -- and that puts hundreds of billions of coerced taxpayer dollars at the disposal of the winners will tend to attract men and women with a comparative advantage in manipulation. We shouldn't be surprised that people like Blagojevich prosper in "public service" -- until they get caught crossing the line.

At his news conference last week, Obama said, "[T]here is a tradition of public service, where people are getting in it for the right reasons and to serve, but there's also a tradition where people view politics as a business." That difference is not as sharp as he thinks. Even someone devoted to achieving the public good is ignorant of what is truly in the interest of a group of individuals as large and diverse as the population of a state or country. Lacking that knowledge -- and with his political cronies and the most politically connected lobbies constantly whispering in his ear -- he will presume that what is good for the best -- organized interest groups -- must be good for everyone. Then he will take from all of us to bail out those special interests. This will tend to be good for the politician's career.

Blagojevich allegedly assumed someone would be willing to pay dearly to be a U.S. senator. I'm sure he was right. But if government were less important in our lives, politicians would have fewer goodies to trade. In return, we'd have more money and more freedom.

That's one more reason to limit government power.

 

[trysail]

Read all about it!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atZsg81KoRmU&refer=home
_________________________

(Fair Use Excerpt)
Clinton Foundation Donors Include Saudi Arabia, AIG
By Timothy J. Burger and Kristin Jensen

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Former President Bill Clinton, meeting a precondition for his wife, Hillary, to become secretary of state, revealed donors to his foundation including such countries as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia was one of the most generous, giving between $10 million and $25 million, according to the list published on the foundation’s Web site today. Only two groups gave more than $25 million: the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, dedicated to easing poverty for children in developing countries, and the disease relief organization UNITAID.

The former president is trying to forestall criticism that his solicitation of donations, especially from foreign governments, might complicate the future work of his wife. President-elect Barack Obama chose New York Senator Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state on Dec. 1, an appointment subject to Senate confirmation...

***​

...Of most interest to political watchers are the bigger contributions. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave between $10 million and $25 million; Norway donated $5 million to $10 million; Kuwait and Qatar both contributed between $1 million and $5 million.

The list also includes donations from some of the companies embroiled in the financial crisis, including such firms as insurer American International Group Inc. that got government aid. AIG gave between $250,000 and $500,000 to the foundation, according to the disclosure.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which filed for history’s biggest bankruptcy in September after the government declined to step in with aid, gave between $100,000 and $250,000. So did the Merrill Lynch & Company Foundation Inc. Merrill Lynch agreed to a takeover by Bank of America Inc. on the same day Lehman collapsed.

The charitable arms of two other major financial institutions are among the donors on the list. The Bank of America Foundation gave between $500,000 and $1 million, and Citigroup Inc.’s Citi Foundation contributed between $1 million and $5 million. Freddie Mac, General Motors Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. each gave between $50,000 and $100,000.

The list also includes $250,000 to $500,000 from Denise Rich, whose husband Marc Rich received a controversial pardon from Clinton in his final hours in the White House. Former securities lawyer William Lerach, who is now serving two years in federal prison for his role in a kickback scheme, gave between $100,000 and $250,000.

The list includes at least one of Clinton’s political adversaries. Richard Mellon Scaife, a Pittsburgh media titan who helped finance efforts to discredit Clinton during his presidency, gave $100,000 to $250,000...

***​

...Clinton’s foundation, with a focus on health issues, received sizable donations from drugmakers as well. Pfizer Inc. gave between $500,000 and $1 million. Generic drugmakers Mylan Inc. and Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. were among those that contributed from $100,000 to $250,000...

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

This week's Tammany goes to a foreign leader, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who mocked the American brand of capitalism recently only to be hoist from his own petard by the fiscal troubles of the more regulated European nations. Mr. President, stick to dating sexy Italian supermodels (I don't blame you on that point, at least) and leave weightier matters to those who aren't crass opportunists.

 

[AllardChardon]

Did you read about the French Voodoo dolls of Sarkozy? Some manufacturer made such a thing and someone else sued them. The judge said they could make voodoo dolls of the French President, complete with pins, but the dolls should contain a warning that poking Sarkozy would be disrespectful. I do love the French! Could have made a million with the W. doll in America! Ha!

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

The Tammany Awards are back!

And the winners are:

1. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, for their recent tit-for-tat over past scandals. Look, both of you, do everyone a favor. Drop out. Let your party start fresh. Or endorse Ron Paul, the only Republican candidate with a moral backbone and a clear conscience.
2. Barack H. Obama, Jr. President of the United States, for his disgusting State of the Union Address and tap dance around the SOPA issue, and for signing the NDAA. Way to sign away out our liberties, Mr. President. Grrr....